om which he took out and showed to me a
large gold ring set with a magnificent ruby carved with the sign of the
swastika.

"This ring was always worn on the right hand of the Khans Jenghiz and
Kublai," said the Bogdo.

When the secretary had closed the chest, the Bogdo ordered him to
summon his favorite Maramba, whom he directed to read some pages from an
ancient book lying on the table. The Lama began to read monotonously.

"When Gushi Khan, the Chief of all the Olets or Kalmucks, finished the
war with the 'Red Caps' in Tibet, he carried out with him the miraculous
'black stone' sent to the Dalai Lama by the 'King of the World.' Gushi
Khan wanted to create in Western Mongolia the capital of the Yellow
Faith; but the Olets at that time were at war with the Manchu Emperors
for the throne of China and suffered one defeat after another. The last
Khan of the Olets, Amursana, ran away into Russia but before his escape
sent to Urga the sacred 'black stone.' While it remained in Urga so that
the Living Buddha could bless the people with it, disease and misfortune
never touched the Mongolians and their cattle. About one hundred years
ago, however, some one stole the sacred stone and since then Buddhists
have vainly sought it throughout the whole world. With its disappearance
the Mongol people began gradually to die."

"Enough!" ordered Bogdo Gheghen. "Our neighbors hold us in contempt.
They forget that we were their sovereigns but we preserve our holy
traditions and we know that the day of triumph of the Mongolian tribes
and the Yellow Faith will come. We have the Protectors of the Faith, the
Buriats. They are the truest guardians of the bequests of Jenghiz Khan."

So spoke the Living Buddha and so have spoken the ancient books!

CHAPTER XLII

THE BOOKS OF MIRACLES

Prince Djam Bolon asked a Maramba to show us the library of the Living
Buddha. It is a big room occupied by scores of writers who prepare the
works dealing with the miracles of all the Living Buddhas, beginning
with Undur Gheghen and ending with those of the Gheghens and Hutuktus of
the different Mongol monasteries. These books are afterwards distributed
through all the Lama Monasteries, temples and schools of Bandi. A
Maramba read two selections:

". . . The beatific Bogdo Gheghen breathed on a mirror. Immediately
as through a haze there appeared the picture of a valley in which many
thousands of thousands of warriors fought one against another. . . .