"The gems will not be missed until the following day--and I have taken precautions to cover our trail. Yesterday a man left with a caravan of yaks, and several miles beyond the _tchorten_ outpost he is waiting. There we will change pack-animals. He will go north, along the road to Mongolia, with the ponies and mules; while we will travel south, with the yaks. The soldiers at the outpost will describe us as having been on mules, and our pursuers will follow the tracks of the horses and mules. When they discover their mistake we will be near the border of India--for we shall travel along the Himalayas to Gyangtse. There the District Agent will protect us."

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