and seized
and carried off every thing that they could find that was valuable.
They made prisoner of Purta, too, and carried her away a captive. The
plunder they divided among themselves, but Purta they sent as a
present to a certain khan who reigned over a neighboring country, and
whose favor they wished to secure. The name of this chieftain was Vang
Khan. As this Vang Khan figures somewhat conspicuously in the
subsequent history of Temujin, a full account of him will be given in
the next chapter. All that is necessary to say here is, that the
intention of the captors of Purta, in sending her to him as a present,
was that he should make her his wife. It was the custom of these khans
to have as many wives as they could obtain, so that when prisoners of
high rank were taken in war, if there were any young and beautiful
women among them, they were considered as charming presents to send to
any great prince or potentate near, whom the captors were desirous of
pleasing. It made no difference, in such cases, whether the person who
was to receive the present were young or old. Sometimes the older he
was the more highly he would prize such a gift.

Vang Khan, it happened, was old. He was old enough to be Temujin's
father. Indeed, he had been in the habit of calling Temujin his son.
He had been in alliance with Yezonkai, Temujin's father, some years
before, when Temujin was quite a boy, and it was at that time that he
began to call him his son.

[Illustration: PURTA IN THE TENT OF VANG KHAN.]

Accordingly, when Purta was brought to him by the messengers who had
been sent in charge of her, and presented to him in his tent, he said,

"She is very beautiful, but I can not take her for my wife, for she is
the wife of my son. I can not marry the wife of my son."

Vang Khan, however, received Purta under his charge, gave her a place
in his household, and took good care of her.

When Temujin returned home from his expedition, and learned what had
happened during his absence, he was greatly distressed at the loss of
his wife. Not long afterward he ascertained where she was, and he
immediately sent a deputation to Vang Khan asking him to send her
home. With this request Vang Khan immediately complied, and Purta set
out on her return. She was stopped on the way, however, by the birth
of her child. It was a son. As soon as the child was born it was
determined to continue the journey, for there was danger, if they
delayed, that som