THE LONG TRAIL TO SAIN NOIN KHAN 89 



of the horses absolutely refused to pull. The loads were 

 evidently too heavy, and the outlook for the future was 

 not encouraging. An extract from my wife's journal 

 tells what we did that afternoon. 



"It took two hours to negotiate the hill, and the men 

 were almost exhausted when the last load reached the 

 summit. Ever since tiffin the sky had been growing 

 darker and darker, and great masses of black clouds 

 gathered about the crest of the Bogdo-ol. Suddenly a 

 vivid flash of lightning cut the sky as though with a flam- 

 ing knife, and the rain came down in a furious beat of icy 

 water. In five minutes we were soaked and shivering 

 with cold, so when at last we reached the plain we turned 

 off the road toward two Mongol yurts, which rested be- 

 side the river a mile away hke a pair of great white birds. 



"Roy and I galloped ahead over the soft, slushy grass, 

 nearly blinded by the rain, and hobbling our horses out- 

 side the nearest yurt^ went inside with only the f ormahty 

 of a shout. The room was so dark that I could hardly 

 see, and the heavy smoke from the open fire burned and 

 stung our eyes. On the floor sat a frowzy-looking 

 woman, blowing at the fire, and a yellow lama, his saucer 

 hat hidden under its waterproof covering — apparently 

 he was a traveler like ourselves. 



"The frowzy lady smiled and motioned us to sit down 

 on a low couch beside the door. As we did so, I saw a 

 small face peering out of a big sheepskin coat and two 

 black eyes staring at us unblinkingly. It was a little 

 Mongol girl whose nap had been disturbed by so many 



