My host finally acquiesced in the line of argument I pursued, but nevertheless seemed quite concerned about my future safety.
The 11th had come, and Buḍḍha Vajra and I reported ourselves at the palace at the appointed hour. In the waiting-room I found a number of officers and officials as before. A secretary came to me and took down carefully in English what amounted to my curriculum vitæ. Presently, and quite suddenly too, another high official who spoke English with great fluency wanted to know from me if I had not drawn maps of Tibet and Nepāl, and if he could see them. I denied the charge. The official insisting, however, on the correctness of his suspicion, I told him that he was welcome to cherish his own suspicion, as I for my part could rest contented on the saying that detectives see thieves in most people. He was saying that his suspicion was not his alone but was shared by a large number of people, when we were summoned to the royal presence.
We were then shown into a fine room after going up four flights of stairs. I saw the throne occupied by one whom I had taken to be a junior member of the Cabinet at Beelganji. The King de facto sat by the King de jure. A few military officers and some Chamberlains remained standing outside the room. I was told to sit before the de facto King and I took my seat after Tibetan fashion, sitting cross-legged on the floor. The de facto King opened the conversation as follows:
“You are ready now to tell me your secret, I suppose; what is it you wish to tell me most?”
“I possess no secret, Your Highness,” I answered. “What I most earnestly solicit is that Your Highness will be kind enough to take the trouble of forwarding my petition to the Dalai Lama of Tibet and also procuring for me the Buḍḍhist Scriptures in Samskṛṭ.”
The King appeared disappointed but not discomforted. He next wanted to know the gist of my petition. I replied that I pointed out in it that I was in truth a Buḍḍhist priest of Japan, that my Tibetan friends and acquaintances in trouble had associated with me without knowing my nationality; that I was the sole cause of all the trouble, and that those Tibetans had committed no crime; that I would come to Tibet in order to clear my friends and show their innocence, if the Dalai Lama so willed; that if my coming into Tibet was not permissible, it was incumbent on His Holiness to send to Japan a number of competent scholars to ascertain the truth about me before he punished his innocent subjects; that I was willing to find means to bear the cost of the proceeding; and so on.
After attentively listening to my recital, the King, who now seemed to have more or less banished his suspicion, said:
“I see; I shall then want two copies of your petition, one in Tibetan and the other in Nepālese; I will forward the one in Tibetan to His Holiness the Dalai Lama for you, and shall keep for myself the Nepālese copy.”
The order meant that I had not come to Nepāl in vain, and in secret I wept with joy, and I thanked His Highness with all my heart. Being then asked if I had not really disclosed my identity to any one before leaving Tibet, I admitted that I had taken the ex-Minister of the Treasury alone into my confidence.