The Caves of Fear: A Rick Brant Science-Adventure Story Read online

  CHAPTER XII

  The Buddhist Monk

  The party topped a high rise and stopped, spellbound at the scene thatspread before them. They were on the rim of a great valley. Far on theother side of the valley stood the high peaks of the Himalayas, a mightyscreen between them and India.

  Below, a lush green path marked the course of a wide river. On eitherside of it, sloping up to the mountains, was the lighter green ofgrasslands.

  Sing pointed. "There is Korse Lenken."

  Rick had to look hard before he saw it. Then he began to make it out.The monastery was built under a great cliff on one side of the valley.At first glance it seemed like part of the cliff itself. It was huge,with tier after tier of gray stone buildings rising in piled masses fromthe valley floor. Around it, like tiny mounds of earth, were the hairtents of the Tibetans.

  "Magnificent," Zircon rumbled. "Well worth coming to see, even if wefind nothing at the end of the trail."

  "We'll find Chahda," Scotty said. "I'm sure we will. And the sooner thebetter."

  Rick felt the same way. Now that the end of the trail was in sight,excitement was rising within him. He was anxious to find his Hindufriend and to find at the same time answers to some of the mysteriesthey had encountered.

  "Let's hurry," he said impatiently.

  Sing shouted at the bearers and the party took a narrow trail thatdipped into the valley. Scotty rode ahead with Sing, and his rifle wasready for instant use. Rick and Zircon brought up the rear, their ownrifles held ready. They had taken no chances since the fight on thehilltop. Worthington Ko had been left afoot far behind them, but therewas no assurance his friends hadn't come to the rescue with horses. Rickkept glancing behind him, just in case of an attack from the rear.

  They had reached the rim of the valley by midmorning. All through theday they made their way down the mountain, reaching the valley floorabout three in the afternoon. Another two hours of steady travel tookthem past the yurts of Tibetan herders--conical tents made of horsehairfelt. The stolid Tibetans watched them pass, no interest in their beadyeyes.

  Then, as darkness began to set in, they reached the monastery. KorseLenken towered above them, already shaded in twilight. From somewherewithin the great pile they heard the tinkle of bells, then the deeptones of a mighty gong. Lamas, priests in yellow robes, walked past withbowed heads. Some of them spun their prayer wheels and intoned theBuddhist ritual.

  _Om Mani Padme Hum. Hail, the jewel in the lotus!_

  The jewel, of course, was the Lord Buddha.

  They watched the pageant for a few moments, enthralled. Then Zirconcommanded Sing. "Find someone you can talk to. We'll want to see theHigh Lama."

  Sing nodded. "I will go into the monastery. The bearers will find aplace to camp." He issued orders in Chinese.

  The bearers scattered at once, searching for a suitable place to pitchcamp. The three Americans sat their horses and watched the activitiesaround the great monastery, too interested even to talk.

  Rick saw countless yellow robes on the various balconies. There must bethousands of monks, he thought. And there were an equal number ofTibetans, many of them already busy at cooking fires near the base ofthe gray stone buildings. He smelled mutton cooking, and the acrid,unpleasant odor he had learned to identify with yak butter. Hot butteredtea was a Tibetan staple. He had tried it on the trail, because he wasinterested in everything, even yak butter. But he didn't think it wouldever take the place of ice cream in his affections.

  One of the bearers came back and motioned to them. They followed as heled the pack mules to a place in the shelter of a great rock. The otherbearers were foraging for wood. In a few moments a fire was going andcamp was being set up.

  Sing returned. "No one may see the High Lama," he reported. "He is inthe middle of some kind of ceremony that takes a month. But I talkedwith an important priest. He was friendly. He said he would send one ofthe lamas to be our guide and to help us find your friend."

  "Good," Zircon said. "Now, let's have some dinner. I'm famished."

  The boys echoed his sentiments.

  It was fully dark before they ended their meal. They were squattingaround the fire, sipping coffee and listening to Zircon's description ofthe Buddhist ritual when one of the bearers suddenly called out. Thethree Americans and Sing reached for their weapons as a yellow-robedlama shuffled out of the darkness.

  This, evidently, was their guide. He was of less than medium height, butthat was all Rick could tell about him. His loose robe draped around hisbody and his cowl was pulled up, hiding his face.

  "Welcome," Zircon boomed. "Sing, speak to him and tell him we aregrateful for his coming."

  Sing spoke to the monk in Chinese.

  The robed lama stood immobile, just within range of the firelight. Theyellow flames made shadows across his cowled figure. Rick felt a littleshudder run through him. The quiet figure was somehow weird.

  Sing shifted to another language, but the lama made no reply. Then,slowly, he brought his hands up level, outstretched toward them. Hechanted slowly, his voice muffled under the cowl. Then the chant diedand his hands were lowered once more.

  Sing turned to the group. "I don't know what he said. It's not in alanguage I understand." He spoke to the apparition. The monk stoodmotionless.

  "Wish they'd sent us someone we could talk with," Scotty grumbled. "Alot of use this joker will be!"

  The monk's cowl turned slowly toward Scotty. The figure movedmajestically toward the boy, then the hands lifted again. From under thecowl a sepulchral voice issued.

  "Could be more use than you think, muttonhead."

  For an instant there was stunned silence, then Rick and Scotty leapedfor the robed figure with yells of delight. Rick hit him high and Scottyhit him low. They held him down and pulled the cowl from him, thenpommeled him unmercifully, while Zircon cheered them on.

  Only when the monk begged for mercy did they let him up. He tossed therobe aside and grinned at them.

  "Okay," Chahda said. "You win. But it took you plenty time to get here!Why you take so long?"

  The slim Hindu boy hugged them solemnly, one at a time, and shook handswith Sing. "Now," he announced, "I eat. Got plenty sick of sheep meat,you bet!"

  Then they were all laughing and talking at once while the cook hastenedto prepare a meal. In a few moments Chahda was attacking a high-piledplate and talking between bites.

  "Good you came now," he said. "I got plenty worry. You find Bradley?"

  Zircon told him of the meeting in the hotel.

  Chahda nodded. "Good. I think he show up soon."

  "Start at the beginning," Rick demanded. "There's a whole lot we don'tknow. In fact, if you come right down to it, we don't know anything."

  "Okay." Chahda took a sip of coffee. "I start at start. In Bombay."

  Chahda had been visiting with his family in Bombay when Bradley arrivedin the Indian city. The two had met by accident. Chahda had gone to theTaj Mahal Hotel to write a letter to the boys, because there was nopaper or ink at home. Bradley, who happened to be in the lobby, hadnoticed the address on the envelope as Chahda handed it to the deskclerk.

  Once the scientist discovered that Chahda knew the Spindrift group andhad been on expeditions with them, the rest followed naturally. Bradley,realizing that the clever little Hindu boy would be of great value inhis undercover work, had hired him. Chahda didn't say so, but Rick couldunderstand that such was the case.

  Chahda's duties had been those of general assistant. He had cared forbaggage, run errands, acted as secretary, and on a few occasions hadbeen assigned to follow people in whose destinations Bradley wasinterested. The two had gone from Bombay to New Delhi and Calcutta, thento Singapore. At Singapore, while following up another matter, Bradleyaccidentally had discovered that heavy water was being sold.

  "He was much excited," Chahda said. "I did not know why. Heavy water? Iasked myself what is heavy water. I knew about ice, which is frozenwater and which is heavy. But who would have much exci
tement about ice?The Sahib Bradley hurried to the Consulate of America and he sent acable to Washington."

  Then the scientist had assigned Chahda to watch a certain house inSingapore, the place from which the heavy water was being taken tounknown destinations. Chahda had watched for three days without relief,and he had seen Worthington Ko. Then, since Bradley had not come forhim, he deserted his post long enough to return to their quarters, aroom in an obscure Chinese hotel in Singapore. There he had foundevidence of a fight and bloodstains on the floor. There was no sign ofBradley.

  It was then, Chahda guessed, that Long Shadow had found him. He saw theshadow several times while he hunted for Bradley. Then, while searchingfor his boss in the Tamil quarter, he had been attacked by Chinese thugsled by Worthington Ko. They had beaten him into insensibility, hustledhim into a taxi, and were carrying him somewhere into the inland ofMalaya when he regained consciousness. He escaped by going headlongthrough a window while the car was traveling and then taking cover inthe jungle alongside the road. Going by a roundabout route, he reachedSingapore again. There he found that their luggage was held by the hoteland the room had been rented to someone else.

  Chahda polished his plate with a biscuit and groaned expressively. "Isay to myself then, Chahda, now is time to think real hard. What to do?"

  He knew that the cable Bradley had sent asked for Hartson Brant to beassigned to the job. And he knew also that from Singapore they were tohead for Hong Kong. He knew nothing about Hong Kong, but he did knowthat Bradley was acquainted at a place called the Golden Mouse becausehe had heard him mention it to a Chinese the scientist used forundercover work now and then.

  "The Long Shadow came again while I was thinking," Chahda continued. "Isaw it in front of the hotel. So I went quick-fast out the back, and ranthrough many places until I was sure he could not find me. I went towhere many Indians live in Singapore, and I found a friend."

  The friend, another Indian, had gone to the United States InformationLibrary in Singapore and borrowed a copy of _The World Almanac_. Chahdaalready had decided he would cable the boys, and how he would do it. Heknew, because of what they had told him, that they would be able tofigure out a book code and that they would realize his choice naturallywould be the _Almanac_. Knowing the annual by heart, he naturally alsoknew the table that converted Roman numerals to Arabic numbers and hadused the letter L as a clue to the right volume.

  "But how did you know about nulls?" Rick asked.

  "Oh, that was very lucky. I learned how to put Sahib Bradley's messagesin code, and there were many nulls." He grinned impishly. "Of course Idid not know if you also knew what are nulls. I was thinking, they aretwo who are good with science. But are they also good with code? Maybenot. But, anyway, they are plenty smart to read a book. That will tellthem about nulls."

  "We didn't have to read a book," Scotty said. "Dad told us about them."

  "Scientist father also plenty smart even without books," Chahda agreed."Anyway, I make the message and I send cable."

  Rick interrupted again. "How did you know Ko had a glass eye?"

  Chahda smiled. "When they capture me, I fight like maybe ten wildelephants. I kick honorable Mr. Ko in the face. And what happens? Hisglasses fall off and one of his eyes falls out! Also, it breaks when itfalls and I see it is glass. I am so surprised I forget to fight andsomeone hits me from the back of my neck, and then all is dark. I didnot know Mr. Ko's name then. My boss tells me it later."

  "No more questions for the moment," Zircon ordered. "I want to hear therest of this. Go ahead, Chahda."

  The Hindu boy had used his friend as a go-between and had arranged forthe consul general to advance him funds. Since the official knew heworked for Bradley, that was not difficult. Then he had arranged fortheir baggage to be shipped and held at the airport in Hong Kong, andhad taken a plane there himself.

  At the Golden Mouse, Canton Charlie had given him quarters. In anotherday, Bradley showed up. The scientist had been caught in the Singaporehotel room by Ko and company, but had fought his way clear. There wasn'ttime to leave a note for Chahda at the hotel and he didn't dare returnto the room for fear of having the enemy locate him again. So he haddepended on Chahda's wits to tell him the next step and had gone aheadto Hong Kong, hoping to find more information about the heavy water.

  At Hong Kong, Long Shadow had shown up again.

  Bradley, in the meanwhile, had not been idle. Through his varioussources of information he had determined that the source of the heavywater was in the neighborhood of Korse Lenken. Chahda was instructed togo there at once and start reconnoitering while they waited for theparty from the States. Bradley deliberately dropped the disguise he hadbeen using, that of a Portuguese seaman, and let Long Shadow locate him.Then he had started out, hoping to draw the enemy away from Chahda longenough for the boy to get clear and start for Korse Lenken. Bradley wasto shake the enemy when he could and resume his investigation. Findingthe source of the water was not enough, he had said. It also wasnecessary to find out how it was reaching Singapore, and what itsultimate destination might be.

  Chahda had experience with Buddhist monasteries dating back to the timewhen he had worked in Nepal. Also, many Indians were Buddhists. Therewere some in almost every monastery, and of that number a few could bedepended on to speak Hindi, or Hindustani as it was called, which wasChahda's language. He also knew a little Tibetan from his years inNepal.

  "I came here easy," Chahda finished. "There was a big lot of pilgrimsand they took me in." He grinned. "They thought I was a monk. And Ifound Indians, like I had thought. They hid me, so I do not think LongShadow knows I am here. And now I know where the heavy water comesfrom."

  Zircon gave an exclamation. "Chahda, you're a marvel! Where does it comefrom?"

  "Tomorrow I show you," Chahda promised.

  "Who is Long Shadow?" Rick demanded.

  Chahda shrugged. "Not knowing. We never see him. Only the shadow."

  Scotty stirred up the fire a little. "How come Canton Charlie didn'tturn you over to the enemy as he did us?"

  "What?" Chahda was astonished.

  Scotty quickly outlined their adventures while Chahda listenedthoughtfully. When he had finished, the Indian boy shook his head."Something bad wrong. Charlie is one of Bradley's men. My boss pays him,and he is friendly. You say Charlie told you to go to this junk?"

  Rick thought back. Charlie himself actually had not told them. They hadnot seen Charlie when the note was dropped on their table.

  "Charlie himself didn't tell us," he stated. "It could have been one ofLong Shadow's men. Or one of Ko's. And that Portuguese with the knifecould have been one of Long Shadow's men, too. I'll bet he was the onewho put the finger on us. He must have heard us ask for Chahda. LongShadow and his men knew Chahda, of course, and they would certainly tryto get rid of reinforcements like us."

  "Right," Zircon agreed. "Perhaps the fault was ours in not waiting forCharlie to tell us himself, although I don't see how we could haveknown."

  "I think that is it," Chahda said. "Charlie is a friend. So the men onthe junk with purple sails were Long Shadow's, and you plenty lucky youget out with your skins, believe me."

  Zircon rubbed his chin. "Chahda, our instructions from Bradley were tobring a rubber boat and a Nansen bottle. That must mean the heavy watersource has something to do with a lake or river. Is that true?"

  "Don't know about those things," Chahda said. "I know only that theheavy water comes from a place near here. I know how to get there and Iwill take you. I do not think we will like this place much. It has a badname."

  "What kind of bad name?" Scotty asked.

  "In English," Chahda said, "it is 'The Caves of Fear'!"