Part 10

“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