Chapter XXVIII
The Mistery of Belicena Villca
I want to warn the reader that I did not have similar luck to his , for the narration of Uncle Kurt , referring to the rescue operation of his Comrad , Oskar Feil , demanded several days . Without mentioning those interruptions , I have transcript the main parts in a correlative way so as not to cause impatience , impatience similar to that which , as one might suppose , befell me in those days .
I will only add that , as will surely happen to the reader , that feat in which Uncle Kurt participated , immediately reminded me of “ Nimrod ' s Feat ”, related by Belicena Villca . Undoubtedly , the Tibet adventure had a seal of magical heroism , a style of " boundless intrepidness ", which resembled the story of the Kassite King . Otherwise , the Enemy was the same : the Enemy of the Eternal Spirit , the Enemy of the Hyperborean Wisdom , the Enemy of " our Banners ", as Uncle Kurt called it , that is , the White Fraternity of Chang Shambhala and his earthly agents .
In the same way , I will collect in the following chapters Uncle Kurt ' s most interesting accounts without intervening . Naturally , I will use such a criterion as far as possible , that is , up to the Epilogue , Epilogue ?, that was when Uncle Kurt ' s account , and every account , had to be interrupted . I , for my part , already was in good health at this point , and awaited only the culmination of the story to fulfill Belicena Villca ' s request : with each passing day my determination grew , because , at every moment , things were getting irreversibly clearer around the Hyperborean Wisdom . As I recall , this is how Uncle Kurt went on one morning :
Chapter XXIX
We rode without stopping until we crossed the Chang-Lam road . Next to the bridge over the Yellow River , in the same place where we found him , we left the Gurkha . He would remain hidden awaiting the rest of the expedition , that is , the two Kaulika monks and the five Holite porters . We , on the other hand , would continue for several kilometers to camp in the mountains of the N . E .
It was not convenient to let us be seen for the moment because the attack on the Dushka village would cause the consequent alarm in the region and we ignored the reaction from the official authorities of Tibet , who may have suspected our intervention .
It was beginning to dawn when we stopped , being evident that the good weather that had been with us until then was over . Dense clouds swiftly ploughed through the heights and an icy breeze , that chilled us to the bones , heralded the imminent storm with no possible misunderstandings . It was a snowstorm and the most protected place would be , paradoxically , the open field : by camping against the rocks of a ravine we could end buried by an avalanche . We finally hit a high depression , a small valley of 30 square meters surrounded by gentle slopes , and we worked with celerity to set up the high mountain tents .
At noon it was impossible to stay out in the open , because the breeze had turned into a frank blizzard , and we had to take refuge in the tents : only the Tibetan horses , like the sons of Zephyrus that they were , naturally resisted the inclement wind . That offshoot of the N . W . monsoon , shook the tents violently and whistled a high and desolate wail , a moan that perhaps arose from the soul of Rigden Jyepo as he mourned the fate of his worshipers .
Inside my tent , another storm threatened to break out . But this one was not caused by the wind but by the tempestuous attitude of Von Grossen . For the Standartenführer the operation against the Duskhas was pure fun , a waste of time . His mission , to catch up with Schaeffer ' s expedition , had not been fulfilled ; and time continued to pass uselessly . According to his logical evaluations , now we were worse than before : – firstly – he reasoned-- we did not know the secret path that linked the Portal of Shambhala with the Gate of Shambhala , near Lake Koko Nor ; secondly , it seemed evident that we could no longer follow them as before , that is , counting on the collaboration of the Kâulika network , since the Gurkha spies were left out of the expedition ; and thirdly , it could be expected that throughout that little or not at all frequented road there would be no inhabitants to whom inquire ; but , in fourth place , it would be highly unlikely that if there were , they would provide the required information , after we discovered our affiliation contrary to the White Fraternity destroying the community of Lamas of the Turmeric Bonnet .
--How , then , how would we go about reaching them , according to the orders of the Division III of the R . S . H . A .?
I pretended to ignore these questions and I was content to explain to Oskar Feil the true causes of his abduction at the hands of the Duskhas : indeed , he had been ambushed ; the trap was part of a plot between Ernst Schaeffer and the Lamas of the Turmeric Bonnet , whose purpose was to provide a human victim to the Cult of Rigden Jyepo ; however , such a conspiracy had its roots in Germany , in the traitors who called themselves " the Healthy Forces of Germany ”, who planned that
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