Turning about to see what it could be, I caught sight of two stout fellows armed with Tibetan swords. On their approach, I asked them what they wanted. Abruptly picking up a stone, the younger of them threatened me and said: “What do you mean?”
“Run off,” he menaced, “or you shall die.”
Then I took my seat on a stone by the roadside and gave myself up for lost. The men strode toward me, and violently seized my stick.
“Tell us what you have and where you come from,” they said.
“I am a pilgrim,” I answered, “and I come from Tise.”
“You have money?”
“I have a little,” I said, “not worth taking, as I was robbed at Jangthang.”
“What have you on your back?”
“Some food and the Scriptures.”
“Unpack it and let us see; you may have much money there.”