248 Back to Burma

Would he miss the only landing place ? No ! making a
brave effort, his feet touched bottom, and he struggled up
the bank.
It may easily be imagined then that I was thoroughly
wet through half-way above my knees, and prospects for
the night jeopardised in consequence. Moreover the
wretched inn people, instead of having a blazing fire on
the floor in the middle of the room, had practically no fire
at all, and that skilfully hidden within the depths of a mud
cooking range, and my powers of persuasion were heavily
taxed before they would consent to go out and buy damp
wood to make me a special smoky fire of my own ; nor did
they show that enthusiasm to dry my wet clothes that the
Tibetans would have displayed. However, I had supper
with some young blades who were going down to Bhamo,
borrowed a pair of Chinese trousers, begged a quilt, and
rolling myself up, slept with more success than I could have
hoped for considering that I lay on a straw pallet. Next
morning it was necessary to decide on a plan of action in
view of the possibility that the mules, having waited for
me on the previous day, were still some distance behind;
wherefore advance rather than retreat was evidently my
only plan, and my clothes having been dried in the mean-
time, I started after breakfast on the second stage of the
journey, reaching Kan-ngai at sunset. Evidently the mules
were not in front of me now.
