"I don't know," replied Kamuka. "Last I saw, he was climbing into a basket that looked like a hat. Now he is vanished. Complete."
Biff whipped off the hat, somewhat red-faced and flustered, only to enjoy a laugh himself when he saw Chandra and Kamuka peering over counters and behind racks as though they were trying to find where he had gone. Then Barma Shah was handing Biff some smaller hats of the same style, and among them, Biff discovered one that was just his size.
"Very good," approved Barma Shah. "That brim still comes low enough to hide your hair rather well, and the sun visor helps too."
The visor was of dark, transparent plastic set in the front of the hat brim, and it added somewhat to the depth of Biff's tan. It proved helpful, too, when Biff was driving the jeep, for Barma Shah decided to travel along secondary highways that lacked the shade provided by the Grand Trunk Road.
Traffic, too, was less, but rough stretches of road slowed their trip. There were delays, too, at rivers where there were no bridges, only ferries that looked like tiny floats or rafts, the sort that might tip the jeep into the first current they encountered. But the rafts were well balanced, and the natives were skillful with their poles and oars. Each crossing was made without incident.
Barma Shah had brought sleeping bags and bedding so that they could stop at dak bungalows, or rest houses, along the way. To all appearances, Barma Shah might have been a private tutor taking some privileged scholars on an educational tour of the Indian byroads; and in fact, the boys were learning a lot.
Biff was especially impressed by the monkeys. He thought he had already seen a lot of them in India, but now they were boldly jumping over the jeep whenever it stopped and ready to snatch up whatever they saw and wanted. Chandra said there were a hundred million monkeys in India. Biff was ready to believe it when they stopped at a dak bungalow near Agra and had to slam doors in the faces of the creatures to keep them from coming in the bedrooms.
That afternoon they drove into Agra to see the famed Taj Mahal on the bank of the Jamuna River. One of the world's most beautiful buildings, it impressed Biff as a dream brought to reality in living marble. Later, they went to a telegraph office where Biff sent a wire to his mother, which simply stated:
ALL WELL. STILL ON WAY. LOVE TO YOU AND TWINS.
Barma Shah decided that the telegram told enough, yet not too much. He smiled when Biff also showed him a postcard with a picture of the Taj Mahal, which had the printed statement: India's most priceless jewel, for you to hold in memory. Under that, Biff had written, "And I really am holding it, bag and all. Biff." He had addressed the card to Likake Mahenili at Darjeeling.