o Mongol _yurts_,
which rested beside the river a mile away like a pair of great white
birds.

"Roy and I galloped ahead over the soft, slushy grass, nearly
blinded by the rain, and hobbling our horses outside the nearest
_yurt_, went inside with only the formality of a shout. The room was
so dark that I could hardly see, and the heavy smoke from the open
fire burned and stung our eyes. On the floor sat a frowzy-looking
woman, blowing at the fire, and a yellow lama, his saucer hat hidden
under its waterproof covering--apparently he was a traveler like
ourselves.

"The frowzy lady smiled and motioned us to sit down on a low couch
beside the door. As we did so, I saw a small face peering out of a
big sheepskin coat and two black eyes staring at us unblinkingly. It
was a little Mongol girl whose nap had been disturbed by so many
visitors. She was rather a pretty little thing and so small--just a
little older than my own baby in Peking--that I wanted to play with
her. She was shy at first, but when I held out a picture
advertisement from a package of cigarettes she gradually edged
nearer, encouraged by her mother. Soon she was leaning on my knee.
Then without taking her black eyes from my face, she solemnly put
one finger in her mouth and jerked it out with a loud 'pop,' much to
her mother's gratification. But when she decided to crawl up into my
lap, my interest began to wane, for she exuded such a concentrated
'essence of Mongol' and rancid mutton fat that I was almost
suffocated.

"Our hostess was busy stirring a thick, white soup in a huge
caldron, and by the time the carts arrived every one was dipping in
with their wooden bowls. We begged to be excused, since we had
already had some experience with Mongol soup.

"The _yurt_ really was not a bad place when we became accustomed to
the bitter smoke and the combination of native odors. There were two
couches, about six inches from the ground, covered with sheepskins
and furs. Opposite the door stood a chest--rather a nice one--on top
of which was a tiny god with a candle burning before it, and a
photograph of the Hutukhtu."

We had dinner in the _yurt_, and the boys slept there while we used
our Mongol tent. There was no difficulty in erecting it even in the
wind and rain, but it would have been impossible to have put up the
American wall tent. Even though it was the fifth of June, there was
a sharp frost during the night, and we were thankful for our fur
sleepin