in the
narrative which I am in a position to substantiate. What I can't prove
you must take my word for. But I warn you that the story is tough.

"I have a certain reputation for recklessness. I don't say it may not be
inherent; but if you care to look the matter up, you will find that the
craziest phase of my life is that covering the last seven years. The
reason why I have courted death during that period I am now about to
explain.

"Although my father was no traveller, I think I was born with the
wanderlust. I started to explore the world in my Harvard vacations, and
when college days were over I set about the business whole-heartedly.
Where I went and what I did, up to the time that my travels led me to
India, is of no interest to you or to anybody else, because in India
I found heaven and hell--a discovery enough to satisfy the most
adventurous man alive.

"At this present time, gentlemen, I am not going to load you with
geographical details. The exact spot at which my life ended, in a sense
which I presently hope to make clear, can be located at leisure by the
proper authorities, to whom I will supply a detailed map which I have in
my possession. I am even prepared to guide the expedition, if the Indian
Government considers an expedition necessary and cares to accept
my services. It's good enough for you to know that pig-sticking and
tiger-hunting having begun to pall upon me somewhat, I broke away from
Anglo-Indian hospitality, and headed up country, where the Himalayas
beckoned. I had figured on crossing at a point where no man has crossed
yet, but that project was interrupted, and I'm here to tell you why.

"Up there in the northwest provinces they told me I was crazy when I
outlined, one night in a mess, of which I was a guest at the time, my
scheme for heading northeast toward a tributary of the Ganges which
would bring me to the neighbourhood of Khatmandu, right under the shadow
of Everest.

"'Once you leave Khatmandu,' said the mess president, 'you are outside
the pale as far as British influence is concerned. I suppose you
understand that?'

"I told him I quite understood it.

"'You can't reach Tibet that way,' he said.

"'Never mind, sir,' I answered. 'I can try, if I feel like it.'

"Three days later I set out. I am not superstitious, and if I take a
long time to make a plan, once I've made it I generally stick to it. But
right at the very beginning of my expedition I had a warning, if ever a