"
"Kill us! But I thought they believed we were saints!"
"Priest say, that just it; too much saint altogether. People hereabout
all telling that the sahib and the mem-sahibs very great saints; much
holy, like Buddha. Make picture; work miracles. People think, if them
kill you, and have your tomb here, very holy place; very great Karma;
very good for trade; plenty Tibetan man hear you holy men, come here on
pilgrimage. Pilgrimage make fair, make market, very good for village. So
people want to kill you, build shrine over your body."
This was a view of the advantages of sanctity which had never before
struck me. Now, I had not been eager even for the distinction of being
a Christian martyr; as to being a Buddhist martyr, that was quite out of
the question. "Then what does the Lama advise us to do?" I asked.
"Priest-sahib say he love you; no want to see village people kill you.
He give you guide--very good guide--know mountains well; take you back
straight to Maharajah's country."
"Not Ram Das?" I asked, suspiciously.
"No, not Ram Das. Very good man--Tibetan."
I saw at once this was a genuine crisis. All was hastily arranged.
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