THE RETURN TO KHOTAN 
917 
to cive him two laree cakes of maize-bread, and at last he 
grew so accustomed to be fed in that way, that at the stroke 
of the hour he used to come forward to my tent and remind 
me of it. Sometimes he even woke me up by giving me 
a regular poke with his nose. 
Now however we were to part from our three veterans, 
who had for so long a time faced wind and weather to- 
o-ether with us. I sold them to a merchant from West 
<5 
Turkestan for about one-half of what I gave for them. In 
VILLAGE NEAR KHO'l’AN 
A Bazaar-day 
their place I bought four horses. When the purchaser led 
the camels away, I felt quite lonely. The courtyard looked 
empty and deserted. Luckily I still had Yolldash, who 
faithfully kept his place at my side in the hovel in which I 
was lodged. One day, when I sat writing on a felt carpet, 
the dog suddenly jumped up, and began growling and 
barking, with his nose close to the ground. At first I paid 
no heed ; but he came quite close to me, and plainly 
showed that he was very uneasy. 1 then looked about 
for the cause, and discovered quite close to my foot a 
