The Ninth Vibration | Page 3

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THE NINTH VIBRATION AND OTHER STORIES
BY L. ADAMS BECK

CONTENTS
THE NINTH VIBRATION
THE INTERPRETER A ROMANCE OF THE EAST
THE INCOMPARABLE LADY A STORY OF CHINA WITH A
MORAL
THE HATRED OF THE QUEEN A STORY OF BURMA
FIRE OF BEAUTY
THE BUILDING OF THE TAJ MAHAL
"HOW GREAT IS THE GLORY OF KWANNON!"
"THE ROUND-FACED BEAUTY"

THE NINTH VIBRATION
There is a place uplifted nine thousand feet in purest air where one of
the most ancient tracks in the world runs from India into Tibet. It leaves
Simla of the Imperial councils by a stately road; it passes beyond, but
now narrowing, climbing higher beside the khuds or steep drops to the
precipitous valleys beneath, and the rumor of Simla grows distant and
the way is quiet, for, owing to the danger of driving horses above the
khuds, such baggage as you own must be carried by coolies, and you
yourself must either ride on horseback or in the little horseless carriage
of the Orient, here drawn and pushed by four men. And presently the
deodars darken the way with a solemn presence, for-

These are the Friars of the wood, The Brethren of the Solitude Hooded
and grave-"
-their breath most austerely pure in the gradually chilling air. Their
companies increase and now the way is through a great wood where it
has become a trail and no more, and still it climbs for many miles and
finally a rambling bungalow, small and low, is sighted in the deeps of
the trees, a mountain stream from unknown heights falling beside it.
And this is known as the House in the Woods. Very few people are
permitted to go there, for the owner has no care for money and makes
no provision for guests. You must take your own servant and the
khansamah will cook you such simple food as men expect in the wilds,
and that is all. You stay as long as you please and when you leave not
even a gift to the khansamah is permitted.
I had been staying in Ranipur of the plains while I considered the
question of getting to Upper Kashmir by the route from Simla along the
old way to Chinese Tibet where I would touch Shipki in the Dalai
Lama's territory and then pass on to Zanskar and so down to Kashmir -
a tremendous route through the Himalaya and a crowning experience of
the mightiest mountain scenery in the world. I was at Ranipur for the
purpose of consulting my old friend Olesen, now an irrigation official
in the Rampur district - a man who had made this journey and nearly
lost his life in doing it. It is not now perhaps so dangerous as it was,
and my life was of no particular value to any one but myself, and the
plan interested me.
I pass over the long discussions of ways and means in the