"Conway?" "We can't take more than seven." "All right." "I'm sorry." "Another plane in a minute." "Go on." "Everybody, wait." "Plenty of planes are coming." "Have patience." "We'II be all right." "Don't worry." "Leave everything to my brother." " Seven passengers aboard." " Seven passengers." "Good." " Get me Shanghai." " Talking to them now, sir." "Hello?" "Hello?" " Conway." "Is Colonel Marsh there?" " Right here." "Go ahead." "I need more planes." "I've 30 people to get off." " Where are those planes you promised?" " We sent everything we could find." " They better get here soon." " I hear motors." "Wait." "They may be here now." "George, get to the field and guide those planes." "Be sure none of the natives get in." "Hello, Colonel." "Thanks, and take care of that liver of yours." "My word!" "Get ready." "The planes are here." "One at a time." "Children first." "Where are they?" "Where's the mother?" " They're orphans." " I see." "You come, and you and you." " What about us?" " Please wait your turn." "Come on, you." "Take the squealing men first." "They might faint on you." "I'll wait." "As you say." "Madam, come through here." "Wait on one side." "Don't lose your heads." "They blew the power house." "The planes can't land without lights." "We'll burn the hangar." "That'll make light for them." "There's gonna be a big fire." "All right, go ahead." "We go with the next plane." "Bring out any people that are left." " Hello, Fenner!" " Hello." "Having a little trouble?" " Get this gadget off the ground." " These are all that are left." "Come on, quick." "You can't leave me here!" "I'm a British subject." "Come on." "Look out, Bob!" "All right, go ahead!" "Down!" "Go ahead, Fenner." "Let's go!" "I guess we're out of range." " Everybody all right?" " That was close." "I've never been in a situation like this in my life." " Where do you come from?" " I'm Alexander P. Lovett, sir." " Why aren't you registered?" " Serve you right if you were left." "How could I know a war would break out right over my head?" "My word!" "Those Chinese were pouncing on me from every direction." "I had to get into these ridiculous clothes in order to escape." " Where were you hiding?" " No, hunting." "I was hunting fossils." " This morning, I looked up..." " And a war broke out over your head." "The next time you're in wild country, keep in touch with the consulate." "Very good." "Put his name on the list and make out a report later." "I beg your pardon, brother." "What did you say you were hunting?" " Fossils." " Fossils, huh?" " I'm a paleontologist." " A what?" "A paleontologist." "I see." "I have here a discovery that will startle the world." "It's the vertebrae from the lumbar of a Megatherium found in Asia." " What do you know about that?" " Found in Asia." "When I get home, I shall be knighted for it." "Knighted?" "You don't say!" "Mind if I take a look?" "Not at all." "Sorry." "This is the only thing I was able to save when those heathens surrounded me." "From this vertebrae, I shall be able to reconstruct the entire skeleton." "You expect to be knighted for finding that soup bone?" "This is the vertebrae of the Megatherium found in Asia." "You said that before." "Sir Henry Derwent was knighted, and he never got beyond the Mesozoic Era." " Poor fella." " Yes." "It shows..." "I don't know why I'm talking to you." "Don't know you." "Who are you?" " Okay, brother." " Don't call me brother." "Okay, sister." "No offense." "Cigarette?" " Will you have a cigarette?" " No." "Say!" "You're an American, aren't you?" "Annoy the rest of your playmates." "Let me alone." "Look what I found!" "Just what I needed, too!" "You!" "Just this once, Bob." "I feel like celebrating." "Think of it." "A cruiser sent to Shanghai just to take you back to England." "Do you know what it means?" " Here you are." " Thanks." "Don't bother about those cables." "I want you to drink with me." "Gentlemen, I give you Robert Conway..." "England's new Foreign Secretary." "Hooray!" "How I'm going to bask in reflected glory." "People will say, "There's George Conway, brother of the Foreign Secretary."" " Nonsense." "Give me the bottle." " That's why they're sending for you." "With these foreign entanglements, it was bound to happen." "They need you." "Laugh if you want to." "Who else can they get?" "Who else is there in England, half the fighter, half the diplomat... who has half your knowledge of the foreign situation?" "They can't stop you now." "Thank you." " Did you make that report out yet?" " Yes." " Did you say we saved 90 white people?" " Yes." "Good." "Hooray for us." "Did you say we left 10,000 natives to be annihilated?" "No." "No, you wouldn't say that." "They don't count." "Try to get some sleep." "Wait till I'm Foreign Secretary." "Can't you just see me with all those shrewd little foreign secretaries?" "The trick is to see who can outtalk the other." "Everybody wants something for nothing." "If you can't get it with smooth talk... you send your army in." "But I made a fool of them." "I'm not going to have an army." "I'm going to disband mine." "I'm going to sink my battleships." "I'm going to destroy every piece of war craft." "Then when the enemy approaches... we'll say, "Come in, gentlemen." "What can we do for you?"" "Then the poor enemy soldiers will stop and think." "And what will they think?" ""There's something wrong here." "We've been duped!" "This is not according to form." "These people seem friendly, and why should we shoot them?"" "Then they'll lay down their arms." "See how simple the whole thing is?" "Centuries of tradition kicked right in the pants!" "And I'II be slapped straight into the nearest insane asylum." "You better not drink anymore." "You're not talking sense." "Don't worry, George, nothing's going to happen." "I'll fall right into line." "I'll be the good little boy that everybody wants me to be." "I'll be the best little Foreign Secretary we've ever had." "Just because I haven't the nerve to be anything else." "Do try to sleep." "Sleep, yes." "Good thing, sleep." "Ever notice the sunrise in China?" "You should." "It's beautiful." "Good morning, Lovey." " I beg your pardon?" " I say, "Good morning, Lovey."" "Good morning..." "Look here." "I didn't care for "sister" last night, and I don't like "Lovey" this morning." " My name is Lovett, Alexander P." " I see." "Well." "It's a good morning anyway." " I'm never conversational before coffee." " Wait a minute." "Wait a minute!" "Is it a good morning?" "Say, we're supposed to be traveling east, aren't we?" "Of course." " It looks as if we're traveling west." " That's ridiculous." " Is it?" " It certainly is." "Any child knows how to tell direction." "I don't care where the child is:" "In the air, on Earth, or in the sea." "If you face the rising sun, your right hand is the north, your left the south." "I get it twisted because I'm left-handed." "Really?" "I see." "You just reverse it." "Your left hand is..." "What difference does it make?" "The north is the north." "All I know is the sun rises in the east, and we're going away from it." "You're irritating and absurd." "My word, of course!" "Boy!" "We're traveling in the wrong direction." "Wake up!" " We're going in the wrong direction." " Can't you make less noise?" "We're going west, and Shanghai is way east of here." "Fenner's the best pilot in China." "He knows what he's doing." "He might've lost his way." "That's what I said last night." "You can't expect a man to sail in the dark." "All right, calm yourself." "I'll speak to Fenner." "Fenner." "I say Fe..." "Wake up!" "Something's happened!" "It isn't Fenner in the cockpit." " Stop it." " The bloke looks like a Chinese." "We're nowhere near Shanghai." "We're going the opposite direction." "Over the desert." "That's funny." "Charming chap." "Nice puss to meet in a dark alley." "That's that, I guess." " What happened to Fenner?" " How did he get there?" "Do you suppose we stopped during the night and changed pilots?" "If we had landed, we all would've been awakened." "We never left the air." "I know." "I didn't sleep the whole night." "That fellow got on at Baskul." "Where's he taking us?" "He may be a maniac." " What are you going to do?" " Force him to tell us what his game is." " What if he refuses?" " We'll smash his face in." "Brilliant." "Can anyone here fly a plane?" "George, that's no good." "I guess we're in for it." " In for what?" " I don't know." "He must've had some purpose for taking the plane." "We'll find out when he lands." "You're not doing anything until we land?" " What do you suggest?" " Why, you..." "He may dash us to pieces." "It might afford you relief." "I'm going back to sleep." "I was having a peaceful dream." "Soon as he lands, let me know." "We're heading down." "We're going to land." "Bob, we're landing." "We're coming to a village." " What are these people?" " I don't know." "Can't get their dialect." "They're refueling." "Imagine having that fuel there waiting for us." "Something tells me our journey's just beginning." "Where are we going?" "Huh?" "We're heading straight for those mountains." "Plane from Baskul with Conway and four others aboard still missing." "Unreported between here and Baskul." "Make it very imperative that His Majesty's government... will hold the Chinese government and Chinese governors responsible... for the complete safety of Robert Conway." " Good morning, gentlemen." " No news yet, sir?" "It's fantastic." "The plane couldn't disappear into thin air." "Cable Lord Gainsford at Shanghai." ""Leave no stone unturned to find Conway."" "Robertson, better get a postponement of the Far East Conference." "We can't afford to meet those nations without Conway." "This can't be kidnapping." "He wouldn't be taking us so far on such a dangerous trip." "What do you make of it, Bob?" "You must have some idea." "I give it up." "This not knowing where you're going is exciting." "For a man who's supposed to be a leader... your do-nothing attitude is disappointing." " What do you want him to do?" " I don't know." "I'm a paleontologist, not a foreign secretary." "George, come on." "It's not knowing that's so awful!" "Not knowing where you're going, why, or what's waiting when you get there." "We got above that storm." "I can't stand it any longer!" "Take us down!" "I can't stand the pain!" "Let go of me!" "Let me out, I say!" "Let me out of here!" "I can't stand it any longer!" "Let me out!" "It's oxygen!" " Take this in your teeth." " Let me alone!" "That's right." "Go ahead, bite on that." "What's that?" " What's happening?" " Must've run out of fuel." "Look!" "Look down there!" "George, everybody, back toward the tail." "He may nose her over." "Into the corner." "George, cushions, blankets." "Take that behind you." " Everybody all right?" " Yeah." " He's fainted?" " Looks like it." "Smell those fumes?" "George, take the gun." "Hold the light." "I'll search him." "We might find something interesting." "There's the map." "He's dead." "Dead?" "It must've happened the moment he hit the ground." "Let's look at this map." " What is it?" " See that spot?" "That's where we were this morning." "He had it marked." "On Tibet's border." "Here's where civilization ends." "We must be 1,000 miles beyond it." "Just a blank on the map." "What's it mean?" "We're in unexplored country." "Country nobody ever reached." "Conway, what's happening?" "Our chances of getting out are slim, but it's up to us." "We can't have three hysterical people on our hands." "Well." "What did he say?" "Everything's all right." "The pilot won't trouble us." "He's dead." " Dead?" " Probably a heart attack." "What are we gonna do?" "There's nothing we can do until the morning." "The storm will probably die down before then." "My suggestion is we better all try and get a good night's rest." "Tell them the truth." "That we're a million miles from civilization... with no chance of getting out alive." "It's slow starvation, a slow, horrible death!" "That's perfect." "Just perfect." "What a kick I'm gonna get out of this." "A year ago a doctor gave me six months to live." "That was a year ago." "I'm already six months to the good." "I haven't got a thing to lose." "But you." "You, the noble animals of the human race... what a kick I'm gonna get out of watching you squirm for a change." "What a kick!" "They've been gone for hours." "Left us here to rot." "That's what they've done." "Heroes of the newspapers." "All right." "Keep quiet." "Here they come." "Hello." "We found some food." "No chance of our starving now." " What is that?" " Mountain grass." "It's good." "Have some." "I've read of people lasting 30 days on this stuff." "Listen." "My brother and I have worked out a plan." "If we use our heads, we should be able to keep alive until he gets back." " Gets back?" " Where is he going?" "He doesn't know, but he's starting out in the direction of India." "He's bound to run into someone, a tribe or something." "Here's the idea." "We found a cave by that small hill." "As soon as we bury the pilot, we're moving in." "We can have a fire there." "I shouldn't be surprised Bob's back within a week." "You know you haven't got a chance of getting out of this country alive." "Cave, eh?" "Where?" "By that hill." " Look!" " Look, Bob!" " Where are they?" "Do you see them?" " Yes." "Do you think they're cannibals?" "I am from a nearby Lamasery." "My name is Chang." "He's speaking English!" " And mine's Conway." " How do you do?" "You've no idea, sir, how unexpected and very welcome you are." "My friends and I, and the lady in the plane... left Baskul for Shanghai... and found ourselves traveling in the opposite direction." "At the mercy of a mad pilot." " We'd be grateful if..." " Where is your mad pilot?" "Had a heart attack, or the fumes." "When the plane landed, he was dead." "We were going to bury him when you came." "Pardon me." "If you would be good enough to direct us to your..." "I consider it an honor to accompany you and your friends." "You will need suitable clothes for the journey." "It is not particularly far, but quite difficult." "Thank you." "Welcome to Shangri-La." "We are sheltered by mountains on every side." "A strange phenomena for which we are very grateful." "It's magic!" "I do not like this place." " I definitely do not like this place." " Quit squawking." " Look what they gave me to wear." " You never looked better." "Soon as our clothes are cleaned, they're going to give them back to us." "Something tells me this means food!" "Come on." "I just feel as though I'm being made ready for the executioner." "Yeah?" "If this be execution, lead me to it!" "That's what they do with cattle just before the slaughter:" "Fatten them." " You're a scream, Lovey." " Please, don't call me Lovey." "That was refreshing." "The food looks good." "Some layout they got here." "You couldn't get better rooms at the Ritz." "All the conveniences for the condemned, if you ask me." "Don't mind Lovey." "He's got the misery." "I don't like this place." "It's too mysterious." "It's better than freezing to death down below." "I'll say." "Is there something I can do for you?" " What do you want?" " I've ordered you warm broth." "Perhaps..." "Get out of here!" "If any of you men think you can come busting in here..." "Please." "Please calm yourself." "You'll soon be well if you do." "I don't need any advice from you." "Get me a doctor." " Sorry, we have no doctors here." " No doctors." "Well, that's fine!" "That's just fine!" " Please let me help you." " Sure." "Help me jump over that cliff." "I've been looking at the bottom, but I haven't got the nerve to jump." "You shouldn't be looking at the bottom." "Why don't you try looking up at the top sometime." "Don't preach that cheap secondhand stuff to me!" "Go on, beat it!" "Beat it!" "Peace be with you, my child." "Good evening, my friends." "Oh, no, no." "Please sit down." "I hope you found everything satisfactory." " Swell." " Excellent." "You shouldn't have waited for me." " Where's the girl?" "Miss Stone." " In her room." "She isn't feeling well." "Please go on without me." "I eat very little." "Well, there's certainly nothing wrong with that meal." "Oh, thank you." " And the wine, excellent." " I'm glad." "It's made here in the valley." "Now that dinner is over, if you'll excuse us... we're very anxious to discuss ways and means of getting back home." "We want to cable the Foreign Office." "England waits to hear about my brother." "There's a cruiser at Shanghai ready to take him back." "Really?" "As regards cabling, I'm afraid I can't help." "Unfortunately we have no wireless here." "As a matter of fact, we have no means of communication with the outside world." "Not even a radio?" "It's always been a source of deep regret... but the mountains surrounding us have made reception almost impossible." "We better make arrangements to get some porters immediately." "Some means to get us back to civilization." "Are you so certain you are away from it?" "As far away as I ever want to be." "Of course, the porters will be very well paid." "That is, within reason." "I'm afraid that wouldn't help." "You see, we have no porters here." "No porters?" "What about those men we met this morning?" "Oh." "Those are our own people." "They never venture beyond the point where you were met this morning." "It is much too hazardous." "How do you account for all this?" "Who brought it in?" "Oh, yes." "There is a tribe of porters some 500 miles from here." "That is our only contact with the outside world." "Now and again, depending on favorable weather, they make the journey." " How can we get in touch with them?" " In that respect, you are fortunate." "We are expecting a shipment from them almost any time now." "What do you mean by "almost any time now"?" "Well... we've been expecting this shipment for the past two years." " Two years?" " Yes." "But I assure you, gentlemen... if there is a prolonged delay..." "Shangri-La will endeavor to make your stay as pleasant as possible." "And now, if you'll excuse me, it is getting late." "I do hope you all sleep well." "Good night." "Good night." "Mr. Conway." "Good night, sir." "That's what I mean, mysterious." "Mr. Conway, I don't like that man." "He's too vague." "We didn't get much information out of him, did we, Bob?" "Well, it seems we should be grateful." "We were in a bad mess this morning." "And after all, this is quite pleasant." "Why not make ourselves comfortable until the porters do arrive?" "That's what I say." "What do you say to a rubber of bridge?" "I saw some cards in the other room." "Not me, thanks." "I'm too weary." "How 'bout you, Lovey?" "Come on." "Let's you and I play a game of honeymoon bridge." " Oh." "I'm thinking." " Thinking?" "What about double solitaire?" " I'm very good at double solitaire." " No kidding?" "Then I'm your man." "Come on." "Toots." "Hello, George." "Cigarette?" "Thanks." "I suppose all this comes under the heading of adventure." "Well, there's been plenty of it the last few days." "It's far from over from what I can see." "This place gives me the creeps." "Hidden away like this, no contact with civilization." "You don't seem concerned at all." "Oh, I'm feeling far too peaceful to be concerned about anything." "I think I'm going to like it here." "You talk as though you intend to stay." "Something happened to me when we arrived here that, well..." "Did you ever go to a totally strange place and feel certain you'd been there?" "What are you talking about?" "I don't know." "You're a strange bird." "No wonder Gainsford calls you... the man who always wanted to see what was on the other side of the hill." "Don't you ever want to see what's on the other side of the hill?" "What could there be except another hill?" "At any event, I'm not curious." "At the moment, it seems to me we should be concerned about getting home." "I'd give anything to be in London right now." "Of course you would." "If we get out of this place, you take that job with Helen's father." " "If we should get out"?" " Did I say "if"?" " That's what you said." " Well, I mean..." "What's on your mind?" "You talk as though we'II have trouble getting out of here." "I've been putting things together." "Do you notice the resemblance between those natives and the pilot?" "Why did clothes conveniently materialize when they met us at the plane?" "Chang himself just said that they never venture beyond that point." "What brought them there?" "Unless it was to meet us." "Chang's first question was about the pilot." "There must be some connection between the plane and this place." "They must've deliberately brought us here." "Why, Bob?" "What reason could they have for doing a thing like that?" "That's what's on the other side of the hill." "There's 3,000 feet practically straight down to the valley floor." "The Valley of the Blue Moon as we call it." "There are over 2,000 people in the valley besides those here in Shangri-La." "Who and what is Shangri-La?" "You?" " Oh, goodness no." " So there are others?" " Oh, yes." " Who, for instance?" "In time you will meet them all." "For a man who talks a great deal, it's amazing how unenlightening you can be." "There are some things." "My dear Conway, I deeply regret I may not discuss." "That's the fourth time you've said that." "You should make a record of it." "Shall we go inside?" "I should like to show you some of our rare treasures." "Good afternoon." " Excuse me, I..." " Please." "Don't go." "Tea will be served any moment." "Won't you come in?" "My name is Maria." "Won't you sit down?" "What religion do you follow here?" "To put it simply, our general belief was in moderation." "We preach the virtue of avoiding excesses of every kind... even including excess of virtue itself." "That's intelligent." "We find in the valley it makes for greater happiness among the natives." "We rule with moderate strictness... and in return we are satisfied with moderate obedience." "As a result, our people are moderately honest... moderately chaste... and somewhat more than moderately happy." "How about law and order?" "You have no soldiers or police?" "Good heavens no." "How do you deal with incorrigibles?" "Criminals?" "Why, we have no crime here." "What makes a criminal?" "Lack, usually." "Avariciousness, envy." "The desire to possess something owned by another." "There can be no crime where there is a sufficiency of everything." "You have no disputes over women?" "Only very rarely." "You see, it would not be considered good manners... to take a woman that another man wanted." "Suppose somebody wanted her so badly... that he didn't give a hang if it was good manners or not?" "In that event, it would be good manners on the part of the other man... to let him have her." "That's very convenient." "I think I'd like that." "You'd be surprised, my dear Conway, how a little courtesy all around... helps to smooth out the most complicated problems." "At some time in the future, you will have the pleasure of meeting her." "Some man had better get ready to be very courteous to me." "Mr. Chang, all these things... books, instruments, sculptures... were all brought in over those mountains by porters?" "They were." " That must've taken..." " Centuries." "Centuries." "Where did you get the money to pay for all these treasures?" "Of course we have no money as you know it." "We do not buy or sell or seek personal fortunes because..." "Well, because there is no uncertain future here for which to accumulate it." "That would suit me perfectly." "I'm always broke." "How did you pay for them?" "Our valley is very rich in a metal called gold... which, fortunately for us... is valued very highly in the outside world, so we merely..." "Buy and sell." "Buy and sell." "No, no, pardon me." "Exchange." "I see." "Gold for ideas." "Mr. Chang, there's something so simple and naive about all this... that I suspect there has been a shrewd, guiding intelligence somewhere." "Whose idea was it?" "How did it all start?" "That, my dear Conway, is the story of a remarkable man." "Who?" "A Belgian priest by the name of Father Perrault... the first European to find this place... and a very great man, indeed." "He is responsible for everything you see here." "He built Shangri-La... taught the natives and began our collection of art." "In fact, Shangri-La is Father Perrault." "When was all this?" "Let me see." "Way back in 1713, I think it was... that Father Perrault stumbled into the valley half frozen to death." "It was typical of the man, that one leg being frozen and no doctors here... he amputated the leg himself." "He amputated his own leg?" "Oddly enough, later, when he had learned to understand their language... the natives told him he could have saved his leg." "It would have healed without amputation." " They didn't actually mean that?" " Oh, yes." "They were very sincere about it, too." "You see, a perfect body in perfect health was the rule here." "They've never known anything different, so what was true for them... they thought would naturally be true for anyone else living here." "Is it?" "Rather astonishingly so, yes." "And particularly in the case of Father Perrault himself." "Do you know when he and the natives had finished building Shangri-La... he was 108 years old and still very active... in spite of only having one leg?" "A hundred and eight and still active?" "You're startled." "Oh, no." "I'm just a little bowled over." "That's all." "Forgive me." "I should've told you it is quite common here to live to a very ripe old age." "Climate, diet, mountain water, you might say." "But we like to believe it is the absence of struggle in the way we live." "In your countries, on the other hand... how often do you hear the expression..." ""He worried himself to death," or "This thing or that killed him"?" " Very often." " And very true." "Your lives are therefore, as a rule, shorter." "Not so much by natural death as by indirect suicide." "That's all very fine if it works out." "A little amazing, of course." "Why, Mr. Conway, you surprise me." "I surprise you?" "Now that's news!" "I mean your amazement." "I could have understood it of any of your companions... but you who have dreamed and written so much about better worlds..." "Or is it that you fail to recognize one of your own dreams when you see it?" "Mr. Chang, if you don't mind, I think I'll go on being amazed... in moderation, of course." "Then everything's quite all right." "Oh, honey, it's terrific!" "Terrific!" "I saw something that will make your hair stand on end." "See those hills over there?" "Gold!" "Gold popping right out of them." "Tons of it." "Look." "You keep this under your hat." "If those others hear about it, they'll declare themselves in." "But if I can mine that stuff, I'll throw a bombshell into Wall Street." "I've got a plan." "And if..." "Say, honey, you ain't feeling so well, are you?" "Look, don't pay too much attention to what those doctors tell you." "I've seen an awful lot of people fool them." "And I've got a hunch that this place is going to be good for you." "Honest." "Come on now." "You be a good kid and snap out of it, and I'II cut you in on the gold deal." "Look, I'm going up and make a deal with Chang right now." "Oh, my." " Good morning." " Morning, Mr. Conway." " You speak English, do you?" " Yes, sir." "Would you like to take a ride?" "No, thanks, not just now." "I think I'll take that ride!" "Fossils!" "Why?" "What for?" "Fossils!" "Why?" "What for?" "Running around digging up a lot of old bones." "You didn't dig yourself out of one of those holes, did you?" "You seem gay." "Did you find out anything?" "I heard that if you want a man's wife, she's yours if he's got any manners." " Nothing about the porters?" " Porters?" "We've been here two weeks and we haven't found out a thing." "We haven't been murdered in our beds, have we?" "I'm afraid the porters are just a myth." "We never will know why we're here or how long we'II be held prisoners." "Hurry up, you slowpokes." "I'm starved." "Please, do not wait for me." "I eat so very little." "Good evening." "Well, I'm certainly glad to see us all finally organized." "Okay, dish it out and make it snappy." "Hey, what's happened to you?" " Nothing." "Why?" " You look beautiful." "That's unkind." "Doesn't Miss Stone always look beautiful?" "I got it." "It's your makeup." "You've got none on." "And, say, honey, you look a million percent better." "Wholesome and clean." "You take a tip and don't ever put that stuff on your face again." "It's like hiding behind a mask." "Who are you to talk about a mask?" "You've worn one since we met you." "Have I?" "Very strange you've never told us anything about yourself." "Who are you?" "Why don't you take your mask off?" "Yes, unbosom yourself, Mr. Hyde." "All right, I will." "I'II let my hair down." "Why not?" "It can't make any real difference now." "Hey, Lovey, were you ever chased by the police?" "Certainly not." "Believe me, it's no fun." "When you fellas picked me up at Baskul, they'd been on my tail for a year!" " The police?" " Uh-huh." "Did you ever hear of Chalmers Bryant?" "Bryant Utilities." "That's me." "I knew it!" "I knew I had a reason for hating you." "Sir, you're a thief!" "He steal from you?" "I have 500 shares of Bryant Utilities... that I bought with money I'd saved for 20 years teaching school." "Now, I couldn't sell it for postage stamps." "Too bad." "I got a half million shares, my whole foundation." "Now look at me." "Colossal nerve you have talking about it so calmly." "You, the swindler of thousands of people." "That's what makes the whole thing so funny." "A guy like me starts out in life as a plumber... an ordinary everyday slewfooted plumber." "And by the use of a little brains, he builds up a gigantic institution... employs thousands of people, becomes a great civic leader." "Then the crash comes, and he's the biggest crook the country ever had." "You are a thief and a swindler." "And I will be only too glad to turn you over to the police when we get back." "What do you mean when we get back?" "What makes you think we'll get back?" "You're prisoners." "We were deliberately kidnapped and brought here." "I'm not content to be a prisoner." "I'II find out when we'll get out." "I'II make that Chinese talk if it's the last thing I do." "Chang!" "Where's Chang?" "Where's Chang or I'II blow your brains out!" "What do you think yuu're doing?" "George, come here." "Come here, you!" "You idiot!" "Had to sock him, huh?" "Quick." " Let me go." "Let me up." " You all right?" "Sorry, George." "Conway, is it true about us being kidnapped?" "I say, is it true about us being kidnapped?" "Mr. Chang." "Mr. Chang." "Do you mind stepping in here for a moment?" "Won't you sit down?" "You have been very kind to us and we appreciate it." "But for some reason we are being held prisoners here and want to know why." "Persunally, I don't mind it at all." "I'm enjoying every minute of it." "But my brother is not of the same opinion, nor are the others." "It's time we were told what it's all about." "We want to know why we were kidnapped, why we're being kept here... but most impurtant of all, do we get the porters and when?" "Until we get this information, my dear Mr. Chang..." "I am very much afraid we cannot permit you to leave this roum." "It's very, very strange... but when you saw me in the corridor..." "I was actually un my way to you." "I bring the most amazing news." "The High Lama wishes to see you, Mr. Conway." " Who is he?" " I thought you ran this joint." "High Lamas ur Low Lamas, do we get the porters?" "The High Lama is the only one from whom any information can come." "Don't believe him." " Sounds like a stall." " One moment." "You say the High Lama is the only one that can give us any information?" "The only one." "And he can arrange fur the porters to take us back?" "The High Lama arranges everything." "Then he's the man I want to see." "Will you come along?" "Wait here till I get back." "We'II soun knuw where we stand." "Good evening, Mr. Conway." "Please, come in." "Sit here, near me." "I'm an old man and can do no one any harm." "Are you the High Lama?" "Yes." "I trust you have been comfortable at Shangri-La since your arrival." "Personally, I've enjoyed your community very much." "But my friends do not care for this mystery." "They are determined to leave as soon as..." "It's astonishing and incredible, but..." "What is it, my son?" "You are the man." "Chang told me." "You're the first who..." "Two hundred years ago." "You're still alive, Father Perrault." "Sit duwn, my son." "You may nut know it... but I've been an admirer of yours for a great many years." "Oh, not of Conway, the empire builder and public hero." "I wanted to meet the Conway... who, in one of his books, said..." ""There are moments in every man's life... when he glimpses the eternal."" "That Conway seemed to belong here." "In fact, it was suggested... that someone be sent to bring him here." "That I be brought here?" "Who had that brilliant idea?" "Sondra Bizet." "Oh, the girl at the piano?" "Yes." "She has read your books and has a profound admiration for you." "As have we all." "Of course..." "I have suspected that our being here was no accident." "Furthermore, I have a feeling that we're never supposed to leave." "For the moment, that doesn't concern me." "I'II meet that when it comes." "What particularly interests me at present is, why was I brought here?" "What possible use can I be to an already thriving community?" "We need men like you here... to be sure that our cummunity will continue to thrive... in return for which Shangri-La has much to give you." "You are still... by the world's standards, a youngish man." "Yet in the nurmal course of existence... you can expect 20 or 30 years... of gradually diminishing activity." "Here, however, in Shangri-La... by our standards... your life has just begun... and may go on and on." "Of course, to be candid, Father... a prolonged future doesn't excite me." "It would have to have a point." "I've sometimes doubted whether life itself has any." "If that is so, then long life must be even more pointless." "No, I'd need a much more definite reason for going on and on." "We have reason." "It is the entire meaning and purpose of Shangri-La." "It came to me in a vision... long, long ago." "I saw all the nations strengthening... not in wisdom... but in the vulgar passions and the will to destroy." "I saw their machine power multiplying... until a single weaponed man... might match a whole army." "I foresaw a time... when man exulting in the technique of murder... would rage so hotly over the world... that every book, every treasure... would be doomed to destruction." "This vision was so vivid... and so moving... that I determined to gather together... all things of beauty and culture that I could... and preserve them here... against the doom... toward which the world is rushing." "Look at the wurld today." "Is there anything more pitiful?" "What madness there is." "What blindness." "What unintelligent leadership." "A scurrying mass of bewildered humanity... crashing headlong against each other... compelled by an orgy... of greed and brutality." "The time must come, my friend... when this orgy will spend itself... when brutality and the lust for power... must perish by its own sword." "Against that time... is why I avoided death and am here... and why you were brought here." "For when that day comes... the world must begin tu look... for a new life." "And it is our hope... that they may find it here." "For here, we shall be with their books... and their music... and the way uf life... based on one simple rule:" "Be kind." "When that day cumes... it is uur hope... that the brotherly love of Shangri-La... will spread throughout the world." "Yes, my son... when the strong have devoured each other... the Christian ethic... may at last be fulfilled... and the meek... shall inherit the earth." "I understand you, Father." "You must cume again, my son." "Good night." "Well?" "What did you find out?" " We thought yuu were never coming back." " When do we leave?" " What about the porters?" " Porters?" "Didn't yuu find uut anything about the porters?" " I'm sorry, but I..." " What were you doing?" "For heaven's sake, Bob, what's the matter with you?" "Do you mind?" "I'm sorry, but I can't talk about it tonight." "Hello." "Good morning." "Lay thee down now and resf" "May thy slumber be blessed" "Lullaby and good nighf" "Thy mother's delight" "Brighf angels" "All around" "My darling shall sleep" "They will guard me from harm" " Do you mind?" " Thou shall wake in my arms" "They will guard me from harm" "Thou shall wake in my arms" "This is Mr. Conway, children." "Guod morning, Mr. Conway." " How do you do?" " Very well, thank you." "Lullaby and good night" "Thy mother's delight" "Bright angels all around" "My darling shall sleep" "They will guard me from harm" "Thou shall wake in my arms" "They will guard me from harm" "Thou shall wake in my arms" "All right, children." "Teacher is going to be very busy this afternoon." "School's dismissed." "Come on." "Oh, please." "I hope you're not going to run away this time." "My name's Sondra." "I hope you'll forgive me for..." "Each time I see you, I hear that music." "What is it?" "You mean my pigeons." "It's these little flutes I attach to their tails." "See?" "Come along with me, and I'll show you how I put them on." "This is how we tie them on." "By varying the flute's size, I get the notes I wish." "The wind does the rest." "Here's a little fellow that's lost his." " Was this your idea?" " Yes." "Hold this pigeon." "You suggested my being brought here, didn't you?" "What gave you the idea I'd fit in?" "That was easy." "I'd read your books." "Oh, you've read my books?" "Yuu do more things." "What have my books got to do with it?" "I saw a man whose life was empty." "A man whose life was empty." "Oh, I knuw." "It was full of this and full of that." "But you were accomplishing nuthing." "You were going nowhere, and you knew it." "As a matter of fact, all I saw was a little boy whistling in the dark." "Little boy, whistling?" "Do you realize that there was a British cruiser waiting at Shanghai... smoke pouring out of its funnels, tugging at its moorings... waiting to take Mr. Conway back to London?" "Do you know there are headlines... shrieking all over the world with the news that Conway is missing?" "Does that look like a man whose life was empty?" "Yes." "You're absolutely right." "And I had to cume to a pigeon house in Shangri-La... to find the only other person who knew it." "May I congratulate you?" "I only brought you here to show you my pigeons." "Don't worry about them." "You can put flutes on my tail and bells on my feet." "There are so many questions I'd like to ask you, I don't knuw where to begin." "I'II help you." "You'd like to know what I'm doing here, that I was born here." " Thank you." " Well, I was almost born here." "It took place in that wild country beyond the pass." "My father and mother were in a party of explorers whu got lost... and wandered around for a year." "When Chang found us, only Father and I were alive." "He was too weak to climb the pass." "He died on the way." " I was brought up by Father Perrault." " Father Perrault?" "I envy you." " I talked to him last night." " Oh, yes, I know." "Father Perrault." "Of course, I can't quite get used to this age thing." "I'm 30." "Oh, you're going to make life very simple." " It's inconceivable." " What?" "All of it." "Father Perrault and his magnificent history." "This place hidden away from the rest of the world... with its glorious cuncepts." "And now you come along and confuse me entirely." "I'm sorry." "I thought I was to be the light." "Why do I confuse you?" "Am I so strange?" "On the contrary, yuu're not strange, and that, in itself, is confusing." "I had the same idea about Shangri-La." "The sense that I've been here before, that I belonged here." "I'm so glad." "I can't quite explain it, but everything is somehow familiar." "The very air I breathe... the Lamasery... with its feet rooted in the good earth of this fertile valley... while its head explores the eternal." "All the beautiful things I see... these cherry blossoms, you... all somehow familiar." "I've been kidnapped and brought here against my will." "A crime, a great crime... yet I accept it amiably... with the same warm amiability one tolerates... only from a very dear and close friend." "Why?" "Can you tell me why?" "Perhaps because you've always been a part of Shangri-La without knowing it." " I wonder." " I'm sure of it." "Just as I'm sure there's a wish for Shangri-La in everyone's heart." "I've never seen the outside world, but I understand... there are millions of people who are supposed to be mean and greedy." "I just know that secretly they are all hoping to find a garden spot... where there is peace, security... where there's beauty and comfort... where they wouldn't have to be mean and greedy." "Oh, I just wish the whole world might come to this valley." "Then it wouldn't be a garden spot for long." "I don't know why I associate with yuu, Mr. Barnard ur Mr. Chalmers Bryant... or Mr. Embezzler ur whatever your name may be." "Just call me Barney." "Barney?" "Why should I?" "Never!" "We have nothing in common." "Barney!" "What affrontery." "Okay, Lovey." "This trip to the valley, I can't imagine why I'd alluw yuu to drag me down here." "You don't know anything about these people." "Oh, we're not even armed." "They're very nice people, except that they've gut horns." " Horns?" " Yeah, you know." "Hurns." "What kind of horns?" "Come on, Lovey." "Here, here, come on." "They won't hurt you." "All I want is a glass of wine." " Thanks." " Please, sit." "Now this is fine." "This is swell." "No, no, thanks, just a drink." "I've been walking, and I'm thirsty." "Well, that's all right." "I just don't happen to be very hungry, you see." "Say, look, all I asked for was a glass of wine." "Look here, I've got to have some help with this." " Lovey." "Where is Lovey?" " Hey, look." "Mr. Barnard!" "Hey, Lovey, come here!" "Lovey, I asked for a glass of wine." "Look what I got." "Come on, sit down!" "This is where you are." "No wonder yuu couldn't hear me." "You were asked to have a glass of wine." "Sit down." "And be poisuned uut here in the open?" "Certainly not." "For me, won't you please have a glass of wine?" "I never drink wine in the daytime." "There you are." " This doesn't obligate me in any way?" " No." "Then the bears came right into the bedruom... and the little baby bear said, "Oh, somebody's been sleeping in my bed."" "Then Mama Bear said, "Oh, dear, somebody's been sleeping in my bed."" "And then the big Papa Bear, he roared, "Somebody's been sleeping in my bed."" "You'll have to admit, the poor little bears were in a quandary." "Well, I'm going to sleep in my bed." "Come on, Lovey." " They were in a quandary." " Come on, Lovey!" "Why "come on" all the time?" "What's the matter?" "You gonna be a fuss budget?" "Here, drink it up." "Aren't you having any fun?" " Where was I?" " In a quandary." "I'm telling this story." "I'm telling it." "Yes, the poor little bears didn't know what tu do... because somebody had been sleeping in their beds." "Who slept in their beds?" "Who was it, Lovey?" "Oh, you called me Lovey?" "Look at those eyes." "There's a devil in those eyes." "Here we go gafhering nufs in May nuts in May, nufs in May" "Here we go gafhering nuts in May early on Tuesday morning" "Here we go something, something Here we go" "Shangri-La, Shangri-La Here we" "Here you are in Shangri-La" "Hello, Maria." "You promised to come for tea yesterday." "I waited for so long." "Sorry." " I haven't got any cigarettes left." " I'II make some for you." " You will come today?" " Perhaps." "Oh, please, say you will." "The days are so very long and lonely without you." "Please." "All right, I'll be there." "Thank you." "You'll tell me some of the things I want to know, won't you?" "Who runs this place, why we were kidnapped, and what they'II do to us?" "Hasn't Chang's been lying about those porters?" "Beautiful." " I'm waiting for the bump." " Bump?" "When the plane lands at Shanghai and wakes us all up." " Ouch!" " You see, it's not a dream." "I sometimes think that the other is the dream." "The outside wurld." " Have you never wanted to go there?" " Goodness, no." "From what you tell me, it doesn't sound attractive." "It's not so bad, really." "Sume phases are sordid." "But that's only to be expected." "Why?" "Oh, usual reasons." "Wurld full of people struggling for existence." "Struggling?" "Why?" "Well, everybody naturally wants to make a place for himself." "Accumulate a nest egg and so on." "Why?" "If you keep on asking that, we're not going to get anywhere." " Wh..." " And don't ask me why." "Well, I was just going to." "It's the most annoying word in the English language." "Did you ever hear a child torture his parents with it?" "Mother's little darling mustn't stuff her fingers in the salad bowl." "Why?" "Because it isn't ladylike to do that." "Why?" "Because that's what forks are made for, darling." "Why, Mother?" "Because Mother read it in a book, and if Mother's little darling... doesn't take her fingers out of the salad bowl this instant..." "Mother's going to wring her little neck." "Would you like to wring my little neck?" " I'd love it." " Why?" "I'm sorry." "I'm sorry, sorry." "I've thought about it for years." "I knew you'd come." "And I knew when you did, you'd never leave." "Am I forgiven for sending for you?" "Forgiven." "You know... when we were on that plane..." "I was fascinated by the way its shadow followed it." "That silly shaduw, racing along over mountains and valleys... covering ten times the distance of the plane... and yet always there to greet us... with outstretched arms when we landed." "And I've been thinking that somehuw... yuu're that plane, and I'm that silly shadow." "That all my life, I've been rushing up and down hills... leaping rivers... crashing over obstacles... never dreaming that one day that beautiful thing in flight... would land on this earth and into my arms." "Amazing, Mr. Chang." "This place is amazing." "And that marble quarry in the valley is simply magnificent." "I've looked around." "I've seen everything." "Your woudworkers and your cloth weavers are all so very, very happy." " Yes." " You may not know it, you have Utopia." " You're very kind, Mr. Lovett." " I don't mean it in that sense." "I only give credit where credit is due." "Mr. Chang, I'm very anxious to have you realize... that I, never fur a moment, believed that ridiculous kidnapping story." " I'm so glad." " Simply preposterous." "Do you know what I did last night?" "Mr. Chang, I held a self-inventory." "I said to myself last night, Mr. Chang, I said..." ""Lovey..." "Mr. Lovett..." "Mr. Lovett," I said..." ""you are an ungrateful fool."" ""Ungrateful fool." Those are my very words to myself." "These people are doing everything to make your stay comfortable and happy... and I haven't done one single thing to show my appreciation." "Well, now, what would you like to do?" "Well, Mr. Chang, I thought, with your permission, of course... and while I'm waiting for these porters..." "I would like to organize classes for those children in the valley... and teach them something practical and something useful:" "Geology." " Splendid." " Isn't it?" "I was a professor for 20 years, and a very good one." "I'm sure you were." "When would you like to start?" " Oh, immediately." " Then it's done." "Oh, thank you." "You see?" "You get the idea?" "From this reservoir here, I can pipe the whule works." "I'm going to get a great kick out of this." "Of course, it's just to keep my hand in, but with the equipment we have here..." "I can put a plumbing system in the whole village down there." "Can rig it up in no time." "Do you realize that those poor people are still going to the well for water?" " It's unbelievable." " Think of it in times like these." " What about that gold deal?" " Huh?" " Gold, you know..." " Oh, that." "Well, that can wait." "Nobody's gonna run off with it." "Say, I've got to get busy." "I want to show this whole layout to Chang." "So long." "Don't you take any wooden nickels." "George, yuu're behaving like a child." "You haven't spoken in twu weeks." "I don't see that there's anything to say." " I'm afraid that does it." " I'm afraid it does." " Shall we have another?" " Not tonight if you don't mind." "Come in, my dear." "Sorry..." "I didn't mean to interrupt." "I thought Mr. Conway's brother was here." "Excuse me." "Charming, isn't she?" "Yes, charming." "Your brother seems quite fascinated by her." "Why nut?" "She's an attractive young woman." "Young?" "She arrived here in 1888." "She was 20 at the time." "She was on her way to juin her betrothed... when her curriers lost their way in the mountains." "The whole party would've perished but for meeting some of our people." "Amazing." "Still doesn't look over 20." "When is she likely to grow old in appearance?" "Oh, not for years." "Shangri-La will keep her youthful indefinitely." "Suppose she should leave?" "Leave Shangri-La?" "That's not likely." "You couldn't drive her out." "I mean, about her appearance." "If she leaves the valley, what would happen?" "She would quickly revert in appearance to her actual age." "It's weird." "Chang, how old are you?" "Age is a limit we impose upon ourselves." "You know, each time you Westerners... celebrate your birthday... you build another fence around yuur minds." "There you are." "You're just the man I'm looking for." "Fine trick." "Smart, aren't you?" "What lies you told us about those porters." "The minute they arrive, we can make arrangements to leave if they'd take us." "But you'd tell them not to." " My dear boy." " You've been lying since we got there." "It's worked for some people because they lack courage to do anything about it." "But not me, Chang." "You're up against the wrong man." "I'll get out of here if I have to blow this fantastic place into the valley." "I'll get out, porters or no porters!" "You must prevail upon him not to attempt the journey." "He could never get through that country alive." "I can't let him go alone." "It's suicide." "Yes, of course, your brother is a problem." "It was to be expected." "I knew you'd understand." "That's why I came to you for help." "You must not look to me for help." "Your brother is no longer my problem." "He is now your problem, Conway." "Mine?" "Because, my son..." "I am placing in your hands... the future and destiny... of Shangri-La... for I am guing to die." "I knew my work was dune... when I first set eyes upon you." "I've waited for you, my son, for a long time." "I've sat in this room and seen the faces of newcomers." "I've looked into their eyes and heard their voices... always in hope... that I might find you." "My friend... it is not an arduous task that I bequeath... for our order knows only silken bonds." "To be gentle and patient... to care for the riches of the mind... to preside in wisdom... while the storm rages without." "Do you think this will come in my time?" "You, my son... will live thruugh the storm." "You will preserve the fragrance uf our history... and add to it... a touch of your own mind." "Beyond that... my vision weakens... but I see at a great distance... a new world stirring in the ruins... stirring clumsily... but in hopefulness... seeking its lost... and legendary treasures... and they will all be here, my son... hidden behind the mountains... in the Valley of the Blue Moon... preserved... as by a miracle." "Look, honey, we run the pipes through here... and we connect with the main waterline here." "Where are you gonna get pipes?" "That's a cinch." "I'll show them how to cast pipes out of clay." "Oh, there you are." "Well, better get your things together." "We're leaving." " Leaving?" " Yes, I've been talking to the porters." "They're gonna take us back." "We've gut clothing, food, everything." "Come on." "When are you gonna start?" "Right this minute." "The porters are waiting for us on the plateau." "That Chinaman thought he could stop me." "Come along." "I think I'll stick aruund." "I'll leave with the porters on the next trip." "You don't wanna go?" "Well, I'm..." "I see." "You're afraid of going to jail, huh?" "Well, no." "You see, I've got this plumbing business." "If you insist on being an idiot, I'm not gonna waste time coaxing you." "You?" "No, you don't wanna go yet, honey." "She'II stick around too." "Is that right?" " If you want me to." " Sure." "Don't you worry." "I'll take care of you." "Suit yourself, but just remember, you had your chance." " How about you?" "Do you want to go?" " Go?" "Where?" "Home." "Away from here." "I've got porters to take us back." "Dear boy, I'm sorry, that's impossible." "I have my classes all started." "I dun't care what you've got started." "Do you want to go?" "No, I think I'd better wait." "Yes, I will wait." "You'II wait till you rot here." " Hello, Gloria." " Hello." "I've just finished translating an interesting old tablet." "It told me all about the urigin uf the Masonic symbols." "That's swell." "Lovey..." "I want to show you something." " What?" " Look." " Isn't that pretty." "What is it?" " Plumbing." "Everything modern." "I'm going to run pipes through the village." "Hello, George." "You can stop worrying about everything." "I've made arrangements to leave." "If you let me close that winduw, I can talk to you." "The noise is driving me crazy." "We're getting back to civilization." "I've made a deal with the porters." "They brought in a load of books." "They're leaving tomurrow at dawn." "They're waiting outside the valley." "Get your things." "Where's your top coat?" " You can't leave." " Why not?" "What's going to stop me?" " You mustn't." "You've got to stay here." " Stay here?" "What's the matter with you, Bob?" "Yuu've been acting strangely ever since we came here." "I've never seen you like this." "Why can't we leave?" "What's stopping us?" "Something grand and beautiful." "Something I've been searching fur all my life." "The answer to the confusion and bewilderment of a lifetime." "I've found it, and I can't leave it." "You mustn't either." "I don't know what you're talking about." "You're carrying around a secret." "If you'II only tell me about it." "I will." "I want to tell you." "I'll burst with it if I don't." "It's weird and fantastic and sometimes unbelievable, but so beautiful." "As yuu knuw, we were kidnapped and brought here." "And that's the whole story." "He died as peacefully as the passing of a cloud's shadows." "His last words to me were..." ""I place in your hands, my son... the future and destiny of Shangri-La."" "Now you know why I can't leave." "Well, I..." "I really don't know what to say... except that you must be completely mad." "You think I'm mad?" "What else can I think after a tale like that?" "Things like that don't happen today." " We're living in the 20th century." " You think it's all nonsense?" "You've been hypnotized by fanatics." "I wuuldn't believe it if I heard it in an English monastery." "Why should I swallow it in Tibet?" "Did they show you proof what things they told you are true?" "I dun't need proof." "I knew there was a reason why I hated this place." "I'd give half my life to fly over it with bombs for what they've done to you." "All this talk about Lamas being hundreds of years old." "How do you know?" "Did you see their birth certificates?" "I can't believe it." "A bunch of decrepit, old men sit around... and dream abuut reforming the world." "And you, two-feet-on-the-ground Conway, want to join them." "It's horrible." "Is that all my story meant to you?" "What else cuuld it mean to me?" "It's ubviously a lot of bunk." "You'd better go, George." "This is no place for yuu." "It's no place for you, Bob." "Think of what's waiting fur you." "Do yuu want to stay here till you're half dead?" "Till your mind starts curroding like the rest of them?" "I don't want to talk about it anymore." "You've got to." "What about me?" "They stole that plane tu bring you here." "I didn't want to come." "You owe me some responsibility." "I'm tired of owing you things." "Yuu're free to go." "Go ahead." "It's that girl." "That girl's twisted and turned..." "That's enough!" "Never mind the girl." "Well, why don't you go?" "Look here, Bob." "Ever since I can remember, you've looked after me." "Now you're the one that needs looking after." "I'm your brother, Bob." "If there's something wrung with you, let me help you." "Besides..." "I don't feel like making that trip alone, Bob." "You couldn't possibly stay here, could you?" "I'd go mad." "George, I may be wrong." "I may be a maniac... but I believe in this, and I'm not going to lose it." "You know how much I want to help you... but this is bigger... stronger, if you like, than brotherly love." "I'm sorry, George, I'm staying." "Well, I... can't think of anything mure to say." "Good-bye, Bob." "Are you sure of the porters?" "About their taking care of you?" "Yes, it's all set." "Maria made the arrangements." " Maria?" " Yes, the little Russian girl." " What's she got to do with it?" " She's going with me." "George, you're crazy." " You can't take her away from here." " Why nut?" "Because you can't." "Do you know what will happen if she leaves Shangri-La?" "She's a fragile thing that can only live where fragile things are loved." "Take her out of this valley, and she'll fade away like an echo." " What do you mean?" " She came here in 1888." "This'd be funny if it weren't so pathetic." " She isn't a day uver 20." " You're wrong." "I'm not wrong!" "She told me so." "Besides, she wouldn't have to tell me." "I'd know." "I found out a lot of things last night." "I'm not ashamed of it either." "It's probably one of the few decent things that ever happened in this place." "So everyone is serenely happy in Shangri-La?" "Nobody would ever think of leaving." "It's all just so much rot." "She's pleaded with me ever since I came here to take her away." "She's cried in my arms fur hours for fear I'd leave her behind." "And she's made two trips to the plateau to bribe the porters." "For me!" "I don't believe it." "I don't believe a word of it." "I'll prove it." "You've believed everything they've told you without prouf." "I'll prove my story." "Come in a minute." "Come in." "I've got some bad news for you, Maria." "My bruther and I have decided we can't take you along." "Can't take me?" "But you promised." "You promised to take me with you." "It's all your fault." "It was all arranged until he spoke to you." "Why can't you leave us alone?" "Yuu want to leave Shangri-La?" "I'll die if I have to stay here another minute." "I've waited a long time fur this chance, and you're not going to stop me now." "If I have to, I'll go alone." "It was I who brought the porters." "If it weren't for me, you'd never get out." "I thought the porters had instructions from the High Lama not to take anyone." "The High Lama?" "Who pays attention to him?" "The porters laugh at the High Lama." "All they want to know is how much gold he'll give them." "I gave them more gold." "I've been stealing it for a year." "I'd do anything tu get out of this place." "To get away from that High Lama, the one who calls himself Father Perrault." " Why, he's been insane for years." " Father Perrault is dead." "He's dead?" "That's fine." "You wun't see me shedding any tears over him." "George, you must take me with you." "Aren't you afraid to leave?" "You don't want to look like an old wuman, do you?" "Old woman?" "Chang told you that, didn't he?" " Yes." " I thought so." "He tells everyone I'm old." "He wants them to stay away from me." "He can't stand it when anyune comes near me." "He's punished me for every minute I've spent with George." "If it weren't for him, I'd have been out of here long ago, but he stops me." "Six months ago, I tried to escape, and he locked me in a dark room." "I nearly went crazy." "Look at me." "Do I look like an old woman?" "Is this the skin of an old woman?" "Look into my eyes." "Are these the eyes of an old woman?" "She was kidnapped and brought here two years ago, just as we were, Bob." "I don't believe it." "I can't believe it." "She's lying." "You're lying." "You're lying!" "Every word you've been saying is a lie!" "Say it." "You're lying, aren't you?" "No, Mr. Conway, I'm not lying." "What reason could I have for lying?" "The chances are we'll never come out of that horrible trip alive." "I'd rather die uut there in a snowstorm, be buried alive... than to stay here one more minute now." " You say the porters are waiting for us?" " Yes." " The clothes?" " Yes, everything." " What about the others?" " I've already asked them." "They're afraid to make the trip." "We'll send an expedition back after them." "Come on, we're wasting time." " Are you taking me?" " Yes, of course." "Certainly." "Come on." "It won't be long now before we're in London." "Can't you just see everyone when we pop in uut of the blue?" "We'II have them breathless when we tell them our story." "You had me worried for a while." "I thought you were gone completely." "Lucky for me you snapped out of it." "You saved my life." " I never could've made it alone." " What was that?" "Can't you shut up?" "Must you gu on babbling?" "What's happened?" "Where's Bob?" "He's going, my child." " Going?" " But he will return." "I can't stand it." "I can't go on anymore." "I've got to rest." "How long is this gonna go on?" "I can't stand it." "Bob, can't you get them to wait for us?" "They're leaving us farther behind daily." "Nothing would suit them better than to lose us, but we must go on." " Come on." " I can't." "You've got to let me rest." "You've got to let me rest." "Target practice again." "One of these days, they're going to hit us." "As long as they keep on aiming at us, we're safe." "Come now." "Try." "Look at her face." "Her face." "Look at her face." "Dropping from nuwhere after a year." " Cable from Gainsford." " Read it." ""Leaving tuday for London with Conway aboard S.S. Manchuria." "Conway can tell nothing of his experiences." "Is suffering frum complete loss of memory." "Signed, Gainsford."" " Loss of memory." " Well, all right." "Give it to the press." " All of it?" " Yes, might as well." "I'II dispatch a convoy to meet him." "Conway's gone again." "Run out." "Listen to this from Gainsford." "Let me have it." ""Aboard the S.S. Manchuria." "Last night, Conway recovered his memury." "Kept talking about Shangri-La." "Telling a fantastic story about a place in Tibet." "Insisted upon returning there at once." "Locked him in room, but he escaped us." "Jumped ship during night at Singapore." "Am leaving ship myself to overtake him, as fearful of his condition." "Wrote down details of Conway's story about Shangri-La, which I am forwarding." "Lord Gainsford."" "Why, here's Gainsford now." " Well, it's good to see you back." " Good to see you." " Hello, fellows." " It's good to see you again." " We thuught you'd never come." " Sit down." "Have a drink." " We thuught you'd never come." " Sit down." "Have a drink." " Scotch and soda." "I'm parched." " Here yuu are, ready and waiting." "Any news uf Conway?" " We're eager to knuw your discovery." " Where is he?" "Gentlemen... you see before you a very weary old man... who has just ended a chase that lasted nearly ten months." "Yuu never caught up with him?" "Since that night that he jumped off the ship, I've been missing him by inches." " You don't mean it." " Was he as determined to get back?" "Determined?" "Gentlemen, in the whole course of my life..." "I have never encountered anything so grim." "During those last ten months, that man has done the most astounding things." "He learned how to fly, stole an army plane, got put into jail, escaped... all in an amazingly short space of time, but only the beginning of his adventure." "He begged, cajoled, fought, always pushing forward tu the Tibetan frontier." "Everywhere I went, I heard the most amazing stories of his adventures." "Positively astounding." "Eventually, I trailed him to the most extreme outpusts in Tibet." "Of course, he had already gone." "But his memory..." "His memory will live with thuse natives the rest of their lives." ""The man who was not human," they called him." "They'll never furget the devil-eyed stranger who, six times... tried to go over a muuntain pass that no other human being dared travel... and six times was forced back by the severest storms." "They'II never forget the madman who stole their food and clothing... who they locked up in their barracks but who fought six guards to escape." "Their soldiers are still talking about their pursuit to overtake him... and shuddering at the memory." "He led them the wildest chase through their own country." "And finally, he disappeared over that very mountain pass... that they themselves dared not travel." "And that, gentlemen, was the last... that any known human being saw of Robert Cunway." " By jove, that's what I call fortitude." " Think of it." "Tell me something, Gainsford." "What do you think of his talk about Shangri-La?" "Do you believe it?" "Yes." "Yes, I believe it." "I believe it because I want to believe it." "Gentlemen..." "I give you a toast." "Here's my hope that Robert Conway... will find his Shangri-La." "Here's my hope... that we all find our Shangri-La."