of these natives in the hills....  They seem to be a mongrel mixture of Tartar and Mongolian who are always ready, like the huge ungainly bears we have encountered in our pilgrimage, to grapple and devour one for the mere pleasure of seeing blood!...  Maria seems quite interested in these notes,—­today she insisted on giving me her impressions of how a NOVEL should be written....  She says that to make a story interesting it should be all movement from the opening line to the final wedding bells....  When I told her that I was writing HISTORY she pouted prettily and remarked:  ’I never think of history without wondering WHO subsidized the writer of the misleading fairy tale.’

“...  This girl has lived close enough to the source of history to know what PROPAGANDA is....  Still, I like her uncomplaining buoyancy of spirits in the trial we are going through....  We are headed SOUTH toward Kuria and Khotan, where arrangements have been made to receive us by some people who know our secret and will respect the rights of ASYLUM in a land where oblivion may mean liberty and love!...”

40.  There seems to have been quite a skip in the notations of the diary.  Evidently the diarist has become MORE INTERESTED in something else: 

“The fact that we have been on FOREIGN SOIL during the last fifteen days has considerably relaxed our nerves....  Aside from the rumor constantly reaching us that the Mongolian mercenaries are in the employ of the Bolsheviki and offered BIG REWARDS for our capture, we have not been disturbed in mind or bodies....  Maria asked me today if I were any relation to CHARLES JAMES FOX, whose oratory she claims to greatly admire....  When I informed her that I had never met this gentleman her eyes grew very big....

“‘What ARE you?’ she inquired.  ’Are you an Englishman, or a Russian,—­you CAN NOT BE A GERMAN,—­or ARE YOU AN AMERICAN?  Oh, I just hope you ARE an AMERICAN!...  When I informed her that my ancestors fought beside Kosciusko and Pulaski and that their names might be found on the muster rolls of the First Line Regiment of New York Colony and State, along with the names of Goose Van Schaick and Jeremiah Van Rensselaer, she burst her sides with laughter....  ’What a happy family you must have been!’ she rippled.  ’When a Fox and a Goose may dwell in peace and amity together there is nothing that is not possible for their race!’

“...  This quick-witted girl, certainly, BELONGS in the UNITED STATES—­the plains of Eastern Turkestan are NO place for her....”

41.  There seems to be another skip in the neglected diary.  Evidently the scenery has lost all its charms....  He merely notes: 

“My ‘prisoner’ seems VERY MUCH interested in my family connections....  He seems jolly enough about it....  BUT I can see that something is DISTURBING him....  He is very obstinate in little things, lately....  When we get into Cashmere perhaps his mind will be diverted....  He loves the languid charm of scenic beauty nearly as much as the flattery of his wife....  Anyway, WHAT can I do?...  There is a naturalness about this whole affair that one simply CAN’T get away from....  Danger has a generous way of bestowing blessings on the BOLD...”