The Mistery of Belicena Villca evidently unaware of his plans . The scoundrel thus assured himself a brilliant alibi , since they would inform in their return to Germany that “ the Kamerad Oskar Feil had disappeared in action ”, in the course of the Operation Altwesten !
This was what shortened the expedition ' s stay at the Ashram , since Schaeffer did not want to take the risk that the deceived would discover by chance that Oskar was a prisoner of the Duskhas . Precisely , with the complicity of the Duskhas , who hypocritically lent themselves to the farce , eighteen of his Comrades searched inch by inch the entire area for two days trying to find him . Apparently only four officers shared Schaeffer ' s secret objectives .
The effectiveness of this Kâulica in spying on Schaeffer came from the fact that he wasn ' t a mere Tibetan porter , although he served as such by order of his Gurus , but a South African of Nepalese origin who perfectly understood English , German , and Dutch . His family , of the Gurkha race , that is , Indo-Aryan , deserted during the Boer War and took refuge in German territories , finally fleeing to Bhutan after 1918 , when Germany was stripped of its colonies . Both him , whose name was Bangi , and his brother Gangi , were entrusted as children to the care of Kâulikas monks , who Initiated them in the Tantra and finally they were destined in Lhasa , as secret agents in the service of the Rajah Dharma of Bhutan . There they managed to be hired by Schaeffer , who took them for Sherpas , without noticing the difference in Race . But they were not Sherpas but two Gurkha warriors who professed a core hatred towards the English and who were patiently awaiting some new British war to enlist in the opposing side .
The spies managed to hear the requests that the traitor made of the Lamas of the Turmeric Bonnet and heard how Master Djual Khul intervened in his favor , agreeing to go through the Portal of Shambhala as soon as possible . They also learned of the existence of " an offering to Rigden Jyepo " propitiated by Ernst Schaeffer and realized that Oskar Feil had been handed over by a stratagem . In view of the fact that his fellow Kaulikas did not arrive in time to prevent the sacrifice , they would try to find out where the prisoner was in order to help him , a very difficult thing in that village inhabited by 2,000 Duskhas and 500 Lamas .
Both brothers gave themselves to observe the surroundings of the Monastery with the utmost caution , rightly presuming that the prisoner had been locked up in a different place from the one occupied by the expeditionaries . Indeed , they found that one of the outer Temples , located on an islet in the Lake Kyaring , was closed and guarded by armed guards .
They communicated the news to the German spies of the S . D ., requesting them support to discover the maneuver and free Oskar Feil . The response of one of them , a typical Western secret agent response , took the breath away from the Gurkhas :
– We informed Germany months in advance of the plans that Schaeffer had for Oskar Feil , and the orders we received were clear and strict , as you well know : ‘ wait for special reinforcements that will prevent Ernst Schaeffer from completing the Operation Altwesten . Signed : Heydrich , Himmler , Hitler ’. In other words , they told us nothing about Oskar Feil . We appreciate our Comrade very much and we are very sorry for his luck , but in similar cases , the Secret Service regulations prevent acting by own initiative , since it has been established with absolute precision that the priority of our mission is the Operation Altwesten . Oskar Feil ' s rescue conspires against the discretion that we must maintain until the end of the Operation Altwesten , in addition to contradicting express orders and constituting a suicidal action , after which there will most likely be three victims instead of one sacrificed by these savages . In short , we will do nothing and we request that you proceed in the same way , as there is still a long way to go and we need your help to send the information through Tibet ”.
The Gurkhas assured to the satisfaction of the SS that they would not intervene , but discussing the case among themselves they concluded that the orders of the Germans did not reach them in the same way as the vows made to Shiva to combat the treason and the cowardice . What did the infringement of a cold bureaucratic regulation mean in the face of the wrath of Shiva , who punished bad warriors preventing them from accessing the Supreme Shakti ? And hadn ' t they sworn to fight to the death the members of the White Fraternity ? Their duties as spies of the Dharma Rajah , authorized by the Kâula Circle , dispensed them from many religious obligations , but allowing a human victim to be sacrificed in holocaust to the head of the White Fraternity fulfilled all measures . No Siddha could justify that sin and they would surely be punished in the Bhardo . No . If for the Germans the priority was to reach the Gate of Shambhala , the abode of the Demons , for them the priority was the Kula , the manifestation of the Divine Shakti . And the Kula would be lost if they didn ' t act as true Akula warriors . They would , therefore , be at stake to help Oskar Feil .
The second and final night Schaeffer ' s group would spend at the Ashram Jafran , the Gurkas decided to act . Without hesitation they sank into the icy waters of Lake Kyaring and swimming silently surrounded the islet to emerge at the back of the Temple . The sentries had noticed nothing . They
445