after drinking tea at djam bolon's yurta i rode back to my quartersand packed my few belongings. the lama turgut was already there.
"the minister of war will travel with us," he whispered. "it isnecessary.""all right," i answered, and rode off to olufsen to summon him.
but olufsen unexpectedly announced that he was forced to spend somefew days more in urga--a fatal decision for him, for a month laterhe was reported killed by sepailoff who remained as commandant ofthe city after baron ungern's departure. the war minister, astout, young mongol, joined our caravan. when we had gone aboutsix miles from the city, we saw an automobile coming up behind us.
the lama shrunk up inside his coat and looked at me with fear. ifelt the now familiar atmosphere of danger and so opened my holsterand threw over the safety catch of my revolver. soon the motorstopped alongside our caravan. in it sat sepailoff with a smilingface and beside him his two executioners, chestiakoff and jdanoff.
sepailoff greeted us very warmly and asked:
"you are changing your horses in khazahuduk? does the road crossthat pass ahead? i don't know the way and must overtake an envoywho went there."the minister of war answered that we would be in khazahuduk thatevening and gave sepailoff directions as to the road. the motorrushed away and, when it had topped the pass, he ordered one of themongols to gallop forward to see whether it had not stoppedsomewhere near the other side. the mongol whipped his steed andsped away. we followed slowly.
"what is the matter?" i asked. "please explain!"the minister told me that djam bolon yesterday received informationthat sepailoff planned to overtake me on the way and kill me.
sepailoff suspected that i had stirred up the baron against him.
djam bolon reported the matter to the baron, who organized thiscolumn for my safety. the returning mongol reported that the motorcar had gone on out of sight.
"now," said the minister, "we shall take quite another route sothat the colonel will wait in vain for us at khazahuduk."we turned north at undur dobo and at night were in the camp of alocal prince. here we took leave of our minister, receivedsplendid fresh horses and quickly continued our trip to the east,leaving behind us "the man with the head like a saddle" againstwhom i had been warned by the old fortune teller in the vicinity ofvan kure.
after twelve days without further adventures we reached the firstrailway station on the chinese eastern railway, from where itraveled in unbelievable luxury to peking.
* * * * * *surrounded by the comforts and conveniences of the splendid hotelat peking, while shedding all the attributes of traveler, hunterand warrior, i could not, however, throw off the spell of thosenine days spent in urga, where i had daily met baron ungern,"incarnated god of war." the newspapers carrying accounts of thebloody march of the baron through transbaikalia brought thepictures ever fresh to my mind. even now, although more than sevenmonths have elapsed, i cannot forget those nights of madness,inspiration and hate.
the predictions are fulfilled. approximately one hundred thirtydays afterwards baron ungern was captured by the bolsheviki throughthe treachery of his officers and, it is reported, was executed atthe end of september.
baron r. f. ungern von sternberg. . . . like a bloody storm ofavenging karma he spread over central asia. what did he leavebehind him? the severe order to his soldiers closing with thewords of the revelations of st. john:
"let no one check the revenge against the corrupter and slayer ofthe soul of the russian people. revolution must be eradicated fromthe world. against it the revelations of st. john have warned usthus: 'and the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and deckedwith gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand agolden cup full of abominations, even the unclean things of herfornication, and upon her forehead a name written, mystery, babylonthe great, the mother of the harlots and of the abominations of theearth. and i saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints,and with the blood of the martyrs of jesus.'"it is a human document, a document of russian and, perhaps, ofworld tragedy.
but there remained another and more important trace. in the mongolyurtas and at the fires of buriat, mongol, djungar, kirkhiz,kalmuck and tibetan shepherds still speak the legend born of thisson of crusaders and privateers:
"from the north a white warrior came and called on the mongols tobreak their chains of slavery, which fell upon our freed soil.
this white warrior was the incarnated jenghiz khan and he predictedthe coming of the greatest of all mongols who will spread the fairfaith of buddha and the glory and power of the offspring ofjenghiz, ugadai and kublai khan. so it shall be!"asia is awakened and her sons utter bold words.
it were well for the peace of the world if they go forth asdisciples of the wise creators, ugadai and sultan baber, ratherthan under the spell of the "bad demons" of the destructivetamerlane.
