Finally they rounded a bend and came to an inn. Steve dismounted and asked if any foreigners had stopped for the night; in exchange for a coin, the innkeeper told him that none had. The team rode on.

A much larger inn lay a short distance up the road from the first one. Steve decided that the two inns had been been positioned about a day’s ride from both Khanbaliq and the Great Wall. Night was falling quickly now, and the air at this altitude was chilly. He reined in and turned to Hunter.

“See the stable here? This inn has quite a few guests. And it’s getting cold pretty fast. I think we should spend the night here, whether the Polos are inside or not. If they found another inn up the road, we can start early tomorrow morning and try to catch them on the road.”

“I agree,” said Hunter.

“I’ll be glad to quit riding for the day,” said Jane, “Marcia, how are you?”

Marcia started to dismount, then paused with a grimace. “I think I need help getting down.”

Hunter dismounted quickly and reached up to lift her off. He gently set her on her feet. “Are you injured?”

“No. Just sore.”

A hostler came out of the stable and Steve arranged for him to take care of the horses. Then they went inside the inn. Entering last, Marcia walked stiffly but without help.

Inside the door, Steve found a large room with a fire roaring in a stone fireplace set into the opposite wall. People were seated around several tables near the fire, eating and drinking. To the left of the door, a slender man with gray hair looked up from the counter where he was carefully writing with a narrow brush.

Steve identified himself again as a scholar seeking an appointment. He requested two rooms for the team as two married couples. The innkeeper took them up to the second floor and showed them the rooms, which were across the hall from each other. They were small but clean and tidy.

Each room had two beds, a large pitcher of water, wash basins, and a chamber pot. Steve glanced at each of his companions; they all nodded. Hunter paid for the rooms.

Then Hunter remembered the group of people sitting near the fire. “Do you have any foreign guests tonight?”

“Foreign guests? No, sir. Not tonight.”

“Are all your guests right here?”

“No. A few have finished their dinners already and gone to their rooms.”

“I see. Are there other inns nearby?”

“One small inn lies south of here a short distance. The lodgings there are not nearly as comfortable as ours, however, and-”

“We saw it on the way. Are there others?”

“Not within half a day’s ride.”

“All right. We will be right down in a minute to have dinner for four.”

The innkeeper bowed and went back downstairs.

“I’ll just leave the bag of clothes up here,” said Steve. He tossed it onto one of the beds. “Let’s go get some hot food. I’m starved.”