"As he cried the hour, this holy man felt something falling like snow on his face. Only it was not snow. The sky and the city darkened. He could not see the roofs of the buildings. He went down and tried the door. It was blocked. Then this man saw that it was sand falling over the city. The sand covered the whole town, leaving only the minaret, which was high. The people who had done him the injury were buried--became white bones under the sand." "That story figures in the Bible," assented Gray, "only not the same. You don't consider the myth important, do you?" "The priests of Asia do," said the professor seriously. "And I have seen the memoirs of Central Asian kingdoms which mention that treasure was dug for and found in ruins in the sands." He glanced at his companion curiously. "You do not seem to be worried, Captain Gray, at entering the forbidden shrine of the Mongols." Having been born thereabouts, the idea amused Gray. "Are you?" Gray laughed. "The Yellow Peril is dead." "So is Dr. Brent." "You don't connect the two?" "I don't attempt to analyze the connection, Captain Gray. Remember in China we are dealing with men who think backward, around-about, and every way except our own. Then there are the priests. All I know is that Dr. Brent entered on forbidden ground, fell sick, and had to leave China. Do you know what he died of?" "Do you?" Delabar was silent a moment; then he smiled. "I have imagination--too much, perhaps. But then I have lived behind the threshold of Asia for half my life." "I suspect it's a good thing for me you have," Gray admitted frankly. Before they left their chairs that afternoon a steward brought the officer a message from the wireless cabin. Van Schaick had sent it, before the steamer passed the radio limit. Gray read it, frowned, and turned to Delabar. "This is rather bad luck, Professor," he said. "McCann, the fellow I counted on, is not coming. He was taken sick with grippe in Los Angeles on his way to Frisco. It looks as if you and I would have to go it alone." CHAPTER IV WARNING The news of McCann's loss, so important to the officer, Delabar passed over with a shrug. Gray wondered briefly why a man obviously inclined to nervousness should ignore the fact that they were without the services of a trustworthy attendant. Later, he came to realize that the scientist considered that McCann's presence would have been no aid to him, that rifles and men who knew how to use them would play no part in meeting the hostile forces surrounding the territory of the Wusun. From that moment he began to watch Delabar. It was clear to him that the professor was uneasy, decidedly so. And that the man was in the grip of a rising excitement.