So Temudjin went and when he entered the yurta Sorgan Shira was frightened. “Why come now to me?” inquired he. “I told thee to go to thy mother and brothers.” “When a bird is pursued by a falcon,” said Temudjin, “it hides in thick grass and thus saves itself.”
“We should be of less value than grass were we not to help this poor youth, who thus begs us,” said to himself Sorgan Shira. The boys took the kang from the captive and burned it, then they hid Temudjin in a cart which they piled high with wool packs and told Kadan, their sister, to guard the wool carefully, and not speak of Temudjin to any living person.
The Taidjuts appeared on the third day. “Has no one here seen that runaway?” asked they of Sorgan. “Search where ye will,” was the answer. They searched the whole yurta, then they searched around the house in all places, and threw out the wool till they came to the cart box. They were going to empty this also when Sorgan laughed at them, saying, “How could any man live in a cart load of wool this hot weather?” They prodded the wool then with lances; one of these entered Temudjin’s leg, but [[23]]he was silent and moved not. The Taidjuts were satisfied, and went away without emptying the cart box.
“Thou hast come very near killing me,” said Sorgan to Temudjin. “The smoke of my house would have vanished, and my fire would have died out forever had they found thee. Go now to thy mother and brothers.”
He gave Temudjin a white-nosed, sorrel mare without a saddle, gave him a boiled lamb which was fat because reared by two mothers, gave him a skin of mare’s milk, a bow and two arrows, but no flint lest he strike fire on the way, and betray himself.
Temudjin went to the ruins of his first house and then higher up the Onon till he reached the Kimurha. He saw tracks near that river and followed them on to Mount Baitar. In front of that mountain is a smaller one, Horchukin; there he found all his brothers and Hoelun his mother. Temudjin moved now with them to Mount Burhan. Near Burhan is the high land Gulyalgu, through this land runs the river Sangur, on the bank of that river is a hill called Kara Jiruge and a green colored lake near the foot of it. At this lake Temudjin fixed his yurta, trapped marmots and field mice, and thus they lived on for a season. At last some Taidjut thieves drove off eight horses from Temudjin, leaving only the white-nosed sorrel mare which Sorgan had given him, and on which Belgutai had gone to hunt marmots. He came back that evening with a load of them.
“The horses have been stolen,” said Temudjin. “I will go for them,” said Belgutai. “Thou couldst not find them,” answered Kassar, “I will go.” “Ye could not find them, and if ye found them ye could not bring them back,” called out Temudjin, “I will go.”
Temudjin set his brothers aside as useless at that juncture, their authority and worth were to him as nothing. Temudjin’s is the only, the genuine authority. He rode off on the white-nosed sorrel mare, and followed the trail of the eight stolen horses. He traveled three days and on the fourth morning early he saw near the road a young man who had led up a mare and was milking her. “Hast thou seen eight gray horses?” asked Temudjin. “Before sunrise eight horses went past me, I will show thee the trail over which they were driven.” Temudjin’s weary beast was let out then to pasture; a white horse with a black stripe on its spine was led in to go farther. The youth hid his leather pail and his bag in the [[24]]grass very carefully. “Thou art tired,” said he to Temudjin, “and art anxious. My name is Boörchu, I will go with thee for thy horses. Nahu Boyan is my father, I am his one son and he loves me.”
So they set out together and traveled three days in company. On the third day toward evening they came to a camp ground and saw the eight horses. “Stay at this place O my comrade,” said Temudjin, “I will go and drive off those horses.”
“If I have come hither to help thee why should I stay alone and do nothing?” asked Boörchu. So they went on together and drove off the horses. The thieves hurried after them promptly and one, who rode a white stallion, had a lasso and was gaining on the comrades. “Give me thy quiver and bow,” said Boörchu, “I will meet him with an arrow.” “Let me use the bow,” answered Temudjin, “those enemies might wound thee.” The man on the white horse was directing his lasso and ready to hurl it when Temudjin’s arrow put an end to his action. That night Temudjin and Boörchu made a journey which would have taken three days for any other men, and saw the yurta of Nahu Boyan in the distance at daybreak.