ed the book and jumped to his feet, reaching for his
rifle.

"It's not another ambush," Rick panted. He held out the skin. "It's
this. Professor, what is this transparent stuff inside?"

Zircon took the skin and ran his finger tips over the lining. He held it
up so that it caught the light, then looked at Rick curiously. "That's
odd," he muttered. "This is certainly a goatskin. And almost surely,
this is a plastic lining. I can't be sure, of course, but I've never
seen anything like this in nature."

"It's a goatskin water bag," Rick said excitedly. He pointed to Ko. "He
had a dozen of them."

Zircon bellowed, "So! Then if this is plastic...."

"It was a clever stunt," Rick finished. "No one would suspect coolies
toting goatskin water bags. And even if anyone did suspect, he wouldn't
be able to tell anything by a casual examination."

Sing scratched his head. "Forgive my stupidity," he said. "The
suspicious one wouldn't be able to tell what? If this lining is plastic,
it is a senseless waste. Water keeps cool in a goatskin bag because of
evaporation through the pores. It certainly couldn't evaporate through
plastic."

"No," Zircon agreed. "That is the idea. They don't want evaporation.
Also, the plastic guarantees the water's purity."

Sing said no more, but he was obviously puzzled. Nor could the Americans
tell him what had excited them, that they had found the means by which
the substance they sought was carried to the coast.

Rick had a quick vision of Chinese coolies making their slow way through
the countryside, unnoticed because water-bearers were so commonplace.
But the coolies in this case carried bags lined with plastic, and the
stuff that made the legs thrust out stiffly and that swelled the bag was
not ordinary water! It was the stuff which had brought them halfway
across the world.

CHAPTER XII

The Buddhist Monk

The party topped a high rise and stopped, spellbound at the scene that
spread before them. They were on the rim of a great valley. Far on the
other side of the valley stood the high peaks of the Himalayas, a mighty
screen between them and India.

Below, a lush green path marked the course of a wide river. On either
side of it, sloping up to the mountains, was the lighter green of
grasslands.

Sing pointed. "There is Korse Lenken."

Rick had to look hard before he saw it. Then he began to make it out.
The monastery was built under a great cliff on one side of the valley.