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Chapter Sixteen. Into the Blue |
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morning over Patkoi hills; Noklak village |
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The sun rises radiantly over the high ranges of the Patkoi. Ahead stretches a mysterious blue wall, the jagged line of the peaks separating the delicate blue of the sky from the deeper blue of the hills. The western slopes lie still in deep shade and the sun shines through the fine morning mist which hangs over the valley like gossamer silk. |
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It is getting late, and we cannot wait to watch the lifting of the veil -- to see the woods on the far slopes take shape as the morning advances -- for we must follow the path to Noklak. It is well-trodden, and when it reaches the village it runs between the two khel into which so many Naga villages are divided, and then it leads on eastwards towards Pangsha. There is a sentry-box in the top of a large tree that stands strangely outside the palisade overlooking the entrance to the village, the sentry evidently gaining access by a long bamboo ladder that hangs down on the inner side of the palisade. |
