"I don't know," began Barma Shah, "unless—"
His eyes narrowed as he spoke. He was looking off toward the nearest mountain pass, and Biff, following his gaze, saw a tiny figure coming toward them at a jog-trot.
"What is it?" Biff asked anxiously. "Not—not a Yeti?"
"No, no." Barma Shah had raised a pair of binoculars and was studying the approaching man. "It is a longompa, a special kind of runner, who carries messages from one Lama to another. A longompa can keep up that pace all day."
"And he may have a message for us?"
"Very possibly."
The rangy longompa never slackened speed until he pulled into the camp. There, in some uncanny fashion, he picked out the leaders of the party. But when he approached Barma Shah and Charles Keene, he did not hand them the envelope he carried. Instead, he gave it to Biff. Then, with a faraway stare, the runner started off again, oblivious to everything—including the weather, for despite the freezing temperature, he wore only a simple goat skin and a pair of open sandals.
Biff opened the envelope and brought out a sheet of parchment which proved to be a map. He showed it to Uncle Charlie and Barma Shah. Together, they studied it in the firelight, for it was now dusk. The map puzzled them completely until Charles Keene declared: "I don't get it. Somebody has drawn what looks like a streak of lightning—"
"That's it! The Place of Living Thunder!" Barma Shah exclaimed.
He brought out another map and spread it in the firelight. It showed the whole course that the party had followed. Near the present campsite was a zig-zag line, exactly like the one on the parchment, but on a smaller scale.