Chapter XXI: Secret of the Snows

Bela Kron, though standing ready with his gun, was caught flatfooted by the speed and power that Muscles showed. Kron was a crack shot, but he had to wait until Hurdu and the other husky guard were out of the way before he could open fire. In his eagerness to concentrate on Muscles, Kron forgot two others.

Those two were Thomas Brewster and Charles Keene. Knowing exactly how far Muscles could carry his drive, Biff’s father and uncle acted accordingly. At the crucial moment, they launched a double drive of their own. Kron, coming to deliberate aim as Muscles hulked up as a target, was suddenly overwhelmed before he could pull the trigger of his gun.

Excitedly, Biff and the other boys were pointing to the outer room where more figures were appearing, but Muscles motioned for them to be calm. Then, through the doorway, came Tikse and half a dozen of his Ladakhi crew. Amiably, Muscles waved them out, saying, “Never mind, boys, you won’t be needed.”

The men from Leh realized suddenly that they were in the presence of the Chonsi Lama, and that in itself accomplished results. Bowing low, they backed out through the golden doors. Gravely, the Chonsi Lama returned their bows until they were gone. Then he turned to Biff and said, “If you introduce your friend Muscles, I will grant him an audience. Then he can tell his story of how he turned the tables.”

Biff introduced Muscles, who responded characteristically.

“Everything’s under control,” he said, “so I can take time out to talk. It seems like talking is getting to be the best thing I do. Those Sherpas we landed among thought I was what they called a Yeti, but I talked them out of it.

“Then they were so glad, they were ready to do anything I wanted, so I talked them into coming over this way and catching up with the party that was on its way here, just on the chance I might be needed.

“We tried to take a short cut and whom did we run into?” Muscles turned to Biff. “Your whole crew of porters, heading back to Leh. When they told me they’d been seeing Yeti tracks, I figured somebody had been faking them.”

“Somebody was,” returned Biff. “Hurdu.”

The Chonsi Lama was becoming more and more intrigued. He expressed the eagerness felt by all the boys when he suddenly urged, “Go on, Muscles, tell us more!”

“Well, your honor,” Muscles resumed, suddenly impressed by the youthful Lama’s robe, “I did some more talking to Tikse and his friends. I told them that there weren’t any such things as Yetis, and that having been mistaken for one, I was somebody who should know. So they turned right around and came along with me.

“Then, to convince them further, I rigged myself up in an old yak hide and wrapped old towels around my shoes, so I could scare Hurdu and his tribe into thinking they were really looking at a Yeti and not just his footprints.”

“So you were the thing we saw go bounding up the ledge!” exclaimed Biff.

“That’s right,” said Muscles. “I kept on going, too, clear up beyond a big rock pile.”

Chandra turned to Biff. “You see? I was right.”

“It was dark when I started out,” continued Muscles, “so I brought a rifle with me. I’d left it up behind the rock pile, and when I saw you tangling with that big bear, I up and clipped him, first shot. There was other shooting coming from down your way, so I had my chance to clear out and did.”

“And you followed us from then on?” queried Biff.

“Sure did,” returned Muscles. “We saw you go into a woods and disappear, so we did the same and found the steps that brought us down here. They let us in when I said I was with you, Biff, so I guess you’re pretty important around here.”

“Biff is important here,” declared the Chonsi Lama. “Very important.”

“I decided to take over,” Muscles went on, “when we found a lot of Hurdu’s men down in the courtyard. We jumped them before they knew what to expect. They knew, though, when they got it. I came on up and ran into a couple of Hurdu’s men coming down. So I bagged them and turned them over to my crew. Then I walked in here, and you saw the rest.”

It was time now for the Chonsi Lama to hold a conference with his advisers, so he politely bowed his visitors and rescuers out. On the way down from the throne room, Biff said to Muscles, “So you don’t believe there are such things as Yetis?”

“I didn’t when I came here,” returned Muscles, “but after one look at this place, I am ready to believe anything.”

They left Bela Kron, Hurdu, and a few of his men in the custody of the palace guards, a dozen men in garish red-and-yellow uniforms whose chief business was blowing trumpets, opening doors, and participating in ceremonies generally. The guards were armed with brass muskets that looked like models of ancient Chinese cannon and probably hadn’t been fired since the day gunpowder was invented.

The guards were good custodians, however, for the massive buildings forming the foundations of the slant-walled palace were honeycombed with secret passages and hidden cells. Escape was impossible, even for Bela Kron, the master spy, and his principal followers.

As for the rest, they were simply Changpa tribesmen who had been coaxed in from remote Tibet by Hurdu, just as Muscles had brought in the visiting Sherpas from Nepal. By now, Sherpas and Changpas were becoming friends, rather than one group having the other in its charge. The Ladakhi, too, were fraternizing with both groups and all were so overwhelmed by the importance of the Chonsi Lama that they were ready to follow his commands. So they were given the freedom of the fabulous city until the time should come for them to return to their native climes.

Mr. Brewster sat in on the conferences held by the Chonsi Lama and his advisers, with Charles Keene an occasional participant in the deliberations. During breaks in the session, they chatted with Biff and the other boys, who were lodged in special guest quarters with Muscles.

“When the previous Lama died,” Mr. Brewster stated, “he saw to it that his successor would be educated in modern ways as well as those of ancient days. Your friend, the young Lama, had an English tutor and is versed in other modern languages as well. He is now just sixteen years old and has two more years to go until he is of age.

“The two men you saw with him were the Acting Regent and the Prime Minister, who have been keeping Chonsi as it was, until the new Grand Lama takes full power. But now that the Rajah’s ruby has been returned to become again the Light of the Lama, they have decided that this is their day of decision. All agree that Chonsi no longer should be the Lost City.”

That became official the next day. The natives of Chonsi were told that they were free to visit the outer world without restriction. The Chonsi Lama entrusted Mr. Brewster with state despatches to be taken to New Delhi, so that the boundaries of tiny Chonsi could be defined and its status determined through international negotiations. Bela Kron, Hurdu, and a few others were to be turned over to the government of India, as they were wanted for crimes committed within the jurisdiction of that nation.

Biff and the boys had a last pleasant visit with the Chonsi Lama and then were on their way. All Chonsi was out to wave farewell to the departing visitors. From the distance came booming sounds like a parting salute, but not from guns. Those were the reverberations from the crashing masses of rock and ice that so frequently toppled from the granite walls that flanked this narrow land, the Place of Living Thunder.

All the porters and native tribesmen made the return climb from the mile-deep chasm and back through the mountain passes beyond. There were no serious incidents along the way, as the expedition no longer was troubled with plotters such as Bela Kron and Hurdu. Instead of returning to Leh with the Ladakhi, Biff and his father and the rest of the party continued south to the ranges where the Sherpas lived.

There, Charles Keene and Muscles put the plane in flying order, and after a few pleasant days in the fertile valley, the first group took off for New Delhi. Charles Keene was at the controls. With him were Mr. Brewster, Biff, Chandra, and Kamuka, all of whom could give first-hand evidence concerning the double dealings of the notorious Bela Kron.

Charles Keene was then to fly back to the Sherpa valley and pick up Muscles, Li, Chuba, and Mike Arista, to bring them on to New Delhi, where all the boys would meet again. But as the plane climbed high above the mountain pass, thoughts of a more immediate reunion flashed through Biff’s mind and brought an anticipatory smile to his lips.

By the time they reached New Delhi, Biff’s mother would be there from Darjeeling, with the twins. Eyes half closed, Biff could already picture the eager faces of Ted and Monica as his brother and sister waited breathlessly to hear the full story of his latest adventures!

Transcriber’s Notes

--Copyright notice provided as in the original—this e-text is public
domain in the country of publication.

--Provided a cover based on elements from the book, provided for free
and unrestricted use with this eBook.

--Silently corrected palpable typos; left non-standard spellings and
dialect unchanged.

--In the text versions, delimited italics text in _underscores_ (the
HTML version reproduces the font form of the printed book.)

End of Project Gutenberg's Mystery of the Ambush in India, by Andy Adams