"Earthly lusts I forswore, for the celestial life that is born by ceaseless meditation, and contemplation of the _Maha-yana_. I was ordained in the first orders of the priesthood. That was the time when foreign missionaries began to enter China in force, in spite of the Boxer uprising and the revolt of the Tai-pings. The heads of the priesthood wanted information about this foreign faith, and the peoples of Europe. They wanted to know why the white men sought to disturb the ancient soul of China." Gray whistled softly, as Delabar's character became clear. "I was sent to Europe. At first I kept in touch with the priesthood through Wu Fang Chien. Then came the overthrow of the Manchus, and the republic in China. But you can not cast down the religion of eight hundred million souls by a _coup d'état_. The priesthood still holds its power. And it is still inviolate from the touch of the foreigner." Gray knew that this was true. The scattered foreigners who had entered the coast cities of China, and the missionaries who claimed a few converts in the middle kingdom were only a handful in the great mass of the Mongolians. In the interior, and throughout Central Asia and India, as in Japan, the shrines of Buddha, of Vishnu, and the temple of the Dalai Lama were undisturbed. And here, not on the coast, was the heart of Mongolia. Delabar continued, almost triumphantly. "Word was sent to me from Wu Fang Chien--who had heard the news from a Chinese servant of the American Museum of Natural History--that an expedition was being fitted out to explore Central Mongolia. I was ordered to volunteer to accompany it." "And you did your best to wreck the expedition," assented Gray. "I liked you, Captain Gray. I tried to persuade you to turn back. At Liangchowfu it was too late. When you escaped from Wu Fang Chien there, he held me responsible for the failure. The priesthood never trusted me fully." "In my religion," said Gray grimly, "there is a saying that a man can not serve two masters and save his own soul." Delabar shivered. "The priesthood," he muttered, "will not forgive failure. Wu Fang Chien is watching me. You can do nothing here. Go back, before we are seen together. Sungan is nothing but a leper colony. You were a fool to think otherwise." "And the Wusun?" "Lepers! They are the only ones here except the priests." Gray's eyes hardened. "A lie, Delabar. Why should Wu Fang Chien kill a dozen men to keep the English caravan and myself from Sungan?" He caught and held Delabar's startled gaze. "Where is Mary Hastings?" "I--who is she?" "You know, Delabar. The girl who came with the caravan. She was taken prisoner. Where is she?" "I don't know." Gray touched his automatic significantly. "I want to know," he said quietly. "And you can tell me. It is more important than my life or your miserable existence. _Where is Mary Hastings?_" Delabar cowered before the deadly purpose in the white man's eyes.