Page:Harold Lamb--Marching Sands.djvu/78

 side. On this chair an imposing mandarin was seated with the red button and silk robe of officialdom.

"Wu Fang Chien!" whispered Delabar.

Gray nodded. It was their friend of Honanfu, with his thin beard, placid face and spectacles.

"What are they doing?" asked Gray softly.

The murmur of voices persisted. For some time Delabar listened. Then he pointed out a man in beggar's dress kneeling beside the mandarin's chair.

"It is some kind of trial," he said doubtfully. "The priest by Wu Fang Chien is an ascetic—what they call a fakir in India. But he is not the criminal."

They moved nearer the opening, being secure from observation from below. Gray wrinkled his nose at the mingled scent of incense and Mongolian sweat that floated up through the opening.

"Wu Fang Chien is saying that he has come to Liangchowfu to sit in judgment on the evildoers who are enemies of the god," interpreted Delabar. "He has called the priests to witness the proceedings. Gray looked at Delabar curiously. He had caught a word or two of the talk.

"Does he name the offenders?" he asked.

"No. He says the priesthood has been informed that two men plan to desecrate a holy place. He has come to catch them red-handed."