SINO-MONGOLIAN FRONTIER 



plenty of accommodation. This turned out to 

 be a purely malicious and unprovoked falsehood, 

 for when night began to descend our little party 

 found itself in a desolate and seemingly unin- 

 habited wilderness. 



Following the only bridle path we began a long 

 and difficult ascent till we reached an altitude of 

 6,000 feet, having climbed over 3,000 feet since 

 leaving Yen-an Fu. The path now led along 

 the top of a rugged ridge and became momentarily 

 more difficult, till, darkness overtaking us, we 

 realized that we were hopelessly lost. To make 

 matters worse, a cold north wind sprang up, 

 cutting us to the bone. 



We wandered aimlessly along for two hours, 

 discussing the advantages or otherwise of making 

 a tentless camp where we were, without fuel for 

 a fire, food for ourselves, fodder for the mules, 

 or even a drop of water. 



Just as we were about to unload the mules 

 a voice hailed us from the darkness, and the wel- 

 come barking of dogs told us that we were near 

 some human habitation. To our joy we found 

 not fifty yards from us a cluster of huts, including 

 an inn, surrounded by a high mud wall. The 

 latter had effectually hidden the lights of the huts, 

 and but for the vigilance of the innkeeper we 

 should have been condemned to spend the night 

 exposed to hunger, thirst and a bitter north wind. 



The following day we pursued our course over 



15 



