Here , on the ground that Blessed Feet had trod , Marco felt nearer to his Lord than he had ever felt in any church of Venice .sx But when they went to the Sepulchre and saw the five great oil lamps that burned there continually night and day , it seemed to Marco that the Angel , whose countenance was like lightning and his raiment white as snow , whispered in his heart those words once uttered to the questing women , " He is not here !sx " .sx From one of the lamps , they took " a blessing " ( some of the oil as a beneficent memorial ) and replaced it with new .sx And then they prayed and Marco , having told his beads , added a special and unorthodox supplication :sx " Dearest Lord , be with us on our journey !sx " .sx Then they returned to Acre , for the Legate had said that news of the Papal election might arrive at any moment , and it was not only urgent for them to hear the news , but they had more to ask of him .sx But Teobaldo Visconti had still no news and was more worried than ever .sx " We desire , Eminence , to return to the Great Khan , " said Niccolo , " for we have already tarried long , and there has been more than enough delay .sx " " Since 'tis your wish to go back , " answered the Legate , with ill concealed relief , " I am well content .sx " " But , sir , " persisted Niccolo , " is there to be no message from Christendom in reply to the Great Khan's appeal ?sx " .sx " Certainly , " said Teobaldo , in a flutter .sx " You can assure him of our interest .sx I will cause letters to be written for delivery to him .sx These letters will bear testimony that you have done your utmost to accomplish his charge , but as there is no Pope , you have been unable to do so .sx " There was further delay while they waited for the letters .sx Apparently their embassy was considered of small importance ; the fact that Kubilai Khan invited Christian conversion and tuition for the greater part of Asia did not weigh beside other pressing business on the spot .sx The Polos chafed and wondered , but they could do nothing .sx Their story aroused no excitement at Acre ; their travellers' tales were barely believed .sx At last , however , they received the documents and were free to embark for that famous port of Ayas , which was now to be their starting point , as before it had been their journey's end .sx Soon after their arrival in Lesser Armenia , where Marco was to learn that the just and Christian King , Hayton I , was under Tartar dominion , the news they had so long desired followed and caught them .sx At long last , a Pope had been chosen , and he was no less a personage than the harassed Legate , Teobaldo Visconti !sx What a surprise for them , and since he already knew of their enterprise , what good fortune !sx Would he now realise his great responsibility ?sx Would he now recall them ?sx He did .sx Teobaldo , or Pope Gregory X , as he was to be named , did not forget that the letters the Polos were bearing to Kubilai Khan bore his signature and seal .sx When a message desiring the embassy , on the part of the Apostolic See , not to proceed farther but to return at once to Acre reached the Polos , they rejoiced exceedingly .sx They made known their urgent business to the King of Armenia , and enlisted the interest of that Christian monarch so far that , on his orders , a galley was prepared forthwith to take them back from Ayas .sx At last they would be able thoroughly to fulfil their mission .sx At last the Pope would send with them to the court of the Great Khan those one hundred divines and scholars , expert in revealing the blessings of western civilisation , for which Kubilai had asked .sx Once more at Acre , they were received in audience by the head of Christendom .sx They paid their respects with humble reverence and received his blessing .sx Success had enfolded Gregory X in a holy calm .sx He was no longer the harassed Legate , but a Pontiff of weighty character , who would some day be enrolled by one section .sx of the Church among the saints , though Rome never accorded canonisation .sx " We have considered it our first duty to attend to your business , " he told the Polos .sx " We have never forgotten the importance of this matter .sx And now the Tartar Khan who sent you may well be satisfied .sx We have appointed the most learned Churchmen to be found in this country to accompany you and to do whatever may be required .sx " They thanked him earnestly .sx They saw themselves leading the one hundred into the promised land , with hymns of praise .sx " Their names , " proceeded the Pope , " are Friar William of Tripoli and Friar Nicholas of Vicenza , and they are both of the Dominican Order of Preachers .sx " " These two will then head the rest , Your Holiness ?sx " .sx " The rest ?sx " .sx " One hundred are expected , Father .sx " " Two are sufficient .sx More have never gone on such a mission .sx Did not Friar John of Piane de Carpine and Friar William of Rubruck go with one companion each ?sx And who is this Kubilai Khan that he should expect more than other Tartars ?sx " .sx " Father , we gave him our promise .sx " Gregory X smiled benignly .sx " You have done your duty like good children .sx You must bow now to paternal authority and wisdom .sx Exaggeration and extravagance are to be expected from barbarians .sx We live by the spirit , not by the letter of the law .sx The two friars we have appointed will teach the Khan all he should know .sx Moreover , they will carry credentials and letters and rich presents from ourselves , and we have given them authority to ordain priests and to bestow absolution .sx Therefore, , look you , they will have the power of many times their number .sx " The argument was unanswerable , and the Polos submitted to it with a good grace .sx They were then presented to the learned friars and , when all had received the final benediction of the Pope , the party of five set forth once more for Ayas .sx But in that party there was one at least who was not satisfied , who dared to think that the Latin authorship for which Friar William of Tripoli was renowned and the pious zeal that marked Friar Nicholas of Vicenza were qualifications insufficient for an enterprise of such magnitude .sx " I do not understand , " reflected young Marco , unhappily .sx " A promise is a promise .sx How can two equal one hundred ?sx Surely the Great Khan will be disappointed .sx " During the sea journey to Ayas both the poor friars were most woefully sick .sx They had never before penetrated the Levant farther than Syria and , by the time they landed , both were convinced that they were going to their death .sx Friar William of Tripoli did not seek a martyr's crown , for it had been foretold to him that his most beneficent influence was to be exerted through literature .sx Friar Nicholas of Vicenza remembered suddenly that the Tartars had always shown themselves impervious to the zeal of the Church , and considered that this effort would be merely waste of time .sx At the present juncture , the Mameluke Sultan , Beibars of Egypt , already mentioned as having plotted with Barka Khan against Hulagu , invaded Armenia with a large army .sx Beibars was a horrid infidel .sx It was said that he was a monster of cruelty ( though Friar William allowed that he was sober , chaste , just and even kind to his own Christian subjects ) , and that his devilish activity was shown , not only in the field of war , but in the fact that he played tennis at Damascus and at Cairo by turns .sx However that may be , his ravaging troops did constitute a serious menace to the safety of any travellers in this Mongol territory .sx Niccolo and Maffeo consulted gravely together as to whether they should take the risk , and decided , almost at once , that it was impossible again to turn back .sx And when Marco heard this decision he felt more love for his father and his uncle than he had ever felt before , and gloried in his own young manhood .sx But the two friars were not made of such stern stuff .sx They were in complete agreement with each other , that .sx they had already endured enough .sx They were determined not to die for the sake of any Tartar or for any hare-brained mission .sx " In that case , " said Niccolo to them coldly , " pray do us the favour of handing over to our hands all the credentials , letters and presents that you received from His Holiness .sx " It was done .sx The friars took their leave , wringing their hands and prophesying disaster to the wild adventurers .sx And while they , the accredited emissaries of Christendom , sought their own safety , in the company of the powerful Master of the Knights Templars , three Venetian gentlemen , as the ambassadors of Kubilai Khan , went on to keep their word .sx CHAPTER XII .sx THEY joined a well equipped caravan bound for Baghdad and , to avoid the predatory troops of Sultan Beibars , did not follow the direct route by Aleppo and the Euphrates , but went instead north-eastward through Turcomania and Greater Armenia .sx At the city of Erzinjan , then the see of an Archbishop , they stopped to refresh themselves with baths from hot water springs and to buy travelling clothes , like those worn by the Tartars , of strong quilted black cotton .sx Then they went on through Erzrum and past the foot of snow-capped Mount Ararat , where Noah's Ark once rested , and where they believed it still remained .sx This , for Marco , was the threshold of adventure .sx From here he visualised hitherto unimagined vistas of enchantment .sx Their dark-skinned travelling companions , hardened wanderers , close to Nature , though acquainted with cities , belonged indeed to the Company of the Free .sx Their animals , hardened too by many journeys , were friends , bound to them by mutual dependence .sx Only in such a relation is the camel a beast capable of inspiring affection .sx Marco loved his camel , despite her smell and despite her rude manners .sx Out of his father's hearing he called her Fiordelisa , partly in revenge and partly in tender remembrance of his own childhood .sx When he discovered that she suffered from mange , he was much relieved that another caravan , which joined them hereabouts , brought oil from the Baku oilfields of the country of Georgia , lying to the north , for the oil was efficacious in curing her .sx The handsome Georgian merchants , travelling in this new caravan , had many tales of their own land for young .sx and eager ears .sx Its Christian King was called David and , in the old time , he had always been born marked with the sacred sign of an eagle or of a cross , on the right shoulder .sx And in times still older , Alexander had caused to be built a Great Wall and an Iron Gate , between the Caspian Sea and the mountains of the Caucasus .sx This wall still ran from the Castle of Derbend over the ridges of the mountains ; its purpose to shut out the impure race of Gog and Magog , who were Tartars descended from the Ten Tribes of Israel that abandoned the Law of Moses and worshipped the Golden Calf .sx Then Niccolo and Maffeo had long discussion with the Georgians , as to whether this Great Wall and this Iron Gate were the only ones of their kind in the world .sx But the Georgians said they had heard tell of another Great Wall in the Far Levant , the purpose of which no one knew , and of more than one other Iron Gate .sx They followed the line of the Tigris and passed through Mosul , where many heretical Christians congregated under Mongol rule , and where silks , woven with gold threads , fine enough to please any lady , and called mosolin , were to be bought .sx Beyond this place , wolf-like Kurdish tribes lurked in the hills .sx Would they attack and would there be a great fight ?sx Alas , no !sx But Marco's disappointment was forgotten when they reached the wonderful city of Baghdad .sx Here they stayed for a little time , and heard how the Khalif had been put to death by Hulagu , the brother of the Great Khan .sx Here they wandered through the bazaars and saw all the peoples and surely all the riches of the world .sx Here also Marco listened to many new and wonderful stories .sx