"A whole lot. First--how did you get here? I thought all white men were barred." "Wu Fang Chien," said Delabar moodily. "He caught me the day after I left you. He shot the coolie and had me brought here." "What's the meaning of that?" Gray nodded contemptuously at the yellow robe. "Wu Fang Chien punished me. He forced me to join the Buddhist priests who act as guards of Sungan. He did not want me to escape from China. Here, I was safe under his men." "Hm. He trusts you enough to post you as one of the sentries." "With another man. The other left to attend a council of the priests. My watch is over at sunset. In two hours." Gray scanned his erstwhile companion from narrowed eyes. He decided the man was telling the truth, so far. "Will these Buddhist dogs come to relieve you at sunset, Delabar?" "No. The priests do not watch after nightfall. Some of the lepers we--Wu Fang Chien can trust make the rounds." "Is Wu Fang Chien in control here--governor of Sungan?" Delabar licked his lips nervously. Perspiration showed on his bare forehead. "Yes. That is, the mandarin is responsible to the Chinese authorities. He has orders to keep all intruders from Sungan--on account of the lepers." Gray smiled without merriment. "You say the priests stand guard. Are they armed?" "No. Not with guns. Any one who tries to escape from here is followed and brought back by the outer guards--if he doesn't die in the desert." "I see." Gray gripped the shoulder of the man on the sand. "Did you hear me say I wanted the truth, not lies? Well, you may have been telling me the letter of the truth. But not the whole. Once you said 'we' instead of Wu Fang Chien. Likewise, I know enough of Chinese methods to be sure Wu wouldn't punish a white man by elevating him to the caste of priest. You're holding something back, Delabar. What is your real relation to Wu?" Delabar was silent for a long time. Staring overhead, his eyes marked and followed the movements of a wheeling vulture. His thin fingers plucked ceaselessly at the yellow robe. "Wu Fang Chien," he said at length, "is my master. He is the emissary of the Buddhists in China. He has the power of life and death over those who break the laws of Buddha. I am one of his servants." Delabar raised himself on one elbow. "A decade ago, in India, I became a Buddhist, Captain Gray. Remember, I am a Syrian born. I spent most of my youth in Bokhara, and in Kashgar, where I came under the influence of the philosophers of the yellow robe. I acknowledged the tenets of the Buddha; I bowed before the teachings of the ancient Kashiapmadunga and the wisdom that is like a lamp in the night--that burned before your Christ. And I gave up my life to 'the world of golden effulgence.'" A note of tensity crept into his eager words. The dark eyes reflected a deeper fire.