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| author | pgww <pgww@lists.pglaf.org> | 2026-07-11 09:43:12 -0700 |
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| committer | pgww <pgww@lists.pglaf.org> | 2026-07-11 09:43:12 -0700 |
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes index 6833f05..d7b82bc 100644 --- a/.gitattributes +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -1,3 +1,4 @@ -* text=auto -*.txt text -*.md text +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf @@ -1,4 +1,7 @@ -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KIM *** +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 2226 *** + + + Kim @@ -12241,4 +12244,5 @@ Certain is our deliverance! Come!” He crossed his hands on his lap and smiled, as a man may who has won salvation for himself and his beloved. -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KIM *** + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 2226 *** diff --git a/2226-0.zip b/2226-0.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index ce434da..0000000 --- a/2226-0.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/2226-h.zip b/2226-h.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 655ac60..0000000 --- a/2226-h.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/2226-h/2226-h.htm b/2226-h/2226-h.htm index 5e5841c..9031c5a 100644 --- a/2226-h/2226-h.htm +++ b/2226-h/2226-h.htm @@ -1,12 +1,10 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" -"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html lang="en"> <head> -<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> -<meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> -<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Kim, by Rudyard Kipling</title> - -<style type="text/css"> +<meta charset="utf-8"> +<title>Kim | Project Gutenberg</title> +<link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover"> +<style> h1, h2, h3, h4, h5 {text-align: center; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.5; margin-top: .5em; margin-bottom: .5em;} @@ -55,11 +53,11 @@ a:hover {color:red} <h2 class="no-break">by Rudyard Kipling</h2> -<hr /> +<hr> <h2>Contents</h2> -<table summary="" style=""> +<table> <tr> <td> <a href="#chap01">CHAPTER I</a></td> @@ -125,12 +123,12 @@ a:hover {color:red} <div class="chapter"> -<h2><a name="chap01"></a>CHAPTER I</h2> +<h2><a id="chap01"></a>CHAPTER I</h2> <p class="poem"> -O ye who tread the Narrow Way<br /> -By Tophet-flare to Judgment Day,<br /> -Be gentle when “the heathen” pray<br /> +O ye who tread the Narrow Way<br> +By Tophet-flare to Judgment Day,<br> +Be gentle when “the heathen” pray<br> To Buddha at Kamakura! </p> @@ -447,8 +445,8 @@ sobbed; and under his breath began the wonderful Buddhist invocation: </p> <p class="poem"> -“To Him the Way,—the Law,—Apart—<br /> -Whom Maya held beneath her heart,<br /> +“To Him the Way,—the Law,—Apart—<br> +Whom Maya held beneath her heart,<br> Ananda’s Lord—the Bodhisat.” </p> @@ -1571,12 +1569,12 @@ The lama rose obediently, and they passed out of the serai like shadows. <div class="chapter"> -<h2><a name="chap02"></a>CHAPTER II</h2> +<h2><a id="chap02"></a>CHAPTER II</h2> <p class="poem"> -And whoso will, from Pride released;<br /> -Contemning neither creed nor priest,<br /> -May feel the Soul of all the East.<br /> +And whoso will, from Pride released;<br> +Contemning neither creed nor priest,<br> +May feel the Soul of all the East.<br> About him at Kamakura. </p> @@ -2670,12 +2668,12 @@ of pariah dogs. <div class="chapter"> -<h2><a name="chap03"></a>CHAPTER III</h2> +<h2><a id="chap03"></a>CHAPTER III</h2> <p class="poem"> -Yea, voice of every Soul that clung<br /> -To life that strove from rung to rung<br /> -When Devadatta’s rule was young,<br /> +Yea, voice of every Soul that clung<br> +To life that strove from rung to rung<br> +When Devadatta’s rule was young,<br> The warm wind brings Kamakura. </p> @@ -3657,8 +3655,8 @@ grass: </p> <p class="poem"> -This is a handful of cardamoms,<br /> This is a lump of <i>ghi:</i><br /> -This is millet and chillies and rice,<br /> A supper for thee and me! +This is a handful of cardamoms,<br> This is a lump of <i>ghi:</i><br> +This is millet and chillies and rice,<br> A supper for thee and me! </p> <p> @@ -3835,22 +3833,22 @@ son in the East. <div class="chapter"> -<h2><a name="chap04"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2> +<h2><a id="chap04"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2> <p class="poem"> -Good Luck, she is never a lady,<br /> -But the cursedest quean alive,<br /> -Tricksy, wincing, and jady—<br /> -Kittle to lead or drive.<br /> -Greet her—she’s hailing a stranger!<br /> -Meet her—she’s busking to leave!<br /> -Let her alone for a shrew to the bone<br /> -And the hussy comes plucking your sleeve!<br /> - Largesse! Largesse, O Fortune!<br /> - Give or hold at your will.<br /> - If I’ve no care for Fortune,<br /> - Fortune must follow me still!<br /> -<br /> +Good Luck, she is never a lady,<br> +But the cursedest quean alive,<br> +Tricksy, wincing, and jady—<br> +Kittle to lead or drive.<br> +Greet her—she’s hailing a stranger!<br> +Meet her—she’s busking to leave!<br> +Let her alone for a shrew to the bone<br> +And the hussy comes plucking your sleeve!<br> + Largesse! Largesse, O Fortune!<br> + Give or hold at your will.<br> + If I’ve no care for Fortune,<br> + Fortune must follow me still!<br> +<br> <i>The Wishing-Caps</i>. </p> @@ -4898,18 +4896,18 @@ many grandsons. <div class="chapter"> -<h2><a name="chap05"></a>CHAPTER V</h2> +<h2><a id="chap05"></a>CHAPTER V</h2> <p class="poem"> -Here come I to my own again<br /> -Fed, forgiven, and known again<br /> -Claimed by bone of my bone again,<br /> - And sib to flesh of my flesh!<br /> -The fatted calf is dressed for me,<br /> -But the husks have greater zest for me ...<br /> -I think my pigs will be best for me,<br /> - So I’m off to the styes afresh.<br /> -<br /> +Here come I to my own again<br> +Fed, forgiven, and known again<br> +Claimed by bone of my bone again,<br> + And sib to flesh of my flesh!<br> +The fatted calf is dressed for me,<br> +But the husks have greater zest for me ...<br> +I think my pigs will be best for me,<br> + So I’m off to the styes afresh.<br> +<br> <i>The Prodigal Son</i>. </p> @@ -5123,9 +5121,9 @@ wind brought the tune: </p> <p class="poem"> -We crave your condescension<br /> -To tell you what we know<br /> -Of marching in the Mulligan Guards<br /> +We crave your condescension<br> +To tell you what we know<br> +Of marching in the Mulligan Guards<br> To Sligo Port below! </p> @@ -5134,13 +5132,13 @@ Here broke in the shrill-tongued fifes: </p> <p class="poem"> -We shouldered arms,<br /> -We marched—we marched away.<br /> -From Phœnix Park<br /> -We marched to Dublin Bay.<br /> -The drums and the fifes,<br /> -Oh, sweetly they did play,<br /> -As we marched—marched—marched—with the<br /> +We shouldered arms,<br> +We marched—we marched away.<br> +From Phœnix Park<br> +We marched to Dublin Bay.<br> +The drums and the fifes,<br> +Oh, sweetly they did play,<br> +As we marched—marched—marched—with the<br> Mulligan Guards! </p> @@ -6129,18 +6127,18 @@ an’ go to bye-bye. Those two boys will watch your slumbers.” <div class="chapter"> -<h2><a name="chap06"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2> +<h2><a id="chap06"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2> <p class="poem"> -Now I remember comrades—<br /> - Old playmates on new seas—<br /> -Whenas we traded orpiment<br /> - Among the savages.<br /> -Ten thousand leagues to southward,<br /> - And thirty years removed—<br /> -They knew not noble Valdez,<br /> - But me they knew and loved.<br /> -<br /> +Now I remember comrades—<br> + Old playmates on new seas—<br> +Whenas we traded orpiment<br> + Among the savages.<br> +Ten thousand leagues to southward,<br> + And thirty years removed—<br> +They knew not noble Valdez,<br> + But me they knew and loved.<br> +<br> <i>Song of Diego Valdez.</i> </p> @@ -7237,18 +7235,18 @@ Then the bugles blew for dinner. <div class="chapter"> -<h2><a name="chap07"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2> +<h2><a id="chap07"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2> <p class="poem"> -Unto whose use the pregnant suns are poised<br /> - With idiot moons and stars retracing stars?<br /> -Creep thou betweene—thy coming’s all unnoised.<br /> - Heaven hath her high, as Earth her baser, wars.<br /> -Heir to these tumults, this affright, that fraye<br /> -(By Adam’s, fathers’, own, sin bound alway);<br /> -Peer up, draw out thy horoscope and say<br /> - Which planet mends thy threadbare fate or mars!<br /> -<br /> +Unto whose use the pregnant suns are poised<br> + With idiot moons and stars retracing stars?<br> +Creep thou betweene—thy coming’s all unnoised.<br> + Heaven hath her high, as Earth her baser, wars.<br> +Heir to these tumults, this affright, that fraye<br> +(By Adam’s, fathers’, own, sin bound alway);<br> +Peer up, draw out thy horoscope and say<br> + Which planet mends thy threadbare fate or mars!<br> +<br> Sir John Christie. </p> @@ -7739,7 +7737,7 @@ off, snuffing between each long stride. “The Gates of Learning” shut with a clang. </p> -<hr /> +<hr> <p> The country born and bred boy has his own manners and customs, which do not @@ -8162,17 +8160,17 @@ work back with the horses?” <div class="chapter"> -<h2><a name="chap08"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2> +<h2><a id="chap08"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2> <p class="poem"> -Something I owe to the soil that grew—<br /> - More to the life that fed—<br /> -But most to Allah Who gave me two<br /> - Separate sides to my head.<br /> -<br /> -I would go without shirts or shoes,<br /> - Friends, tobacco or bread<br /> -Sooner than for an instant lose<br /> +Something I owe to the soil that grew—<br> + More to the life that fed—<br> +But most to Allah Who gave me two<br> + Separate sides to my head.<br> +<br> +I would go without shirts or shoes,<br> + Friends, tobacco or bread<br> +Sooner than for an instant lose<br> Either side of my head.” </p> @@ -9110,7 +9108,7 @@ for sweetmeats.” head for a few sweetmeats if the fit takes thee?” </p> -<hr /> +<hr> <p> Kim will remember till he dies that long, lazy journey from Umballa, through @@ -9222,19 +9220,19 @@ touch thee. Go up the hill and ask. Here begins the Great Game.” <div class="chapter"> -<h2><a name="chap09"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2> +<h2><a id="chap09"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2> <p class="poem"> -S’ doaks was son of Yelth the wise—<br /> - Chief of the Raven clan.<br /> -Itswoot the Bear had him in care<br /> - To make him a medicine-man.<br /> -<br /> -He was quick and quicker to learn—<br /> - Bold and bolder to dare:<br /> -He danced the dread Kloo-Kwallie Dance<br /> - To tickle Itswoot the Bear!<br /> -<br /> +S’ doaks was son of Yelth the wise—<br> + Chief of the Raven clan.<br> +Itswoot the Bear had him in care<br> + To make him a medicine-man.<br> +<br> +He was quick and quicker to learn—<br> + Bold and bolder to dare:<br> +He danced the dread Kloo-Kwallie Dance<br> + To tickle Itswoot the Bear!<br> +<br> <i>Oregon Legend.</i> </p> @@ -10177,7 +10175,7 @@ and jingled away, while Kim, tongue-tied, twiddled the brass betel-box in his hands. </p> -<hr /> +<hr> <p> The record of a boy’s education interests few save his parents, and, as @@ -10345,16 +10343,16 @@ game as this our colt. And we need men.” <div class="chapter"> -<h2><a name="chap10"></a>CHAPTER X</h2> +<h2><a id="chap10"></a>CHAPTER X</h2> <p class="poem"> -Your tiercel’s too long at hack, Sire. He’s no eyass<br /> -But a passage-hawk that footed ere we caught him,<br /> -Dangerously free o’ the air. Faith! were he mine<br /> -(As mine’s the glove he binds to for his tirings)<br /> -I’d fly him with a make-hawk. He’s in yarak<br /> -Plumed to the very point—so manned, so weathered...<br /> -Give him the firmament God made him for,<br /> +Your tiercel’s too long at hack, Sire. He’s no eyass<br> +But a passage-hawk that footed ere we caught him,<br> +Dangerously free o’ the air. Faith! were he mine<br> +(As mine’s the glove he binds to for his tirings)<br> +I’d fly him with a make-hawk. He’s in yarak<br> +Plumed to the very point—so manned, so weathered...<br> +Give him the firmament God made him for,<br> And what shall take the air of him?—<i>Old Play.</i> </p> @@ -11092,7 +11090,7 @@ horses.” spectacle.” </p> -<hr /> +<hr> <p> About third cockcrow, Kim woke after a sleep of thousands of years. Huneefa, in @@ -11313,25 +11311,25 @@ rapture till a policeman ordered him off the steps. <div class="chapter"> -<h2><a name="chap11"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2> +<h2><a id="chap11"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2> <p class="poem"> -Give the man who is not made<br /> - To his trade<br /> -Swords to fling and catch again,<br /> -Coins to ring and snatch again,<br /> -Men to harm and cure again,<br /> -Snakes to charm and lure again—<br /> -He’ll be hurt by his own blade,<br /> -By his serpents disobeyed,<br /> -By his clumsiness bewrayed,”<br /> -By the people mocked to scorn—<br /> - So ’tis not with juggler born!<br /> -Pinch of dust or withered flower,<br /> - Chance-flung fruit or borrowed staff,<br /> -Serve his need and shore his power,<br /> - Bind the spell, or loose the laugh!<br /> -<br /> +Give the man who is not made<br> + To his trade<br> +Swords to fling and catch again,<br> +Coins to ring and snatch again,<br> +Men to harm and cure again,<br> +Snakes to charm and lure again—<br> +He’ll be hurt by his own blade,<br> +By his serpents disobeyed,<br> +By his clumsiness bewrayed,”<br> +By the people mocked to scorn—<br> + So ’tis not with juggler born!<br> +Pinch of dust or withered flower,<br> + Chance-flung fruit or borrowed staff,<br> +Serve his need and shore his power,<br> + Bind the spell, or loose the laugh!<br> +<br> <i>But a man who, etc.</i>, Op. 15 </p> @@ -12606,21 +12604,21 @@ lamp-lighting time. <div class="chapter"> -<h2><a name="chap12"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2> +<h2><a id="chap12"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2> <p class="poem"> -Who hath desired the Sea—the sight of salt-water unbounded?<br /> +Who hath desired the Sea—the sight of salt-water unbounded?<br> The heave and the halt and the hurl and the crash of the comber -wind-hounded?<br /> +wind-hounded?<br> The sleek-barrelled swell before storm—grey, foamless, enormous, and -growing?<br /> +growing?<br> Stark calm on the lap of the Line—or the crazy-eyed hurricane -blowing?<br /> +blowing?<br> His Sea in no showing the same—his Sea and the same ’neath all -showing—<br /> - His Sea that his being fulfils?<br /> -So and no otherwise—so and no otherwise Hill-men desire their Hills!<br /> -<br /> +showing—<br> + His Sea that his being fulfils?<br> +So and no otherwise—so and no otherwise Hill-men desire their Hills!<br> +<br> The Sea and the Hills. </p> @@ -13953,21 +13951,21 @@ Hills; his shadow shouldering far before him in the dust. <div class="chapter"> -<h2><a name="chap13"></a>CHAPTER XIII</h2> +<h2><a id="chap13"></a>CHAPTER XIII</h2> <p class="poem"> -Who hath desired the Sea—the immense and contemptuous surges?<br /> +Who hath desired the Sea—the immense and contemptuous surges?<br> The shudder, the stumble, the swerve ere the star-stabbing bowsprit -merges—<br /> +merges—<br> The orderly clouds of the Trades and the ridged roaring sapphire -thereunder—<br /> +thereunder—<br> Unheralded cliff-lurking flaws and the head-sails’ low-volleying -thunder?<br /> +thunder?<br> His Sea in no wonder the same—his Sea and the same in each -wonder—<br /> -His Sea that his being fulfils?<br /> -So and no otherwise—so and no otherwise hill-men desire their hills!<br /> -<br /> +wonder—<br> +His Sea that his being fulfils?<br> +So and no otherwise—so and no otherwise hill-men desire their hills!<br> +<br> The Sea and the Hills. </p> @@ -15089,16 +15087,16 @@ simultaneously. Thatt is axiomatic.” <div class="chapter"> -<h2><a name="chap14"></a>CHAPTER XIV</h2> +<h2><a id="chap14"></a>CHAPTER XIV</h2> <p class="poem"> -My brother kneels (so saith Kabir)<br /> - To stone and brass in heathen wise,<br /> -But in my brother’s voice I hear<br /> - My own unanswered agonies.<br /> -His God is as his Fates assign—<br /> -His prayer is all the world’s—and mine.<br /> -<br /> +My brother kneels (so saith Kabir)<br> + To stone and brass in heathen wise,<br> +But in my brother’s voice I hear<br> + My own unanswered agonies.<br> +His God is as his Fates assign—<br> +His prayer is all the world’s—and mine.<br> +<br> K<small>ABIR</small>. </p> @@ -16073,18 +16071,18 @@ her men should earn it back again. <div class="chapter"> -<h2><a name="chap15"></a>CHAPTER XV</h2> +<h2><a id="chap15"></a>CHAPTER XV</h2> <p class="poem"> -I’d not give room for an Emperor—<br /> - I’d hold my road for a King.<br /> -To the Triple Crown I’d not bow down—<br /> - But this is a different thing!<br /> -<i>I</i>’ll not fight with the Powers of Air—<br /> - Sentries pass him through!<br /> -Drawbridge let fall—He’s the Lord of us all—<br /> - The Dreamer whose dream came true!<br /> -<br /> +I’d not give room for an Emperor—<br> + I’d hold my road for a King.<br> +To the Triple Crown I’d not bow down—<br> + But this is a different thing!<br> +<i>I</i>’ll not fight with the Powers of Air—<br> + Sentries pass him through!<br> +Drawbridge let fall—He’s the Lord of us all—<br> + The Dreamer whose dream came true!<br> +<br> <i>The Siege of the Fairies.</i> </p> @@ -16214,7 +16212,7 @@ heavy.” “Ay, our Search is sure. I have come out of great temptation.” </p> -<hr /> +<hr> <p> It was never more than a couple of miles a day now, and Kim’s shoulders @@ -17344,5 +17342,3 @@ for himself and his beloved. </body> </html> - - diff --git a/2226-h/images/cover.jpg b/2226-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5fd412b --- /dev/null +++ b/2226-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt index 6312041..b5dba15 100644 --- a/LICENSE.txt +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -1,4 +1,4 @@ -This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +This book, including all associated images, markup, improvements, metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. @@ -7,5 +7,5 @@ the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize -this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +this book outside of the United States should confirm copyright status under the laws that apply to them. @@ -1,2 +1,2 @@ Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for -eBook #2226 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2226) +book #2226 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2226) diff --git a/old/2226.txt b/old/2226.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 2be74ea..0000000 --- a/old/2226.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,12698 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Kim, by Rudyard Kipling - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Kim - -Author: Rudyard Kipling - -Posting Date: January 15, 2009 [EBook #2226] -Release Date: June, 2000 - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KIM *** - - - - -Produced by Patricia Franks, Karyl Basmajian, Nancy K. -Smith, Dave Bruchie. - - - - - - - - - -Kim - - -by - -Rudyard Kipling - - - - -Chapter 1 - - - O ye who tread the Narrow Way - By Tophet-flare to Judgment Day, - Be gentle when 'the heathen' pray - To Buddha at Kamakura! - - Buddha at Kamakura. - - -He sat, in defiance of municipal orders, astride the gun Zam Zammah on -her brick platform opposite the old Ajaib-Gher--the Wonder House, as -the natives call the Lahore Museum. Who hold Zam-Zammah, that -'fire-breathing dragon', hold the Punjab, for the great green-bronze -piece is always first of the conqueror's loot. - -There was some justification for Kim--he had kicked Lala Dinanath's boy -off the trunnions--since the English held the Punjab and Kim was -English. Though he was burned black as any native; though he spoke the -vernacular by preference, and his mother-tongue in a clipped uncertain -sing-song; though he consorted on terms of perfect equality with the -small boys of the bazar; Kim was white--a poor white of the very -poorest. The half-caste woman who looked after him (she smoked opium, -and pretended to keep a second-hand furniture shop by the square where -the cheap cabs wait) told the missionaries that she was Kim's mother's -sister; but his mother had been nursemaid in a Colonel's family and had -married Kimball O'Hara, a young colour-sergeant of the Mavericks, an -Irish regiment. He afterwards took a post on the Sind, Punjab, and -Delhi Railway, and his Regiment went home without him. The wife died -of cholera in Ferozepore, and O'Hara fell to drink and loafing up and -down the line with the keen-eyed three-year-old baby. Societies and -chaplains, anxious for the child, tried to catch him, but O'Hara -drifted away, till he came across the woman who took opium and learned -the taste from her, and died as poor whites die in India. His estate -at death consisted of three papers--one he called his 'ne varietur' -because those words were written below his signature thereon, and -another his 'clearance-certificate'. The third was Kim's -birth-certificate. Those things, he was used to say, in his glorious -opium-hours, would yet make little Kimball a man. On no account was -Kim to part with them, for they belonged to a great piece of -magic--such magic as men practised over yonder behind the Museum, in -the big blue-and-white Jadoo-Gher--the Magic House, as we name the -Masonic Lodge. It would, he said, all come right some day, and Kim's -horn would be exalted between pillars--monstrous pillars--of beauty and -strength. The Colonel himself, riding on a horse, at the head of the -finest Regiment in the world, would attend to Kim--little Kim that -should have been better off than his father. Nine hundred first-class -devils, whose God was a Red Bull on a green field, would attend to Kim, -if they had not forgotten O'Hara--poor O'Hara that was gang-foreman on -the Ferozepore line. Then he would weep bitterly in the broken rush -chair on the veranda. So it came about after his death that the woman -sewed parchment, paper, and birth-certificate into a leather -amulet-case which she strung round Kim's neck. - -'And some day,' she said, confusedly remembering O'Hara's prophecies, -'there will come for you a great Red Bull on a green field, and the -Colonel riding on his tall horse, yes, and' dropping into -English--'nine hundred devils.' - -'Ah,' said Kim, 'I shall remember. A Red Bull and a Colonel on a horse -will come, but first, my father said, will come the two men making -ready the ground for these matters. That is how my father said they -always did; and it is always so when men work magic.' - -If the woman had sent Kim up to the local Jadoo-Gher with those papers, -he would, of course, have been taken over by the Provincial Lodge, and -sent to the Masonic Orphanage in the Hills; but what she had heard of -magic she distrusted. Kim, too, held views of his own. As he reached -the years of indiscretion, he learned to avoid missionaries and white -men of serious aspect who asked who he was, and what he did. For Kim -did nothing with an immense success. True, he knew the wonderful -walled city of Lahore from the Delhi Gate to the outer Fort Ditch; was -hand in glove with men who led lives stranger than anything Haroun al -Raschid dreamed of; and he lived in a life wild as that of the Arabian -Nights, but missionaries and secretaries of charitable societies could -not see the beauty of it. His nickname through the wards was 'Little -Friend of all the World'; and very often, being lithe and -inconspicuous, he executed commissions by night on the crowded -housetops for sleek and shiny young men of fashion. It was -intrigue,--of course he knew that much, as he had known all evil since -he could speak,--but what he loved was the game for its own sake--the -stealthy prowl through the dark gullies and lanes, the crawl up a -waterpipe, the sights and sounds of the women's world on the flat -roofs, and the headlong flight from housetop to housetop under cover of -the hot dark. Then there were holy men, ash-smeared fakirs by their -brick shrines under the trees at the riverside, with whom he was quite -familiar--greeting them as they returned from begging-tours, and, when -no one was by, eating from the same dish. The woman who looked after -him insisted with tears that he should wear European clothes--trousers, -a shirt and a battered hat. Kim found it easier to slip into Hindu or -Mohammedan garb when engaged on certain businesses. One of the young -men of fashion--he who was found dead at the bottom of a well on the -night of the earthquake--had once given him a complete suit of Hindu -kit, the costume of a lowcaste street boy, and Kim stored it in a -secret place under some baulks in Nila Ram's timber-yard, beyond the -Punjab High Court, where the fragrant deodar logs lie seasoning after -they have driven down the Ravi. When there was business or frolic -afoot, Kim would use his properties, returning at dawn to the veranda, -all tired out from shouting at the heels of a marriage procession, or -yelling at a Hindu festival. Sometimes there was food in the house, -more often there was not, and then Kim went out again to eat with his -native friends. - -As he drummed his heels against Zam-Zammah he turned now and again from -his king-of-the-castle game with little Chota Lal and Abdullah the -sweetmeat-seller's son, to make a rude remark to the native policeman -on guard over rows of shoes at the Museum door. The big Punjabi grinned -tolerantly: he knew Kim of old. So did the water-carrier, sluicing -water on the dry road from his goat-skin bag. So did Jawahir Singh, -the Museum carpenter, bent over new packing-cases. So did everybody in -sight except the peasants from the country, hurrying up to the Wonder -House to view the things that men made in their own province and -elsewhere. The Museum was given up to Indian arts and manufactures, -and anybody who sought wisdom could ask the Curator to explain. - -'Off! Off! Let me up!' cried Abdullah, climbing up Zam-Zammah's wheel. - -'Thy father was a pastry-cook, Thy mother stole the ghi,' sang Kim. -'All Mussalmans fell off Zam-Zammah long ago!' - -'Let me up!' shrilled little Chota Lal in his gilt-embroidered cap. -His father was worth perhaps half a million sterling, but India is the -only democratic land in the world. - -'The Hindus fell off Zam-Zammah too. The Mussalmans pushed them off. -Thy father was a pastry-cook--' - -He stopped; for there shuffled round the corner, from the roaring Motee -Bazar, such a man as Kim, who thought he knew all castes, had never -seen. He was nearly six feet high, dressed in fold upon fold of dingy -stuff like horse-blanketing, and not one fold of it could Kim refer to -any known trade or profession. At his belt hung a long open-work iron -pencase and a wooden rosary such as holy men wear. On his head was a -gigantic sort of tam-o'-shanter. His face was yellow and wrinkled, like -that of Fook Shing, the Chinese bootmaker in the bazar. His eyes -turned up at the corners and looked like little slits of onyx. - -'Who is that?' said Kim to his companions. - -'Perhaps it is a man,' said Abdullah, finger in mouth, staring. - -'Without doubt,' returned Kim; 'but he is no man of India that I have -ever seen.' - -'A priest, perhaps,' said Chota Lal, spying the rosary. 'See! He goes -into the Wonder House!' - -'Nay, nay,' said the policeman, shaking his head. 'I do not understand -your talk.' The constable spoke Punjabi. 'O Friend of all the World, -what does he say?' - -'Send him hither,' said Kim, dropping from Zam-Zammah, flourishing his -bare heels. 'He is a foreigner, and thou art a buffalo.' - -The man turned helplessly and drifted towards the boys. He was old, -and his woollen gaberdine still reeked of the stinking artemisia of the -mountain passes. - -'O Children, what is that big house?' he said in very fair Urdu. - -'The Ajaib-Gher, the Wonder House!' Kim gave him no title--such as -Lala or Mian. He could not divine the man's creed. - -'Ah! The Wonder House! Can any enter?' - -'It is written above the door--all can enter.' - -'Without payment?' - -'I go in and out. I am no banker,' laughed Kim. - -'Alas! I am an old man. I did not know.' Then, fingering his rosary, -he half turned to the Museum. - -'What is your caste? Where is your house? Have you come far?' Kim -asked. - -'I came by Kulu--from beyond the Kailas--but what know you? From the -Hills where'--he sighed--'the air and water are fresh and cool.' - -'Aha! Khitai [a Chinaman],' said Abdullah proudly. Fook Shing had -once chased him out of his shop for spitting at the joss above the -boots. - -'Pahari [a hillman],' said little Chota Lal. - -'Aye, child--a hillman from hills thou'lt never see. Didst hear of -Bhotiyal [Tibet]? I am no Khitai, but a Bhotiya [Tibetan], since you -must know--a lama--or, say, a guru in your tongue.' - -'A guru from Tibet,' said Kim. 'I have not seen such a man. They be -Hindus in Tibet, then?' - -'We be followers of the Middle Way, living in peace in our lamasseries, -and I go to see the Four Holy Places before I die. Now do you, who are -children, know as much as I do who am old.' He smiled benignantly on -the boys. - -'Hast thou eaten?' - -He fumbled in his bosom and drew forth a worn, wooden begging-bowl. The -boys nodded. All priests of their acquaintance begged. - -'I do not wish to eat yet.' He turned his head like an old tortoise in -the sunlight. 'Is it true that there are many images in the Wonder -House of Lahore?' He repeated the last words as one making sure of an -address. - -'That is true,' said Abdullah. 'It is full of heathen busts. Thou -also art an idolater.' - -'Never mind him,' said. Kim. 'That is the Government's house and -there is no idolatry in it, but only a Sahib with a white beard. Come -with me and I will show.' - -'Strange priests eat boys,' whispered Chota Lal. - -'And he is a stranger and a but-parast [idolater],' said Abdullah, the -Mohammedan. - -Kim laughed. 'He is new. Run to your mothers' laps, and be safe. -Come!' - -Kim clicked round the self-registering turnstile; the old man followed -and halted amazed. In the entrance-hall stood the larger figures of -the Greco-Buddhist sculptures done, savants know how long since, by -forgotten workmen whose hands were feeling, and not unskilfully, for -the mysteriously transmitted Grecian touch. There were hundreds of -pieces, friezes of figures in relief, fragments of statues and slabs -crowded with figures that had encrusted the brick walls of the Buddhist -stupas and viharas of the North Country and now, dug up and labelled, -made the pride of the Museum. In open-mouthed wonder the lama turned -to this and that, and finally checked in rapt attention before a large -alto-relief representing a coronation or apotheosis of the Lord Buddha. -The Master was represented seated on a lotus the petals of which were -so deeply undercut as to show almost detached. Round Him was an adoring -hierarchy of kings, elders, and old-time Buddhas. Below were -lotus-covered waters with fishes and water-birds. Two butterfly-winged -devas held a wreath over His head; above them another pair supported an -umbrella surmounted by the jewelled headdress of the Bodhisat. - -'The Lord! The Lord! It is Sakya Muni himself,' the lama half sobbed; -and under his breath began the wonderful Buddhist invocation: - -To Him the Way, the Law, apart, Whom Maya held beneath her heart, -Ananda's Lord, the Bodhisat. - -'And He is here! The Most Excellent Law is here also. My pilgrimage -is well begun. And what work! What work!' - -'Yonder is the Sahib.' said Kim, and dodged sideways among the cases -of the arts and manufacturers wing. A white-bearded Englishman was -looking at the lama, who gravely turned and saluted him and after some -fumbling drew forth a note-book and a scrap of paper. - -'Yes, that is my name,' smiling at the clumsy, childish print. - -'One of us who had made pilgrimage to the Holy Places--he is now Abbot -of the Lung-Cho Monastery--gave it me,' stammered the lama. 'He spoke -of these.' His lean hand moved tremulously round. - -'Welcome, then, O lama from Tibet. Here be the images, and I am -here'--he glanced at the lama's face--'to gather knowledge. Come to my -office awhile.' The old man was trembling with excitement. - -The office was but a little wooden cubicle partitioned off from the -sculpture-lined gallery. Kim laid himself down, his ear against a -crack in the heat-split cedar door, and, following his instinct, -stretched out to listen and watch. - -Most of the talk was altogether above his head. The lama, haltingly at -first, spoke to the Curator of his own lamassery, the Such-zen, -opposite the Painted Rocks, four months' march away. The Curator -brought out a huge book of photos and showed him that very place, -perched on its crag, overlooking the gigantic valley of many-hued -strata. - -'Ay, ay!' The lama mounted a pair of horn-rimmed spectacles of Chinese -work. 'Here is the little door through which we bring wood before -winter. And thou--the English know of these things? He who is now -Abbot of Lung-Cho told me, but I did not believe. The Lord--the -Excellent One--He has honour here too? And His life is known?' - -'It is all carven upon the stones. Come and see, if thou art rested.' - -Out shuffled the lama to the main hall, and, the Curator beside him, -went through the collection with the reverence of a devotee and the -appreciative instinct of a craftsman. - -Incident by incident in the beautiful story he identified on the -blurred stone, puzzled here and there by the unfamiliar Greek -convention, but delighted as a child at each new trove. Where the -sequence failed, as in the Annunciation, the Curator supplied it from -his mound of books--French and German, with photographs and -reproductions. - -Here was the devout Asita, the pendant of Simeon in the Christian -story, holding the Holy Child on his knee while mother and father -listened; and here were incidents in the legend of the cousin -Devadatta. Here was the wicked woman who accused the Master of -impurity, all confounded; here was the teaching in the Deer-park; the -miracle that stunned the fire-worshippers; here was the Bodhisat in -royal state as a prince; the miraculous birth; the death at Kusinagara, -where the weak disciple fainted; while there were almost countless -repetitions of the meditation under the Bodhi tree; and the adoration -of the alms-bowl was everywhere. In a few minutes the Curator saw that -his guest was no mere bead-telling mendicant, but a scholar of parts. -And they went at it all over again, the lama taking snuff, wiping his -spectacles, and talking at railway speed in a bewildering mixture of -Urdu and Tibetan. He had heard of the travels of the Chinese pilgrims, -Fu-Hiouen and Hwen-Tsiang, and was anxious to know if there was any -translation of their record. He drew in his breath as he turned -helplessly over the pages of Beal and Stanislas Julien. ''Tis all -here. A treasure locked.' Then he composed himself reverently to -listen to fragments hastily rendered into Urdu. For the first time he -heard of the labours of European scholars, who by the help of these and -a hundred other documents have identified the Holy Places of Buddhism. -Then he was shown a mighty map, spotted and traced with yellow. The -brown finger followed the Curator's pencil from point to point. Here -was Kapilavastu, here the Middle Kingdom, and here Mahabodhi, the Mecca -of Buddhism; and here was Kusinagara, sad place of the Holy One's -death. The old man bowed his head over the sheets in silence for a -while, and the Curator lit another pipe. Kim had fallen asleep. When -he waked, the talk, still in spate, was more within his comprehension. - -'And thus it was, O Fountain of Wisdom, that I decided to go to the -Holy Places which His foot had trod--to the Birthplace, even to Kapila; -then to Mahabodhi, which is Buddh Gaya--to the Monastery--to the -Deer-park--to the place of His death.' - -The lama lowered his voice. 'And I come here alone. For -five--seven--eighteen--forty years it was in my mind that the Old Law -was not well followed; being overlaid, as thou knowest, with devildom, -charms, and idolatry. Even as the child outside said but now. Ay, -even as the child said, with but-parasti.' - -'So it comes with all faiths.' - -'Thinkest thou? The books of my lamassery I read, and they were dried -pith; and the later ritual with which we of the Reformed Law have -cumbered ourselves--that, too, had no worth to these old eyes. Even -the followers of the Excellent One are at feud on feud with one -another. It is all illusion. Ay, maya, illusion. But I have another -desire'--the seamed yellow face drew within three inches of the -Curator, and the long forefinger-nail tapped on the table. 'Your -scholars, by these books, have followed the Blessed Feet in all their -wanderings; but there are things which they have not sought out. I -know nothing--nothing do I know--but I go to free myself from the Wheel -of Things by a broad and open road.' He smiled with most simple -triumph. 'As a pilgrim to the Holy Places I acquire merit. But there -is more. Listen to a true thing. When our gracious Lord, being as yet -a youth, sought a mate, men said, in His father's Court, that He was -too tender for marriage. Thou knowest?' - -The Curator nodded, wondering what would come next. - -'So they made the triple trial of strength against all comers. And at -the test of the Bow, our Lord first breaking that which they gave Him, -called for such a bow as none might bend. Thou knowest?' - -'It is written. I have read.' - -'And, overshooting all other marks, the arrow passed far and far beyond -sight. At the last it fell; and, where it touched earth, there broke -out a stream which presently became a River, whose nature, by our -Lord's beneficence, and that merit He acquired ere He freed himself, is -that whoso bathes in it washes away all taint and speckle of sin.' - -'So it is written,' said the Curator sadly. - -The lama drew a long breath. 'Where is that River? Fountain of -Wisdom, where fell the arrow?' - -'Alas, my brother, I do not know,' said the Curator. - -'Nay, if it please thee to forget--the one thing only that thou hast -not told me. Surely thou must know? See, I am an old man! I ask with -my head between thy feet, O Fountain of Wisdom. We know He drew the -bow! We know the arrow fell! We know the stream gushed! Where, then, -is the River? My dream told me to find it. So I came. I am here. But -where is the River?' - -'If I knew, think you I would not cry it aloud?' - -'By it one attains freedom from the Wheel of Things,' the lama went on, -unheeding. 'The River of the Arrow! Think again! Some little stream, -maybe--dried in the heats? But the Holy One would never so cheat an -old man.' - -'I do not know. I do not know.' - -The lama brought his thousand-wrinkled face once more a handsbreadth -from the Englishman's. 'I see thou dost not know. Not being of the -Law, the matter is hid from thee.' - -'Ay--hidden--hidden.' - -'We are both bound, thou and I, my brother. But I'--he rose with a -sweep of the soft thick drapery--'I go to cut myself free. Come also!' - -'I am bound,' said the Curator. 'But whither goest thou?' - -'First to Kashi [Benares]: where else? There I shall meet one of the -pure faith in a Jain temple of that city. He also is a Seeker in -secret, and from him haply I may learn. Maybe he will go with me to -Buddh Gaya. Thence north and west to Kapilavastu, and there will I -seek for the River. Nay, I will seek everywhere as I go--for the place -is not known where the arrow fell.' - -'And how wilt thou go? It is a far cry to Delhi, and farther to -Benares.' - -'By road and the trains. From Pathankot, having left the Hills, I came -hither in a te-rain. It goes swiftly. At first I was amazed to see -those tall poles by the side of the road snatching up and snatching up -their threads,'--he illustrated the stoop and whirl of a telegraph-pole -flashing past the train. 'But later, I was cramped and desired to -walk, as I am used.' - -'And thou art sure of thy road?' said the Curator. - -'Oh, for that one but asks a question and pays money, and the appointed -persons despatch all to the appointed place. That much I knew in my -lamassery from sure report,' said the lama proudly. - -'And when dost thou go?' The Curator smiled at the mixture of -old-world piety and modern progress that is the note of India today. - -'As soon as may be. I follow the places of His life till I come to the -River of the Arrow. There is, moreover, a written paper of the hours -of the trains that go south.' - -'And for food?' Lamas, as a rule, have good store of money somewhere -about them, but the Curator wished to make sure. - -'For the journey, I take up the Master's begging-bowl. Yes. Even as -He went so go I, forsaking the ease of my monastery. There was with me -when I left the hills a chela [disciple] who begged for me as the Rule -demands, but halting in Kulu awhile a fever took him and he died. I -have now no chela, but I will take the alms-bowl and thus enable the -charitable to acquire merit.' He nodded his head valiantly. Learned -doctors of a lamassery do not beg, but the lama was an enthusiast in -this quest. - -'Be it so,' said the Curator, smiling. 'Suffer me now to acquire -merit. We be craftsmen together, thou and I. Here is a new book of -white English paper: here be sharpened pencils two and three--thick -and thin, all good for a scribe. Now lend me thy spectacles.' - -The Curator looked through them. They were heavily scratched, but the -power was almost exactly that of his own pair, which he slid into the -lama's hand, saying: 'Try these.' - -'A feather! A very feather upon the face.' The old man turned his -head delightedly and wrinkled up his nose. 'How scarcely do I feel -them! How clearly do I see!' - -'They be bilaur--crystal--and will never scratch. May they help thee -to thy River, for they are thine.' - -'I will take them and the pencils and the white note-book,' said the -lama, 'as a sign of friendship between priest and priest--and now--' He -fumbled at his belt, detached the open-work iron pincers, and laid it -on the Curator's table. 'That is for a memory between thee and me--my -pencase. It is something old--even as I am.' - -It was a piece of ancient design, Chinese, of an iron that is not -smelted these days; and the collector's heart in the Curator's bosom -had gone out to it from the first. For no persuasion would the lama -resume his gift. - -'When I return, having found the River, I will bring thee a written -picture of the Padma Samthora such as I used to make on silk at the -lamassery. Yes--and of the Wheel of Life,' he chuckled, 'for we be -craftsmen together, thou and I.' - -The Curator would have detained him: they are few in the world who -still have the secret of the conventional brush-pen Buddhist pictures -which are, as it were, half written and half drawn. But the lama -strode out, head high in air, and pausing an instant before the great -statue of a Bodhisat in meditation, brushed through the turnstiles. - -Kim followed like a shadow. What he had overheard excited him wildly. -This man was entirely new to all his experience, and he meant to -investigate further, precisely as he would have investigated a new -building or a strange festival in Lahore city. The lama was his trove, -and he purposed to take possession. Kim's mother had been Irish, too. - -The old man halted by Zam-Zammah and looked round till his eye fell on -Kim. The inspiration of his pilgrimage had left him for awhile, and he -felt old, forlorn, and very empty. - -'Do not sit under that gun,' said the policeman loftily. - -'Huh! Owl!' was Kim's retort on the lama's behalf. 'Sit under that -gun if it please thee. When didst thou steal the milkwoman's slippers, -Dunnoo?' - -That was an utterly unfounded charge sprung on the spur of the moment, -but it silenced Dunnoo, who knew that Kim's clear yell could call up -legions of bad bazaar boys if need arose. - -'And whom didst thou worship within?' said Kim affably, squatting in -the shade beside the lama. - -'I worshipped none, child. I bowed before the Excellent Law.' - -Kim accepted this new God without emotion. He knew already a few score. - -'And what dost thou do?' - -'I beg. I remember now it is long since I have eaten or drunk. What is -the custom of charity in this town? In silence, as we do of Tibet, or -speaking aloud?' - -'Those who beg in silence starve in silence,' said Kim, quoting a -native proverb. The lama tried to rise, but sank back again, sighing -for his disciple, dead in far-away Kulu. Kim watched head to one side, -considering and interested. - -'Give me the bowl. I know the people of this city--all who are -charitable. Give, and I will bring it back filled.' - -Simply as a child the old man handed him the bowl. - -'Rest, thou. I know the people.' - -He trotted off to the open shop of a kunjri, a low-caste -vegetable-seller, which lay opposite the belt-tramway line down the -Motee Bazar. She knew Kim of old. - -'Oho, hast thou turned yogi with thy begging-bowl?' she cried. - -'Nay.' said Kim proudly. 'There is a new priest in the city--a man -such as I have never seen.' - -'Old priest--young tiger,' said the woman angrily. 'I am tired of new -priests! They settle on our wares like flies. Is the father of my son -a well of charity to give to all who ask?' - -'No,' said Kim. 'Thy man is rather yagi [bad-tempered] than yogi [a -holy man]. But this priest is new. The Sahib in the Wonder House has -talked to him like a brother. O my mother, fill me this bowl. He -waits.' - -'That bowl indeed! That cow-bellied basket! Thou hast as much grace -as the holy bull of Shiv. He has taken the best of a basket of onions -already, this morn; and forsooth, I must fill thy bowl. He comes here -again.' - -The huge, mouse-coloured Brahmini bull of the ward was shouldering his -way through the many-coloured crowd, a stolen plantain hanging out of -his mouth. He headed straight for the shop, well knowing his -privileges as a sacred beast, lowered his head, and puffed heavily -along the line of baskets ere making his choice. Up flew Kim's hard -little heel and caught him on his moist blue nose. He snorted -indignantly, and walked away across the tram-rails, his hump quivering -with rage. - -'See! I have saved more than the bowl will cost thrice over. Now, -mother, a little rice and some dried fish atop--yes, and some vegetable -curry.' - -A growl came out of the back of the shop, where a man lay. - -'He drove away the bull,' said the woman in an undertone. 'It is good -to give to the poor.' She took the bowl and returned it full of hot -rice. - -'But my yogi is not a cow,' said Kim gravely, making a hole with his -fingers in the top of the mound. 'A little curry is good, and a fried -cake, and a morsel of conserve would please him, I think.' - -'It is a hole as big as thy head,' said the woman fretfully. But she -filled it, none the less, with good, steaming vegetable curry, clapped -a fried cake atop, and a morsel of clarified butter on the cake, dabbed -a lump of sour tamarind conserve at the side; and Kim looked at the -load lovingly. - -'That is good. When I am in the bazar the bull shall not come to this -house. He is a bold beggar-man.' - -'And thou?' laughed the woman. 'But speak well of bulls. Hast thou -not told me that some day a Red Bull will come out of a field to help -thee? Now hold all straight and ask for the holy man's blessing upon -me. Perhaps, too, he knows a cure for my daughter's sore eyes. Ask. -him that also, O thou Little Friend of all the World.' - -But Kim had danced off ere the end of the sentence, dodging pariah dogs -and hungry acquaintances. - -'Thus do we beg who know the way of it,' said he proudly to the lama, -who opened his eyes at the contents of the bowl. 'Eat now and--I will -eat with thee. Ohe, bhisti!' he called to the water-carrier, sluicing -the crotons by the Museum. 'Give water here. We men are thirsty.' - -'We men!' said the bhisti, laughing. 'Is one skinful enough for such -a pair? Drink, then, in the name of the Compassionate.' - -He loosed a thin stream into Kim's hands, who drank native fashion; but -the lama must needs pull out a cup from his inexhaustible upper -draperies and drink ceremonially. - -'Pardesi [a foreigner],' Kim explained, as the old man delivered in an -unknown tongue what was evidently a blessing. - -They ate together in great content, clearing the beggingbowl. Then the -lama took snuff from a portentous wooden snuff-gourd, fingered his -rosary awhile, and so dropped into the easy sleep of age, as the shadow -of Zam-Zammah grew long. - -Kim loafed over to the nearest tobacco-seller, a rather lively young -Mohammedan woman, and begged a rank cigar of the brand that they sell -to students of the Punjab University who copy English customs. Then he -smoked and thought, knees to chin, under the belly of the gun, and the -outcome of his thoughts was a sudden and stealthy departure in the -direction of Nila Ram's timber-yard. - -The lama did not wake till the evening life of the city had begun with -lamp-lighting and the return of white-robed clerks and subordinates -from the Government offices. He stared dizzily in all directions, but -none looked at him save a Hindu urchin in a dirty turban and -Isabella-coloured clothes. Suddenly he bowed his head on his knees and -wailed. - -'What is this?' said the boy, standing before him. 'Hast thou been -robbed?' - -'It is my new chela [disciple] that is gone away from me, and I know -not where he is.' - -'And what like of man was thy disciple?' - -'It was a boy who came to me in place of him who died, on account of -the merit which I had gained when I bowed before the Law within there.' -He pointed towards the Museum. 'He came upon me to show me a road -which I had lost. He led me into the Wonder House, and by his talk -emboldened me to speak to the Keeper of the Images, so that I was -cheered and made strong. And when I was faint with hunger he begged -for me, as would a chela for his teacher. Suddenly was he sent. -Suddenly has he gone away. It was in my mind to have taught him the -Law upon the road to Benares.' - -Kim stood amazed at this, because he had overheard the talk in the -Museum, and knew that the old man was speaking the truth, which is a -thing a native on the road seldom presents to a stranger. - -'But I see now that he was but sent for a purpose. By this I know that -I shall find a certain River for which I seek.' - -'The River of the Arrow?' said Kim, with a superior smile. - -'Is this yet another Sending?' cried the lama. 'To none have I spoken -of my search, save to the Priest of the Images. Who art thou?' - -'Thy chela,' said Kim simply, sitting on his heels. 'I have never seen -anyone like to thee in all this my life. I go with thee to Benares. -And, too, I think that so old a man as thou, speaking the truth to -chance-met people at dusk, is in great need of a disciple.' - -'But the River--the River of the Arrow?' - -'Oh, that I heard when thou wast speaking to the Englishman. I lay -against the door.' - -The lama sighed. 'I thought thou hadst been a guide permitted. Such -things fall sometimes--but I am not worthy. Thou dost not, then, know -the River?' - -'Not I,' Kim laughed uneasily. 'I go to look for--for a bull--a Red. -Bull on a green field who shall help me.' Boylike, if an acquaintance -had a scheme, Kim was quite ready with one of his own; and, boylike, he -had really thought for as much as twenty minutes at a time of his -father's prophecy. - -'To what, child?' said the lama. - -'God knows, but so my father told me'. I heard thy talk in the Wonder -House of all those new strange places in the Hills, and if one so old -and so little--so used to truth-telling--may go out for the small -matter of a river, it seemed to me that I too must go a-travelling. If -it is our fate to find those things we shall find them--thou, thy -River; and I, my Bull, and the Strong Pillars and some other matters -that I forget.' - -'It is not pillars but a Wheel from which I would be free,' said the -lama. - -'That is all one. Perhaps they will make me a king,' said Kim, -serenely prepared for anything. - -'I will teach thee other and better desires upon the road,' the lama -replied in the voice of authority. 'Let us go to Benares.' - -'Not by night. Thieves are abroad. Wait till the day.' - -'But there is no place to sleep.' The old man was used to the order of -his monastery, and though he slept on the ground, as the Rule decrees, -preferred a decency in these things. - -'We shall get good lodging at the Kashmir Serai,' said Kim, laughing at -his perplexity. 'I have a friend there. Come!' - -The hot and crowded bazars blazed with light as they made their way -through the press of all the races in Upper India, and the lama mooned -through it like a man in a dream. It was his first experience of a -large manufacturing city, and the crowded tram-car with its continually -squealing brakes frightened him. Half pushed, half towed, he arrived -at the high gate of the Kashmir Serai: that huge open square over -against the railway station, surrounded with arched cloisters, where -the camel and horse caravans put up on their return from Central Asia. -Here were all manner of Northern folk, tending tethered ponies and -kneeling camels; loading and unloading bales and bundles; drawing water -for the evening meal at the creaking well-windlasses; piling grass -before the shrieking, wild-eyed stallions; cuffing the surly caravan -dogs; paying off camel-drivers; taking on new grooms; swearing, -shouting, arguing, and chaffering in the packed square. The cloisters, -reached by three or four masonry steps, made a haven of refuge around -this turbulent sea. Most of them were rented to traders, as we rent -the arches of a viaduct; the space between pillar and pillar being -bricked or boarded off into rooms, which were guarded by heavy wooden -doors and cumbrous native padlocks. Locked doors showed that the owner -was away, and a few rude--sometimes very rude--chalk or paint scratches -told where he had gone. Thus: 'Lutuf Ullah is gone to Kurdistan.' -Below, in coarse verse: 'O Allah, who sufferest lice to live on the -coat of a Kabuli, why hast thou allowed this louse Lutuf to live so -long?' - -Kim, fending the lama between excited men and excited beasts, sidled -along the cloisters to the far end, nearest therailway station, where -Mahbub Ali, the horse-trader, lived when he came in from that -mysterious land beyond the Passes of the North. - -Kim had had many dealings with Mahbub in his little life, especially -between his tenth and his thirteenth year--and the big burly Afghan, -his beard dyed scarlet with lime (for he was elderly and did not wish -his grey hairs to show), knew the boy's value as a gossip. Sometimes -he would tell Kim to watch a man who had nothing whatever to do with -horses: to follow him for one whole day and report every soul with -whom he talked. Kim would deliver himself of his tale at evening, and -Mahbub would listen without a word or gesture. It was intrigue of some -kind, Kim knew; but its worth lay in saying nothing whatever to anyone -except Mahbub, who gave him beautiful meals all hot from the cookshop -at the head of the serai, and once as much as eight annas in money. - -'He is here,' said Kim, hitting a bad-tempered camel on the nose. 'Ohe. -Mahbub Ali!' He halted at a dark arch and slipped behind the -bewildered lama. - -The horse-trader, his deep, embroidered Bokhariot belt unloosed, was -lying on a pair of silk carpet saddle-bags, pulling lazily at an -immense silver hookah. He turned his head very slightly at the cry; -and seeing only the tall silent figure, chuckled in his deep chest. - -'Allah! A lama! A Red Lama! It is far from Lahore to the Passes. -What dost thou do here?' - -The lama held out the begging-bowl mechanically. - -'God's curse on all unbelievers!' said Mahbub. 'I do not give to a -lousy Tibetan; but ask my Baltis over yonder behind the camels. They -may value your blessings. Oh, horseboys, here is a countryman of -yours. See if he be hungry.' - -A shaven, crouching Balti, who had come down with the horses, and who -was nominally some sort of degraded Buddhist, fawned upon the priest, -and in thick gutturals besought the Holy One to sit at the horseboys' -fire. - -'Go!' said Kim, pushing him lightly, and the lama strode away, leaving -Kim at the edge of the cloister. - -'Go!' said Mahbub Ali, returning to his hookah. 'Little Hindu, run -away. God's curse on all unbelievers! Beg from those of my tail who -are of thy faith.' - -'Maharaj,' whined Kim, using the Hindu form of address, and thoroughly -enjoying the situation; 'my father is dead--my mother is dead--my -stomach is empty.' - -'Beg from my men among the horses, I say. There must be some Hindus in -my tail.' - -'Oh, Mahbub Ali, but am I a Hindu?' said Kim in English. - -The trader gave no sign of astonishment, but looked under shaggy -eyebrows. - -'Little Friend of all the World,' said he, 'what is this?' - -'Nothing. I am now that holy man's disciple; and we go a pilgrimage -together--to Benares, he says. He is quite mad, and I am tired of -Lahore city. I wish new air and water.' - -'But for whom dost thou work? Why come to me?' The voice was harsh -with suspicion. - -'To whom else should I come? I have no money. It is not good to go -about without money. Thou wilt sell many horses to the officers. They -are very fine horses, these new ones: I have seen them. Give me a -rupee, Mahbub Ali, and when I come to my wealth I will give thee a bond -and pay.' - -'Um!' said Mahbub Ali, thinking swiftly. 'Thou hast never before lied -to me. Call that lama--stand back in the dark.' - -'Oh, our tales will agree,' said Kim, laughing. - -'We go to Benares,' said the lama, as soon as he understood the drift -of Mahbub Ali's questions. 'The boy and I, I go to seek for a certain -River.' - -'Maybe--but the boy?' - -'He is my disciple. He was sent, I think, to guide me to that River. -Sitting under a gun was I when he came suddenly. Such things have -befallen the fortunate to whom guidance was allowed. But I remember -now, he said he was of this world--a Hindu.' - -'And his name?' - -'That I did not ask. Is he not my disciple?' - -'His country--his race--his village? Mussalman--Sikh Hindu--Jain--low -caste or high?' - -'Why should I ask? There is neither high nor low in the Middle Way. -If he is my chela--does--will--can anyone take him from me? for, look -you, without him I shall not find my River.' He wagged his head -solemnly. - -'None shall take him from thee. Go, sit among my Baltis,' said Mahbub -Ali, and the lama drifted off, soothed by the promise. - -'Is he not quite mad?' said Kim, coming forward to the light again. -'Why should I lie to thee, Hajji?' - -Mahbub puffed his hookah in silence. Then he began, almost whispering: -'Umballa is on the road to Benares--if indeed ye two go there.' - -'Tck! Tck! I tell thee he does not know how to lie--as we two know.' - -'And if thou wilt carry a message for me as far as Umballa, I will give -thee money. It concerns a horse--a white stallion which I have sold to -an officer upon the last time I returned from the Passes. But -then--stand nearer and hold up hands as begging--the pedigree of the -white stallion was not fully established, and that officer, who is now -at Umballa, bade me make it clear.' (Mahbub here described the horse -and the appearance of the officer.) 'So the message to that officer -will be: "The pedigree of the white stallion is fully established." -By this will he know that thou comest from me. He will then say "What -proof hast thou?" and thou wilt answer: "Mahbub Ali has given me the -proof."' - -'And all for the sake of a white stallion,' said Kim, with a giggle, -his eyes aflame. - -'That pedigree I will give thee now--in my own fashion and some hard -words as well.' A shadow passed behind Kim, and a feeding camel. -Mahbub Ali raised his voice. - -'Allah! Art thou the only beggar in the city? Thy mother is dead. Thy -father is dead. So is it with all of them. Well, well--' - -He turned as feeling on the floor beside him and tossed a flap of soft, -greasy Mussalman bread to the boy. 'Go and lie down among my horseboys -for tonight--thou and the lama. Tomorrow I may give thee service.' - -Kim slunk away, his teeth in the bread, and, as he expected, he found a -small wad of folded tissue-paper wrapped in oilskin, with three silver -rupees--enormous largesse. He smiled and thrust money and paper into -his leather amulet-case. The lama, sumptuously fed by Mahbub's Baltis, -was already asleep in a corner of one of the stalls. Kim lay down -beside him and laughed. He knew he had rendered a service to Mahbub -Ali, and not for one little minute did he believe the tale of the -stallion's pedigree. - -But Kim did not suspect that Mahbub Ali, known as one of the best -horse-dealers in the Punjab, a wealthy and enterprising trader, whose -caravans penetrated far and far into the Back of Beyond, was registered -in one of the locked books of the Indian Survey Department as C25 IB. -Twice or thrice yearly C25 would send in a little story, baldly told -but most interesting, and generally--it was checked by the statements -of R17 and M4--quite true. It concerned all manner of out-of-the-way -mountain principalities, explorers of nationalities other than English, -and the guntrade--was, in brief, a small portion of that vast mass of -'information received' on which the Indian Government acts. But, -recently, five confederated Kings, who had no business to confederate, -had been informed by a kindly Northern Power that there was a leakage -of news from their territories into British India. So those Kings' -Prime Ministers were seriously annoyed and took steps, after the -Oriental fashion. They suspected, among many others, the bullying, -red-bearded horsedealer whose caravans ploughed through their -fastnesses belly-deep in snow. At least, his caravan that season had -been ambushed and shot at twice on the way down, when Mahbub's men -accounted for three strange ruffians who might, or might not, have been -hired for the job. Therefore Mahbub had avoided halting at the -insalubrious city of Peshawur, and had come through without stop to -Lahore, where, knowing his country-people, he anticipated curious -developments. - -And there was that on Mahbub Ali which he did not wish to keep an hour -longer than was necessary--a wad of closely folded tissue-paper, -wrapped in oilskin--an impersonal, unaddressed statement, with five -microscopic pin-holes in one corner, that most scandalously betrayed -the five confederated Kings, the sympathetic Northern Power, a Hindu -banker in Peshawur, a firm of gun-makers in Belgium, and an important, -semi-independent Mohammedan ruler to the south. This last was R17's -work, which Mahbub had picked up beyond the Dora Pass and was carrying -in for R17, who, owing to circumstances over which he had no control, -could not leave his post of observation. Dynamite was milky and -innocuous beside that report of C25; and even an Oriental, with an -Oriental's views of the value of time, could see that the sooner it was -in the proper hands the better. Mahbub had no particular desire to die -by violence, because two or three family blood-feuds across the Border -hung unfinished on his hands, and when these scores were cleared he -intended to settle down as a more or less virtuous citizen. He had -never passed the serai gate since his arrival two days ago, but had -been ostentatious in sending telegrams to Bombay, where he banked some -of his money; to Delhi, where a sub-partner of his own clan was selling -horses to the agent of a Rajputana state; and to Umballa, where an -Englishman was excitedly demanding the pedigree of a white stallion. -The public letter-writer, who knew English, composed excellent -telegrams, such as: 'Creighton, Laurel Bank, Umballa. Horse is Arabian -as already advised. Sorrowful delayed pedigree which am translating.' -And later to the same address: 'Much sorrowful delay. Will forward -pedigree.' To his sub-partner at Delhi he wired: 'Lutuf Ullah. Have -wired two thousand rupees your credit Luchman Narain's bank--' This was -entirely in the way of trade, but every one of those telegrams was -discussed and rediscussed, by parties who conceived themselves to be -interested, before they went over to the railway station in charge of a -foolish Balti, who allowed all sorts of people to read them on the road. - -When, in Mahbub's own picturesque language, he had muddied the wells of -inquiry with the stick of precaution, Kim had dropped on him, sent from -Heaven; and, being as prompt as he was unscrupulous, Mahbub Ali used to -taking all sorts of gusty chances, pressed him into service on the spot. - -A wandering lama with a low-caste boy-servant might attract a moment's -interest as they wandered about India, the land of pilgrims; but no one -would suspect them or, what was more to the point, rob. - -He called for a new light-ball to his hookah, and considered the case. -If the worst came to the worst, and the boy came to harm, the paper -would incriminate nobody. And he would go up to Umballa leisurely -and--at a certain risk of exciting fresh suspicion--repeat his tale by -word of mouth to the people concerned. - -But R17's report was the kernel of the whole affair, and it would be -distinctly inconvenient if that failed to come to hand. However, God -was great, and Mahbub Ali felt he had done all he could for the time -being. Kim was the one soul in the world who had never told him a lie. -That would have been a fatal blot on Kim's character if Mahbub had not -known that to others, for his own ends or Mahbub's business, Kim could -lie like an Oriental. - -Then Mahbub Ali rolled across the serai to the Gate of the Harpies who -paint their eyes and trap the stranger, and was at some pains to call -on the one girl who, he had reason to believe, was a particular friend -of a smooth-faced Kashmiri pundit who had waylaid his simple Balti in -the matter of the telegrams. It was an utterly foolish thing to do; -because they fell to drinking perfumed brandy against the Law of the -Prophet, and Mahbub grew wonderfully drunk, and the gates of his mouth -were loosened, and he pursued the Flower of Delight with the feet of -intoxication till he fell flat among the cushions, where the Flower of -Delight, aided by a smooth-faced Kashmiri pundit, searched him from -head to foot most thoroughly. - -About the same hour Kim heard soft feet in Mahbub's deserted stall. -The horse-trader, curiously enough, had left his door unlocked, and his -men were busy celebrating their return to India with a whole sheep of -Mahbub's bounty. A sleek young gentleman from Delhi, armed with a -bunch of keys which the Flower had unshackled from the senseless one's -belt, went through every single box, bundle, mat, and saddle-bag in -Mahbub's possession even more systematically than the Flower and the -pundit were searching the owner. - -'And I think.' said the Flower scornfully an hour later, one rounded -elbow on the snoring carcass, 'that he is no more than a pig of an -Afghan horse-dealer, with no thought except women and horses. -Moreover, he may have sent it away by now--if ever there were such a -thing.' - -'Nay--in a matter touching Five Kings it would be next his black -heart,' said the pundit. 'Was there nothing?' - -The Delhi man laughed and resettled his turban as he entered. 'I -searched between the soles of his slippers as the Flower searched his -clothes. This is not the man but another. I leave little unseen.' - -'They did not say he was the very man,' said the pundit thoughtfully. -'They said, "Look if he be the man, since our counsels are troubled."' - -'That North country is full of horse-dealers as an old coat of lice. -There is Sikandar Khan, Nur Ali Beg, and Farrukh Shah all heads of -kafilas [caravans]--who deal there,' said the Flower. - -'They have not yet come in,' said the pundit. 'Thou must ensnare them -later.' - -Phew!' said the Flower with deep disgust, rolling Mahbub's head from -her lap. 'I earn my money. Farrukh Shah is a bear, Ali Beg a -swashbuckler, and old Sikandar Khan--yaie! Go! I sleep now. This -swine will not stir till dawn.' - -When Mahbub woke, the Flower talked to him severely on the sin of -drunkenness. Asiatics do not wink when they have outmanoeuvred an -enemy, but as Mahbub Ali cleared his throat, tightened his belt, and -staggered forth under the early morning stars, he came very near to it. - -'What a colt's trick!' said he to himself. 'As if every girl in -Peshawur did not use it! But 'twas prettily done. Now God He knows -how many more there be upon the Road who have orders to test -me--perhaps with the knife. So it stands that the boy must go to -Umballa--and by rail--for the writing is something urgent. I abide -here, following the Flower and drinking wine as an Afghan coper should.' - -He halted at the stall next but one to his own. His men lay there -heavy with sleep. There was no sign of Kim or the lama. - -'Up!' He stirred a sleeper. 'Whither went those who lay here last -even--the lama and the boy? Is aught missing?' - -'Nay,' grunted the man, 'the old madman rose at second cockcrow saying -he would go to Benares, and the young one led him away.' - -'The curse of Allah on all unbelievers!' said Mahbub heartily, and -climbed into his own stall, growling in his beard. - -But it was Kim who had wakened the lama--Kim with one eye laid against -a knot-hole in the planking, who had seen the Delhi man's search -through the boxes. This was no common thief that turned over letters, -bills, and saddles--no mere burglar who ran a little knife sideways -into the soles of Mahbub's slippers, or picked the seams of the -saddle-bags so deftly. At first Kim had been minded to give the -alarm--the long-drawn choor--choor! [thief! thief!] that sets the -serai ablaze of nights; but he looked more carefully, and, hand on -amulet, drew his own conclusions. - -'It must be the pedigree of that made-up horse-lie,' said he, 'the -thing that I carry to Umballa. Better that we go now. Those who -search bags with knives may presently search bellies with knives. -Surely there is a woman behind this. Hai! Hai! in a whisper to the -light-sleeping old man. 'Come. It is time--time to go to Benares.' - -The lama rose obediently, and they passed out of the serai like shadows. - - - - -Chapter 2 - - - And whoso will, from Pride released; - Contemning neither creed nor priest, - May feel the Soul of all the East. - About him at Kamakura. - - Buddha at Kamakura. - - -They entered the fort-like railway station, black in the end of night; -the electrics sizzling over the goods-yard where they handle the heavy -Northern grain-traffic. - -'This is the work of devils!' said the lama, recoiling from the hollow -echoing darkness, the glimmer of rails between the masonry platforms, -and the maze of girders above. He stood in a gigantic stone hall -paved, it seemed, with the sheeted dead third-class passengers who had -taken their tickets overnight and were sleeping in the waiting-rooms. -All hours of the twenty-four are alike to Orientals, and their -passenger traffic is regulated accordingly. - -'This is where the fire-carriages come. One stands behind that -hole'--Kim pointed to the ticket-office--'who will give thee a paper to -take thee to Umballa.' - -'But we go to Benares,' he replied petulantly. - -'All one. Benares then. Quick: she comes!' - -'Take thou the purse.' - -The lama, not so well used to trains as he had pretended, started as -the 3.25 a.m. south-bound roared in. The sleepers sprang to life, and -the station filled with clamour and shoutings, cries of water and -sweetmeat vendors, shouts of native policemen, and shrill yells of -women gathering up their baskets, their families, and their husbands. - -'It is the train--only the te-rain. It will not come here. Wait!' -Amazed at the lama's immense simplicity (he had handed him a small bag -full of rupees), Kim asked and paid for a ticket to Umballa. A sleepy -clerk grunted and flung out a ticket to the next station, just six -miles distant. - -'Nay,' said Kim, scanning it with a grin. 'This may serve for farmers, -but I live in the city of Lahore. It was cleverly done, Babu. Now -give the ticket to Umballa.' - -The Babu scowled and dealt the proper ticket. - -'Now another to Amritzar,' said Kim, who had no notion of spending -Mahbub Ali's money on anything so crude as a paid ride to Umballa. -'The price is so much. The small money in return is just so much. I -know the ways of the te-rain ... Never did yogi need chela as thou -dost,' he went on merrily to the bewildered lama. 'They would have -flung thee out at Mian Mir but for me. This way! Come!' He returned -the money, keeping only one anna in each rupee of the price of the -Umballa ticket as his commission--the immemorial commission of Asia. - -The lama jibbed at the open door of a crowded third-class carriage. -'Were it not better to walk?' said he weakly. - -A burly Sikh artisan thrust forth his bearded head. 'Is he afraid? Do -not be afraid. I remember the time when I was afraid of the te-rain. -Enter! This thing is the work of the Government.' - -'I do not fear,' said the lama. 'Have ye room within for two?' - -'There is no room even for a mouse,' shrilled the wife of a well-to-do -cultivator--a Hindu Jat from the rich Jullundur, district. Our night -trains are not as well looked after as the day ones, where the sexes -are very strictly kept to separate carriages. - -'Oh, mother of my son, we can make space,' said the blueturbaned -husband. 'Pick up the child. It is a holy man, see'st thou?' - -'And my lap full of seventy times seven bundles! Why not bid him sit -on my knee, Shameless? But men are ever thus!' She looked round for -approval. An Amritzar courtesan near the window sniffed behind her -head drapery. - -'Enter! Enter!' cried a fat Hindu money-lender, his folded -account-book in a cloth under his arm. With an oily smirk: 'It is -well to be kind to the poor.' - -'Ay, at seven per cent a month with a mortgage on the unborn calf,' -said a young Dogra soldier going south on leave; and they all laughed. - -'Will it travel to Benares?' said the lama. - -'Assuredly. Else why should we come? Enter, or we are left,' cried -Kim. - -'See!' shrilled the Amritzar girl. 'He has never entered a train. Oh, -see!' - -'Nay, help,' said the cultivator, putting out a large brown hand and -hauling him in. 'Thus is it done, father.' - -'But--but--I sit on the floor. It is against the Rule to sit on a -bench,' said the lama. 'Moreover, it cramps me.' - -'I say,' began the money-lender, pursing his lips, 'that there is not -one rule of right living which these te-rains do not cause us to break. -We sit, for example, side by side with all castes and peoples.' - -'Yea, and with most outrageously shameless ones,' said the wife, -scowling at the Amritzar girl making eyes at the young sepoy. - -'I said we might have gone by cart along the road,' said the husband, -'and thus have saved some money.' - -'Yes--and spent twice over what we saved on food by the way. That was -talked out ten thousand times.' - -'Ay, by ten thousand tongues,' grunted he. - -'The Gods help us poor women if we may not speak. Oho! He is of that -sort which may not look at or reply to a woman.' For the lama, -constrained by his Rule, took not the faintest notice of her. 'And his -disciple is like him?' - -'Nay, mother,' said Kim most promptly. 'Not when the woman is -well-looking and above all charitable to the hungry.' - -'A beggar's answer,' said the Sikh, laughing. 'Thou hast brought it on -thyself, sister!' Kim's hands were crooked in supplication. - -'And whither goest thou?' said the woman, handing him the half of a -cake from a greasy package. - -'Even to Benares.' - -'Jugglers belike?' the young soldier suggested. 'Have ye any tricks -to pass the time? Why does not that yellow man answer?' - - -'Because,' said Kim stoutly, 'he is holy, and thinks upon matters -hidden from thee.' - -'That may be well. We of the Ludhiana Sikhs'--he rolled it out -sonorously--'do not trouble our heads with doctrine. We fight.' - -'My sister's brother's son is naik [corporal] in that regiment,' said -the Sikh craftsman quietly. 'There are also some Dogra companies -there.' The soldier glared, for a Dogra is of other caste than a Sikh, -and the banker tittered. - -'They are all one to me,' said the Amritzar girl. - -'That we believe,' snorted the cultivator's wife malignantly. - -'Nay, but all who serve the Sirkar with weapons in their hands are, as -it were, one brotherhood. There is one brotherhood of the caste, but -beyond that again'--she looked round timidly--'the bond of the -Pulton--the Regiment--eh?' - -'My brother is in a Jat regiment,' said the cultivator. 'Dogras be -good men.' - -'Thy Sikhs at least were of that opinion,' said the soldier, with a -scowl at the placid old man in the corner. 'Thy Sikhs thought so when -our two companies came to help them at the Pirzai Kotal in the face of -eight Afridi standards on the ridge not three months gone.' - -He told the story of a Border action in which the Dogra companies of -the Ludhiana Sikhs had acquitted themselves well. The Amritzar girl -smiled; for she knew the talk was to win her approval. - -'Alas!' said the cultivator's wife at the end. 'So their villages -were burnt and their little children made homeless?' - -'They had marked our dead. They paid a great payment after we of the -Sikhs had schooled them. So it was. Is this Amritzar?' - -'Ay, and here they cut our tickets,' said the banker, fumbling at his -belt. - -The lamps were paling in the dawn when the half-caste guard came round. -Ticket-collecting is a slow business in the East, where people secrete -their tickets in all sorts of curious places. Kim produced his and was -told to get out. - -'But I go to Umballa,' he protested. 'I go with this holy man.' - -'Thou canst go to Jehannum for aught I care. This ticket is only--' - -Kim burst into a flood of tears, protesting that the lama was his -father and his mother, that he was the prop of the lama's declining -years, and that the lama would die without his care. All the carriage -bade the guard be merciful--the banker was specially eloquent here--but -the guard hauled Kim on to the platform. The lama blinked--he could -not overtake the situation and Kim lifted up his voice and wept outside -the carriage window. - -'I am very poor. My father is dead--my mother is dead. O charitable -ones, if I am left here, who shall tend that old man?' - -'What--what is this?' the lama repeated. 'He must go to Benares. He -must come with me. He is my chela. If there is money to be paid--' - -'Oh, be silent,' whispered Kim; 'are we Rajahs to throw away good -silver when the world is so charitable?' - -The Amritzar girl stepped out with her bundles, and it was on her that -Kim kept his watchful eye. Ladies of that persuasion, he knew, were -generous. - -'A ticket--a little tikkut to Umballa--O Breaker of Hearts!' She -laughed. 'Hast thou no charity?' - -'Does the holy man come from the North?' - -'From far and far in the North he comes,' cried Kim. 'From among the -hills.' - -'There is snow among the pine-trees in the North--in the hills there is -snow. My mother was from Kulu. Get thee a ticket. Ask him for a -blessing.' - -'Ten thousand blessings,' shrilled Kim. 'O Holy One, a woman has given -us in charity so that I can come with thee--a woman with a golden -heart. I run for the tikkut.' - -The girl looked up at the lama, who had mechanically followed Kim to -the platform. He bowed his head that he might not see her, and -muttered in Tibetan as she passed on with the crowd. - -'Light come--light go,' said the cultivator's wife viciously. - -'She has acquired merit,' returned the lama. 'Beyond doubt it was a -nun.' - -'There be ten thousand such nuns in Amritzar alone. Return, old man, -or the te-rain may depart without thee,' cried the banker. - -'Not only was it sufficient for the ticket, but for a little food -also,' said Kim, leaping to his place. 'Now eat, Holy One. Look. Day -comes!' - -Golden, rose, saffron, and pink, the morning mists smoked away across -the flat green levels. All the rich Punjab lay out in the splendour of -the keen sun. The lama flinched a little as the telegraph-posts swung -by. - -'Great is the speed of the te-rain,' said the banker, with a -patronizing grin. 'We have gone farther since Lahore than thou couldst -walk in two days: at even, we shall enter Umballa.' - -'And that is still far from Benares,' said the lama wearily, mumbling -over the cakes that Kim offered. They all unloosed their bundles and -made their morning meal. Then the banker, the cultivator, and the -soldier prepared their pipes and wrapped the compartment in choking, -acrid smoke, spitting and coughing and enjoying themselves. The Sikh -and the cultivator's wife chewed pan; the lama took snuff and told his -beads, while Kim, cross-legged, smiled over the comfort of a full -stomach. - -'What rivers have ye by Benares?' said the lama of a sudden to the -carriage at large. - -'We have Gunga,' returned the banker, when the little titter had -subsided. - -'What others?' - -'What other than Gunga?' - -'Nay, but in my mind was the thought of a certain River of healing.' - -'That is Gunga. Who bathes in her is made clean and goes to the Gods. -Thrice have I made pilgrimage to Gunga.' He looked round proudly. - -'There was need,' said the young sepoy drily, and the travellers' laugh -turned against the banker. - -'Clean--to return again to the Gods,' the lama muttered. 'And to go -forth on the round of lives anew--still tied to the Wheel.' He shook -his head testily. 'But maybe there is a mistake. Who, then, made -Gunga in the beginning?' - -'The Gods. Of what known faith art thou?' the banker said, appalled. - -'I follow the Law--the Most Excellent Law. So it was the Gods that -made Gunga. What like of Gods were they?' - -The carriage looked at him in amazement. It was inconceivable that -anyone should be ignorant of Gunga. - -'What--what is thy God?' said the money-lender at last. - -'Hear!' said the lama, shifting the rosary to his hand. 'Hear: for I -speak of Him now! O people of Hind, listen!' - -He began in Urdu the tale of the Lord Buddha, but, borne by his own -thoughts, slid into Tibetan and long-droned texts from a Chinese book -of the Buddha's life. The gentle, tolerant folk looked on reverently. -All India is full of holy men stammering gospels in strange tongues; -shaken and consumed in the fires of their own zeal; dreamers, babblers, -and visionaries: as it has been from the beginning and will continue -to the end. - -'Um!' said the soldier of the Ludhiana Sikhs. 'There was a Mohammedan -regiment lay next to us at the Pirzai Kotal, and a priest of theirs--he -was, as I remember, a naik--when the fit was on him, spake prophecies. -But the mad all are in God's keeping. His officers overlooked much in -that man.' - -The lama fell back on Urdu, remembering that he was in a strange land. -'Hear the tale of the Arrow which our Lord loosed from the bow,' he -said. - -This was much more to their taste, and they listened curiously while he -told it. 'Now, O people of Hind, I go to seek that River. Know ye -aught that may guide me, for we be all men and women in evil case.' - -'There is Gunga--and Gunga alone--who washes away sin.' ran the murmur -round the carriage. - -'Though past question we have good Gods Jullundur-way,' said the -cultivator's wife, looking out of the window. 'See how they have -blessed the crops.' - -'To search every river in the Punjab is no small matter,' said her -husband. 'For me, a stream that leaves good silt on my land suffices, -and I thank Bhumia, the God of the Home-stead.' He shrugged one -knotted, bronzed shoulder. - -'Think you our Lord came so far North?' said the lama, turning to Kim. - -'It may be,' Kim replied soothingly, as he spat red pan-juice on the -floor. - -'The last of the Great Ones,' said the Sikh with authority, 'was -Sikander Julkarn [Alexander the Great]. He paved the streets of -Jullundur and built a great tank near Umballa. That pavement holds to -this day; and the tank is there also. I never heard of thy God.' - -'Let thy hair grow long and talk Punjabi,' said the young soldier -jestingly to Kim, quoting a Northern proverb. 'That is all that makes -a Sikh.' But he did not say this very loud. - -The lama sighed and shrank into himself, a dingy, shapeless mass. In -the pauses of their talk they could hear the low droning 'Om mane pudme -hum! Om mane pudme hum!'--and the thick click of the wooden rosary -beads. - -'It irks me,' he said at last. 'The speed and the clatter irk me. -Moreover, my chela, I think that maybe we have over-passed that River.' - -'Peace, peace,' said Kim. 'Was not the River near Benares? We are yet -far from the place.' - -'But--if our Lord came North, it may be any one of these little ones -that we have run across.' - -'I do not know.' - -'But thou wast sent to me--wast thou sent to me?--for the merit I had -acquired over yonder at Such-zen. From beside the cannon didst thou -come--bearing two faces--and two garbs.' - -'Peace. One must not speak of these things here,' whispered Kim. -'There was but one of me. Think again and thou wilt remember. A -boy--a Hindu boy--by the great green cannon.' - -'But was there not also an Englishman with a white beard holy among -images--who himself made more sure my assurance of the River of the -Arrow?' - -'He--we--went to the Ajaib-Gher in Lahore to pray before the Gods -there,' Kim explained to the openly listening company. 'And the Sahib -of the Wonder House talked to him--yes, this is truth as a brother. He -is a very holy man, from far beyond the Hills. Rest, thou. In time we -come to Umballa.' - -'But my River--the River of my healing?' - -'And then, if it please thee, we will go hunting for that River on -foot. So that we miss nothing--not even a little rivulet in a -field-side.' - -'But thou hast a Search of thine own?' The lama--very pleased that he -remembered so well--sat bolt upright. - -'Ay,' said Kim, humouring him. The boy was entirely happy to be out -chewing pan and seeing new people in the great good-tempered world. - -'It was a bull--a Red Bull that shall come and help thee and carry -thee--whither? I have forgotten. A Red Bull on a green field, was it -not?' - -'Nay, it will carry me nowhere,' said Kim. 'It is but a tale I told -thee.' - -'What is this?' The cultivator's wife leaned forward, her bracelets -clinking on her arm. 'Do ye both dream dreams? A Red Bull on a green -field, that shall carry thee to the heavens or what? Was it a vision? -Did one make a prophecy? We have a Red Bull in our village behind -Jullundur city, and he grazes by choice in the very greenest of our -fields!' - -'Give a woman an old wife's tale and a weaver-bird a leaf and a -thread', they will weave wonderful things,' said the Sikh. 'All holy -men dream dreams, and by following holy men their disciples attain that -power.' - -'A Red Bull on a green field, was it?' the lama repeated. 'In a -former life it may be thou hast acquired merit, and the Bull will come -to reward thee.' - -'Nay--nay--it was but a tale one told to me--for a jest belike. But I -will seek the Bull about Umballa, and thou canst look for thy River and -rest from the clatter of the train.' - -'It may be that the Bull knows--that he is sent to guide us both.' -said the lama, hopefully as a child. Then to the company, indicating -Kim: 'This one was sent to me but yesterday. He is not, I think, of -this world.' - -'Beggars aplenty have I met, and holy men to boot, but never such a -yogi nor such a disciple,' said the woman. - -Her husband touched his forehead lightly with one finger and smiled. -But the next time the lama would eat they took care to give him of -their best. - -And at last--tired, sleepy, and dusty--they reached Umballa City -Station. - -'We abide here upon a law-suit,' said the cultivator's wife to Kim. -'We lodge with my man's cousin's younger brother. There is room also -in the courtyard for thy yogi and for thee. Will--will he give me a -blessing?' - -'O holy man! A woman with a heart of gold gives us lodging for the -night. It is a kindly land, this land of the South. See how we have -been helped since the dawn!' - -The lama bowed his head in benediction. - -'To fill my cousin's younger brother's house with wastrels--' the -husband began, as he shouldered his heavy bamboo staff. - -'Thy cousin's younger brother owes my father's cousin something yet on -his daughter's marriage-feast,' said the woman crisply. 'Let him put -their food to that account. The yogi will beg, I doubt not.' - -'Ay, I beg for him,' said Kim, anxious only to get the lama under -shelter for the night, that he might seek Mahbub Ali's Englishman and -deliver himself of the white stallion's pedigree. - -'Now,' said he, when the lama had come to an anchor in the inner -courtyard of a decent Hindu house behind the cantonments, 'I go away -for a while--to--to buy us victual in the bazar. Do not stray abroad -till I return.' - -'Thou wilt return? Thou wilt surely return?' The old man caught at -his wrist. 'And thou wilt return in this very same shape? Is it too -late to look tonight for the River?' - -'Too late and too dark. Be comforted. Think how far thou art on the -road--an hundred miles from Lahore already.' - -'Yea--and farther from my monastery. Alas! It is a great and terrible -world.' - -Kim stole out and away, as unremarkable a figure as ever carried his -own and a few score thousand other folk's fate slung round his neck. -Mahbub Ali's directions left him little doubt of the house in which his -Englishman lived; and a groom, bringing a dog-cart home from the Club, -made him quite sure. It remained only to identify his man, and Kim -slipped through the garden hedge and hid in a clump of plumed grass -close to the veranda. The house blazed with lights, and servants moved -about tables dressed with flowers, glass, and silver. Presently forth -came an Englishman, dressed in black and white, humming a tune. It was -too dark to see his face, so Kim, beggar-wise, tried an old experiment. - -'Protector of the Poor!' - -The man backed towards the voice. - -'Mahbub Ali says--' - -'Hah! What says Mahbub Ali?' He made no attempt to look for the -speaker, and that showed Kim that he knew. - -'The pedigree of the white stallion is fully established.' - -'What proof is there?' The Englishman switched at the rose-hedge in -the side of the drive. - -'Mahbub Ali has given me this proof.' Kim flipped the wad of folded -paper into the air, and it fell in the path beside the man, who put his -foot on it as a gardener came round the corner. When the servant passed -he picked it up, dropped a rupee--Kim could hear the clink--and strode -into the house, never turning round. Swiftly Kim took up the money; -but for all his training, he was Irish enough by birth to reckon silver -the least part of any game. What he desired was the visible effect of -action; so, instead of slinking away, he lay close in the grass and -wormed nearer to the house. - -He saw--Indian bungalows are open through and through--the Englishman -return to a small dressing-room, in a comer of the veranda, that was -half office, littered with papers and despatch-boxes, and sit down to -study Mahbub Ali's message. His face, by the full ray of the kerosene -lamp, changed and darkened, and Kim, used as every beggar must be to -watching countenances, took good note. - -'Will! Will, dear!' called a woman's voice. 'You ought to be in the -drawing-room. They'll be here in a minute.' - -The man still read intently. - -'Will!' said the voice, five minutes later. 'He's come. I can hear -the troopers in the drive.' - -The man dashed out bareheaded as a big landau with four native troopers -behind it halted at the veranda, and a tall, black haired man, erect as -an arrow, swung out, preceded by a young officer who laughed pleasantly. - -Flat on his belly lay Kim, almost touching the high wheels. His man -and the black stranger exchanged two sentences. - -'Certainly, sir,' said the young officer promptly. 'Everything waits -while a horse is concerned.' - -'We shan't be more than twenty minutes,' said Kim's man. 'You can do -the honours--keep 'em amused, and all that.' - -'Tell one of the troopers to wait,' said the tall man, and they both -passed into the dressing-room together as the landau rolled away. Kim -saw their heads bent over Mahbub Ali's message, and heard the -voices--one low and deferential, the other sharp and decisive. - -'It isn't a question of weeks. It is a question of days--hours -almost,' said the elder. 'I'd been expecting it for some time, but -this'--he tapped Mahbub Ali's paper--'clinches it. Grogan's dining -here to-night, isn't he?' - -'Yes, sir, and Macklin too.' - -'Very good. I'll speak to them myself. The matter will be referred to -the Council, of course, but this is a case where one is justified in -assuming that we take action at once. Warn the Pined and Peshawar -brigades. It will disorganize all the summer reliefs, but we can't -help that. This comes of not smashing them thoroughly the first time. -Eight thousand should be enough.' - -'What about artillery, sir?' - -'I must consult Macklin.' - -'Then it means war?' - -'No. Punishment. When a man is bound by the action of his -predecessor--' - -'But C25 may have lied.' - -'He bears out the other's information. Practically, they showed their -hand six months back. But Devenish would have it there was a chance of -peace. Of course they used it to make themselves stronger. Send off -those telegrams at once--the new code, not the old--mine and Wharton's. -I don't think we need keep the ladies waiting any longer. We can -settle the rest over the cigars. I thought it was coming. It's -punishment--not war.' - -As the trooper cantered off, Kim crawled round to the back of the -house, where, going on his Lahore experiences, he judged there would be -food--and information. The kitchen was crowded with excited scullions, -one of whom kicked him. - -'Aie,' said Kim, feigning tears. 'I came only to wash dishes in return -for a bellyful.' - -'All Umballa is on the same errand. Get hence. They go in now with -the soup. Think you that we who serve Creighton Sahib need strange -scullions to help us through a big dinner?' - -'It is a very big dinner,' said Kim, looking at the plates. - -'Small wonder. The guest of honour is none other than the Jang-i-Lat -Sahib [the Commander-in-Chief].' - -'Ho!' said Kim, with the correct guttural note of wonder. He had -learned what he wanted, and when the scullion turned he was gone. - -'And all that trouble,' said he to himself, thinking as usual in -Hindustani, 'for a horse's pedigree! Mahbub Ali should have come to me -to learn a little lying. Every time before that I have borne a message -it concerned a woman. Now it is men. Better. The tall man said that -they will loose a great army to punish someone--somewhere--the news -goes to Pindi and Peshawur. There are also guns. Would I had crept -nearer. It is big news!' - -He returned to find the cultivator's cousin's younger brother -discussing the family law-suit in all its bearings with the cultivator -and his wife and a few friends, while the lama dozed. After the evening -meal some one passed him a water-pipe; and Kim felt very much of a man -as he pulled at the smooth coconut-shell, his legs spread abroad in the -moonlight, his tongue clicking in remarks from time to time. His hosts -were most polite; for the cultivator's wife had told them of his vision -of the Red Bull, and of his probable descent from another world. -Moreover, the lama was a great and venerable curiosity. - - -The family priest, an old, tolerant Sarsut Brahmin, dropped in later, -and naturally started a theological argument to impress the family. By -creed, of course, they were all on their priest's side, but the lama -was the guest and the novelty. His gentle kindliness, and his -impressive Chinese quotations, that sounded like spells, delighted them -hugely; and in this sympathetic, simple air, he expanded like the -Bodhisat's own lotus, speaking of his life in the great hills of -Such-zen, before, as he said, 'I rose up to seek enlightenment.' - -Then it came out that in those worldly days he had been a master-hand -at casting horoscopes and nativities; and the family priest led him on -to describe his methods; each giving the planets names that the other -could not understand, and pointing upwards as the big stars sailed -across the dark. The children of the house tugged unrebuked at his -rosary; and he clean forgot the Rule which forbids looking at women as -he talked of enduring snows, landslips, blocked passes, the remote -cliffs where men find sapphires and turquoise, and that wonderful -upland road that leads at last into Great China itself. - -'How thinkest thou of this one?' said the cultivator aside to the -priest. - -'A holy man--a holy man indeed. His Gods are not the Gods, but his -feet are upon the Way,' was the answer. 'And his methods of -nativities, though that is beyond thee, are wise and sure.' - -'Tell me,' said Kim lazily, 'whether I find my Red Bull on a green -field, as was promised me.' - -'What knowledge hast thou of thy birth-hour?' the priest asked, -swelling with importance. - -'Between first and second cockcrow of the first night in May.' - -'Of what year?' - -'I do not know; but upon the hour that I cried first fell the great -earthquake in Srinagar which is in Kashmir.' This Kim had from the -woman who took care of him, and she again from Kimball O'Hara. The -earthquake had been felt in India, and for long stood a leading date in -the Punjab. - -'Ai!' said a woman excitedly. This seemed to make Kim's supernatural -origin more certain. 'Was not such an one's daughter born then--' - -'And her mother bore her husband four sons in four years all likely -boys,' cried the cultivator's wife, sitting outside the circle in the -shadow. - -'None reared in the knowledge,' said the family priest, 'forget how the -planets stood in their Houses upon that night.' He began to draw in -the dust of the courtyard. 'At least thou hast good claim to a half of -the House of the Bull. How runs thy prophecy?' - -'Upon a day,' said Kim, delighted at the sensation he was creating, 'I -shall be made great by means of a Red Bull on a green field, but first -there will enter two men making all things ready.' - -'Yes: thus ever at the opening of a vision. A thick darkness that -clears slowly; anon one enters with a broom making ready the place. -Then begins the Sight. Two men--thou sayest? Ay, ay. The Sun, -leaving the House of the Bull, enters that of the Twins. Hence the two -men of the prophecy. Let us now consider. Fetch me a twig, little -one.' - -He knitted his brows, scratched, smoothed out, and scratched again in -the dust mysterious signs--to the wonder of all save the lama, who, -with fine instinct, forbore to interfere. - -At the end of half an hour, he tossed the twig from him with a grunt. - -'Hm! Thus say the stars. Within three days come the two men to make -all things ready. After them follows the Bull; but the sign over -against him is the sign of War and armed men.' - -'There was indeed a man of the Ludhiana Sikhs in the carriage from -Lahore,' said the cultivator's wife hopefully. - -'Tck! Armed men--many hundreds. What concern hast thou with war?' -said the priest to Kim. 'Thine is a red and an angry sign of War to be -loosed very soon.' - -'None--none.' said the lama earnestly. 'We seek only peace and our -River.' - -Kim smiled, remembering what he had overheard in the dressing-room. -Decidedly he was a favourite of the stars. - -The priest brushed his foot over the rude horoscope. 'More than this I -cannot see. In three days comes the Bull to thee, boy.' - -'And my River, my River,' pleaded the lama. 'I had hoped his Bull -would lead us both to the River.' - -'Alas, for that wondrous River, my brother,' the priest replied. 'Such -things are not common.' - -Next morning, though they were pressed to stay, the lama insisted on -departure. They gave Kim a large bundle of good food and nearly three -annas in copper money for the needs of the road, and with many -blessings watched the two go southward in the dawn. - -'Pity it is that these and such as these could not be freed from--' - -'Nay, then would only evil people be left on the earth, and who would -give us meat and shelter?' quoth Kim, stepping merrily under his -burden. - -'Yonder is a small stream. Let us look,' said the lama, and he led -from the white road across the fields; walking into a very hornets' -nest of pariah dogs. - - - - -Chapter 3 - - - Yea, voice of every Soul that clung - To life that strove from rung to rung - When Devadatta's rule was young, - The warm wind brings Kamakura. - - Buddha at Kamakura. - - -Behind them an angry farmer brandished a bamboo pole. He was a -market-gardener, Arain by caste, growing vegetables and flowers for -Umballa city, and well Kim knew the breed. - -'Such an one,' said the lama, disregarding the dogs, 'is impolite to -strangers, intemperate of speech and uncharitable. Be warned by his -demeanour, my disciple.' - -'Ho, shameless beggars!' shouted the farmer. 'Begone! Get hence!' - -'We go,' the lama returned, with quiet dignity. 'We go from these -unblessed fields.' - -'Ah,' said Kim, sucking in his breath. 'If the next crops fail, thou -canst only blame thine own tongue.' - -The man shuffled uneasily in his slippers. 'The land is full of -beggars,' he began, half apologetically. - -'And by what sign didst thou know that we would beg from thee, O Mali?' -said Kim tartly, using the name that a market-gardener least likes. -'All we sought was to look at that river beyond the field there.' - -'River, forsooth!' the man snorted. 'What city do ye hail from not to -know a canal-cut? It runs as straight as an arrow, and I pay for the -water as though it were molten silver. There is a branch of a river -beyond. But if ye need water I can give that--and milk.' - -'Nay, we will go to the river,' said the lama, striding out. - -'Milk and a meal.' the man stammered, as he looked at the strange tall -figure. 'I--I would not draw evil upon myself--or my crops. But -beggars are so many in these hard days.' - -'Take notice.' The lama turned to Kim. 'He was led to speak harshly -by the Red Mist of anger. That clearing from his eyes, he becomes -courteous and of an affable heart. May his fields be blessed! Beware -not to judge men too hastily, O farmer.' - -'I have met holy ones who would have cursed thee from hearthstone to -byre,' said Kim to the abashed man. 'Is he not wise and holy? I am his -disciple.' - -He cocked his nose in the air loftily and stepped across the narrow -field-borders with great dignity. - -'There is no pride,' said the lama, after a pause, 'there is no pride -among such as follow the Middle Way.' - -'But thou hast said he was low-caste and discourteous.' - -'Low-caste I did not say, for how can that be which is not? Afterwards -he amended his discourtesy, and I forgot the offence. Moreover, he is -as we are, bound upon the Wheel of Things; but he does not tread the -way of deliverance.' He halted at a little runlet among the fields, -and considered the hoof-pitted bank. - -'Now, how wilt thou know thy River?' said Kim, squatting in the shade -of some tall sugar-cane. - -'When I find it, an enlightenment will surely be given. This, I feel, -is not the place. O littlest among the waters, if only thou couldst -tell me where runs my River! But be thou blessed to make the fields -bear!' - -'Look! Look!' Kim sprang to his side and dragged him back. A -yellow-and-brown streak glided from the purple rustling stems to the -bank, stretched its neck to the water, drank, and lay still--a big -cobra with fixed, lidless eyes. - -'I have no stick--I have no stick,' said Kim. 'I will get me one and -break his back.' - -'Why? He is upon the Wheel as we are--a life ascending or -descending--very far from deliverance. Great evil must the soul have -done that is cast into this shape.' - -'I hate all snakes,' said Kim. No native training can quench the white -man's horror of the Serpent. - -'Let him live out his life.' The coiled thing hissed and half opened -its hood. 'May thy release come soon, brother!' the lama continued -placidly. 'Hast thou knowledge, by chance, of my River?' - -'Never have I seen such a man as thou art,' Kim whispered, overwhelmed. -'Do the very snakes understand thy talk?' - -'Who knows?' He passed within a foot of the cobra's poised head. It -flattened itself among the dusty coils. - -'Come, thou!' he called over his shoulder. - -'Not I,' said Kim'. 'I go round.' - -'Come. He does no hurt.' - -Kim hesitated for a moment. The lama backed his order by some droned -Chinese quotation which Kim took for a charm. He obeyed and bounded -across the rivulet, and the snake, indeed, made no sign. - -'Never have I seen such a man.' Kim wiped the sweat from his forehead. -'And now, whither go we?' - -'That is for thee to say. I am old, and a stranger--far from my own -place. But that the rail-carriage fills my head with noises of -devil-drums I would go in it to Benares now ... Yet by so going we may -miss the River. Let us find another river.' - -Where the hard-worked soil gives three and even four crops a year -through patches of sugar-cane, tobacco, long white radishes, and -nol-kol, all that day they strolled on, turning aside to every glimpse -of water; rousing village dogs and sleeping villages at noonday; the -lama replying to the volleyed questions with an unswerving simplicity. -They sought a River: a River of miraculous healing. Had any one -knowledge of such a stream? - -Sometimes men laughed, but more often heard the story out to the end -and offered them a place in the shade, a drink of milk, and a meal. -The women were always kind, and the little children as children are the -world over, alternately shy and venturesome. - -Evening found them at rest under the village tree of a mud-walled, -mud-roofed hamlet, talking to the headman as the cattle came in from -the grazing-grounds and the women prepared the day's last meal. They -had passed beyond the belt of market-gardens round hungry Umballa, and -were among the mile-wide green of the staple crops. - -He was a white-bearded and affable elder, used to entertaining -strangers. He dragged out a string bedstead for the lama, set warm -cooked food before him, prepared him a pipe, and, the evening -ceremonies being finished in the village temple, sent for the village -priest. - -Kim told the older children tales of the size and beauty of Lahore, of -railway travel, and such-like city things, while the men talked, slowly -as their cattle chew the cud. - -'I cannot fathom it,' said the headman at last to the priest. 'How -readest thou this talk?' The lama, his tale told, was silently telling -his beads. - -'He is a Seeker.' the priest answered. 'The land is full of such. -Remember him who came only last, month--the fakir with the tortoise?' - -'Ay, but that man had right and reason, for Krishna Himself appeared in -a vision promising him Paradise without the burning-pyre if he -journeyed to Prayag. This man seeks no God who is within my knowledge.' - -'Peace, he is old: he comes from far off, and he is mad,' the -smooth-shaven priest replied. 'Hear me.' He turned to the lama. -'Three koss [six miles] to the westward runs the great road to -Calcutta.' - -'But I would go to Benares--to Benares.' - -'And to Benares also. It crosses all streams on this side of Hind. -Now my word to thee, Holy One, is rest here till tomorrow. Then take -the road' (it was the Grand Trunk Road he meant) 'and test each stream -that it overpasses; for, as I understand, the virtue of thy River lies -neither in one pool nor place, but throughout its length. Then, if thy -Gods will, be assured that thou wilt come upon thy freedom.' - -'That is well said.' The lama was much impressed by the plan. 'We -will begin tomorrow, and a blessing on thee for showing old feet such a -near road.' A deep, sing-song Chinese half-chant closed the sentence. -Even the priest was impressed, and the headman feared an evil spell: -but none could look at the lama's simple, eager face and doubt him long. - -'Seest thou my chela?' he said, diving into his snuff-gourd with an -important sniff. It was his duty to repay courtesy with courtesy. - -'I see--and hear.' The headman rolled his eye where Kim was chatting -to a girl in blue as she laid crackling thorns on a fire. - -'He also has a Search of his own. No river, but a Bull. Yea, a Red -Bull on a green field will some day raise him to honour. He is, I -think, not altogether of this world. He was sent of a sudden to aid me -in this search, and his name is Friend of all the World.' - -The priest smiled. 'Ho, there, Friend of all the World,' he cried -across the sharp-smelling smoke, 'what art thou?' - -'This Holy One's disciple,' said Kim. - -'He says thou are a but [a spirit].' - -'Can buts eat?' said Kim, with a twinkle. 'For I am hungry.' - -'It is no jest,' cried the lama. 'A certain astrologer of that city -whose name I have forgotten--' - -'That is no more than the city of Umballa where we slept last night,' -Kim whispered to the priest. - -'Ay, Umballa was it? He cast a horoscope and declared that my chela -should find his desire within two days. But what said he of the -meaning of the stars, Friend of all the World?' - -Kim cleared his throat and looked around at the village greybeards. - -'The meaning of my Star is War,' he replied pompously. - -Somebody laughed at the little tattered figure strutting on the -brickwork plinth under the great tree. Where a native would have lain -down, Kim's white blood set him upon his feet. - -'Ay, War,' he answered. - -'That is a sure prophecy,' rumbled a deep voice. 'For there is always -war along the Border--as I know.' - -It was an old, withered man, who had served the Government in the days -of the Mutiny as a native officer in a newly raised cavalry regiment. -The Government had given him a good holding in the village, and though -the demands of his sons, now grey-bearded officers on their own -account, had impoverished him, he was still a person of consequence. -English officials--Deputy Commissioners even--turned aside from the -main road to visit him, and on those occasions he dressed himself in -the uniform of ancient days, and stood up like a ramrod. - -'But this shall be a great war--a war of eight thousand.' Kim's voice -shrilled across the quick-gathering crowd, astonishing himself. - -'Redcoats or our own regiments?' the old man snapped, as though he -were asking an equal. His tone made men respect Kim. - -'Redcoats,' said Kim at a venture. 'Redcoats and guns.' - -'But--but the astrologer said no word of this,' cried the lama, -snuffing prodigiously in his excitement. - -'But I know. The word has come to me, who am this Holy One's disciple. -There will rise a war--a war of eight thousand redcoats. From Pindi and -Peshawur they will be drawn. This is sure.' - -'The boy has heard bazar-talk,' said the priest. - -'But he was always by my side,' said the lama. 'How should he know? I -did not know.' - -'He will make a clever juggler when the old man is dead,' muttered the -priest to the headman. 'What new trick is this?' - -'A sign. Give me a sign,' thundered the old soldier suddenly. 'If -there were war my sons would have told me.' - -'When all is ready, thy sons, doubt not, will be told. But it is a -long road from thy sons to the man in whose hands these things lie.' -Kim warmed to the game, for it reminded him of experiences in the -letter-carrying line, when, for the sake of a few pice, he pretended to -know more than he knew. But now he was playing for larger things--the -sheer excitement and the sense of power. He drew a new breath and went -on. - -'Old man, give me a sign. Do underlings order the goings of eight -thousand redcoats--with guns?' - -'No.' Still the old man answered as though Kim were an equal. - -'Dost thou know who He is, then, that gives the order?' - -'I have seen Him.' - -'To know again?' - -'I have known Him since he was a lieutenant in the topkhana (the -Artillery).' - -'A tall man. A tall man with black hair, walking thus?' Kim took a -few paces in a stiff, wooden style. - -'Ay. But that anyone may have seen.' The crowd were breathless--still -through all this talk. - -'That is true,' said Kim. 'But I will say more. Look now. First the -great man walks thus. Then He thinks thus.' (Kim drew a forefinger -over his forehead and downwards till it came to rest by the angle of -the jaw.) 'Anon He twitches his fingers thus. Anon He thrusts his hat -under his left armpit.' Kim illustrated the motion and stood like a -stork. - -The old man groaned, inarticulate with amazement; and the crowd -shivered. - -'So--so--so. But what does He when He is about to give an order?' - -'He rubs the skin at the back of his neck--thus. Then falls one finger -on the table and He makes a small sniffing noise through his nose. -Then He speaks, saying: "Loose such and such a regiment. Call out such -guns."' - -The old man rose stiffly and saluted. - -'"For"'--Kim translated into the vernacular the clinching sentences he -had heard in the dressing-room at Umballa--'"For," says He, "we should -have done this long ago. It is not war--it is a chastisement. Snff!"' - -'Enough. I believe. I have seen Him thus in the smoke of battles. -Seen and heard. It is He!' - -'I saw no smoke'--Kim's voice shifted to the rapt sing-song of the -wayside fortune-teller. 'I saw this in darkness. First came a man to -make things clear. Then came horsemen. Then came He standing in a -ring of light. The rest followed as I have said. Old man, have I -spoken truth?' - -'It is He. Past all doubt it is He.' - -The crowd drew a long, quavering breath, staring alternately at the old -man, still at attention, and ragged Kim against the purple twilight. - -'Said I not--said I not he was from the other world?' cried the lama -proudly. 'He is the Friend of all the World. He is the Friend of the -Stars!' - -'At least it does not concern us,' a man cried. 'O thou young -soothsayer, if the gift abides with thee at all seasons, I have a -red-spotted cow. She may be sister to thy Bull for aught I know--' - -'Or I care,' said Kim. 'My Stars do not concern themselves with thy -cattle.' - -'Nay, but she is very sick,' a woman struck in. 'My man is a buffalo, -or he would have chosen his words better. Tell me if she recover?' - -Had Kim been at all an ordinary boy, he would have carried on the play; -but one does not know Lahore city, and least of all the fakirs by the -Taksali Gate, for thirteen years without also knowing human nature. - -The priest looked at him sideways, something bitterly--a dry and -blighting smile. - -'Is there no priest, then, in the village? I thought I had seen a -great one even now,' cried Kim. - -'Ay--but--' the woman began. - -'But thou and thy husband hoped to get the cow cured for a handful of -thanks.' The shot told: they were notoriously the closest-fisted -couple in the village. 'It is not well to cheat the temples. Give a -young calf to thine own priest, and, unless thy Gods are angry past -recall, she will give milk within a month.' - -'A master-beggar art thou,' purred the priest approvingly. 'Not the -cunning of forty years could have done better. Surely thou hast made -the old man rich?' - -'A little flour, a little butter and a mouthful of cardamoms,' Kim -retorted, flushed with the praise, but still cautious--'Does one grow -rich on that? And, as thou canst see, he is mad. But it serves me -while I learn the road at least.' - -He knew what the fakirs of the Taksali Gate were like when they talked -among themselves, and copied the very inflection of their lewd -disciples. - -'Is his Search, then, truth or a cloak to other ends? It may be -treasure.' - -'He is mad--many times mad. There is nothing else.' - -Here the old soldier bobbled up and asked if Kim would accept his -hospitality for the night. The priest recommended him to do so, but -insisted that the honour of entertaining the lama belonged to the -temple--at which the lama smiled guilelessly. Kim glanced from one -face to the other, and drew his own conclusions. - -'Where is the money?' he whispered, beckoning the old man off into the -darkness. - -'In my bosom. Where else?' - -'Give it me. Quietly and swiftly give it me.' - -'But why? Here is no ticket to buy.' - -'Am I thy chela, or am I not? Do I not safeguard thy old feet about -the ways? Give me the money and at dawn I will return it.' He slipped -his hand above the lama's girdle and brought away the purse. - -'Be it so--be it so.' The old man nodded his head. 'This is a great -and terrible world. I never knew there were so many men alive in it.' - -Next morning the priest was in a very bad temper, but the lama was -quite happy; and Kim had enjoyed a most interesting evening with the -old man, who brought out his cavalry sabre and, balancing it on his dry -knees, told tales of the Mutiny and young captains thirty years in -their graves, till Kim dropped off to sleep. - -'Certainly the air of this country is good,' said the lama. 'I sleep -lightly, as do all old men; but last night I slept unwaking till broad -day. Even now I am heavy.' - -'Drink a draught of hot milk,' said Kim, who had carried not a few such -remedies to opium-smokers of his acquaintance. 'It is time to take the -Road again.' - -'The long Road that overpasses all the rivers of Hind,' said the lama -gaily. 'Let us go. But how thinkest thou, chela, to recompense these -people, and especially the priest, for their great kindness? Truly they -are but parast, but in other lives, maybe, they will receive -enlightenment. A rupee to the temple? The thing within is no more -than stone and red paint, but the heart of man we must acknowledge when -and where it is good.' - -'Holy One, hast thou ever taken the Road alone?' Kim looked up -sharply, like the Indian crows so busy about the fields. - -'Surely, child: from Kulu to Pathankot--from Kulu, where my first -chela died. When men were kind to us we made offerings, and all men -were well-disposed throughout all the Hills.' - -'It is otherwise in Hind,' said Kim drily. 'Their Gods are many-armed -and malignant. Let them alone.' - -'I would set thee on thy road for a little, Friend of all the World, -thou and thy yellow man.' The old soldier ambled up the village -street, all shadowy in the dawn, on a punt, scissor-hocked pony. 'Last -night broke up the fountains of remembrance in my so-dried heart, and -it was as a blessing to me. Truly there is war abroad in the air. I -smell it. See! I have brought my sword.' - -He sat long-legged on the little beast, with the big sword at his -side--hand dropped on the pommel--staring fiercely over the flat lands -towards the North. 'Tell me again how He showed in thy vision. Come -up and sit behind me. The beast will carry two.' - -'I am this Holy One's disciple,' said Kim, as they cleared the -village-gate. The villagers seemed almost sorry to be rid of them, but -the priest's farewell was cold and distant. He had wasted some opium -on a man who carried no money. - -'That is well spoken. I am not much used to holy men, but respect is -always good. There is no respect in these days--not even when a -Commissioner Sahib comes to see me. But why should one whose Star -leads him to war follow a holy man?' - -'But he is a holy man,' said Kim earnestly. 'In truth, and in talk and -in act, holy. He is not like the others. I have never seen such an -one. We be not fortune-tellers, or jugglers, or beggars.' - -'Thou art not. That I can see. But I do not know that other. He -marches well, though.' - -The first freshness of the day carried the lama forward with long, -easy, camel-like strides. He was deep in meditation, mechanically -clicking his rosary. - -They followed the rutted and worn country road that wound across the -flat between the great dark-green mango-groves, the line of the -snowcapped Himalayas faint to the eastward. All India was at work in -the fields, to the creaking of well-wheels, the shouting of ploughmen -behind their cattle, and the clamour of the crows. Even the pony felt -the good influence and almost broke into a trot as Kim laid a hand on -the stirrup-leather. - -'It repents me that I did not give a rupee to the shrine,' said the -lama on the last bead of his eighty-one. - -The old soldier growled in his beard, so that the lama for the first -time was aware of him. - -'Seekest thou the River also?' said he, turning. - -'The day is new,' was the reply. 'What need of a river save to water -at before sundown? I come to show thee a short lane to the Big Road.' - -'That is a courtesy to be remembered, O man of good will. But why the -sword?' - -The old soldier looked as abashed as a child interrupted in his game of -make-believe. - -'The sword,' he said, fumbling it. 'Oh, that was a fancy of mine an -old man's fancy. Truly the police orders are that no man must bear -weapons throughout Hind, but'--he cheered up and slapped the hilt--'all -the constabeels hereabout know me.' - -'It is not a good fancy,' said the lama. 'What profit to kill men?' - -'Very little--as I know; but if evil men were not now and then slain it -would not be a good world for weaponless dreamers. I do not speak -without knowledge who have seen the land from Delhi south awash with -blood.' - -'What madness was that, then?' - -'The Gods, who sent it for a plague, alone know. A madness ate into -all the Army, and they turned against their officers. That was the -first evil, but not past remedy if they had then held their hands. But -they chose to kill the Sahibs' wives and children. Then came the -Sahibs from over the sea and called them to most strict account.' - -'Some such rumour, I believe, reached me once long ago. They called it -the Black Year, as I remember.' - -'What manner of life hast thou led, not to know The Year? A rumour -indeed! All earth knew, and trembled!' - -'Our earth never shook but once--upon the day that the Excellent One -received Enlightenment.' - -'Umph! I saw Delhi shake at least--and Delhi is the navel of the -world.' - -'So they turned against women and children? That was a bad deed, for -which the punishment cannot be avoided.' - -'Many strove to do so, but with very small profit. I was then in a -regiment of cavalry. It broke. Of six hundred and eighty sabres stood -fast to their salt--how many, think you? Three. Of whom I was one.' - -'The greater merit.' - -'Merit! We did not consider it merit in those days. My people, my -friends, my brothers fell from me. They said: "The time of the -English is accomplished. Let each strike out a little holding for -himself." But I had talked with the men of Sobraon, of Chilianwallah, -of Moodkee and Ferozeshah. I said: "Abide a little and the wind -turns. There is no blessing in this work." In those days I rode -seventy miles with an English Memsahib and her babe on my saddle-bow. -(Wow! That was a horse fit for a man!) I placed them in safety, and -back came I to my officer--the one that was not killed of our five. -"Give me work," said I, "for I am an outcast among my own kind, and my -cousin's blood is wet on my sabre." "Be content," said he. "There is -great work forward. When this madness is over there is a recompense."' - -'Ay, there is a recompense when the madness is over, surely?' the lama -muttered half to himself. - -'They did not hang medals in those days on all who by accident had -heard a gun fired. No! In nineteen pitched battles was I; in -six-and-forty skirmishes of horse; and in small affairs without number. -Nine wounds I bear; a medal and four clasps and the medal of an Order, -for my captains, who are now generals, remembered me when the -Kaisar-i-Hind had accomplished fifty years of her reign, and all the -land rejoiced. They said: "Give him the Order of Berittish India." I -carry it upon my neck now. I have also my jaghir [holding] from the -hands of the State--a free gift to me and mine. The men of the old -days--they are now Commissioners--come riding to me through the -crops--high upon horses so that all the village sees--and we talk out -the old skirmishes, one dead man's name leading to another.' - -'And after?' said the lama. - -'Oh, afterwards they go away, but not before my village has seen.' - -'And at the last what wilt thou do?' - -'At the last I shall die.' - -'And after?' - -'Let the Gods order it. I have never pestered Them with prayers. I do -not think They will pester me. Look you, I have noticed in my long -life that those who eternally break in upon Those Above with complaints -and reports and bellowings and weepings are presently sent for in -haste, as our Colonel used to send for slack-jawed down-country men who -talked too much. No, I have never wearied the Gods. They will -remember this, and give me a quiet place where I can drive my lance in -the shade, and wait to welcome my sons: I have no less than three -Rissaldar--majors all--in the regiments.' - -'And they likewise, bound upon the Wheel, go forth from life to -life--from despair to despair,' said the lama below his breath, 'hot, -uneasy, snatching.' - -'Ay,' the old soldier chuckled. 'Three Rissaldar--majors in three -regiments. Gamblers a little, but so am I. They must be well mounted; -and one cannot take the horses as in the old days one took women. -Well, well, my holding can pay for all. How thinkest thou? It is a -well-watered strip, but my men cheat me. I do not know how to ask save -at the lance's point. Ugh! I grow angry and I curse them, and they -feign penitence, but behind my back I know they call me a toothless old -ape.' - -'Hast thou never desired any other thing?' - -'Yes--yes--a thousand times! A straight back and a close-clinging knee -once more; a quick wrist and a keen eye; and the marrow that makes a -man. Oh, the old days--the good days of my strength!' - -'That strength is weakness.' - -'It has turned so; but fifty years since I could have proved it -otherwise,' the old soldier retorted, driving his stirrup-edge into the -pony's lean flank. - -'But I know a River of great healing.' - -'I have drank Gunga-water to the edge of dropsy. All she gave me was a -flux, and no sort of strength.' - -'It is not Gunga. The River that I know washes from all taint of sin. -Ascending the far bank one is assured of Freedom. I do not know thy -life, but thy face is the face of the honourable and courteous. Thou -hast clung to thy Way, rendering fidelity when it was hard to give, in -that Black Year of which I now remember other tales. Enter now upon -the Middle Way which is the path to Freedom. Hear the Most Excellent -Law, and do not follow dreams.' - -'Speak, then, old man,' the soldier smiled, half saluting. 'We be all -babblers at our age.' - -The lama squatted under the shade of a mango, whose shadow played -checkerwise over his face; the soldier sat stiffly on the pony; and -Kim, making sure that there were no snakes, lay down in the crotch of -the twisted roots. - -There was a drowsy buzz of small life in hot sunshine, a cooing of -doves, and a sleepy drone of well-wheels across the fields. Slowly and -impressively the lama began. At the end of ten minutes the old soldier -slid from his pony, to hear better as he said, and sat with the reins -round his wrist. The lama's voice faltered, the periods lengthened. -Kim was busy watching a grey squirrel. When the little scolding bunch -of fur, close pressed to the branch, disappeared, preacher and audience -were fast asleep, the old officer's strong-cut head pillowed on his -arm, the lama's thrown back against the tree-bole, where it showed like -yellow ivory. A naked child toddled up, stared, and, moved by some -quick impulse of reverence, made a solemn little obeisance before the -lama--only the child was so short and fat that it toppled over -sideways, and Kim laughed at the sprawling, chubby legs. The child, -scared and indignant, yelled aloud. - -'Hai! Hai!' said the soldier, leaping to his feet. 'What is it? What -orders? ... It is ... a child! I dreamed it was an alarm. Little -one--little one--do not cry. Have I slept? That was discourteous -indeed!' - -'I fear! I am afraid!' roared the child. - -'What is it to fear? Two old men and a boy? How wilt thou ever make a -soldier, Princeling?' - -The lama had waked too, but, taking no direct notice of the child, -clicked his rosary. - -'What is that?' said the child, stopping a yell midway. 'I have never -seen such things. Give them me.' - -'Aha.' said the lama, smiling, and trailing a loop of it on the grass: - -This is a handful of cardamoms, This is a lump of ghi: This is millet -and chillies and rice, A supper for thee and me! - -The child shrieked with joy, and snatched at the dark, glancing beads. - -'Oho!' said the old soldier. 'Whence hadst thou that song, despiser -of this world?' - -'I learned it in Pathankot--sitting on a doorstep,' said the lama -shyly. 'It is good to be kind to babes.' - -'As I remember, before the sleep came on us, thou hadst told me that -marriage and bearing were darkeners of the true light, stumbling-blocks -upon the Way. Do children drop from Heaven in thy country? Is it the -Way to sing them songs?' - -'No man is all perfect,' said the lama gravely, recoiling the rosary. -'Run now to thy mother, little one.' - -'Hear him!' said the soldier to Kim. 'He is ashamed for that he has -made a child happy. There was a very good householder lost in thee, my -brother. Hai, child!' He threw it a pice. 'Sweetmeats are always -sweet.' And as the little figure capered away into the sunshine: 'They -grow up and become men. Holy One, I grieve that I slept in the midst -of thy preaching. Forgive me.' - -'We be two old men,' said the lama. 'The fault is mine. I listened to -thy talk of the world and its madness, and one fault led to the next.' - -'Hear him! What harm do thy Gods suffer from play with a babe? And -that song was very well sung. Let us go on and I will sing thee the -song of Nikal Seyn before Delhi--the old song.' - -And they fared out from the gloom of the mango tope, the old man's -high, shrill voice ringing across the field, as wail by long-drawn wail -he unfolded the story of Nikal Seyn [Nicholson]--the song that men sing -in the Punjab to this day. Kim was delighted, and the lama listened -with deep interest. - -'Ahi! Nikal Seyn is dead--he died before Delhi! Lances of the North, -take vengeance for Nikal Seyn.' He quavered it out to the end, marking -the trills with the flat of his sword on the pony's rump. - -'And now we come to the Big Road,' said he, after receiving the -compliments of Kim; for the lama was markedly silent. 'It is long -since I have ridden this way, but thy boy's talk stirred me. See, Holy -One--the Great Road which is the backbone of all Hind. For the most -part it is shaded, as here, with four lines of trees; the middle -road--all hard--takes the quick traffic. In the days before -rail-carriages the Sahibs travelled up and down here in hundreds. Now -there are only country-carts and such like. Left and right is the -rougher road for the heavy carts--grain and cotton and timber, fodder, -lime and hides. A man goes in safety here for at every few koss is a -police-station. The police are thieves and extortioners (I myself -would patrol it with cavalry--young recruits under a strong captain), -but at least they do not suffer any rivals. All castes and kinds of -men move here. - -'Look! Brahmins and chumars, bankers and tinkers, barbers and bunnias, -pilgrims and potters--all the world going and coming. It is to me as a -river from which I am withdrawn like a log after a flood.' - -And truly the Grand Trunk Road is a wonderful spectacle. It runs -straight, bearing without crowding India's traffic for fifteen hundred -miles--such a river of life as nowhere else exists in the world. They -looked at the green-arched, shade-flecked length of it, the white -breadth speckled with slow-pacing folk; and the two-roomed -police-station opposite. - -'Who bears arms against the law?' a constable called out laughingly, -as he caught sight of the soldier's sword. 'Are not the police enough -to destroy evil-doers?' - -'It was because of the police I bought it,' was the answer. 'Does all -go well in Hind?' - -'Rissaldar Sahib, all goes well.' - -'I am like an old tortoise, look you, who puts his head out from the -bank and draws it in again. Ay, this is the Road of Hindustan. All men -come by this way...' - -'Son of a swine, is the soft part of the road meant for thee to scratch -thy back upon? Father of all the daughters of shame and husband of ten -thousand virtueless ones, thy mother was devoted to a devil, being led -thereto by her mother. Thy aunts have never had a nose for seven -generations! Thy sister--What Owl's folly told thee to draw thy carts -across the road? A broken wheel? Then take a broken head and put the -two together at leisure!' - -The voice and a venomous whip-cracking came out of a pillar of dust -fifty yards away, where a cart had broken down. A thin, high Kathiawar -mare, with eyes and nostrils aflame, rocketed out of the jam, snorting -and wincing as her rider bent her across the road in chase of a -shouting man. He was tall and grey-bearded, sitting the almost mad -beast as a piece of her, and scientifically lashing his victim between -plunges. - -The old man's face lit with pride. 'My child!' said he briefly, and -strove to rein the pony's neck to a fitting arch. - -'Am I to be beaten before the police?' cried the carter. 'Justice! I -will have Justice--' - -'Am I to be blocked by a shouting ape who upsets ten thousand sacks -under a young horse's nose? That is the way to ruin a mare.' - -'He speaks truth. He speaks truth. But she follows her man close,' -said the old man. The carter ran under the wheels of his cart and -thence threatened all sorts of vengeance. - -'They are strong men, thy sons,' said the policeman serenely, picking -his teeth. - -The horseman delivered one last vicious cut with his whip and came on -at a canter. - -'My father!' He reigned back ten yards and dismounted. - -The old man was off his pony in an instant, and they embraced as do -father and son in the East. - - - - -Chapter 4 - - - Good Luck, she is never a lady, - But the cursedest quean alive, - Tricksy, wincing, and jady-- - Kittle to lead or drive. - Greet her--she's hailing a stranger! - Meet her--she's busking to leave! - Let her alone for a shrew to the bone - And the hussy comes plucking your sleeve! - Largesse! Largesse, O Fortune! - Give or hold at your will. - If I've no care for Fortune, - Fortune must follow me still! - - The Wishing-Caps. - - -Then, lowering their voices, they spoke together. Kim came to rest -under a tree, but the lama tugged impatiently at his elbow. - -'Let us go on. The River is not here.' - -'Hai mai! Have we not walked enough for a little? Our River will not -run away. Patience, and he will give us a dole.' - -'This.' said the old soldier suddenly, 'is the Friend of the Stars. He -brought me the news yesterday. Having seen the very man Himself, in a -vision, giving orders for the war.' - -'Hm!' said his son, all deep in his broad chest. 'He came by a -bazar-rumour and made profit of it.' - -His father laughed. 'At least he did not ride to me begging for a new -charger, and the Gods know how many rupees. Are thy brothers' -regiments also under orders?' - -'I do not know. I took leave and came swiftly to thee in case--' - -'In case they ran before thee to beg. O gamblers and spendthrifts all! -But thou hast never yet ridden in a charge. A good horse is needed -there, truly. A good follower and a good pony also for the marching. -Let us see--let us see.' He thrummed on the pommel. - -'This is no place to cast accounts in, my father. Let us go to thy -house.' - -'At least pay the boy, then: I have no pice with me, and he brought -auspicious news. Ho! Friend of all the World, a war is toward as thou -hast said.' - -'Nay, as I know, the war,' returned Kim composedly. - -'Eh?' said the lama, fingering his beads, all eager for the road. - -'My master does not trouble the Stars for hire. We brought the news -bear witness, we brought the news, and now we go.' Kim half-crooked -his hand at his side. - -The son tossed a silver coin through the sunlight, grumbling something -about beggars and jugglers. It was a four-anna piece, and would feed -them well for days. The lama, seeing the flash of the metal, droned a -blessing. - -'Go thy way, Friend of all the World,' piped the old soldier, wheeling -his scrawny mount. 'For once in all my days I have met a true -prophet--who was not in the Army.' - -Father and son swung round together: the old man sitting as erect as -the younger. - -A Punjabi constable in yellow linen trousers slouched across the road. -He had seen the money pass. - -'Halt!' he cried in impressive English. 'Know ye not that there is a -takkus of two annas a head, which is four annas, on those who enter the -Road from this side-road? It is the order of the Sirkar, and the money -is spent for the planting of trees and the beautification of the ways.' - -'And the bellies of the police,' said Kim, slipping out of arm's reach. -'Consider for a while, man with a mud head. Think you we came from the -nearest pond like the frog, thy father-in-law? Hast thou ever heard -the name of thy brother?' - -'And who was he? Leave the boy alone,' cried a senior constable, -immensely delighted, as he squatted down to smoke his pipe in the -veranda. - -'He took a label from a bottle of belaitee-pani [soda-water], and, -affixing it to a bridge, collected taxes for a month from those who -passed, saying that it was the Sirkar's order. Then came an Englishman -and broke his head. Ah, brother, I am a town-crow, not a village-crow!' - -The policeman drew back abashed, and Kim hooted at him all down the -road. - -'Was there ever such a disciple as I?' he cried merrily to the lama. -'All earth would have picked thy bones within ten mile of Lahore city -if I had not guarded thee.' - -'I consider in my own mind whether thou art a spirit, sometimes, or -sometimes an evil imp,' said the lama, smiling slowly. - -'I am thy chela.' Kim dropped into step at his side--that -indescribable gait of the long-distance tramp all the world over. - -'Now let us walk,' muttered the lama, and to the click of his rosary -they walked in silence mile upon mile. The lama as usual, was deep in -meditation, but Kim's bright eyes were open wide. This broad, smiling -river of life, he considered, was a vast improvement on the cramped and -crowded Lahore streets. There were new people and new sights at every -stride--castes he knew and castes that were altogether out of his -experience. - -They met a troop of long-haired, strong-scented Sansis with baskets of -lizards and other unclean food on their backs, their lean dogs sniffing -at their heels. These people kept their own side of the road', moving -at a quick, furtive jog-trot, and all other castes gave them ample -room; for the Sansi is deep pollution. Behind them, walking wide and -stiffly across the strong shadows, the memory of his leg-irons still on -him, strode one newly released from the jail; his full stomach and -shiny skin to prove that the Government fed its prisoners better than -most honest men could feed themselves. Kim knew that walk well, and -made broad jest of it as they passed. Then an Akali, a wild-eyed, -wild-haired Sikh devotee in the blue-checked clothes of his faith, with -polished-steel quoits glistening on the cone of his tall blue turban, -stalked past, returning from a visit to one of the independent Sikh -States, where he had been singing the ancient glories of the Khalsa to -College-trained princelings in top-boots and white-cord breeches. Kim -was careful not to irritate that man; for the Akali's temper is short -and his arm quick. Here and there they met or were overtaken by the -gaily dressed crowds of whole villages turning out to some local fair; -the women, with their babes on their hips, walking behind the men, the -older boys prancing on sticks of sugar-cane, dragging rude brass models -of locomotives such as they sell for a halfpenny, or flashing the sun -into the eyes of their betters from cheap toy mirrors. One could see -at a glance what each had bought; and if there were any doubt it needed -only to watch the wives comparing, brown arm against brown arm, the -newly purchased dull glass bracelets that come from the North-West. -These merry-makers stepped slowly, calling one to the other and -stopping to haggle with sweetmeat-sellers, or to make a prayer before -one of the wayside shrines--sometimes Hindu, sometimes Mussalman--which -the low-caste of both creeds share with beautiful impartiality. A -solid line of blue, rising and falling like the back of a caterpillar -in haste, would swing up through the quivering dust and trot past to a -chorus of quick cackling. That was a gang of changars--the women who -have taken all the embankments of all the Northern railways under their -charge--a flat-footed, big-bosomed, strong-limbed, blue-petticoated -clan of earth-carriers, hurrying north on news of a job, and wasting no -time by the road. They belong to the caste whose men do not count, and -they walked with squared elbows, swinging hips, and heads on high, as -suits women who carry heavy weights. A little later a marriage -procession would strike into the Grand Trunk with music and shoutings, -and a smell of marigold and jasmine stronger even than the reek of the -dust. One could see the bride's litter, a blur of red and tinsel, -staggering through the haze, while the bridegroom's bewreathed pony -turned aside to snatch a mouthful from a passing fodder-cart. Then Kim -would join the Kentish-fire of good wishes and bad jokes, wishing the -couple a hundred sons and no daughters, as the saying is. Still more -interesting and more to be shouted over it was when a strolling juggler -with some half-trained monkeys, or a panting, feeble bear, or a woman -who tied goats' horns to her feet, and with these danced on a -slack-rope, set the horses to shying and the women to shrill, -long-drawn quavers of amazement. - -The lama never raised his eyes. He did not note the money-lender on -his goose-rumped pony, hastening along to collect the cruel interest; -or the long-shouting, deep-voiced little mob--still in military -formation--of native soldiers on leave, rejoicing to be rid of their -breeches and puttees, and saying the most outrageous things to the most -respectable women in sight. Even the seller of Ganges-water he did not -see, and Kim expected that he would at least buy a bottle of that -precious stuff. He looked steadily at the ground, and strode as -steadily hour after hour, his soul busied elsewhere. But Kim was in -the seventh heaven of joy. The Grand Trunk at this point was built on -an embankment to guard against winter floods from the foothills, so -that one walked, as it were, a little above the country, along a -stately corridor, seeing all India spread out to left and right. It -was beautiful to behold the many-yoked grain and cotton wagons crawling -over the country roads: one could hear their axles, complaining a mile -away, coming nearer, till with shouts and yells and bad words they -climbed up the steep incline and plunged on to the hard main road, -carter reviling carter. It was equally beautiful to watch the people, -little clumps of red and blue and pink and white and saffron, turning -aside to go to their own villages, dispersing and growing small by twos -and threes across the level plain. Kim felt these things, though he -could not give tongue to his feelings, and so contented himself with -buying peeled sugar-cane and spitting the pith generously about his -path. From time to time the lama took snuff, and at last Kim could -endure the silence no longer. - -'This is a good land--the land of the South!' said he. 'The air is -good; the water is good. Eh?' - -'And they are all bound upon the Wheel,' said the lama. 'Bound from -life after life. To none of these has the Way been shown.' He shook -himself back to this world. - -'And now we have walked a weary way,' said Kim. 'Surely we shall soon -come to a parao [a resting-place]. Shall we stay there? Look, the sun -is sloping.' - -'Who will receive us this evening?' - -'That is all one. This country is full of good folk. Besides' he sunk -his voice beneath a whisper--'we have money.' - -The crowd thickened as they neared the resting-place which marked the -end of their day's journey. A line of stalls selling very simple food -and tobacco, a stack of firewood, a police-station, a well, a -horse-trough, a few trees, and, under them, some trampled ground dotted -with the black ashes of old fires, are all that mark a parao on the -Grand Trunk; if you except the beggars and the crows--both hungry. - -By this time the sun was driving broad golden spokes through the lower -branches of the mango-trees; the parakeets and doves were coming home -in their hundreds; the chattering, grey-backed Seven Sisters, talking -over the day's adventures, walked back and forth in twos and threes -almost under the feet of the travellers; and shufflings and scufflings -in the branches showed that the bats were ready to go out on the -night-picket. Swiftly the light gathered itself together, painted for -an instant the faces and the cartwheels and the bullocks' horns as red -as blood. Then the night fell, changing the touch of the air, drawing -a low, even haze, like a gossamer veil of blue, across the face of the -country, and bringing out, keen and distinct, the smell of wood-smoke -and cattle and the good scent of wheaten cakes cooked on ashes. The -evening patrol hurried out of the police-station with important -coughings and reiterated orders; and a live charcoal ball in the cup of -a wayside carter's hookah glowed red while Kim's eye mechanically -watched the last flicker of the sun on the brass tweezers. - -The life of the parao was very like that of the Kashmir Serai on a -small scale. Kim dived into the happy Asiatic disorder which, if you -only allow time, will bring you everything that a simple man needs. - -His wants were few, because, since the lama had no caste scruples, -cooked food from the nearest stall would serve; but, for luxury's sake, -Kim bought a handful of dung-cakes to build a fire. All about, coming -and going round the little flames, men cried for oil, or grain, or -sweetmeats, or tobacco, jostling one another while they waited their -turn at the well; and under the men's voices you heard from halted, -shuttered carts the high squeals and giggles of women whose faces -should not be seen in public. - -Nowadays, well-educated natives are of opinion that when their -womenfolk travel--and they visit a good deal--it is better to take them -quickly by rail in a properly screened compartment; and that custom is -spreading. But there are always those of the old rock who hold by the -use of their forefathers; and, above all, there are always the old -women--more conservative than the men--who toward the end of their days -go on a pilgrimage. They, being withered and undesirable, do not, -under certain circumstances, object to unveiling. After their long -seclusion, during which they have always been in business touch with a -thousand outside interests, they love the bustle and stir of the open -road, the gatherings at the shrines, and the infinite possibilities of -gossip with like-minded dowagers. Very often it suits a longsuffering -family that a strong-tongued, iron-willed old lady should disport -herself about India in this fashion; for certainly pilgrimage is -grateful to the Gods. So all about India, in the most remote places, -as in the most public, you find some knot of grizzled servitors in -nominal charge of an old lady who is more or less curtained and hid -away in a bullock-cart. Such men are staid and discreet, and when a -European or a high-caste native is near will net their charge with most -elaborate precautions; but in the ordinary haphazard chances of -pilgrimage the precautions are not taken. The old lady is, after all, -intensely human, and lives to look upon life. - -Kim marked down a gaily ornamented ruth or family bullock-cart, with a -broidered canopy of two domes, like a double-humped camel, which had -just been drawn into the par. Eight men made its retinue, and two of -the eight were armed with rusty sabres--sure signs that they followed a -person of distinction, for the common folk do not bear arms. An -increasing cackle of complaints, orders, and jests, and what to a -European would have been bad language, came from behind the curtains. -Here was evidently a woman used to command. - -Kim looked over the retinue critically. Half of them were thin-legged, -grey-bearded Ooryas from down country. The other half were -duffle-clad, felt-hatted hillmen of the North; and that mixture told -its own tale, even if he had not overheard the incessant sparring -between the two divisions. The old lady was going south on a -visit--probably to a rich relative, most probably to a son-in-law, who -had sent up an escort as a mark of respect. The hillmen would be of -her own people--Kulu or Kangra folk. It was quite clear that she was -not taking her daughter down to be wedded, or the curtains would have -been laced home and the guard would have allowed no one near the car. -A merry and a high-spirited dame, thought Kim, balancing the dung-cake -in one hand, the cooked food in the other, and piloting the lama with a -nudging shoulder. Something might be made out of the meeting. The lama -would give him no help, but, as a conscientious chela, Kim was -delighted to beg for two. - -He built his fire as close to the cart as he dared, waiting for one of -the escort to order him away. The lama dropped wearily to the ground, -much as a heavy fruit-eating bat cowers, and returned to his rosary. - -'Stand farther off, beggar!' The order was shouted in broken -Hindustani by one of the hillmen. - -'Huh! It is only a pahari [a hillman]', said Kim over his shoulder. -'Since when have the hill-asses owned all Hindustan?' - -The retort was a swift and brilliant sketch of Kim's pedigree for three -generations. - -'Ah!' Kim's voice was sweeter than ever, as he broke the dung-cake -into fit pieces. 'In my country we call that the beginning of -love-talk.' - -A harsh, thin cackle behind the curtains put the hillman on his mettle -for a second shot. - -'Not so bad--not so bad,' said Kim with calm. 'But have a care, my -brother, lest we--we, I say--be minded to give a curse or so in return. -And our curses have the knack of biting home.' - -The Ooryas laughed; the hillman sprang forward threateningly. The lama -suddenly raised his head, bringing his huge tam-o'-shanter hat into the -full light of Kim's new-started fire. - -'What is it?' said he. - -The man halted as though struck to stone. 'I--I--am saved from a great -sin,' he stammered. - -'The foreigner has found him a priest at last,' whispered one of the -Ooryas. - -'Hai! Why is that beggar-brat not well beaten?' the old woman cried. - -The hillman drew back to the cart and whispered something to the -curtain. There was dead silence, then a muttering. - -'This goes well,' thought Kim, pretending neither to see nor hear. - -'When--when--he has eaten'--the hillman fawned on Kim--'it--it is -requested that the Holy One will do the honour to talk to one who would -speak to him.' - -'After he has eaten he will sleep,' Kim returned loftily. He could not -quite see what new turn the game had taken, but stood resolute to -profit by it. 'Now I will get him his food.' The last sentence, -spoken loudly, ended with a sigh as of faintness. - -'I--I myself and the others of my people will look to that--if it is -permitted.' - -'It is permitted,' said Kim, more loftily than ever. 'Holy One, these -people will bring us food.' - -'The land is good. All the country of the South is good--a great and a -terrible world,' mumbled the lama drowsily. - -'Let him sleep,' said Kim, 'but look to it that we are well fed when he -wakes. He is a very holy man.' - -Again one of the Ooryas said something contemptuously. - -'He is not a fakir. He is not a down-country beggar,' Kim went on -severely, addressing the stars. 'He is the most holy of holy men. He -is above all castes. I am his chela.' - -'Come here!' said the flat thin voice behind the curtain; and Kim -came, conscious that eyes he could not see were staring at him. One -skinny brown finger heavy with rings lay on the edge of the cart, and -the talk went this way: - -'Who is that one?' - -'An exceedingly holy one. He comes from far off. He comes from Tibet.' - -'Where in Tibet?' - -'From behind the snows--from a very far place. He knows the stars; he -makes horoscopes; he reads nativities. But he does not do this for -money. He does it for kindness and great charity. I am his disciple. -I am called also the Friend of the Stars.' - -'Thou art no hillman.' - -'Ask him. He will tell thee I was sent to him from the Stars to show -him an end to his pilgrimage.' - -'Humph! Consider, brat, that I am an old woman and not altogether a -fool. Lamas I know, and to these I give reverence, but thou art no -more a lawful chela than this my finger is the pole of this wagon. Thou -art a casteless Hindu--a bold and unblushing beggar, attached, belike, -to the Holy One for the sake of gain.' - -'Do we not all work for gain?' Kim changed his tone promptly to match -that altered voice. 'I have heard'--this was a bow drawn at a -venture--'I have heard--' - -'What hast thou heard?' she snapped, rapping with the finger. - -'Nothing that I well remember, but some talk in the bazars, which is -doubtless a lie, that even Rajahs--small Hill Rajahs--' - -'But none the less of good Rajput blood.' - -'Assuredly of good blood. That these even sell the more comely of -their womenfolk for gain. Down south they sell them--to zemindars and -such--all of Oudh.' - -If there be one thing in the world that the small Hill Rajahs deny it -is just this charge; but it happens to be one thing that the bazars -believe, when they discuss the mysterious slave-traffics of India. The -old lady explained to Kim, in a tense, indignant whisper, precisely -what manner and fashion of malignant liar he was. Had Kim hinted this -when she was a girl, he would have been pommelled to death that same -evening by an elephant. This was perfectly true. - -'Ahai! I am only a beggar's brat, as the Eye of Beauty has said,' he -wailed in extravagant terror. - -'Eye of Beauty, forsooth! Who am I that thou shouldst fling -beggar-endearments at me?' And yet she laughed at the long-forgotten -word. 'Forty years ago that might have been said, and not without -truth. Ay. thirty years ago. But it is the fault of this gadding up -and down Hind that a king's widow must jostle all the scum of the land, -and be made a mock by beggars.' - -'Great Queen,' said Kim promptly, for he heard her shaking with -indignation, 'I am even what the Great Queen says I am; but none the -less is my master holy. He has not yet heard the Great Queen's order -that--' - -'Order? I order a Holy One--a Teacher of the Law--to come and speak to -a woman? Never!' - -'Pity my stupidity. I thought it was given as an order--' - -'It was not. It was a petition. Does this make all clear?' - -A silver coin clicked on the edge of the cart. Kim took it and -salaamed profoundly. The old lady recognized that, as the eyes and the -ears of the lama, he was to be propitiated. - -'I am but the Holy One's disciple. When he has eaten perhaps he will -come.' - -'Oh, villain and shameless rogue!' The jewelled forefinger shook -itself at him reprovingly; but he could hear the old lady's chuckle. - -'Nay, what is it?' he said, dropping into his most caressing and -confidential tone--the one, he well knew, that few could resist. -'Is--is there any need of a son in thy family? Speak freely, for we -priests--' That last was a direct plagiarism from a fakir by the -Taksali Gate. - -'We priests! Thou art not yet old enough to--' She checked the joke -with another laugh. 'Believe me, now and again, we women, O priest, -think of other matters than sons. Moreover, my daughter has borne her -man-child.' - -'Two arrows in the quiver are better than one; and three are better -still.' Kim quoted the proverb with a meditative cough, looking -discreetly earthward. - -'True--oh, true. But perhaps that will come. Certainly those -down-country Brahmins are utterly useless. I sent gifts and monies and -gifts again to them, and they prophesied.' - -'Ah,' drawled Kim, with infinite contempt, 'they prophesied!' A -professional could have done no better. - -'And it was not till I remembered my own Gods that my prayers were -heard. I chose an auspicious hour, and--perhaps thy Holy One has heard -of the Abbot of the Lung-Cho lamassery. It was to him I put the -matter, and behold in the due time all came about as I desired. The -Brahmin in the house of the father of my daughter's son has since said -that it was through his prayers--which is a little error that I will -explain to him when we reach our journey's end. And so afterwards I go -to Buddh Gaya, to make shraddha for the father of my children.' - -'Thither go we.' - -'Doubly auspicious,' chirruped the old lady. 'A second son at least!' - -'O Friend of all the World!' The lama had waked, and, simply as a -child bewildered in a strange bed, called for Kim. - -'I come! I come, Holy One!' He dashed to the fire, where he found the -lama already surrounded by dishes of food, the hillmen visibly adoring -him and the Southerners looking sourly. - -'Go back! Withdraw!' Kim cried. 'Do we eat publicly like dogs?' They -finished the meal in silence, each turned a little from the other, and -Kim topped it with a native-made cigarette. - -'Have I not said an hundred times that the South is a good land? Here -is a virtuous and high-born widow of a Hill Rajah on pilgrimage, she -says, to Buddha Gay. She it is sends us those dishes; and when thou -art well rested she would speak to thee.' - -'Is this also thy work?' The lama dipped deep into his snuff-gourd. - -'Who else watched over thee since our wonderful journey began?' Kim's -eyes danced in his head as he blew the rank smoke through his nostrils -and stretched him on the dusty ground. 'Have I failed to oversee thy -comforts, Holy One?' - -'A blessing on thee.' The lama inclined his solemn head. 'I have -known many men in my so long life, and disciples not a few. But to -none among men, if so be thou art woman-born, has my heart gone out as -it has to thee--thoughtful, wise, and courteous; but something of a -small imp.' - -'And I have never seen such a priest as thou.' Kim considered the -benevolent yellow face wrinkle by wrinkle. 'It is less than three days -since we took the road together, and it is as though it were a hundred -years.' - -'Perhaps in a former life it was permitted that I should have rendered -thee some service. Maybe'--he smiled--'I freed thee from a trap; or, -having caught thee on a hook in the days when I was not enlightened, -cast thee back into the river.' - -'Maybe,' said Kim quietly. He had heard this sort of speculation again -and again, from the mouths of many whom the English would not consider -imaginative. 'Now, as regards that woman in the bullock-cart. I think -she needs a second son for her daughter.' - -'That is no part of the Way,' sighed the lama. 'But at least she is -from the Hills. Ah, the Hills, and the snow of the Hills!' - -He rose and stalked to the cart. Kim would have given his ears to come -too, but the lama did not invite him; and the few words he caught were -in an unknown tongue, for they spoke some common speech of the -mountains. The woman seemed to ask questions which the lama turned -over in his mind before answering. Now and again he heard the singsong -cadence of a Chinese quotation. It was a strange picture that Kim -watched between drooped eyelids. The lama, very straight and erect, -the deep folds of his yellow clothing slashed with black in the light -of the parao fires precisely as a knotted tree-trunk is slashed with -the shadows of the low sun, addressed a tinsel and lacquered ruth which -burned like a many-coloured jewel in the same uncertain light. The -patterns on the gold-worked curtains ran up and down, melting and -reforming as the folds shook and quivered to the night wind; and when -the talk grew more earnest the jewelled forefinger snapped out little -sparks of light between the embroideries. Behind the cart was a wall -of uncertain darkness speckled with little flames and alive with -half-caught forms and faces and shadows. The voices of early evening -had settled down to one soothing hum whose deepest note was the steady -chumping of the bullocks above their chopped straw, and whose highest -was the tinkle of a Bengali dancing-girl's sitar. Most men had eaten -and pulled deep at their gurgling, grunting hookahs, which in full -blast sound like bull-frogs. - -At last the lama returned. A hillman walked behind him with a wadded -cotton-quilt and spread it carefully by the fire. - -'She deserves ten thousand grandchildren,' thought Kim. 'None the -less, but for me, those gifts would not have come.' - -'A virtuous woman--and a wise one.' The lama slackened off, joint by -joint, like a slow camel. 'The world is full of charity to those who -follow the Way.' He flung a fair half of the quilt over Kim. - -'And what said she?' Kim rolled up in his share of it. - -'She asked me many questions and propounded many problems--the most of -which were idle tales which she had heard from devil-serving priests -who pretend to follow the Way. Some I answered, and some I said were -foolish. Many wear the Robe, but few keep the Way.' - -'True. That is true.' Kim used the thoughtful, conciliatory tone of -those who wish to draw confidences. - -'But by her lights she is most right-minded. She desires greatly that -we should go with her to Buddh Gaya; her road being ours, as I -understand, for many days' journey to the southward.' - -'And?' - -'Patience a little. To this I said that my Search came before all -things. She had heard many foolish legends, but this great truth of my -River she had never heard. Such are the priests of the lower hills! -She knew the Abbot of Lung-Cho, but she did not know of my River--nor -the tale of the Arrow.' - -'And?' - -'I spoke therefore of the Search, and of the Way, and of matters that -were profitable; she desiring only that I should accompany her and make -prayer for a second son.' - -'Aha! "We women" do not think of anything save children,' said Kim -sleepily. - -'Now, since our roads run together for a while, I do not see that we in -any way depart from our Search if so be we accompany her--at least as -far as--I have forgotten the name of the city.' - -'Ohe!' said Kim, turning and speaking in a sharp whisper to one of the -Ooryas a few yards away. 'Where is your master's house?' - -'A little behind Saharunpore, among the fruit gardens.' He named the -village. - -'That was the place,' said the lama. 'So far, at least, we can go with -her.' - -'Flies go to carrion,' said the Oorya, in an abstracted voice. - -'For the sick cow a crow; for the sick man a Brahmin.' Kim breathed -the proverb impersonally to the shadow-tops of the trees overhead. - -The Oorya grunted and held his peace. - -'So then we go with her, Holy One?' - -'Is there any reason against? I can still step aside and try all the -rivers that the road overpasses. She desires that I should come. She -very greatly desires it.' - -Kim stifled a laugh in the quilt. When once that imperious old lady -had recovered from her natural awe of a lama he thought it probable -that she would be worth listening to. - -He was nearly asleep when the lama suddenly quoted a proverb: 'The -husbands of the talkative have a great reward hereafter.' Then Kim -heard him snuff thrice, and dozed off, still laughing. - -The diamond-bright dawn woke men and crows and bullocks together. Kim -sat up and yawned, shook himself, and thrilled with delight. This was -seeing the world in real truth; this was life as he would have -it--bustling and shouting, the buckling of belts, and beating of -bullocks and creaking of wheels, lighting of fires and cooking of food, -and new sights at every turn of the approving eye. The morning mist -swept off in a whorl of silver, the parrots shot away to some distant -river in shrieking green hosts: all the well-wheels within ear-shot -went to work. India was awake, and Kim was in the middle of it, more -awake and more excited than anyone, chewing on a twig that he would -presently use as a toothbrush; for he borrowed right- and left-handedly -from all the customs of the country he knew and loved. There was no -need to worry about food--no need to spend a cowrie at the crowded -stalls. He was the disciple of a holy man annexed by a strong-willed -old lady. All things would be prepared for them, and when they were -respectfully invited so to do they would sit and eat. For the -rest--Kim giggled here as he cleaned his teeth--his hostess would -rather heighten the enjoyment of the road. He inspected her bullocks -critically, as they came up grunting and blowing under the yokes. If -they went too fast--it was not likely--there would be a pleasant seat -for himself along the pole; the lama would sit beside the driver. The -escort, of course, would walk. The old lady, equally of course, would -talk a great deal, and by what he had heard that conversation would not -lack salt. She was already ordering, haranguing, rebuking, and, it -must be said, cursing her servants for delays. - -'Get her her pipe. In the name of the Gods, get her her pipe and stop -her ill-omened mouth,' cried an Oorya, tying up his shapeless bundles -of bedding. 'She and the parrots are alike. They screech in the dawn.' - -'The lead-bullocks! Hai! Look to the lead-bullocks!' They were -backing and wheeling as a grain-cart's axle caught them by the horns. -'Son of an owl, where dost thou go?' This to the grinning carter. - -'Ai! Yai! Yai! That within there is the Queen of Delhi going to pray -for a son,' the man called back over his high load. 'Room for the -Queen of Delhi and her Prime Minister the grey monkey climbing up his -own sword!' Another cart loaded with bark for a down-country tannery -followed close behind, and its driver added a few compliments as the -ruth-bullocks backed and backed again. - -From behind the shaking curtains came one volley of invective. It did -not last long, but in kind and quality, in blistering, biting -appropriateness, it was beyond anything that even Kim had heard. He -could see the carter's bare chest collapse with amazement, as the man -salaamed reverently to the voice, leaped from the pole, and helped the -escort haul their volcano on to the main road. Here the voice told him -truthfully what sort of wife he had wedded, and what she was doing in -his absence. - -'Oh, shabash!' murmured Kim, unable to contain himself, as the man -slunk away. - -'Well done, indeed? It is a shame and a scandal that a poor woman may -not go to make prayer to her Gods except she be jostled and insulted by -all the refuse of Hindustan--that she must eat gali [abuse] as men eat -ghi. But I have yet a wag left to my tongue--a word or two well spoken -that serves the occasion. And still am I without my tobacco! Who is -the one-eyed and luckless son of shame that has not yet prepared my -pipe?' - -It was hastily thrust in by a hillman, and a trickle of thick smoke -from each corner of the curtains showed that peace was restored. - -If Kim had walked proudly the day before, disciple of a holy man, today -he paced with tenfold pride in the train of a semi-royal procession, -with a recognized place under the patronage of an old lady of charming -manners and infinite resource. The escort, their heads tied up -native-fashion, fell in on either side the cart, shuffling enormous -clouds of dust. - -The lama and Kim walked a little to one side; Kim chewing his stick of -sugarcane, and making way for no one under the status of a priest. -They could hear the old lady's tongue clack as steadily as a -rice-husker. She bade the escort tell her what was going on on the -road; and so soon as they were clear of the parao she flung back the -curtains and peered out, her veil a third across her face. Her men did -not eye her directly when she addressed them, and thus the proprieties -were more or less observed. - -A dark, sallowish District Superintendent of Police, faultlessly -uniformed, an Englishman, trotted by on a tired horse, and, seeing from -her retinue what manner of person she was, chaffed her. - -'O mother,' he cried, 'do they do this in the zenanas? Suppose an -Englishman came by and saw that thou hast no nose?' - -'What?' she shrilled back. 'Thine own mother has no nose? Why say -so, then, on the open road?' - -It was a fair counter. The Englishman threw up his hand with the -gesture of a man hit at sword-play. She laughed and nodded. - -'Is this a face to tempt virtue aside?' She withdrew all her veil and -stared at him. - -It was by no means lovely, but as the man gathered up his reins he -called it a Moon of Paradise, a Disturber of Integrity, and a few other -fantastic epithets which doubled her up with mirth. - -'That is a nut-cut [rogue],' she said. 'All police-constables are -nut-cuts; but the police-wallahs are the worst. Hai, my son, thou hast -never learned all that since thou camest from Belait [Europe]. Who -suckled thee?' - -'A pahareen--a hillwoman of Dalhousie, my mother. Keep thy beauty -under a shade--O Dispenser of Delights,' and he was gone. - -'These be the sort'--she took a fine judicial tone, and stuffed her -mouth with pan--'These be the sort to oversee justice. They know the -land and the customs of the land. The others, all new from Europe, -suckled by white women and learning our tongues from books, are worse -than the pestilence. They do harm to Kings.' Then she told a long, -long tale to the world at large, of an ignorant young policeman who had -disturbed some small Hill Rajah, a ninth cousin of her own, in the -matter of a trivial land-case, winding up with a quotation from a work -by no means devotional. - -Then her mood changed, and she bade one of the escort ask whether the -lama would walk alongside and discuss matters of religion. So Kim -dropped back into the dust and returned to his sugar-cane. For an hour -or more the lama's tam-o'shanter showed like a moon through the haze; -and, from all he heard, Kim gathered that the old woman wept. One of -the Ooryas half apologized for his rudeness overnight, saying that he -had never known his mistress of so bland a temper, and he ascribed it -to the presence of the strange priest. Personally, he believed in -Brahmins, though, like all natives, he was acutely aware of their -cunning and their greed. Still, when Brahmins but irritated with -begging demands the mother of his master's wife, and when she sent them -away so angry that they cursed the whole retinue (which was the real -reason of the second off-side bullock going lame, and of the pole -breaking the night before), he was prepared to accept any priest of any -other denomination in or out of India. To this Kim assented with wise -nods, and bade the Oorya observe that the lama took no money, and that -the cost of his and Kim's food would be repaid a hundred times in the -good luck that would attend the caravan henceforward. He also told -stories of Lahore city, and sang a song or two which made the escort -laugh. As a town-mouse well acquainted with the latest songs by the -most fashionable composers--they are women for the most part--Kim had a -distinct advantage over men from a little fruit-village behind -Saharunpore, but he let that advantage be inferred. - -At noon they turned aside to eat, and the meal was good, plentiful, and -well-served on plates of clean leaves, in decency, out of drift of the -dust. They gave the scraps to certain beggars, that all requirements -might be fulfilled, and sat down to a long, luxurious smoke. The old -lady had retreated behind her curtains, but mixed most freely in the -talk, her servants arguing with and contradicting her as servants do -throughout the East. She compared the cool and the pines of the Kangra -and Kulu hills with the dust and the mangoes of the South; she told a -tale of some old local Gods at the edge of her husband's territory; she -roundly abused the tobacco which she was then smoking, reviled all -Brahmins, and speculated without reserve on the coming of many -grandsons. - - - - -Chapter 5 - - - Here come I to my own again - Fed, forgiven, and known again - Claimed by bone of my bone again, - And sib to flesh of my flesh! - The fatted calf is dressed for me, - But the husks have greater zest for me ... - I think my pigs will be best for me, - So I'm off to the styes afresh. - - The Prodigal Son. - - -Once more the lazy, string-tied, shuffling procession got under way, -and she slept till they reached the next halting-stage. It was a very -short march, and time lacked an hour to sundown, so Kim cast about for -means of amusement. - -'But why not sit and rest?' said one of the escort. 'Only the devils -and the English walk to and fro without reason.' - -'Never make friends with the Devil, a Monkey, or a Boy. No man knows -what they will do next,' said his fellow. - -Kim turned a scornful back--he did not want to hear the old story how -the Devil played with the boys and repented of it and walked idly -across country. - -The lama strode after him. All that day, whenever they passed a -stream, he had turned aside to look at it, but in no case had he -received any warning that he had found his River. Insensibly, too, the -comfort of speaking to someone in a reasonable tongue, and of being -properly considered and respected as her spiritual adviser by a -well-born woman, had weaned his thoughts a little from the Search. And -further, he was prepared to spend serene years in his quest; having -nothing of the white man's impatience, but a great faith. - -'Where goest thou?' he called after Kim. - -'Nowhither--it was a small march, and all this'--Kim waved his hands -abroad--'is new to me.' - -'She is beyond question a wise and a discerning woman. But it is hard -to meditate when--' - -'All women are thus.' Kim spoke as might have Solomon. - -'Before the lamassery was a broad platform,' the lama muttered, looping -up the well-worn rosary, 'of stone. On that I have left the marks of -my feet--pacing to and fro with these.' - -He clicked the beads, and began the 'Om mane pudme hum's of his -devotion; grateful for the cool, the quiet, and the absence of dust. - -One thing after another drew Kim's idle eye across the plain. There -was no purpose in his wanderings, except that the build of the huts -near by seemed new, and he wished to investigate. - -They came out on a broad tract of grazing-ground, brown and purple in -the afternoon light, with a heavy clump of mangoes in the centre. It -struck Kim as curious that no shrine stood in so eligible a spot: the -boy was observing as any priest for these things. Far across the plain -walked side by side four men, made small by the distance. He looked -intently under his curved palms and caught the sheen of brass. - -'Soldiers. White soldiers!' said he. 'Let us see.' - -'It is always soldiers when thou and I go out alone together. But I -have never seen the white soldiers.' - -'They do no harm except when they are drunk. Keep behind this tree.' - -They stepped behind the thick trunks in the cool dark of the -mango-tope. Two little figures halted; the other two came forward -uncertainly. They were the advance-party of a regiment on the march, -sent out, as usual, to mark the camp. They bore five-foot sticks with -fluttering flags, and called to each other as they spread over the flat -earth. - -At last they entered the mango-grove, walking heavily. - -'It's here or hereabouts--officers' tents under the trees, I take it, -an' the rest of us can stay outside. Have they marked out for the -baggage-wagons behind?' - -They cried again to their comrades in the distance, and the rough -answer came back faint and mellowed. - -'Shove the flag in here, then,' said one. - -'What do they prepare?' said the lama, wonderstruck. 'This is a great -and terrible world. What is the device on the flag?' - -A soldier thrust a stave within a few feet of them, grunted -discontentedly, pulled it up again, conferred with his companion, who -looked up and down the shaded cave of greenery, and returned it. - -Kim stared with all his eyes, his breath coming short and sharp between -his teeth. The soldiers stamped off into the sunshine. - -'O Holy One!' he gasped. 'My horoscope! The drawing in the dust by -the priest at Umballa! Remember what he said. First come -two--ferashes--to make all things ready--in a dark place, as it is -always at the beginning of a vision.' - -'But this is not vision,' said the lama. 'It is the world's Illusion, -and no more.' - -'And after them comes the Bull--the Red Bull on the green field. Look! -It is he!' - -He pointed to the flag that was snap snapping in the evening breeze not -ten feet away. It was no more than an ordinary camp marking-flag; but -the regiment, always punctilious in matters of millinery, had charged -it with the regimental device, the Red Bull, which is the crest of the -Mavericks--the great Red Bull on a background of Irish green. - -'I see, and now I remember.' said the lama. 'Certainly it is thy -Bull. Certainly, also, the two men came to make all ready.' - -'They are soldiers--white soldiers. What said the priest? "The sign -over against the Bull is the sign of War and armed men." Holy One, -this thing touches my Search.' - -'True. It is true.' The lama stared fixedly at the device that flamed -like a ruby in the dusk. 'The priest at Umballa said that thine was -the sign of War.' - -'What is to do now?' - -'Wait. Let us wait.' - -'Even now the darkness clears,' said Kim. It was only natural that the -descending sun should at last strike through the tree-trunks, across -the grove, filling it with mealy gold light for a few minutes; but to -Kim it was the crown of the Umballa Brahmin's prophecy. - -'Hark!' said the lama. 'One beats a drum--far off!' - -At first the sound, carrying diluted through the still air, resembled -the beating of an artery in the head. Soon a sharpness was added. - -'Ah! The music,' Kim explained. He knew the sound of a regimental -band, but it amazed the lama. - -At the far end of the plain a heavy, dusty column crawled in sight. -Then the wind brought the tune: - - We crave your condescension - To tell you what we know - Of marching in the Mulligan Guards - To Sligo Port below! - -Here broke in the shrill-tongued fifes: - - We shouldered arms, - We marched--we marched away. - From Phoenix Park - We marched to Dublin Bay. - The drums and the fifes, - Oh, sweetly they did play, - As we marched--marched--marched--with the - Mulligan Guards! - -It was the band of the Mavericks playing the regiment to camp; for the -men were route-marching with their baggage. The rippling column swung -into the level--carts behind it divided left and right, ran about like -an ant-hill, and ... - -'But this is sorcery!' said the lama. - -The plain dotted itself with tents that seemed to rise, all spread, -from the carts. Another rush of men invaded the grove, pitched a huge -tent in silence, ran up yet eight or nine more by the side of it, -unearthed cooking-pots, pans, and bundles, which were taken possession -of by a crowd of native servants; and behold the mango-tope turned into -an orderly town as they watched! - -'Let us go,' said the lama, sinking back afraid, as the fires twinkled -and white officers with jingling swords stalked into the Mess-tent. - -'Stand back in the shadow. No one can see beyond the light of a fire,' -said Kim, his eyes still on the flag. He had never before watched the -routine of a seasoned regiment pitching camp in thirty minutes. - -'Look! look! look!' clucked the lama. 'Yonder comes a priest.' It -was Bennett, the Church of England Chaplain of the regiment, limping in -dusty black. One of his flock had made some rude remarks about the -Chaplain's mettle; and to abash him Bennett had marched step by step -with the men that day. The black dress, gold cross on the watch-chain, -the hairless face, and the soft, black wideawake hat would have marked -him as a holy man anywhere in all India. He dropped into a camp-chair -by the door of the Mess-tent and slid off his boots. Three or four -officers gathered round him, laughing and joking over his exploit. - -'The talk of white men is wholly lacking in dignity,' said the lama, -who judged only by tone. 'But I considered the countenance of that -priest and I think he is learned. Is it likely that he will understand -our talk? I would talk to him of my Search.' - -'Never speak to a white man till he is fed,' said Kim, quoting a -well-known proverb. 'They will eat now, and--and I do not think they -are good to beg from. Let us go back to the resting-place. After we -have eaten we will come again. It certainly was a Red Bull--my Red -Bull.' - -They were both noticeably absent-minded when the old lady's retinue set -their meal before them; so none broke their reserve, for it is not -lucky to annoy guests. - -'Now,' said Kim, picking his teeth, 'we will return to that place; but -thou, O Holy One, must wait a little way off, because thy feet are -heavier than mine and I am anxious to see more of that Red Bull.' - -'But how canst thou understand the talk? Walk slowly. The road is -dark,' the lama replied uneasily. - -Kim put the question aside. 'I marked a place near to the trees,' said -he, 'where thou canst sit till I call. Nay,' as the lama made some -sort of protest, 'remember this is my Search--the Search for my Red -Bull. The sign in the Stars was not for thee. I know a little of the -customs of white soldiers, and I always desire to see some new things.' - -'What dost thou not know of this world?' The lama squatted obediently -in a little hollow of the ground not a hundred yards from the hump of -the mango-trees dark against the star-powdered sky. - -'Stay till I call.' Kim flitted into the dusk. He knew that in all -probability there would be sentries round the camp, and smiled to -himself as he heard the thick boots of one. A boy who can dodge over -the roofs of Lahore city on a moonlight night, using every little patch -and corner of darkness to discomfit his pursuer, is not likely to be -checked by a line of well-trained soldiers. He paid them the -compliment of crawling between a couple, and, running and halting, -crouching and dropping flat, worked his way toward the lighted -Mess-tent where, close pressed behind the mango-tree, he waited till -some chance word should give him a returnable lead. - -The one thing now in his mind was further information as to the Red -Bull. For aught he knew, and Kim's limitations were as curious and -sudden as his expansions, the men, the nine hundred thorough devils of -his father's prophecy, might pray to the beast after dark, as Hindus -pray to the Holy Cow. That at least would be entirely right and -logical, and the padre with the gold cross would be therefore the man -to consult in the matter. On the other hand, remembering sober-faced -padres whom he had avoided in Lahore city, the priest might be an -inquisitive nuisance who would bid him learn. But had it not been -proven at Umballa that his sign in the high heavens portended War and -armed men? Was he not the Friend of the Stars as well as of all the -World, crammed to the teeth with dreadful secrets? Lastly--and firstly -as the undercurrent of all his quick thoughts--this adventure, though -he did not know the English word, was a stupendous lark--a delightful -continuation of his old flights across the housetops, as well as the -fulfilment of sublime prophecy. He lay belly-flat and wriggled towards -the Mess-tent door, a hand on the amulet round his neck. - -It was as he suspected. The Sahibs prayed to their God; for in the -centre of the Mess-table--its sole ornament when they were on the line -of march--stood a golden bull fashioned from old-time loot of the -Summer Palace at Pekin--a red-gold bull with lowered head, ramping upon -a field of Irish green. To him the Sahibs held out their glasses and -cried aloud confusedly. - -Now the Reverend Arthur Bennett always left Mess after that toast, and -being rather tired by his march his movements were more abrupt than -usual. Kim, with slightly raised head, was still staring at his totem -on the table, when the Chaplain stepped on his right shoulder-blade. -Kim flinched under the leather, and, rolling sideways, brought down the -Chaplain, who, ever a man of action, caught him by the throat and -nearly choked the life out of him. Kim then kicked him desperately in -the stomach. Mr Bennett gasped and doubled up, but without relaxing -his grip, rolled over again, and silently hauled Kim to his own tent. -The Mavericks were incurable practical jokers; and it occurred to the -Englishman that silence was best till he had made complete inquiry. - -'Why, it's a boy!' he said, as he drew his prize under the light of -the tent-pole lantern, then shaking him severely cried: 'What were you -doing? You're a thief. Choor? Mallum?' His Hindustani was very -limited, and the ruffled and disgusted Kim intended to keep to the -character laid down for him. As he recovered his breath he was -inventing a beautifully plausible tale of his relations to some -scullion, and at the same time keeping a keen eye on and a little under -the Chaplain's left arm-pit. The chance came; he ducked for the -doorway, but a long arm shot out and clutched at his neck, snapping the -amulet-string and closing on the amulet. - -'Give it me. O, give it me. Is it lost? Give me the papers.' - -The words were in English--the tinny, saw-cut English of the -native-bred, and the Chaplain jumped. - -'A scapular,' said he, opening his hand. 'No, some sort of heathen -charm. Why--why, do you speak English? Little boys who steal are -beaten. You know that?' - -'I do not--I did not steal.' Kim danced in agony like a terrier at a -lifted stick. 'Oh, give it me. It is my charm. Do not thieve it from -me.' - -The Chaplain took no heed, but, going to the tent door, called aloud. -A fattish, clean-shaven man appeared. - -'I want your advice, Father Victor,' said Bennett. 'I found this boy -in the dark outside the Mess-tent. Ordinarily, I should have chastised -him and let him go, because I believe him to be a thief. But it seems -he talks English, and he attaches some sort of value to a charm round -his neck. I thought perhaps you might help me.' - -Between himself and the Roman Catholic Chaplain of the Irish contingent -lay, as Bennett believed, an unbridgeable gulf, but it was noticeable -that whenever the Church of England dealt with a human problem she was -very likely to call in the Church of Rome. Bennett's official -abhorrence of the Scarlet Woman and all her ways was only equalled by -his private respect for Father Victor. - -'A thief talking English, is it? Let's look at his charm. No, it's -not a scapular, Bennett.' He held out his hand. - -'But have we any right to open it? A sound whipping--' - -'I did not thieve,' protested Kim. 'You have hit me kicks all over my -body. Now give me my charm and I will go away.' - -'Not quite so fast. We'll look first,' said Father Victor, leisurely -rolling out poor Kimball O'Hara's 'ne varietur' parchment, his -clearance-certificate, and Kim's baptismal certificate. On this last -O'Hara--with some confused idea that he was doing wonders for his -son--had scrawled scores of times: 'Look after the boy. Please look -after the boy'--signing his name and regimental number in full. - -'Powers of Darkness below!' said Father Victor, passing all over to Mr -Bennett. 'Do you know what these things are?' - -'Yes.' said Kim. 'They are mine, and I want to go away.' - -'I do not quite understand,' said Mr Bennett. 'He probably brought -them on purpose. It may be a begging trick of some kind.' - -'I never saw a beggar less anxious to stay with his company, then. -There's the makings of a gay mystery here. Ye believe in Providence, -Bennett?' - -'I hope so.' - -'Well, I believe in miracles, so it comes to the same thing. Powers of -Darkness! Kimball O'Hara! And his son! But then he's a native, and I -saw Kimball married myself to Annie Shott. How long have you had these -things, boy?' - -'Ever since I was a little baby.' - -Father Victor stepped forward quickly and opened the front of Kim's -upper garment. 'You see, Bennett, he's not very black. What's your -name?' - -'Kim.' - -'Or Kimball?' - -'Perhaps. Will you let me go away?' - -'What else?' - -'They call me Kim Rishti ke. That is Kim of the Rishti.' - -'What is that--"Rishti"?' - -'Eye-rishti--that was the Regiment--my father's.' - -'Irish--oh, I see.' - -'Yess. That was how my father told me. My father, he has lived.' - -'Has lived where?' - -'Has lived. Of course he is dead--gone-out.' - -'Oh! That's your abrupt way of putting it, is it?' - -Bennett interrupted. 'It is possible I have done the boy an injustice. -He is certainly white, though evidently neglected. I am sure I must -have bruised him. I do not think spirits--' - -'Get him a glass of sherry, then, and let him squat on the cot. Now, -Kim,' continued Father Victor, 'no one is going to hurt you. Drink that -down and tell us about yourself. The truth, if you've no objection.' - -Kim coughed a little as he put down the empty glass, and considered. -This seemed a time for caution and fancy. Small boys who prowl about -camps are generally turned out after a whipping. But he had received no -stripes; the amulet was evidently working in his favour, and it looked -as though the Umballa horoscope and the few words that he could -remember of his father's maunderings fitted in most miraculously. Else -why did the fat padre seem so impressed, and why the glass of hot -yellow drink from the lean one? - -'My father, he is dead in Lahore city since I was very little. The -woman, she kept kabarri shop near where the hire-carriages are.' Kim -began with a plunge, not quite sure how far the truth would serve him. - -'Your mother?' - -'No!'--with a gesture of disgust. 'She went out when I was born. My -father, he got these papers from the Jadoo-Gher what do you call that?' -(Bennett nodded) 'because he was in good-standing. What do you call -that?' (again Bennett nodded). 'My father told me that. He said, -too, and also the Brahmin who made the drawing in the dust at Umballa -two days ago, he said, that I shall find a Red Bull on a green field -and that the Bull shall help me.' - -'A phenomenal little liar,' muttered Bennett. - -'Powers of Darkness below, what a country!' murmured Father Victor. -'Go on, Kim.' - -'I did not thieve. Besides, I am just now disciple of a very holy man. -He is sitting outside. We saw two men come with flags, making the -place ready. That is always so in a dream, or on account of -a--a--prophecy. So I knew it was come true. I saw the Red Bull on the -green field, and my father he said: "Nine hundred pukka devils and the -Colonel riding on a horse will look after you when you find the Red -Bull!" I did not know what to do when I saw the Bull, but I went away -and I came again when it was dark. I wanted to see the Bull again, and -I saw the Bull again with the--the Sahibs praying to it. I think the -Bull shall help me. The holy man said so too. He is sitting outside. -Will you hurt him, if I call him a shout now? He is very holy. He can -witness to all the things I say, and he knows I am not a thief.' - -'"Sahibs praying to a bull!" What in the world do you make of that?' -said Bennett. "'Disciple of a holy man!" Is the boy mad?' - -'It's O'Hara's boy, sure enough. O'Hara's boy leagued with all the -Powers of Darkness. It's very much what his father would have done if -he was drunk. We'd better invite the holy man. He may know something.' - -'He does not know anything,' said Kim. 'I will show you him if you -come. He is my master. Then afterwards we can go.' - -'Powers of Darkness!' was all that Father Victor could say, as Bennett -marched off, with a firm hand on Kim's shoulder. - -They found the lama where he had dropped. - -'The Search is at an end for me,' shouted Kim in the vernacular. 'I -have found the Bull, but God knows what comes next. They will not hurt -you. Come to the fat priest's tent with this thin man and see the end. -It is all new, and they cannot talk Hindi. They are only uncurried -donkeys.' - -'Then it is not well to make a jest of their ignorance,' the lama -returned. 'I am glad if thou art rejoiced, chela.' - -Dignified and unsuspicious, he strode into the little tent, saluted the -Churches as a Churchman, and sat down by the open charcoal brazier. -The yellow lining of the tent reflected in the lamplight made his face -red-gold. - -Bennett looked at him with the triple-ringed uninterest of the creed -that lumps nine-tenths of the world under the title of 'heathen'. - -'And what was the end of the Search? What gift has the Red Bull -brought?' The lama addressed himself to Kim. - -'He says, "What are you going to do?"' Bennett was staring uneasily at -Father Victor, and Kim, for his own ends, took upon himself the office -of interpreter. - -'I do not see what concern this fakir has with the boy, who is probably -his dupe or his confederate,' Bennett began. 'We cannot allow an -English boy--Assuming that he is the son of a Mason, the sooner he goes -to the Masonic Orphanage the better.' - -'Ah! That's your opinion as Secretary to the Regimental Lodge,' said -Father Victor; 'but we might as well tell the old man what we are going -to do. He doesn't look like a villain.' - -'My experience is that one can never fathom the Oriental mind. Now, -Kimball, I wish you to tell this man what I say word for word.' - -Kim gathered the import of the next few sentences and began thus: - -'Holy One, the thin fool who looks like a camel says that I am the son -of a Sahib.' - -'But how?' - -'Oh, it is true. I knew it since my birth, but he could only find it -out by rending the amulet from my neck and reading all the papers. He -thinks that once a Sahib is always a Sahib, and between the two of them -they purpose to keep me in this Regiment or to send me to a madrissah -[a school]. It has happened before. I have always avoided it. The -fat fool is of one mind and the camel-like one of another. But that is -no odds. I may spend one night here and perhaps the next. It has -happened before. Then I will run away and return to thee.' - -'But tell them that thou art my chela. Tell them how thou didst come -to me when I was faint and bewildered. Tell them of our Search, and -they will surely let thee go now.' - -'I have already told them. They laugh, and they talk of the police.' - -'What are you saying?' asked Mr Bennett. - -'Oah. He only says that if you do not let me go it will stop him in -his business--his ur-gent private af-fairs.' This last was a -reminiscence of some talk with a Eurasian clerk in the Canal -Department, but it only drew a smile, which nettled him. 'And if you -did know what his business was you would not be in such a beastly hurry -to interfere.' - -'What is it then?' said Father Victor, not without feeling, as he -watched the lama's face. - -'There is a River in this country which he wishes to find so verree -much. It was put out by an Arrow which--' Kim tapped his foot -impatiently as he translated in his own mind from the vernacular to his -clumsy English. 'Oah, it was made by our Lord God Buddha, you know, -and if you wash there you are washed away from all your sins and made -as white as cotton-wool.' (Kim had heard mission-talk in his time.) 'I -am his disciple, and we must find that River. It is so verree valuable -to us.' - -'Say that again,' said Bennett. Kim obeyed, with amplifications. - -'But this is gross blasphemy!' cried the Church of England. - -'Tck! Tck!' said Father Victor sympathetically. 'I'd give a good -deal to be able to talk the vernacular. A river that washes away sin! -And how long have you two been looking for it?' - -'Oh, many days. Now we wish to go away and look for it again. It is -not here, you see.' - -'I see,' said Father Victor gravely. 'But he can't go on in that old -man's company. It would be different, Kim, if you were not a soldier's -son. Tell him that the Regiment will take care of you and make you as -good a man as your--as good a man as can be. Tell him that if he -believes in miracles he must believe that--' - -'There is no need to play on his credulity,' Bennett interrupted. - -'I'm doing no such thing. He must believe that the boy's coming -here--to his own Regiment--in search of his Red Bull is in the nature -of a miracle. Consider the chances against it, Bennett. This one boy -in all India, and our Regiment of all others on the line o' march for -him to meet with! It's predestined on the face of it. Yes, tell him -it's Kismet. Kismet, mallum? [Do you understand?]' - -He turned towards the lama, to whom he might as well have talked of -Mesopotamia. - -'They say,'--the old man's eye lighted at Kim's speech 'they say that -the meaning of my horoscope is now accomplished, and that being led -back--though as thou knowest I went out of curiosity--to these people -and their Red Bull I must needs go to a madrissah and be turned into a -Sahib. Now I make pretence of agreement, for at the worst it will be -but a few meals eaten away from thee. Then I will slip away and follow -down the road to Saharunpore. Therefore, Holy One, keep with that Kulu -woman--on no account stray far from her cart till I come again. Past -question, my sign is of War and of armed men. See how they have given -me wine to drink and set me upon a bed of honour! My father must have -been some great person. So if they raise me to honour among them, -good. If not, good again. However it goes, I will run back to thee -when I am tired. But stay with the Rajputni, or I shall miss thy feet -... Oah yess,' said the boy, 'I have told him everything you tell me to -say.' - -'And I cannot see any need why he should wait,' said Bennett, feeling -in his trouser-pocket. 'We can investigate the details later--and I -will give him a ru--' - -'Give him time. Maybe he's fond of the lad,' said Father Victor, half -arresting the clergyman's motion. - -The lama dragged forth his rosary and pulled his huge hat-brim over his -eyes. - -'What can he want now?' - -'He says'--Kim put up one hand. 'He says: "Be quiet." He wants to -speak to me by himself. You see, you do not know one little word of -what he says, and I think if you talk he will perhaps give you very bad -curses. When he takes those beads like that, you see, he always wants -to be quiet.' - -The two Englishmen sat overwhelmed, but there was a look in Bennett's -eye that promised ill for Kim when he should be relaxed to the -religious arm. - -'A Sahib and the son of a Sahib--' The lama's voice was harsh with -pain. 'But no white man knows the land and the customs of the land as -thou knowest. How comes it this is true?' - -'What matter, Holy One?--but remember it is only for a night or two. -Remember, I can change swiftly. It will all be as it was when I first -spoke to thee under Zam-Zammah the great gun--' - -'As a boy in the dress of white men--when I first went to the Wonder -House. And a second time thou wast a Hindu. What shall the third -incarnation be?' He chuckled drearily. 'Ah, chela, thou has done a -wrong to an old man because my heart went out to thee.' - -'And mine to thee. But how could I know that the Red Bull would bring -me to this business?' - -The lama covered his face afresh, and nervously rattled the rosary. Kim -squatted beside him and laid hold upon a fold of his clothing. - -'Now it is understood that the boy is a Sahib?' he went on in a -muffled tone. 'Such a Sahib as was he who kept the images in the -Wonder House.' The lama's experience of white men was limited. He -seemed to be repeating a lesson. 'So then it is not seemly that he -should do other than as the Sahibs do. He must go back to his own -people.' - -'For a day and a night and a day,' Kim pleaded. - -'No, ye don't!' Father Victor saw Kim edging towards the door, and -interposed a strong leg. - -'I do not understand the customs of white men. The Priest of the -Images in the Wonder House in Lahore was more courteous than the thin -one here. This boy will be taken from me. They will make a Sahib of -my disciple? Woe to me! How shall I find my River? Have they no -disciples? Ask.' - -'He says he is very sorree that he cannot find the River now any more. -He says, Why have you no disciples, and stop bothering him? He wants to -be washed of his sins.' - -Neither Bennett nor Father Victor found any answer ready. - -Said Kim in English, distressed for the lama's agony: 'I think if you -will let me go now we will walk away quietly and not steal. We will -look for that River like before I was caught. I wish I did not come -here to find the Red Bull and all that sort of thing. I do not want -it.' - -'It's the very best day's work you ever did for yourself, young man,' -said Bennett. - -'Good heavens, I don't know how to console him,' said Father Victor, -watching the lama intently. 'He can't take the boy away with him, and -yet he's a good man--I'm sure he's a good man. Bennett, if you give him -that rupee he'll curse you root and branch!' - -They listened to each other's breathing--three--five full minutes. -Then the lama raised his head, and looked forth across them into space -and emptiness. - -'And I am a Follower of the Way,' he said bitterly. 'The sin is mine -and the punishment is mine. I made believe to myself for now I see it -was but make-belief--that thou wast sent to me to aid in the Search. -So my heart went out to thee for thy charity and thy courtesy and the -wisdom of thy little years. But those who follow the Way must permit -not the fire of any desire or attachment, for that is all Illusion. As -says ...' He quoted an old, old Chinese text, backed it with another, -and reinforced these with a third. 'I stepped aside from the Way, my -chela. It was no fault of thine. I delighted in the sight of life, -the new people upon the roads, and in thy joy at seeing these things. -I was pleased with thee who should have considered my Search and my -Search alone. Now I am sorrowful because thou art taken away and my -River is far from me. It is the Law which I have broken!' - -'Powers of Darkness below!' said Father Victor, who, wise in the -confessional, heard the pain in every sentence. - -'I see now that the sign of the Red Bull was a sign for me as well as -for thee. All Desire is red--and evil. I will do penance and find my -River alone.' - -'At least go back to the Kulu woman,' said Kim, 'otherwise thou wilt be -lost upon the roads. She will feed thee till I run back to thee.' - -The lama waved a hand to show that the matter was finally settled in -his mind. - -'Now,'--his tone altered as he turned to Kim,--'what will they do with -thee? At least I may, acquiring merit, wipe out past ill.' - -'Make me a Sahib--so they think. The day after tomorrow I return. Do -not grieve.' - -'Of what sort? Such an one as this or that man?' He pointed to Father -Victor. 'Such an one as those I saw this evening, men wearing swords -and stamping heavily?' - -'Maybe.' - -'That is not well. These men follow desire and come to emptiness. Thou -must not be of their sort.' - -'The Umballa priest said that my Star was War,' Kim interjected. 'I -will ask these fools--but there is truly no need. I will run away this -night, for all I wanted to see the new things.' - -Kim put two or three questions in English to Father Victor, translating -the replies to the lama. - -Then: 'He says, "You take him from me and you cannot say what you will -make him." He says, "Tell me before I go, for it is not a small thing -to make a child."' - -'You will be sent to a school. Later on, we shall see. Kimball, I -suppose you'd like to be a soldier?' - -'Gorah-log [white-folk]. No-ah! No-ah!' Kim shook his head -violently. There was nothing in his composition to which drill and -routine appealed. 'I will not be a soldier.' - -'You will be what you're told to be,' said Bennett; 'and you should be -grateful that we're going to help you.' - -Kim smiled compassionately. If these men lay under the delusion that -he would do anything that he did not fancy, so much the better. - -Another long silence followed. Bennett fidgeted with impatience, and -suggested calling a sentry to evict the fakir. - -'Do they give or sell learning among the Sahibs? Ask them,' said the -lama, and Kim interpreted. - -'They say that money is paid to the teacher--but that money the -Regiment will give ... What need? It is only for a night.' - -'And--the more money is paid the better learning is given?' The lama -disregarded Kim's plans for an early flight. 'It is no wrong to pay -for learning. To help the ignorant to wisdom is always a merit.' The -rosary clicked furiously as an abacus. Then he faced his oppressors. - -'Ask them for how much money do they give a wise and suitable teaching? -And in what city is that teaching given?' - -'Well,' said Father Victor in English, when Kim had translated, 'that -depends. The Regiment would pay for you all the time you are at the -Military Orphanage; or you might go on the Punjab Masonic Orphanage's -list (not that he or you 'ud understand what that means); but the best -schooling a boy can get in India is, of course, at St Xavier's in -Partibus at Lucknow.' This took some time to interpret, for Bennett -wished to cut it short. - -'He wants to know how much?' said Kim placidly. - -'Two or three hundred rupees a year.' Father Victor was long past any -sense of amazement. Bennett, impatient, did not understand. - -'He says: "Write that name and the money upon a paper and give it -him." And he says you must write your name below, because he is going -to write a letter in some days to you. He says you are a good man. He -says the other man is a fool. He is going away.' - -The lama rose suddenly. 'I follow my Search,' he cried, and was gone. - -'He'll run slap into the sentries,' cried Father Victor, jumping up as -the lama stalked out; 'but I can't leave the boy.' Kim made swift -motion to follow, but checked himself. There was no sound of challenge -outside. The lama had disappeared. - -Kim settled himself composedly on the Chaplain's cot. At least the -lama had promised that he would stay with the Raiput woman from Kulu, -and the rest was of the smallest importance. It pleased him that the -two padres were so evidently excited. They talked long in undertones, -Father Victor urging some scheme on Mr Bennett, who seemed incredulous. -All this was very new and fascinating, but Kim felt sleepy. They -called men into the tent--one of them certainly was the Colonel, as his -father had prophesied--and they asked him an infinity of questions, -chiefly about the woman who looked after him, all of which Kim answered -truthfully. They did not seem to think the woman a good guardian. - -After all, this was the newest of his experiences. Sooner or later, if -he chose, he could escape into great, grey, formless India, beyond -tents and padres and colonels. Meantime, if the Sahibs were to be -impressed, he would do his best to impress them. He too was a white -man. - -After much talk that he could not comprehend, they handed him over to a -sergeant, who had strict instructions not to let him escape. The -Regiment would go on to Umballa, and Kim would be sent up, partly at -the expense of the Lodge and in part by subscription, to a place called -Sanawar. - -'It's miraculous past all whooping, Colonel,' said Father Victor, when -he had talked without a break for ten minutes. 'His Buddhist friend -has levanted after taking my name and address. I can't quite make out -whether he'll pay for the boy's education or whether he is preparing -some sort of witchcraft on his own account.' Then to Kim: 'You'll live -to be grateful to your friend the Red Bull yet. We'll make a man of -you at Sanawar--even at the price o' making you a Protestant.' - -'Certainly--most certainly,' said Bennett. - -'But you will not go to Sanawar,' said Kim. - -'But we will go to Sanawar, little man. That's the order of the -Commander-in-Chief, who's a trifle more important than O'Hara's son.' - -'You will not go to Sanawar. You will go to thee War.' - -There was a shout of laughter from the full tent. - -'When you know your own Regiment a trifle better you won't confuse the -line of march with line of battle, Kim. We hope to go to "thee War" -sometime.' - -'Oah, I know all thatt.' Kim drew his bow again at a venture. If they -were not going to the war, at least they did not know what he knew of -the talk in the veranda at Umballa. - -'I know you are not at thee war now; but I tell you that as soon as you -get to Umballa you will be sent to the war--the new war. It is a war -of eight thousand men, besides the guns.' - -'That's explicit. D'you add prophecy to your other gifts? Take him -along, sergeant. Take up a suit for him from the Drums, an' take care -he doesn't slip through your fingers. Who says the age of miracles is -gone by? I think I'll go to bed. My poor mind's weakening.' - -At the far end of the camp, silent as a wild animal, an hour later sat -Kim, newly washed all over, in a horrible stiff suit that rasped his -arms and legs. - -'A most amazin' young bird,' said the sergeant. 'He turns up in charge -of a yellow-headed buck-Brahmin priest, with his father's Lodge -certificates round his neck, talkin' God knows what all of a red bull. -The buck-Brahmin evaporates without explanations, an' the bhoy sets -cross-legged on the Chaplain's bed prophesyin' bloody war to the men at -large. Injia's a wild land for a God-fearin' man. I'll just tie his -leg to the tent-pole in case he'll go through the roof. What did ye -say about the war?' - -'Eight thousand men, besides guns,' said Kim. 'Very soon you will see.' - -'You're a consolin' little imp. Lie down between the Drums an' go to -bye-bye. Those two boys will watch your slumbers.' - - - - -Chapter 6 - - - Now I remember comrades-- - Old playmates on new seas-- - Whenas we traded orpiment - Among the savages. - Ten thousand leagues to southward, - And thirty years removed-- - They knew not noble Valdez, - But me they knew and loved. - - Song of Diego Valdez. - - -Very early in the morning the white tents came down and disappeared as -the Mavericks took a side-road to Umballa. It did not skirt the -resting-place, and Kim, trudging beside a baggage-cart under fire of -comments from soldiers' wives, was not so confident as overnight. He -discovered that he was closely watched--Father Victor on the one side, -and Mr Bennett on the other. - -In the forenoon the column checked. A camel-orderly handed the Colonel -a letter. He read it, and spoke to a Major. Half a mile in the rear, -Kim heard a hoarse and joyful clamour rolling down on him through the -thick dust. Then someone beat him on the back, crying: 'Tell us how ye -knew, ye little limb of Satan? Father dear, see if ye can make him -tell.' - -A pony ranged alongside, and he was hauled on to the priest's saddlebow. - -'Now, my son, your prophecy of last night has come true. Our orders -are to entrain at Umballa for the Front tomorrow.' - -'What is thatt?' said Kim, for 'front' and 'entrain' were newish words -to him. - -'We are going to "thee War," as you called it.' - -'Of course you are going to thee War. I said last night.' - -'Ye did; but, Powers o' Darkness, how did ye know?' - -Kim's eyes sparkled. He shut his lips, nodded his head, and looked -unspeakable things. The Chaplain moved on through the dust, and -privates, sergeants, and subalterns called one another's attention to -the boy. The Colonel, at the head of the column, stared at him -curiously. 'It was probably some bazar rumour.' he said; 'but even -then--' He referred to the paper in his hand. 'Hang it all, the thing -was only decided within the last forty-eight hours.' - -'Are there many more like you in India?' said Father Victor, 'or are -you by way o' being a lusus naturae?' - -'Now I have told you,' said the boy, 'will you let me go back to my old -man? If he has not stayed with that woman from Kulu, I am afraid he -will die.' - -'By what I saw of him he's as well able to take care of himself as you. -No. Ye've brought us luck, an' we're goin' to make a man of you. I'll -take ye back to your baggage-cart and ye'll come to me this evening.' - -For the rest of the day Kim found himself an object of distinguished -consideration among a few hundred white men. The story of his -appearance in camp, the discovery of his parentage, and his prophecy, -had lost nothing in the telling. A big, shapeless white woman on a -pile of bedding asked him mysteriously whether he thought her husband -would come back from the war. Kim reflected gravely, and said that he -would, and the woman gave him food. In many respects, this big -procession that played music at intervals--this crowd that talked and -laughed so easily--resembled a festival in Lahore city. So far, there -was no sign of hard work, and he resolved to lend the spectacle his -patronage. At evening there came out to meet them bands of music, and -played the Mavericks into camp near Umballa railway station. That was -an interesting night. Men of other regiments came to visit the -Mavericks. The Mavericks went visiting on their own account. Their -pickets hurried forth to bring them back, met pickets of strange -regiments on the same duty; and, after a while, the bugles blew madly -for more pickets with officers to control the tumult. The Mavericks -had a reputation for liveliness to live up to. But they fell in on the -platform next morning in perfect shape and condition; and Kim, left -behind with the sick, women, and boys, found himself shouting farewells -excitedly as the trains drew away. Life as a Sahib was amusing so far; -but he touched it with a cautious hand. Then they marched him back in -charge of a drummer-boy to empty, lime-washed barracks, whose floors -were covered with rubbish and string and paper, and whose ceilings gave -back his lonely footfall. Native-fashion, he curled himself up on a -stripped cot and went to sleep. An angry man stumped down the veranda, -woke him up, and said he was a schoolmaster. This was enough for Kim, -and he retired into his shell. He could just puzzle out the various -English Police notices in Lahore city, because they affected his -comfort; and among the many guests of the woman who looked after him -had been a queer German who painted scenery for the Parsee travelling -theatre. He told Kim that he had been 'on the barricades in -'Forty-eight,' and therefore--at least that was how it struck Kim--he -would teach the boy to write in return for food. Kim had been kicked -as far as single letters, but did not think well of them. - -'I do not know anything. Go away!' said Kim, scenting evil. Hereupon -the man caught him by the ear, dragged him to a room in a far-off wing -where a dozen drummer-boys were sitting on forms, and told him to be -still if he could do nothing else. This he managed very successfully. -The man explained something or other with white lines on a black board -for at least half an hour, and Kim continued his interrupted nap. He -much disapproved of the present aspect of affairs, for this was the -very school and discipline he had spent two-thirds of his young life in -avoiding. Suddenly a beautiful idea occurred to him, and he wondered -that he had not thought of it before. - -The man dismissed them, and first to spring through the veranda into -the open sunshine was Kim. - -''Ere, you! 'Alt! Stop!' said a high voice at his heels. 'I've got -to look after you. My orders are not to let you out of my sight. Where -are you goin'?' - -It was the drummer-boy who had been hanging round him all the -forenoon--a fat and freckled person of about fourteen, and Kim loathed -him from the soles of his boots to his cap-ribbons. - -'To the bazar--to get sweets--for you,' said Kim, after thought. - -'Well, the bazar's out o' bounds. If we go there we'll get a -dressing-down. You come back.' - -'How near can we go?' Kim did not know what bounds meant, but he -wished to be polite--for the present. - -''Ow near? 'Ow far, you mean! We can go as far as that tree down the -road.' - -'Then I will go there.' - -'All right. I ain't goin'. It's too 'ot. I can watch you from 'ere. -It's no good your runnin' away. If you did, they'd spot you by your -clothes. That's regimental stuff you're wearin'. There ain't a picket -in Umballa wouldn't 'ead you back quicker than you started out.' - -This did not impress Kim as much as the knowledge that his raiment -would tire him out if he tried to run. He slouched to the tree at the -corner of a bare road leading towards the bazar, and eyed the natives -passing. Most of them were barrack-servants of the lowest caste. Kim -hailed a sweeper, who promptly retorted with a piece of unnecessary -insolence, in the natural belief that the European boy could not follow -it. The low, quick answer undeceived him. Kim put his fettered soul -into it, thankful for the late chance to abuse somebody in the tongue -he knew best. 'And now, go to the nearest letter-writer in the bazar -and tell him to come here. I would write a letter.' - -'But--but what manner of white man's son art thou to need a bazar -letter-writer? Is there not a schoolmaster in the barracks?' - -'Ay; and Hell is full of the same sort. Do my order, you--you Od! Thy -mother was married under a basket! Servant of Lal Beg' (Kim knew the -God of the sweepers), 'run on my business or we will talk again.' - -The sweeper shuffled off in haste. 'There is a white boy by the -barracks waiting under a tree who is not a white boy,' he stammered to -the first bazar letter-writer he came across. 'He needs thee.' - -'Will he pay?' said the spruce scribe, gathering up his desk and pens -and sealing-wax all in order. - -'I do not know. He is not like other boys. Go and see. It is well -worth.' - -Kim danced with impatience when the slim young Kayeth hove in sight. -As soon as his voice could carry he cursed him volubly. - -'First I will take my pay,' the letter-writer said. 'Bad words have -made the price higher. But who art thou, dressed in that fashion, to -speak in this fashion?' - -'Aha! That is in the letter which thou shalt write. Never was such a -tale. But I am in no haste. Another writer will serve me. Umballa -city is as full of them as is Lahore.' - -'Four annas,' said the writer, sitting down and spreading his cloth in -the shade of a deserted barrack-wing. - -Mechanically Kim squatted beside him--squatted as only the natives -can--in spite of the abominable clinging trousers. - -The writer regarded him sideways. - -'That is the price to ask of Sahibs,' said Kim. 'Now fix me a true -one.' - -'An anna and a half. How do I know, having written the letter, that -thou wilt not run away?' - -I must not go beyond this tree, and there is also the stamp to be -considered.' - -'I get no commission on the price of the stamp. Once more, what manner -of white boy art thou?' - -'That shall be said in the letter, which is to Mahbub Ali, the -horse-dealer in the Kashmir Serai, at Lahore. He is my friend.' - -'Wonder on wonder!' murmured the letter-writer, dipping a reed in the -inkstand. 'To be written in Hindi?' - -'Assuredly. To Mahbub Ali then. Begin! I have come down with the old -man as far as Umballa in the train. At Umballa I carried the news of -the bay mare's pedigree.' After what he had seen in the garden, he was -not going to write of white stallions. - -'Slower a little. What has a bay mare to do ... Is it Mahbub Ali, the -great dealer?' - -'Who else? I have been in his service. Take more ink. Again. As the -order was, so I did it. We then went on foot towards Benares, but on -the third day we found a certain regiment. Is that down?' - -'Ay, pulton,' murmured the writer, all ears. - -'I went into their camp and was caught, and by means of the charm about -my neck, which thou knowest, it was established that I was the son of -some man in the regiment: according to the prophecy of the Red Bull, -which thou knowest was common talk of our bazar.' Kim waited for this -shaft to sink into the letter-writer's heart, cleared his throat, and -continued: 'A priest clothed me and gave me a new name ... One -priest, however, was a fool. The clothes are very heavy, but I am a -Sahib and my heart is heavy too. They send me to a school and beat me. -I do not like the air and water here. Come then and help me, Mahbub -Ali, or send me some money, for I have not sufficient to pay the writer -who writes this.' - -'"Who writes this." It is my own fault that I was tricked. Thou art -as clever as Husain Bux that forged the Treasury stamps at Nucklao. -But what a tale! What a tale! Is it true by any chance?' - -'It does not profit to tell lies to Mahbub Ali. It is better to help -his friends by lending them a stamp. When the money comes I will -repay.' - -The writer grunted doubtfully, but took a stamp out of his desk, sealed -the letter, handed it over to Kim, and departed. Mahbub Ali's was a -name of power in Umballa. - -'That is the way to win a good account with the Gods,' Kim shouted -after him. - -'Pay me twice over when the money comes,' the man cried over his -shoulder. - -'What was you bukkin' to that nigger about?' said the drummer-boy when -Kim returned to the veranda. 'I was watch-in' you.' - -'I was only talkin' to him.' - -'You talk the same as a nigger, don't you?' - -'No-ah! No-ah! I onlee speak a little. What shall we do now?' - -'The bugles'll go for dinner in arf a minute. My Gawd! I wish I'd -gone up to the Front with the Regiment. It's awful doin' nothin' but -school down 'ere. Don't you 'ate it?' - -'Oah yess!' - -I'd run away if I knew where to go to, but, as the men say, in this -bloomin' Injia you're only a prisoner at large. You can't desert -without bein' took back at once. I'm fair sick of it.' - -'You have been in Be--England?' - -'W'y, I only come out last troopin' season with my mother. I should -think I 'ave been in England. What a ignorant little beggar you are! -You was brought up in the gutter, wasn't you?' - -'Oah yess. Tell me something about England. My father he came from -there.' - -Though he would not say so, Kim of course disbelieved every word the -drummer-boy spoke about the Liverpool suburb which was his England. It -passed the heavy time till dinner--a most unappetizing meal served to -the boys and a few invalids in a corner of a barrack-room. But that he -had written to Mahbub Ali, Kim would have been almost depressed. The -indifference of native crowds he was used to; but this strong -loneliness among white men preyed on him. He was grateful when, in the -course of the afternoon, a big soldier took him over to Father Victor, -who lived in another wing across another dusty parade-ground. The -priest was reading an English letter written in purple ink. He looked -at Kim more curiously than ever. - -'An' how do you like it, my son, as far as you've gone? Not much, eh? -It must be hard--very hard on a wild animal. Listen now. I've an -amazin' epistle from your friend.' - -'Where is he? Is he well? Oah! If he knows to write me letters, it -is all right.' - -'You're fond of him then?' - -'Of course I am fond of him. He was fond of me.' - -'It seems so by the look of this. He can't write English, can he?' - -'Oah no. Not that I know, but of course he found a letter-writer who -can write English verree well, and so he wrote. I do hope you -understand.' - -'That accounts for it. D'you know anything about his money affairs?' -Kim's face showed that he did not. - -'How can I tell?' - -'That's what I'm askin'. Now listen if you can make head or tail o' -this. We'll skip the first part ... It's written from Jagadhir Road -... "Sitting on wayside in grave meditation, trusting to be favoured -with your Honour's applause of present step, which recommend your -Honour to execute for Almighty God's sake. Education is greatest -blessing if of best sorts. Otherwise no earthly use." Faith, the old -man's hit the bull's-eye that time! "If your Honour condescending -giving my boy best educations Xavier" (I suppose that's St Xavier's in -Partibus) "in terms of our conversation dated in your tent 15th -instant" (a business-like touch there!) "then Almighty God blessing -your Honour's succeedings to third an' fourth generation and"--now -listen!--"confide in your Honour's humble servant for adequate -remuneration per hoondi per annum three hundred rupees a year to one -expensive education St Xavier, Lucknow, and allow small time to forward -same per hoondi sent to any part of India as your Honour shall address -yourself. This servant of your Honour has presently no place to lay -crown of his head, but going to Benares by train on account of -persecution of old woman talking so much and unanxious residing -Saharunpore in any domestic capacity." Now what in the world does that -mean?' - -'She has asked him to be her puro--her clergyman--at Saharunpore, I -think. He would not do that on account of his River. She did talk.' - -'It's clear to you, is it? It beats me altogether. "So going to -Benares, where will find address and forward rupees for boy who is -apple of eye, and for Almighty God's sake execute this education, and -your petitioner as in duty bound shall ever awfully pray. Written by -Sobrao Satai, Failed Entrance Allahabad University, for Venerable -Teshoo Lama the priest of Such-zen looking for a River, address care of -Tirthankars' Temple, Benares. P. M.--Please note boy is apple of eye, -and rupees shall be sent per hoondi three hundred per annum. For God -Almighty's sake." Now, is that ravin' lunacy or a business -proposition? I ask you, because I'm fairly at my wits' end.' - -'He says he will give me three hundred rupees a year? So he will give -me them.' - -'Oh, that's the way you look at it, is it?' - -'Of course. If he says so!' - -The priest whistled; then he addressed Kim as an equal. 'I don't -believe it; but we'll see. You were goin' off today to the Military -Orphanage at Sanawar, where the Regiment would keep you till you were -old enough to enlist. Ye'd be brought up to the Church of England. -Bennett arranged for that. On the other hand, if ye go to St Xavier's -ye'll get a better education an--an can have the religion. D'ye see my -dilemma? Kim saw nothing save a vision of the lama going south in a -train with none to beg for him. - -'Like most people, I'm going to temporize. If your friend sends the -money from Benares--Powers of Darkness below, where's a street-beggar -to raise three hundred rupees?--ye'll go down to Lucknow and I'll pay -your fare, because I can't touch the subscription-money if I intend, as -I do, to make ye a Catholic. If he doesn't, ye'll go to the Military -Orphanage at the Regiment's expense. I'll allow him three days' grace, -though I don't believe it at all. Even then, if he fails in his -payments later on ... but it's beyond me. We can only walk one step -at a time in this world, praise God! An' they sent Bennett to the Front -an' left me behind. Bennett can't expect everything.' - -'Oah yess,' said Kim vaguely. - -The priest leaned forward. 'I'd give a month's pay to find what's -goin' on inside that little round head of yours.' - -'There is nothing,' said Kim, and scratched it. He was wondering -whether Mahbub Ali would send him as much as a whole rupee. Then he -could pay the letter-writer and write letters to the lama at Benares. -Perhaps Mahbub Ali would visit him next time he came south with horses. -Surely he must know that Kim's delivery of the letter to the officer at -Umballa had caused the great war which the men and boys had discussed -so loudly over the barrack dinner-tables. But if Mahbub Ali did not -know this, it would be very unsafe to tell him so. Mahbub Ali was hard -upon boys who knew, or thought they knew, too much. - -'Well, till I get further news'--Father Victor's voice interrupted the -reverie. 'Ye can run along now and play with the other boys. They'll -teach ye something--but I don't think ye'll like it.' - -The day dragged to its weary end. When he wished to sleep he was -instructed how to fold up his clothes and set out his boots; the other -boys deriding. Bugles waked him in the dawn; the schoolmaster caught -him after breakfast, thrust a page of meaningless characters under his -nose, gave them senseless names and whacked him without reason. Kim -meditated poisoning him with opium borrowed from a barrack-sweeper, but -reflected that, as they all ate at one table in public (this was -peculiarly revolting to Kim, who preferred to turn his back on the -world at meals), the stroke might be dangerous. Then he attempted -running off to the village where the priest had tried to drug the -lama--the village where the old soldier lived. But far-seeing sentries -at every exit headed back the little scarlet figure. Trousers and -jacket crippled body and mind alike so he abandoned the project and -fell back, Oriental-fashion, on time and chance. Three days of torment -passed in the big, echoing white rooms. He walked out of afternoons -under escort of the drummer-boy, and all he heard from his companions -were the few useless words which seemed to make two-thirds of the white -man's abuse. Kim knew and despised them all long ago. The boy -resented his silence and lack of interest by beating him, as was only -natural. He did not care for any of the bazars which were in bounds. -He styled all natives 'niggers'; yet servants and sweepers called him -abominable names to his face, and, misled by their deferential -attitude, he never understood. This somewhat consoled Kim for the -beatings. - -On the morning of the fourth day a judgement overtook that drummer. -They had gone out together towards Umballa racecourse. He returned -alone, weeping, with news that young O'Hara, to whom he had been doing -nothing in particular, had hailed a scarlet-bearded nigger on -horseback; that the nigger had then and there laid into him with a -peculiarly adhesive quirt, picked up young O'Hara, and borne him off at -full gallop. These tidings came to Father Victor, and he drew down his -long upper lip. He was already sufficiently startled by a letter from -the Temple of the Tirthankars at Benares, enclosing a native banker's -note of hand for three hundred rupees, and an amazing prayer to -'Almighty God'. The lama would have been more annoyed than the priest -had he known how the bazar letter-writer had translated his phrase 'to -acquire merit.' - -'Powers of Darkness below!' Father Victor fumbled with the note. 'An' -now he's off with another of his peep-o'-day friends. I don't know -whether it will be a greater relief to me to get him back or to have -him lost. He's beyond my comprehension. How the Divil--yes, he's the -man I mean--can a street-beggar raise money to educate white boys?' - -Three miles off, on Umballa racecourse, Mahbub Ali, reining a grey -Kabuli stallion with Kim in front of him, was saying: - -'But, Little Friend of all the World, there is my honour and reputation -to be considered. All the officer-Sahibs in all the regiments, and all -Umballa, know Mahbub Ali. Men saw me pick thee up and chastise that -boy. We are seen now from far across this plain. How can I take thee -away, or account for thy disappearing if I set thee down and let thee -run off into the crops? They would put me in jail. Be patient. Once -a Sahib, always a Sahib. When thou art a man--who knows?--thou wilt be -grateful to Mahbub Ali.' - -'Take me beyond their sentries where I can change this red. Give me -money and I will go to Benares and be with my lama again. I do not -want to be a Sahib, and remember I did deliver that message.' - -The stallion bounded wildly. Mahbub Ali had incautiously driven home -the sharp-edged stirrup. (He was not the new sort of fluent -horse-dealer who wears English boots and spurs.) Kim drew his own -conclusions from that betrayal. - -'That was a small matter. It lay on the straight road to Benares. I -and the Sahib have by this time forgotten it. I send so many letters -and messages to men who ask questions about horses, I cannot well -remember one from the other. Was it some matter of a bay mare that -Peters Sahib wished the pedigree of?' - -Kim saw the trap at once. If he had said 'bay mare' Mahbub would have -known by his very readiness to fall in with the amendment that the boy -suspected something. Kim replied therefore: - -'Bay mare. No. I do not forget my messages thus. It was a white -stallion.' - -'Ay, so it was. A white Arab stallion. But thou didst write "bay -mare" to me.' - -'Who cares to tell truth to a letter-writer?' Kim answered, feeling -Mahbub's palm on his heart. - -'Hi! Mahbub, you old villain, pull up!' cried a voice, and an -Englishman raced alongside on a little polo-pony. 'I've been chasing -you half over the country. That Kabuli of yours can go. For sale, I -suppose?' - -'I have some young stuff coming on made by Heaven for the delicate and -difficult polo-game. He has no equal. He--' - -'Plays polo and waits at table. Yes. We know all that. What the -deuce have you got there?' - -'A. boy,' said Mahbub gravely. 'He was being beaten by another boy. -His father was once a white soldier in the big war. The boy was a -child in Lahore city. He played with my horses when he was a babe. Now -I think they will make him a soldier. He has been newly caught by his -father's Regiment that went up to the war last week. But I do not -think he wants to be a soldier. I take him for a ride. Tell me where -thy barracks are and I will set thee there.' - -'Let me go. I can find the barracks alone.' - -'And if thou runnest away who will say it is not my fault?' - -'He'll run back to his dinner. Where has he to run to?' the -Englishman asked. - -'He was born in the land. He has friends. He goes where he chooses. -He is a chabuk sawai [a sharp chap]. It needs only to change his -clothing, and in a twinkling he would be a low-caste Hindu boy.' - -'The deuce he would!' The Englishman looked critically at the boy as -Mahbub headed towards the barracks. Kim ground his teeth. Mahbub was -mocking him, as faithless Afghans will; for he went on: - -'They will send him to a school and put heavy boots on his feet and -swaddle him in these clothes. Then he will forget all he knows. Now, -which of the barracks is thine?' - -Kim pointed--he could not speak--to Father Victor's wing, all staring -white near by. - -'Perhaps he will make a good soldier,' said Mahbub reflectively. - -'He will make a good orderly at least. I sent him to deliver a message -once from Lahore. A message concerning the pedigree of a white -stallion.' - -Here was deadly insult on deadlier injury--and the Sahib to whom he had -so craftily given that war-waking letter heard it all. Kim beheld -Mahbub Ali frying in flame for his treachery, but for himself he saw -one long grey vista of barracks, schools, and barracks again. He gazed -imploringly at the clear-cut face in which there was no glimmer of -recognition; but even at this extremity it never occurred to him to -throw himself on the white man's mercy or to denounce the Afghan. And -Mahbub stared deliberately at the Englishman, who stared as -deliberately at Kim, quivering and tongue-tied. - -'My horse is well trained,' said the dealer. 'Others would have -kicked, Sahib.' - -'Ah,' said the Englishman at last, rubbing his pony's damp withers with -his whip-butt. 'Who makes the boy a soldier?' - -'He says the Regiment that found him, and especially the Padre-sahib of -that regiment. - -'There is the Padre!' Kim choked as bare-headed Father Victor sailed -down upon them from the veranda. - -'Powers O' Darkness below, O'Hara! How many more mixed friends do you -keep in Asia?' he cried, as Kim slid down and stood helplessly before -him. - -'Good morning, Padre,' the Englishman said cheerily. 'I know you by -reputation well enough. Meant to have come over and called before -this. I'm Creighton.' - -'Of the Ethnological Survey?' said Father Victor. The Englishman -nodded. 'Faith, I'm glad to meet ye then; an' I owe you some thanks -for bringing back the boy.' - -'No thanks to me, Padre. Besides, the boy wasn't going away. You -don't know old Mahbub Ali.' The horse-dealer sat impassive in the -sunlight. 'You will when you have been in the station a month. He -sells us all our crocks. That boy is rather a curiosity. Can you tell -me anything about him?' - -'Can I tell you?' puffed Father Victor. 'You'll be the one man that -could help me in my quandaries. Tell you! Powers o' Darkness, I'm -bursting to tell someone who knows something o' the native!' - -A groom came round the corner. Colonel Creighton raised his voice, -speaking in Urdu. 'Very good, Mahbub Ali, but what is the use of -telling me all those stories about the pony? Not one pice more than -three hundred and fifty rupees will I give.' - -'The Sahib is a little hot and angry after riding,' the horse-dealer -returned, with the leer of a privileged jester. 'Presently, he will -see my horse's points more clearly. I will wait till he has finished -his talk with the Padre. I will wait under that tree.' - -'Confound you!' The Colonel laughed. 'That comes of looking at one of -Mahbub's horses. He's a regular old leech, Padre. Wait, then, if thou -hast so much time to spare, Mahbub. Now I'm at your service, Padre. -Where is the boy? Oh, he's gone off to collogue with Mahbub. Queer -sort of boy. Might I ask you to send my mare round under cover?' - -He dropped into a chair which commanded a clear view of Kim and Mahbub -Ali in conference beneath the tree. The Padre went indoors for -cheroots. - -Creighton heard Kim say bitterly: 'Trust a Brahmin before a snake, and -a snake before an harlot, and an harlot before a Pathan, Mahbub Ali.' - -'That is all one.' The great red beard wagged solemnly. 'Children -should not see a carpet on the loom till the pattern is made plain. -Believe me, Friend of all the World, I do thee great service. They -will not make a soldier of thee.' - -'You crafty old sinner!' thought Creighton. 'But you're not far -wrong. That boy mustn't be wasted if he is as advertised.' - -'Excuse me half a minute,' cried the Padre from within, 'but I'm -gettin' the documents in the case.' - -'If through me the favour of this bold and wise Colonel Sahib comes to -thee, and thou art raised to honour, what thanks wilt thou give Mahbub -Ali when thou art a man?' - -'Nay, nay! I begged thee to let me take the Road again, where I should -have been safe; and thou hast sold me back to the English. What will -they give thee for blood-money?' - -'A cheerful young demon!' The Colonel bit his cigar, and turned -politely to Father Victor. - -'What are the letters that the fat priest is waving before the Colonel? -Stand behind the stallion as though looking at my bridle!' said Mahbub -Ali. - -'A letter from my lama which he wrote from Jagadhir Road, saying that -he will pay three hundred rupees by the year for my schooling.' - -'Oho! Is old Red Hat of that sort? At which school?' - -'God knows. I think in Nucklao.' - -'Yes. There is a big school there for the sons of Sahibs--and -half-Sahibs. I have seen it when I sell horses there. So the lama -also loved the Friend of all the World?' - -'Ay; and he did not tell lies, or return me to captivity.' - -'Small wonder the Padre does not know how to unravel the thread. How -fast he talks to the Colonel Sahib!' Mahbub Ali chuckled. 'By Allah!' -the keen eyes swept the veranda for an Instant--'thy lama has sent what -to me looks like a note of hand. I have had some few dealings in -hoondis. The Colonel Sahib is looking at it.' - -'What good is all this to me?' said Kim wearily. 'Thou wilt go away, -and they will return me to those empty rooms where there is no good -place to sleep and where the boys beat me.' - -'I do not think that. Have patience, child. All Pathans are not -faithless--except in horseflesh.' - -Five--ten--fifteen minutes passed, Father Victor talking energetically -or asking questions which the Colonel answered. - -'Now I've told you everything that I know about the boy from beginnin -to end; and it's a blessed relief to me. Did ye ever hear the like?' - -'At any rate, the old man has sent the money. Gobind Sahai's notes of -hand are good from here to China,' said the Colonel. 'The more one -knows about natives the less can one say what they will or won't do.' - -'That's consolin'--from the head of the Ethnological Survey. It's this -mixture of Red Bulls and Rivers of Healing (poor heathen, God help -him!) an' notes of hand and Masonic certificates. Are you a Mason, by -any chance?' - -'By Jove, I am, now I come to think of it. That's an additional -reason,' said the Colonel absently. - -'I'm glad ye see a reason in it. But as I said, it's the mixture o' -things that's beyond me. An' his prophesyin' to our Colonel, sitting -on my bed with his little shimmy torn open showing his white skin; an' -the prophecy comin' true! They'll cure all that nonsense at St -Xavier's, eh?' - -'Sprinkle him with holy water,' the Colonel laughed. - -'On my word, I fancy I ought to sometimes. But I'm hoping he'll be -brought up as a good Catholic. All that troubles me is what'll happen -if the old beggar-man--' - -'Lama, lama, my dear sir; and some of them are gentlemen in their own -country.' - -'The lama, then, fails to pay next year. He's a fine business head to -plan on the spur of the moment, but he's bound to die some day. An' -takin' a heathen's money to give a child a Christian education--' - -'But he said explicitly what he wanted. As soon as he knew the boy was -white he seems to have made his arrangements accordingly. I'd give a -month's pay to hear how he explained it all at the Tirthankars' Temple -at Benares. Look here, Padre, I don't pretend to know much about -natives, but if he says he'll pay, he'll pay--dead or alive. I mean, -his heirs will assume the debt. My advice to you is, send the boy down -to Lucknow. If your Anglican Chaplain thinks you've stolen a march on -him--' - -'Bad luck to Bennett! He was sent to the Front instead o' me. Doughty -certified me medically unfit. I'll excommunicate Doughty if he comes -back alive! Surely Bennett ought to be content with--' - -'Glory, leaving you the religion. Quite so! As a matter of fact I -don't think Bennett will mind. Put the blame on me. I--er--strongly -recommend sending the boy to St Xavier's. He can go down on pass as a -soldier's orphan, so the railway fare will be saved. You can buy him an -outfit from the Regimental subscription. The Lodge will be saved the -expense of his education, and that will put the Lodge in a good temper. -It's perfectly easy. I've got to go down to Lucknow next week. I'll -look after the boy on the way--give him in charge of my servants, and -so on.' - -'You're a good man.' - -'Not in the least. Don't make that mistake. The lama has sent us -money for a definite end. We can't very well return it. We shall have -to do as he says. Well, that's settled, isn't it? Shall we say that, -Tuesday next, you'll hand him over to me at the night train south? -That's only three days. He can't do much harm in three days.' - -'It's a weight off my mind, but--this thing here?'--he waved the note -of hand--'I don't know Gobind Sahai: or his bank, which may be a hole -in a wall.' - -'You've never been a subaltern in debt. I'll cash it if you like, and -send you the vouchers in proper order.' - -'But with all your own work too! It's askin'--' - -'It's not the least trouble indeed. You see, as an ethnologist, the -thing's very interesting to me. I'd like to make a note of it for some -Government work that I'm doing. The transformation of a regimental -badge like your Red Bull into a sort of fetish that the boy follows is -very interesting.' - -'But I can't thank you enough.' - -'There's one thing you can do. All we Ethnological men are as jealous -as jackdaws of one another's discoveries. They're of no interest to -anyone but ourselves, of course, but you know what book-collectors are -like. Well, don't say a word, directly or indirectly, about the -Asiatic side of the boy's character--his adventures and his prophecy, -and so on. I'll worm them out of the boy later on and--you see?' - -'I do. Ye'll make a wonderful account of it. Never a word will I say -to anyone till I see it in print.' - -'Thank you. That goes straight to an ethnologist's heart. Well, I -must be getting back to my breakfast. Good Heavens! Old Mahbub here -still?' He raised his voice, and the horse-dealer came out from under -the shadow of the tree, 'Well, what is it?' - -'As regards that young horse,' said Mahbub, 'I say that when a colt is -born to be a polo-pony, closely following the ball without -teaching--when such a colt knows the game by divination--then I say it -is a great wrong to break that colt to a heavy cart, Sahib!' - -'So say I also, Mahbub. The colt will be entered for polo only. (These -fellows think of nothing in the world but horses, Padre.) I'll see you -tomorrow, Mahbub, if you've anything likely for sale.' - -The dealer saluted, horseman-fashion, with a sweep of the off hand. 'Be -patient a little, Friend of all the World,' he whispered to the -agonized Kim. 'Thy fortune is made. In a little while thou goest to -Nucklao, and--here is something to pay the letter-writer. I shall see -thee again, I think, many times,' and he cantered off down the road. - -'Listen to me,' said the Colonel from the veranda, speaking in the -vernacular. 'In three days thou wilt go with me to Lucknow, seeing and -hearing new things all the while. Therefore sit still for three days -and do not run away. Thou wilt go to school at Lucknow.' - -'Shall I meet my Holy One there?' Kim whimpered. - -'At least Lucknow is nearer to Benares than Umballa. It may be thou -wilt go under my protection. Mahbub Ali knows this, and he will be -angry if thou returnest to the Road now. Remember--much has been told -me which I do not forget.' - -'I will wait,' said Kim, 'but the boys will beat me.' - -Then the bugles blew for dinner. - - - - -Chapter 7 - - - Unto whose use the pregnant suns are poised - With idiot moons and stars retracing stars? - Creep thou betweene--thy coming's all unnoised. - Heaven hath her high, as Earth her baser, wars. - Heir to these tumults, this affright, that fraye - (By Adam's, fathers', own, sin bound alway); - Peer up, draw out thy horoscope and say - Which planet mends thy threadbare fate or mars? - - Sir John Christie. - - -In the afternoon the red-faced schoolmaster told Kim that he had been -'struck off the strength', which conveyed no meaning to him till he was -ordered to go away and play. Then he ran to the bazar, and found the -young letter-writer to whom he owed a stamp. - -'Now I pay,' said Kim royally, 'and now I need another letter to be -written.' - -'Mahbub Ali is in Umballa,' said the writer jauntily. He was, by -virtue of his office, a bureau of general misinformation. - -'This is not to Mahbub, but to a priest. Take thy pen and write -quickly. To Teshoo Lama, the Holy One from Bhotiyal seeking for a -River, who is now in the Temple of the Tirthankars at Benares. Take -more ink! In three days I am to go down to Nucklao to the school at -Nucklao. The name of the school is Xavier. I do not know where that -school is, but it is at Nucklao.' - -'But I know Nucklao,' the writer interrupted. 'I know the school.' - -'Tell him where it is, and I give half an anna.' - -The reed pen scratched busily. 'He cannot mistake.' The man lifted -his head. 'Who watches us across the street?' - -Kim looked up hurriedly and saw Colonel Creighton in tennis-flannels. - -'Oh, that is some Sahib who knows the fat priest in the barracks. He is -beckoning me.' - -'What dost thou?' said the Colonel, when Kim trotted up. - -'I--I am not running away. I send a letter to my Holy One at Benares.' - -'I had not thought of that. Hast thou said that I take thee to -Lucknow?' - -'Nay, I have not. Read the letter, if there be a doubt.' - -'Then why hast thou left out my name in writing to that Holy One?' The -Colonel smiled a queer smile. Kim took his courage in both hands. - -'It was said once to me that it is inexpedient to write the names of -strangers concerned in any matter, because by the naming of names many -good plans are brought to confusion.' - -'Thou hast been well taught,' the Colonel replied, and Kim flushed. 'I -have left my cheroot-case in the Padre's veranda. Bring it to my house -this even.' - -'Where is the house?' said Kim. His quick wit told him that he was -being tested in some fashion or another, and he stood on guard. - -'Ask anyone in the big bazar.' The Colonel walked on. - -'He has forgotten his cheroot-case,' said Kim, returning. 'I must -bring it to him this evening. That is all my letter except, thrice -over, Come to me! Come to me! Come to me! Now I will pay for a stamp -and put it in the post. He rose to go, and as an afterthought asked: -'Who is that angry-faced Sahib who lost the cheroot-case?' - -'Oh, he is only Creighton Sahib--a very foolish Sahib, who is a Colonel -Sahib without a regiment.' - -'What is his business?' - -'God knows. He is always buying horses which he cannot ride, and -asking riddles about the works of God--such as plants and stones and -the customs of people. The dealers call him the father of fools, -because he is so easily cheated about a horse. Mahbub Ali says he is -madder than most other Sahibs.' - -'Oh!' said Kim, and departed. His training had given him some small -knowledge of character, and he argued that fools are not given -information which leads to calling out eight thousand men besides guns. -The Commander-in-Chief of all India does not talk, as Kim had heard him -talk, to fools. Nor would Mahbub Ali's tone have changed, as it did -every time he mentioned the Colonel's name, if the Colonel had been a -fool. Consequently--and this set Kim to skipping--there was a mystery -somewhere, and Mahbub Ali probably spied for the Colonel much as Kim -had spied for Mahbub. And, like the horse-dealer, the Colonel -evidently respected people who did not show themselves to be too clever. - - -He rejoiced that he had not betrayed his knowledge of the Colonel's -house; and when, on his return to barracks, he discovered that no -cheroot-case had been left behind, he beamed with delight. Here was a -man after his own heart--a tortuous and indirect person playing a -hidden game. Well, if he could be a fool, so could Kim. - -He showed nothing of his mind when Father Victor, for three long -mornings, discoursed to him of an entirely new set of Gods and -Godlings--notably of a Goddess called Mary, who, he gathered, was one -with Bibi Miriam of Mahbub Ali's theology. He betrayed no emotion -when, after the lecture, Father Victor dragged him from shop to shop -buying articles of outfit, nor when envious drummer-boys kicked him -because he was going to a superior school did he complain, but awaited -the play of circumstances with an interested soul. Father Victor, good -man, took him to the station, put him into an empty second-class next -to Colonel Creighton's first, and bade him farewell with genuine -feeling. - -'They'll make a man o' you, O'Hara, at St Xavier's--a white man, an', I -hope, a good man. They know all about your comin', an' the Colonel -will see that ye're not lost or mislaid anywhere on the road. I've -given you a notion of religious matters,--at least I hope so,--and -you'll remember, when they ask you your religion, that you're a -Cath'lic. Better say Roman Cath'lic, tho' I'm not fond of the word.' - -Kim lit a rank cigarette--he had been careful to buy a stock in the -bazar--and lay down to think. This solitary passage was very different -from that joyful down-journey in the third-class with the lama. -'Sahibs get little pleasure of travel,' he reflected. - -'Hai mai! I go from one place to another as it might be a kickball. It -is my Kismet. No man can escape his Kismet. But I am to pray to Bibi -Miriam, and I am a Sahib.' He looked at his boots ruefully. 'No; I am -Kim. This is the great world, and I am only Kim. Who is Kim?' He -considered his own identity, a thing he had never done before, till his -head swam. He was one insignificant person in all this roaring whirl -of India, going southward to he knew not what fate. - -Presently the Colonel sent for him, and talked for a long time. So far -as Kim could gather, he was to be diligent and enter the Survey of -India as a chain-man. If he were very good, and passed the proper -examinations, he would be earning thirty rupees a month at seventeen -years old, and Colonel Creighton would see that he found suitable -employment. - -Kim pretended at first to understand perhaps one word in three of this -talk. Then the Colonel, seeing his mistake, turned to fluent and -picturesque Urdu and Kim was contented. No man could be a fool who -knew the language so intimately, who moved so gently and silently, and -whose eyes were so different from the dull fat eyes of other Sahibs. - -'Yes, and thou must learn how to make pictures of roads and mountains -and rivers, to carry these pictures in thine eye till a suitable time -comes to set them upon paper. Perhaps some day, when thou art a -chain-man, I may say to thee when we are working together: "Go across -those hills and see what lies beyond." Then one will say: "There are -bad people living in those hills who will slay the chain-man if he be -seen to look like a Sahib." What then?' - -Kim thought. Would it be safe to return the Colonel's lead? - -'I would tell what that other man had said.' - -'But if I answered: "I will give thee a hundred rupees for knowledge -of what is behind those hills--for a picture of a river and a little -news of what the people say in the villages there"?' - -'How can I tell? I am only a boy. Wait till I am a man.' Then, -seeing the Colonel's brow clouded, he went on: 'But I think I should -in a few days earn the hundred rupees.' - -'By what road?' - -Kim shook his head resolutely. 'If I said how I would earn them, -another man might hear and forestall me. It is not good to sell -knowledge for nothing.' - -'Tell now.' The Colonel held up a rupee. Kim's hand half reached -towards it, and dropped. - -'Nay, Sahib; nay. I know the price that will be paid for the answer, -but I do not know why the question is asked.' - -'Take it for a gift, then,' said Creighton, tossing it over. 'There is -a good spirit in thee. Do not let it be blunted at St Xavier's. There -are many boys there who despise the black men.' - -'Their mothers were bazar-women,' said Kim. He knew well there is no -hatred like that of the half-caste for his brother-in-law. - -'True; but thou art a Sahib and the son of a Sahib. Therefore, do not -at any time be led to contemn the black men. I have known boys newly -entered into the service of the Government who feigned not to -understand the talk or the customs of black men. Their pay was cut for -ignorance. There is no sin so great as ignorance. Remember this.' - -Several times in the course of the long twenty-four hours' run south -did the Colonel send for Kim, always developing this latter text. - -'We be all on one lead-rope, then,' said Kim at last, 'the Colonel, -Mahbub Ali, and I--when I become a chain-man. He will use me as Mahbub -Ali employed me, I think. That is good, if it allows me to return to -the Road again. This clothing grows no easier by wear.' - -When they came to the crowded Lucknow station there was no sign of the -lama. He swallowed his disappointment, while the Colonel bundled him -into a ticca-gharri with his neat belongings and despatched him alone -to St Xavier's. - -'I do not say farewell, because we shall meet again,' he cried. 'Again, -and many times, if thou art one of good spirit. But thou art not yet -tried.' - -'Not when I brought thee'--Kim actually dared to use the turn of -equals--'a white stallion's pedigree that night?' - -'Much is gained by forgetting, little brother,' said the Colonel, with -a look that pierced through Kim's shoulder-blades as he scuttled into -the carriage. - -It took him nearly five minutes to recover. Then he sniffed the new -air appreciatively. 'A rich city,' he said. 'Richer than Lahore. How -good the bazars must be! Coachman, drive me a little through the -bazars here.' - -'My order is to take thee to the school.' The driver used the 'thou', -which is rudeness when applied to a white man. In the clearest and -most fluent vernacular Kim pointed out his error, climbed on to the -box-seat, and, perfect understanding established, drove for a couple of -hours up and down, estimating, comparing, and enjoying. There is no -city--except Bombay, the queen of all--more beautiful in her garish -style than Lucknow, whether you see her from the bridge over the river, -or from the top of the Imambara looking down on the gilt umbrellas of -the Chutter Munzil, and the trees in which the town is bedded. Kings -have adorned her with fantastic buildings, endowed her with charities, -crammed her with pensioners, and drenched her with blood. She is the -centre of all idleness, intrigue, and luxury, and shares with Delhi the -claim to talk the only pure Urdu. - -'A fair city--a beautiful city.' The driver, as a Lucknow man, was -pleased with the compliment, and told Kim many astounding things where -an English guide would have talked of the Mutiny. - -'Now we will go to the school,' said Kim at last. The great old school -of St Xavier's in Partibus, block on block of low white buildings, -stands in vast grounds over against the Gumti River, at some distance -from the city. - -'What like of folk are they within?' said Kim. - -'Young Sahibs--all devils. But to speak truth, and I drive many of -them to and fro from the railway station, I have never seen one that -had in him the making of a more perfect devil than thou--this young -Sahib whom I am now driving.' - -Naturally, for he was never trained to consider them in any way -improper, Kim had passed the time of day with one or two frivolous -ladies at upper windows in a certain street, and naturally, in the -exchange of compliments, had acquitted himself well. He was about to -acknowledge the driver's last insolence, when his eye--it was growing -dusk--caught a figure sitting by one of the white plaster gate-pillars -in the long sweep of wall. - -'Stop!' he cried. 'Stay here. I do not go to the school at once.' - -'But what is to pay me for this coming and re-coming?' said the driver -petulantly. 'Is the boy mad? Last time it was a dancing-girl. This -time it is a priest.' - -Kim was in the road headlong, patting the dusty feet beneath the dirty -yellow robe. - -'I have waited here a day and a half,' the lama's level voice began. -'Nay, I had a disciple with me. He that was my friend at the Temple of -the Tirthankars gave me a guide for this journey. I came from Benares -in the te-rain, when thy letter was given me. Yes, I am well fed. I -need nothing.' - -'But why didst thou not stay with the Kulu woman, O Holy One? In what -way didst thou get to Benares? My heart has been heavy since we -parted.' - -'The woman wearied me by constant flux of talk and requiring charms for -children. I separated myself from that company, permitting her to -acquire merit by gifts. She is at least a woman of open hands, and I -made a promise to return to her house if need arose. Then, perceiving -myself alone in this great and terrible world, I bethought me of the -te-rain to Benares, where I knew one abode in the Tirthankars' Temple -who was a Seeker, even as I.' - -'Ah! Thy River,' said Kim. 'I had forgotten the River.' - -'So soon, my chela? I have never forgotten it. But when I had left -thee it seemed better that I should go to the Temple and take counsel, -for, look you, India is very large, and it may be that wise men before -us, some two or three, have left a record of the place of our River. -There is debate in the Temple of the Tirthankars on this matter; some -saying one thing, and some another. They are courteous folk.' - -'So be it; but what dost thou do now?' - -'I acquire merit in that I help thee, my chela, to wisdom. The priest -of that body of men who serve the Red Bull wrote me that all should be -as I desired for thee. I sent the money to suffice for one year, and -then I came, as thou seest me, to watch for thee going up into the -Gates of Learning. A day and a half have I waited, not because I was -led by any affection towards thee--that is no part of the Way--but, as -they said at the Tirthankars' Temple, because, money having been paid -for learning, it was right that I should oversee the end of the matter. -They resolved my doubts most clearly. I had a fear that, perhaps, I -came because I wished to see thee--misguided by the Red Mist of -affection. It is not so ... Moreover, I am troubled by a dream.' - -'But surely, Holy One, thou hast not forgotten the Road and all that -befell on it. Surely it was a little to see me that thou didst come?' - -'The horses are cold, and it is past their feeding-time,' whined the -driver. - -'Go to Jehannum and abide there with thy reputationless aunt!' Kim -snarled over his shoulder. 'I am all alone in this land; I know not -where I go nor what shall befall me. My heart was in that letter I -sent thee. Except for Mahbub Ali, and he is a Pathan, I have no friend -save thee, Holy One. Do not altogether go away.' - -'I have considered that also,' the lama replied, in a shaking voice. -'It is manifest that from time to time I shall acquire merit if before -that I have not found my River--by assuring myself that thy feet are -set on wisdom. What they will teach thee I do not know, but the priest -wrote me that no son of a Sahib in all India will be better taught than -thou. So from time to time, therefore, I will come again. Maybe thou -wilt be such a Sahib as he who gave me these spectacles'--the lama -wiped them elaborately--'in the Wonder House at Lahore. That is my -hope, for he was a Fountain of Wisdom--wiser than many abbots .... -Again, maybe thou wilt forget me and our meetings.' - -'If I eat thy bread,' cried Kim passionately, 'how shall I ever forget -thee?' - -'No--no.' He put the boy aside. 'I must go back to Benares. From -time to time, now that I know the customs of letter-writers in this -land, I will send thee a letter, and from time to time I will come and -see thee.' - -'But whither shall I send my letters?' wailed Kim, clutching at the -robe, all forgetful that he was a Sahib. - -'To the Temple of the Tirthankars at Benares. That is the place I have -chosen till I find my River. Do not weep; for, look you, all Desire is -Illusion and a new binding upon the Wheel. Go up to the Gates of -Learning. Let me see thee go ... Dost thou love me? Then go, or my -heart cracks ... I will come again. Surely I will come again. - -The lama watched the ticca-gharri rumble into the compound, and strode -off, snuffing between each long stride. - -'The Gates of Learning' shut with a clang. - -The country born and bred boy has his own manners and customs, which do -not resemble those of any other land; and his teachers approach him by -roads which an English master would not understand. Therefore, you -would scarcely be interested in Kim's experiences as a St Xavier's boy -among two or three hundred precocious youths, most of whom had never -seen the sea. He suffered the usual penalties for breaking out of -bounds when there was cholera in the city. This was before he had -learned to write fair English, and so was obliged to find a bazar -letter-writer. He was, of course, indicted for smoking and for the use -of abuse more full-flavoured than even St Xavier's had ever heard. He -learned to wash himself with the Levitical scrupulosity of the -native-born, who in his heart considers the Englishman rather dirty. -He played the usual tricks on the patient coolies pulling the punkahs -in the sleeping-rooms where the boys threshed through the hot nights -telling tales till the dawn; and quietly he measured himself against -his self-reliant mates. - -They were sons of subordinate officials in the Railway, Telegraph, and -Canal Services; of warrant-officers, sometimes retired and sometimes -acting as commanders-in-chief to a feudatory Rajah's army; of captains -of the Indian Marine Government pensioners, planters, Presidency -shopkeepers, and missionaries. A few were cadets of the old Eurasian -houses that have taken strong root in Dhurrumtollah--Pereiras, De -Souzas, and D'Silvas. Their parents could well have educated them in -England, but they loved the school that had served their own youth, and -generation followed sallow-hued generation at St Xavier's. Their homes -ranged from Howrah of the railway people to abandoned cantonments like -Monghyr and Chunar; lost tea-gardens Shillong-way; villages where their -fathers were large landholders in Oudh or the Deccan; Mission-stations -a week from the nearest railway line; seaports a thousand miles south, -facing the brazen Indian surf; and cinchona-plantations south of all. -The mere story of their adventures, which to them were no adventures, -on their road to and from school would have crisped a Western boy's -hair. They were used to jogging off alone through a hundred miles of -jungle, where there was always the delightful chance of being delayed -by tigers; but they would no more have bathed in the English Channel in -an English August than their brothers across the world would have lain -still while a leopard snuffed at their palanquin. There were boys of -fifteen who had spent a day and a half on an islet in the middle of a -flooded river, taking charge, as by right, of a camp of frantic -pilgrims returning from a shrine. There were seniors who had -requisitioned a chance-met Rajah's elephant, in the name of St Francis -Xavier, when the Rains once blotted out the cart-track that led to -their father's estate, and had all but lost the huge beast in a -quicksand. There was a boy who, he said, and none doubted, had helped -his father to beat off with rifles from the veranda a rush of Akas in -the days when those head-hunters were bold against lonely plantations. - -And every tale was told in the even, passionless voice of the -native-born, mixed with quaint reflections, borrowed unconsciously from -native foster-mothers, and turns of speech that showed they had been -that instant translated from the vernacular. Kim watched, listened, -and approved. This was not insipid, single-word talk of drummer-boys. -It dealt with a life he knew and in part understood. The atmosphere -suited him, and he throve by inches. They gave him a white drill suit -as the weather warmed, and he rejoiced in the new-found bodily comforts -as he rejoiced to use his sharpened mind over the tasks they set him. -His quickness would have delighted an English master; but at St -Xavier's they know the first rush of minds developed by sun and -surroundings, as they know the half-collapse that sets in at twenty-two -or twenty-three. - -None the less he remembered to hold himself lowly. When tales were -told of hot nights, Kim did not sweep the board with his reminiscences; -for St Xavier's looks down on boys who 'go native all-together.' One -must never forget that one is a Sahib, and that some day, when -examinations are passed, one will command natives. Kim made a note of -this, for he began to understand where examinations led. - -Then came the holidays from August to October--the long holidays -imposed by the heat and the Rains. Kim was informed that he would go -north to some station in the hills behind Umballa, where Father Victor -would arrange for him. - -'A barrack-school?' said Kim, who had asked many questions and thought -more. - -'Yes, I suppose so,' said the master. 'It will not do you any harm to -keep you out of mischief. You can go up with young De Castro as far as -Delhi.' - -Kim considered it in every possible light. He had been diligent, even -as the Colonel advised. A boy's holiday was his own property--of so -much the talk of his companions had advised him,--and a barrack-school -would be torment after St Xavier's. Moreover--this was magic worth -anything else--he could write. In three months he had discovered how -men can speak to each other without a third party, at the cost of half -an anna and a little knowledge. No word had come from the lama, but -there remained the Road. Kim yearned for the caress of soft mud -squishing up between the toes, as his mouth watered for mutton stewed -with butter and cabbages, for rice speckled with strong scented -cardamoms, for the saffron-tinted rice, garlic and onions, and the -forbidden greasy sweetmeats of the bazars. They would feed him raw -beef on a platter at the barrack-school, and he must smoke by stealth. -But again, he was a Sahib and was at St Xavier's, and that pig Mahbub -Ali ... No, he would not test Mahbub's hospitality--and yet ... He -thought it out alone in the dormitory, and came to the conclusion he -had been unjust to Mahbub. - -The school was empty; nearly all the masters had gone away; Colonel -Creighton's railway pass lay in his hand, and Kim puffed himself that -he had not spent Colonel Creighton's or Mahbub's money in riotous -living. He was still lord of two rupees seven annas. His new -bullock-trunk, marked 'K. O'H.', and bedding-roll lay in the empty -sleeping-room. - -'Sahibs are always tied to their baggage,' said Kim, nodding at them. -'You will stay here' He went out into the warm rain, smiling sinfully, -and sought a certain house whose outside he had noted down some time -before... - -'Arre'! Dost thou know what manner of women we be in this quarter? Oh, -shame!' - -'Was I born yesterday?' Kim squatted native-fashion on the cushions of -that upper room. 'A little dyestuff and three yards of cloth to help -out a jest. Is it much to ask?' - -'Who is she? Thou art full young, as Sahibs go, for this devilry.' - -'Oh, she? She is the daughter of a certain schoolmaster of a regiment -in the cantonments. He has beaten me twice because I went over their -wall in these clothes. Now I would go as a gardener's boy. Old men -are very jealous.' - -'That is true. Hold thy face still while I dab on the juice.' - -'Not too black, Naikan. I would not appear to her as a hubshi -(nigger).' - -'Oh, love makes nought of these things. And how old is she?' - -'Twelve years, I think,' said the shameless Kim. 'Spread it also on -the breast. It may be her father will tear my clothes off me, and if I -am piebald--' he laughed. - -The girl worked busily, dabbing a twist of cloth into a little saucer -of brown dye that holds longer than any walnut-juice. - -'Now send out and get me a cloth for the turban. Woe is me, my head is -all unshaved! And he will surely knock off my turban.' - -'I am not a barber, but I will make shift. Thou wast born to be a -breaker of hearts! All this disguise for one evening? Remember, the -stuff does not wash away.' She shook with laughter till her bracelets -and anklets jingled. 'But who is to pay me for this? Huneefa herself -could not have given thee better stuff.' - -'Trust in the Gods, my sister,' said Kim gravely, screwing his face -round as the stain dried. 'Besides, hast thou ever helped to paint a -Sahib thus before?' - -'Never indeed. But a jest is not money.' - -'It is worth much more.' - -'Child, thou art beyond all dispute the most shameless son of Shaitan -that I have ever known to take up a poor girl's time with this play, -and then to say: "Is not the jest enough?" Thou wilt go very far in -this world.' She gave the dancing-girls' salutation in mockery. - -'All one. Make haste and rough-cut my head.' Kim shifted from foot to -foot, his eyes ablaze with mirth as he thought of the fat days before -him. He gave the girl four annas, and ran down the stairs in the -likeness of a low-caste Hindu boy--perfect in every detail. A cookshop -was his next point of call, where he feasted in extravagance and greasy -luxury. - -On Lucknow station platform he watched young De Castro, all covered -with prickly-heat, get into a second-class compartment. Kim patronized -a third, and was the life and soul of it. He explained to the company -that he was assistant to a juggler who had left him behind sick with -fever, and that he would pick up his master at Umballa. As the -occupants of the carriage changed, he varied this tale, or adorned it -with all the shoots of a budding fancy, the more rampant for being held -off native speech so long. In all India that night was no human being -so joyful as Kim. At Umballa he got out and headed eastward, plashing -over the sodden fields to the village where the old soldier lived. - -About this time Colonel Creighton at Simla was advised from Lucknow by -wire that young O'Hara had disappeared. Mahbub Ali was in town selling -horses, and to him the Colonel confided the affair one morning -cantering round Annandale racecourse. - -'Oh, that is nothing,' said the horse-dealer. 'Men are like horses. At -certain times they need salt, and if that salt is not in the mangers -they will lick it up from the earth. He has gone back to the Road -again for a while. The madrissak wearied him. I knew it would. -Another time, I will take him upon the Road myself. Do not be -troubled, Creighton Sahib. It is as though a polo-pony, breaking -loose, ran out to learn the game alone.' - -'Then he is not dead, think you?' - -'Fever might kill him. I do not fear for the boy otherwise. A monkey -does not fall among trees.' - -Next morning, on the same course, Mahbub's stallion ranged alongside -the Colonel. - -'It is as I had thought,' said the horse-dealer. 'He has come through -Umballa at least, and there he has written a letter to me, having -learned in the bazar that I was here.' - -'Read,' said the Colonel, with a sigh of relief. It was absurd that a -man of his position should take an interest in a little country-bred -vagabond; but the Colonel remembered the conversation in the train, and -often in the past few months had caught himself thinking of the queer, -silent, self-possessed boy. His evasion, of course, was the height of -insolence, but it argued some resource and nerve. - -Mahbub's eyes twinkled as he reined out into the centre of the cramped -little plain, where none could come near unseen. - -'"The Friend of the Stars, who is the Friend of all the World--"' - -'What is this?' - -'A name we give him in Lahore city. "The Friend of all the World takes -leave to go to his own places. He will come back upon the appointed -day. Let the box and the bedding-roll be sent for; and if there has -been a fault, let the Hand of Friendship turn aside the Whip of -Calamity." There is yet a little more, but--' - -'No matter, read.' - -'"Certain things are not known to those who eat with forks. It is -better to eat with both hands for a while. Speak soft words to those -who do not understand this that the return may be propitious." Now the -manner in which that was cast is, of course, the work of the -letter-writer, but see how wisely the boy has devised the matter of it -so that no hint is given except to those who know!' - -'Is this the Hand of Friendship to avert the Whip of Calamity?' laughed -the Colonel. - -'See how wise is the boy. He would go back to the Road again, as I -said. Not knowing yet thy trade--' - -'I am not at all sure of that,' the Colonel muttered. - -'He turns to me to make a peace between you. Is he not wise? He says -he will return. He is but perfecting his knowledge. Think, Sahib! He -has been three months at the school. And he is not mouthed to that -bit. For my part, I rejoice. The pony learns the game.' - -'Ay, but another time he must not go alone.' - -'Why? He went alone before he came under the Colonel Sahib's -protection. When he comes to the Great Game he must go alone--alone, -and at peril of his head. Then, if he spits, or sneezes, or sits down -other than as the people do whom he watches, he may be slain. Why -hinder him now? Remember how the Persians say: The jackal that lives -in the wilds of Mazanderan can only be caught by the hounds of -Mazanderan.' - -'True. It is true, Mahbub Ali. And if he comes to no harm, I do not -desire anything better. But it is great insolence on his part.' - -'He does not tell me, even, whither he goes,' said Mahbub. 'He is no -fool. When his time is accomplished he will come to me. It is time -the healer of pearls took him in hand. He ripens too quickly--as -Sahibs reckon.' - -This prophecy was fulfilled to the letter a month later. Mahbub had -gone down to Umballa to bring up a fresh consignment of horses, and Kim -met him on the Kalka road at dusk riding alone, begged an alms of him, -was sworn at, and replied in English. There was nobody within earshot -to hear Mahbub's gasp of amazement. - -'Oho! And where hast thou been?' - -'Up and down--down and up.' - -'Come under a tree, out of the wet, and tell.' - -'I stayed for a while with an old man near Umballa; anon with a -household of my acquaintance in Umballa. With one of these I went as -far as Delhi to the southward. That is a wondrous city. Then I drove -a bullock for a teli [an oilman] coming north; but I heard of a great -feast forward in Patiala, and thither went I in the company of a -firework-maker. It was a great feast' (Kim rubbed his stomach). 'I -saw Rajahs, and elephants with gold and silver trappings; and they lit -all the fireworks at once, whereby eleven men were killed, my -fire-work-maker among them, and I was blown across a tent but took no -harm. Then I came back to the rel with a Sikh horseman, to whom I was -groom for my bread; and so here.' - -'Shabash!' said Mahbub Ali. - -'But what does the Colonel Sahib say? I do not wish to be beaten.' - -'The Hand of Friendship has averted the Whip of Calamity; but another -time, when thou takest the Road it will be with me. This is too early.' - -'Late enough for me. I have learned to read and to write English a -little at the madrissah. I shall soon be altogether a Sahib.' - -'Hear him!' laughed Mahbub, looking at the little drenched figure -dancing in the wet. 'Salaam--Sahib,' and he saluted ironically. - -'Well, art tired of the Road, or wilt thou come on to Umballa with me -and work back with the horses?' - -'I come with thee, Mahbub Ali.' - - - - -Chapter 8 - - - Something I owe to the soil that grew-- - More to the life that fed-- - But most to Allah Who gave me two - Separate sides to my head. - - I would go without shirts or shoes, - Friends, tobacco or bread - Sooner than for an instant lose - Either side of my head.' - - The Two-Sided Man. - - -'Then in God's name take blue for red,' said Mahbub, alluding to the -Hindu colour of Kim's disreputable turban. - -Kim countered with the old proverb, 'I will change my faith and my -bedding, but thou must pay for it.' - -The dealer laughed till he nearly fell from his horse. At a shop on -the outskirts of the city the change was made, and Kim stood up, -externally at least, a Mohammedan. - -Mahbub hired a room over against the railway station, sent for a cooked -meal of the finest with the almond-curd sweet-meats [balushai we call -it] and fine-chopped Lucknow tobacco. - -'This is better than some other meat that I ate with the Sikh,' said -Kim, grinning as he squatted, 'and assuredly they give no such victuals -at my madrissah.' - -'I have a desire to hear of that same madrissah.' Mahbub stuffed -himself with great boluses of spiced mutton fried in fat with cabbage -and golden-brown onions. 'But tell me first, altogether and -truthfully, the manner of thy escape. For, O Friend of all the -World,'--he loosed his cracking belt--'I do not think it is often that -a Sahib and the son of a Sahib runs away from there.' - -'How should they? They do not know the land. It was nothing,' said -Kim, and began his tale. When he came to the disguisement and the -interview with the girl in the bazar, Mahbub Ali's gravity went from -him. He laughed aloud and beat his hand on his thigh. - -'Shabash! Shabash! Oh, well done, little one! What will the healer -of turquoises say to this? Now, slowly, let us hear what befell -afterwards--step by step, omitting nothing.' - -Step by step then, Kim told his adventures between coughs as the -full-flavoured tobacco caught his lungs. - -'I said,' growled Mahbub Ali to himself, 'I said it was the pony -breaking out to play polo. The fruit is ripe already--except that he -must learn his distances and his pacings, and his rods and his -compasses. Listen now. I have turned aside the Colonel's whip from -thy skin, and that is no small service.' - -'True.' Kim pulled serenely. 'That is true.' - -'But it is not to be thought that this running out and in is any way -good.' - -'It was my holiday, Hajji. I was a slave for many weeks. Why should I -not run away when the school was shut? Look, too, how I, living upon -my friends or working for my bread, as I did with the Sikh, have saved -the Colonel Sahib a great expense.' - -Mahbub's lips twitched under his well-pruned Mohammedan moustache. - -'What are a few rupees'--the Pathan threw out his open hand -carelessly--'to the Colonel Sahib? He spends them for a purpose, not -in any way for love of thee.' - -'That,' said Kim slowly, 'I knew a very long time ago.' - -'Who told?' - -'The Colonel Sahib himself. Not in those many words, but plainly -enough for one who is not altogether a mud-head. Yea, he told me in -the te-rain when we went down to Lucknow.' - -'Be it so. Then I will tell thee more, Friend of all the World, though -in the telling I lend thee my head.' - -'It was forfeit to me,' said Kim, with deep relish, 'in Umballa, when -thou didst pick me up on the horse after the drummer-boy beat me.' - -'Speak a little plainer. All the world may tell lies save thou and I. -For equally is thy life forfeit to me if I chose to raise my finger -here.' - -'And this is known to me also,' said Kim, readjusting the live -charcoal-ball on the weed. 'It is a very sure tie between us. Indeed, -thy hold is surer even than mine; for who would miss a boy beaten to -death, or, it may be, thrown into a well by the roadside? Most people -here and in Simla and across the passes behind the Hills would, on the -other hand, say: "What has come to Mahbub Ali?" if he were found dead -among his horses. Surely, too, the Colonel Sahib would make inquiries. -But again,'--Kim's face puckered with cunning,--'he would not make -overlong inquiry, lest people should ask: "What has this Colonel Sahib -to do with that horse-dealer?" But I--if I lived--' - -'As thou wouldst surely die--' - -'Maybe; but I say, if I lived, I, and I alone, would know that one had -come by night, as a common thief perhaps, to Mahbub Ali's bulkhead in -the serai, and there had slain him, either before or after that thief -had made a full search into his saddlebags and between the soles of his -slippers. Is that news to tell to the Colonel, or would he say to -me--(I have not forgotten when he sent me back for a cigar-case that he -had not left behind him)--"What is Mahbub Ali to me?"?' - -Up went a gout of heavy smoke. There was a long pause: then Mahbub -Ali spoke in admiration: 'And with these things on thy mind, dost thou -lie down and rise again among all the Sahibs' little sons at the -madrissah and meekly take instruction from thy teachers?' - -'It is an order,' said Kim blandly. 'Who am I to dispute an order?' - -'A most finished Son of Eblis,' said Mahbub Ali. 'But what is this -tale of the thief and the search?' - -'That which I saw,' said Kim, 'the night that my lama and I lay next -thy place in the Kashmir Seral. The door was left unlocked, which I -think is not thy custom, Mahbub. He came in as one assured that thou -wouldst not soon return. My eye was against a knot-hole in the plank. -He searched as it were for something--not a rug, not stirrups, nor a -bridle, nor brass pots--something little and most carefully hid. Else -why did he prick with an iron between the soles of thy slippers?' - -'Ha!' Mahbub Ali smiled gently. 'And seeing these things, what tale -didst thou fashion to thyself, Well of the Truth?' - -'None. I put my hand upon my amulet, which lies always next to my -skin, and, remembering the pedigree of a white stallion that I had -bitten out of a piece of Mussalmani bread, I went away to Umballa -perceiving that a heavy trust was laid upon me. At that hour, had I -chosen, thy head was forfeit. It needed only to say to that man, "I -have here a paper concerning a horse which I cannot read." And then?' -Kim peered at Mahbub under his eyebrows. - -'Then thou wouldst have drunk water twice--perhaps thrice, afterwards. -I do not think more than thrice,' said Mahbub simply. - -'It is true. I thought of that a little, but most I thought that I -loved thee, Mahbub. Therefore I went to Umballa, as thou knowest, but -(and this thou dost not know) I lay hid in the garden-grass to see what -Colonel Creighton Sahib might do upon reading the white stallion's -pedigree.' - -'And what did he?' for Kim had bitten off the conversation. - -'Dost thou give news for love, or dost thou sell it?' Kim asked. - -'I sell and--I buy.' Mahbub took a four-anna piece out of his belt and -held it up. - -'Eight!' said Kim, mechanically following the huckster instinct of the -East. - -Mahbub laughed, and put away the coin. 'It is too easy to deal in that -market, Friend of all the World. Tell me for love. Our lives lie in -each other's hand.' - -'Very good. I saw the Jang-i-Lat Sahib [the Commander-in-Chief] come -to a big dinner. I saw him in Creighton Sahib's office. I saw the two -read the white stallion's pedigree. I heard the very orders given for -the opening of a great war.' - -'Hah!' Mahbub nodded with deepest eyes afire. 'The game is well -played. That war is done now, and the evil, we hope, nipped before the -flower--thanks to me--and thee. What didst thou later?' - -'I made the news as it were a hook to catch me victual and honour among -the villagers in a village whose priest drugged my lama. But I bore -away the old man's purse, and the Brahmin found nothing. So next -morning he was angry. Ho! Ho! And I also used the news when I fell -into the hands of that white Regiment with their Bull!' - -'That was foolishness.' Mahbub scowled. 'News is not meant to be -thrown about like dung-cakes, but used sparingly--like bhang.' - -'So I think now, and moreover, it did me no sort of good. But that was -very long ago,' he made as to brush it all away with a thin brown -hand--'and since then, and especially in the nights under the punkah at -the madrissah, I have thought very greatly.' - -'Is it permitted to ask whither the Heaven-born's thought might have -led?' said Mahbub, with an elaborate sarcasm, smoothing his scarlet -beard. - -'It is permitted,' said Kim, and threw back the very tone. 'They say -at Nucklao that no Sahib must tell a black man that he has made a -fault.' - -Mahbub's hand shot into his bosom, for to call a Pathan a 'black man' -[kala admi] is a blood-insult. Then he remembered and laughed. 'Speak, -Sahib. Thy black man hears.' - -'But,' said Kim, 'I am not a Sahib, and I say I made a fault to curse -thee, Mahbub Ali, on that day at Umballa when I thought I was betrayed -by a Pathan. I was senseless; for I was but newly caught, and I wished -to kill that low-caste drummer-boy. I say now, Hajji, that it was well -done; and I see my road all clear before me to a good service. I will -stay in the madrissah till I am ripe.' - -'Well said. Especially are distances and numbers and the manner of -using compasses to be learned in that game. One waits in the Hills -above to show thee.' - -'I will learn their teaching upon a condition--that my time is given to -me without question when the madrissah is shut. Ask that for me of the -Colonel.' - -'But why not ask the Colonel in the Sahibs' tongue?' - -'The Colonel is the servant of the Government. He is sent hither and -yon at a word, and must consider his own advancement. (See how much I -have already learned at Nucklao!) Moreover, the Colonel I know since -three months only. I have known one Mahbub Ali for six years. So! To -the madrissah I will go. At the madrissah I will learn. In the -madrissah I will be a Sahib. But when the madrissah is shut, then must -I be free and go among my people. Otherwise I die!' - -'And who are thy people, Friend of all the World?' - -'This great and beautiful land,' said Kim, waving his paw round the -little clay-walled room where the oil-lamp in its niche burned heavily -through the tobacco-smoke. 'And, further, I would see my lama again. -And, further, I need money.' - -'That is the need of everyone,' said Mahbub ruefully. 'I will give -thee eight annas, for much money is not picked out of horses' hooves, -and it must suffice for many days. As to all the rest, I am well -pleased, and no further talk is needed. Make haste to learn, and in -three years, or it may be less, thou wilt be an aid--even to me.' - -'Have I been such a hindrance till now?' said Kim, with a boy's giggle. - -'Do not give answers,' Mahbub grunted. 'Thou art my new horse-boy. Go -and bed among my men. They are near the north end of the station, with -the horses.' - -'They will beat me to the south end of the station if I come without -authority.' - -Mahbub felt in his belt, wetted his thumb on a cake of Chinese ink, and -dabbed the impression on a piece of soft native paper. From Balkh to -Bombay men know that rough-ridged print with the old scar running -diagonally across it. - -'That is enough to show my headman. I come in the morning.' - -'By which road?' said Kim. - -'By the road from the city. There is but one, and then we return to -Creighton Sahib. I have saved thee a beating.' - -'Allah! What is a beating when the very head is loose on the -shoulders?' - -Kim slid out quietly into the night, walked half round the house, -keeping close to the walls, and headed away from the station for a mile -or so. Then, fetching a wide compass, he worked back at leisure, for -he needed time to invent a story if any of Mahbub's retainers asked -questions. - -They were camped on a piece of waste ground beside the railway, and, -being natives, had not, of course, unloaded the two trucks in which -Mahbub's animals stood among a consignment of country-breds bought by -the Bombay tram-company. The headman, a broken-down, -consumptive-looking Mohammedan, promptly challenged Kim, but was -pacified at sight of Mahbub's sign-manual. - -'The Hajji has of his favour given me service,' said Kim testily. 'If -this be doubted, wait till he comes in the morning. Meantime, a place -by the fire.' - -Followed the usual aimless babble that every low-caste native must -raise on every occasion. It died down, and Kim lay out behind the -little knot of Mahbub's followers, almost under the wheels of a -horse-truck, a borrowed blanket for covering. Now a bed among -brickbats and ballast-refuse on a damp night, between overcrowded -horses and unwashed Baltis, would not appeal to many white boys; but -Kim was utterly happy. Change of scene, service, and surroundings were -the breath of his little nostrils, and thinking of the neat white cots -of St Xavier's all arow under the punkah gave him joy as keen as the -repetition of the multiplication-table in English. - -'I am very old,' he thought sleepily. 'Every month I become a year -more old. I was very young, and a fool to boot, when I took Mahbub's -message to Umballa. Even when I was with that white Regiment I was -very young and small and had no wisdom. But now I learn every day, and -in three years the Colonel will take me out of the madrissah and let me -go upon the Road with Mahbub hunting for horses' pedigrees, or maybe I -shall go by myself; or maybe I shall find the lama and go with him. -Yes; that is best. To walk again as a chela with my lama when he comes -back to Benares.' - -The thoughts came more slowly and disconnectedly. He was plunging into -a beautiful dreamland when his ears caught a whisper, thin and sharp, -above the monotonous babble round the fire. It came from behind the -iron-skinned horse-truck. - -'He is not here, then?' - -'Where should he be but roystering in the city. Who looks for a rat in -a frog-pond? Come away. He is not our man.' - -'He must not go back beyond the Passes a second time. It is the order.' - -'Hire some woman to drug him. It is a few rupees only, and there is no -evidence.' - -'Except the woman. It must be more certain; and remember the price -upon his head.' - -'Ay, but the police have a long arm, and we are far from the Border. -If it were in Peshawur, now!' - -'Yes--in Peshawur,' the second voice sneered. 'Peshawur, full of his -blood-kin--full of bolt-holes and women behind whose clothes he will -hide. Yes, Peshawur or Jehannum would suit us equally well.' - -'Then what is the plan?' - -'O fool, have I not told it a hundred times? Wait till he comes to lie -down, and then one sure shot. The trucks are between us and pursuit. -We have but to run back over the lines and go our way. They will not -see whence the shot came. Wait here at least till the dawn. What -manner of fakir art thou, to shiver at a little watching?' - -'Oho!' thought Kim, behind close-shut eyes. 'Once again it is Mahbub. -Indeed a white stallion's pedigree is not a good thing to peddle to -Sahibs! Or maybe Mahbub has been selling other news. Now what is to -do, Kim? I know not where Mahbub houses, and if he comes here before -the dawn they will shoot him. That would be no profit for thee, Kim. -And this is not a matter for the police. That would be no profit for -Mahbub; and'--he giggled almost aloud--'I do not remember any lesson at -Nucklao which will help me. Allah! Here is Kim and yonder are they. -First, then, Kim must wake and go away, so that they shall not suspect. -A bad dream wakes a man--thus--' - -He threw the blanket off his face, and raised himself suddenly with the -terrible, bubbling, meaningless yell of the Asiatic roused by nightmare. - -'Urr-urr-urr-urr! Ya-la-la-la-la! Narain! The churel! The churel!' - -A churel is the peculiarly malignant ghost of a woman who has died in -child-bed. She haunts lonely roads, her feet are turned backwards on -the ankles, and she leads men to torment. - -Louder rose Kim's quavering howl, till at last he leaped to his feet -and staggered off sleepily, while the camp cursed him for waking them. -Some twenty yards farther up the line he lay down again, taking care -that the whisperers should hear his grunts and groans as he recomposed -himself. After a few minutes he rolled towards the road and stole away -into the thick darkness. - -He paddled along swiftly till he came to a culvert, and dropped behind -it, his chin on a level with the coping-stone. Here he could command -all the night-traffic, himself unseen. - -Two or three carts passed, jingling out to the suburbs; a coughing -policeman and a hurrying foot-passenger or two who sang to keep off -evil spirits. Then rapped the shod feet of a horse. - -'Ah! This is more like Mahbub,' thought Kim, as the beast shied at the -little head above the culvert. - -'Ohe', Mahbub Ali,' he whispered, 'have a care!' - -The horse was reined back almost on its haunches, and forced towards -the culvert. - -'Never again,' said Mahbub, 'will I take a shod horse for night-work. -They pick up all the bones and nails in the city.' He stooped to lift -its forefoot, and that brought his head within a foot of Kim's. - -'Down--keep down,' he muttered. 'The night is full of eyes.' - -'Two men wait thy coming behind the horse-trucks. They will shoot thee -at thy lying down, because there is a price on thy head. I heard, -sleeping near the horses.' - -'Didst thou see them? ... Hold still, Sire of Devils!' This -furiously to the horse. - -'No.' - -'Was one dressed belike as a fakir?' - -'One said to the other, "What manner of fakir art thou, to shiver at a -little watching?"' - -'Good. Go back to the camp and lie down. I do not die tonight.' - -Mahbub wheeled his horse and vanished. Kim tore back down the ditch -till he reached a point opposite his second resting-place, slipped -across the road like a weasel, and re-coiled himself in the blanket. - -'At least Mahbub knows,' he thought contentedly. 'And certainly he -spoke as one expecting it. I do not think those two men will profit by -tonight's watch.' - -An hour passed, and, with the best will in the world to keep awake all -night, he slept deeply. Now and again a night train roared along the -metals within twenty feet of him; but he had all the Oriental's -indifference to mere noise, and it did not even weave a dream through -his slumber. - -Mahbub was anything but asleep. It annoyed him vehemently that people -outside his tribe and unaffected by his casual amours should pursue him -for the life. His first and natural impulse was to cross the line -lower down, work up again, and, catching his well-wishers from behind, -summarily slay them. Here, he reflected with sorrow, another branch of -the Government, totally unconnected with Colonel Creighton, might -demand explanations which would be hard to supply; and he knew that -south of the Border a perfectly ridiculous fuss is made about a corpse -or so. He had not been troubled in this way since he sent Kim to -Umballa with the message, and hoped that suspicion had been finally -diverted. - -Then a most brilliant notion struck him. - -'The English do eternally tell the truth,' he said, 'therefore we of -this country are eternally made foolish. By Allah, I will tell the -truth to an Englishman! Of what use is the Government police if a poor -Kabuli be robbed of his horses in their very trucks. This is as bad as -Peshawur! I should lay a complaint at the station. Better still, some -young Sahib on the Railway! They are zealous, and if they catch -thieves it is remembered to their honour.' - -He tied up his horse outside the station, and strode on to the platform. - -'Hullo, Mahbub Ali' said a young Assistant District Traffic -Superintendent who was waiting to go down the line--a tall, tow-haired, -horsey youth in dingy white linen. 'What are you doing here? Selling -weeds--eh?' - -'No; I am not troubled for my horses. I come to look for Lutuf Ullah. -I have a truck-load up the line. Could anyone take them out without -the Railway's knowledge?' - -'Shouldn't think so, Mahbub. You can claim against us if they do.' - -'I have seen two men crouching under the wheels of one of the trucks -nearly all night. Fakirs do not steal horses, so I gave them no more -thought. I would find Lutuf Ullah, my partner.' - -'The deuce you did? And you didn't bother your head about it? 'Pon my -word, it's just almost as well that I met you. What were they like, -eh?' - -'They were only fakirs. They will no more than take a little grain, -perhaps, from one of the trucks. There are many up the line. The -State will never miss the dole. I came here seeking for my partner, -Lutuf Ullah.' - -'Never mind your partner. Where are your horse-trucks?' - -'A little to this side of the farthest place where they make lamps for -the trains.'-- - -'The signal-box! Yes.' - -'And upon the rail nearest to the road upon the right-hand -side--looking up the line thus. But as regards Lutuf Ullah--a tall man -with a broken nose, and a Persian greyhound Aie!' - -The boy had hurried off to wake up a young and enthusiastic policeman; -for, as he said, the Railway had suffered much from depredations in the -goods-yard. Mahbub Ali chuckled in his dyed beard. - -'They will walk in their boots, making a noise, and then they will -wonder why there are no fakirs. They are very clever boys--Barton -Sahib and Young Sahib.' - -He waited idly for a few minutes, expecting to see them hurry up the -line girt for action. A light engine slid through the station, and he -caught a glimpse of young Barton in the cab. - -'I did that child an injustice. He is not altogether a fool,' said -Mahbub Ali. 'To take a fire-carriage for a thief is a new game!' - -When Mahbub Ali came to his camp in the dawn, no one thought it worth -while to tell him any news of the night. No one, at least, but one -small horseboy, newly advanced to the great man's service, whom Mahbub -called to his tiny tent to assist in some packing. - -'It is all known to me,' whispered Kim, bending above saddlebags. 'Two -Sahibs came up on a te-train. I was running to and fro in the dark on -this side of the trucks as the te-train moved up and down slowly. They -fell upon two men sitting under this truck--Hajji, what shall I do with -this lump of tobacco? Wrap it in paper and put it under the salt-bag? -Yes--and struck them down. But one man struck at a Sahib with a -fakir's buck's horn' (Kim meant the conjoined black-buck horns, which -are a fakir's sole temporal weapon)--'the blood came. So the other -Sahib, first smiting his own man senseless, smote the stabber with a -short gun which had rolled from the first man's hand. They all raged -as though mad together.' - -Mahbub smiled with heavenly resignation. 'No! That is not so much -dewanee [madness, or a case for the civil court--the word can be punned -upon both ways] as nizamut [a criminal case]. A gun, sayest thou? Ten -good years in jail.' - -'Then they both lay still, but I think they were nearly dead when they -were put on the te-train. Their heads moved thus. And there is much -blood on the line. Come and see?' - -'I have seen blood before. Jail is the sure place--and assuredly they -will give false names, and assuredly no man will find them for a long -time. They were unfriends of mine. Thy fate and mine seem on one -string. What a tale for the healer of pearls! Now swiftly with the -saddle-bags and the cooking-platter. We will take out the horses and -away to Simla.' - -Swiftly--as Orientals understand speed--with long explanations, with -abuse and windy talk, carelessly, amid a hundred checks for little -things forgotten, the untidy camp broke up and led the half-dozen stiff -and fretful horses along the Kalka road in the fresh of the rain-swept -dawn. Kim, regarded as Mahbub Ali's favourite by all who wished to -stand well with the Pathan, was not called upon to work. They strolled -on by the easiest of stages, halting every few hours at a wayside -shelter. Very many Sahibs travel along the Kalka road; and, as Mahbub -Ali says, every young Sahib must needs esteem himself a judge of a -horse, and, though he be over head in debt to the money-lender, must -make as if to buy. That was the reason that Sahib after Sahib, rolling -along in a stage-carriage, would stop and open talk. Some would even -descend from their vehicles and feel the horses' legs; asking inane -questions, or, through sheer ignorance of the vernacular, grossly -insulting the imperturbable trader. - -'When first I dealt with Sahibs, and that was when Colonel Soady Sahib -was Governor of Fort Abazai and flooded the Commissioner's -camping-ground for spite,' Mahbub confided to Kim as the boy filled his -pipe under a tree, 'I did not know how greatly they were fools, and -this made me wroth. As thus--,' and he told Kim a tale of an -expression, misused in all innocence, that doubled Kim up with mirth. -'Now I see, however,'--he exhaled smoke slowly--'that it is with them -as with all men--in certain matters they are wise, and in others most -foolish. Very foolish it is to use the wrong word to a stranger; for -though the heart may be clean of offence, how is the stranger to know -that? He is more like to search truth with a dagger.' - -'True. True talk,' said Kim solemnly. 'Fools speak of a cat when a -woman is brought to bed, for instance. I have heard them.' - -'Therefore, in one situate as thou art, it particularly behoves thee to -remember this with both kinds of faces. Among Sahibs, never forgetting -thou art a Sahib; among the folk of Hind, always remembering thou -art--' He paused, with a puzzled smile. - -'What am I? Mussalman, Hindu, Jain, or Buddhist? That is a hard knot.' - -'Thou art beyond question an unbeliever, and therefore thou wilt be -damned. So says my Law--or I think it does. But thou art also my -Little Friend of all the World, and I love thee. So says my heart. -This matter of creeds is like horseflesh. The wise man knows horses -are good--that there is a profit to be made from all; and for -myself--but that I am a good Sunni and hate the men of Tirah--I could -believe the same of all the Faiths. Now manifestly a Kathiawar mare -taken from the sands of her birthplace and removed to the west of -Bengal founders--nor is even a Balkh stallion (and there are no better -horses than those of Balkh, were they not so heavy in the shoulder) of -any account in the great Northern deserts beside the snow-camels I have -seen. Therefore I say in my heart the Faiths are like the horses. -Each has merit in its own country.' - -'But my lama said altogether a different thing.' - -'Oh, he is an old dreamer of dreams from Bhotiyal. My heart is a -little angry, Friend of all the World, that thou shouldst see such -worth in a man so little known.' - -'It is true, Hajji; but that worth do I see, and to him my heart is -drawn.' - -'And his to thine, I hear. Hearts are like horses. They come and they -go against bit or spur. Shout Gul Sher Khan yonder to drive in that -bay stallion's pickets more firmly. We do not want a horse-fight at -every resting-stage, and the dun and the black will be locked in a -little ... Now hear me. Is it necessary to the comfort of thy heart -to see that lama?' - -'It is one part of my bond,' said Kim. 'If I do not see him, and if he -is taken from me, I will go out of that madrissah in Nucklao and, -and--once gone, who is to find me again?' - -'It is true. Never was colt held on a lighter heel-rope than thou.' -Mahbub nodded his head. - -'Do not be afraid.' Kim spoke as though he could have vanished on the -moment. 'My lama has said that he will come to see me at the -madrissah--' - -'A beggar and his bowl in the presence of those young Sa--' - -'Not all!' Kim cut in with a snort. 'Their eyes are blued and their -nails are blackened with low-caste blood, many of them. Sons of -mehteranees--brothers-in-law to the bhungi [sweeper].' - -We need not follow the rest of the pedigree; but Kim made his little -point clearly and without heat, chewing a piece of sugar-cane the while. - -'Friend of all the World,' said Mahbub, pushing over the pipe for the -boy to clean, 'I have met many men, women, and boys, and not a few -Sahibs. I have never in all my days met such an imp as thou art.' - -'And why? When I always tell thee the truth.' - -'Perhaps the very reason, for this is a world of danger to honest men.' -Mahbub Ali hauled himself off the ground, girt in his belt, and went -over to the horses. - -'Or sell it?' - -There was that in the tone that made Mahbub halt and turn. 'What new -devilry?' - -'Eight annas, and I will tell,' said Kim, grinning. 'It touches thy -peace.' - -'O Shaitan!' Mahbub gave the money. - -'Rememberest thou the little business of the thieves in the dark, down -yonder at Umballa?' - -'Seeing they sought my life, I have not altogether forgotten. Why?' - -'Rememberest thou the Kashmir Serai?' - -'I will twist thy ears in a moment--Sahib.' - -'No need--Pathan. Only, the second fakir, whom the Sahibs beat -senseless, was the man who came to search thy bulkhead at Lahore. I -saw his face as they helped him on the engine. The very same man.' - -'Why didst thou not tell before?' - -'Oh, he will go to jail, and be safe for some years. There is no need -to tell more than is necessary at any one time. Besides, I did not -then need money for sweetmeats.' - -'Allah kerim!' said Mahbub Ah. 'Wilt thou some day sell my head for a -few sweetmeats if the fit takes thee?' - -Kim will remember till he dies that long, lazy journey from Umballa, -through Kalka and the Pinjore Gardens near by, up to Simla. A sudden -spate in the Gugger River swept down one horse (the most valuable, be -sure), and nearly drowned Kim among the dancing boulders. Farther up -the road the horses were stampeded by a Government elephant, and being -in high condition of grass food, it cost a day and a half to get them -together again. Then they met Sikandar Khan coming down with a few -unsaleable screws--remnants of his string--and Mahbub, who has more of -horse-coping in his little fingernail than Sikandar Khan in all his -tents, must needs buy two of the worst, and that meant eight hours' -laborious diplomacy and untold tobacco. But it was all pure -delight--the wandering road, climbing, dipping, and sweeping about the -growing spurs; the flush of the morning laid along the distant snows; -the branched cacti, tier upon tier on the stony hillsides; the voices -of a thousand water-channels; the chatter of the monkeys; the solemn -deodars, climbing one after another with down-drooped branches; the -vista of the Plains rolled out far beneath them; the incessant twanging -of the tonga-horns and the wild rush of the led horses when a tonga -swung round a curve; the halts for prayers (Mahbub was very religious -in dry-washings and bellowings when time did not press); the evening -conferences by the halting-places, when camels and bullocks chewed -solemnly together and the stolid drivers told the news of the Road--all -these things lifted Kim's heart to song within him. - -'But, when the singing and dancing is done,' said Mahbub Ali, 'comes -the Colonel Sahib's, and that is not so sweet.' - -'A fair land--a most beautiful land is this of Hind--and the land of -the Five Rivers is fairer than all,' Kim half chanted. 'Into it I will -go again if Mahbub Ali or the Colonel lift hand or foot against me. -Once gone, who shall find me? Look, Hajji, is yonder the city of -Simla? Allah, what a city!' - -'My father's brother, and he was an old man when Mackerson Sahib's well -was new at Peshawur, could recall when there were but two houses in it.' - -He led the horses below the main road into the lower Simla bazar--the -crowded rabbit-warren that climbs up from the valley to the Town Hall -at an angle of forty-five. A man who knows his way there can defy all -the police of India's summer capital, so cunningly does veranda -communicate with veranda, alley-way with alley-way, and bolt-hole with -bolt-hole. Here live those who minister to the wants of the glad -city--jhampanis who pull the pretty ladies' 'rickshaws by night and -gamble till the dawn; grocers, oil-sellers, curio-vendors, -firewood-dealers, priests, pickpockets, and native employees of the -Government. Here are discussed by courtesans the things which are -supposed to be profoundest secrets of the India Council; and here -gather all the sub-sub-agents of half the Native States. Here, too, -Mahbub Ali rented a room, much more securely locked than his bulkhead -at Lahore, in the house of a Mohammedan cattle-dealer. It was a place -of miracles, too, for there went in at twilight a Mohammedan horseboy, -and there came out an hour later a Eurasian lad--the Lucknow girl's dye -was of the best--in badly-fitting shop-clothes. - -'I have spoken with Creighton Sahib,' quoth Mahbub Ali, 'and a second -time has the Hand of Friendship averted the Whip of Calamity. He says -that thou hast altogether wasted sixty days upon the Road, and it is -too late, therefore, to send thee to any Hill-school.' - -'I have said that my holidays are my own. I do not go to school twice -over. That is one part of my bond.' - -'The Colonel Sahib is not yet aware of that contract. Thou art to -lodge in Lurgan Sahib's house till it is time to go again to Nucklao.' - -'I had sooner lodge with thee, Mahbub.' - -'Thou dost not know the honour. Lurgan Sahib himself asked for thee. -Thou wilt go up the hill and along the road atop, and there thou must -forget for a while that thou hast ever seen or spoken to me, Mahbub -Ali, who sells horses to Creighton Sahib, whom thou dost not know. -Remember this order.' - -Kim nodded. 'Good,' said he, 'and who is Lurgan Sahib? Nay'--he -caught Mahbub's sword-keen glance--'indeed I have never heard his name. -Is he by chance--he lowered his voice--'one of us?' - -'What talk is this of us, Sahib?' Mahbub Ali returned, in the tone he -used towards Europeans. 'I am a Pathan; thou art a Sahib and the son -of a Sahib. Lurgan Sahib has a shop among the European shops. All -Simla knows it. Ask there ... and, Friend of all the World, he is one -to be obeyed to the last wink of his eyelashes. Men say he does magic, -but that should not touch thee. Go up the hill and ask. Here begins -the Great Game.' - - - - -Chapter 9 - - - S' doaks was son of Yelth the wise-- - Chief of the Raven clan. - Itswoot the Bear had him in care - To make him a medicine-man. - - He was quick and quicker to learn-- - Bold and bolder to dare: - He danced the dread Kloo-Kwallie Dance - To tickle Itswoot the Bear! - - Oregon Legend - - -Kim flung himself whole-heartedly upon the next turn of the wheel. He -would be a Sahib again for a while. In that idea, so soon as he had -reached the broad road under Simla Town Hall, he cast about for one to -impress. A Hindu child, some ten years old, squatted under a lamp-post. - -'Where is Mr Lurgan's house?' demanded Kim. - -'I do not understand English,' was the answer, and Kim shifted his -speech accordingly. - -'I will show.' - -Together they set off through the mysterious dusk, full of the noises -of a city below the hillside, and the breath of a cool wind in -deodar-crowned Jakko, shouldering the stars. The house-lights, -scattered on every level, made, as it were, a double firmament. Some -were fixed, others belonged to the 'rickshaws of the careless, -open-spoken English folk, going out to dinner. - -'It is here,' said Kim's guide, and halted in a veranda flush with the -main road. No door stayed them, but a curtain of beaded reeds that -split up the lamplight beyond. - -'He is come,' said the boy, in a voice little louder than a sigh, and -vanished. Kim felt sure that the boy had been posted to guide him from -the first, but, putting a bold face on it, parted the curtain. A -black-bearded man, with a green shade over his eyes, sat at a table, -and, one by one, with short, white hands, picked up globules of light -from a tray before him, threaded them on a glancing silken string, and -hummed to himself the while. Kim was conscious that beyond the circle -of light the room was full of things that smelt like all the temples of -all the East. A whiff of musk, a puff of sandal-wood, and a breath of -sickly jessamine-oil caught his opened nostrils. - -'I am here,' said Kim at last, speaking in the vernacular: the smells -made him forget that he was to be a Sahib. - -'Seventy-nine, eighty, eighty-one,' the man counted to himself, -stringing pearl after pearl so quickly that Kim could scarcely follow -his fingers. He slid off the green shade and looked fixedly at Kim for -a full half-minute. The pupils of the eye dilated and closed to -pin-pricks, as if at will. There was a fakir by the Taksali Gate who -had just this gift and made money by it, especially when cursing silly -women. Kim stared with interest. His disreputable friend could -further twitch his ears, almost like a goat, and Kim was disappointed -that this new man could not imitate him. - -'Do not be afraid,' said Lurgan Sahib suddenly. - -'Why should I fear?' - -'Thou wilt sleep here tonight, and stay with me till it is time to go -again to Nucklao. It is an order.' - -'It is an order,' Kim repeated. 'But where shall I sleep?' - -'Here, in this room.' Lurgan Sahib waved his hand towards the darkness -behind him. - -'So be it,' said Kim composedly. 'Now?' - -He nodded and held the lamp above his head. As the light swept them, -there leaped out from the walls a collection of Tibetan devil-dance -masks, hanging above the fiend-embroidered draperies of those ghastly -functions--horned masks, scowling masks, and masks of idiotic terror. -In a corner, a Japanese warrior, mailed and plumed, menaced him with a -halberd, and a score of lances and khandas and kuttars gave back the -unsteady gleam. But what interested Kim more than all these things--he -had seen devil-dance masks at the Lahore Museum--was a glimpse of the -soft-eyed Hindu child who had left him in the doorway, sitting -cross-legged under the table of pearls with a little smile on his -scarlet lips. - -'I think that Lurgan Sahib wishes to make me afraid. And I am sure -that that devil's brat below the table wishes to see me afraid. - -'This place,' he said aloud, 'is like a Wonder House. Where is my bed?' - -Lurgan Sahib pointed to a native quilt in a corner by the loathsome -masks, picked up the lamp, and left the room black. - -'Was that Lurgan Sahib?' Kim asked as he cuddled down. No answer. He -could hear the Hindu boy breathing, however, and, guided by the sound, -crawled across the floor, and cuffed into the darkness, crying: 'Give -answer, devil! Is this the way to lie to a Sahib?' - -From the darkness he fancied he could hear the echo of a chuckle. It -could not be his soft-fleshed companion, because he was weeping. So Kim -lifted up his voice and called aloud: - -'Lurgan Sahib! O Lurgan Sahib! Is it an order that thy servant does -not speak to me?' - -'It is an order.' The voice came from behind him and he started. - -'Very good. But remember,' he muttered, as he resought the quilt, 'I -will beat thee in the morning. I do not love Hindus.' - -That was no cheerful night; the room being overfull of voices and -music. Kim was waked twice by someone calling his name. The second -time he set out in search, and ended by bruising his nose against a box -that certainly spoke with a human tongue, but in no sort of human -accent. It seemed to end in a tin trumpet and to be joined by wires to -a smaller box on the floor--so far, at least, as he could judge by -touch. And the voice, very hard and whirring, came out of the trumpet. -Kim rubbed his nose and grew furious, thinking, as usual, in Hindi. - -'This with a beggar from the bazar might be good, but--I am a Sahib and -the son of a Sahib and, which is twice as much more beside, a student -of Nucklao. Yess' (here he turned to English), 'a boy of St Xavier's. -Damn Mr Lurgan's eyes!--It is some sort of machinery like a -sewing-machine. Oh, it is a great cheek of him--we are not frightened -that way at Lucknow--No!' Then in Hindi: 'But what does he gain? He -is only a trader--I am in his shop. But Creighton Sahib is a -Colonel--and I think Creighton Sahib gave orders that it should be -done. How I will beat that Hindu in the morning! What is this?' - -The trumpet-box was pouring out a string of the most elaborate abuse -that even Kim had ever heard, in a high uninterested voice, that for a -moment lifted the short hairs of his neck. When the vile thing drew -breath, Kim was reassured by the soft, sewing-machine-like whirr. - -'Chup! [Be still]' he cried, and again he heard a chuckle that decided -him. 'Chup--or I break your head.' - -The box took no heed. Kim wrenched at the tin trumpet and something -lifted with a click. He had evidently raised a lid. If there were a -devil inside, now was its time, for--he sniffed--thus did the -sewing-machines of the bazar smell. He would clean that shaitan. He -slipped off his jacket, and plunged it into the box's mouth. Something -long and round bent under the pressure, there was a whirr and the voice -stopped--as voices must if you ram a thrice-doubled coat on to the wax -cylinder and into the works of an expensive phonograph. Kim finished -his slumbers with a serene mind. - -In the morning he was aware of Lurgan Sahib looking down on him. - -'Oah!' said Kim, firmly resolved to cling to his Sahib-dom. 'There -was a box in the night that gave me bad talk. So I stopped it. Was it -your box?' - -The man held out his hand. - -'Shake hands, O'Hara,' he said. 'Yes, it was my box. I keep such -things because my friends the Rajahs like them. That one is broken, -but it was cheap at the price. Yes, my friends, the Kings, are very -fond of toys--and so am I sometimes.' - -Kim looked him over out of the corners of his eyes. He was a Sahib in -that he wore Sahib's clothes; the accent of his Urdu, the intonation of -his English, showed that he was anything but a Sahib. He seemed to -understand what moved in Kim's mind ere the boy opened his mouth, and -he took no pains to explain himself as did Father Victor or the Lucknow -masters. Sweetest of all--he treated Kim as an equal on the Asiatic -side. - -'I am sorry you cannot beat my boy this morning. He says he will kill -you with a knife or poison. He is jealous, so I have put him in the -corner and I shall not speak to him today. He has just tried to kill -me. You must help me with the breakfast. He is almost too jealous to -trust, just now.' - -Now a genuine imported Sahib from England would have made a great to-do -over this tale. Lurgan Sahib stated it as simply as Mahbub Ali was -used to record his little affairs in the North. - -The back veranda of the shop was built out over the sheer hillside, and -they looked down into their neighbours' chimney-pots, as is the custom -of Simla. But even more than the purely Persian meal cooked by Lurgan -Sahib with his own hands, the shop fascinated Kim. The Lahore Museum -was larger, but here were more wonders--ghost-daggers and prayer-wheels -from Tibet; turquoise and raw amber necklaces; green jade bangles; -curiously packed incense-sticks in jars crusted over with raw garnets; -the devil-masks of overnight and a wall full of peacock-blue draperies; -gilt figures of Buddha, and little portable lacquer altars; Russian -samovars with turquoises on the lid; egg-shell china sets in quaint -octagonal cane boxes; yellow ivory crucifixes--from Japan of all places -in the world, so Lurgan Sahib said; carpets in dusty bales, smelling -atrociously, pushed back behind torn and rotten screens of geometrical -work; Persian water-jugs for the hands after meals; dull copper -incense-burners neither Chinese nor Persian, with friezes of fantastic -devils running round them; tarnished silver belts that knotted like raw -hide; hairpins of jade, ivory, and plasma; arms of all sorts and kinds, -and a thousand other oddments were cased, or piled, or merely thrown -into the room, leaving a clear space only round the rickety deal table, -where Lurgan Sahib worked. - -'Those things are nothing,' said his host, following Kim's glance. 'I -buy them because they are pretty, and sometimes I sell--if I like the -buyer's look. My work is on the table--some of it.' - -It blazed in the morning light--all red and blue and green flashes, -picked out with the vicious blue-white spurt of a diamond here and -there. Kim opened his eyes. - -'Oh, they are quite well, those stones. It will not hurt them to take -the sun. Besides, they are cheap. But with sick stones it is very -different.' He piled Kim's plate anew. 'There is no one but me can -doctor a sick pearl and re-blue turquoises. I grant you opals--any -fool can cure an opal--but for a sick pearl there is only me. Suppose I -were to die! Then there would be no one ... Oh no! You cannot do -anything with jewels. It will be quite enough if you understand a -little about the Turquoise--some day.' - -He moved to the end of the veranda to refill the heavy, porous clay -water-jug from the filter. - -'Do you want drink?' - -Kim nodded. Lurgan Sahib, fifteen feet off, laid one hand on the jar. -Next instant, it stood at Kim's elbow, full to within half an inch of -the brim--the white cloth only showing, by a small wrinkle, where it -had slid into place. - -'Wah!' said Kim in most utter amazement. 'That is magic.' Lurgan -Sahib's smile showed that the compliment had gone home. - -'Throw it back.' - -'It will break.' - -'I say, throw it back.' - -Kim pitched it at random. It fell short and crashed into fifty pieces, -while the water dripped through the rough veranda boarding. - -'I said it would break.' - -'All one. Look at it. Look at the largest piece.' - -That lay with a sparkle of water in its curve, as it were a star on the -floor. Kim looked intently. Lurgan Sahib laid one hand gently on the -nape of his neck, stroked it twice or thrice, and whispered: 'Look! It -shall come to life again, piece by piece. First the big piece shall -join itself to two others on the right and the left--on the right and -the left. Look!' - -To save his life, Kim could not have turned his head. The light touch -held him as in a vice, and his blood tingled pleasantly through him. -There was one large piece of the jar where there had been three, and -above them the shadowy outline of the entire vessel. He could see the -veranda through it, but it was thickening and darkening with each beat -of his pulse. Yet the jar--how slowly the thoughts came!--the jar had -been smashed before his eyes. Another wave of prickling fire raced down -his neck, as Lurgan Sahib moved his hand. - -'Look! It is coming into shape,' said Lurgan Sahib. - -So far Kim had been thinking in Hindi, but a tremor came on him, and -with an effort like that of a swimmer before sharks, who hurls himself -half out of the water, his mind leaped up from a darkness that was -swallowing it and took refuge in--the multiplication-table in English! - -'Look! It is coming into shape,' whispered Lurgan Sahib. - -The jar had been smashed--yess, smashed--not the native word, he would -not think of that--but smashed--into fifty pieces, and twice three was -six, and thrice three was nine, and four times three was twelve. He -clung desperately to the repetition. The shadow-outline of the jar -cleared like a mist after rubbing eyes. There were the broken shards; -there was the spilt water drying in the sun, and through the cracks of -the veranda showed, all ribbed, the white house-wall below--and thrice -twelve was thirty-six! - -'Look! Is it coming into shape?' asked Lurgan Sahib. - -'But it is smashed--smashed,' he gasped--Lurgan Sahib had been -muttering softly for the last half-minute. Kim wrenched his head -aside. 'Look! Dekho! It is there as it was there.' - -'It is there as it was there,' said Lurgan, watching Kim closely while -the boy rubbed his neck. 'But you are the first of many who has ever -seen it so.' He wiped his broad forehead. - -'Was that more magic?' Kim asked suspiciously. The tingle had gone -from his veins; he felt unusually wide awake. - -'No, that was not magic. It was only to see if there was--a flaw in a -jewel. Sometimes very fine jewels will fly all to pieces if a man -holds them in his hand, and knows the proper way. That is why one must -be careful before one sets them. Tell me, did you see the shape of the -pot?' - -'For a little time. It began to grow like a flower from the ground.' - -'And then what did you do? I mean, how did you think?' - -'Oah! I knew it was broken, and so, I think, that was what I -thought--and it was broken.' - -'Hm! Has anyone ever done that same sort of magic to you before?' - -'If it was,' said Kim 'do you think I should let it again? I should -run away.' - -'And now you are not afraid--eh?' - -'Not now.' - -Lurgan Sahib looked at him more closely than ever. 'I shall ask Mahbub -Ali--not now, but some day later,' he muttered. 'I am pleased with -you--yes; and I am pleased with you--no. You are the first that ever -saved himself. I wish I knew what it was that ... But you are right. -You should not tell that--not even to me.' - -He turned into the dusky gloom of the shop, and sat down at the table, -rubbing his hands softly. A small, husky sob came from behind a pile -of carpets. It was the Hindu child obediently facing towards the wall. -His thin shoulders worked with grief. - -'Ah! He is jealous, so jealous. I wonder if he will try to poison me -again in my breakfast, and make me cook it twice. - -'Kubbee--kubbee nahin [Never--never. No!]', came the broken answer. - -'And whether he will kill this other boy?' - - -'Kubbee--kubbee nahin.' - -'What do you think he will do?' He turned suddenly on Kim. - -'Oah! I do not know. Let him go, perhaps. Why did he want to poison -you?' - -'Because he is so fond of me. Suppose you were fond of someone, and -you saw someone come, and the man you were fond of was more pleased -with him than he was with you, what would you do?' - -Kim thought. Lurgan repeated the sentence slowly in the vernacular. 'I -should not poison that man,' said Kim reflectively, 'but I should beat -that boy--if that boy was fond of my man. But first, I would ask that -boy if it were true.' - -'Ah! He thinks everyone must be fond of me.' - -'Then I think he is a fool.' - -'Hearest thou?' said Lurgan Sahib to the shaking shoulders. 'The -Sahib's son thinks thou art a little fool. Come out, and next time thy -heart is troubled, do not try white arsenic quite so openly. Surely the -Devil Dasim was lord of our table-cloth that day! It might have made -me ill, child, and then a stranger would have guarded the jewels. -Come!' - -The child, heavy-eyed with much weeping, crept out from behind the bale -and flung himself passionately at Lurgan Sahib's feet, with an -extravagance of remorse that impressed even Kim. - -'I will look into the ink-pools--I will faithfully guard the jewels! -Oh, my Father and my Mother, send him away!' He indicated Kim with a -backward jerk of his bare heel. - -'Not yet--not yet. In a little while he will go away again. But now -he is at school--at a new madrissah--and thou shalt be his teacher. -Play the Play of the Jewels against him. I will keep tally.' - -The child dried his tears at once, and dashed to the back of the shop, -whence he returned with a copper tray. - -'Give me!' he said to Lurgan Sahib. 'Let them come from thy hand, for -he may say that I knew them before.' - -'Gently--gently,' the man replied, and from a drawer under the table -dealt a half-handful of clattering trifles into the tray. - -'Now,' said the child, waving an old newspaper. 'Look on them as long -as thou wilt, stranger. Count and, if need be, handle. One look is -enough for me.' He turned his back proudly. - -'But what is the game?' - -'When thou hast counted and handled and art sure that thou canst -remember them all, I cover them with this paper, and thou must tell -over the tally to Lurgan Sahib. I will write mine.' - -'Oah!' The instinct of competition waked in his breast. He bent over -the tray. There were but fifteen stones on it. 'That is easy,' he -said after a minute. The child slipped the paper over the winking -jewels and scribbled in a native account-book. - -'There are under that paper five blue stones--one big, one smaller, and -three small,' said Kim, all in haste. 'There are four green stones, -and one with a hole in it; there is one yellow stone that I can see -through, and one like a pipe-stem. There are two red stones, -and--and--I made the count fifteen, but two I have forgotten. No! -Give me time. One was of ivory, little and brownish; and--and--give me -time...' - -'One--two'--Lurgan Sahib counted him out up to ten. Kim shook his head. - -'Hear my count!' the child burst in, trilling with laughter. 'First, -are two flawed sapphires--one of two ruttees and one of four as I -should judge. The four-ruttee sapphire is chipped at the edge. There -is one Turkestan turquoise, plain with black veins, and there are two -inscribed--one with a Name of God in gilt, and the other being cracked -across, for it came out of an old ring, I cannot read. We have now all -five blue stones. Four flawed emeralds there are, but one is drilled -in two places, and one is a little carven-' - -'Their weights?' said Lurgan Sahib impassively. - -'Three--five--five--and four ruttees as I judge it. There is one piece -of old greenish pipe amber, and a cut topaz from Europe. There is one -ruby of Burma, of two ruttees, without a flaw, and there is a -balas-ruby, flawed, of two ruttees. There is a carved ivory from China -representing a rat sucking an egg; and there is last--ah ha!--a ball of -crystal as big as a bean set on a gold leaf.' - -He clapped his hands at the close. - -'He is thy master,' said Lurgan Sahib, smiling. - -'Huh! He knew the names of the stones,' said Kim, flushing. 'Try -again! With common things such as he and I both know.' - -They heaped the tray again with odds and ends gathered from the shop, -and even the kitchen, and every time the child won, till Kim marvelled. - -'Bind my eyes--let me feel once with my fingers, and even then I will -leave thee opened-eyed behind,' he challenged. - -Kim stamped with vexation when the lad made his boast good. - -'If it were men--or horses,' he said, 'I could do better. This playing -with tweezers and knives and scissors is too little.' - -'Learn first--teach later,' said Lurgan Sahib. 'Is he thy master?' - -'Truly. But how is it done?' - -'By doing it many times over till it is done perfectly--for it is worth -doing.' - -The Hindu boy, in highest feather, actually patted Kim on the back. - -'Do not despair,' he said. 'I myself will teach thee.' - -'And I will see that thou art well taught,' said Lurgan Sahib, still -speaking in the vernacular, 'for except my boy here--it was foolish of -him to buy so much white arsenic when, if he had asked, I could have -given it--except my boy here I have not in a long time met with one -better worth teaching. And there are ten days more ere thou canst -return to Lucknao where they teach nothing--at the long price. We -shall, I think, be friends.' - -They were a most mad ten days, but Kim enjoyed himself too much to -reflect on their craziness. In the morning they played the Jewel -Game--sometimes with veritable stones, sometimes with piles of swords -and daggers, sometimes with photo-graphs of natives. Through the -afternoons he and the Hindu boy would mount guard in the shop, sitting -dumb behind a carpet-bale or a screen and watching Mr Lurgan's many and -very curious visitors. There were small Rajahs, escorts coughing in -the veranda, who came to buy curiosities--such as phonographs and -mechanical toys. There were ladies in search of necklaces, and men, it -seemed to Kim--but his mind may have been vitiated by early -training--in search of the ladies; natives from independent and -feudatory Courts whose ostensible business was the repair of broken -necklaces--rivers of light poured out upon the table--but whose true -end seemed to be to raise money for angry Maharanees or young Rajahs. -There were Babus to whom Lurgan Sahib talked with austerity and -authority, but at the end of each interview he gave them money in -coined silver and currency notes. There were occasional gatherings of -long-coated theatrical natives who discussed metaphysics in English and -Bengali, to Mr Lurgan's great edification. He was always interested in -religions. At the end of the day, Kim and the Hindu boy--whose name -varied at Lurgan's pleasure--were expected to give a detailed account -of all that they had seen and heard--their view of each man's -character, as shown in his face, talk, and manner, and their notions of -his real errand. After dinner, Lurgan Sahib's fancy turned more to -what might be called dressing-up, in which game he took a most -informing interest. He could paint faces to a marvel; with a brush-dab -here and a line there changing them past recognition. The shop was -full of all manner of dresses and turbans, and Kim was apparelled -variously as a young Mohammedan of good family, an oilman, and -once--which was a joyous evening--as the son of an Oudh landholder in -the fullest of full dress. Lurgan Sahib had a hawk's eye to detect the -least flaw in the make-up; and lying on a worn teak-wood couch, would -explain by the half-hour together how such and such a caste talked, or -walked, or coughed, or spat, or sneezed, and, since 'hows' matter -little in this world, the 'why' of everything. The Hindu child played -this game clumsily. That little mind, keen as an icicle where tally of -jewels was concerned, could not temper itself to enter another's soul; -but a demon in Kim woke up and sang with joy as he put on the changing -dresses, and changed speech and gesture therewith. - -Carried away by enthusiasm, he volunteered to show Lurgan Sahib one -evening how the disciples of a certain caste of fakir, old Lahore -acquaintances, begged doles by the roadside; and what sort of language -he would use to an Englishman, to a Punjabi farmer going to a fair, and -to a woman without a veil. Lurgan Sahib laughed immensely, and begged -Kim to stay as he was, immobile for half an hour--cross-legged, -ash-smeared, and wild-eyed, in the back room. At the end of that time -entered a hulking, obese Babu whose stockinged legs shook with fat, and -Kim opened on him with a shower of wayside chaff. Lurgan Sahib--this -annoyed Kim--watched the Babu and not the play. - -'I think,' said the Babu heavily, lighting a cigarette, 'I am of -opeenion that it is most extraordinary and effeecient performance. -Except that you had told me I should have opined that--that--that you -were pulling my legs. How soon can he become approximately effeecient -chain-man? Because then I shall indent for him.' - -'That is what he must learn at Lucknow.' - -'Then order him to be jolly-dam'-quick. Good-night, Lurgan.' The Babu -swung out with the gait of a bogged cow. - -When they were telling over the day's list of visitors, Lurgan Sahib -asked Kim who he thought the man might be. - -'God knows!' said Kim cheerily. The tone might almost have deceived -Mahbub Ali, but it failed entirely with the healer of sick pearls. - -'That is true. God, He knows; but I wish to know what you think.' - -Kim glanced sideways at his companion, whose eye had a way of -compelling truth. - -'I--I think he will want me when I come from the school, -but'--confidentially, as Lurgan Sahib nodded approval--'I do not -understand how he can wear many dresses and talk many tongues.' - -'Thou wilt understand many things later. He is a writer of tales for a -certain Colonel. His honour is great only in Simla, and it is -noticeable that he has no name, but only a number and a letter--that is -a custom among us.' - -'And is there a price upon his head too--as upon Mah--all the others?' - -'Not yet; but if a boy rose up who is now sitting here and went--look, -the door is open!--as far as a certain house with a red-painted -veranda, behind that which was the old theatre in the Lower Bazar, and -whispered through the shutters: "Hurree Chunder Mookerjee bore the bad -news of last month", that boy might take away a belt full of rupees.' - -'How many?' said Kim promptly. - -'Five hundred--a thousand--as many as he might ask for.' - -'Good. And for how long might such a boy live after the news was -told?' He smiled merrily at Lurgan's Sahib's very beard. - -'Ah! That is to be well thought of. Perhaps if he were very clever, -he might live out the day--but not the night. By no means the night.' - -'Then what is the Babu's pay if so much is put upon his head?' - -'Eighty--perhaps a hundred--perhaps a hundred and fifty rupees; but the -pay is the least part of the work. From time to time, God causes men -to be born--and thou art one of them--who have a lust to go abroad at -the risk of their lives and discover news--today it may be of far-off -things, tomorrow of some hidden mountain, and the next day of some -near-by men who have done a foolishness against the State. These souls -are very few; and of these few, not more than ten are of the best. -Among these ten I count the Babu, and that is curious. How great, -therefore, and desirable must be a business that brazens the heart of a -Bengali!' - -'True. But the days go slowly for me. I am yet a boy, and it is only -within two months I learned to write Angrezi. Even now I cannot read -it well. And there are yet years and years and long years before I can -be even a chain-man.' - -'Have patience, Friend of all the World'--Kim started at the title. -'Would I had a few of the years that so irk thee. I have proved thee -in several small ways. This will not be forgotten when I make my -report to the Colonel Sahib.' Then, changing suddenly into English -with a deep laugh: - -'By Jove! O'Hara, I think there is a great deal in you; but you must -not become proud and you must not talk. You must go back to Lucknow -and be a good little boy and mind your book, as the English say, and -perhaps, next holidays if you care, you can come back to me!' Kim's -face fell. 'Oh, I mean if you like. I know where you want to go.' - -Four days later a seat was booked for Kim and his small trunk at the -rear of a Kalka tonga. His companion was the whale-like Babu, who, -with a fringed shawl wrapped round his head, and his fat -openwork-stockinged left leg tucked under him, shivered and grunted in -the morning chill. - -'How comes it that this man is one of us?' thought Kim considering the -jelly back as they jolted down the road; and the reflection threw him -into most pleasant day-dreams. Lurgan Sahib had given him five -rupees--a splendid sum--as well as the assurance of his protection if -he worked. Unlike Mahbub, Lurgan Sahib had spoken most explicitly of -the reward that would follow obedience, and Kim was content. If only, -like the Babu, he could enjoy the dignity of a letter and a number--and -a price upon his head! Some day he would be all that and more. Some -day he might be almost as great as Mahbub Ali! The housetops of his -search should be half India; he would follow Kings and Ministers, as in -the old days he had followed vakils and lawyers' touts across Lahore -city for Mahbub Ali's sake. Meantime, there was the present, and not at -all unpleasant, fact of St Xavier's immediately before him. There -would be new boys to condescend to, and there would be tales of holiday -adventures to hear. Young Martin, son of the tea-planter at Manipur, -had boasted that he would go to war, with a rifle, against the -head-hunters. - -That might be, but it was certain young Martin had not been blown half -across the forecourt of a Patiala palace by an explosion of fireworks; -nor had he... Kim fell to telling himself the story of his own -adventures through the last three months. He could paralyse St -Xavier's--even the biggest boys who shaved--with the recital, were that -permitted. But it was, of course, out of the question. There would be -a price upon his head in good time, as Lurgan Sahib had assured him; -and if he talked foolishly now, not only would that price never be set, -but Colonel Creighton would cast him off--and he would be left to the -wrath of Lurgan Sahib and Mahbub Ali--for the short space of life that -would remain to him. - -'So I should lose Delhi for the sake of a fish,' was his proverbial -philosophy. It behoved him to forget his holidays (there would always -remain the fun of inventing imaginary adventures) and, as Lurgan Sahib -had said, to work. Of all the boys hurrying back to St Xavier's, from -Sukkur in the sands to Galle beneath the palms, none was so filled with -virtue as Kimball O'Hara, jiggeting down to Umballa behind Hurree -Chunder Mookerjee, whose name on the books of one section of the -Ethnological Survey was R.17. - -And if additional spur were needed, the Babu supplied it. After a huge -meal at Kalka, he spoke uninterruptedly. Was Kim going to school? -Then he, an M A of Calcutta University, would explain the advantages of -education. There were marks to be gained by due attention to Latin and -Wordsworth's Excursion (all this was Greek to Kim). French, too was -vital, and the best was to be picked up in Chandernagore a few miles -from Calcutta. Also a man might go far, as he himself had done, by -strict attention to plays called Lear and Julius Caesar, both much in -demand by examiners. Lear was not so full of historical allusions as -Julius Caesar; the book cost four annas, but could be bought -second-hand in Bow Bazar for two. Still more important than -Wordsworth, or the eminent authors, Burke and Hare, was the art and -science of mensuration. A boy who had passed his examination in these -branches--for which, by the way, there were no cram-books--could, by -merely marching over a country with a compass and a level and a -straight eye, carry away a picture of that country which might be sold -for large sums in coined silver. But as it was occasionally -inexpedient to carry about measuring-chains a boy would do well to know -the precise length of his own foot-pace, so that when he was deprived -of what Hurree Chunder called adventitious aids' he might still tread -his distances. To keep count of thousands of paces, Hurree Chunder's -experience had shown him nothing more valuable than a rosary of -eighty-one or a hundred and eight beads, for 'it was divisible and -sub-divisible into many multiples and sub-multiples'. Through the -volleying drifts of English, Kim caught the general trend of the talk, -and it interested him very much. Here was a new craft that a man could -tuck away in his head and by the look of the large wide world unfolding -itself before him, it seemed that the more a man knew the better for -him. - -Said the Babu when he had talked for an hour and a half 'I hope some -day to enjoy your offeecial acquaintance. Ad interim, if I may be -pardoned that expression, I shall give you this betel-box, which is -highly valuable article and cost me two rupees only four years ago.' It -was a cheap, heart-shaped brass thing with three compartments for -carrying the eternal betel-nut, lime and pan-leaf; but it was filled -with little tabloid-bottles. - -'That is reward of merit for your performance in character of that holy -man. You see, you are so young you think you will last for ever and -not take care of your body. It is great nuisance to go sick in the -middle of business. I am fond of drugs myself, and they are handy to -cure poor people too. These are good Departmental drugs--quinine and -so on. I give it you for souvenir. Now good-bye. I have urgent -private business here by the roadside.' - -He slipped out noiselessly as a cat, on the Umballa road, hailed a -passing cart and jingled away, while Kim, tongue-tied, twiddled the -brass betel-box in his hands. - -The record of a boy's education interests few save his parents, and, as -you know, Kim was an orphan. It is written in the books of St Xavier's -in Partibus that a report of Kim's progress was forwarded at the end of -each term to Colonel Creighton and to Father Victor, from whose hands -duly came the money for his schooling. It is further recorded in the -same books that he showed a great aptitude for mathematical studies as -well as map-making, and carried away a prize (The Life of Lord -Lawrence, tree-calf, two vols., nine rupees, eight annas) for -proficiency therein; and the same term played in St Xavier's eleven -against the Alighur Mohammedan College, his age being fourteen years -and ten months. He was also re-vaccinated (from which we may assume -that there had been another epidemic of smallpox at Lucknow) about the -same time. Pencil notes on the edge of an old muster-roll record that -he was punished several times for 'conversing with improper persons', -and it seems that he was once sentenced to heavy pains for 'absenting -himself for a day in the company of a street beggar'. That was when he -got over the gate and pleaded with the lama through a whole day down -the banks of the Gumti to accompany him on the Road next holidays--for -one month--for a little week; and the lama set his face as a flint -against it, averring that the time had not yet come. Kim's business, -said the old man as they ate cakes together, was to get all the wisdom -of the Sahibs and then he would see. The Hand of Friendship must in -some way have averted the Whip of Calamity, for six weeks later Kim -seems to have passed an examination in elementary surveying 'with great -credit', his age being fifteen years and eight months. From this date -the record is silent. His name does not appear in the year's batch of -those who entered for the subordinate Survey of India, but against it -stand the words 'removed on appointment.' - -Several times in those three years, cast up at the Temple of the -Tirthankars in Benares the lama, a little thinner and a shade yellower, -if that were possible, but gentle and untainted as ever. Sometimes it -was from the South that he came--from south of Tuticorin, whence the -wonderful fire-boats go to Ceylon where are priests who know Pali; -sometimes it was from the wet green West and the thousand -cotton-factory chimneys that ring Bombay; and once from the North, -where he had doubled back eight hundred miles to talk for a day with -the Keeper of the Images in the Wonder House. He would stride to his -cell in the cool, cut marble--the priests of the Temple were good to -the old man,--wash off the dust of travel, make prayer, and depart for -Lucknow, well accustomed now to the way of the rail, in a third-class -carriage. Returning, it was noticeable, as his friend the Seeker -pointed out to the head-priest, that he ceased for a while to mourn the -loss of his River, or to draw wondrous pictures of the Wheel of Life, -but preferred to talk of the beauty and wisdom of a certain mysterious -chela whom no man of the Temple had ever seen. Yes, he had followed -the traces of the Blessed Feet throughout all India. (The Curator has -still in his possession a most marvellous account of his wanderings and -meditations.) There remained nothing more in life but to find the River -of the Arrow. Yet it was shown to him in dreams that it was a matter -not to be undertaken with any hope of success unless that seeker had -with him the one chela appointed to bring the event to a happy issue, -and versed in great wisdom--such wisdom as white-haired Keepers of -Images possess. For example (here came out the snuff-gourd, and the -kindly Jain priests made haste to be silent): - -'Long and long ago, when Devadatta was King of Benares--let all listen -to the Tataka!--an elephant was captured for a time by the king's -hunters and ere he broke free, beringed with a grievous legiron. This -he strove to remove with hate and frenzy in his heart, and hurrying up -and down the forests, besought his brother-elephants to wrench it -asunder. One by one, with their strong trunks, they tried and failed. -At the last they gave it as their opinion that the ring was not to be -broken by any bestial power. And in a thicket, new-born, wet with -moisture of birth, lay a day-old calf of the herd whose mother had -died. The fettered elephant, forgetting his own agony, said: "If I do -not help this suckling it will perish under our feet." So he stood -above the young thing, making his legs buttresses against the uneasily -moving herd; and he begged milk of a virtuous cow, and the calf throve, -and the ringed elephant was the calf's guide and defence. Now the days -of an elephant--let all listen to the Tataka!--are thirty-five years to -his full strength, and through thirty-five Rains the ringed elephant -befriended the younger, and all the while the fetter ate into the flesh. - -'Then one day the young elephant saw the half-buried iron, and turning -to the elder said: "What is this?" "It is even my sorrow," said he -who had befriended him. Then that other put out his trunk and in the -twinkling of an eyelash abolished the ring, saying: "The appointed -time has come." So the virtuous elephant who had waited temperately -and done kind acts was relieved, at the appointed time, by the very -calf whom he had turned aside to cherish--let all listen to the Tataka! -for the Elephant was Ananda, and the Calf that broke the ring was none -other than The Lord Himself...' - -Then he would shake his head benignly, and over the ever-clicking -rosary point out how free that elephant-calf was from the sin of pride. -He was as humble as a chela who, seeing his master sitting in the dust -outside the Gates of Learning, over-leapt the gates (though they were -locked) and took his master to his heart in the presence of the -proud-stomached city. Rich would be the reward of such a master and -such a chela when the time came for them to seek freedom together! - -So did the lama speak, coming and going across India as softly as a -bat. A sharp-tongued old woman in a house among the fruit-trees behind -Saharunpore honoured him as the woman honoured the prophet, but his -chamber was by no means upon the wall. In an apartment of the -forecourt overlooked by cooing doves he would sit, while she laid aside -her useless veil and chattered of spirits and fiends of Kulu, of -grandchildren unborn, and of the free-tongued brat who had talked to -her in the resting-place. Once, too, he strayed alone from the Grand -Trunk Road below Umballa to the very village whose priest had tried to -drug him; but the kind Heaven that guards lamas sent him at twilight -through the crops, absorbed and unsuspicious, to the Rissaldar's door. -Here was like to have been a grave misunderstanding, for the old -soldier asked him why the Friend of the Stars had gone that way only -six days before. - -'That may not be,' said the lama. 'He has gone back to his own people.' - -'He sat in that corner telling a hundred merry tales five nights ago,' -his host insisted. 'True, he vanished somewhat suddenly in the dawn -after foolish talk with my granddaughter. He grows apace, but he is -the same Friend of the Stars as brought me true word of the war. Have -ye parted?' - -'Yes--and no,' the lama replied. 'We--we have not altogether parted, -but the time is not ripe that we should take the Road together. He -acquires wisdom in another place. We must wait.' - -'All one--but if it were not the boy how did he come to speak so -continually of thee?' - -'And what said he?' asked the lama eagerly. - -'Sweet words--an hundred thousand--that thou art his father and mother -and such all. Pity that he does not take the Qpeen's service. He is -fearless.' - -This news amazed the lama, who did not then know how religiously Kim -kept to the contract made with Mahbub Ali, and perforce ratified by -Colonel Creighton... - -'There is no holding the young pony from the game,' said the -horse-dealer when the Colonel pointed out that vagabonding over India -in holiday time was absurd. 'If permission be refused to go and come -as he chooses, he will make light of the refusal. Then who is to catch -him? Colonel Sahib, only once in a thousand years is a horse born so -well fitted for the game as this our colt. And we need men.' - - - - -Chapter 10 - - - Your tiercel's too long at hack, Sire. He's no eyass - But a passage-hawk that footed ere we caught him, - Dangerously free o' the air. Faith! were he mine - (As mine's the glove he binds to for his tirings) - I'd fly him with a make-hawk. He's in yarak - Plumed to the very point--so manned, so weathered... - Give him the firmament God made him for, - And what shall take the air of him? - - Gow's Watch - - -Lurgan Sahib did not use as direct speech, but his advice tallied with -Mahbub's; and the upshot was good for Kim. He knew better now than to -leave Lucknow city in native garb, and if Mahbub were anywhere within -reach of a letter, it was to Mahbub's camp he headed, and made his -change under the Pathan's wary eye. Could the little Survey paint-box -that he used for map-tinting in term-time have found a tongue to tell -of holiday doings, he might have been expelled. Once Mahbub and he -went together as far as the beautiful city of Bombay, with three -truckloads of tram-horses, and Mahbub nearly melted when Kim proposed a -sail in a dhow across the Indian Ocean to buy Gulf Arabs, which, he -understood from a hanger-on of the dealer Abdul Rahman, fetched better -prices than mere Kabulis. - -He dipped his hand into the dish with that great trader when Mahbub and -a few co-religionists were invited to a big Haj dinner. They came back -by way of Karachi by sea, when Kim took his first experience of -sea-sickness sitting on the fore-hatch of a coasting-steamer, well -persuaded he had been poisoned. The Babu's famous drug-box proved -useless, though Kim had restocked it at Bombay. Mahbub had business at -Quetta, and there Kim, as Mahbub admitted, earned his keep, and perhaps -a little over, by spending four curious days as scullion in the house -of a fat Commissariat sergeant, from whose office-box, in an auspicious -moment, he removed a little vellum ledger which he copied out--it -seemed to deal entirely with cattle and camel sales--by moonlight, -lying behind an outhouse, all through one hot night. Then he returned -the ledger to its place, and, at Mahbub's word, left that service -unpaid, rejoining him six miles down the road, the clean copy in his -bosom. - -'That soldier is a small fish,' Mahbub Ali explained, 'but in time we -shall catch the larger one. He only sells oxen at two prices--one for -himself and one for the Government--which I do not think is a sin.' - -'Why could not I take away the little book and be done with it?' - -'Then he would have been frightened, and he would have told his master. -Then we should miss, perhaps, a great number of new rifles which seek -their way up from Quetta to the North. The Game is so large that one -sees but a little at a time.' - -'Oho!' said Kim, and held his tongue. That was in the monsoon -holidays, after he had taken the prize for mathematics. The Christmas -holidays he spent--deducting ten days for private amusements--with -Lurgan Sahib, where he sat for the most part in front of a roaring -wood-fire--Jakko road was four feet deep in snow that year--and--the -small Hindu had gone away to be married--helped Lurgan to thread -pearls. He made Kim learn whole chapters of the Koran by heart, till -he could deliver them with the very roll and cadence of a mullah. -Moreover, he told Kim the names and properties of many native drugs, as -well as the runes proper to recite when you administer them. And in -the evenings he wrote charms on parchment--elaborate pentagrams crowned -with the names of devils--Murra, and Awan the Companion of Kings--all -fantastically written in the corners. More to the point, he advised -Kim as to the care of his own body, the cure of fever-fits, and simple -remedies of the Road. A week before it was time to go down, Colonel -Creighton Sahib--this was unfair--sent Kim a written examination paper -that concerned itself solely with rods and chains and links and angles. - -Next holidays he was out with Mahbub, and here, by the way, he nearly -died of thirst, plodding through the sand on a camel to the mysterious -city of Bikanir, where the wells are four hundred feet deep, and lined -throughout with camel-bone. It was not an amusing trip from Kim's -point of view, because--in defiance of the contract--the Colonel -ordered him to make a map of that wild, walled city; and since -Mohammedan horse-boys and pipe-tenders are not expected to drag -Survey-chains round the capital of an independent Native State, Kim was -forced to pace all his distances by means of a bead rosary. He used the -compass for bearings as occasion served--after dark chiefly, when the -camels had been fed--and by the help of his little Survey paint-box of -six colour-cakes and three brushes, he achieved something not remotely -unlike the city of Jeysulmir. Mahbub laughed a great deal, and advised -him to make up a written report as well; and in the back of the big -account-book that lay under the flap of Mahbub's pet saddle Kim fell to -work.. - -'It must hold everything that thou hast seen or touched or considered. -Write as though the Jung-i-Lat Sahib himself had come by stealth with a -vast army outsetting to war.' - -'How great an army?' - -'Oh, half a lakh of men.' - -'Folly! Remember how few and bad were the wells in the sand. Not a -thousand thirsty men could come near by here.' - -'Then write that down--also all the old breaches in the walls and -whence the firewood is cut--and what is the temper and disposition of -the King. I stay here till all my horses are sold. I will hire a room -by the gateway, and thou shalt be my accountant. There is a good lock -to the door.' - -The report in its unmistakable St Xavier's running script, and the -brown, yellow, and lake-daubed map, was on hand a few years ago (a -careless clerk filed it with the rough notes of E's second Seistan -survey), but by now the pencil characters must be almost illegible. Kim -translated it, sweating under the light of an oil-lamp, to Mahbub, the -second day of their return-journey. - -The Pathan rose and stooped over his dappled saddle-bags. - -'I knew it would be worthy a dress of honour, and so I made one ready,' -he said, smiling. 'Were I Amir of Afghanistan (and some day we may see -him), I would fill thy mouth with gold.' He laid the garments formally -at Kim's feet. There was a gold-embroidered Peshawur turban-cap, -rising to a cone, and a big turban-cloth ending in a broad fringe of -gold. There was a Delhi embroidered waistcoat to slip over a milky -white shirt, fastening to the right, ample and flowing; green pyjamas -with twisted silk waist-string; and that nothing might be lacking, -russia-leather slippers, smelling divinely, with arrogantly curled tips. - -'Upon a Wednesday, and in the morning, to put on new clothes is -auspicious,' said Mahbub solemnly. 'But we must not forget the wicked -folk in the world. So!' - -He capped all the splendour, that was taking Kim's delighted breath -away, with a mother-of-pearl, nickel-plated, self-extracting .450 -revolver. - -'I had thought of a smaller bore, but reflected that this takes -Government bullets. A man can always come by those--especially across -the Border. Stand up and let me look.' He clapped Kim on the -shoulder. 'May you never be tired, Pathan! Oh, the hearts to be -broken! Oh, the eyes under the eyelashes, looking sideways!' - -Kim turned about, pointed his toes, stretched, and felt mechanically -for the moustache that was just beginning. Then he stooped towards -Mahbub's feet to make proper acknowledgment with fluttering, -quick-patting hands; his heart too full for words. Mahbub forestalled -and embraced him. - -'My son, said he, 'what need of words between us? But is not the -little gun a delight? All six cartridges come out at one twist. It is -borne in the bosom next the skin, which, as it were, keeps it oiled. -Never put it elsewhere, and please God, thou shalt some day kill a man -with it.' - -'Hai mai!' said Kim ruefully. 'If a Sahib kills a man he is hanged in -the jail.' - -'True: but one pace beyond the Border, men are wiser. Put it away; -but fill it first. Of what use is a gun unfed?' - - -'When I go back to the madrissah I must return it. They do not allow -little guns. Thou wilt keep it for me?' - - -'Son, I am wearied of that madrissah, where they take the best years of -a man to teach him what he can only learn upon the Road. The folly of -the Sahibs has neither top nor bottom. No matter. Maybe thy written -report shall save thee further bondage; and God He knows we need men -more and more in the Game.' - -They marched, jaw-bound against blowing sand, across the salt desert to -Jodhpur, where Mahbub and his handsome nephew Habib Ullah did much -trading; and then sorrowfully, in European clothes, which he was fast -outgrowing, Kim went second-class to St Xavier's. Three weeks later, -Colonel Creighton, pricing Tibetan ghost-daggers at Lurgan's shop, -faced Mahbub Ali openly mutinous. Lurgan Sahib operated as support in -reserve. - -'The pony is made--finished--mouthed and paced, Sahib! From now on, -day by day, he will lose his manners if he is kept at tricks. Drop the -rein on his back and let go,' said the horse-dealer. 'We need him.' - -'But he is so young, Mahbub--not more than sixteen--is he?' - -'When I was fifteen, I had shot my man and begot my man, Sahib.' - -'You impenitent old heathen!' Creighton turned to Lurgan. The black -beard nodded assent to the wisdom of the Afghan's dyed scarlet. - -'I should have used him long ago,' said Lurgan. 'The younger the -better. That is why I always have my really valuable jewels watched by -a child. You sent him to me to try. I tried him in every way: he is -the only boy I could not make to see things.' - -'In the crystal--in the ink-pool?' demanded Mahbub. - -'No. Under my hand, as I told you. That has never happened before. It -means that he is strong enough--but you think it skittles, Colonel -Creighton--to make anyone do anything he wants. And that is three -years ago. I have taught him a good deal since, Colonel Creighton. I -think you waste him now.' - -'Hmm! Maybe you're right. But, as you know, there is no Survey work -for him at present.' - -'Let him out let him go,' Mahbub interrupted. 'Who expects any colt to -carry heavy weight at first? Let him run with the caravans--like our -white camel-colts--for luck. I would take him myself, but--' - -'There is a little business where he would be most useful--in the -South,' said Lurgan, with peculiar suavity, dropping his heavy blued -eyelids. - -'E.23 has that in hand,' said Creighton quickly. 'He must not go down -there. Besides, he knows no Turki.' - -'Only tell him the shape and the smell of the letters we want and he -will bring them back,' Lurgan insisted. - -'No. That is a man's job,' said Creighton. - -It was a wry-necked matter of unauthorized and incendiary -correspondence between a person who claimed to be the ultimate -authority in all matters of the Mohammedan religion throughout the -world, and a younger member of a royal house who had been brought to -book for kidnapping women within British territory. The Moslem -Archbishop had been emphatic and over-arrogant; the young prince was -merely sulky at the curtailment of his privileges, but there was no -need he should continue a correspondence which might some day -compromise him. One letter indeed had been procured, but the finder -was later found dead by the roadside in the habit of an Arab trader, as -E.23, taking up the work, duly reported. - -These facts, and a few others not to be published, made both Mahbub and -Creighton shake their heads. - -'Let him go out with his Red Lama,' said the horse-dealer with visible -effort. 'He is fond of the old man. He can learn his paces by the -rosary at least.' - -'I have had some dealings with the old man--by letter,' said Colonel -Creighton, smiling to himself. 'Whither goes he?' - -'Up and down the land, as he has these three years. He seeks a River -of Healing. God's curse upon all--' Mahbub checked himself. 'He beds -down at the Temple of the Tirthankars or at Buddh Gaya when he is in -from the Road. Then he goes to see the boy at the madrissah, as we -know for the boy was punished for it twice or thrice. He is quite mad, -but a peaceful man. I have met him. The Babu also has had dealings -with him. We have watched him for three years. Red Lamas are not so -common in Hind that one loses track.' - -'Babus are very curious,' said Lurgan meditatively. 'Do you know what -Hurree Babu really wants? He wants to be made a member of the Royal -Society by taking ethnological notes. I tell you, I tell him about the -lama everything which Mahbub and the boy have told me. Hurree Babu goes -down to Benares--at his own expense, I think.' - -'I don't,' said Creighton briefly. He had paid Hurree's travelling -expenses, out of a most lively curiosity to learn what the lama might -be. - -'And he applies to the lama for information on lamaism, and -devil-dances, and spells and charms, several times in these few years. -Holy Virgin! I could have told him all that yeears ago. I think -Hurree Babu is getting too old for the Road. He likes better to -collect manners and customs information. Yes, he wants to be an FRS. - -'Hurree thinks well of the boy, doesn't he?' - -'Oh, very indeed--we have had some pleasant evenings at my little -place--but I think it would be waste to throw him away with Hurree on -the Ethnological side.' - -'Not for a first experience. How does that strike you, Mahbub? Let -the boy run with the lama for six months. After that we can see. He -will get experience.' - -'He has it already, Sahib--as a fish controls the water he swims in. -But for every reason it will be well to loose him from the school.' - -'Very good, then,' said Creighton, half to himself. 'He can go with -the lama, and if Hurree Babu cares to keep an eye on them so much the -better. He won't lead the boy into any danger as Mahbub would. -Curious--his wish to be an F R S. Very human, too. He is best on the -Ethnological side--Hurree.' - -No money and no preferment would have drawn Creighton from his work on -the Indian Survey, but deep in his heart also lay the ambition to write -'F R S' after his name. Honours of a sort he knew could be obtained by -ingenuity and the help of friends, but, to the best of his belief, -nothing save work--papers representing a life of it--took a man into -the Society which he had bombarded for years with monographs on strange -Asiatic cults and unknown customs. Nine men out of ten would flee from -a Royal Society soiree in extremity of boredom; but Creighton was the -tenth, and at times his soul yearned for the crowded rooms in easy -London where silver-haired, bald-headed gentlemen who know nothing of -the Army move among spectroscopic experiments, the lesser plants of the -frozen tundras, electric flight-measuring machines, and apparatus for -slicing into fractional millimetres the left eye of the female -mosquito. By all right and reason, it was the Royal Geographical that -should have appealed to him, but men are as chancy as children in their -choice of playthings. So Creighton smiled, and thought the better of -Hurree Babu, moved by like desire. - -He dropped the ghost-dagger and looked up at Mahbub. - -'How soon can we get the colt from the stable?' said the horse-dealer, -reading his eyes. - -'Hmm! If I withdraw him by order now--what will he do, think you? I -have never before assisted at the teaching of such an one.' - -'He will come to me,' said Mahbub promptly. 'Lurgan Sahib and I will -prepare him for the Road.' - -'So be it, then. For six months he shall run at his choice. But who -will be his sponsor?' - -Lurgan slightly inclined his head. 'He will not tell anything, if that -is what you are afraid of, Colonel Creighton.' - -'It's only a boy, after all.' - -'Ye-es; but first, he has nothing to tell; and secondly, he knows what -would happen. Also, he is very fond of Mahbub, and of me a little.' - -'Will he draw pay?' demanded the practical horse-dealer. - -'Food and water allowance only. Twenty rupees a month.' - -One advantage of the Secret Service is that it has no worrying audit. -That Service is ludicrously starved, of course, but the funds are -administered by a few men who do not call for vouchers or present -itemized accounts. Mahbub's eyes lighted with almost a Sikh's love of -money. Even Lurgan's impassive face changed. He considered the years -to come when Kim would have been entered and made to the Great Game -that never ceases day and night, throughout India. He foresaw honour -and credit in the mouths of a chosen few, coming to him from his pupil. -Lurgan Sahib had made E.23 what E.23 was, out of a bewildered, -impertinent, lying, little North-West Province man. - -But the joy of these masters was pale and smoky beside the joy of Kim -when St Xavier's Head called him aside, with word that Colonel -Creighton had sent for him. - -'I understand, O'Hara, that he has found you a place as an assistant -chain-man in the Canal Department: that comes of taking up -mathematics. It is great luck for you, for you are only sixteen; but -of course you understand that you do not become pukka [permanent] till -you have passed the autumn examination. So you must not think you are -going out into the world to enjoy yourself, or that your fortune is -made. There is a great deal of hard work before you. Only, if you -succeed in becoming pukka, you can rise, you know, to four hundred and -fifty a month.' Whereat the Principal gave him much good advice as to -his conduct, and his manners, and his morals; and others, his elders, -who had not been wafted into billets, talked as only Anglo-Indian lads -can, of favouritism and corruption. Indeed, young Cazalet, whose -father was a pensioner at Chunar, hinted very broadly that Colonel -Creighton's interest in Kim was directly paternal; and Kim, instead of -retaliating, did not even use language. He was thinking of the immense -fun to come, of Mahbub's letter of the day before, all neatly written -in English, making appointment for that afternoon in a house the very -name of which would have crisped the Principal's hair with horror... - -Said Kim to Mahbub in Lucknow railway station that evening, above the -luggage-scales: 'I feared lest at the last, the roof would fall upon -me and cheat me. It is indeed all finished, O my father?' - -Mahbub snapped his fingers to show the utterness of that end, and his -eyes blazed like red coals. - -'Then where is the pistol that I may wear it?' - -'Softly! A half-year, to run without heel-ropes. I begged that much -from Colonel Creighton Sahib. At twenty rupees a month. Old Red Hat -knows that thou art coming.' - -'I will pay thee dustoorie [commission] on my pay for three months,' -said Kim gravely. 'Yea, two rupees a month. But first we must get rid -of these.' He plucked his thin linen trousers and dragged at his -collar. 'I have brought with me all that I need on the Road. My trunk -has gone up to Lurgan Sahib's.' - -'Who sends his salaams to thee--Sahib.' - -'Lurgan Sahib is a very clever man. But what dost thou do?' - -'I go North again, upon the Great Game. What else? Is thy mind still -set on following old Red Hat?' - -'Do not forget he made me that I am--though he did not know it. Year by -year, he sent the money that taught me.' - -'I would have done as much--had it struck my thick head,' Mahbub -growled. 'Come away. The lamps are lit now, and none will mark thee -in the bazar. We go to Huneefa's house.' - -On the way thither, Mahbub gave him much the same sort of advice as his -mother gave to Lemuel, and curiously enough, Mahbub was exact to point -out how Huneefa and her likes destroyed kings. - -'And I remember,' he quoted maliciously, 'one who said, "Trust a snake -before an harlot, and an harlot before a Pathan, Mahbub Ali." Now, -excepting as to Pathans, of whom I am one, all that is true. Most true -is it in the Great Game, for it is by means of women that all plans -come to ruin and we lie out in the dawning with our throats cut. So it -happened to such a one.' He gave the reddest particulars. - -'Then why--?' Kim paused before a filthy staircase that climbed to the -warm darkness of an upper chamber, in the ward that is behind Azim -Ullah's tobacco-shop. Those who know it call it The Birdcage--it is so -full of whisperings and whistlings and chirrupings. - -The room, with its dirty cushions and half-smoked hookahs, smelt -abominably of stale tobacco. In one corner lay a huge and shapeless -woman clad in greenish gauzes, and decked, brow, nose, ear, neck, -wrist, arm, waist, and ankle with heavy native jewellery. When she -turned it was like the clashing of copper pots. A lean cat in the -balcony outside the window mewed hungrily. Kim checked, bewildered, at -the door-curtain. - -'Is that the new stuff, Mahbub?' said Huneefa lazily, scarce troubling -to remove the mouthpiece from her lips. 'O Buktanoos!'--like most of -her kind, she swore by the Djinns--'O Buktanoos! He is very good to -look upon.' - -'That is part of the selling of the horse,' Mahbub explained to Kim, -who laughed. - -'I have heard that talk since my Sixth Day,' he replied, squatting by -the light. 'Whither does it lead?' - -'To protection. Tonight we change thy colour. This sleeping under -roofs has blanched thee like an almond. But Huneefa has the secret of -a colour that catches. No painting of a day or two. Also, we fortify -thee against the chances of the Road. That is my gift to thee, my son. -Take out all metals on thee and lay them here. Make ready, Huneefa.' - -Kim dragged forth his compass, Survey paint-box, and the new-filled -medicine-box. They had all accompanied his travels, and boylike he -valued them immensely. - -The woman rose slowly and moved with her hands a little spread before -her. Then Kim saw that she was blind. 'No, no,' she muttered, 'the -Pathan speaks truth--my colour does not go in a week or a month, and -those whom I protect are under strong guard.' - -'When one is far off and alone, it would not be well to grow blotched -and leprous of a sudden,' said Mahbub. 'When thou wast with me I could -oversee the matter. Besides, a Pathan is a fair-skin. Strip to the -waist now and look how thou art whitened.' Huneefa felt her way back -from an inner room. 'It is no matter, she cannot see.' He took a -pewter bowl from her ringed hand. - -The dye-stuff showed blue and gummy. Kim experimented on the back of -his wrist, with a dab of cotton-wool; but Huneefa heard him. - -'No, no,' she cried, 'the thing is not done thus, but with the proper -ceremonies. The colouring is the least part. I give thee the full -protection of the Road.' - -'Tadoo? [magic],'said Kim, with a half start. He did not like the -white, sightless eyes. Mahbub's hand on his neck bowed him to the -floor, nose within an inch of the boards. - -'Be still. No harm comes to thee, my son. I am thy sacrifice!' - -He could not see what the woman was about, but heard the dish-clash of -her jewellery for many minutes. A match lit up the darkness; he caught -the well-known purr and fizzle of grains of incense. Then the room -filled with smoke--heavy aromatic, and stupefying. Through growing -drowse he heard the names of devils--of Zulbazan, Son of Eblis, who -lives in bazars and paraos, making all the sudden lewd wickedness of -wayside halts; of Dulhan, invisible about mosques, the dweller among -the slippers of the faithful, who hinders folk from their prayers; and -Musboot, Lord of lies and panic. Huneefa, now whispering in his ear, -now talking as from an immense distance, touched him with horrible soft -fingers, but Mahbub's grip never shifted from his neck till, relaxing -with a sigh, the boy lost his senses. - -'Allah! How he fought! We should never have done it but for the -drugs. That was his white blood, I take it,' said Mahbub testily. 'Go -on with the dawut [invocation]. Give him full Protection.' - -'O Hearer! Thou that hearest with ears, be present. Listen, O -Hearer!' Huneefa moaned, her dead eyes turned to the west. The dark -room filled with moanings and snortings. - -From the outer balcony, a ponderous figure raised a round bullet head -and coughed nervously. - -'Do not interrupt this ventriloquial necromanciss, my friend,' it said -in English. 'I opine that it is very disturbing to you, but no -enlightened observer is jolly-well upset.' - -'..........I will lay a plot for their ruin! O Prophet, bear with the -unbelievers. Let them alone awhile!' Huneefa's face, turned to the -northward, worked horribly, and it was as though voices from the -ceiling answered her. - -Hurree Babu returned to his note-book, balanced on the window-sill, but -his hand shook. Huneefa, in some sort of drugged ecstasy, wrenched -herself to and fro as she sat cross-legged by Kim's still head, and -called upon devil after devil, in the ancient order of the ritual, -binding them to avoid the boy's every action. - -'With Him are the keys of the Secret Things! None knoweth them besides -Himself He knoweth that which is in the dry land and in the sea!' -Again broke out the unearthly whistling responses. - -'I--I apprehend it is not at all malignant in its operation?' said the -Babu, watching the throat-muscles quiver and jerk as Huneefa spoke with -tongues. 'It--it is not likely that she has killed the boy? If so, I -decline to be witness at the trial .....What was the last hypothetical -devil mentioned?' - -'Babuji,' said Mahbub in the vernacular. 'I have no regard for the -devils of Hind, but the Sons of Eblis are far otherwise, and whether -they be jumalee [well-affected] or jullalee [terrible] they love not -Kafirs.' - -'Then you think I had better go?' said Hurree Babu, half rising. 'They -are, of course, dematerialized phenomena. Spencer says.' - -Huneefa's crisis passed, as these things must, in a paroxysm of -howling, with a touch of froth at the lips. She lay spent and -motionless beside Kim, and the crazy voices ceased. - -'Wah! That work is done. May the boy be better for it; and Huneefa is -surely a mistress of dawut. Help haul her aside, Babu. Do not be -afraid.' - -'How am I to fear the absolutely non-existent?' said Hurree Babu, -talking English to reassure himself. It is an awful thing still to -dread the magic that you contemptuously investigate--to collect -folk-lore for the Royal Society with a lively belief in all Powers of -Darkness. - -Mahbub chuckled. He had been out with Hurree on the Road ere now. 'Let -us finish the colouring,' said he. 'The boy is well protected if--if -the Lords of the Air have ears to hear. I am a Sufi [free-thinker], -but when one can get blind-sides of a woman, a stallion, or a devil, -why go round to invite a kick? Set him upon the way, Babu, and see -that old Red Hat does not lead him beyond our reach. I must get back -to my horses.' - -'All raight,' said Hurree Babu. 'He is at present curious spectacle.' - -About third cockcrow, Kim woke after a sleep of thousands of years. -Huneefa, in her corner, snored heavily, but Mahbub was gone. - -'I hope you were not frightened,' said an oily voice at his elbow. 'I -superintended entire operation, which was most interesting from -ethnological point of view. It was high-class dawut.' - -'Huh!' said Kim, recognizing Hurree Babu, who smiled ingratiatingly. - -'And also I had honour to bring down from Lurgan your present costume. -I am not in the habit offeecially of carrying such gauds to -subordinates, but'--he giggled--'your case is noted as exceptional on -the books. I hope Mr Lurgan will note my action.' - -Kim yawned and stretched himself. It was good to turn and twist within -loose clothes once again. - -'What is this?' He looked curiously at the heavy duffle-stuff loaded -with the scents of the far North. - -'Oho! That is inconspicuous dress of chela attached to service of -lamaistic lama. Complete in every particular,' said Hurree Babu, -rolling into the balcony to clean his teeth at a goglet. 'I am of -opeenion it is not your old gentleman's precise releegion, but rather -sub-variant of same. I have contributed rejected notes To Whom It May -Concern: Asiatic Quarterly Review on these subjects. Now it is -curious that the old gentleman himself is totally devoid of -releegiosity. He is not a dam' particular.' - -'Do you know him?' - -Hurree Babu held up his hand to show he was engaged in the prescribed -rites that accompany tooth-cleaning and such things among decently bred -Bengalis. Then he recited in English an Arya-Somaj prayer of a -theistical nature, and stuffed his mouth with pan and betel. - -'Oah yes. I have met him several times at Benares, and also at Buddh -Gaya, to interrogate him on releegious points and devil-worship. He is -pure agnostic--same as me.' - -Huneefa stirred in her sleep, and Hurree Babu jumped nervously to the -copper incense-burner, all black and discoloured in morning-light, -rubbed a finger in the accumulated lamp-black, and drew it diagonally -across his face. - -'Who has died in thy house?' asked Kim in the vernacular. - -'None. But she may have the Evil Eye--that sorceress,' the Babu -replied. - -'What dost thou do now, then?' - -'I will set thee on thy way to Benares, if thou goest thither, and tell -thee what must be known by Us.' - -'I go. At what hour runs the te-rain?' He rose to his feet, looked -round the desolate chamber and at the yellow-wax face of Huneefa as the -low sun stole across the floor. 'Is there money to be paid that witch?' - -'No. She has charmed thee against all devils and all dangers in the -name of her devils. It was Mahbub's desire.' In English: 'He is -highly obsolete, I think, to indulge in such supersteetion. Why, it is -all ventriloquy. Belly-speak--eh?' - -Kim snapped his fingers mechanically to avert whatever evil--Mahbub, he -knew, meditated none--might have crept in through Huneefa's -ministrations; and Hurree giggled once more. But as he crossed the -room he was careful not to step in Huneefa's blotched, squat shadow on -the boards. Witches--when their time is on them--can lay hold of the -heels of a man's soul if he does that. - -'Now you must well listen,' said the Babu when they were in the fresh -air. 'Part of these ceremonies which we witnessed they include supply -of effeecient amulet to those of our Department. If you feel in your -neck you will find one small silver amulet, verree cheap. That is ours. -Do you understand?' - -'Oah yes, hawa-dilli [a heart-lifter],' said Kim, feeling at his neck. - -'Huneefa she makes them for two rupees twelve annas with--oh, all sorts -of exorcisms. They are quite common, except they are partially black -enamel, and there is a paper inside each one full of names of local -saints and such things. Thatt is Huneefa's look-out, you see? Huneefa -makes them onlee for us, but in case she does not, when we get them we -put in, before issue, one small piece of turquoise. Mr Lurgan he gives -them. There is no other source of supply; but it was me invented all -this. It is strictly unoffeecial of course, but convenient for -subordinates. Colonel Creighton he does not know. He is European. -The turquoise is wrapped in the paper ... Yes, that is road to railway -station ... Now suppose you go with the lama, or with me, I hope, some -day, or with Mahbub. Suppose we get into a dam'-tight place. I am a -fearful man--most fearful--but I tell you I have been in dam'-tight -places more than hairs on my head. You say: "I am Son of the Charm." -Verree good.' - -'I do not understand quite. We must not be heard talking English here.' - -'That is all raight. I am only Babu showing off my English to you. All -we Babus talk English to show off;' said Hurree, flinging his -shoulder-cloth jauntily. 'As I was about to say, "Son of the Charm" -means that you may be member of the Sat Bhai--the Seven Brothers, which -is Hindi and Tantric. It is popularly supposed to be extinct Society, -but I have written notes to show it is still extant. You see, it is -all my invention. Verree good. Sat Bhai has many members, and perhaps -before they jolly-well-cut-your-throat they may give you just a chance -of life. That is useful, anyhow. And moreover, these foolish -natives--if they are not too excited--they always stop to think before -they kill a man who says he belongs to any speecific organization. You -see? You say then when you are in tight place, "I am Son of the -Charm", and you get--perhaps--ah--your second wind. That is only in -extreme instances, or to open negotiations with a stranger. Can you -quite see? Verree good. But suppose now, I, or any one of the -Department, come to you dressed quite different. You would not know me -at all unless I choose, I bet you. Some day I will prove it. I come -as Ladakhi trader--oh, anything--and I say to you: "You want to buy -precious stones?" You say: "Do I look like a man who buys precious -stones?" Then I say: "Even verree poor man can buy a turquoise or -tarkeean."' - -'That is kichree--vegetable curry,' said Kim. - -'Of course it is. You say: "Let me see the tarkeean." Then I say: -"It was cooked by a woman, and perhaps it is bad for your caste." Then -you say: "There is no caste when men go to--look for tarkeean." You -stop a little between those words, "to--look". That is thee whole -secret. The little stop before the words.' - -Kim repeated the test-sentence. - -'That is all right. Then I will show you my turquoise if there is -time, and then you know who I am, and then we exchange views and -documents and those-all things. And so it is with any other man of us. -We talk sometimes about turquoises and sometimes about tarkeean, but -always with that little stop in the words. It is verree easy. First, -"Son of the Charm", if you are in a tight place. Perhaps that may help -you--perhaps not. Then what I have told you about the tarkeean, if you -want to transact offeecial business with a strange man. Of course, at -present, you have no offeecial business. You are--ah -ha!--supernumerary on probation. Quite unique specimen. If you were -Asiatic of birth you might be employed right off; but this half-year of -leave is to make you de-Englishized, you see? The lama he expects you, -because I have demi-offeecially informed him you have passed all your -examinations, and will soon obtain Government appointment. Oh ho! You -are on acting-allowance, you see: so if you are called upon to help -Sons of the Charm mind you jolly-well try. Now I shall say good-bye, my -dear fellow, and I hope you--ah--will come out top-side all raight.' - -Hurree Babu stepped back a pace or two into the crowd at the entrance -of Lucknow station and--was gone. Kim drew a deep breath and hugged -himself all over. The nickel-plated revolver he could feel in the -bosom of his sad-coloured robe, the amulet was on his neck; -begging-gourd, rosary, and ghost-dagger (Mr Lurgan had forgotten -nothing) were all to hand, with medicine, paint-box, and compass, and -in a worn old purse-belt embroidered with porcupine-quill patterns lay -a month's pay. Kings could be no richer. He bought sweetmeats in a -leaf-cup from a Hindu trader, and ate them with glad rapture till a -policeman ordered him off the steps. - - - - -Chapter 11 - - - Give the man who is not made - To his trade - Swords to fling and catch again, - Coins to ring and snatch again, - Men to harm and cure again, - Snakes to charm and lure again-- - He'll be hurt by his own blade, - By his serpents disobeyed, - By his clumsiness bewrayed,' - By the people mocked to scorn-- - So 'tis not with juggler born! - Pinch of dust or withered flower, - Chance-flung fruit or borrowed staff, - Serve his need and shore his power, - Bind the spell, or loose the laugh! - But a man who, etc. - - The Juggler's Song, op. 15 - - -Followed a sudden natural reaction. - -'Now am I alone--all alone,' he thought. 'In all India is no one so -alone as I! If I die today, who shall bring the news--and to whom? If I -live and God is good, there will be a price upon my head, for I am a -Son of the Charm--I, Kim.' - -A very few white people, but many Asiatics, can throw themselves into a -mazement as it were by repeating their own names over and over again to -themselves, letting the mind go free upon speculation as to what is -called personal identity. When one grows older, the power, usually, -departs, but while it lasts it may descend upon a man at any moment. - -'Who is Kim--Kim--Kim?' - -He squatted in a corner of the clanging waiting-room, rapt from all -other thoughts; hands folded in lap, and pupils contracted to -pin-points. In a minute--in another half-second--he felt he would -arrive at the solution of the tremendous puzzle; but here, as always -happens, his mind dropped away from those heights with a rush of a -wounded bird, and passing his hand before his eyes, he shook his head. - -A long-haired Hindu bairagi [holy man], who had just bought a ticket, -halted before him at that moment and stared intently. - -'I also have lost it,' he said sadly. 'It is one of the Gates to the -Way, but for me it has been shut many years.' - -'What is the talk?' said Kim, abashed. - -'Thou wast wondering there in thy spirit what manner of thing thy soul -might be. The seizure came of a sudden. I know. Who should know but -I? Whither goest thou?' - -'Toward Kashi [Benares].' - -'There are no Gods there. I have proved them. I go to Prayag -[Allahabad] for the fifth time--seeking the Road to Enlightenment. Of -what faith art thou?' - -'I too am a Seeker,' said Kim, using one of the lama's pet words. -'Though'--he forgot his Northern dress for the moment--'though Allah -alone knoweth what I seek.' - -The old fellow slipped the bairagi's crutch under his armpit and sat -down on a patch of ruddy leopard's skin as Kim rose at the call for the -Benares train. - -'Go in hope, little brother,' he said. 'It is a long road to the feet -of the One; but thither do we all travel.' - -Kim did not feel so lonely after this, and ere he had sat out twenty -miles in the crowded compartment, was cheering his neighbours with a -string of most wonderful yarns about his own and his master's magical -gifts. - -Benares struck him as a peculiarly filthy city, though it was pleasant -to find how his cloth was respected. At least one-third of the -population prays eternally to some group or other of the many million -deities, and so reveres every sort of holy man. Kim was guided to the -Temple of the Tirthankars, about a mile outside the city, near Sarnath, -by a chance-met Punjabi farmer--a Kamboh from Jullundur-way who had -appealed in vain to every God of his homestead to cure his small son, -and was trying Benares as a last resort. - -'Thou art from the North?' he asked, shouldering through the press of -the narrow, stinking streets much like his own pet bull at home. - -'Ay, I know the Punjab. My mother was a pahareen, but my father came -from Amritzar--by Jandiala,' said Kim, oiling his ready tongue for the -needs of the Road. - -'Jandiala--Jullundur? Oho! Then we be neighbours in some sort, as it -were.' He nodded tenderly to the wailing child in his arms. 'Whom -dost thou serve?' - -'A most holy man at the Temple of the Tirthankers.' - -'They are all most holy and--most greedy,' said the Jat with -bitterness. 'I have walked the pillars and trodden the temples till my -feet are flayed, and the child is no whit better. And the mother being -sick too ... Hush, then, little one ... We changed his name when the -fever came. We put him into girl's clothes. There was nothing we did -not do, except--I said to his mother when she bundled me off to -Benares--she should have come with me--I said Sakhi Sarwar Sultan would -serve us best. We know His generosity, but these down-country Gods are -strangers.' - -The child turned on the cushion of the huge corded arms and looked at -Kim through heavy eyelids. - -'And was it all worthless?' Kim asked, with easy interest. - -'All worthless--all worthless,' said the child, lips cracking with -fever. - -'The Gods have given him a good mind, at least' said the father -proudly. 'To think he should have listened so cleverly. Yonder is thy -Temple. Now I am a poor man--many priests have dealt with me--but my -son is my son, and if a gift to thy master can cure him--I am at my -very wits' end.' - -Kim considered for a while, tingling with pride. Three years ago he -would have made prompt profit on the situation and gone his way without -a thought; but now, the very respect the Jat paid him proved that he -was a man. Moreover, he had tasted fever once or twice already, and -knew enough to recognize starvation when he saw it. - -'Call him forth and I will give him a bond on my best yoke, so that the -child is cured.' - -Kim halted at the carved outer door of the temple. A white-clad Oswal -banker from Ajmir, his sins of usury new wiped out, asked him what he -did. - -'I am chela to Teshoo Lama, an Holy One from Bhotiyal--within there. He -bade me come. I wait. Tell him.' - -'Do not forget the child,' cried the importunate Jat over his shoulder, -and then bellowed in Punjabi; 'O Holy One--O disciple of the Holy -One--O Gods above all the Worlds--behold affliction sitting at the -gate!' That cry is so common in Benares that the passers never turned -their heads. - -The Oswal, at peace with mankind, carried the message into the darkness -behind him, and the easy, uncounted Eastern minutes slid by; for the -lama was asleep in his cell, and no priest would wake him. When the -click of his rosary again broke the hush of the inner court where the -calm images of the Arhats stand, a novice whispered, 'Thy chela is -here,' and the old man strode forth, forgetting the end of that prayer. - -Hardly had the tall figure shown in the doorway than the Jat ran before -him, and, lifting up the child, cried: 'Look upon this, Holy One; and -if the Gods will, he lives--he lives!' - -He fumbled in his waist-belt and drew out a small silver coin. - -'What is now?' The lama's eyes turned to Kim. It was noticeable he -spoke far clearer Urdu than long ago, under ZamZammah; but father would -allow no private talk. - -'It is no more than a fever,' said Kim. 'The child is not well fed.' - -'He sickens at everything, and his mother is not here.' - -'If it be permitted, I may cure, Holy One.' - -'What! Have they made thee a healer? Wait here,' said the lama, and -he sat down by the Jat upon the lowest step of the temple, while Kim, -looking out of the corner of his eyes, slowly opened the little -betel-box. He had dreamed dreams at school of returning to the lama as -a Sahib--of chaffing the old man before he revealed himself--boy's -dreams all. There was more drama in this abstracted, brow-puckered -search through the tabloid-bottles, with a pause here and there for -thought and a muttered invocation between whiles. Quinine he had in -tablets, and dark brown meat-lozenges--beef most probably, but that was -not his business. The little thing would not eat, but it sucked at a -lozenge greedily, and said it liked the salt taste. - -'Take then these six.' Kim handed them to the man. 'Praise the Gods, -and boil three in milk; other three in water. After he has drunk the -milk give him this' (it was the half of a quinine pill), 'and wrap him -warm. Give him the water of the other three, and the other half of -this white pill when he wakes. Meantime, here is another brown -medicine that he may suck at on the way home.' - -'Gods, what wisdom!' said the Kamboh, snatching. - -It was as much as Kim could remember of his own treatment in a bout of -autumn malaria--if you except the patter that he added to impress the -lama. - -'Now go! Come again in the morning.' - -'But the price--the price,' said the Jat, and threw back his sturdy -shoulders. 'My son is my son. Now that he will be whole again, how -shall I go back to his mother and say I took help by the wayside and -did not even give a bowl of curds in return?' - -'They are alike, these Jats,' said Kim softly. 'The Jat stood on his -dunghill and the King's elephants went by. "O driver," said he, "what -will you sell those little donkeys for?"' - -The Jat burst into a roar of laughter, stifled with apologies to the -lama. 'It is the saying of my own country the very talk of it. So are -we Jats all. I will come tomorrow with the child; and the blessing of -the Gods of the Homesteads--who are good little Gods--be on you both -... Now, son, we grow strong again. Do not spit it out, little -Princeling! King of my Heart, do not spit it out, and we shall be -strong men, wrestlers and club-wielders, by morning.' - -He moved away, crooning and mumbling. The lama turned to Kim, and all -the loving old soul of him looked out through his narrow eyes. - -'To heal the sick is to acquire merit; but first one gets knowledge. -That was wisely done, O Friend of all the World.' - -'I was made wise by thee, Holy One,' said Kim, forgetting the little -play just ended; forgetting St Xavier's; forgetting his white blood; -forgetting even the Great Game as he stooped, Mohammedan-fashion, to -touch his master's feet in the dust of the Jain temple. 'My teaching I -owe to thee. I have eaten thy bread three years. My time is finished. -I am loosed from the schools. I come to thee.' - -'Herein is my reward. Enter! Enter! And is all well?' They passed -to the inner court, where the afternoon sun sloped golden across. -'Stand that I may see. So!' He peered critically. 'It is no longer a -child, but a man, ripened in wisdom, walking as a physician. I did -well--I did well when I gave thee up to the armed men on that black -night. Dost thou remember our first day under Zam-Zammah?' - -'Ay,' said Kim. 'Dost thou remember when I leapt off the carriage the -first day I went to--' - -'The Gates of Learning? Truly. And the day that we ate the cakes -together at the back of the river by Nucklao. Aha! Many times hast -thou begged for me, but that day I begged for thee.' - -'Good reason,' quoth Kim. 'I was then a scholar in the Gates of -Learning, and attired as a Sahib. Do not forget, Holy One,' he went on -playfully. 'I am still a Sahib--by thy favour.' - -'True. And a Sahib in most high esteem. Come to my cell, chela.' - -'How is that known to thee?' - -The lama smiled. 'First by means of letters from the kindly priest -whom we met in the camp of armed men; but he is now gone to his own -country, and I sent the money to his brother.' Colonel Creighton, who -had succeeded to the trusteeship when Father Victor went to England -with the Mavericks, was hardly the Chaplain's brother. 'But I do not -well understand Sahibs' letters. They must be interpreted to me. I -chose a surer way. Many times when I returned from my Search to this -Temple, which has always been a nest to me, there came one seeking -Enlightenment--a man from Leh--that had been, he said, a Hindu, but -wearied of all those Gods.' The lama pointed to the Arhats. - -'A fat man?' said Kim, a twinkle in his eye. - -'Very fat; but I perceived in a little his mind was wholly given up to -useless things--such as devils and charms and the form and fashion of -our tea-drinkings in the monasteries, and by what road we initiated the -novices. A man abounding in questions; but he was a friend of thine, -chela. He told me that thou wast on the road to much honour as a -scribe. And I see thou art a physician.' - -'Yes, that am I--a scribe, when I am a Sahib, but it is set aside when -I come as thy disciple. I have accomplished the years appointed for a -Sahib.' - -'As it were a novice?' said the lama, nodding his head. 'Art thou -freed from the schools? I would not have thee unripe.' - -'I am all free. In due time I take service under the Government as a -scribe--' - -'Not as a warrior. That is well.' - -'But first I come to wander with thee. Therefore I am here. Who begs -for thee, these days?' he went on quickly. The ice was thin. - -'Very often I beg myself; but, as thou knowest, I am seldom here, -except when I come to look again at my disciple. From one end to -another of Hind have I travelled afoot and in the te-rain. A great and -a wonderful land! But here, when I put in, is as though I were in my -own Bhotiyal.' - -He looked round the little clean cell complacently. A low cushion gave -him a seat, on which he had disposed himself in the cross-legged -attitude of the Bodhisat emerging from meditation; a black teak-wood -table, not twenty inches high, set with copper tea-cups, was before -him. In one corner stood a tiny altar, also of heavily carved teak, -bearing a copper-gilt image of the seated Buddha and fronted by a lamp, -an incense-holder, and a pair of copper flower-pots. - -'The Keeper of the Images in the Wonder House acquired merit by giving -me these a year since,' he said, following Kim's eye. 'When one is far -from one's own land such things carry remembrance; and we must -reverence the Lord for that He showed the Way. See!' He pointed to a -curiously-built mound of coloured rice crowned with a fantastic metal -ornament. 'When I was Abbot in my own place--before I came to better -knowledge I made that offering daily. It is the Sacrifice of the -Universe to the Lord. Thus do we of Bhotiyal offer all the world daily -to the Excellent Law. And I do it even now, though I know that the -Excellent One is beyond all pinchings and pattings.' He snuffed from -his gourd. - -'It is well done, Holy One,' Kim murmured, sinking at ease on the -cushions, very happy and rather tired. - -'And also,' the old man chuckled, 'I write pictures of the Wheel of -Life. Three days to a picture. I was busied on it--or it may be I -shut my eyes a little--when they brought word of thee. It is good to -have thee here: I will show thee my art--not for pride's sake, but -because thou must learn. The Sahibs have not all this world's wisdom.' - -He drew from under the table a sheet of strangely scented yellow -Chinese paper, the brushes, and slab of Indian ink. In cleanest, -severest outline he had traced the Great Wheel with its six spokes, -whose centre is the conjoined Hog, Snake, and Dove (Ignorance, Anger, -and Lust), and whose compartments are all the Heavens and Hells, and -all the chances of human life. Men say that the Bodhisat Himself first -drew it with grains of rice upon dust, to teach His disciples the cause -of things. Many ages have crystallized it into a most wonderful -convention crowded with hundreds of little figures whose every line -carries a meaning. Few can translate the picture-parable; there are -not twenty in all the world who can draw it surely without a copy: of -those who can both draw and expound are but three. - -'I have a little learned to draw,' said Kim. 'But this is a marvel -beyond marvels.' - -'I have written it for many years,' said the lama. 'Time was when I -could write it all between one lamp-lighting and the next. I will -teach thee the art--after due preparation; and I will show thee the -meaning of the Wheel.' - -'We take the Road, then?' - -'The Road and our Search. I was but waiting for thee. It was made -plain to me in a hundred dreams--notably one that came upon the night -of the day that the Gates of Learning first shut that without thee I -should never find my River. Again and again, as thou knowest, I put -this from me, fearing an illusion. Therefore I would not take thee -with me that day at Lucknow, when we ate the cakes. I would not take -thee till the time was ripe and auspicious. From the Hills to the Sea, -from the Sea to the Hills have I gone, but it was vain. Then I -remembered the Tataka.' - -He told Kim the story of the elephant with the leg-iron, as he had told -it so often to the Jam priests. - -'Further testimony is not needed,' he ended serenely. 'Thou wast sent -for an aid. That aid removed, my Search came to naught. Therefore we -will go out again together, and our Search sure.' - -'Whither go we?' - -'What matters, Friend of all the World? The Search, I say, is sure. If -need be, the River will break from the ground before us. I acquired -merit when I sent thee to the Gates of Learning, and gave thee the -jewel that is Wisdom. Thou didst return, I saw even now, a follower of -Sakyamuni, the Physician, whose altars are many in Bhotiyal. It is -sufficient. We are together, and all things are as they were--Friend -of all the World--Friend of the Stars--my chela!' - -Then they talked of matters secular; but it was noticeable that the -lama never demanded any details of life at St Xavier's, nor showed the -faintest curiosity as to the manners and customs of Sahibs. His mind -moved all in the past, and he revived every step of their wonderful -first journey together, rubbing his hands and chuckling, till it -pleased him to curl himself up into the sudden sleep of old age. - -Kim watched the last dusty sunshine fade out of the court, and played -with his ghost-dagger and rosary. The clamour of Benares, oldest of -all earth's cities awake before the Gods, day and night, beat round the -walls as the sea's roar round a breakwater. Now and again, a Jain -priest crossed the court, with some small offering to the images, and -swept the path about him lest by chance he should take the life of a -living thing. A lamp twinkled, and there followed the sound of a -prayer. Kim watched the stars as they rose one after another in the -still, sticky dark, till he fell asleep at the foot of the altar. That -night he dreamed in Hindustani, with never an English word... - -'Holy One, there is the child to whom we gave the medicine,' he said, -about three o'clock in the morning, when the lama, also waking from -dreams, would have fared forth on pilgrimage. 'The Jat will be here at -the light.' - -'I am well answered. In my haste I would have done a wrong.' He sat -down on the cushions and returned to his rosary. 'Surely old folk are -as children,' he said pathetically. 'They desire a matter--behold, it -must be done at once, or they fret and weep! Many times when I was -upon the Road I have been ready to stamp with my feet at the hindrance -of an ox-cart in the way, or a mere cloud of dust. It was not so when I -was a man--a long time ago. None the less it is wrongful--' - -'But thou art indeed old, Holy One.' - -'The thing was done. A Cause was put out into the world, and, old or -young, sick or sound, knowing or unknowing, who can rein in the effect -of that Cause? Does the Wheel hang still if a child spin it--or a -drunkard? Chela, this is a great and a terrible world.' - -'I think it good,' Kim yawned. 'What is there to eat? I have not -eaten since yesterday even.' - -'I had forgotten thy need. Yonder is good Bhotiyal tea and cold rice.' - -'We cannot walk far on such stuff.' Kim felt all the European's lust -for flesh-meat, which is not accessible in a Jain temple. Yet, instead -of going out at once with the begging-bowl, he stayed his stomach on -slabs of cold rice till the full dawn. It brought the farmer, voluble, -stuttering with gratitude. - -'In the night the fever broke and the sweat came,' he cried. 'Feel -here--his skin is fresh and new! He esteemed the salt lozenges, and -took milk with greed.' He drew the cloth from the child's face, and it -smiled sleepily at Kim. A little knot of Jain priests, silent but -all-observant, gathered by the temple door. They knew, and Kim knew -that they knew, how the old lama had met his disciple. Being courteous -folk, they had not obtruded themselves overnight by presence, word, or -gesture. Wherefore Kim repaid them as the sun rose. - -'Thank the Gods of the Jains, brother,' he said, not knowing how those -Gods were named. 'The fever is indeed broken.' - -'Look! See!' The lama beamed in the background upon his hosts of -three years. 'Was there ever such a chela? He follows our Lord the -Healer.' - -Now the Jains officially recognize all the Gods of the Hindu creed, as -well as the Lingam and the Snake. They wear the Brahminical thread; -they adhere to every claim of Hindu caste-law. But, because they knew -and loved the lama, because he was an old man, because he sought the -Way, because he was their guest, and because he collogued long of -nights with the head-priest--as free-thinking a metaphysician as ever -split one hair into seventy--they murmured assent. - -'Remember,'--Kim bent over the child--. 'this trouble may come again.' - -'Not if thou hast the proper spell,' said the father. - -'But in a little while we go away.' - -'True,' said the lama to all the Jains. 'We go now together upon the -Search whereof I have often spoken. I waited till my chela was ripe. -Behold him! We go North. Never again shall I look upon this place of -my rest, O people of good will.' - -'But I am not a beggar.' The cultivator rose to his feet, clutching -the child. - -'Be still. Do not trouble the Holy One,' a priest cried. - -'Go,' Kim whispered. 'Meet us again under the big railway bridge, and -for the sake of all the Gods of our Punjab, bring food--curry, pulse, -cakes fried in fat, and sweetmeats. Specially sweetmeats. Be swift!' - -The pallor of hunger suited Kim very well as he stood, tall and slim, -in his sand-coloured, sweeping robes, one hand on his rosary and the -other in the attitude of benediction, faithfully copied from the lama. -An English observer might have said that he looked rather like the -young saint of a stained-glass window, whereas he was but a growing lad -faint with emptiness. - -Long and formal were the farewells, thrice ended and thrice renewed. -The Seeker--he who had invited the lama to that haven from far-away -Tibet, a silver-faced, hairless ascetic--took no part in it, but -meditated, as always, alone among the images. The others were very -human; pressing small comforts upon the old man--a betel-box, a fine -new iron pencase, a food-bag, and such-like--warning him against the -dangers of the world without, and prophesying a happy end to the -Search. Meantime Kim, lonelier than ever, squatted on the steps, and -swore to himself in the language of St Xavier's. - -'But it is my own fault,' he concluded. 'With Mahbub, I ate Mahbub's -bread, or Lurgan Sahib's. At St Xavier's, three meals a day. Here I -must jolly-well look out for myself. Besides, I am not in good -training. How I could eat a plate of beef now! ... Is it finished, -Holy One?' - -The lama, both hands raised, intoned a final blessing in ornate -Chinese. 'I must lean on thy shoulder,' said he, as the temple gates -closed. 'We grow stiff, I think.' - -The weight of a six-foot man is not light to steady through miles of -crowded streets, and Kim, loaded down with bundles and packages for the -way, was glad to reach the shadow of the railway bridge. - -'Here we eat,' he said resolutely, as the Kamboh, blue-robed and -smiling, hove in sight, a basket in one hand and the child in the other. - -'Fall to, Holy Ones!' he cried from fifty yards. (They were by the -shoal under the first bridge-span, out of sight of hungry priests.) -'Rice and good curry, cakes all warm and well scented with hing -[asafoetida], curds and sugar. King of my fields,'--this to the small -son--'let us show these holy men that we Jats of Jullundur can pay a -service ... I had heard the Jains would eat nothing that they had not -cooked, but truly'--he looked away politely over the broad -river--'where there is no eye there is no caste.' - -'And we,' said Kim, turning his back and heaping a leafplatter for the -lama, 'are beyond all castes.' - -They gorged themselves on the good food in silence. Nor till he had -licked the last of the sticky sweetstuff from his little finger did Kim -note that the Kamboh too was girt for travel. - -'If our roads lie together,' he said roughly, 'I go with thee. One -does not often find a worker of miracles, and the child is still weak. -But I am not altogether a reed.' He picked up his lathi--a five-foot -male-bamboo ringed with bands of polished iron--and flourished it in -the air. 'The Jats are called quarrel-some, but that is not true. -Except when we are crossed, we are like our own buffaloes.' - -'So be it,' said Kim. 'A good stick is a good reason.' - -The lama gazed placidly up-stream, where in long, smudged perspective -the ceaseless columns of smoke go up from the burning-ghats by the -river. Now and again, despite all municipal regulations, the fragment -of a half-burned body bobbed by on the full current. - -'But for thee,' said the Kamboh to Kim, drawing the child into his -hairy breast, 'I might today have gone thither--with this one. The -priests tell us that Benares is holy--which none doubt--and desirable -to die in. But I do not know their Gods, and they ask for money; and -when one has done one worship a shaved-head vows it is of none effect -except one do another. Wash here! Wash there! Pour, drink, lave, and -scatter flowers--but always pay the priests. No, the Punjab for me, -and the soil of the Jullundur-doab for the best soil in it.' - -'I have said many times--in the Temple, I think--that if need be, the -River will open at our feet. We will therefore go North,' said the -lama, rising. 'I remember a pleasant place, set about with -fruit-trees, where one can walk in meditation--and the air is cooler -there. It comes from the Hills and the snow of the Hills.' - -'What is the name?' said Kim. - -'How should I know? Didst thou not--no, that was after the Army rose -out of the earth and took thee away. I abode there in meditation in a -room against the dovecot--except when she talked eternally.' - -'Oho! the woman from Kulu. That is by Saharunpore.' Kim laughed. - -'How does the spirit move thy master? Does he go afoot, for the sake -of past sins?' the Jat demanded cautiously. 'It is a far cry to -Delhi.' - -'No,' said Kim. 'I will beg a tikkut for the te-rain.' One does not -own to the possession of money in India. - -'Then, in the name of the Gods, let us take the fire-carriage. My son -is best in his mother's arms. The Government has brought on us many -taxes, but it gives us one good thing--the te-rain that joins friends -and unites the anxious. A wonderful matter is the te-rain.' - -They all piled into it a couple of hours later, and slept through the -heat of the day. The Kamboh plied Kim with ten thousand questions as -to the lama's walk and work in life, and received some curious answers. -Kim was content to be where he was, to look out upon the flat -North-Western landscape, and to talk to the changing mob of -fellow-passengers. Even today, tickets and ticket-clipping are dark -oppression to Indian rustics. They do not understand why, when they -have paid for a magic piece of paper, strangers should punch great -pieces out of the charm. So, long and furious are the debates between -travellers and Eurasian ticket-collectors. Kim assisted at two or -three with grave advice, meant to darken counsel and to show off his -wisdom before the lama and the admiring Kamboh. But at Somna Road the -Fates sent him a matter to think upon. There tumbled into the -compartment, as the train was moving off, a mean, lean little person--a -Mahratta, so far as Kim could judge by the cock of the tight turban. -His face was cut, his muslin upper-garment was badly torn, and one leg -was bandaged. He told them that a country-cart had upset and nearly -slain him: he was going to Delhi, where his son lived. Kim watched -him closely. If, as he asserted, he had been rolled over and over on -the earth, there should have been signs of gravel-rash on the skin. -But all his injuries seemed clean cuts, and a mere fall from a cart -could not cast a man into such extremity of terror. As, with shaking -fingers, he knotted up the torn cloth about his neck he laid bare an -amulet of the kind called a keeper-up of the heart. Now, amulets are -common enough, but they are not generally strung on square-plaited -copper wire, and still fewer amulets bear black enamel on silver. -There were none except the Kamboh and the lama in the compartment, -which, luckily, was of an old type with solid ends. Kim made as to -scratch in his bosom, and thereby lifted his own amulet. The -Mahratta's face changed altogether at the sight, and he disposed the -amulet fairly on his breast. - -'Yes,' he went on to the Kamboh, 'I was in haste, and the cart, driven -by a bastard, bound its wheel in a water-cut, and besides the harm done -to me there was lost a full dish of tarkeean. I was not a Son of the -Charm [a lucky man] that day.' - -'That was a great loss,' said the Kamboh, withdrawing interest. His -experience of Benares had made him suspicious. - -'Who cooked it?' said Kim. - -'A woman.' The Mahratta raised his eyes. - -'But all women can cook tarkeean,' said the Kamboh. 'It is a good -curry, as I know.' - -'Oh yes, it is a good curry,' said the Mahratta. - -'And cheap,' said Kim. 'But what about caste?' - -'Oh, there is no caste where men go to--look for tarkeean,' the -Mahratta replied, in the prescribed cadence. 'Of whose service art -thou?' - -'Of the service of this Holy One.' Kim pointed to the happy, drowsy -lama, who woke with a jerk at the well-loved word. - -'Ah, he was sent from Heaven to aid me. He is called the Friend of all -the World. He is also called the Friend of the Stars. He walks as a -physician--his time being ripe. Great is his wisdom.' - -'And a Son of the Charm,' said Kim under his breath, as the Kamboh made -haste to prepare a pipe lest the Mahratta should beg. - -'And who is that?' the Mahratta asked, glancing sideways nervously. - -'One whose child I--we have cured, who lies under great debt to us. Sit -by the window, man from Jullundur. Here is a sick one.' - -'Humph! I have no desire to mix with chance-met wastrels. My ears are -not long. I am not a woman wishing to overhear secrets.' The Jat slid -himself heavily into a far corner. - -'Art thou anything of a healer? I am ten leagues deep in calamity,' -cried the Mahratta, picking up the cue. - -'This man is cut and bruised all over. I go about to cure him,' Kim -retorted. 'None interfered between thy babe and me.' - -'I am rebuked,' said the Kamboh meekly. 'I am thy debtor for the life -of my son. Thou art a miracle-worker--I know it.' - -'Show me the cuts.' Kim bent over the Mahratta's neck, his heart -nearly choking him; for this was the Great Game with a vengeance. 'Now, -tell thy tale swiftly, brother, while I say a charm.' - -'I come from the South, where my work lay. One of us they slew by the -roadside. Hast thou heard?' Kim shook his head. He, of course, knew -nothing of E's predecessor, slain down South in the habit of an Arab -trader. 'Having found a certain letter which I was sent to seek, I -came away. I escaped from the city and ran to Mhow. So sure was I -that none knew, I did not change my face. At Mhow a woman brought -charge against me of theft of jewellery in that city which I had left. -Then I saw the cry was out against me. I ran from Mhow by night, -bribing the police, who had been bribed to hand me over without -question to my enemies in the South. Then I lay in old Chitor city a -week, a penitent in a temple, but I could not get rid of the letter -which was my charge. I buried it under the Queen's Stone, at Chitor, -in the place known to us all.' - -Kim did not know, but not for worlds would he have broken the thread. - -'At Chitor, look you, I was all in Kings' country; for Kotah to the -east is beyond the Queen's law, and east again lie Jaipur and Gwalior. -Neither love spies, and there is no justice. I was hunted like a wet -jackal; but I broke through at Bandakui, where I heard there was a -charge against me of murder in the city I had left--of the murder of a -boy. They have both the corpse and the witnesses waiting.' - -'But cannot the Government protect?' - -'We of the Game are beyond protection. If we die, we die. Our names -are blotted from the book. That is all. At Bandakui, where lives one -of Us, I thought to slip the scent by changing my face, and so made me -a Mahratta. Then I came to Agra, and would have turned back to Chitor -to recover the letter. So sure I was I had slipped them. Therefore I -did not send a tar [telegram] to any one saying where the letter lay. -I wished the credit of it all.' - -Kim nodded. He understood that feeling well. - -'But at Agra, walking in the streets, a man cried a debt against me, -and approaching with many witnesses, would hale me to the courts then -and there. Oh, they are clever in the South! He recognized me as his -agent for cotton. May he burn in Hell for it!' - -'And wast thou?' - -'O fool! I was the man they sought for the matter of the letter! I -ran into the Fleshers' Ward and came out by the House of the Jew, who -feared a riot and pushed me forth. I came afoot to Somna Road--I had -only money for my tikkut to Delhi--and there, while I lay in a ditch -with a fever, one sprang out of the bushes and beat me and cut me and -searched me from head to foot. Within earshot of the terain it was!' - -'Why did he not slay thee out of hand?' - -'They are not so foolish. If I am taken in Delhi at the instance of -lawyers, upon a proven charge of murder, my body is handed over to the -State that desires it. I go back guarded, and then--I die slowly for -an example to the rest of Us. The South is not my country. I run in -circles--like a goat with one eye. I have not eaten for two days. I -am marked'--he touched the filthy bandage on his leg--'so that they -will know me at Delhi.' - -'Thou art safe in the te-rain, at least.' - -'Live a year at the Great Game and tell me that again! The wires will -be out against me at Delhi, describing every tear and rag upon me. -Twenty--a hundred, if need be--will have seen me slay that boy. And -thou art useless!' - -Kim knew enough of native methods of attack not to doubt that the case -would be deadly complete--even to the corpse. The Mahratta twitched -his fingers with pain from time to time. The Kamboh in his corner -glared sullenly; the lama was busy over his beads; and Kim, fumbling -doctor-fashion at the man's neck, thought out his plan between -invocations. - -'Hast thou a charm to change my shape? Else I am dead. Five--ten -minutes alone, if I had not been so pressed, and I might--' - -'Is he cured yet, miracle-worker?' said the Kamboh jealously. 'Thou -hast chanted long enough.' - -'Nay. There is no cure for his hurts, as I see, except he sit for -three days in the habit of a bairagi.' This is a common penance, often -imposed on a fat trader by his spiritual teacher. - -'One priest always goes about to make another priest,' was the retort. -Like most grossly superstitious folk, the Kamboh could not keep his -tongue from deriding his Church. - -'Will thy son be a priest, then? It is time he took more of my -quinine.' - -'We Jats are all buffaloes,' said the Kamboh, softening anew. - -Kim rubbed a finger-tip of bitterness on the child's trusting little -lips. 'I have asked for nothing,' he said sternly to the father, -'except food. Dost thou grudge me that? I go to heal another man. -Have I thy leave--Prince?' - -Up flew the man's huge paws in supplication. 'Nay--nay. Do not mock -me thus.' - -'It pleases me to cure this sick one. Thou shalt acquire merit by -aiding. What colour ash is there in thy pipe-bowl? White. That is -auspicious. Was there raw turmeric among thy foodstuffs?' - -'I--I--' - -'Open thy bundle!' - -It was the usual collection of small oddments: bits of cloth, quack -medicines, cheap fairings, a clothful of atta--greyish, rough-ground -native flour--twists of down-country tobacco, tawdry pipe-stems, and a -packet of curry-stuff, all wrapped in a quilt. Kim turned it over with -the air of a wise warlock, muttering a Mohammedan invocation. - -'This is wisdom I learned from the Sahibs,' he whispered to the lama; -and here, when one thinks of his training at Lurgan's, he spoke no more -than the truth. 'There is a great evil in this man's fortune, as shown -by the Stars, which--which troubles him. Shall I take it away?' - -'Friend of the Stars, thou hast done well in all things. Let it be at -thy pleasure. Is it another healing?' - -'Quick! Be quick!' gasped the Mahratta. 'The train may stop.' - -'A healing against the shadow of death,' said Kim, mixing the Kamboh's -flour with the mingled charcoal and tobacco ash in the red-earth bowl -of the pipe. E, without a word, slipped off his turban and shook down -his long black hair. - - -'That is my food--priest,' the jat growled. - -'A buffalo in the temple! Hast thou dared to look even thus far?' said -Kim. 'I must do mysteries before fools; but have a care for thine -eyes. Is there a film before them already? I save the babe, and for -return thou--oh, shameless!' The man flinched at the direct gaze, for -Kim was wholly in earnest. - -'Shall I curse thee, or shall I--' He picked up the outer cloth of the -bundle and threw it over the bowed head. 'Dare so much as to think a -wish to see, and--and--even I cannot save thee. Sit! Be dumb!' - -'I am blind--dumb. Forbear to curse! Co--come, child; we will play a -game of hiding. Do not, for my sake, look from under the cloth.' - -'I see hope,' said E23. 'What is thy scheme?' - -'This comes next,' said Kim, plucking the thin body-shirt. E23 -hesitated, with all a North-West man's dislike of baring his body. - -'What is caste to a cut throat?' said Kim, rending it to the waist. -'We must make thee a yellow Saddhu all over. Strip--strip swiftly, and -shake thy hair over thine eyes while I scatter the ash. Now, a -caste-mark on thy forehead.' He drew from his bosom the little Survey -paint-box and a cake of crimson lake. - -'Art thou only a beginner?' said E23, labouring literally for the dear -life, as he slid out of his body-wrappings and stood clear in the -loin-cloth while Kim splashed in a noble caste-mark on the ash-smeared -brow. - -'But two days entered to the Game, brother,' Kim replied. 'Smear more -ash on the bosom.' - -'Hast thou met--a physician of sick pearls?' He switched out his long, -tight-rolled turban-cloth and, with swiftest hands, rolled it over and -under about his loins into the intricate devices of a Saddhu's cincture. - -'Hah! Dost thou know his touch, then? He was my teacher for a while. -We must bar thy legs. Ash cures wounds. Smear it again.' - -'I was his pride once, but thou art almost better. The Gods are kind -to us! Give me that.' - -It was a tin box of opium pills among the rubbish of the Jat's bundle. -E23 gulped down a half handful. 'They are good against hunger, fear, -and chill. And they make the eyes red too,' he explained. 'Now I -shall have heart to play the Game. We lack only a Saddhu's tongs. -What of the old clothes?' - -Kim rolled them small, and stuffed them into the slack folds of his -tunic. With a yellow-ochre paint cake he smeared the legs and the -breast, great streaks against the background of flour, ash, and -turmeric. - -'The blood on them is enough to hang thee, brother.' - -'Maybe; but no need to throw them out of the window ... It is -finished.' His voice thrilled with a boy's pure delight in the Game. -'Turn and look, O Jat!' - -'The Gods protect us,' said the hooded Kamboh, emerging like a buffalo -from the reeds. 'But--whither went the Mahratta? What hast thou done?' - -Kim had been trained by Lurgan Sahib; E23, by virtue of his business, -was no bad actor. In place of the tremulous, shrinking trader there -lolled against the corner an all but naked, ash-smeared, ochre-barred, -dusty-haired Saddhu, his swollen eyes--opium takes quick effect on an -empty stomach--luminous with insolence and bestial lust, his legs -crossed under him, Kim's brown rosary round his neck, and a scant yard -of worn, flowered chintz on his shoulders. The child buried his face -in his amazed father's arms. - -'Look up, Princeling! We travel with warlocks, but they will not hurt -thee. Oh, do not cry ... What is the sense of curing a child one day -and killing him with fright the next?' - -'The child will be fortunate all his life. He has seen a great -healing. When I was a child I made clay men and horses.' - -'I have made them too. Sir Banas, he comes in the night and makes them -all alive at the back of our kitchen-midden,' piped the child. - -'And so thou art not frightened at anything. Eh, Prince?' - -'I was frightened because my father was frightened. I felt his arms -shake.' - -'Oh, chicken-man!' said Kim, and even the abashed Jat laughed. 'I -have done a healing on this poor trader. He must forsake his gains and -his account-books, and sit by the wayside three nights to overcome the -malignity of his enemies. The Stars are against him.' - -'The fewer money-lenders the better, say I; but, Saddhu or no Saddhu, -he should pay for my stuff on his shoulders.' - -'So? But that is thy child on thy shoulder--given over to the -burning-ghat not two days ago. There remains one thing more. I did -this charm in thy presence because need was great. I changed his shape -and his soul. None the less, if, by any chance, O man from Jullundur, -thou rememberest what thou hast seen, either among the elders sitting -under the village tree, or in thine own house, or in company of thy -priest when he blesses thy cattle, a murrain will come among the -buffaloes, and a fire in thy thatch, and rats in the corn-bins, and the -curse of our Gods upon thy fields that they may be barren before thy -feet and after thy ploughshare.' This was part of an old curse picked -up from a fakir by the Taksali Gate in the days of Kim's innocence. It -lost nothing by repetition. - -'Cease, Holy One! In mercy, cease!' cried the Jat. 'Do not curse the -household. I saw nothing! I heard nothing! I am thy cow!' and he -made to grab at Kim's bare foot beating rhythmically on the carriage -floor. 'But since thou hast been permitted to aid me in the matter of -a pinch of flour and a little opium and such trifles as I have honoured -by using in my art, so will the Gods return a blessing,' and he gave it -at length, to the man's immense relief. It was one that he had learned -from Lurgan Sahib. - -The lama stared through his spectacles as he had not stared at the -business of disguisement. 'Friend of the Stars,' he said at last, -'thou hast acquired great wisdom. Beware that it do not give birth to -pride. No man having the Law before his eyes speaks hastily of any -matter which he has seen or encountered.' - -'No--no--no, indeed,' cried the farmer, fearful lest the master should -be minded to improve on the pupil. E23, with relaxed mouth, gave -himself up to the opium that is meat, tobacco, and medicine to the -spent Asiatic. - -So, in a silence of awe and great miscomprehension, they slid into -Delhi about lamp-lighting time. - - - - -Chapter 12 - - - Who hath desired the Sea--the sight of salt-water unbounded? - The heave and the halt and the hurl and the crash of the comber - wind-hounded? - The sleek-barrelled swell before storm--grey, foamless, enormous, - and growing? - Stark calm on the lap of the Line--or the crazy-eyed hurricane - blowing? - His Sea in no showing the same--his Sea and the same 'neath all - showing-- - His Sea that his being fulfils? - So and no otherwise--so and no otherwise hill-men desire their Hills! - - The Sea and the Hills. - - -'I have found my heart again,' said E23, under cover of the platform's -tumult. 'Hunger and fear make men dazed, or I might have thought of -this escape before. I was right. They come to hunt for me. Thou hast -saved my head.' - -A group of yellow-trousered Punjab policemen, headed by a hot and -perspiring young Englishman, parted the crowd about the carriages. -Behind them, inconspicuous as a cat, ambled a small fat person who -looked like a lawyer's tout. - -'See the young Sahib reading from a paper. My description is in his -hand,' said E23. 'Thev go carriage by carriage, like fisher-folk -netting a pool.' - -When the procession reached their compartment, E23 was counting his -beads with a steady jerk of the wrist; while Kim jeered at him for -being so drugged as to have lost the ringed fire-tongs which are the -Saddhu's distinguishing mark. The lama, deep in meditation, stared -straight before him; and the farmer, glancing furtively, gathered up -his belongings. - -'Nothing here but a parcel of holy-bolies,' said the Englishman aloud, -and passed on amid a ripple of uneasiness; for native police mean -extortion to the native all India over. - -'The trouble now,' whispered E23, 'lies in sending a wire as to the -place where I hid that letter I was sent to find. I cannot go to the -tar-office in this guise.' - -'Is it not enough I have saved thy neck?' - -'Not if the work be left unfinished. Did never the healer of sick -pearls tell thee so? Comes another Sahib! Ah!' - -This was a tallish, sallowish District Superintendent of Police--belt, -helmet, polished spurs and all--strutting and twirling his dark -moustache. - -'What fools are these Police Sahibs!' said Kim genially. - -E23 glanced up under his eyelids. 'It is well said,' he muttered in a -changed voice. 'I go to drink water. Keep my place.' - -He blundered out almost into the Englishman's arms, and was bad-worded -in clumsy Urdu. - -'Tum mut? You drunk? You mustn't bang about as though Delhi station -belonged to you, my friend.' - -E23, not moving a muscle of his countenance, answered with a stream of -the filthiest abuse, at which Kim naturally rejoiced. It reminded him -of the drummer-boys and the barrack-sweepers at Umballa in the terrible -time of his first schooling. - -'My good fool,' the Englishman drawled. 'Nickle-jao! Go back to your -carriage.' - -Step by step, withdrawing deferentially and dropping his voice, the -yellow Saddhu clomb back to the carriage, cursing the D.S.P. to -remotest posterity, by--here Kim almost jumped--by the curse of the -Queen's Stone, by the writing under the Queen's Stone, and by an -assortment of Gods with wholly, new names. - -'I don't know what you're saying,'--the Englishman flushed -angrily--'but it's some piece of blasted impertinence. Come out of -that!' - -E23, affecting to misunderstand, gravely produced his ticket, which the -Englishman wrenched angrily from his hand. - -'Oh, zoolum! What oppression!' growled the Jat from his corner. 'All -for the sake of a jest too.' He had been grinning at the freedom of -the Saddhu's tongue. 'Thy charms do not work well today, Holy One!' - -The Saddhu followed the policeman, fawning and supplicating. The ruck -of passengers, busy, with their babies and their bundles, had not -noticed the affair. Kim slipped out behind him; for it flashed through -his head that he had heard this angry, stupid Sahib discoursing loud -personalities to an old lady near Umballa three years ago. - -'It is well', the Saddhu whispered, jammed in the calling, shouting, -bewildered press--a Persian greyhound between his feet and a cageful of -yelling hawks under charge of a Rajput falconer in the small of his -back. 'He has gone now to send word of the letter which I hid. They -told me he was in Peshawur. I might have known that he is like the -crocodile--always at the other ford. He has saved me from present -calamity, but I owe my life to thee.' - -'Is he also one of Us?' Kim ducked under a Mewar camel-driver's greasy -armpit and cannoned off a covey of jabbering Sikh matrons. - -'Not less than the greatest. We are both fortunate! I will make -report to him of what thou hast done. I am safe under his protection.' - -He bored through the edge of the crowd besieging the carriages, and -squatted by the bench near the telegraph-office. - -'Return, or they take thy place! Have no fear for the work, -brother--or my life. Thou hast given me breathing-space, and -Strickland Sahib has pulled me to land. We may work together at the -Game yet. Farewell!' - -Kim hurried to his carriage: elated, bewildered, but a little nettled -in that he had no key to the secrets about him. - -'I am only a beginner at the Game, that is sure. I could not have -leaped into safety as did the Saddhu. He knew it was darkest under the -lamp. I could not have thought to tell news under pretence of cursing -... and how clever was the Sahib! No matter, I saved the life of one -... Where is the Kamboh gone, Holy One?' he whispered, as he took his -seat in the now crowded compartment. - -'A fear gripped him,' the lama replied, with a touch of tender malice. -'He saw thee change the Mahratta to a Saddhu in the twinkling of an -eye, as a protection against evil. That shook him. Then he saw the -Saddhu fall sheer into the hands of the polis--all the effect of thy -art. Then he gathered up his son and fled; for he said that thou didst -change a quiet trader into an impudent bandier of words with the -Sahibs, and he feared a like fate. Where is the Saddhu?' - -'With the polis,' said Kim ... 'Yet I saved the Kamboh's child.' - -The lama snuffed blandly. - -'Ah, chela, see how thou art overtaken! Thou didst cure the Kamboh's -child solely to acquire merit. But thou didst put a spell on the -Mahratta with prideful workings--I watched thee--and with sidelong -glances to bewilder an old old man and a foolish farmer: whence -calamity and suspicion.' - -Kim controlled himself with an effort beyond his years. Not more than -any other youngster did he like to eat dirt or to be misjudged, but he -saw himself in a cleft stick. The train rolled out of Delhi into the -night. - -'It is true,' he murmured. 'Where I have offended thee I have done -wrong.' - -'It is more, chela. Thou hast loosed an Act upon the world, and as a -stone thrown into a pool so spread the consequences thou canst not tell -how far.' - -This ignorance was well both for Kim's vanity and for the lama's peace -of mind, when we think that there was then being handed in at Simla a -code-wire reporting the arrival of E23 at Delhi, and, more important, -the whereabouts of a letter he had been commissioned to--abstract. -Incidentally, an over-zealous policeman had arrested, on charge of -murder done in a far southern State, a horribly indignant Ajmir -cotton-broker, who was explaining himself to a Mr Strickland on Delhi -platform, while E23 was paddling through byways into the locked heart -of Delhi city. In two hours several telegrams had reached the angry -minister of a southern State reporting that all trace of a somewhat -bruised Mahratta had been lost; and by the time the leisurely train -halted at Saharunpore the last ripple of the stone Kim had helped to -heave was lapping against the steps of a mosque in far-away Roum--where -it disturbed a pious man at prayers. - -The lama made his in ample form near the dewy bougainvillea-trellis -near the platform, cheered by the clear sunshine and the presence of -his disciple. 'We will put these things behind us,' he said, -indicating the brazen engine and the gleaming track. 'The jolting of -the te-rain--though a wonderful thing--has turned my bones to water. -We will use clean air henceforward.' - -'Let us go to the Kulu woman's house' said Kim, and stepped forth -cheerily under the bundles. Early morning Saharunpore-way is clean and -well scented. He thought of the other mornings at St Xavier's, and it -topped his already thrice-heaped contentment. - -'Where is this new haste born from? Wise men do not run about like -chickens in the sun. We have come hundreds upon hundreds of koss -already, and, till now, I have scarcely been alone with thee an -instant. How canst thou receive instruction all jostled of crowds? How -can I, whelmed by a flux of talk, meditate upon the Way?' - -'Her tongue grows no shorter with the years, then?' the disciple -smiled. - -'Nor her desire for charms. I remember once when I spoke of the Wheel -of Life'--the lama fumbled in his bosom for his latest copy--'she was -only curious about the devils that besiege children. She shall acquire -merit by entertaining us--in a little while--at an -after-occasion--softly, softly. Now we will wander loose-foot, waiting -upon the Chain of Things. The Search is sure.' - -So they travelled very easily across and among the broad bloomful -fruit-gardens--by way of Aminabad, Sahaigunge, Akrola of the Ford, and -little Phulesa--the line of the Siwaliks always to the north, and -behind them again the snows. After long, sweet sleep under the dry -stars came the lordly, leisurely passage through a waking -village--begging-bowl held forth in silence, but eyes roving in -defiance of the Law from sky's edge to sky's edge. Then would Kim -return soft-footed through the soft dust to his master under the shadow -of a mango-tree or the thinner shade of a white Doon siris, to eat and -drink at ease. At mid-day, after talk and a little wayfaring, they -slept; meeting the world refreshed when the air was cooler. Night -found them adventuring into new territory--some chosen village spied -three hours before across the fat land, and much discussed upon the -road. - -There they told their tale--a new one each evening so far as Kim was -concerned--and there were they made welcome, either by priest or -headman, after the custom of the kindly East. - -When the shadows shortened and the lama leaned more heavily upon Kim, -there was always the Wheel of Life to draw forth, to hold flat under -wiped stones, and with a long straw to expound cycle by cycle. Here sat -the Gods on high--and they were dreams of dreams. Here was our Heaven -and the world of the demi-Gods--horsemen fighting among the hills. -Here were the agonies done upon the beasts, souls ascending or -descending the ladder and therefore not to be interfered with. Here -were the Hells, hot and cold, and the abodes of tormented ghosts. Let -the chela study the troubles that come from over-eating--bloated -stomach and burning bowels. Obediently, then, with bowed head and -brown finger alert to follow the pointer, did the chela study; but when -they came to the Human World, busy and profitless, that is just above -the Hells, his mind was distracted; for by the roadside trundled the -very Wheel itself, eating, drinking, trading, marrying, and -quarrelling--all warmly alive. Often the lama made the living pictures -the matter of his text, bidding Kim--too ready--note how the flesh -takes a thousand shapes, desirable or detestable as men reckon, but in -truth of no account either way; and how the stupid spirit, bond-slave -to the Hog, the Dove, and the Serpent--lusting after betel-nut, a new -yoke of oxen, women, or the favour of kings--is bound to follow the -body through all the Heavens and all the Hells, and strictly round -again. Sometimes a woman or a poor man, watching the ritual--it was -nothing less--when the great yellow chart was unfolded, would throw a -few flowers or a handful of cowries upon its edge. It sufficed these -humble ones that they had met a Holy One who might be moved to remember -them in his prayers. - -'Cure them if they are sick,' said the lama, when Kim's sporting -instincts woke. 'Cure them if they have fever, but by no means work -charms. Remember what befell the Mahratta.' - -'Then all Doing is evil?' Kim replied, lying out under a big tree at -the fork of the Doon road, watching the little ants run over his hand. - -'To abstain from action is well--except to acquire merit.' - -'At the Gates of Learning we were taught that to abstain from action -was unbefitting a Sahib. And I am a Sahib.' - -'Friend of all the World,'--the lama looked directly at Kim--'I am an -old man--pleased with shows as are children. To those who follow the -Way there is neither black nor white, Hind nor Bhotiyal. We be all -souls seeking escape. No matter what thy wisdom learned among Sahibs, -when we come to my River thou wilt be freed from all illusion--at my -side. Hai! My bones ache for that River, as they ached in the -te-rain; but my spirit sits above my bones, waiting. The Search is -sure!' - -'I am answered. Is it permitted to ask a question?' - -The lama inclined his stately head. - -'I ate thy bread for three years--as thou knowest. Holy One, whence -came--?' - -'There is much wealth, as men count it, in Bhotiyal,' the lama returned -with composure. 'In my own place I have the illusion of honour. I ask -for that I need. I am not concerned with the account. That is for my -monastery. Ai! The black high seats in the monastery, and novices all -in order!' - -And he told stories, tracing with a finger in the dust, of the immense -and sumptuous ritual of avalanche-guarded cathedrals; of processions -and devil-dances; of the changing of monks and nuns into swine; of holy -cities fifteen thousand feet in the air; of intrigue between monastery -and monastery; of voices among the hills, and of that mysterious mirage -that dances on dry snow. He spoke even of Lhassa and of the Dalai -Lama, whom he had seen and adored. - -Each long, perfect day rose behind Kim for a barrier to cut him off -from his race and his mother-tongue. He slipped back to thinking and -dreaming in the vernacular, and mechanically followed the lama's -ceremonial observances at eating, drinking, and the like. The old -man's mind turned more and more to his monastery as his eyes turned to -the steadfast snows. His River troubled him nothing. Now and again, -indeed, he would gaze long and long at a tuft or a twig, expecting, he -said, the earth to cleave and deliver its blessing; but he was content -to be with his disciple, at ease in the temperate wind that comes down -from the Doon. This was not Ceylon, nor Buddh Gaya, nor Bombay, nor -some grass-tangled ruins that he seemed to have stumbled upon two years -ago. He spoke of those places as a scholar removed from vanity, as a -Seeker walking in humility, as an old man, wise and temperate, -illumining knowledge with brilliant insight. Bit by bit, -disconnectedly, each tale called up by some wayside thing, he spoke of -all his wanderings up and down Hind; till Kim, who had loved him -without reason, now loved him for fifty good reasons. So they enjoyed -themselves in high felicity, abstaining, as the Rule demands, from evil -words, covetous desires; not over-eating, not lying on high beds, nor -wearing rich clothes. Their stomachs told them the time, and the -people brought them their food, as the saying is. They were lords of -the villages of Aminabad, Sahaigunge, Akrola of the Ford, and little -Phulesa, where Kim gave the soulless woman a blessing. - -But news travels fast in India, and too soon shuffled across the -crop-land, bearing a basket of fruits with a box of Kabul grapes and -gilt oranges, a white-whiskered servitor--a lean, dry Oorya--begging -them to bring the honour of their presence to his mistress, distressed -in her mind that the lama had neglected her so long. - -'Now do I remember'--the lama spoke as though it were a wholly new -proposition. 'She is virtuous, but an inordinate talker.' - -Kim was sitting on the edge of a cow's manger, telling stories to a -village smith's children. - -'She will only ask for another son for her daughter. I have not -forgotten her,' he said. 'Let her acquire merit. Send word that we -will come.' - -They covered eleven miles through the fields in two days, and were -overwhelmed with attentions at the end; for the old lady held a fine -tradition of hospitality, to which she forced her son-in-law, who was -under the thumb of his women-folk and bought peace by borrowing of the -money-lender. Age had not weakened her tongue or her memory, and from -a discreetly barred upper window, in the hearing of not less than a -dozen servants, she paid Kim compliments that would have flung European -audiences into unclean dismay. - -'But thou art still the shameless beggar-brat of the parao,' she -shrilled. 'I have not forgotten thee. Wash ye and eat. The father of -my daughter's son is gone away awhile. So we poor women are dumb and -useless.' - -For proof, she harangued the entire household unsparingly till food and -drink were brought; and in the evening--the smoke-scented evening, -copper-dun and turquoise across the fields--it pleased her to order her -palanquin to be set down in the untidy forecourt by smoky torchlight; -and there, behind not too closely drawn curtains, she gossiped. - -'Had the Holy One come alone, I should have received him otherwise; but -with this rogue, who can be too careful?' - -'Maharanee,' said Kim, choosing as always the amplest title, 'is it my -fault that none other than a Sahib--a polis-Sahib--called the Maharanee -whose face he--' 'Chutt! That was on the pilgrimage. When we -travel--thou knowest the proverb.' - -'Called the Maharanee a Breaker of Hearts and a Dispenser of Delights?' - -'To remember that! It was true. So he did. That was in the time of -the bloom of my beauty.' She chuckled like a contented parrot above -the sugar lump. 'Now tell me of thy goings and comings--as much as may -be without shame. How many maids, and whose wives, hang upon thine -eyelashes? Ye hail from Benares? I would have gone there again this -year, but my daughter--we have only two sons. Phaii! Such is the -effect of these low plains. Now in Kulu men are elephants. But I -would ask thy Holy One--stand aside, rogue--a charm against most -lamentable windy colics that in mango-time overtake my daughter's -eldest. Two years back he gave me a powerful spell.' - -'Oh, Holy One!' said Kim, bubbling with mirth at the lama's rueful -face. - -'It is true. I gave her one against wind.' - -'Teeth--teeth--teeth,' snapped the old woman. - -"'Cure them if they are sick,"' Kim quoted relishingly, "'but by no -means work charms. Remember what befell the Mahratta."' - -'That was two Rains ago; she wearied me with her continual -importunity.' The lama groaned as the Unjust Judge had groaned before -him. 'Thus it comes--take note, my chela--that even those who would -follow the Way are thrust aside by idle women. Three days through, -when the child was sick, she talked to me.' - -'Arre! and to whom else should I talk? The boy's mother knew nothing, -and the father--in the nights of the cold weather it was--"Pray to the -Gods," said he, forsooth, and turning over, snored!' - -'I gave her the charm. What is an old man to do?' - -"'To abstain from action is well--except to acquire merit."' - -'Ah chela, if thou desertest me, I am all alone.' - -'He found his milk-teeth easily at any rate,' said the old lady. 'But -all priests are alike.' - -Kim coughed severely. Being young, he did not approve of her -flippancy. 'To importune the wise out of season is to invite calamity.' - -'There is a talking mynah'--the thrust came back with the -well-remembered snap of the jewelled fore-finger--'over the stables -which has picked up the very tone of the family priest. Maybe I forget -honour to my guests, but if ye had seen him double his fists into his -belly, which was like a half-grown gourd, and cry: "Here is the pain!" -ye would forgive. I am half minded to take the hakim's medicine. He -sells it cheap, and certainly it makes him fat as Shiv's own bull. He -does not deny remedies, but I doubted for the child because of the -in-auspicious colour of the bottles.' - -The lama, under cover of the monologue, had faded out into the darkness -towards the room prepared. - -'Thou hast angered him, belike,' said Kim. - -'Not he. He is wearied, and I forgot, being a grandmother. (None but -a grandmother should ever oversee a child. Mothers are only fit for -bearing.) Tomorrow, when he sees how my daughter's son is grown, he -will write the charm. Then, too, he can judge of the new hakim's -drugs.' - -'Who is the hakim, Maharanee?' - -'A wanderer, as thou art, but a most sober Bengali from Dacca--a master -of medicine. He relieved me of an oppression after meat by means of a -small pill that wrought like a devil unchained. He travels about now, -vending preparations of great value. He has even papers, printed in -Angrezi, telling what things he has done for weak-backed men and slack -women. He has been here four days; but hearing ye were coming (hakims -and priests are snake and tiger the world over) he has, as I take it, -gone to cover.' - -While she drew breath after this volley, the ancient servant, sitting -unrebuked on the edge of the torchlight, muttered: 'This house is a -cattle-pound, as it were, for all charlatans and--priests. Let the boy -stop eating mangoes ... but who can argue with a grandmother?' He -raised his voice respectfully: 'Sahiba, the hakim sleeps after his -meat. He is in the quarters behind the dovecote.' - -Kim bristled like an expectant terrier. To outface and down-talk a -Calcutta-taught Bengali, a voluble Dacca drug-vendor, would be a good -game. It was not seemly that the lama, and incidentally himself, -should be thrown aside for such an one. He knew those curious bastard -English advertisements at the backs of native newspapers. St Xavier's -boys sometimes brought them in by stealth to snigger over among their -mates; for the language of the grateful patient recounting his symptoms -is most simple and revealing. The Oorya, not unanxious to play off one -parasite against the other, slunk away towards the dovecote. - -'Yes,' said Kim, with measured scorn. 'Their stock-in-trade is a -little coloured water and a very great shamelessness. Their prey are -broken-down kings and overfed Bengalis. Their profit is in -children--who are not born.' The old lady chuckled. 'Do not be -envious. Charms are better, eh? I never gainsaid it. See that thy -Holy One writes me a good amulet by the morning.' - -'None but the ignorant deny'--a thick, heavy voice boomed through the -darkness, as a figure came to rest squatting--'None but the ignorant -deny the value of charms. None but the ignorant deny the value of -medicines.' - -'A rat found a piece of turmeric. Said he: "I will open a grocer's -shop,"' Kim retorted. - -Battle was fairly joined now, and they heard the old lady stiffen to -attention. - -'The priest's son knows the names of his nurse and three Gods. Says -he: "Hear me, or I will curse you by the three million Great Ones."' -Decidedly this invisible had an arrow or two in his quiver. He went -on: 'I am but a teacher of the alphabet. I have learned all the -wisdom of the Sahibs.' - -'The Sahibs never grow old. They dance and they play like children -when they are grandfathers. A strong-backed breed,' piped the voice -inside the palanquin. - -'I have, too, our drugs which loosen humours of the head in hot and -angry men. Sina well compounded when the moon stands in the proper -House; yellow earths I have--arplan from China that makes a man renew -his youth and astonish his household; saffron from Kashmir, and the -best salep of Kabul. Many people have died before--' - -'That I surely believe,' said Kim. - -'They knew the value of my drugs. I do not give my sick the mere ink -in which a charm is written, but hot and rending drugs which descend -and wrestle with the evil.' - -'Very mightily they do so,' sighed the old lady. - -The voice launched into an immense tale of misfortune and bankruptcy, -studded with plentiful petitions to the Government. 'But for my fate, -which overrules all, I had been now in Government employ. I bear a -degree from the great school at Calcutta--whither, maybe, the son of -this House shall go.' - -'He shall indeed. If our neighbour's brat can in a few years be made -an F A' (First Arts--she used the English word, of which she had heard -so often), 'how much more shall children clever as some that I know -bear away prizes at rich Calcutta.' - -'Never,' said the voice, 'have I seen such a child! Born in an -auspicious hour, and--but for that colic which, alas! turning into -black cholers, may carry him off like a pigeon--destined to many years, -he is enviable.' - -'Hai mai!' said the old lady. 'To praise children is inauspicious, or -I could listen to this talk. But the back of the house is unguarded, -and even in this soft air men think themselves to be men, and women we -know ... The child's father is away too, and I must be chowkedar -[watchman] in my old age. Up! Up! Take up the palanquin. Let the -hakim and the young priest settle between them whether charms or -medicine most avail. Ho! worthless people, fetch tobacco for the -guests, and--round the homestead go I!' - -The palanquin reeled off, followed by straggling torches and a horde of -dogs. Twenty villages knew the Sahiba--her failings, her tongue, and -her large charity. Twenty villages cheated her after immemorial -custom, but no man would have stolen or robbed within her jurisdiction -for any gift under heaven. None the less, she made great parade of her -formal inspections, the riot of which could be heard half-way to -Mussoorie. - -Kim relaxed, as one augur must when he meets another. The hakim, still -squatting, slid over his hookah with a friendly foot, and Kim pulled at -the good weed. The hangers-on expected grave professional debate, and -perhaps a little free doctoring. - -'To discuss medicine before the ignorant is of one piece with teaching -the peacock to sing,' said the hakim. - -'True courtesy,' Kim echoed, 'is very often inattention.' - -These, be it understood, were company-manners, designed to impress. - -'Hi! I have an ulcer on my leg,' cried a scullion. 'Look at it!' - -'Get hence! Remove!' said the hakim. 'Is it the habit of the place -to pester honoured guests? Ye crowd in like buffaloes.' - -'If the Sahiba knew--' Kim began. - -'Ai! Ai! Come away. They are meat for our mistress. When her young -Shaitan's colics are cured perhaps we poor people may be suffered to--' - -'The mistress fed thy wife when thou wast in jail for breaking the -money-lender's head. Who speaks against her?' The old servitor curled -his white moustaches savagely in the young moonlight. 'I am -responsible for the honour of this house. Go!' and he drove the -underlings before him. - -Said the hakim, hardly more than shaping the words with his lips: 'How -do you do, Mister O'Hara? I am jolly glad to see you again.' - -Kim's hand clenched about the pipe-stem. Anywhere on the open road, -perhaps, he would not have been astonished; but here, in this quiet -backwater of life, he was not prepared for Hurree Babu. It annoyed -him, too, that he had been hoodwinked. - -'Ah ha! I told you at Lucknow--resurgam--I shall rise again and you -shall not know me. How much did you bet--eh?' - -He chewed leisurely upon a few cardamom seeds, but he breathed uneasily. - -'But why come here, Babuji?' - -'Ah! Thatt is the question, as Shakespeare hath it. I come to -congratulate you on your extraordinary effeecient performance at Delhi. -Oah! I tell you we are all proud of you. It was verree neat and -handy. Our mutual friend, he is old friend of mine. He has been in -some dam'-tight places. Now he will be in some more. He told me; I -tell Mr Lurgan; and he is pleased you graduate so nicely. All the -Department is pleased.' - -For the first time in his life, Kim thrilled to the clean pride (it can -be a deadly pitfall, none the less) of Departmental praise--ensnaring -praise from an equal of work appreciated by fellow-workers. Earth has -nothing on the same plane to compare with it. But, cried the Oriental -in him, Babus do not travel far to retail compliments. - -'Tell thy tale, Babu,' he said authoritatively. - -'Oah, it is nothing. Onlee I was at Simla when the wire came in about -what our mutual friend said he had hidden, and old Creighton--' He -looked to see how Kim would take this piece of audacity. - -'The Colonel Sahib,' the boy from St Xavier's corrected. 'Of course. -He found me at a loose string, and I had to go down to Chitor to find -that beastly letter. I do not like the South--too much railway travel; -but I drew good travelling allowance. Ha! Ha! I meet our mutual at -Delhi on the way back. He lies quiett just now, and says -Saddhu-disguise suits him to the ground. Well, there I hear what you -have done so well, so quickly, upon the instantaneous spur of the -moment. I tell our mutual you take the bally bun, by Jove! It was -splendid. I come to tell you so.' - -'Umm!' - -The frogs were busy in the ditches, and the moon slid to her setting. -Some happy servant had gone out to commune with the night and to beat -upon a drum. Kim's next sentence was in the vernacular. - -'How didst thou follow us?' - -'Oah. Thatt was nothing. I know from our mutual friend you go to -Saharunpore. So I come on. Red Lamas are not inconspicuous persons. I -buy myself my drug-box, and I am very good doctor really. I go to -Akrola of the Ford, and hear all about you, and I talk here and talk -there. All the common people know what you do. I knew when the -hospitable old lady sent the dooli. They have great recollections of -the old lama's visits here. I know old ladies cannot keep their hands -from medicines. So I am a doctor, and--you hear my talk? I think it -is verree good. My word, Mister O'Hara, they know about you and the -lama for fifty miles--the common people. So I come. Do you mind?' - -'Babuji,' said Kim, looking up at the broad, grinning face, 'I am a -Sahib.' - -'My dear Mister O'Hara--' - -'And I hope to play the Great Game.' - -'You are subordinate to me departmentally at present.' - -'Then why talk like an ape in a tree? Men do not come after one from -Simla and change their dress, for the sake of a few sweet words. I am -not a child. Talk Hindi and let us get to the yolk of the egg. Thou -art here--speaking not one word of truth in ten. Why art thou here? -Give a straight answer.' - -'That is so verree disconcerting of the Europeans, Mister O'Hara. You -should know a heap better at your time of life.' - -'But I want to know,' said Kim, laughing. 'If it is the Game, I may -help. How can I do anything if you bukh [babble] all round the shop?' - -Hurree Babu reached for the pipe, and sucked it till it gurgled again. - -'Now I will speak vernacular. You sit tight, Mister O'Hara ... It -concerns the pedigree of a white stallion.' - -'Still? That was finished long ago.' - -'When everyone is dead the Great Game is finished. Not before. Listen -to me till the end. There were Five Kings who prepared a sudden war -three years ago, when thou wast given the stallion's pedigree by Mahbub -Ali. Upon them, because of that news, and ere they were ready, fell -our Army.' - -'Ay--eight thousand men with guns. I remember that night.' - -'But the war was not pushed. That is the Government custom. The -troops were recalled because the Government believed the Five Kings -were cowed; and it is not cheap to feed men among the high Passes. -Hilas and Bunar--Rajahs with guns--undertook for a price to guard the -Passes against all coming from the North. They protested both fear and -friendship.' He broke off with a giggle into English: 'Of course, I -tell you this unoffeecially to elucidate political situation, Mister -O'Hara. Offeecially, I am debarred from criticizing any action of -superiors. Now I go on.--This pleased the Government, anxious to avoid -expense, and a bond was made for so many rupees a month that Hilas and -Bunar should guard the Passes as soon as the State's troops were -withdrawn. At that time--it was after we two met--I, who had been -selling tea in Leh, became a clerk of accounts in the Army. When the -troops were withdrawn, I was left behind to pay the coolies who made -new roads in the Hills. This road-making was part of the bond between -Bunar, Hilas, and the Government.' - -'So? And then?' - -'I tell you, it was jolly-beastly cold up there too, after summer,' -said Hurree Babu confidentially. 'I was afraid these Bunar men would -cut my throat every night for thee pay-chest. My native sepoy-guard, -they laughed at me! By Jove! I was such a fearful man. Nevar mind -thatt. I go on colloquially ... I send word many times that these two -Kings were sold to the North; and Mahbub Ali, who was yet farther -North, amply confirmed it. Nothing was done. Only my feet were -frozen, and a toe dropped off. I sent word that the roads for which I -was paying money to the diggers were being made for the feet of -strangers and enemies.' - -'For?' - -'For the Russians. The thing was an open jest among the coolies. Then -I was called down to tell what I knew by speech of tongue. Mahbub came -South too. See the end! Over the Passes this year after -snow-melting'--he shivered afresh--'come two strangers under cover of -shooting wild goats. They bear guns, but they bear also chains and -levels and compasses.' - -'Oho! The thing gets clearer.' - -'They are well received by Hilas and Bunar. They make great promises; -they speak as the mouthpiece of a Kaisar with gifts. Up the valleys, -down the valleys go they, saying, "Here is a place to build a -breastwork; here can ye pitch a fort. Here can ye hold the road -against an army"--the very roads for which I paid out the rupees -monthly. The Government knows, but does nothing. The three other -Kings, who were not paid for guarding the Passes, tell them by runner -of the bad faith of Bunar and Hilas. When all the evil is done, look -you--when these two strangers with the levels and the compasses make -the Five Kings to believe that a great army will sweep the Passes -tomorrow or the next day--Hill-people are all fools--comes the order to -me, Hurree Babu, "Go North and see what those strangers do." I say to -Creighton Sahib, "This is not a lawsuit, that we go about to collect -evidence."' Hurree returned to his English with a jerk: "'By Jove," I -said, "why the dooce do you not issue demi-offeecial orders to some -brave man to poison them, for an example? It is, if you permit the -observation, most reprehensible laxity on your part." And Colonel -Creighton, he laughed at me! It is all your beastly English pride. -You think no one dare conspire! That is all tommy-rott.' - -Kim smoked slowly, revolving the business, so far as he understood it, -in his quick mind. - -'Then thou goest forth to follow the strangers?' - -'No. To meet them. They are coming in to Simla to send down their -horns and heads to be dressed at Calcutta. They are exclusively -sporting gentlemen, and they are allowed special faceelities by the -Government. Of course, we always do that. It is our British pride.' - -'Then what is to fear from them?' - -'By Jove, they are not black people. I can do all sorts of things with -black people, of course. They are Russians, and highly unscrupulous -people. I--I do not want to consort with them without a witness.' - -'Will they kill thee?' - -'Oah, thatt is nothing. I am good enough Herbert Spencerian, I trust, -to meet little thing like death, which is all in my fate, you know. -But--but they may beat me.' - -'Why?' - -Hurree Babu snapped his fingers with irritation. 'Of course I shall -affeeliate myself to their camp in supernumerary capacity as perhaps -interpreter, or person mentally impotent and hungree, or some such -thing. And then I must pick up what I can, I suppose. That is as easy -for me as playing Mister Doctor to the old lady. Onlee--onlee--you -see, Mister O'Hara, I am unfortunately Asiatic, which is serious -detriment in some respects. And all-so I am Bengali--a fearful man.' - -'God made the Hare and the Bengali. What shame?' said Kim, quoting -the proverb. - -'It was process of Evolution, I think, from Primal Necessity, but the -fact remains in all the cui bono. I am, oh, awfully fearful!--I -remember once they wanted to cut off my head on the road to Lhassa. -(No, I have never reached to Lhassa.) I sat down and cried, Mister -O'Hara, anticipating Chinese tortures. I do not suppose these two -gentlemen will torture me, but I like to provide for possible -contingency with European assistance in emergency.' He coughed and -spat out the cardamoms. 'It is purely unoffeecial indent, to which you -can say "No, Babu". If you have no pressing engagement with your old -man--perhaps you might divert him; perhaps I can seduce his fancies--I -should like you to keep in Departmental touch with me till I find those -sporting coves. I have great opeenion of you since I met my friend at -Delhi. And also I will embody your name in my offeecial report when -matter is finally adjudicated. It will be a great feather in your cap. -That is why I come really.' - -'Humph! The end of the tale, I think, is true; but what of the -fore-part?' - -'About the Five Kings? Oah! there is ever so much truth in it. A -lots more than you would suppose,' said Hurree earnestly. 'You -come--eh? I go from here straight into the Doon. It is verree verdant -and painted meads. I shall go to Mussoorie to good old Munsoorie -Pahar, as the gentlemen and ladies say. Then by Rampur into Chini. -That is the only way they can come. I do not like waiting in the cold, -but we must wait for them. I want to walk with them to Simla. You see, -one Russian is a Frenchman, and I know my French pretty well. I have -friends in Chandernagore.' - -'He would certainly rejoice to see the Hills again,' said Kim -meditatively. 'All his speech these ten days past has been of little -else. If we go together--' - -'Oah! We can be quite strangers on the road, if your lama prefers. I -shall just be four or five miles ahead. There is no hurry for -Hurree--that is an Europe pun, ha! ha!--and you come after. There is -plenty of time; they will plot and survey and map, of course. I shall -go tomorrow, and you the next day, if you choose. Eh? You go think on -it till morning. By Jove, it is near morning now.' He yawned -ponderously, and with never a civil word lumbered off to his -sleeping-place. But Kim slept little, and his thoughts ran in -Hindustani: - -'Well is the Game called great! I was four days a scullion at Quetta, -waiting on the wife of the man whose book I stole. And that was part -of the Great Game! From the South--God knows how far--came up the -Mahratta, playing the Great Game in fear of his life. Now I shall go -far and far into the North playing the Great Game. Truly, it runs like -a shuttle throughout all Hind. And my share and my joy'--he smiled to -the darkness--'I owe to the lama here. Also to Mahbub Ali--also to -Creighton Sahib, but chiefly to the Holy One. He is right--a great and -a wonderful world--and I am Kim--Kim--Kim--alone--one person--in the -middle of it all. But I will see these strangers with their levels and -chains...' - -'What was the upshot of last night's babble?' said the lama, after his -orisons. - -'There came a strolling seller of drugs--a hanger-on of the Sahiba's. -Him I abolished by arguments and prayers, proving that our charms are -worthier than his coloured waters.' - -'Alas, my charms! Is the virtuous woman still bent upon a new one?' - -'Very strictly.' - -'Then it must be written, or she will deafen me with her clamour.' He -fumbled at his pencase. - -'In the Plains,' said Kim, 'are always too many people. In the Hills, -as I understand, there are fewer.' - -'Oh! the Hills, and the snows upon the Hills.' The lami tore off a -tiny square of paper fit to go in an amulet. 'But what dost thou know -of the Hills?' - -'They are very close.' Kim thrust open the door and looked at the -long, peaceful line of the Himalayas flushed in morning-gold. 'Except -in the dress of a Sahib, I have never set foot among them.' - -The lama snuffed the wind wistfully. - -'If we go North,'--Kim put the question to the waking sunrise--'would -not much mid-day heat be avoided by walking among the lower hills at -least? ... Is the charm made, Holy One?' - -'I have written the names of seven silly devils--not one of whom is -worth a grain of dust in the eye. Thus do foolish women drag us from -the Way!' - -Hurree Babu came out from behind the dovecote washing his teeth with -ostentatious ritual. Full-fleshed, heavy-haunched, bull-necked, and -deep-voiced, he did not look like 'a fearful man'. Kim signed almost -imperceptibly that matters were in good train, and when the morning -toilet was over, Hurree Babu, in flowery speech, came to do honour to -the lama. They ate, of course, apart, and afterwards the old lady, -more or less veiled behind a window, returned to the vital business of -green-mango colics in the young. The lama's knowledge of medicine was, -of course, sympathetic only. He believed that the dung of a black -horse, mixed with sulphur, and carried in a snake-skin, was a sound -remedy for cholera; but the symbolism interested him far more than the -science. Hurree Babu deferred to these views with enchanting -politeness, so that the lama called him a courteous physician. Hurree -Babu replied that he was no more than an inexpert dabbler in the -mysteries; but at least--he thanked the Gods therefore--he knew when he -sat in the presence of a master. He himself had been taught by the -Sahibs, who do not consider expense, in the lordly halls of Calcutta; -but, as he was ever first to acknowledge, there lay a wisdom behind -earthly wisdom--the high and lonely lore of meditation. Kim looked on -with envy. The Hurree Babu of his knowledge--oily, effusive, and -nervous--was gone; gone, too, was the brazen drug-vendor of overnight. -There remained--polished, polite, attentive--a sober, learned son of -experience and adversity, gathering wisdom from the lama's lips. The -old lady confided to Kim that these rare levels were beyond her. She -liked charms with plenty of ink that one could wash off in water, -swallow, and be done with. Else what was the use of the Gods? She -liked men and women, and she spoke of them--of kinglets she had known -in the past; of her own youth and beauty; of the depredations of -leopards and the eccentricities of love Asiatic; of the incidence of -taxation, rack-renting, funeral ceremonies, her son-in-law (this by -allusion, easy to be followed), the care of the young, and the age's -lack of decency. And Kim, as interested in the life of this world as -she soon to leave it, squatted with his feet under the hem of his robe, -drinking all in, while the lama demolished one after another every -theory of body-curing put forward by Hurree Babu. - -At noon the Babu strapped up his brass-bound drug-box, took his -patent-leather shoes of ceremony in one hand, a gay blue-and-white -umbrella in the other, and set off northwards to the Doon, where, he -said, he was in demand among the lesser kings of those parts. - -'We will go in the cool of the evening, chela,' said the lama. 'That -doctor, learned in physic and courtesy, affirms that the people among -these lower hills are devout, generous, and much in need of a teacher. -In a very short time--so says the hakim--we come to cool air and the -smell of pines.' - -'Ye go to the Hills? And by Kulu road? Oh, thrice happy!' shrilled -the old lady. 'But that I am a little pressed with the care of the -homestead I would take palanquin ... but that would be shameless, and -my reputation would be cracked. Ho! Ho! I know the road--every march -of the road I know. Ye will find charity throughout--it is not denied -to the well-looking. I will give orders for provision. A servant to -set you forth upon your journey? No ... Then I will at least cook ye -good food.' - -'What a woman is the Sahiba!' said the white-bearded Oorya, when a -tumult rose by the kitchen quarters. 'She has never forgotten a -friend: she has never forgotten an enemy in all her years. And her -cookery--wah!' He rubbed his slim stomach. - -There were cakes, there were sweetmeats, there was cold fowl stewed to -rags with rice and prunes--enough to burden Kim like a mule. - -'I am old and useless,' she said. 'None now love me--and none -respect--but there are few to compare with me when I call on the Gods -and squat to my cooking-pots. Come again, O people of good will. Holy -One and disciple, come again. The room is always prepared; the welcome -is always ready ... See the women do not follow thy chela too openly. -I know the women of Kulu. Take heed, chela, lest he run away when he -smells his Hills again ... Hai! Do not tilt the rice-bag upside down -... Bless the household, Holy One, and forgive thy servant her -stupidities.' - -She wiped her red old eyes on a corner of her veil, and clucked -throatily. - -'Women talk,' said the lama at last, 'but that is a woman's infirmity. -I gave her a charm. She is upon the Wheel and wholly given over to the -shows of this life, but none the less, chela, she is virtuous, kindly, -hospitable--of a whole and zealous heart. Who shall say she does not -acquire merit?' - -'Not I, Holy One,' said Kim, reslinging the bountiful provision on his -shoulders. 'In my mind--behind my eyes--I have tried to picture such -an one altogether freed from the Wheel--desiring nothing, causing -nothing--a nun, as it were.' - -'And, O imp?' The lama almost laughed aloud. - -'I cannot make the picture.' - -'Nor I. But there are many, many millions of lives before her. She -will get wisdom a little, it may be, in each one.' - -'And will she forget how to make stews with saffron upon that road?' - -'Thy mind is set on things unworthy. But she has skill. I am -refreshed all over. When we reach the lower hills I shall be yet -stronger. The hakim spoke truly to me this morn when he said a breath -from the snows blows away twenty years from the life of a man. We will -go up into the Hills--the high hills--up to the sound of snow-waters -and the sound of the trees--for a little while. The hakim said that at -any time we may return to the Plains, for we do no more than skirt the -pleasant places. The hakim is full of learning; but he is in no way -proud. I spoke to him--when thou wast talking to the Sahiba--of a -certain dizziness that lays hold upon the back of my neck in the night, -and he said it rose from excessive heat--to be cured by cool air. Upon -consideration, I marvelled that I had not thought of such a simple -remedy.' - -'Didst thou tell him of thy Search?' said Kim, a little jealously. He -preferred to sway the lama by his own speech--not through the wiles of -Hurree Babu. - -'Assuredly. I told him of my dream, and of the manner by which I had -acquired merit by causing thee to be taught wisdom.' - -'Thou didst not say I was a Sahib?' - -'What need? I have told thee many times we be but two souls seeking -escape. He said--and he is just herein--that the River of Healing will -break forth even as I dreamed--at my feet, if need be. Having found -the Way, seest thou, that shall free me from the Wheel, need I trouble -to find a way about the mere fields of earth--which are illusion? That -were senseless. I have my dreams, night upon night repeated; I have -Jataka; and I have thee, Friend of all the World. It was written in thy -horoscope that a Red Bull on a green field--I have not -forgotten--should bring thee to honour. Who but I saw that prophecy -accomplished? Indeed, I was the instrument. Thou shalt find me my -River, being in return the instrument. The Search is sure!' - -He set his ivory-yellow face, serene and untroubled, towards the -beckoning Hills; his shadow shouldering far before him in the dust. - - - - -Chapter 13 - - - Who hath desired the Sea--the immense and contemptuous surges? - The shudder, the stumble, the swerve ere the star-stabbing bowsprit - merges-- - The orderly clouds of the Trades and the ridged roaring - sapphire thereunder-- - Unheralded cliff-lurking flaws and the head-sails' low-volleying - thunder? - His Sea in no wonder the same--his Sea and the same in each wonder-- - His Sea that his being fulfils? - So and no otherwise--so and no otherwise hill-men desire their hills! - - The Sea and the Hills. - - - -'Who goes to the hills goes to his mother.' - -They had crossed the Siwaliks and the half-tropical Doon, left -Mussoorie behind them, and headed north along the narrow hill-roads. -Day after day they struck deeper into the huddled mountains, and day -after day Kim watched the lama return to a man's strength. Among the -terraces of the Doon he had leaned on the boy's shoulder, ready to -profit by wayside halts. Under the great ramp to Mussoorie he drew -himself together as an old hunter faces a well-remembered bank, and -where he should have sunk exhausted swung his long draperies about him, -drew a deep double-lungful of the diamond air, and walked as only a -hillman can. Kim, plains-bred and plains-fed, sweated and panted -astonished. 'This is my country,' said the lama. 'Beside Such-zen, -this is flatter than a rice-field'; and with steady, driving strokes -from the loins he strode upwards. But it was on the steep downhill -marches, three thousand feet in three hours, that he went utterly away -from Kim, whose back ached with holding back, and whose big toe was -nigh cut off by his grass sandal-string. Through the speckled shadow -of the great deodar-forests; through oak feathered and plumed with -ferns; birch, ilex, rhododendron, and pine, out on to the bare -hillsides' slippery sunburnt grass, and back into the woodlands' coolth -again, till oak gave way to bamboo and palm of the valley, the lama -swung untiring. - -Glancing back in the twilight at the huge ridges behind him and the -faint, thin line of the road whereby they had come, he would lay out, -with a hillman's generous breadth of vision, fresh marches for the -morrow; or, halting in the neck of some uplifted pass that gave on -Spiti and Kulu, would stretch out his hands yearningly towards the high -snows of the horizon. In the dawns they flared windy-red above stark -blue, as Kedarnath and Badrinath--kings of that wilderness--took the -first sunlight. All day long they lay like molten silver under the -sun, and at evening put on their jewels again. At first they breathed -temperately upon the travellers, winds good to meet when one crawled -over some gigantic hog's-back; but in a few days, at a height of nine -or ten thousand feet, those breezes bit; and Kim kindly allowed a -village of hillmen to acquire merit by giving him a rough blanket-coat. -The lama was mildly surprised that anyone should object to the -knife-edged breezes which had cut the years off his shoulders. - -'These are but the lower hills, chela. There is no cold till we come -to the true Hills.' - -'Air and water are good, and the people are devout enough, but the food -is very bad,' Kim growled; 'and we walk as though we were mad--or -English. It freezes at night, too.' - -'A little, maybe; but only enough to make old bones rejoice in the sun. -We must not always delight in soft beds and rich food.' - -'We might at least keep to the road.' - -Kim had all a plainsman's affection for the well-trodden track, not six -feet wide, that snaked among the mountains; but the lama, being -Tibetan, could not refrain from short cuts over spurs and the rims of -gravel-strewn slopes. As he explained to his limping disciple, a man -bred among mountains can prophesy the course of a mountain-road, and -though low-lying clouds might be a hindrance to a short-cutting -stranger, they made no earthly difference to a thoughtful man. Thus, -after long hours of what would be reckoned very fair mountaineering in -civilized countries, they would pant over a saddle-back, sidle past a -few landslips, and drop through forest at an angle of forty-five onto -the road again. Along their track lay the villages of the -hillfolk--mud and earth huts, timbers now and then rudely carved with -an axe--clinging like swallows' nests against the steeps, huddled on -tiny flats half-way down a three-thousand-foot glissade; jammed into a -corner between cliffs that funnelled and focused every wandering blast; -or, for the sake of summer pasture, cowering down on a neck that in -winter would be ten feet deep in snow. And the people--the sallow, -greasy, duffle-clad people, with short bare legs and faces almost -Esquimaux--would flock out and adore. The Plains--kindly and -gentle--had treated the lama as a holy man among holy men. But the -Hills worshipped him as one in the confidence of all their devils. -Theirs was an almost obliterated Buddhism, overlaid with a -nature-worship fantastic as their own landscapes, elaborate as the -terracing of their tiny fields; but they recognized the big hat, the -clicking rosary, and the rare Chinese texts for great authority; and -they respected the man beneath the hat. - -'We saw thee come down over the black Breasts of Eua,' said a Betah who -gave them cheese, sour milk, and stone-hard bread one evening. 'We do -not use that often--except when calving cows stray in summer. There is -a sudden wind among those stones that casts men down on the stillest -day. But what should such folk care for the Devil of Eua!' - -Then did Kim, aching in every fibre, dizzy with looking down, footsore -with cramping desperate toes into inadequate crannies, take joy in the -day's march--such joy as a boy of St Xavier's who had won the -quarter-mile on the flat might take in the praises of his friends. The -hills sweated the ghi and sugar suet off his bones; the dry air, taken -sobbingly at the head of cruel passes, firmed and built out his upper -ribs; and the tilted levels put new hard muscles into calf and thigh. - -They meditated often on the Wheel of Life--the more so since, as the -lama said, they were freed from its visible temptations. Except the -grey eagle and an occasional far-seen bear grubbing and rooting on the -hillside; a vision of a furious painted leopard met at dawn in a still -valley devouring a goat; and now and again a bright-coloured bird, they -were alone with the winds and the grass singing under the wind. The -women of the smoky huts over whose roofs the two walked as they -descended the mountains, were unlovely and unclean, wives of many -husbands, and afflicted with goitre. The men were woodcutters when -they were not farmers--meek, and of an incredible simplicity. But that -suitable discourse might not fail, Fate sent them, overtaking and -overtaken upon the road, the courteous Dacca physician, who paid for -his food in ointments good for goitre and counsels that restore peace -between men and women. He seemed to know these hills as well as he -knew the hill dialects, and gave the lama the lie of the land towards -Ladakh and Tibet. He said they could return to the Plains at any -moment. Meantime, for such as loved mountains, yonder road might -amuse. This was not all revealed in a breath, but at evening -encounters on the stone threshing-floors, when, patients disposed of, -the doctor would smoke and the lama snuff, while Kim watched the wee -cows grazing on the housetops, or threw his soul after his eyes across -the deep blue gulfs between range and range. And there were talks -apart in the dark woods, when the doctor would seek herbs, and Kim, as -budding physician, must accompany him. - -'You see, Mister O'Hara, I do not know what the deuce-an' all I shall -do when I find our sporting friends; but if you will kindly keep within -sight of my umbrella, which is fine fixed point for cadastral survey, I -shall feel much better.' - -Kim looked out across the jungle of peaks. 'This is not my country, -hakim. Easier, I think, to find one louse in a bear-skin.' - -'Oah, thatt is my strong points. There is no hurry for Hurree. They -were at Leh not so long ago. They said they had come down from the -Karakorum with their heads and horns and all. I am onlee afraid they -will have sent back all their letters and compromising things from Leh -into Russian territoree. Of course they will walk away as far to the -East as possible--just to show that they were never among the Western -States. You do not know the Hills?' He scratched with a twig on the -earth. 'Look! They should have come in by Srinagar or Abbottabad. -Thatt is their short road--down the river by Bunji and Astor. But they -have made mischief in the West. So'--he drew a furrow from left to -right--'they march and they march away East to Leh (ah! it is cold -there), and down the Indus to Hanle (I know that road), and then down, -you see, to Bushahr and Chini valley. That is ascertained by process -of elimination, and also by asking questions from people that I cure so -well. Our friends have been a long time playing about and producing -impressions. So they are well known from far off. You will see me -catch them somewhere in Chini valley. Please keep your eye on the -umbrella.' - -It nodded like a wind-blown harebell down the valleys and round the -mountain sides, and in due time the lama and Kim, who steered by -compass, would overhaul it, vending ointments and powders at eventide. -'We came by such and such a way!' The lama would throw a careless -finger backward at the ridges, and the umbrella would expend itself in -compliments. - -They crossed a snowy pass in cold moonlight, when the lama, mildly -chaffing Kim, went through up to his knees, like a Bactrian camel--the -snow-bred, shag-haired sort that came into the Kashmir Serai. They -dipped across beds of light snow and snow-powdered shale, where they -took refuge from a gale in a camp of Tibetans hurrying down tiny sheep, -each laden with a bag of borax. They came out upon grassy shoulders -still snow-speckled, and through forest, to grass anew. For all their -marchings, Kedarnath and Badrinath were not impressed; and it was only -after days of travel that Kim, uplifted upon some insignificant -ten-thousand-foot hummock, could see that a shoulder-knot or horn of -the two great lords had--ever so slightly--changed outline. - -At last they entered a world within a world--a valley of leagues where -the high hills were fashioned of a mere rubble and refuse from off the -knees of the mountains. Here one day's march carried them no farther, -it seemed, than a dreamer's clogged pace bears him in a nightmare. -They skirted a shoulder painfully for hours, and, behold, it was but an -outlying boss in an outlying buttress of the main pile! A rounded -meadow revealed itself, when they had reached it, for a vast tableland -running far into the valley. Three days later, it was a dim fold in -the earth to southward. - -'Surely the Gods live here!' said Kim, beaten down by the silence and -the appalling sweep and dispersal of the cloud-shadows after rain. -'This is no place for men!' - -'Long and long ago,' said the lama, as to himself, 'it was asked of the -Lord whether the world were everlasting. On this the Excellent One -returned no answer ... When I was in Ceylon, a wise Seeker confirmed -that from the gospel which is written in Pali. Certainly, since we -know the way to Freedom, the question were unprofitable, but--look, and -know illusion, chela! These--are the true Hills! They are like my -hills by Suchzen. Never were such hills!' - -Above them, still enormously above them, earth towered away towards the -snow-line, where from east to west across hundreds of miles, ruled as -with a ruler, the last of the bold birches stopped. Above that, in -scarps and blocks upheaved, the rocks strove to fight their heads above -the white smother. Above these again, changeless since the world's -beginning, but changing to every mood of sun and cloud, lay out the -eternal snow. They could see blots and blurs on its face where storm -and wandering wullie-wa got up to dance. Below them, as they stood, -the forest slid away in a sheet of blue-green for mile upon mile; below -the forest was a village in its sprinkle of terraced fields and steep -grazing-grounds. Below the village they knew, though a thunderstorm -worried and growled there for the moment, a pitch of twelve or fifteen -hundred feet gave to the moist valley where the streams gather that are -the mothers of young Sutluj. - -As usual, the lama had led Kim by cow-track and by-road, far from the -main route along which Hurree Babu, that 'fearful man', had bucketed -three days before through a storm to which nine Englishmen out of ten -would have given full right of way. Hurree was no game-shot--the snick -of a trigger made him change colour--but, as he himself would have -said, he was 'fairly effeecient stalker', and he had raked the huge -valley with a pair of cheap binoculars to some purpose. Moreover, the -white of worn canvas tents against green carries far. Hurree Babu had -seen all he wanted to see when he sat on the threshing-floor of -Ziglaur, twenty miles away as the eagle flies, and forty by road--that -is to say, two small dots which one day were just below the snow-line, -and the next had moved downward perhaps six inches on the hillside. -Once cleaned out and set to the work, his fat bare legs could cover a -surprising amount of ground, and this was the reason why, while Kim and -the lama lay in a leaky hut at Ziglaur till the storm should be -over-past, an oily, wet, but always smiling Bengali, talking the best -of English with the vilest of phrases, was ingratiating himself with -two sodden and rather rheumatic foreigners. He had arrived, revolving -many wild schemes, on the heels of a thunderstorm which had split a -pine over against their camp, and so convinced a dozen or two forcibly -impressed baggage-coolies the day was inauspicious for farther travel -that with one accord they had thrown down their loads and jibbed. They -were subjects of a Hill Rajah who farmed out their services, as is the -custom, for his private gain; and, to add to their personal distresses, -the strange Sahibs had already threatened them with rifles. The most -of them knew rifles and Sahibs of old: they were trackers and -shikarris of the Northern valleys, keen after bear and wild goat; but -they had never been thus treated in their lives. So the forest took -them to her bosom, and, for all oaths and clamour, refused to restore. -There was no need to feign madness or--the Babu had thought of another -means of securing a welcome. He wrung out his wet clothes, slipped on -his patent-leather shoes, opened the blue-and-white umbrella, and with -mincing gait and a heart beating against his tonsils appeared as 'agent -for His Royal Highness, the Rajah of Rampur, gentlemen. What can I do -for you, please?' - -The gentlemen were delighted. One was visibly French, the other -Russian, but they spoke English not much inferior to the Babu's. They -begged his kind offices. Their native servants had gone sick at Leh. -They had hurried on because they were anxious to bring the spoils of -the chase to Simla ere the skins grew moth-eaten. They bore a general -letter of introduction (the Babu salaamed to it orientally) to all -Government officials. No, they had not met any other shooting-parties -en route. They did for themselves. They had plenty of supplies. They -only wished to push on as soon as might be. At this he waylaid a -cowering hillman among the trees, and after three minutes' talk and a -little silver (one cannot be economical upon State service, though -Hurree's heart bled at the waste) the eleven coolies and the three -hangers-on reappeared. At least the Babu would be a witness to their -oppression. - -'My royal master, he will be much annoyed, but these people are onlee -common people and grossly ignorant. If your honours will kindly -overlook unfortunate affair, I shall be much pleased. In a little -while rain will stop and we can then proceed. You have been shooting, -eh? That is fine performance!' - -He skipped nimbly from one kilta to the next, making pretence to adjust -each conical basket. The Englishman is not, as a rule, familiar with -the Asiatic, but he would not strike across the wrist a kindly Babu who -had accidentally upset a kilta with a red oilskin top. On the other -hand, he would not press drink upon a Babu were he never so friendly, -nor would he invite him to meat. The strangers did all these things, -and asked many questions--about women mostly--to which Hurree returned -gay and unstudied answers. They gave him a glass of whitish fluid like -to gin, and then more; and in a little time his gravity departed from -him. He became thickly treasonous, and spoke in terms of sweeping -indecency of a Government which had forced upon him a white man's -education and neglected to supply him with a white man's salary. He -babbled tales of oppression and wrong till the tears ran down his -cheeks for the miseries of his land. Then he staggered off, singing -love-songs of Lower Bengal, and collapsed upon a wet tree-trunk. Never -was so unfortunate a product of English rule in India more unhappily -thrust upon aliens. - -'They are all just of that pattern,' said one sportsman to the other in -French. 'When we get into India proper thou wilt see. I should like -to visit his Rajah. One might speak the good word there. It is -possible that he has heard of us and wishes to signify his good-will.' - -'We have not time. We must get into Simla as soon as may be,' his -companion replied. 'For my own part, I wish our reports had been sent -back from Hilas, or even Leh.' - -'The English post is better and safer. Remember we are given all -facilities--and Name of God!--they give them to us too! Is it -unbelievable stupidity?' - -'It is pride--pride that deserves and will receive punishment.' - -'Yes! To fight a fellow-Continental in our game is something. There -is a risk attached, but these people--bah! It is too easy.' - -'Pride--all pride, my friend.' - -'Now what the deuce is good of Chandernagore being so close to Calcutta -and all,' said Hurree, snoring open-mouthed on the sodden moss, 'if I -cannot understand their French? They talk so particularly fast! It -would have been much better to cut their beastly throats.' - -When he presented himself again he was racked with a -headache--penitent, and volubly afraid that in his drunkenness he might -have been indiscreet. He loved the British Government--it was the -source of all prosperity and honour, and his master at Rampur held the -very same opinion. Upon this the men began to deride him and to quote -past words, till step by step, with deprecating smirks, oily grins, and -leers of infinite cunning, the poor Babu was beaten out of his defences -and forced to speak--truth. When Lurgan was told the tale later, he -mourned aloud that he could not have been in the place of the stubborn, -inattentive coolies, who with grass mats over their heads and the -raindrops puddling in their footprints, waited on the weather. All the -Sahibs of their acquaintance--rough-clad men joyously returning year -after year to their chosen gullies--had servants and cooks and -orderlies, very often hillmen. These Sahibs travelled without any -retinue. Therefore they were poor Sahibs, and ignorant; for no Sahib -in his senses would follow a Bengali's advice. But the Bengali, -appearing from somewhere, had given them money, and could make shift -with their dialect. Used to comprehensive ill-treatment from their own -colour, they suspected a trap somewhere, and stood by to run if -occasion offered. - -Then through the new-washed air, steaming with delicious earth-smells, -the Babu led the way down the slopes--walking ahead of the coolies in -pride; walking behind the foreigners in humility. His thoughts were -many and various. The least of them would have interested his -companions beyond words. But he was an agreeable guide, ever keen to -point out the beauties of his royal master's domain. He peopled the -hills with anything thev had a mind to slay--thar, ibex, or markhor, -and bear by Elisha's allowance. He discoursed of botany and ethnology -with unimpeachable inaccuracy, and his store of local legends--he had -been a trusted agent of the State for fifteen years, remember--was -inexhaustible. - -'Decidedly this fellow is an original,' said the taller of the two -foreigners. 'He is like the nightmare of a Viennese courier.' - -'He represents in little India in transition--the monstrous hybridism -of East and West,' the Russian replied. 'It is we who can deal with -Orientals.' - -'He has lost his own country and has not acquired any other. But he -has a most complete hatred of his conquerors. Listen. He confided to -me last night,' said the other. - -Under the striped umbrella Hurree Babu was straining ear and brain to -follow the quick-poured French, and keeping both eyes on a kilta full -of maps and documents--an extra-large one with a double red oil-skin -cover. He did not wish to steal anything. He only desired to know -what to steal, and, incidentally, how to get away when he had stolen -it. He thanked all the Gods of Hindustan, and Herbert Spencer, that -there remained some valuables to steal. - -On the second day the road rose steeply to a grass spur above the -forest; and it was here, about sunset, that they came across an aged -lama--but they called him a bonze--sitting cross-legged above a -mysterious chart held down by stones, which he was explaining to a -young man, evidently a neophyte, of singular, though unwashen, beauty. -The striped umbrella had been sighted half a march away, and Kim had -suggested a halt till it came up to them. - -'Ha!' said Hurree Babu, resourceful as Puss-in-Boots. 'That is -eminent local holy man. Probably subject of my royal master.' - -'What is he doing? It is very curious.' - -'He is expounding holy picture--all hand-worked.' - -The two men stood bareheaded in the wash of the afternoon sunlight low -across the gold-coloured grass. The sullen coolies, glad of the check, -halted and slid down their loads. - -'Look!' said the Frenchman. 'It is like a picture for the birth of a -religion--the first teacher and the first disciple. Is he a Buddhist?' - -'Of some debased kind,' the other answered. 'There are no true -Buddhists among the Hills. But look at the folds of the drapery. Look -at his eyes--how insolent! Why does this make one feel that we are so -young a people?' The speaker struck passionately at a tall weed. 'We -have nowhere left our mark yet. Nowhere! That, do you understand, is -what disquiets me.' He scowled at the placid face, and the monumental -calm of the pose. - -'Have patience. We shall make your mark together--we and you young -people. Meantime, draw his picture.' - -The Babu advanced loftily; his back out of all keeping with his -deferential speech, or his wink towards Kim. - -'Holy One, these be Sahibs. My medicines cured one of a flux, and I go -into Simla to oversee his recovery. They wish to see thy picture--' - -'To heal the sick is always good. This is the Wheel of Life,' said the -lama, 'the same I showed thee in the hut at Ziglaur when the rain fell.' - -'And to hear thee expound it.' - -The lama's eyes lighted at the prospect of new listeners. 'To expound -the Most Excellent Way is good. Have they any knowledge of Hindi, such -as had the Keeper of Images?' - -'A little, maybe.' - -Hereat, simply as a child engrossed with a new game, the lama threw -back his head and began the full-throated invocation of the Doctor of -Divinity ere he opens the full doctrine. The strangers leaned on their -alpenstocks and listened. Kim, squatting humbly, watched the red -sunlight on their faces, and the blend and parting of their long -shadows. They wore un-English leggings and curious girt-in belts that -reminded him hazily of the pictures in a book in St Xavier's library -"The Adventures of a Young Naturalist in Mexico" was its name. Yes, -they looked very like the wonderful M. Sumichrast of that tale, and -very unlike the 'highly unscrupulous folk' of Hurree Babu's imagining. -The coolies, earth-coloured and mute, crouched reverently some twenty -or thirty yards away, and the Babu, the slack of his thin gear snapping -like a marking-flag in the chill breeze, stood by with an air of happy -proprietorship. - -'These are the men,' Hurree whispered, as the ritual went on and the -two whites followed the grass-blade sweeping from Hell to Heaven and -back again. 'All their books are in the large kilta with the reddish -top--books and reports and maps--and I have seen a King's letter that -either Hilas or Bunar has written. They guard it most carefully. They -have sent nothing back from Hilas or Leh. That is sure.' - -'Who is with them?' - -'Only the beegar-coolies. They have no servants. They are so close -they cook their own food.' - -'But what am I to do?' - -'Wait and see. Only if any chance comes to me thou wilt know where to -seek for the papers.' - -'This were better in Mahbub Ali's hands than a Bengali's,' said Kim -scornfully. - -'There are more ways of getting to a sweetheart than butting down a -wall.' - -'See here the Hell appointed for avarice and greed. Flanked upon the -one side by Desire and on the other by Weariness.' The lama warmed to -his work, and one of the strangers sketched him in the quick-fading -light. - -'That is enough,' the man said at last brusquely. 'I cannot understand -him, but I want that picture. He is a better artist than I. Ask him if -he will sell it.' - -'He says "No, sar,"' the Babu replied. The lama, of course, would no -more have parted with his chart to a casual wayfarer than an archbishop -would pawn the holy vessels of his cathedral. All Tibet is full of -cheap reproductions of the Wheel; but the lama was an artist, as well -as a wealthy Abbot in his own place. - -'Perhaps in three days, or four, or ten, if I perceive that the Sahib -is a Seeker and of good understanding, I may myself draw him another. -But this was used for the initiation of a novice. Tell him so, hakim.' - -'He wishes it now--for money.' - -The lama shook his head slowly and began to fold up the Wheel. The -Russian, on his side, saw no more than an unclean old man haggling over -a dirty piece of paper. He drew out a handful of rupees, and snatched -half-jestingly at the chart, which tore in the lama's grip. A low -murmur of horror went up from the coolies--some of whom were Spiti men -and, by their lights, good Buddhists. The lama rose at the insult; his -hand went to the heavy iron pencase that is the priest's weapon, and -the Babu danced in agony. - -'Now you see--you see why I wanted witnesses. They are highly -unscrupulous people. Oh, sar! sar! You must not hit holyman!' - -'Chela! He has defiled the Written Word!' - -It was too late. Before Kim could ward him off, the Russian struck the -old man full on the face. Next instant he was rolling over and over -downhill with Kim at his throat. The blow had waked every unknown -Irish devil in the boy's blood, and the sudden fall of his enemy did -the rest. The lama dropped to his knees, half-stunned; the coolies -under their loads fled up the hill as fast as plainsmen run aross the -level. They had seen sacrilege unspeakable, and it behoved them to get -away before the Gods and devils of the hills took vengeance. The -Frenchman ran towards the lama, fumbling at his revolver with some -notion of making him a hostage for his companion. A shower of cutting -stones--hillmen are very straight shots--drove him away, and a coolie -from Ao-chung snatched the lama into the stampede. All came about as -swiftly as the sudden mountain-darkness. - -'They have taken the baggage and all the guns,' yelled the Frenchman, -firing blindly into the twilight. - -'All right, sar! All right! Don't shoot. I go to rescue,' and -Hurree, pounding down the slope, cast himself bodily upon the delighted -and astonished Kim, who was banging his breathless foe's head against a -boulder. - -'Go back to the coolies,' whispered the Babu in his ear. 'They have -the baggage. The papers are in the kilta with the red top, but look -through all. Take their papers, and specially the murasla [King's -letter]. Go! The other man comes!' - -Kim tore uphill. A revolver-bullet rang on a rock by his side, and he -cowered partridge-wise. - -'If you shoot,' shouted Hurree, 'they will descend and annihilate us. -I have rescued the gentleman, sar. This is particularly dangerous.' - -'By Jove!' Kim was thinking hard in English. 'This is dam'-tight -place, but I think it is self-defence.' He felt in his bosom for -Mahbub's gift, and uncertainly--save for a few practice shots in the -Bikanir desert, he had never used the little gun--pulled the trigger. - -'What did I say, sar!' The Babu seemed to be in tears. 'Come down -here and assist to resuscitate. We are all up a tree, I tell you.' - -The shots ceased. There was a sound of stumbling feet, and Kim hurried -upward through the gloom, swearing like a cat--or a country-bred. - -'Did they wound thee, chela?' called the lama above him. - -'No. And thou?' He dived into a clump of stunted firs. - -'Unhurt. Come away. We go with these folk to Shamlegh-under-the-Snow.' - -'But not before we have done justice,' a voice cried. 'I have got the -Sahibs' guns--all four. Let us go down.' - -'He struck the Holy One--we saw it! Our cattle will be barren--our -wives will cease to bear! The snows will slide upon us as we go -home... Atop of all other oppression too!' - -The little fir-clump filled with clamouring coolies--panic-stricken, -and in their terror capable of anything. The man from Ao-chung clicked -the breech-bolt of his gun impatiently, and made as to go downhill. - -'Wait a little, Holy One; they cannot go far. Wait till I return,' -said he. - -'It is this person who has suffered wrong,' said the lama, his hand -over his brow. - -'For that very reason,' was the reply. - -'If this person overlooks it, your hands are clean. Moreover, ye -acquire merit by obedience.' - -'Wait, and we will all go to Shamlegh together,' the man insisted. - -For a moment, for just so long as it needs to stuff a cartridge into a -breech-loader, the lama hesitated. Then he rose to his feet, and laid -a finger on the man's shoulder. - -'Hast thou heard? I say there shall be no killing--I who was Abbot of -Such-zen. Is it any lust of thine to be re-born as a rat, or a snake -under the eaves--a worm in the belly of the most mean beast? Is it thy -wish to--' - -The man from Ao-chung fell to his knees, for the voice boomed like a -Tibetan devil-gong. - -'Ai! ai!' cried the Spiti men. 'Do not curse us--do not curse him. -It was but his zeal, Holy One! ... Put down the rifle, fool!' - -'Anger on anger! Evil on evil! There will be no killing. Let the -priest-beaters go in bondage to their own acts. Just and sure is the -Wheel, swerving not a hair! They will be born many times--in torment.' -His head drooped, and he leaned heavily on Kim's shoulder. - -'I have come near to great evil, chela,' he whispered in that dead hush -under the pines. 'I was tempted to loose the bullet; and truly, in -Tibet there would have been a heavy and a slow death for them ... He -struck me across the face ... upon the flesh ...' He slid to the -ground, breathing heavily, and Kim could hear the over-driven heart -bump and check. - -'Have they hurt him to the death?' said the Ao-chung man, while the -others stood mute. - -Kim knelt over the body in deadly fear. 'Nay,' he cried passionately, -'this is only a weakness.' Then he remembered that he was a white man, -with a white man's camp-fittings at his service. 'Open the kiltas! The -Sahibs may have a medicine.' - -'Oho! Then I know it,' said the Ao-chung man with a laugh. 'Not for -five years was I Yankling Sahib's shikarri without knowing that -medicine. I too have tasted it. Behold!' - -He drew from his breast a bottle of cheap whisky--such as is sold to -explorers at Leh--and cleverly forced a little between the lama's teeth. - -'So I did when Yankling Sahib twisted his foot beyond Astor. Aha! I -have already looked into their baskets--but we will make fair division -at Shamlegh. Give him a little more. It is good medicine. Feel! His -heart goes better now. Lay his head down and rub a little on the -chest. If he had waited quietly while I accounted for the Sahibs this -would never have come. But perhaps the Sahibs may chase us here. Then -it would not be wrong to shoot them with their own guns, heh?' - -'One is paid, I think, already,' said Kim between his teeth. 'I kicked -him in the groin as we went downhill. Would I had killed him!' - -'It is well to be brave when one does not live in Rampur,' said one -whose hut lay within a few miles of the Rajah's rickety palace. 'If we -get a bad name among the Sahibs, none will employ us as shikarris any -more.' - -'Oh, but these are not Angrezi Sahibs--not merry-minded men like Fostum -Sahib or Yankling Sahib. They are foreigners--they cannot speak -Angrezi as do Sahibs.' - -Here the lama coughed and sat up, groping for the rosary. - -'There shall be no killing,' he murmured. 'Just is the Wheel! Evil on -evil--' - -'Nay, Holy One. We are all here.' The Ao-chung man timidly patted his -feet. 'Except by thy order, no one shall be slain. Rest awhile. We -will make a little camp here, and later, as the moon rises, we go to -Shamlegh-under-the-Snow.' - -'After a blow,' said a Spiti man sententiously, 'it is best to sleep.' - -'There is, as it were, a dizziness at the back of my neck, and a -pinching in it. Let me lay my head on thy lap, chela. I am an old -man, but not free from passion ... We must think of the Cause of -Things.' - -'Give him a blanket. We dare not light a fire lest the Sahibs see.' - -'Better get away to Shamlegh. None will follow us to Shamlegh.' - -This was the nervous Rampur man. - -'I have been Fostum Sahib's shikarri, and I am Yankling Sahib's -shikarri. I should have been with Yankling Sahib now but for this -cursed beegar [the corvee]. Let two men watch below with the guns lest -the Sahibs do more foolishness. I shall not leave this Holy One.' - -They sat down a little apart from the lama, and, after listening -awhile, passed round a water-pipe whose receiver was an old Day and -Martin blacking-bottle. The glow of the red charcoal as it went from -hand to hand lit up the narrow, blinking eyes, the high Chinese -cheek-bones, and the bull-throats that melted away into the dark duffle -folds round the shoulders. They looked like kobolds from some magic -mine--gnomes of the hills in conclave. And while they talked, the -voices of the snow-waters round them diminished one by one as the -night-frost choked and clogged the runnels. - -'How he stood up against us!' said a Spiti man admiring. 'I remember -an old ibex, out Ladakh-way, that Dupont Sahib missed on a -shoulder-shot, seven seasons back, standing up just like him. Dupont -Sahib was a good shikarri.' - -'Not as good as Yankling Sahib.' The Ao-chung man took a pull at the -whisky-bottle and passed it over. 'Now hear me--unless any other man -thinks he knows more.' - -The challenge was not taken up. - -'We go to Shamlegh when the moon rises. There we will fairly divide -the baggage between us. I am content with this new little rifle and -all its cartridges.' - -'Are the bears only bad on thy holding? said a mate, sucking at the -pipe. - -'No; but musk-pods are worth six rupees apiece now, and thy women can -have the canvas of the tents and some of the cooking-gear. We will do -all that at Shamlegh before dawn. Then we all go our ways, remembering -that we have never seen or taken service with these Sahibs, who may, -indeed, say that we have stolen their baggage.' - -'That is well for thee, but what will our Rajah say?' - -'Who is to tell him? Those Sahibs, who cannot speak our talk, or the -Babu, who for his own ends gave us money? Will he lead an army against -us? What evidence will remain? That we do not need we shall throw on -Shamlegh-midden, where no man has yet set foot.' - -'Who is at Shamlegh this summer?' The place was only a grazing centre -of three or four huts.' - -'The Woman of Shamlegh. She has no love for Sahibs, as we know. The -others can be pleased with little presents; and here is enough for us -all.' He patted the fat sides of the nearest basket. - -'But--but--' - -'I have said they are not true Sahibs. All their skins and heads were -bought in the bazar at Leh. I know the marks. I showed them to ye -last march.' - -'True. They were all bought skins and heads. Some had even the moth -in them.' - -That was a shrewd argument, and the Ao-chung man knew his fellows. - -'If the worst comes to the worst, I shall tell Yankling Sahib, who is a -man of a merry mind, and he will laugh. We are not doing any wrong to -any Sahibs whom we know. They are priest-beaters. They frightened us. -We fled! Who knows where we dropped the baggage? Do ye think Yankling -Sahib will permit down-country police to wander all over the hills, -disturbing his game? It is a far cry from Simla to Chini, and farther -from Shamlegh to Shamlegh-midden.' - -'So be it, but I carry the big kilta. The basket with the red top that -the Sahibs pack themselves every morning.' - -'Thus it is proved,' said the Shamlegh man adroitly, 'that they are -Sahibs of no account. Who ever heard of Fostum Sahib, or Yankling -Sahib, or even the little Peel Sahib that sits up of nights to shoot -serow--I say, who, ever heard of these Sahibs coming into the hills -without a down-country cook, and a bearer, and--and all manner of -well-paid, high-handed and oppressive folk in their tail? How can they -make trouble? What of the kilta?' - -'Nothing, but that it is full of the Written Word--books and papers in -which they wrote, and strange instruments, as of worship.' - -'Shamlegh-midden will take them all.' - -'True! But how if we insult the Sahibs' Gods thereby! I do not like -to handle the Written Word in that fashion. And their brass idols are -beyond my comprehension. It is no plunder for simple hill-folk.' - -'The old man still sleeps. Hst! We will ask his chela.' The Ao-chung -man refreshed himself, and swelled with pride of leadership. - -'We have here,' he whispered, 'a kilta whose nature we do not know.' - -'But I do,' said Kim cautiously. The lama drew breath in natural, easy -sleep, and Kim had been thinking of Hurree's last words. As a player -of the Great Game, he was disposed just then to reverence the Babu. -'It is a kilta with a red top full of very wonderful things, not to be -handled by fools.' - -'I said it; I said it,' cried the bearer of that burden. 'Thinkest -thou it will betray us?' - -'Not if it be given to me. I can draw out its magic. Otherwise it -will do great harm.' - -'A priest always takes his share.' Whisky was demoralizing the -Ao-chung man. - -'It is no matter to me.' Kim answered, with the craft of his -mother-country. 'Share it among you, and see what comes!' - -'Not I. I was only jesting. Give the order. There is more than enough -for us all. We go our way from Shamlegh in the dawn.' - -They arranged and re-arranged their artless little plans for another -hour, while Kim shivered with cold and pride. The humour of the -situation tickled the Irish and the Oriental in his soul. Here were -the emissaries of the dread Power of the North, very possibly as great -in their own land as Mahbub or Colonel Creighton, suddenly smitten -helpless. One of them, he privately knew, would be lame for a time. -They had made promises to Kings. Tonight they lay out somewhere below -him, chartless, foodless, tentless, gunless--except for Hurree Babu, -guideless. And this collapse of their Great Game (Kim wondered to whom -they would report it), this panicky bolt into the night, had come about -through no craft of Hurree's or contrivance of Kim's, but simply, -beautifully, and inevitably as the capture of Mahbub's fakir-friends by -the zealous young policeman at Umballa. - -'They are there--with nothing; and, by Jove, it is cold! I am here -with all their things. Oh, they will be angry! I am sorry for Hurree -Babu.' - -Kim might have saved his pity, for though at that moment the Bengali -suffered acutely in the flesh, his soul was puffed and lofty. A mile -down the hill, on the edge of the pine-forest, two half-frozen men--one -powerfully sick at intervals--were varying mutual recriminations with -the most poignant abuse of the Babu, who seemed distraught with terror. -They demanded a plan of action. He explained that they were very lucky -to be alive; that their coolies, if not then stalking them, had passed -beyond recall; that the Rajah, his master, was ninety miles away, and, -so far from lending them money and a retinue for the Simla journey, -would surely cast them into prison if he heard that they had hit a -priest. He enlarged on this sin and its consequences till they bade -him change the subject. Their one hope, said he, was unostentatious -flight from village to village till they reached civilization; and, for -the hundredth time dissolved in tears, he demanded of the high stars -why the Sahibs 'had beaten holy man'. - -Ten steps would have taken Hurree into the creaking gloom utterly -beyond their reach--to the shelter and food of the nearest village, -where glib-tongued doctors were scarce. But he preferred to endure -cold, belly-pinch, bad words, and occasional blows in the company of -his honoured employers. Crouched against a tree-trunk, he sniffed -dolefully. - -'And have you thought,' said the uninjured man hotly, 'what sort of -spectacle we shall present wandering through these hills among these -aborigines?' - -Hurree Babu had thought of little else for some hours, but the remark -was not to his address. - -'We cannot wander! I can hardly walk,' groaned Kim's victim. - -'Perhaps the holy man will be merciful in loving-kindness, sar, -otherwise--' - -'I promise myself a peculiar pleasure in emptying my revolver into that -young bonze when next we meet,' was the unchristian answer. - -'Revolvers! Vengeance! Bonzes!' Hurree crouched lower. The war was -breaking out afresh. 'Have you no consideration for our loss? The -baggage! The baggage!' He could hear the speaker literally dancing on -the grass. 'Everything we bore! Everything we have secured! Our -gains! Eight months' work! Do you know what that means? "Decidedly -it is we who can deal with Orientals!" Oh, you have done well.' - -They fell to it in several tongues, and Hurree smiled. Kim was with -the kiltas, and in the kiltas lay eight months of good diplomacy. There -was no means of communicating with the boy, but he could be trusted. -For the rest, Hurree could so stage-manage the journey through the -hills that Hilas, Bunar, and four hundred miles of hill-roads should -tell the tale for a generation. Men who cannot control their own -coolies are little respected in the Hills, and the hillman has a very -keen sense of humour. - -'If I had done it myself,' thought Hurree, 'it would not have been -better; and, by Jove, now I think of it, of course I arranged it -myself. How quick I have been! Just when I ran downhill I thought it! -Thee outrage was accidental, but onlee me could have worked it--ah--for -all it was dam'-well worth. Consider the moral effect upon these -ignorant peoples! No treaties--no papers--no written documents at -all--and me to interpret for them. How I shall laugh with the Colonel! -I wish I had their papers also: but you cannot occupy two places in -space simultaneously. Thatt is axiomatic.' - - - - -Chapter 14 - - - My brother kneels (so saith Kabir) - To stone and brass in heathen wise, - But in my brother's voice I hear - My own unanswered agonies. - His God is as his Fates assign-- - His prayer is all the world's--and mine. - - The Prayer. - - -At moonrise the cautious coolies got under way. The lama, refreshed by -his sleep and the spirit, needed no more than Kim's shoulder to bear -him along--a silent, swift-striding man. They held the shale-sprinkled -grass for an hour, swept round the shoulder of an immortal cliff, and -climbed into a new country entirely blocked off from all sight of Chini -valley. A huge pasture-ground ran up fan-shaped to the living snow. -At its base was perhaps half an acre of flat land, on which stood a few -soil and timber huts. Behind them--for, hill-fashion, they were -perched on the edge of all things--the ground fell sheer two thousand -feet to Shamlegh-midden, where never yet man has set foot. - -The men made no motion to divide the plunder till they had seen the -lama bedded down in the best room of the place, with Kim shampooing his -feet, Mohammedan-fashion. - -'We will send food,' said the Ao-chung man, 'and the red-topped kilta. -By dawn there will be none to give evidence, one way or the other. If -anything is not needed in the kilta--see here!' - -He pointed through the window--opening into space that was filled with -moonlight reflected from the snow--and threw out an empty whisky-bottle. - -'No need to listen for the fall. This is the world's end,' he said, -and went out. The lama looked forth, a hand on either sill, with eyes -that shone like yellow opals. From the enormous pit before him white -peaks lifted themselves yearning to the moonlight. The rest was as the -darkness of interstellar space. - -'These,' he said slowly, 'are indeed my Hills. Thus should a man -abide, perched above the world, separated from delights, considering -vast matters.' - -'Yes; if he has a chela to prepare tea for him, and to fold a blanket -for his head, and to chase out calving cows.' - -A smoky lamp burned in a niche, but the full moonlight beat it down; -and by the mixed light, stooping above the food-bag and cups, Kim moved -like a tall ghost. - -'Ai! But now I have let the blood cool, my head still beats and drums, -and there is a cord round the back of my neck.' - -'No wonder. It was a strong blow. May he who dealt it--' - -'But for my own passions there would have been no evil.' - -'What evil? Thou hast saved the Sahibs from the death they deserved a -hundred times.' - -'The lesson is not well learnt, chela.' The lama came to rest on a -folded blanket, as Kim went forward with his evening routine. 'The -blow was but a shadow upon a shadow. Evil in itself--my legs weary -apace these latter days!--it met evil in me: anger, rage, and a lust -to return evil. These wrought in my blood, woke tumult in my stomach, -and dazzled my ears.' Here he drank scalding black-tea ceremonially, -taking the hot cup from Kim's hand. 'Had I been passionless, the evil -blow would have done only bodily evil--a scar, or a bruise--which is -illusion. But my mind was not abstracted, for rushed in straightway a -lust to let the Spiti men kill. In fighting that lust, my soul was -torn and wrenched beyond a thousand blows. Not till I had repeated the -Blessings' (he meant the Buddhist Beatitudes) 'did I achieve calm. But -the evil planted in me by that moment's carelessness works out to its -end. Just is the Wheel, swerving not a hair! Learn the lesson, chela.' - -'It is too high for me,' Kim muttered. 'I am still all shaken. I am -glad I hurt the man.' - -'I felt that, sleeping upon thy knees, in the wood below. It -disquieted me in my dreams--the evil in thy soul working through to -mine. Yet on the other hand'--he loosed his rosary--'I have acquired -merit by saving two lives--the lives of those that wronged me. Now I -must see into the Cause of Things. The boat of my soul staggers.' - -'Sleep, and be strong. That is wisest.' - -'I meditate. There is a need greater than thou knowest.' - -Till the dawn, hour after hour, as the moonlight paled on the high -peaks, and that which had been belted blackness on the sides of the far -hills showed as tender green forest, the lama stared fixedly at the -wall. From time to time he groaned. Outside the barred door, where -discomfited kine came to ask for their old stable, Shamlegh and the -coolies gave itself up to plunder and riotous living. The Ao-chung man -was their leader, and once they had opened the Sahibs' tinned foods and -found that they were very good they dared not turn back. Shamlegh -kitchen-midden took the dunnage. - -When Kim, after a night of bad dreams, stole forth to brush his teeth -in the morning chill, a fair-coloured woman with turquoise-studded -headgear drew him aside. - -'The others have gone. They left thee this kilta as the promise was. I -do not love Sahibs, but thou wilt make us a charm in return for it. We -do not wish little Shamlegh to get a bad name on account of -the--accident. I am the Woman of Shamlegh.' She looked him over with -bold, bright eyes, unlike the usual furtive glance of hillwomen. - -'Assuredly. But it must be done in secret.' - -She raised the heavy kilta like a toy and slung it into her own hut. - -'Out and bar the door! Let none come near till it is finished,' said -Kim. - -'But afterwards--we may talk?' - -Kim tilted the kilta on the floor--a cascade of Survey-instruments, -books, diaries, letters, maps, and queerly scented native -correspondence. At the very bottom was an embroidered bag covering a -sealed, gilded, and illuminated document such as one King sends to -another. Kim caught his breath with delight, and reviewed the -situation from a Sahib's point of view. - -'The books I do not want. Besides, they are logarithms--Survey, I -suppose.' He laid them aside. 'The letters I do not understand, but -Colonel Creighton will. They must all be kept. The maps--they draw -better maps than me--of course. All the native letters--oho!--and -particularly the murasla.' He sniffed the embroidered bag. 'That must -be from Hilas or Bunar, and Hurree Babu spoke truth. By Jove! It is a -fine haul. I wish Hurree could know ... The rest must go out of the -window.' He fingered a superb prismatic compass and the shiny top of a -theodolite. But after all, a Sahib cannot very well steal, and the -things might be inconvenient evidence later. He sorted out every scrap -of manuscript, every map, and the native letters. They made one -softish slab. The three locked ferril-backed books, with five worn -pocket-books, he put aside. - -'The letters and the murasla I must carry inside my coat and under my -belt, and the hand-written books I must put into the food-bag. It will -be very heavy. No. I do not think there is anything more. If there -is, the coolies have thrown it down the khud, so thatt is all right. -Now you go too.' He repacked the kilta with all he meant to lose, and -hove it up on to the windowsill. A thousand feet below lay a long, -lazy, round-shouldered bank of mist, as yet untouched by the morning -sun. A thousand feet below that was a hundred-year-old pine-forest. -He could see the green tops looking like a bed of moss when a wind-eddy -thinned the cloud. - -'No! I don't think any one will go after you!' - -The wheeling basket vomited its contents as it dropped. The theodolite -hit a jutting cliff-ledge and exploded like a shell; the books, -inkstands, paint-boxes, compasses, and rulers showed for a few seconds -like a swarm of bees. Then they vanished; and, though Kim, hanging -half out of the window, strained his young ears, never a sound came up -from the gulf. - -'Five hundred--a thousand rupees could not buy them,' he thought -sorrowfully. 'It was verree wasteful, but I have all their other -stuff--everything they did--I hope. Now how the deuce am I to tell -Hurree Babu, and whatt the deuce am I to do? And my old man is sick. I -must tie up the letters in oilskin. That is something to do -first--else they will get all sweated ... And I am all alone!' He -bound them into a neat packet, swedging down the stiff, sticky oilskin -at the comers, for his roving life had made him as methodical as an old -hunter in matters of the road. Then with double care he packed away -the books at the bottom of the food-bag. - -The woman rapped at the door. - -'But thou hast made no charm,' she said, looking about. - -'There is no need.' Kim had completely overlooked the necessity for a -little patter-talk. The woman laughed at his confusion irreverently. - -'None--for thee. Thou canst cast a spell by the mere winking of an -eye. But think of us poor people when thou art gone. They were all -too drunk last night to hear a woman. Thou art not drunk?' - -'I am a priest.' Kim had recovered himself, and, the woman being aught -but unlovely, thought best to stand on his office. - -'I warned them that the Sahibs will be angry and will make an -inquisition and a report to the Rajah. There is also the Babu with -them. Clerks have long tongues.' - -'Is that all thy trouble?' The plan rose fully formed in Kim's mind, -and he smiled ravishingly. - -'Not all,' quoth the woman, putting out a hard brown hand all covered -with turquoises set in silver. - -'I can finish that in a breath,' he went on quickly. 'The Babu is the -very hakim (thou hast heard of him?) who was wandering among the hills -by Ziglaur. I know him.' - -'He will tell for the sake of a reward. Sahibs cannot distinguish one -hillman from another, but Babus have eyes for men--and women.' - -'Carry a word to him from me.' - -'There is nothing I would not do for thee.' - -He accepted the compliment calmly, as men must in lands where women -make the love, tore a leaf from a note-book, and with a patent -indelible pencil wrote in gross Shikast--the script that bad little -boys use when they write dirt on walls: 'I have everything that they -have written: their pictures of the country, and many letters. -Especially the murasla. Tell me what to do. I am at -Shamlegh-under-the-Snow. The old man is sick.' - -'Take this to him. It will altogether shut his mouth. He cannot have -gone far.' - -'Indeed no. They are still in the forest across the spur. Our -children went to watch them when the light came, and have cried the -news as they moved.' - -Kim looked his astonishment; but from the edge of the sheep-pasture -floated a shrill, kite-like trill. A child tending cattle had picked -it up from a brother or sister on the far side of the slope that -commanded Chini valley. - -'My husbands are also out there gathering wood.' She drew a handful of -walnuts from her bosom, split one neatly, and began to eat. Kim -affected blank ignorance. - -'Dost thou not know the meaning of the walnut--priest?' she said -coyly, and handed him the half-shells. - -'Well thought of.' He slipped the piece of paper between them quickly. -'Hast thou a little wax to close them on this letter?' - -The woman sighed aloud, and Kim relented. - -'There is no payment till service has been rendered. Carry this to the -Babu, and say it was sent by the Son of the Charm.' - -'Ai! Truly! Truly! By a magician--who is like a Sahib.' - -'Nay, a Son of the Charm: and ask if there be any answer.' - -'But if he offer a rudeness? I--I am afraid.' - -Kim laughed. 'He is, I have no doubt, very tired and very hungry. The -Hills make cold bedfellows. Hai, my'--it was on the tip of his tongue -to say Mother, but he turned it to Sister--'thou art a wise and witty -woman. By this time all the villages know what has befallen the -Sahibs--eh?' - -'True. News was at Ziglaur by midnight, and by tomorrow should be at -Kotgarh. The villages are both afraid and angry.' - -'No need. Tell the villages to feed the Sahibs and pass them on, in -peace. We must get them quietly away from our valleys. To steal is -one thing--to kill another. The Babu will understand, and there will -be no after-complaints. Be swift. I must tend my master when he -wakes.' - -'So be it. After service--thou hast said?--comes the reward. I am the -Woman of Shamlegh, and I hold from the Rajah. I am no common bearer of -babes. Shamlegh is thine: hoof and horn and hide, milk and butter. -Take or leave.' - -She turned resolutely uphill, her silver necklaces clicking on her -broad breast, to meet the morning sun fifteen hundred feet above them. -This time Kim thought in the vernacular as he waxed down the oilskin -edges of the packets. - -'How can a man follow the Way or the Great Game when he is so--always -pestered by women? There was that girl at Akrola of the Ford; and -there was the scullion's wife behind the dovecot--not counting the -others--and now comes this one! When I was a child it was well enough, -but now I am a man and they will not regard me as a man. Walnuts, -indeed! Ho! ho! It is almonds in the Plains!' - -He went out to levy on the village--not with a begging-bowl, which -might do for down-country, but in the manner of a prince. Shamlegh's -summer population is only three families--four women and eight or nine -men. They were all full of tinned meats and mixed drinks, from -ammoniated quinine to white vodka, for they had taken their full share -in the overnight loot. The neat Continental tents had been cut up and -shared long ago, and there were patent aluminium saucepans abroad. - -But they considered the lama's presence a perfect safeguard against all -consequences, and impenitently brought Kim of their best--even to a -drink of chang--the barley-beer that comes from Ladakh-way. Then they -thawed out in the sun, and sat with their legs hanging over infinite -abysses, chattering, laughing, and smoking. They judged India and its -Government solely from their experience of wandering Sahibs who had -employed them or their friends as shikarris. Kim heard tales of shots -missed upon ibex, serow, or markhor, by Sahibs twenty years in their -graves--every detail lighted from behind like twigs on tree-tops seen -against lightning. They told him of their little diseases, and, more -important, the diseases of their tiny, sure-footed cattle; of trips as -far as Kotgarh, where the strange missionaries live, and beyond even to -marvellous Simla, where the streets are paved with silver, and anyone, -look you, can get service with the Sahibs, who ride about in -two-wheeled carts and spend money with a spade. Presently, grave and -aloof, walking very heavily, the lama joined himself to the chatter -under the eaves, and they gave him great room. The thin air refreshed -him, and he sat on the edge of precipices with the best of them, and, -when talk languished, flung pebbles into the void. Thirty miles away, -as the eagle flies, lay the next range, seamed and channelled and -pitted with little patches of brush--forests, each a day's dark march. -Behind the village, Shamlegh hill itself cut off all view to southward. -It was like sitting in a swallow's nest under the eaves of the roof of -the world. - -From time to time the lama stretched out his hand, and with a little -low-voiced prompting would point out the road to Spiti and north across -the Parungla. - -'Beyond, where the hills lie thickest, lies De-ch'en' (he meant -Han-le'), 'the great Monastery. s'Tag-stan-ras-ch'en built it, and of -him there runs this tale.' Whereupon he told it: a fantastic piled -narrative of bewitchment and miracles that set Shamlegh a-gasping. -Turning west a little, he steered for the green hills of Kulu, and -sought Kailung under the glaciers. 'For thither came I in the old, old -days. From Leh I came, over the Baralachi.' - -'Yes, yes; we know it,' said the far-faring people of Shamlegh. - -'And I slept two nights with the priests of Kailung. These are the -Hills of my delight! Shadows blessed above all other shadows! There -my eyes opened on this world; there my eyes were opened to this world; -there I found Enlightenment; and there I girt my loins for my Search. -Out of the Hills I came--the high Hills and the strong winds. Oh, just -is the Wheel!' He blessed them in detail--the great glaciers, the -naked rocks, the piled moraines and tumbled shale; dry upland, hidden -salt-lake, age-old timber and fruitful water-shot valley one after the -other, as a dying man blesses his folk; and Kim marvelled at his -passion. - -'Yes--yes. There is no place like our Hills,' said the people of -Shamlegh. And they fell to wondering how a man could live in the hot -terrible Plains where the cattle run as big as elephants, unfit to -plough on a hillside; where village touches village, they had heard, -for a hundred miles; where folk went about stealing in gangs, and what -the robbers spared the Police carried utterly away. - -So the still forenoon wore through, and at the end of it Kim's -messenger dropped from the steep pasture as unbreathed as when she had -set out. - -'I sent a word to the hakim,' Kim explained, while she made reverence. - -'He joined himself to the idolaters? Nay, I remember he did a healing -upon one of them. He has acquired merit, though the healed employed -his strength for evil. Just is the Wheel! What of the hakim?' - -'I feared that thou hadst been bruised and--and I knew he was wise.' -Kim took the waxed walnut-shell and read in English on the back of his -note: Your favour received. Cannot get away from present company at -present, but shall take them into Simla. After which, hope to rejoin -you. Inexpedient to follow angry gentlemen. Return by same road you -came, and will overtake. Highly gratified about correspondence due to -my forethought. 'He says, Holy One, that he will escape from the -idolaters, and will return to us. Shall we wait awhile at Shamlegh, -then?' - -The lama looked long and lovingly upon the hills and shook his head. - -'That may not be, chela. From my bones outward I do desire it, but it -is forbidden. I have seen the Cause of Things.' - -'Why? When the Hills give thee back thy strength day by day? Remember -we were weak and fainting down below there in the Doon.' - -'I became strong to do evil and to forget. A brawler and a -swashbuckler upon the hillsides was I.' Kim bit back a smile. 'Just -and perfect is the Wheel, swerving not a hair. When I was a man--a -long time ago--I did pilgrimage to Guru Ch'wan among the poplars' (he -pointed Bhotanwards), 'where they keep the Sacred Horse.' - -'Quiet, be quiet!' said Shamlegh, all arow. 'He speaks of -Jam-lin-nin-k'or, the Horse That Can Go Round The World In a Day.' - -'I speak to my chela only,' said the lama, in gentle reproof, and they -scattered like frost on south eaves of a morning. 'I did not seek -truth in those days, but the talk of doctrine. All illusion! I drank -the beer and ate the bread of Guru Ch'wan. Next day one said: "We go -out to fight Sangor Gutok down the valley to discover" (mark again how -Lust is tied to Anger!) "which Abbot shall bear rule in the valley and -take the profit of the prayers they print at Sangor Gutok." I went, -and we fought a day.' - -'But how, Holy One?' - -'With our long pencases as I could have shown ... I say, we fought -under the poplars, both Abbots and all the monks, and one laid open my -forehead to the bone. See!' He tilted back his cap and showed a -puckered silvery scar. 'Just and perfect is the Wheel! Yesterday the -scar itched, and after fifty years I recalled how it was dealt and the -face of him who dealt it; dwelling a little in illusion. Followed that -which thou didst see--strife and stupidity. Just is the Wheel! The -idolater's blow fell upon the scar. Then I was shaken in my soul: my -soul was darkened, and the boat of my soul rocked upon the waters of -illusion. Not till I came to Shamlegh could I meditate upon the Cause -of Things, or trace the running grass-roots of Evil. I strove all the -long night.' - -'But, Holy One, thou art innocent of all evil. May I be thy sacrifice!' - -Kim was genuinely distressed at the old man's sorrow, and Mahbub Ali's -phrase slipped out unawares. - -'In the dawn,' the lama went on more gravely, ready rosary clicking -between the slow sentences, 'came enlightenment. It is here ... I am -an old man ... hill-bred, hill-fed, never to sit down among my Hills. -Three years I travelled through Hind, but--can earth be stronger than -Mother Earth? My stupid body yearned to the Hills and the snows of the -Hills, from below there. I said, and it is true, my Search is sure. -So, at the Kulu woman's house I turned hillward, over-persuaded by -myself. There is no blame to the hakim. He--following -Desire--foretold that the Hills would make me strong. They strengthened -me to do evil, to forget my Search. I delighted in life and the lust -of life. I desired strong slopes to climb. I cast about to find them. -I measured the strength of my body, which is evil, against the high -Hills, I made a mock of thee when thy breath came short under Jamnotri. -I jested when thou wouldst not face the snow of the pass.' - -'But what harm? I was afraid. It was just. I am not a hillman; and I -loved thee for thy new strength.' - -'More than once I remember'--he rested his cheek dolefully on his -hand--'I sought thy praise and the hakim's for the mere strength of my -legs. Thus evil followed evil till the cup was full. Just is the -Wheel! All Hind for three years did me all honour. From the Fountain -of Wisdom in the Wonder House to'--he smiled--'a little child playing -by a big gun--the world prepared my road. And why?' - -'Because we loved thee. It is only the fever of the blow. I myself am -still sick and shaken.' - -'No! It was because I was upon the Way--tuned as are si-nen [cymbals] -to the purpose of the Law. I departed from that ordinance. The tune -was broken: followed the punishment. In my own Hills, on the edge of -my own country, in the very place of my evil desire, comes the -buffet--here!' (He touched his brow.) 'As a novice is beaten when he -misplaces the cups, so am I beaten, who was Abbot of Such-zen. No -word, look you, but a blow, chela.' - -'But the Sahibs did not know thee, Holy One?' - -'We were well matched. Ignorance and Lust met Ignorance and Lust upon -the road, and they begat Anger. The blow was a sign to me, who am no -better than a strayed yak, that my place is not here. Who can read the -Cause of an act is halfway to Freedom! "Back to the path," says the -Blow. "The Hills are not for thee. Thou canst not choose Freedom and -go in bondage to the delight of life."' - -'Would we had never met that cursed Russian!' - -'Our Lord Himself cannot make the Wheel swing backward. And for my -merit that I had acquired I gain yet another sign.' He put his hand in -his bosom, and drew forth the Wheel of Life. 'Look! I considered this -after I had meditated. There remains untorn by the idolater no more -than the breadth of my fingernail.' - -'I see.' - -'So much, then, is the span of my life in this body. I have served the -Wheel all my days. Now the Wheel serves me. But for the merit I have -acquired in guiding thee upon the Way, there would have been added to -me yet another life ere I had found my River. Is it plain, chela?' - -Kim stared at the brutally disfigured chart. From left to right -diagonally the rent ran--from the Eleventh House where Desire gives -birth to the Child (as it is drawn by Tibetans)--across the human and -animal worlds, to the Fifth House--the empty House of the Senses. The -logic was unanswerable. - -'Before our Lord won Enlightenment'--the lama folded all away with -reverence--'He was tempted. I too have been tempted, but it is -finished. The Arrow fell in the Plains--not in the Hills. Therefore, -what make we here?' - -'Shall we at least wait for the hakim?' - -'I know how long I shall live in this body. What can a hakim do?' - -'But thou art all sick and shaken. Thou canst not walk.' - -'How can I be sick if I see Freedom?' He rose unsteadily to his feet. - -'Then I must get food from the village. Oh, the weary Road!' Kim felt -that he too needed rest. - -'That is lawful. Let us eat and go. The Arrow fell in the Plains ... -but I yielded to Desire. Make ready, chela.' - -Kim turned to the woman with the turquoise headgear who had been idly -pitching pebbles over the cliff. She smiled very kindly. - -'I found him like a strayed buffalo in a cornfield--the Babu; snorting -and sneezing with cold. He was so hungry that he forgot his dignity -and gave me sweet words. The Sahibs have nothing.' She flung out an -empty palm. 'One is very sick about the stomach. Thy work?' - -Kim nodded, with a bright eye. - -'I spoke to the Bengali first--and to the people of a near-by village -after. The Sahibs will be given food as they need it--nor will the -people ask money. The plunder is already distributed. The Babu makes -lying speeches to the Sahibs. Why does he not leave them?' - -'Out of the greatness of his heart.' - -'Was never a Bengali yet had one bigger than a dried walnut. But it is -no matter ... Now as to walnuts. After service comes reward. I have -said the village is thine.' - -'It is my loss,' Kim began. 'Even now I had planned desirable things -in my heart which'--there is no need to go through the compliments -proper to these occasions. He sighed deeply ... 'But my master, led -by a vision--' - -'Huh! What can old eyes see except a full begging-bowl?' - -'--turns from this village to the Plains again.' - -'Bid him stay.' - -Kim shook his head. 'I know my Holy One, and his rage if he be -crossed,' he replied impressively. 'His curses shake the Hills.' - -'Pity they did not save him from a broken head! I heard that thou wast -the tiger-hearted one who smote the Sahib. Let him dream a little -longer. Stay!' - -'Hillwoman,' said Kim, with austerity that could not harden the -outlines of his young oval face, 'these matters are too high for thee.' - -'The Gods be good to us! Since when have men and women been other than -men and women?' - -'A priest is a priest. He says he will go upon this hour. I am his -chela, and I go with him. We need food for the Road. He is an -honoured guest in all the villages, but'--he broke into a pure boy's -grin--'the food here is good. Give me some.' - -'What if I do not give it thee? I am the woman of this village.' - -'Then I curse thee--a little--not greatly, but enough to remember.' He -could not help smiling. - -'Thou hast cursed me already by the down-dropped eyelash and the -uplifted chin. Curses? What should I care for mere words?' She -clenched her hands upon her bosom ... 'But I would not have thee to go -in anger, thinking hardly of me--a gatherer of cow-dung and grass at -Shamlegh, but still a woman of substance.' - -'I think nothing,' said Kim, 'but that I am grieved to go, for I am -very weary; and that we need food. Here is the bag.' - -The woman snatched it angrily. 'I was foolish,' said she. 'Who is thy -woman in the Plains? Fair or black? I was fair once. Laughest thou? -Once, long ago, if thou canst believe, a Sahib looked on me with -favour. Once, long ago, I wore European clothes at the Mission-house -yonder.' She pointed towards Kotgarh. 'Once, long ago. I was -Ker-lis-ti-an and spoke English--as the Sahibs speak it. Yes. My -Sahib said he would return and wed me--yes, wed me. He went away--I -had nursed him when he was sick--but he never returned. Then I saw -that the Gods of the Kerlistians lied, and I went back to my own people -... I have never set eyes on a Sahib since. (Do not laugh at me. The -fit is past, little priestling.) Thy face and thy walk and thy fashion -of speech put me in mind of my Sahib, though thou art only a wandering -mendicant to whom I give a dole. Curse me? Thou canst neither curse -nor bless!' She set her hands on her hips and laughed bitterly. 'Thy -Gods are lies; thy works are lies; thy words are lies. There are no -Gods under all the Heavens. I know it ... But for awhile I thought it -was my Sahib come back, and he was my God. Yes, once I made music on a -pianno in the Mission-house at Kotgarh. Now I give alms to priests who -are heatthen.' She wound up with the English word, and tied the mouth -of the brimming bag. - -'I wait for thee, chela,' said the lama, leaning against the door-post. - -The woman swept the tall figure with her eyes. 'He walk! He cannot -cover half a mile. Whither would old bones go?' - -At this Kim, already perplexed by the lama's collapse and foreseeing -the weight of the bag, fairly lost his temper. - -'What is it to thee, woman of ill-omen, where he goes?' - -'Nothing--but something to thee, priest with a Sahib's face. Wilt thou -carry him on thy shoulders?' - -'I go to the Plains. None must hinder my return. I have wrestled with -my soul till I am strengthless. The stupid body is spent, and we are -far from the Plains.' - -'Behold!' she said simply, and drew aside to let Kim see his own utter -helplessness. 'Curse me. Maybe it will give him strength. Make a -charm! Call on thy great God. Thou art a priest.' She turned away. - -The lama had squatted limply, still holding by the door-post. One -cannot strike down an old man that he recovers again like a boy in the -night. Weakness bowed him to the earth, but his eyes that hung on Kim -were alive and imploring. - -'It is all well,' said Kim. 'It is the thin air that weakens thee. In -a little while we go! It is the mountain-sickness. I too am a little -sick at stomach,'--and he knelt and comforted with such poor words as -came first to his lips. Then the woman returned, more erect than ever. - -'Thy Gods useless, heh? Try mine. I am the Woman of Shamlegh.' She -hailed hoarsely, and there came out of a cow-pen her two husbands and -three others with a dooli, the rude native litter of the Hills, that -they use for carrying the sick and for visits of state. 'These -cattle'--she did not condescend to look at them--'are thine for so long -as thou shalt need.' - -'But we will not go Simla-way. We will not go near the Sahibs,' cried -the first husband. - -'They will not run away as the others did, nor will they steal baggage. -Two I know for weaklings. Stand to the rear-pole, Sonoo and Taree.' -They obeyed swiftly. 'Lower now, and lift in that holy man. I will see -to the village and your virtuous wives till ye return.' - -'When will that be?' - -'Ask the priests. Do not pester me. Lay the food-bag at the foot, it -balances better so.' - -'Oh, Holy One, thy Hills are kinder than our Plains!' cried Kim, -relieved, as the lama tottered to the litter. 'It is a very king's -bed--a place of honour and ease. And we owe it to--' - -'A woman of ill-omen. I need thy blessings as much as I do thy curses. -It is my order and none of thine. Lift and away! Here! Hast thou -money for the road?' - -She beckoned Kim to her hut, and stooped above a battered English -cash-box under her cot. - -'I do not need anything,' said Kim, angered where he should have been -grateful. 'I am already rudely loaded with favours.' - -She looked up with a curious smile and laid a hand on his shoulder. 'At -least, thank me. I am foul-faced and a hillwoman, but, as thy talk -goes, I have acquired merit. Shall I show thee how the Sahibs render -thanks?' and her hard eyes softened. - -'I am but a wandering priest,' said Kim, his eyes lighting in answer. -'Thou needest neither my blessings nor my curses.' - -'Nay. But for one little moment--thou canst overtake the dooli in ten -strides--if thou wast a Sahib, shall I show thee what thou wouldst do?' - -'How if I guess, though?' said Kim, and putting his arm round her -waist, he kissed her on the cheek, adding in English: 'Thank you -verree much, my dear.' - -Kissing is practically unknown among Asiatics, which may have been the -reason that she leaned back with wide-open eyes and a face of panic. - -'Next time,' Kim went on, 'you must not be so sure of your heatthen -priests. Now I say good-bye.' He held out his hand English-fashion. -She took it mechanically. 'Good-bye, my dear.' - -'Good-bye, and--and'--she was remembering her English words one by -one--'you will come back again? Good-bye, and--thee God bless you.' - -Half an hour later, as the creaking litter jolted up the hill path that -leads south-easterly from Shamlegh, Kim saw a tiny figure at the hut -door waving a white rag. - -'She has acquired merit beyond all others,' said the lama. 'For to set -a man upon the way to Freedom is half as great as though she had -herself found it.' - -'Umm,' said Kim thoughtfully, considering the past. 'It may be that I -have acquired merit also ... At least she did not treat me like a -child.' He hitched the front of his robe, where lay the slab of -documents and maps, re-stowed the precious food-bag at the lama's feet, -laid his hand on the litter's edge, and buckled down to the slow pace -of the grunting husbands. - -'These also acquire merit,' said the lama after three miles. - -'More than that, they shall be paid in silver,' quoth Kim. The Woman -of Shamlegh had given it to him; and it was only fair, he argued, that -her men should earn it back again. - - - - -Chapter 15 - - - I'd not give room for an Emperor-- - I'd hold my road for a King. - To the Triple Crown I'd not bow down-- - But this is a different thing! - I'll not fight with the Powers of Air-- - Sentry, pass him through! - Drawbridge let fall--He's the Lord of us all-- - The Dreamer whose dream came true! - - The Siege of the Fairies. - - -Two hundred miles north of Chini, on the blue shale of Ladakh, lies -Yankling Sahib, the merry-minded man, spy-glassing wrathfully across -the ridges for some sign of his pet tracker--a man from Ao-chung. But -that renegade, with a new Mannlicher rifle and two hundred cartridges, -is elsewhere, shooting musk-deer for the market, and Yankling Sahib -will learn next season how very ill he has been. - -Up the valleys of Bushahr--the far-beholding eagles of the Himalayas -swerve at his new blue-and-white gored umbrella--hurries a Bengali, -once fat and well-looking, now lean and weather-worn. He has received -the thanks of two foreigners of distinction, piloted not unskilfully to -Mashobra tunnel, which leads to the great and gay capital of India. It -was not his fault that, blanketed by wet mists, he conveyed them past -the telegraph-station and European colony of Kotgarh. It was not his -fault, but that of the Gods, of whom he discoursed so engagingly, that -he led them into the borders of Nahan, where the Rahah of that State -mistook them for deserting British soldiery. Hurree Babu explained the -greatness and glory, in their own country, of his companions, till the -drowsy kinglet smiled. He explained it to everyone who asked--many -times--aloud--variously. He begged food, arranged accommodation, -proved a skilful leech for an injury of the groin--such a blow as one -may receive rolling down a rock-covered hillside in the dark--and in -all things indispensable. The reason of his friendliness did him -credit. With millions of fellow-serfs, he had learned to look upon -Russia as the great deliverer from the North. He was a fearful man. -He had been afraid that he could not save his illustrious employers -from the anger of an excited peasantry. He himself would just as lief -hit a holy man as not, but ... He was deeply grateful and sincerely -rejoiced that he had done his 'little possible' towards bringing their -venture to--barring the lost baggage--a successful issue, he had -forgotten the blows; denied that any blows had been dealt that unseemly -first night under the pines. He asked neither pension nor retaining -fee, but, if they deemed him worthy, would they write him a -testimonial? It might be useful to him later, if others, their -friends, came over the Passes. He begged them to remember him in their -future greatnesses, for he 'opined subtly' that he, even he, Mohendro -Lal Dutt, MA of Calcutta, had 'done the State some service'. - -They gave him a certificate praising his courtesy, helpfulness, and -unerring skill as a guide. He put it in his waist-belt and sobbed with -emotion; they had endured so many dangers together. He led them at -high noon along crowded Simla Mall to the Alliance Bank of Simla, where -they wished to establish their identity. Thence he vanished like a -dawn-cloud on Jakko. - -Behold him, too fine-drawn to sweat, too pressed to vaunt the drugs in -his little brass-bound box, ascending Shamlegh slope, a just man made -perfect. Watch him, all Babudom laid aside, smoking at noon on a cot, -while a woman with turquoise-studded headgear points south-easterly -across the bare grass. Litters, she says, do not travel as fast as -single men, but his birds should now be in the Plains. The holy man -would not stay though Lispeth pressed him. The Babu groans heavily, -girds up his huge loins, and is off again. He does not care to travel -after dusk; but his days' marches--there is none to enter them in a -book--would astonish folk who mock at his race. Kindly villagers, -remembering the Dacca drug-vendor of two months ago, give him shelter -against evil spirits of the wood. He dreams of Bengali Gods, -University text-books of education, and the Royal Society, London, -England. Next dawn the bobbing blue-and-white umbrella goes forward. - -On the edge of the Doon, Mussoorie well behind them and the Plains -spread out in golden dust before, rests a worn litter in which--all the -Hills know it--lies a sick lama who seeks a River for his healing. -Villages have almost come to blows over the honour of bearing it, for -not only has the lama given them blessings, but his disciple good -money--full one-third Sahibs' prices. Twelve miles a day has the dooli -travelled, as the greasy, rubbed pole-ends show, and by roads that few -Sahibs use. Over the Nilang Pass in storm when the driven snow-dust -filled every fold of the impassive lama's drapery; between the black -horns of Raieng where they heard the whistle of the wild goats through -the clouds; pitching and strained on the shale below; hard-held between -shoulder and clenched jaw when they rounded the hideous curves of the -Cut Road under Bhagirati; swinging and creaking to the steady jog-trot -of the descent into the Valley of the Waters; pressed along the steamy -levels of that locked valley; up, up and out again, to meet the roaring -gusts off Kedarnath; set down of mid-days in the dun gloom of kindly -oak-forests; passed from village to village in dawn-chill, when even -devotees may be forgiven for swearing at impatient holy men; or by -torchlight, when the least fearful think of ghosts--the dooli has -reached her last stage. The little hill-folk sweat in the modified -heat of the lower Siwaliks, and gather round the priests for their -blessing and their wage. - -'Ye have acquired merit,' says the lama. 'Merit greater than your -knowing. And ye will return to the Hills,' he sighs. - -'Surely. The high Hills as soon as may be.' The bearer rubs his -shoulder, drinks water, spits it out again, and readjusts his grass -sandal. Kim--his face is drawn and tired--pays very small silver from -his belt, heaves out the food-bag, crams an oilskin packet--they are -holy writings--into his bosom, and helps the lama to his feet. The -peace has come again into the old man's eyes, and he does not look for -the hills to fall down and crush him as he did that terrible night when -they were delayed by the flooded river. - -The men pick up the dooli and swing out of sight between the scrub -clumps. - -The lama raises a hand toward the rampart of the Himalayas. 'Not with -you, O blessed among all hills, fell the Arrow of Our Lord! And never -shall I breathe your airs again!' - -'But thou art ten times the stronger man in this good air,' says Kim, -for to his wearied soul appeal the well-cropped, kindly Plains. 'Here, -or hereabouts, fell the Arrow, yes. We will go very softly, perhaps, a -koss a day, for the Search is sure. But the bag weighs heavy.' - -'Ay, our Search is sure. I have come out of great temptation.' - -It was never more than a couple of miles a day now, and Kim's shoulders -bore all the weight of it--the burden of an old man, the burden of the -heavy food-bag with the locked books, the load of the writings on his -heart, and the details of the daily routine. He begged in the dawn, -set blankets for the lama's meditation, held the weary head on his lap -through the noonday heats, fanning away the flies till his wrists -ached, begged again in the evenings, and rubbed the lama's feet, who -rewarded him with promise of Freedom--today, tomorrow, or, at furthest, -the next day. - -'Never was such a chela. I doubt at times whether Ananda more -faithfully nursed Our Lord. And thou art a Sahib? When I was a man--a -long time ago--I forgot that. Now I look upon thee often, and every -time I remember that thou art a Sahib. It is strange.' - -'Thou hast said there is neither black nor white. Why plague me with -this talk, Holy One? Let me rub the other foot. It vexes me. I am -not a Sahib. I am thy chela, and my head is heavy on my shoulders.' - -'Patience a little! We reach Freedom together. Then thou and I, upon -the far bank of the River, will look back upon our lives as in the -Hills we saw our days' marches laid out behind us. Perhaps I was once -a Sahib.' - -'Was never a Sahib like thee, I swear it.' - -'I am certain the Keeper of the Images in the Wonder House was in past -life a very wise Abbot. But even his spectacles do not make my eyes -see. There fall shadows when I would look steadily. No matter--we -know the tricks of the poor stupid carcass--shadow changing to another -shadow. I am bound by the illusion of Time and Space. How far came we -today in the flesh?' - -'Perhaps half a koss.' (Three quarters of a mile, and it was a weary -march.) - -'Half a koss. Ha! I went ten thousand thousand in the spirit. How, -we are all lapped and swathed and swaddled in these senseless things.' -He looked at his thin blue-veined hand that found the beads so heavy. -'Chela, hast thou never a wish to leave me?' - -Kim thought of the oilskin packet and the books in the food-bag. If -someone duly authorized would only take delivery of them the Great Game -might play itself for aught he then cared. He was tired and hot in his -head, and a cough that came from the stomach worried him. - -'No.' he said almost sternly. 'I am not a dog or a snake to bite when -I have learned to love.' - -'Thou art too tender towards me.' - -'Not that either. I have moved in one matter without consulting thee. -I have sent a message to the Kulu woman by that woman who gave us the -goat's milk this morn, saying that thou wast a little feeble and -wouldst need a litter. I beat myself in my mind that I did not do it -when we entered the Doon. We stay in this place till the litter -returns.' - -'I am content. She is a woman with a heart of gold, as thou sayest, -but a talker--something of a talker.' - -'She will not weary thee. I have looked to that also. Holy One, my -heart is very heavy for my many carelessnesses towards thee.' An -hysterical catch rose in his throat. 'I have walked thee too far: I -have not picked good food always for thee; I have not considered the -heat; I have talked to people on the road and left thee alone ... I -have--I have ... Hai mai! But I love thee ... and it is all too late -... I was a child ... Oh, why was I not a man? ...' Overborne by -strain, fatigue, and the weight beyond his years, Kim broke down and -sobbed at the lama's feet. - -'What a to-do is here!' said the old man gently. 'Thou hast never -stepped a hair's breadth from the Way of Obedience. Neglect me? Child, -I have lived on thy strength as an old tree lives on the lime of a new -wall. Day by day, since Shamlegh down, I have stolen strength from -thee. Therefore, not through any sin of thine, art thou weakened. It -is the Body--the silly, stupid Body--that speaks now. Not the assured -Soul. Be comforted! Know at least the devils that thou fightest. -They are earth-born--children of illusion. We will go to the woman -from Kulu. She shall acquire merit in housing us, and specially in -tending me. Thou shalt run free till strength returns. I had -forgotten the stupid Body. If there be any blame, I bear it. But we -are too close to the Gates of Deliverance to weigh blame. I could -praise thee, but what need? In a little--in a very little--we shall -sit beyond all needs.' - -And so he petted and comforted Kim with wise saws and grave texts on -that little-understood beast, our Body, who, being but a delusion, -insists on posing as the Soul, to the darkening of the Way, and the -immense multiplication of unnecessary devils. - -'Hai! hai! Let us talk of the woman from Kulu. Think you she will -ask another charm for her grandsons? When I was a young man, a very -long time ago, I was plagued with these vapours--and some others--and I -went to an Abbot--a very holy man and a seeker after truth, though then -I knew it not. Sit up and listen, child of my soul! My tale was told. -Said he to me, "Chela, know this. There are many lies in the world, -and not a few liars, but there are no liars like our bodies, except it -be the sensations of our bodies." Considering this I was comforted, -and of his great favour he suffered me to drink tea In his presence. -Suffer me now to drink tea, for I am thirsty.' - -With a laugh across his tears, Kim kissed the lama's feet, and set -about the tea-making. - -'Thou leanest on me in the body, Holy One, but I lean on thee for some -other things. Dost know it?' - -'I have guessed maybe,' and the lama's eyes twinkled. 'We must change -that.' - -So, when with scufflings and scrapings and a hot air of importance, -paddled up nothing less than the Sahiba's pet palanquin sent twenty -miles, with that same grizzled old Oorya servant in charge, and when -they reached the disorderly order of the long white rambling house -behind Saharunpore, the lama took his own measures. - -Said the Sahiba cheerily from an upper window, after compliments: 'What -is the good of an old woman's advice to an old man? I told thee--I -told thee, Holy One, to keep an eye upon the chela. How didst thou do -it? Never answer me! I know. He has been running among the women. -Look at his eyes--hollow and sunk--and the Betraying Line from the nose -down! He has been sifted out! Fie! Fie! And a priest, too!' - -Kim looked up, over-weary to smile, shaking his head in denial. - -'Do not jest,' said the lama. 'That time is done. We are here upon -great matters. A sickness of soul took me in the Hills, and him a -sickness of the body. Since then I have lived upon his -strength--eating him.' - -'Children together--young and old,' she sniffed, but forbore to make -any new jokes. 'May this present hospitality restore ye! Hold awhile -and I will come to gossip of the high good Hills.' - -At evening time--her son-in-law was returned, so she did not need to go -on inspection round the farm--she won to the meat of the matter, -explained low-voicedly by the lama. The two old heads nodded wisely -together. Kim had reeled to a room with a cot in it, and was dozing -soddenly. The lama had forbidden him to set blankets or get food. - -'I know--I know. Who but I?' she cackled. 'We who go down to the -burning-ghats clutch at the hands of those coming up from the River of -Life with full water-jars--yes, brimming water-jars. I did the boy -wrong. He lent thee his strength? It is true that the old eat the -young daily. Stands now we must restore him.' - -'Thou hast many times acquired merit--' - -'My merit. What is it? Old bag of bones making curries for men who do -not ask "Who cooked this?" Now if it were stored up for my grandson--' - -'He that had the belly-pain?' - -'To think the Holy One remembers that! I must tell his mother. It is -most singular honour! "He that had the belly-pain"--straightway the -Holy One remembered. She will be proud.' - -'My chela is to me as is a son to the unenlightened.' - -'Say grandson, rather. Mothers have not the wisdom of our years. If a -child cries they say the heavens are falling. Now a grandmother is far -enough separated from the pain of bearing and the pleasure of giving -the breast to consider whether a cry is wickedness pure or the wind. -And since thou speakest once again of wind, when last the Holy One was -here, maybe I offended in pressing for charms.' - -'Sister,' said the lama, using that form of address a Buddhist monk may -sometimes employ towards a nun, 'if charms comfort thee--' - -'They are better than ten thousand doctors.' - -'I say, if they comfort thee, I who was Abbot of Such-zen, will make as -many as thou mayest desire. I have never seen thy face--' - -'That even the monkeys who steal our loquats count for again. Hee! -hee!' - -'But as he who sleeps there said,'--he nodded at the shut door of the -guest-chamber across the forecourt--'thou hast a heart of gold... And -he is in the spirit my very "grandson" to me.' - -'Good! I am the Holy One's cow.' This was pure Hinduism, but the lama -never heeded. 'I am old. I have borne sons in the body. Oh, once I -could please men! Now I can cure them.' He heard her armlets tinkle -as though she bared arms for action. 'I will take over the boy and -dose him, and stuff him, and make him all whole. Hai! hai! We old -people know something yet.' - -Wherefore when Kim, aching in every bone, opened his eyes, and would go -to the cook-house to get his master's food, he found strong coercion -about him, and a veiled old figure at the door, flanked by the grizzled -manservant, who told him very precisely the things that he was on no -account to do. - -'Thou must have? Thou shalt have nothing. What? A locked box in -which to keep holy books? Oh, that is another matter. Heavens forbid -I should come between a priest and his prayers! It shall be brought, -and thou shalt keep the key.' - -They pushed the coffer under his cot, and Kim shut away Mahbub's -pistol, the oilskin packet of letters, and the locked books and -diaries, with a groan of relief. For some absurd reason their weight -on his shoulders was nothing to their weight on his poor mind. His -neck ached under it of nights. - -'Thine is a sickness uncommon in youth these days: since young folk -have given up tending their betters. The remedy is sleep, and certain -drugs,' said the Sahiba; and he was glad to give himself up to the -blankness that half menaced and half soothed him. - -She brewed drinks, in some mysterious Asiatic equivalent to the -still-room--drenches that smelt pestilently and tasted worse. She -stood over Kim till they went down, and inquired exhaustively after -they had come up. She laid a taboo upon the forecourt, and enforced it -by means of an armed man. It is true he was seventy odd, that his -scabbarded sword ceased at the hilt; but he represented the authority -of the Sahiba, and loaded wains, chattering servants, calves, dogs, -hens, and the like, fetched a wide compass by those parts. Best of -all, when the body was cleared, she cut out from the mass of poor -relations that crowded the back of the buildings--house-hold dogs, we -name them--a cousin's widow, skilled in what Europeans, who know -nothing about it, call massage. And the two of them, laying him east -and west, that the mysterious earth-currents which thrill the clay of -our bodies might help and not hinder, took him to pieces all one long -afternoon--bone by bone, muscle by muscle, ligament by ligament, and -lastly, nerve by nerve. Kneaded to irresponsible pulp, half hypnotized -by the perpetual flick and readjustment of the uneasy chudders that -veiled their eyes, Kim slid ten thousand miles into slumber--thirty-six -hours of it--sleep that soaked like rain after drought. - -Then she fed him, and the house spun to her clamour. She caused fowls -to be slain; she sent for vegetables, and the sober, slow-thinking -gardener, nigh as old as she, sweated for it; she took spices, and -milk, and onion, with little fish from the brooks--anon limes for -sherbets, fat quails from the pits, then chicken-livers upon a skewer, -with sliced ginger between. - -'I have seen something of this world,' she said over the crowded trays, -'and there are but two sorts of women in it--those who take the -strength out of a man and those who put it back. Once I was that one, -and now I am this. Nay--do not play the priestling with me. Mine was -but a jest. If it does not hold good now, it will when thou takest the -road again. Cousin,'--this to the poor relation, never wearied of -extolling her patroness's charity--'he is getting a bloom on the skin -of a new-curried horse. Our work is like polishing jewels to be thrown -to a dance-girl--eh?' - -Kim sat up and smiled. The terrible weakness had dropped from him like -an old shoe. His tongue itched for free speech again, and but a week -back the lightest word clogged it like ashes. The pain in his neck (he -must have caught it from the lama) had gone with the heavy dengue-aches -and the evil taste in the mouth. The two old women, a little, but not -much, more careful about their veils now, clucked as merrily as the -hens that had entered pecking through the open door. - -'Where is my Holy One?' he demanded. - -'Hear him! Thy Holy One is well,' she snapped viciously. 'Though that -is none of his merit. Knew I a charm to make him wise, I'd sell my -jewels and buy it. To refuse good food that I cooked myself--and go -roving into the fields for two nights on an empty belly--and to tumble -into a brook at the end of it--call you that holiness? Then, when he -has nearly broken what thou hast left of my heart with anxiety, he -tells me that he has acquired merit. Oh, how like are all men! No, -that was not it--he tells me that he is freed from all sin. I could -have told him that before he wetted himself all over. He is well -now--this happened a week ago--but burn me such holiness! A babe of -three would do better. Do not fret thyself for the Holy One. He keeps -both eyes on thee when he is not wading our brooks.' - -'I do not remember to have seen him. I remember that the days and -nights passed like bars of white and black, opening and shutting. I -was not sick: I was but tired.' - -'A lethargy that comes by right some few score years later. But it is -done now.' - -'Maharanee,' Kim began, but led by the look in her eye, changed it to -the title of plain love--'Mother, I owe my life to thee. How shall I -make thanks? Ten thousand blessings upon thy house and--' - -'The house be unblessed!' (It is impossible to give exactly the old -lady's word.) 'Thank the Gods as a priest if thou wilt, but thank me, -if thou carest, as a son. Heavens above! Have I shifted thee and -lifted thee and slapped and twisted thy ten toes to find texts flung at -my head? Somewhere a mother must have borne thee to break her heart. -What used thou to her--son?' - -'I had no mother, my mother,' said Kim. 'She died, they tell me, when -I was young.' - -'Hai mai! Then none can say I have robbed her of any right if--when -thou takest the road again and this house is but one of a thousand used -for shelter and forgotten, after an easy-flung blessing. No matter. I -need no blessings, but--but--' She stamped her foot at the poor -relation. 'Take up the trays to the house. What is the good of stale -food in the room, O woman of ill-omen?' - -'I ha--have borne a son in my time too, but he died,' whimpered the -bowed sister-figure behind the chudder. 'Thou knowest he died! I only -waited for the order to take away the tray.' - -'It is I that am the woman of ill-omen,' cried the old lady penitently. -'We that go down to the chattris [the big umbrellas above the -burning-ghats where the priests take their last dues] clutch hard at -the bearers of the chattis [water-jars--young folk full of the pride of -life, she meant; but the pun is clumsy]. When one cannot dance in the -festival one must e'en look out of the window, and grandmothering takes -all a woman's time. Thy master gives me all the charms I now desire -for my daughter's eldest, by reason--is it?--that he is wholly free -from sin. The hakim is brought very low these days. He goes about -poisoning my servants for lack of their betters.' - -'What hakim, mother?' - -'That very Dacca man who gave me the pill which rent me in three -pieces. He cast up like a strayed camel a week ago, vowing that he and -thou had been blood-brothers together up Kulu-way, and feigning great -anxiety for thy health. He was very thin and hungry, so I gave orders -to have him stuffed too--him and his anxiety!' - -'I would see him if he is here.' - -'He eats five times a day, and lances boils for my hinds to save -himself from an apoplexy. He is so full of anxiety for thy health that -he sticks to the cook-house door and stays himself with scraps. He will -keep. We shall never get rid of him.' - -'Send him here, mother'--the twinkle returned to Kim's eye for a -flash--'and I will try.' - -'I'll send him, but to chase him off is an ill turn. At least he had -the sense to fish the Holy One out of the brook; thus, as the Holy One -did not say, acquiring merit.' - -'He is a very wise hakim. Send him, mother.' - -'Priest praising priest? A miracle! If he is any friend of thine (ye -squabbled at your last meeting) I'll hale him here with horse-ropes -and--and give him a caste-dinner afterwards, my son ... Get up and see -the world! This lying abed is the mother of seventy devils ... my son! -my son!' - -She trotted forth to raise a typhoon off the cook-house, and almost on -her shadow rolled in the Babu, robed as to the shoulders like a Roman -emperor, jowled like Titus, bare-headed, with new patent-leather shoes, -in highest condition of fat, exuding joy and salutations. - -'By Jove, Mister O'Hara, but I are jolly-glad to see you. I will -kindly shut the door. It is a pity you are sick. Are you very sick?' - -'The papers--the papers from the kilta. The maps and the murasla!' He -held out the key impatiently; for the present need on his soul was to -get rid of the loot. - -'You are quite right. That is correct Departmental view to take. You -have got everything?' - -'All that was handwritten in the kilta I took. The rest I threw down -the hill.' He could hear the key's grate in the lock, the sticky pull -of the slow-rending oilskin, and a quick shuffling of papers. He had -been annoyed out of all reason by the knowledge that they lay below him -through the sick idle days--a burden incommunicable. For that reason -the blood tingled through his body, when Hurree, skipping -elephantinely, shook hands again. - -'This is fine! This is finest! Mister O'Hara! you have--ha! ha! -swiped the whole bag of tricks--locks, stocks, and barrels. They told -me it was eight months' work gone up the spouts! By Jove, how they -beat me! ... Look, here is the letter from Hilas!' He intoned a line -or two of Court Persian, which is the language of authorized and -unauthorized diplomacy. 'Mister Rajah Sahib has just about put his -foot in the holes. He will have to explain offeecially how the -deuce-an'-all he is writing love-letters to the Czar. And they are -very clever maps ... and there is three or four Prime Ministers of -these parts implicated by the correspondence. By Gad, sar! The -British Government will change the succession in Hilas and Bunar, and -nominate new heirs to the throne. "Trea-son most base" ... but you do -not understand? Eh?' - -'Are they in thy hands?' said Kim. It was all he cared for. - -'Just you jolly-well bet yourself they are.' He stowed the entire -trove about his body, as only Orientals can. 'They are going up to the -office, too. The old lady thinks I am permanent fixture here, but I -shall go away with these straight off--immediately. Mr Lurgan will be -proud man. You are offeecially subordinate to me, but I shall embody -your name in my verbal report. It is a pity we are not allowed written -reports. We Bengalis excel in thee exact science.' He tossed back the -key and showed the box empty. - -'Good. That is good. I was very tired. My Holy One was sick, too. -And did he fall into--' - -'Oah yess. I am his good friend, I tell you. He was behaving very -strange when I came down after you, and I thought perhaps he might have -the papers. I followed him on his meditations, and to discuss -ethnological points also. You see, I am verree small person here -nowadays, in comparison with all his charms. By Jove, O'Hara, do you -know, he is afflicted with infirmity of fits. Yess, I tell you. -Cataleptic, too, if not also epileptic. I found him in such a state -under a tree in articulo mortem, and he jumped up and walked into a -brook and he was nearly drowned but for me. I pulled him out.' - -'Because I was not there!' said Kim. 'He might have died.' - -'Yes, he might have died, but he is dry now, and asserts he has -undergone transfiguration.' The Babu tapped his forehead knowingly. 'I -took notes of his statements for Royal Society--in posse. You must -make haste and be quite well and come back to Simla, and I will tell -you all my tale at Lurgan's. It was splendid. The bottoms of their -trousers were quite torn, and old Nahan Rajah, he thought they were -European soldiers deserting.' - -'Oh, the Russians? How long were they with thee?' - -'One was a Frenchman. Oh, days and days and days! Now all the -hill-people believe all Russians are all beggars. By Jove! they had -not one dam'-thing that I did not get them. And I told the common -people--oah, such tales and anecdotes!--I will tell you at old Lurgan's -when you come up. We will have--ah--a night out! It is feather in -both our caps! Yess, and they gave me a certificate. That is creaming -joke. You should have seen them at the Alliance Bank identifying -themselves! And thank Almighty God you got their papers so well! You -do not laugh verree much, but you shall laugh when you are well. Now I -will go straight to the railway and get out. You shall have all sorts -of credits for your game. When do you come along? We are very proud -of you though you gave us great frights. And especially Mahbub.' - -'Ay, Mahbub. And where is he?' - -'Selling horses in this vi-cinity, of course.' - -'Here! Why? Speak slowly. There is a thickness in my head still.' - -The Babu looked shyly down his nose. 'Well, you see, I am fearful man, -and I do not like responsibility. You were sick, you see, and I did -not know where deuce-an'-all the papers were, and if so, how many. So -when I had come down here I slipped in private wire to Mahbub--he was -at Meerut for races--and I tell him how case stands. He comes up with -his men and he consorts with the lama, and then he calls me a fool, and -is very rude--' - -'But wherefore--wherefore?' - -'That is what I ask. I only suggest that if anyone steals the papers I -should like some good strong, brave men to rob them back again. You -see, they are vitally important, and Mahbub Ali he did not know where -you were.' - -'Mahbub Ali to rob the Sahiba's house? Thou art mad, Babu,' said Kim -with indignation. - -'I wanted the papers. Suppose she had stole them? It was only -practical suggestion, I think. You are not pleased, eh?' - -A native proverb--unquotable--showed the blackness of Kim's disapproval. - -'Well,'--Hurree shrugged his shoulders--'there is no accounting for -thee taste. Mahbub was angry too. He has sold horses all about here, -and he says old lady is pukka [thorough] old lady and would not -condescend to such ungentlemanly things. I do not care. I have got -the papers, and I was very glad of moral support from Mahbub. I tell -you, I am fearful man, but, somehow or other, the more fearful I am the -more dam'-tight places I get into. So I was glad you came with me to -Chini, and I am glad Mahbub was close by. The old lady she is -sometimes very rude to me and my beautiful pills.' - -'Allah be merciful!' said Kim on his elbow, rejoicing. 'What a beast -of wonder is a Babu! And that man walked alone--if he did walk--with -robbed and angry foreigners!' - -'Oah, thatt was nothing, after they had done beating me; but if I lost -the papers it was pretty-jolly serious. Mahbub he nearly beat me too, -and he went and consorted with the lama no end. I shall stick to -ethnological investigations henceforwards. Now good-bye, Mister -O'Hara. I can catch 4.25 p.m. to Umballa if I am quick. It will be -good times when we all tell thee tale up at Mr Lurgan's. I shall -report you offeecially better. Good-bye, my dear fallow, and when next -you are under thee emotions please do not use the Mohammedan terms with -the Tibetan dress.' - -He shook hands twice--a Babu to his boot-heels--and opened the door. -With the fall of the sunlight upon his still triumphant face he -returned to the humble Dacca quack. - -'He robbed them,' thought Kim, forgetting his own share in the game. -'He tricked them. He lied to them like a Bengali. They give him a -chit [a testimonial]. He makes them a mock at the risk of his life--I -never would have gone down to them after the pistol-shots--and then he -says he is a fearful man ... And he is a fearful man. I must get into -the world again.' - -At first his legs bent like bad pipe-stems, and the flood and rush of -the sunlit air dazzled him. He squatted by the white wall, the mind -rummaging among the incidents of the long dooli journey, the lama's -weaknesses, and, now that the stimulus of talk was removed, his own -self-pity, of which, like the sick, he had great store. The unnerved -brain edged away from all the outside, as a raw horse, once rowelled, -sidles from the spur. It was enough, amply enough, that the spoil of -the kilta was away--off his hands--out of his possession. He tried to -think of the lama--to wonder why he had tumbled into a brook--but the -bigness of the world, seen between the forecourt gates, swept linked -thought aside. Then he looked upon the trees and the broad fields, -with the thatched huts hidden among crops--looked with strange eyes -unable to take up the size and proportion and use of things--stared for -a still half-hour. All that while he felt, though he could not put it -into words, that his soul was out of gear with its surroundings--a -cog-wheel unconnected with any machinery, just like the idle cog-wheel -of a cheap Beheea sugar-crusher laid by in a corner. The breezes -fanned over him, the parrots shrieked at him, the noises of the -populated house behind--squabbles, orders, and reproofs--hit on dead -ears. - -'I am Kim. I am Kim. And what is Kim?' His soul repeated it again -and again. - -He did not want to cry--had never felt less like crying in his -life--but of a sudden easy, stupid tears trickled down his nose, and -with an almost audible click he felt the wheels of his being lock up -anew on the world without. Things that rode meaningless on the eyeball -an instant before slid into proper proportion. Roads were meant to be -walked upon, houses to be lived in, cattle to be driven, fields to be -tilled, and men and women to be talked to. They were all real and -true--solidly planted upon the feet--perfectly comprehensible--clay of -his clay, neither more nor less. He shook himself like a dog with a -flea in his ear, and rambled out of the gate. Said the Sahiba, to whom -watchful eyes reported this move: 'Let him go. I have done my share. -Mother Earth must do the rest. When the Holy One comes back from -meditation, tell him.' - -There stood an empty bullock-cart on a little knoll half a mile away, -with a young banyan tree behind--a look-out, as it were, above some -new-ploughed levels; and his eyelids, bathed in soft air, grew heavy as -he neared it. The ground was good clean dust--no new herbage that, -living, is half-way to death already, but the hopeful dust that holds -the seeds of all life. He felt it between his toes, patted it with his -palms, and joint by joint, sighing luxuriously, laid him down full -length along in the shadow of the wooden-pinned cart. And Mother Earth -was as faithful as the Sahiba. She breathed through him to restore the -poise he had lost lying so long on a cot cut off from her good -currents. His head lay powerless upon her breast, and his opened hands -surrendered to her strength. The many-rooted tree above him, and even -the dead manhandled wood beside, knew what he sought, as he himself did -not know. Hour upon hour he lay deeper than sleep. - -Towards evening, when the dust of returning kine made all the horizons -smoke, came the lama and Mahbub Ali, both afoot, walking cautiously, -for the house had told them where he had gone. - -'Allah! What a fool's trick to play in open country!' muttered the -horse-dealer. 'He could be shot a hundred times--but this is not the -Border.' - -'And,' said the lama, repeating a many-times-told tale, 'never was such -a chela. Temperate, kindly, wise, of ungrudging disposition, a merry -heart upon the road, never forgetting, learned, truthful, courteous. -Great is his reward!' - -'I know the boy--as I have said.' - -'And he was all those things?' - -'Some of them--but I have not yet found a Red Hat's charm for making -him overly truthful. He has certainly been well nursed.' - -'The Sahiba is a heart of gold,' said the lama earnestly. 'She looks -upon him as her son.' - -'Hmph! Half Hind seems that way disposed. I only wished to see that -the boy had come to no harm and was a free agent. As thou knowest, he -and I were old friends in the first days of your pilgrimage together.' - -'That is a bond between us.' The lama sat down. 'We are at the end of -the pilgrimage.' - -'No thanks to thee thine was not cut off for good and all a week back. -I heard what the Sahiba said to thee when we bore thee up on the cot.' -Mahbub laughed, and tugged his newly dyed beard. - -'I was meditating upon other matters that tide. It was the hakim from -Dacca broke my meditations.' - -'Otherwise'--this was in Pushtu for decency's sake--'thou wouldst have -ended thy meditations upon the sultry side of Hell--being an unbeliever -and an idolater for all thy child's simplicity. But now, Red Hat, what -is to be done?' - -'This very night,'--the words came slowly, vibrating with -triumph--'this very night he will be as free as I am from all taint of -sin--assured as I am, when he quits this body, of Freedom from the -Wheel of Things. I have a sign'--he laid his hand above the torn chart -in his bosom--'that my time is short; but I shall have safeguarded him -throughout the years. Remember, I have reached Knowledge, as I told -thee only three nights back.' - -'It must be true, as the Tirah priest said when I stole his cousin's -wife, that I am a Sufi [a free-thinker]; for here I sit,' said Mahbub -to himself, 'drinking in blasphemy unthinkable ... I remember the -tale. On that, then, he goes to Fannatu l'Adn [the Gardens of Eden]. -But how? Wilt thou slay him or drown him in that wonderful river from -which the Babu dragged thee?' - -'I was dragged from no river,' said the lama simply. 'Thou hast -forgotten what befell. I found it by Knowledge.' - -'Oh, ay. True,' stammered Mahbub, divided between high indignation and -enormous mirth. 'I had forgotten the exact run of what happened. Thou -didst find it knowingly.' - -'And to say that I would take life is--not a sin, but a madness simple. -My chela aided me to the River. It is his right to be cleansed from -sin--with me.' - -'Ay, he needs cleansing. But afterwards, old man--afterwards?' - -'What matter under all the Heavens? He is sure of -Nibban--enlightened--as I am.' - -'Well said. I had a fear he might mount Mohammed's Horse and fly away.' - -'Nay--he must go forth as a teacher.' - -'Aha! Now I see! That is the right gait for the colt. Certainly he -must go forth as a teacher. He is somewhat urgently needed as a scribe -by the State, for instance.' - -'To that end he was prepared. I acquired merit in that I gave alms for -his sake. A good deed does not die. He aided me in my Search. I -aided him in his. Just is the Wheel, O horse-seller from the North. -Let him be a teacher; let him be a scribe--what matter? He will have -attained Freedom at the end. The rest is illusion.' - -'What matter? When I must have him with me beyond Balkh in six months! -I come up with ten lame horses and three strong-backed men--thanks to -that chicken of a Babu--to break a sick boy by force out of an old -trot's house. It seems that I stand by while a young Sahib is hoisted -into Allah knows what of an idolater's Heaven by means of old Red Hat. -And I am reckoned something of a player of the Game myself! But the -madman is fond of the boy; and I must be very reasonably mad too.' - -'What is the prayer?' said the lama, as the rough Pushtu rumbled into -the red beard. - -'No matter at all; but now I understand that the boy, sure of Paradise, -can yet enter Government service, my mind is easier. I must get to my -horses. It grows dark. Do not wake him. I have no wish to hear him -call thee master.' - -'But he is my disciple. What else?' - -'He has told me.' Mahbub choked down his touch of spleen and rose -laughing. 'I am not altogether of thy faith, Red Hat--if so small a -matter concern thee.' - -'It is nothing,' said the lama. - -'I thought not. Therefore it will not move thee, sinless, new-washed -and three parts drowned to boot, when I call thee a good man--a very -good man. We have talked together some four or five evenings now, and -for all I am a horse-coper I can still, as the saying is, see holiness -beyond the legs of a horse. Yea, can see, too, how our Friend of all -the World put his hand in thine at the first. Use him well, and suffer -him to return to the world as a teacher, when thou hast--bathed his -legs, if that be the proper medicine for the colt.' - -'Why not follow the Way thyself, and so accompany the boy?' - -Mahbub stared stupefied at the magnificent insolence of the demand, -which across the Border he would have paid with more than a blow. Then -the humour of it touched his worldly soul. - -'Softly--softly--one foot at a time, as the lame gelding went over the -Umballa jumps. I may come to Paradise later--I have workings that -way--great motions--and I owe them to thy simplicity. Thou hast never -lied?' - -'What need?' - -'O Allah, hear him! "What need" in this Thy world! Nor ever harmed a -man?' - -'Once--with a pencase--before I was wise.' - -'So? I think the better of thee. Thy teachings are good. Thou hast -turned one man that I know from the path of strife.' He laughed -immensely. 'He came here open-minded to commit a dacoity [a -house-robbery with violence]. Yes, to cut, rob, kill, and carry off -what he desired.' - -'A great foolishness!' - -'Oh! black shame too. So he thought after he had seen thee--and a few -others, male and female. So he abandoned it; and now he goes to beat a -big fat Babu man.' - -'I do not understand.' - -'Allah forbid it! Some men are strong in knowledge, Red Hat. Thy -strength is stronger still. Keep it--I think thou wilt. If the boy be -not a good servant, pull his ears off.' - -With a hitch of his broad Bokhariot belt the Pathan swaggered off into -the gloaming, and the lama came down from his clouds so far as to look -at the broad back. - -'That person lacks courtesy, and is deceived by the shadow of -appearances. But he spoke well of my chela, who now enters upon his -reward. Let me make the prayer! ... Wake, O fortunate above all born -of women. Wake! It is found!' - -Kim came up from those deep wells, and the lama attended his yawning -pleasure; duly snapping fingers to head off evil spirits. - -'I have slept a hundred years. Where--? Holy One, hast thou been here -long? I went out to look for thee, but'--he laughed drowsily--'I slept -by the way. I am all well now. Hast thou eaten? Let us go to the -house. It is many days since I tended thee. And the Sahiba fed thee -well? Who shampooed thy legs? What of the weaknesses--the belly and -the neck, and the beating in the ears?' - -'Gone--all gone. Dost thou not know?' - -'I know nothing, but that I have not seen thee in a monkey's age. Know -what?' - -'Strange the knowledge did not reach out to thee, when all my thoughts -were theeward.' - -'I cannot see the face, but the voice is like a gong. Has the Sahiba -made a young man of thee by her cookery?' - -He peered at the cross-legged figure, outlined jet-black against the -lemon-coloured drift of light. So does the stone Bodhisat sit who -looks down upon the patent self-registering turnstiles of the Lahore -Museum. - -The lama held his peace. Except for the click of the rosary and a -faint clop-clop of Mahbub's retreating feet, the soft, smoky silence of -evening in India wrapped them close. - -'Hear me! I bring news.' - -'But let us--' - -Out shot the long yellow hand compelling silence. Kim tucked his feet -under his robe-edge obediently. - -'Hear me! I bring news! The Search is finished. Comes now the -Reward... Thus. When we were among the Hills, I lived on thy strength -till the young branch bowed and nigh broke. When we came out of the -Hills, I was troubled for thee and for other matters which I held in my -heart. The boat of my soul lacked direction; I could not see into the -Cause of Things. So I gave thee over to the virtuous woman altogether. -I took no food. I drank no water. Still I saw not the Way. They -pressed food upon me and cried at my shut door. So I removed myself to -a hollow under a tree. I took no food. I took no water. I sat in -meditation two days and two nights, abstracting my mind; inbreathing -and outbreathing in the required manner ... Upon the second night--so -great was my reward--the wise Soul loosed itself from the silly Body -and went free. This I have never before attained, though I have stood -on the threshold of it. Consider, for it is a marvel!' - -'A marvel indeed. Two days and two nights without food! Where was the -Sahiba?' said Kim under his breath. - -'Yea, my Soul went free, and, wheeling like an eagle, saw indeed that -there was no Teshoo Lama nor any other soul. As a drop draws to water, -so my Soul drew near to the Great Soul which is beyond all things. At -that point, exalted in contemplation, I saw all Hind, from Ceylon in -the sea to the Hills, and my own Painted Rocks at Such-zen; I saw every -camp and village, to the least, where we have ever rested. I saw them -at one time and in one place; for they were within the Soul. By this I -knew the Soul had passed beyond the illusion of Time and Space and of -Things. By this I knew that I was free. I saw thee lying in thy cot, -and I saw thee falling downhill under the idolater--at one time, in one -place, in my Soul, which, as I say, had touched the Great Soul. Also I -saw the stupid body of Teshoo Lama lying down, and the hakim from Dacca -kneeled beside, shouting in its ear. Then my Soul was all alone, and I -saw nothing, for I was all things, having reached the Great Soul. And -I meditated a thousand thousand years, passionless, well aware of the -Causes of all Things. Then a voice cried: "What shall come to the boy -if thou art dead?" and I was shaken back and forth in myself with pity -for thee; and I said: "I will return to my chela, lest he miss the -Way." Upon this my Soul, which is the Soul of Teshoo Lama, withdrew -itself from the Great Soul with strivings and yearnings and retchings -and agonies not to be told. As the egg from the fish, as the fish from -the water, as the water from the cloud, as the cloud from the thick -air, so put forth, so leaped out, so drew away, so fumed up the Soul of -Teshoo Lama from the Great Soul. Then a voice cried: "The River! Take -heed to the River!" and I looked down upon all the world, which was as -I had seen it before--one in time, one in place--and I saw plainly the -River of the Arrow at my feet. At that hour my Soul was hampered by -some evil or other whereof I was not wholly cleansed, and it lay upon -my arms and coiled round my waist; but I put it aside, and I cast forth -as an eagle in my flight for the very place of the River. I pushed -aside world upon world for thy sake. I saw the River below me--the -River of the Arrow--and, descending, the waters of it closed over me; -and behold I was again in the body of Teshoo Lama, but free from sin, -and the hakim from Decca bore up my head in the waters of the River. -It is here! It is behind the mango-tope here--even here!' - -'Allah kerim! Oh, well that the Babu was by! Wast thou very wet?' - -'Why should I regard? I remember the hakim was concerned for the body -of Teshoo Lama. He haled it out of the holy water in his hands, and -there came afterwards thy horse-seller from the North with a cot and -men, and they put the body on the cot and bore it up to the Sahiba's -house.' - -'What said the Sahiba?' - -'I was meditating in that body, and did not hear. So thus the Search -is ended. For the merit that I have acquired, the River of the Arrow -is here. It broke forth at our feet, as I have said. I have found it. -Son of my Soul, I have wrenched my Soul back from the Threshold of -Freedom to free thee from all sin--as I am free, and sinless! Just is -the Wheel! Certain is our deliverance! Come!' - -He crossed his hands on his lap and smiled, as a man may who has won -salvation for himself and his beloved. - - - - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Kim, by Rudyard Kipling - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KIM *** - -***** This file should be named 2226.txt or 2226.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - https://www.gutenberg.org/2/2/2/2226/ - -Produced by Patricia Franks, Karyl Basmajian, Nancy K. -Smith, Dave Bruchie. - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Smith, BIT Student -Broome Community College -Front Street -Binghamton, NY 13902 -franks_p@mail.sunybroome.edu - -With updates and fixes by Dave Bruchie. - - - - -Kim - -by Rudyard Kipling - - - - -Chapter I - - -O ye who tread the Narrow Way -By Tophet-flare to judgment Day, -Be gentle when 'the heathen' pray -To Buddha at Kamakura! - -Buddha at Kamakura. - - - -He sat, in defiance of municipal orders, astride the gun Zam -Zammah on her brick platform opposite the old Ajaib-Gher - -the Wonder House, as the natives call the Lahore Museum. -Who hold Zam-Zammah, that 'fire-breathing dragon', hold the -Punjab, for the great green-bronze piece is always first of the - conqueror's loot. - -There was some justification for Kim - he had kicked Lala -Dinanath's boy off the trunnions - since the English held the -Punjab and Kim was English. Though he was burned black as any -native; though he spoke the vernacular by preference, and his -mother-tongue in a clipped uncertain sing-song; though he -consorted on terms of perfect equality with the small boys of the -bazar; Kim was white - a poor white of the very poorest. The -half-caste woman who looked after him (she smoked opium, and -pretended to keep a second-hand furniture shop by the square -where the cheap cabs wait) told the missionaries that she was -Kim's mother's sister; but his mother had been nursemaid in a -Colonel's family and had married Kimball O'Hara, a young colour- -sergeant of the Mavericks, an Irish regiment. He afterwards took -a post on the Sind, Punjab, and Delhi Railway, and his Regiment -went home without him. The wife died of cholera in Ferozepore, -and O'Hara fell to drink and loafing up and down the line with -the keen-eyed three-year-old baby. Societies and chaplains, -anxious for the child, tried to catch him, but O'Hara drifted -away, till he came across the woman who took opium and learned -the taste from her, and died as poor whites die in India. His -estate at death consisted of three papers - one he called his 'ne -varietur' because those words were written below his signature -thereon, and another his 'clearance-certificate'. The third was -Kim's birth-certificate. Those things, he was used to say, in his -glorious opium-hours, would yet make little Kimball a man. On no -account was Kim to part with them, for they belonged to a great -piece of magic - such magic as men practised over yonder behind -the Museum, in the big blue-and-white Jadoo-Gher - the Magic -House, as we name the Masonic Lodge. It would, he said, all come -right some day, and Kim's horn would be exalted between pillars - -monstrous pillars - of beauty and strength. The Colonel himself, -riding on a horse, at the head of the finest Regiment in the -world, would attend to Kim - little Kim that should have been -better off than his father. Nine hundred first-class devils, -whose God was a Red Bull on a green field, would attend to Kim, -if they had not forgotten O'Hara - poor O'Hara that was gang- -foreman on the Ferozepore line. Then he would weep bitterly in -the broken rush chair on the veranda. So it came about after his -death that the woman sewed parchment, paper, and birth- -certificate into a leather amulet-case which she strung round -Kim's neck. - -'And some day,' she said, confusedly remembering O'Hara's -prophecies, 'there will come for you a great Red Bull on a green -field, and the Colonel riding on his tall horse, yes, and' -dropping into English - 'nine hundred devils.' - -'Ah,' said Kim, 'I shall remember. A Red Bull and a Colonel on a -horse will come, but first, my father said, will come the two men -making ready the ground for these matters. That is how my father -said they always did; and it is always so when men work magic.' - -If the woman had sent Kim up to the local Jadoo-Gher with those -papers, he would, of course, have been taken over by the -Provincial Lodge, and sent to the Masonic Orphanage in the Hills; -but what she had heard of magic she distrusted. Kim, too, held -views of his own. As he reached the years of indiscretion, he -learned to avoid missionaries and white men of serious aspect who -asked who he was, and what he did. For Kim did nothing with an -immense success. True, he knew the wonderful walled city of -Lahore from the Delhi Gate to the outer Fort Ditch; was hand in -glove with men who led lives stranger than anything Haroun al -Raschid dreamed of; and he lived in a life wild as that of the -Arabian Nights, but missionaries and secretaries of charitable -societies could not see the beauty of it. His nickname through -the wards was 'Little Friend of all the World'; and very often, -being lithe and inconspicuous, he executed commissions by night -on the crowded housetops for sleek and shiny young men of -fashion. It was intrigue, - of course he knew that much, as he -had known all evil since he could speak, - but what he loved was -the game for its own sake - the stealthy prowl through the dark -gullies and lanes, the crawl up a waterpipe, the sights and -sounds of the women's world on the flat roofs, and the headlong -flight from housetop to housetop under cover of the hot dark. -Then there were holy men, ash-smeared fakirs by their brick -shrines under the trees at the riverside, with whom he was quite -familiar - greeting them as they returned from begging-tours, -and, when no one was by, eating from the same dish. The woman who -looked after him insisted with tears that he should wear European -clothes - trousers, a shirt and a battered hat. Kim found it -easier to slip into Hindu or Mohammedan garb when engaged on -certain businesses. One of the young men of fashion - he who was -found dead at the bottom of a well on the night of the earthquake -had once given him a complete suit of Hindu kit, the costume -of a lowcaste street boy, and Kim stored it in a secret place -under some baulks in Nila Ram's timber-yard, beyond the Punjab -High Court, where the fragrant deodar logs lie seasoning after -they have driven down the Ravi. When there was business or frolic -afoot, Kim would use his properties, returning at dawn to the -veranda, all tired out from shouting at the heels of a marriage -procession, or yelling at a Hindu festival. Sometimes there was -food in the house, more often there was not, and then Kim went -out again to eat with his native friends. - -As he drummed his heels against Zam-Zammah he turned now and -again from his king-of-the-castle game with little Chota Lal and -Abdullah the sweetmeat-seller's son, to make a rude remark to the -native policeman on guard over rows of shoes at the Museum door. -The big Punjabi grinned tolerantly: he knew Kim of old. So did -the water-carrier, sluicing water on the dry road from his goat- -skin bag. So did Jawahir Singh, the Museum carpenter, bent over -new packing-cases. So did everybody in sight except the peasants -from the country, hurrying up to the Wonder House to view the -things that men made in their own province and elsewhere. The -Museum was given up to Indian arts and manufactures, and anybody -who sought wisdom could ask the Curator to explain. - -'Off ! Off ! Let me up!' cried Abdullah, climbing up ZamZammah's -wheel. - -'Thy father was a pastry-cook, Thy mother stole the ghi" sang -Kim. 'All Mussalmans fell off Zam-Zammah long ago!' - -'Let me up!' shrilled little Chota Lal in his gilt-embroidered -cap. His father was worth perhaps half a million sterling, but -India is the only democratic land in the world. - -'The Hindus fell off Zam-Zammah too. The Mussalmans pushed them -off. Thy father was a pastry-cook -' - -He stopped; for there shuffled round the corner, from the roaring -Motee Bazar, such a man as Kim, who thought he knew all castes, -had never seen. He was nearly six feet high, dressed in fold upon -fold of dingy stuff like horse-blanketing, and not one fold of it -could Kim refer to any known trade or profession. At his belt -hung a long open-work iron pencase and a wooden rosary such as -holy men wear. On his head was a gigantic sort of tam-o'-shanter. -His face was yellow and wrinkled, like that of Fook Shing, the -Chinese bootmaker in the bazar. His eyes turned up at the corners -and looked like little slits of onyx. - -'Who is that?' said Kim to his companions. - -'Perhaps it is a man,' said Abdullah, finger in mouth, staring. - -'Without doubt.' returned Kim; 'but he is no man of India that I -have ever seen.' - -'A priest, perhaps,' said Chota Lal, spying the rosary. 'See! He -goes into the Wonder House!' - -'Nay, nay,' said the policeman, shaking his head. 'I do not -understand your talk.' The constable spoke Punjabi. 'O Friend of -all the World, what does he say?' - -'Send him hither,' said Kim, dropping from Zam-Zammah, -flourishing his bare heels. 'He is a foreigner, and thou art a -buffalo.' - -The man turned helplessly and drifted towards the boys. He was -old, and his woollen gaberdine still reeked of the stinking -artemisia of the mountain passes. - -'O Children, what is that big house?' he said in very fair Urdu. - -'The Ajaib-Gher, the Wonder House!' Kim gave him no title - such -as Lala or Mian. He could not divine the man's creed. - -'Ah! The Wonder House! Can any enter?' - -'It is written above the door - all can enter.' - -'Without payment?' - -'I go in and out. I am no banker,' laughed Kim. - -'Alas! I am an old man. I did not know.' Then, fingering his -rosary, he half turned to the Museum. - -'What is your caste? Where is your house? Have you come far?' Kim -asked. - -'I came by Kulu - from beyond the Kailas - but what know you? -From the Hills where' - he sighed - 'the air and water are fresh -and cool.' - -'Aha! Khitai [a Chinaman],' said Abdullah proudly. Fook Shing had -once chased him out of his shop for spitting at the joss above -the boots. - -'Pahari [a hillman],' said little Chota Lal. - -'Aye, child - a hillman from hills thou'lt never see. Didst hear -of Bhotiyal [Tibet]? I am no Khitai, but a Bhotiya [Tibetan], -since you must know - a lama - or, say, a guru in your tongue.' - -'A guru from Tibet,' said Kim. 'I have not seen such a man. They -be Hindus in Tibet, then?' - -'We be followers of the Middle Way, living in peace in our -lamasseries, and I go to see the Four Holy Places before I die. -Now do you, who are children, know as much as I do who am old.' -He smiled benignantly on the boys. - -'Hast thou eaten?' - -He fumbled in his bosom and drew forth a worn, wooden begging- -bowl. The boys nodded. All priests of their acquaintance begged. - -'I do not wish to eat yet.' He turned his head like an. old -tortoise in the sunlight. 'Is it true that there are many images -in the Wonder House of Lahore?' He repeated the last words as one -making sure of an address. - -'That is true,' said Abdullah. 'It is full of heathen buts. Thou -also art an idolater.' - -'Never mind him,' said. Kim. 'That is the Government's house and -there is no idolatry in it, but only a Sahib with a white beard. -Come with me and I will show.' - -'Strange priests eat boys,' whispered Chota Lal. - -'And he is a stranger and a but-parast [idolater],' said -Abdullah, the Mohammedan. - -Kim laughed. 'He is new. Run to your mothers' laps, and be safe. -Come!' - -Kim clicked round the self-registering turnstile; the old man -followed and halted amazed. In the entrance-hall stood the larger -figures of the Greco-Buddhist sculptures done, savants know how -long since, by forgotten workmen whose hands were feeling, and -not unskilfully, for the mysteriously transmitted Grecian touch. -There were hundreds of pieces, friezes of figures in relief, -fragments of statues and slabs crowded with figures that had -encrusted the brick walls of the Buddhist stupas and viharas of -the North Country and now, dug up and labelled, made the pride of -the Museum. In open-mouthed wonder the lama turned to this and -that, and finally checked in rapt attention before a large alto- -relief representing a coronation or apotheosis of the Lord -Buddha. The Master was represented seated on a lotus the petals -of which were so deeply undercut as to show almost detached. -Round Him was an adoring hierarchy of kings, elders, and old-time -Buddhas. Below were lotus-covered waters with fishes and water- -birds. Two butterfly-winged dewas held a wreath over His head; -above them another pair supported an umbrella surmounted by the -jewelled headdress of the Bodhisat. - -'The Lord! The Lord! It is Sakya Muni himself,' the lama half -sobbed; and under his breath began the wonderful Buddhist -invocation: - -To Him the Way, the Law, apart, Whom Maya held beneath her heart, -Ananda's Lord, the Bodhisat. - -'And He is here! The Most Excellent Law is here also. My -pilgrimage is well begun. And what work! What work!' - -'Yonder is the Sahib.' said Kim, and dodged sideways among the -cases of the arts and manufacturers wing. A white-bearded -Englishman was looking at the lama, who gravely turned and -saluted him and after some fumbling drew forth a note-book and a -scrap of paper. - -'Yes, that is my name,' smiling at the clumsy, childish print. - -'One of us who had made pilgrimage to the Holy Places - he is now -Abbot of the Lung-Cho Monastery - gave it me,' stammered the -lama. 'He spoke of these.' His lean hand moved tremulously round. - -'Welcome, then, O lama from Tibet. Here be the images, and I am -here' - he glanced at the lama's face - 'to gather knowledge. -Come to my office awhile.' The old man was trembling with -excitement. - -The office was but a little wooden cubicle partitioned off from -the sculpture-lined gallery. Kim laid himself down, his ear -against a crack in the heat-split cedar door, and, following his -instinct, stretched out to listen and watch. - -Most of the talk was altogether above his head. The lama, -haltingly at first, spoke to the Curator of his own lamassery, -the Such-zen, opposite the Painted Rocks, four months' march -away. The Curator brought out a huge book of photos and showed -him that very place, perched on its crag, overlooking the -gigantic valley of many-hued strata. - -'Ay, ay!' The lama mounted a pair of horn-rimmed spectacles of -Chinese work. 'Here is the little door through which we bring -wood before winter. And thou - the English know of these things? -He who is now Abbot of Lung-Cho told me, but I did not believe. -The Lord - the Excellent One - He has honour here too? And His -life is known?' - -'It is all carven upon the stones. Come and see, if thou art -rested.' - -Out shuffled the lama to the main hall, and, the Curator beside -him, went through the collection with the reverence of a devotee -and the appreciative instinct of a craftsman. - -Incident by incident in the beautiful story he identified on the -blurred stone, puzzled here and there by the unfamiliar Greek -convention, but delighted as a child at each new trove. Where the -sequence failed, as in the Annunciation, the Curator supplied it -from his mound of books - French and German, with photographs and -reproductions. - -Here was the devout Asita, the pendant of Simeon in the Christian -story, holding the Holy Child on his knee while mother and father -listened; and here were incidents in the legend of the cousin -Devadatta. Here was the wicked woman who accused the Master of -impurity, all confounded; here was the teaching in the Deer-park; -the miracle that stunned the fire-worshippers; here was the -Bodhisat in royal state as a prince; the miraculous birth; the -death at Kusinagara, where the weak disciple fainted; while there -were almost countless repetitions of the meditation under the -Bodhi tree; and the adoration of the alms-bowl was everywhere. In -a few minutes the Curator saw that his guest was no mere bead- -telling mendicant, but a scholar of parts. And they went at it -all over again, the lama taking snuff, wiping his spectacles, and -talking at railway speed in a bewildering mixture of Urdu and -Tibetan. He had heard of the travels of the Chinese pilgrims, Fu- -Hiouen and Hwen-Tsiang, and was anxious to know if there was any -translation of their record. He drew in his breath as he turned -helplessly over the pages of Beal and Stanislas Julien. "Tis all -here. A treasure locked.' Then he composed himself reverently to -listen to fragments hastily rendered into Urdu. For the first -time he heard of the labours of European scholars, who by the -help of these and a hundred other documents have identified the -Holy Places of Buddhism. Then he was shown a mighty map, spotted -and traced with yellow. The brown finger followed the Curator's -pencil from point to point. Here was Kapilavastu, here the Middle -Kingdom, and here Mahabodhi, the Mecca of Buddhism; and here was -Kusinagara, sad place of the Holy One's death. The old man bowed -his head over the sheets in silence for a while, and the Curator -lit another pipe. Kim had fallen asleep. When he waked, the talk, -still in spate, was more within his comprehension. - -'And thus it was, O Fountain of Wisdom, that I decided to go to -the Holy Places which His foot had trod - to the Birthplace, even -to Kapila; then to Mahabodhi, which is Buddh Gaya - to the -Monastery - to the Deer-park -to the place of His death.' - -The lama lowered his voice. 'And I come here alone. For five - -seven - eighteen - forty years it was in my mind that the Old Law -was not well followed; being overlaid, as thou knowest, with -devildom, charms, and idolatry. Even as the child outside said -but now. Ay, even as the child said, with but-parasti.' - -'So it comes with all faiths.' - -'Thinkest thou? The books of my lamassery I read, and they were -dried pith; and the later ritual with which we of the Reformed -Law have cumbered ourselves - that, too, had no worth to these -old eyes. Even the followers of the Excellent One are at feud on -feud with one another. It is all illusion. Ay, maya, illusion. -But I have another desire' - the seamed yellow face drew within -three inches of the Curator, and the long forefinger-nail tapped -on the table. 'Your scholars, by these books, have followed the -Blessed Feet in all their wanderings; but there are things which -they have not sought out. I know nothing - nothing do I know - -but I go to free myself from the Wheel of Things by a broad and -open road.' He smiled with most simple triumph. 'As a pilgrim to -the Holy Places I acquire merit. But there is more. Listen to a -true thing. When our gracious Lord, being as yet a youth, sought -a mate, men said, in His father's Court, that He was too tender -for marriage. Thou knobbiest?' - -The Curator nodded, wondering what would come next. -'So they made the triple trial of strength against all comers. -And at the test of the Bow, our Lord first breaking that which -they gave Him, called for such a bow as none might bend. Thou -knowest?' - -'It is written. I have read.' - -'And, overshooting all other marks, the arrow passed far and far -beyond sight. At the last it fell; and, where it touched earth, -there broke out a stream which presently became a River, whose -nature, by our Lord's beneficence, and that merit He acquired ere -He freed himself, is that whoso bathes in it washes away all -taint and speckle of sin.' - -'So it is written,' said the Curator sadly. - -The lama drew a long breath. "Where is that River? Fountain of -Wisdom, where fell the arrow?" - -'Alas', my brother, I do not know,' said the Curator. - -'Nay, if it please thee to forget - the one thing only that thou -hast not told me. Surely thou must know? See, I am an old man! I -ask with my head between thy feet, O Fountain of Wisdom. We know -He drew the bow! We know the arrow fell! We know the stream -gushed! Where, then, is the River? My dream told me to find it. -So I came. I am here. But where is the River?' - -'If I knew, think you I would not cry it aloud?' - -'By it one attains freedom from the Wheel of Things,' the lama -went on, unheeding. 'The River of the Arrow! Think again! Some -little stream, maybe - dried in the heats? But the Holy One would -never so cheat an old man.' - -'I do not know. I do not know.' - -The lama brought his thousand-wrinkled face once more a -handsbreadth from the Englishman's. 'I see thou dost not know. -Not being of the Law, the matter is hid from thee.' - -'Ay - hidden - hidden.' - -'We are both bound, thou and I, my brother. But I' - he rose with -a sweep of the soft thick drapery - 'I go to cut myself free. -Come also!' - -'I am bound,' said the Curator. 'But whither goest thou?' - -'First to Kashi [Benares]: where else? There I shall meet one of -the pure faith in a Jain temple of that city. He also is a Seeker -in secret, and from him haply I may learn. Maybe he will go with -me to Buddh Gaya. Thence north and west to Kapilavastu, and there -will I seek for the River. Nay, I will seek everywhere as I go - -for the place is not known where the arrow fell.' - -'And how wilt thou go? It is a far cry to Delhi, and farther to -Benares.' - -'By road and the trains. From Pathankot, having left the Hills, I -came hither in a te-rain. It goes swiftly. At first I was amazed -to see those tall poles by the side of the road snatching up and -snatching up their threads,' - he illustrated the stoop and whirl -of a telegraph-pole flashing past the train. 'But later, I was -cramped and desired to walk, as I am used.' - -'And thou art sure of thy road?' said the Curator. - -'Oh. for that one but asks a question and pays money, and the -appointed persons despatch all to the appointed place. That much -I knew in my lamassery from sure report,' said the lama proudly. - -'And when dost thou go?' The Curator smiled at the mixture of -old-world piety and modern progress that is the note of India -today. - -'As soon as may be. I follow the places of His life till I come -to the River of the Arrow. There is, moreover, a written paper of -the hours of the trains that go south.' - -'And for food?' Lamas, as a rule, have good store of money -somewhere about them, but the Curator wished to make sure. - -'For the journey, I take up the Master's begging-bowl. Yes. Even -as He went so go I, forsaking the ease of my monastery. There was -with me when I left the hills a chela [disciple] who begged for -me as the Rule demands, but halting in Kulu awhile a fever took -him and he died. I have now no chela, but I will take the alms- -bowl and thus enable the charitable to acquire merit.' He nodded -his head valiantly. Learned doctors of a lamassery do not beg, -but the lama was an enthusiast in this quest. - -'Be it so,' said the Curator, smiling. 'Suffer me now to acquire -merit. We be craftsmen together, thou and I. Here is a new book -of white English paper: here be sharpened pencils two and three - -thick and thin, all good for a scribe. Now lend me thy spectacles.' - -The Curator looked through them. They were heavily scratched, but -the power was almost exactly that of his own pair, which he slid -into the lama's hand, saying: 'Try these.' - -'A feather! A very feather upon the face? The old man turned his -head delightedly and wrinkled up his nose. 'How scarcely do I -feel them! How clearly do I see! - -'They be, bilaur - crystal - and will never scratch. May they -help thee to thy River, for they are thine.' - -'I will take them and the pencils and the white note-book,' said -the lama, 'as a sign of friendship between priest and priest - -and now -' He fumbled at his belt, detached the open-work iron -pincers, and laid it on the Curator's table. 'That is for a -memory between thee and me - my pencase. It is something old - -even as I am.' - -It was a piece of ancient design, Chinese, of an iron that is not -smelted these days; and the collector's heart in the Curator's -bosom had gone out to it from the first. For no persuasion would -the lama resume his gift. - -'When I return, having found the River, I will bring thee a -written picture of the Padma Samthora such as I used to make on -silk at the lamassery. Yes - and of the Wheel of Life,' he -chuckled, 'for we be craftsmen together, thou and I.' - -The Curator would have detained him: they are few in the world -who still have the secret of the conventional brush-pen Buddhist -pictures which are, as it were, half written and half drawn. But -the lama strode out, head high in air, and pausing an instant -before the great statue of a Bodhisat in meditation, brushed -through the turnstiles. - -Kim followed like a shadow. What he had overheard excited him -wildly. This man was entirely new to all his experience, and he -meant to investigate further, precisely as he would have -investigated a new building or a strange festival in Lahore city. -The lama was his trove, and he purposed to take possession. Kim's -mother had been Irish too. - -The old man halted by Zam-Zammah and looked round till his eye -fell on Kim. The inspiration of his pilgrimage had left him for -awhile, and he felt old, forlorn, and very empty. - -'Do not sit under that gun,' said the policeman loftily. - -'Huh! Owl!' was Kim's retort on the lama's behalf 'Sit under that -gun if it please thee. When didst thou steal the milkwoman's -slippers, Dunnoo?' - -That was an utterly unfounded charge sprung on the spur of the -moment, but it silenced Dunnoo, who knew that Kim's clear yell -could call up legions of bad bazar boys if need arose. - -'And whom didst thou worship within?' said Kim affably, squatting -in the shade beside the lama. - -'I worshipped none, child. I bowed before the Excellent Law.' - -Kim accepted this new God without emotion. He knew already a few -score. - -'And what dost thou do?' - -'I beg. I remember now it is long since I have eaten or drunk. -What is the custom of charity in this town? In silence, as we do -of Tibet, or speaking aloud?' - -'Those who beg in silence starve in silence,' said Kim, quoting a -native proverb. The lama tried to rise, but sank back again, -sighing for his disciple, dead in far-away Kulu. Kim watched head -to one side, considering and interested. - -'Give me the bowl. I know the people of this city - all who are -charitable. Give, and I will bring it back filled.' - -Simply as a child the old man handed him the bowl. -[start here] -'Rest, thou. I know the people.' - -He trotted off to the open shop of a kunjri, a low-caste -vegetable-seller, which lay opposite the belt-tramway line down -the Motee Bazar. She knew Kim of old. - -'Oho, hast thou turned yogi with thy begging-bowl?' she cried. - -'Nay.' said Kim proudly. 'There is a new priest in the city a man -such as I have never seen.' - -'Old priest - young tiger,' said the woman angrily. 'I am tired -of new priests! They settle on our wares like flies. Is the -father of my son a well of charity to give to all who ask?' - -'No,' said Kim. 'Thy man is rather yagi [bad-tempered] than yogi -[a holy man]. But this priest is new. The Sahib in the Wonder -House has talked to him like a brother. O my mother, fill me this -bowl. He waits.' - -'That bowl indeed! That cow-bellied basket! Thou hast as much -grace as the holy bull of Shiv. He has taken the best of a basket -of onions already, this morn; and forsooth, I must fill thy bowl. -He comes here again.' - -The huge, mouse-coloured Brahmini bull of the ward was -shouldering his way through the many-coloured crowd, a stolen -plantain hanging out of his mouth. He headed straight for the -shop, well knowing his privileges as a sacred beast, lowered his -head, and puffed heavily along the line of baskets ere making his -choice. Up flew Kim's hard little heel and caught him on his -moist blue nose. He snorted indignantly, and walked away across -the tram-rails, his hump quivering with rage. - -'See! I have saved more than the bowl will cost thrice over. Now, -mother, a little rice and some dried fish atop - yes, and some -vegetable curry.' - -A growl came out of the back of the shop, where a man lay. - -'He drove away the bull,' said the woman in an undertone. 'It is -good to give to the poor.' She took the bowl and returned it full -of hot rice. - -'But my yogi is not a cow,' said Kim gravely, making a hole with -his fingers in the top of the mound. 'A little curry is good, and -a fried cake, and a morsel of conserve would please him, I -think.' - -'It is a hole as big as thy head,' said the woman fretfully. But -she filled it, none the less, with good, steaming vegetable -curry, clapped a fried cake atop, and a morsel of clarified -butter on the cake, dabbed a lump of sour tamarind conserve at -the side; and Kim looked at the load lovingly. - -'That is good. When I am in the bazar the bull shall not come to -this house. He is a bold beggar-man.' - -'And thou?' laughed the woman. 'But speak well of bulls. Hast -thou not told me that some day a Red Bull will come out of a -field to help thee? Now hold all straight and ask for the holy -man's blessing upon me. Perhaps, too, he knows a cure for my -daughter's -sore eyes. Ask. him that also, O thou Little Friend -of all the World.' - -But Kim had danced off ere the end of the sentence, dodging -pariah dogs and hungry acquaintances. - -'Thus do we beg who know the way of it,' said he proudly to the -lama, who opened his eyes at the contents of the bowl. 'Eat now -and - I will eat with thee. Ohe, bhisti!' he called to the water- -carrier, sluicing the crotons by the Museum. 'Give water here. We -men are thirsty.' - -'We men!' said the bhisti, laughing. 'Is one skinful enough for -such a pair? Drink, then, in the name of the Compassionate.' - -He loosed a thin stream into Kim's hands, who drank nativefasion; -but the lama must needs pull out a cup from his inexhaustible -upper draperies and drink ceremonially. - -'Pardesi [a foreigner],' Kim explained, as the old man delivered -in an unknown tongue what was evidently a blessing. - -They ate together in great content, clearing the beggingbowl. -Then the lama took snuff from a portentous wooden snuff-gourd, -fingered his rosary awhile, and so dropped into the easy sleep of -age, as the shadow of Zam-Zammah grew long. - -Kim loafed over to the nearest tobacco-seller, a rather lively -young Mohammedan woman, and begged a rank cigar of the brand that -they sell to students of the Punjab University who copy English -customs. Then he smoked and thought, knees to chin, under the -belly of the gun, and the outcome of his thoughts was a sudden -and stealthy departure in the direction of Nila Ram's timber- -yard. - -The lama did not wake till the evening life of the city had begun -with lamp-lighting and the return of white-robed clerks and -subordinates from the Government offices. He stared dizzily in -all directions, but none looked at him save a Hindu urchin in a -dirty turban and Isabella-coloured clothes. Suddenly he bowed his -head on his knees and wailed. - -'What is this?' said the boy, standing before him. 'Hast thou -been robbed?' - -'It is my new chela [disciple] that is gone away from me, and I -know not where he is.' - -'And what like of man was thy disciple?' - -'It was a boy who came to me in place of him who died, on account -of the merit which I had gained when I bowed before the Law -within there.' He pointed towards the Museum. 'He came upon me to -show me a road which I had lost. He led me into the Wonder House, -and by his talk emboldened me to speak to the Keeper of the -Images, so that I was cheered and made strong. And when I was -faint with hunger he begged for me, as would a chela for his -teacher. Suddenly was he sent. Suddenly has he gone away. It was -in my mind to have taught him the Law upon the road to Benares.' - -Kim stood amazed at this, because he had overheard the talk in -the Museum, and knew that the old man was speaking the truth, -which is a thing a native on the road seldom presents to a -stranger. - -'But I see now that he was but sent for a purpose. By this I know -that I shall find a certain River for which I seek.' - -'The River of the Arrow?' said Kim, with a superior smile. - -'Is this yet another Sending?' cried the lama. 'To none have I -spoken of my search, save to the Priest of the Images. Who art -thou?' - -'Thy chela,' said Kim simply, sitting on his heels. 'I have never -seen anyone like to thee in all this my life. I go with thee to -Benares. And, too, I think that so old a man as thou, speaking -the truth to chance-met people at dusk, is in great need of a -disciple.' - -'But the River - the River of the Arrow?' - -'Oh, that I heard when thou wast speaking to the- Englishman. I -lay against the door.' - -The lama sighed. 'I thought thou hadst been a guide permitted. -Such things fall sometimes - but I am not worthy. Thou dost not, -then, know the River?' - -'Not U Kim laughed uneasily. 'I go to look for - for a bull a -Red. Bull on a green field who shall help me.' Boylike, if an -acquaintance had a scheme, Kim was quite ready with one of his own; -and, boylike, he had really thought for as much as twenty minutes at a -time of his father's prophecy. - -'To what, child?' said the lama. - -'God knows, but so my father told me'. I heard thy talk in the -Wonder House of all those new strange places in the Hills, and if -one so old and so little - so used to truth-telling - may go out -for the small matter of a river, it seemed to me that I too must -go a-travelling. If it is our fate to find those things we shall -find them - thou, thy River; and I, my Bull, and the Strong -Pillars and some other matters that I forget.' - -'It is not pillars but a Wheel from which I would be free,' said -the lama. - -'That is all one. Perhaps they will make me a king,' said Kim, -serenely prepared for anything. - -'I will teach thee other and better desires upon the road,' the -lama replied in the voice of authority. 'Let us go to Benares.' - -'Not by night. Thieves are abroad. Wait till the day.' - -'But there is no place to sleep.' The old man was used to the -order of his monastery, and though he slept on the ground, as the -Rule decrees, preferred a decency in these things. - -'We shall get good lodging at the Kashmir Serai,' said Kim, -laughing at his perplexity. 'I have a friend there. Come!' - -The hot and crowded bazars blazed with light as they made their -way through the press of all the races in Upper India, and the -lama mooned through it like a man in a dream. It was his first -experience of a large manufacturing city, and the crowded tram- -car with its continually squealing brakes frightened him. Half -pushed, half towed, he arrived at the high gate of the Kashmir -Serai: that huge open square over against the railway station, -surrounded with arched cloisters, where the camel and horse -caravans put up on their return from Central Asia. Here were all -manner of Northern folk, tending tethered ponies and kneeling -camels; loading and unloading bales and bundles; drawing water -for the evening meal at the creaking well-windlasses; piling -grass before the shrieking, wild-eyed stallions; cuffing the -surly caravan dogs; paying off camel-drivers; taking on new -grooms; swearing, shouting, arguing, and chaffering in the packed -square. The cloisters, reached by three or four masonry steps, -made a haven of refuge around this turbulent sea. Most of them -were rented to traders, as we rent the arches of a viaduct; the -space between pillar and pillar being bricked or boarded off into -rooms, which were guarded by heavy wooden doors and cumbrous -native padlocks. Locked doors showed that the owner was away, and -a few rude - sometimes very rude - chalk or paint scratches told -where he had gone. Thus: 'Lutuf Ullah is gone to Kurdistan.' -Below, in coarse verse: 'O Allah, who sufferest lice to live on -the coat of a Kabuli, why hast thou allowed this louse Lutuf to -live so long?' - -Kim, fending the lama between excited men and excited beasts, -sidled along the cloisters to the far end, nearest the -railway -station, where Mahbub Ali, the horse-trader, lived when he came -in from that mysterious land beyond the Passes of the North. - -Kim had had many dealings with Mahbub in his little life, -especially between his tenth and his thirteenth year - and the -big burly Afghan, his beard dyed scarlet with lime (for he was -elderly and did not wish his grey hairs to show), knew the boy's -value as a gossip. Sometimes he would tell Kim to watch a man who -had nothing whatever to do with horses: to follow him for one -whole day and report every soul with whom he talked. Kim would -deliver himself of his tale at evening, and Mahbub would listen -without a word or gesture. It was intrigue of some kind, Kim -knew; but its worth lay in saying nothing whatever to anyone -except Mahbub, who gave him beautiful meals all hot from the -cookshop at the head of the serai, and once as much as eight -annas in money. - -'He is here,' said Kim, hitting a bad-tempered camel on the nose. -'Ohe. Mahbub Ali!' He halted at a dark arch and slipped behind -the bewildered lama. - -The horse-trader, his deep, embroidered Bokhariot belt unloosed, -was lying on a pair of silk carpet saddle-bags, pulling lazily at -an immense silver hookah. He turned his head very slightly at the -cry; and seeing only the tall silent figure, chuckled in his -deep. chest. - -'Allah! A lama! A Red Lama! It is far from Lahore to the Passes. -What dost thou do here?' - -The lama held out the begging-bowl mechanically. - -'God's curse on all unbelievers!' said Mahbub. 'I do not give to -a lousy Tibetan; but ask my Baltis over yonder behind the camels. -They may value your blessings. Oh, horseboys, here is a -countryman of yours. See if he be hungry.' - -A shaven, crouching Balti, who had come down with the horses, and -who was nominally some sort of degraded Buddhist, fawned upon the -priest, and in thick gutturals besought the Holy One to sit at -the horseboys' fire. - -'Go!' said Kim, pushing him lightly, and the lama strode away, -leaving Kim at the edge of the cloister. - -'Go!' said Mahbub Ali, returning to his hookah. 'Little Hindu, -run away. God's curse on all unbelievers! Beg from those of my -tail who are of thy faith.' - -'Maharaj,' whined Kim, using the Hindu form of address, and -thoroughly enjoying the situation; 'my father is dead - my mother -is dead - my stomach is empty.' - -'Beg from my men among the horses, I say. There must be some -Hindus in my tall.' - -'Oh, Mahbub Ali, but am I a Hindu?' said Kim in English. - -The trader gave no sign of astonishment, but looked under shaggy -eyebrows. - -'Little Friend of all the World,' said he, 'what is this?' - -'Nothing. I am now that holy man's disciple; and we go a -pilgrimage together - to Benares, he says. He is quite mad, and I -am tired of Lahore city. I wish new air and water.' - -'But for whom dost thou work? Why come to me?' The voice was -harsh with suspicion. - -'To whom else should I come? I have no money. It is not good to -go about without money. Thou wilt sell many horses to the -officers. They are very fine horses, these new ones: I have seen -them. Give me a rupee, Mahbub Ali, and when I come to my wealth I -will give thee a bond and pay.' - -'Um!' said Mahbub Ali, thinking swiftly. 'Thou hast never before -lied to me. Call that lama - stand back in the dark.' - -'Oh, our tales will agree,' said Kim, laughing. - -'We go to Benares,' said the lama, as soon as he understood the -drift of Mahbub Ali's questions. 'The boy and I, I go to seek for -a certain River.' - -'Maybe - but the boy?' - -'He is my disciple. He was sent, I think, to guide me to that -River. Sitting under a. gun was I when he came suddenly. Such -things have befallen the fortunate to whom guidance was allowed. -But I remember now, he said he was of this world - a Hindu.' - -'And his name?' - -'That I did not ask. Is he not my disciple?' - -'His country - his race - his village? Mussalman - Sikh Hindu - -Jain - low caste or high?' - -'Why should I ask? There is neither high nor low in the Middle -Way. If he is my chela - does - will - can anyone take him from -me? for, look you, without him I shall not find my River.' He -wagged his head solemnly. - -'None shall take him from thee. Go, sit among my Baltis,' said -Mahbub Ali, and the lama drifted off, soothed by the promise. - -'Is he not quite mad?' said Kim, coming forward to the light -again. 'Why should I lie to thee, Hajji?' - -Mahbub puffed his hookah in silence. Then he began, almost -whispering: 'Umballa is on the road to Benares - if indeed ye two -go there.' - -'Tck! Tck! I tell thee he does not know how to lie - as we two -know.' - -'And if thou wilt carry a message for me as far as Umballa, I -will give thee money. It concerns a horse - a white stallion -which I have sold to an officer upon the last time I returned -from the Passes. But then - stand nearer and hold up hands as -begging -the pedigree of the white stallion was not fully -established, and that officer, who is now at Umballa, bade me -make it clear.' (Mahbub here described the horse and the -appearance of the officer.) 'So the message to that officer will -be: "The pedigree of the white stallion is fully established." By -this will he know that thou comest from me. He will then say -"What proof hast thou?" and thou wilt answer: "Mahbub Ali has -given me the proof."' - -'And all for the sake of a white stallion,' said Kim, with a -giggle, his eyes aflame. - -'That pedigree I will give thee now - in my own fashion and some -hard words as well.' A shadow passed behind Kim, and a feeding -camel. Mahbub Ali raised his voice. - -'Allah! Art thou the only beggar in the city? Thy mother is dead. -Thy father is dead. So is it with all of them. Well, well - ' - -He turned as feeling on the floor beside him and tossed a flap of -soft, greasy Mussalman bread to the boy. 'Go and lie down among -my horseboys for tonight - thou and the lama. Tomorrow I may give -thee service.' - -Kim slunk away, his teeth in the bread, and, as he expected, he -found a small wad of folded tissue-paper wrapped in oilskin, with -three silver rupees - enormous largesse. He smiled and thrust -money and paper into his leather amulet-case. The lama, -sumptuously fed by Mahbub's Baltis, was already asleep in a -corner of one of the stalls. Kim lay down beside him and laughed. -He knew he had rendered a service to Mahbub Ali, and not for one -little minute did he believe the tale of the stallion's pedigree. - -But Kim did not suspect that Mahbub Ali, known as one of the best -horse-dealers in the Punjab, a wealthy and enterprising trader, -whose caravans penetrated far and far into the Back of Beyond, -was registered in one of the locked books of the Indian Survey -Department as C25 IB. Twice or thrice yearly C25 would send in a -little story, baldly told but most interesting, and generally - -it was checked by the statements of R17 and M4 - quite true. It -concerned all manner of out-of-the-way mountain principalities, -explorers of nationalities other than English, and the guntrade - -was, in brief, a small portion of that vast mass of 'information -received' on which the Indian Government acts. But, recently, -five confederated Kings, who had no business to confederate, had -been informed by a kindly Northern Power that there was a leakage -of news from their territories into British India. So those -Kings' Prime Ministers were seriously annoyed and took steps, -after the Oriental fashion. They suspected, among many others, -the bullying, red-bearded horsedealer whose caravans ploughed -through their fastnesses belly-deep in snow. At least, his -caravan that season had been ambushed and shot at twice on the -way down, when Mahbub's men accounted for three strange ruffians -who might, or might not, have been hired for the job. Therefore -Mahbub had avoided halting at the insalubrious city of Peshawur, -and had come through without stop to Lahore, where, knowing his -country-people, he anticipated curious developments. - -And there was that on Mahbub Ali which he did not wish to keep an -hour longer than was necessary - a wad of closely folded tissue- -paper, wrapped in oilskin - an impersonal, unaddressed statement, -with five microscopic pin-holes in one corner, that most -scandalously betrayed the five confederated Kings, the -sympathetic Northern Power, a Hindu banker in Peshawur, a firm of -gun-makers in Belgium, and an important, semi-independent -Mohammedan ruler to the south. This last was R17's work, which -Mahbub had picked up beyond the Dora Pass and was carrying in for -R17, who, owing to circumstances over which he had no control, -could not leave his post of observation. Dynamite was milky and -innocuous beside that report Of C25; and even an Oriental, with -an Oriental's views of the value of time, could see that the -sooner it was in the proper hands the better. Mahbub had no -particular desire to die by violence, because two or three family -blood-feuds across the Border hung unfinished on his hands, and -when these scores were cleared he intended to settle down as a -more or less virtuous citizen. He had never passed the serai gate -since his arrival two days ago, but had been ostentatious in -sending telegrams to Bombay, where he banked some of his money; -to Delhi, where a sub-partner of his own clan was selling horses -to the agent of a Rajputana state; and to Umballa, where an -Englishman was excitedly demanding the pedigree of a white -stallion. The public letter-writer, who knew English, composed -excellent telegrams, such as: 'Creighton, Laurel Bank, Umballa. -Horse is Arabian as already advised. Sorrowful delayed pedigree -which am translating.' And later to the same address: 'Much -sorrowful delay. Will forward pedigree.' To his sub-partner at -Delhi he wired: 'Lutuf Ullah. Have wired two thousand rupees your -credit Luchman Narain's bank-' This was entirely in the way of -trade, but every one of those telegrams was discussed and re- -discussed, by parties who conceived themselves to be interested, -before they went over to the railway station in charge of a -foolish Balti, who allowed all sorts of people to read them on -the road. - -When, in Mahbub's own picturesque language, he had muddied the -wells of inquiry with the stick of precaution, Kim had dropped on -him, sent from Heaven; and, being as prompt as he was -unscrupulous, Mahbub Ali used to taking all sorts of gusty -chances, pressed him into service on the spot. - -A wandering lama with a low-caste boy-servant might attract a -moment's interest as they wandered about India, the land of -pilgrims; but no one would suspect them or, what was more to the -point, rob. - -He called for a new light-ball to his hookah, and considered the -case. If the worst came to the worst, and the boy came to harm, -the paper would incriminate nobody. And he would go up to Umballa -leisurely and - at a certain risk of exciting fresh suspicion - -repeat his tale by word of mouth to the people concerned. - -But R17's report was the kernel of the whole affair, and it would -be distinctly inconvenient if that failed to come to hand. -However, God was great, and Mahbub Ali felt he had done all he -could for the time being. Kim was the one soul in the world who -had never told him a lie. That would have been a fatal blot on -Kim's character if Mahbub had not known that to others, for his -own ends or Mahbub's business, Kim could lie like an Oriental. - -Then Mahbub Ali rolled across the serai to the Gate of the -Harpies who paint their eyes and trap the stranger, and was at -some pains to call on the one girl who, he had reason to believe, -was a particular friend of a smooth-faced Kashmiri pundit who had -waylaid his simple Balti in the matter of the telegrams. It was -an utterly foolish thing to do; because they fell to drinking -perfumed brandy against the Law of the Prophet, and Mahbub grew -wonderfully drunk, and the gates of his mouth were loosened, and -he pursued the Flower of Delight with the feet of intoxication -till he fell flat among the cushions, where the Flower of -Delight, aided by a smooth-faced Kashmiri pundit, searched him -from head to foot most thoroughly. - -About the same hour Kim heard soft feet in Mahbub's deserted -stall. The horse-trader, curiously enough, had left his door -unlocked, and his men were busy celebrating their return to India -with a whole sheep of Mahbub's bounty. A sleek young gentleman -from Delhi, armed with a bunch of keys which the Flower had -unshackled from the senseless one's belt, went through every -single box, bundle, mat, and saddle-bag in Mahbub's possession -even more systematically than the Flower and the pundit were -searching the owner. - -'And I think.' said the Flower scornfully an hour later, one -rounded elbow on the snoring carcass, 'that he is no more than a -pig of an Afghan horse-dealer, with no thought except women and -horses. Moreover, he may have sent it away by now - if ever there -were such a thing.' - -'Nay - in a matter touching Five Kings it would be next his black -heart,' said the pundit. 'Was there nothing?' - -The Delhi man laughed and resettled his turban as he entered. 'I -searched between the soles of his slippers as the Flower searched -his clothes. This is not the man but another. I leave little -unseen.' - -'They did not say he was the very man,' said the pundit -thoughtfully. 'They said, "Look if he be the man, since our -counsels are troubled."' - -'That North country is full of horse-dealers as an old coat of -lice. There is Sikandar Khan, Nur Ali Beg, and Farrukh Shah all -heads of kafilas [caravans] - who deal there,' said the Flower. - -'They have not yet come in,' said the pundit. 'Thou must ensnare -them later.' - -Phew!' said the Flower with deep disgust, rolling Mahbub's head -from her lap. 'I earn my money. Farrukh Shah is a bear, Ali Beg a -swashbuckler, and old Sikandar Khan - yaie! Go! I sleep now. This -swine will not stir till dawn.' - -When Mahbub woke, the Flower talked to him severely on the sin of -drunkenness. Asiatics do not wink when they have outmanoeuvred an -enemy, but as Mahbub Ali cleared his throat, tightened his belt, -and staggered forth under the early morning stars, he came very -near to it. - -'What a colt's trick!' said he to himself 'As if every girl in -Peshawur did not use it! But 'twas prettily done. Now God He -knows how many more there be upon the Road who have orders to -test me - perhaps with the knife. So it stands that the boy must - go to Umballa - and by rail -for the writing is something -urgent. I abide here, following the Flower and drinking wine as -an Afghan coper should.' - -He halted at the stall next but one to his own. His men lay there -heavy with sleep. There was no sign of Kim or the lama. - -'Up! He stirred a sleeper. 'Whither went those who lay here last -even - the lama and the boy? Is aught missing?' - -'Nay,' grunted the man, 'the old madman rose at second cockcrow -saying he would go to Benares, and the young one led him away.' - -'The curse of Allah on all unbelievers!' said Mahbub heartily, -and climbed into his own stall, growling in his beard. - -But it was Kim who had wakened the lama - Kim with one eye laid -against a knot-hole in the planking, who had seen the Delhi man's -search through the boxes. This was no common thief that turned -over letters, bills, and saddles - no mere burglar who ran a -little knife sideways into the soles of Mahbub's slippers, or -picked the seams of the saddle-bags so deftly. At first Kim had -been minded to give the alarm - the long-drawn cho-or -choor! -[thief! thief!] that sets the serai ablaze of nights; but he -looked more carefully, and, hand on amulet, drew his own -conclusions. - -'It must be the pedigree of that made-up horse-lie,' said he, -'the thing that I carry to Umballa. Better that we go now. Those -who search bags with knives may presently search bellies with -knives. Surely there is a woman behind this. Hai! Hai! in a -whisper to the light-sleeping old man. 'Come. It is time - time -to go to Benares.' - -The lama rose obediently, and they passed out of the serai like -shadows. - - - - - -Chapter 2 - - -And whoso will, from Pride released; -Contemning neither creed nor priest, -May feel the Soul of all the East. -About him at Kamakura. - -Buddha at Kamakura. - - -They entered the fort-like railway station, black in the end of -night; the electrics sizzling over the goods-yard where they -handle the heavy Northern grain-traffic. - -'This is the work of devils!' said the lama, recoiling from the -hollow echoing darkness, the glimmer of rails between the masonry -platforms, and the maze of girders above. He stood in a gigantic -stone hall paved, it seemed, with the sheeted dead third-class -passengers who had taken their tickets overnight and were -sleeping in the waiting-rooms. All hours of the twenty-four are -alike to Orientals, and their passenger traffic is regulated -accordingly. - -'This is where the fire-carriages come. One stands behind that -hole' -Kim pointed to the ticket-office - 'who will give thee a -paper to take thee to Umballa.' - -'But we go to Benares,' he replied petulantly. - -'All one. Benares then. Quick: she comes!' - -'Take thou the purse.' - -The lama, not so well used to trains as he had pretended, started -as the 3.25a.m. south-bound roared in. The sleepers sprang to -life, and the station filled with clamour and shoutings, cries of -water and sweetmeat vendors, shouts of native policemen, and -shrill yells of women gathering up their baskets, their families, -and their husbands. - -'It is the train - only the te-rain. It will not come here. -Wait!' Amazed at the lama's immense- simplicity (he had handed -him a small bag full of rupees), Kim asked and paid for a ticket -to Umballa. A sleepy clerk grunted and flung out a ticket to the -next station, just six miles distant. - -'Nay,' said Kim, scanning it with a grin. 'This may serve for -farmers, but I live in the city of Lahore. It was cleverly done, -Babu. Now give the ticket to Umballa.' - -The Babu scowled and dealt the proper ticket. - -'Now another to Amritzar,' said Kim, who had no notion of -spending Mahbub Ali's money on anything so crude as a paid ride -to Umballa. 'The price is so much. The small money in return is -just so much. I know the ways of the te-rain ... Never did yogi -need chela as thou dost,' he went on merrily to the bewildered -lama. 'They would have flung thee out at Mian Mir but for me. -This way! Come!' He returned the money, keeping only one anna in -each rupee of the price of the Umballa ticket as his commission - -the immemorial commission of Asia. - -The lama jibbed at the open door of a crowded third-class -carriage. 'Were it not better to walk?' said he weakly. - -A burly Sikh artisan thrust forth his bearded head. 'Is he -afraid? Do not be afraid. I remember the time when I was afraid -of the te-rain. Enter! This thing is the work of the Government.' - -'I do not fear,' said the lama. 'Have ye room within for two?' - -'There is no room even for a mouse,' shrilled the wife of a well- -to-do cultivator - a Hindu Jat from the rich Jullundur, district. -Our night trains are not as well looked after as the day ones, -where the sexes are very strictly kept to separate carriages. - -'Oh, mother of my son, we can make space,' said the blueturbaned -husband. 'Pick up the child. It is a holy man, see'st thou?' - -'And my lap full of seventy times seven bundles! Why not bid him -sit on my knee, Shameless? But men are ever thus!' She looked -round for approval. An Amritzar courtesan near the window sniffed -behind her head drapery. - -'Enter! Enter!' cried a fat Hindu money-lender, his folded -account-book in a cloth under his arm. With an oily smirk: 'It is -well to be kind to the poor.' - -'Ay, at seven per cent a month with a mortgage on the unborn -calf,' said a young Dogra, soldier going south on leave; and they -all laughed. - -'Will it travel to Benares?' said the lama. - -'Assuredly. Else why should we come? Enter, or we are left,' -cried Kim. - -'See!' shrilled the Amritzar girl. 'He has never entered a train. -Oh, see!' - -'Nay, help,' said the cultivator, putting out a large brown hand -and hauling him in. 'Thus is it done, father.' - -'But - but - I sit on the floor. It is against the Rule to sit on -a bench,' said the lama. 'Moreover, it cramps me.' - -'I say,' began the money-lender, pursing his lips, 'that there is -not one rule of right living which these te-rains do not cause as -to break. We sit, for example, side by side with all castes and -peoples.' - -'Yea, and with most outrageously shameless ones,' said the wife, -scowling at the Amritzar girl making eyes at the young sepoy. - -'I said we might have gone by cart along the road,' said the -husband, 'and thus have saved some money.' - -'Yes - and spent twice over what we saved on food by the way. -That was talked out ten thousand times.' - -'Ay, by ten thousand tongues,' grunted he. - -'The Gods help us poor women if we may not speak. Oho! He is of -that sort which may not look at or reply to a woman.' For the -lama, constrained by his Rule, took not the faintest notice of -her. 'And his disciple is like him?' - -'Nay, mother,' said Kim most promptly. 'Not when the woman is -well-looking and above all charitable to the hungry.' - -'A beggar's answer,' said the Sikh, laughing. 'Thou hast brought -it on thyself, sister!' Kim's hands were crooked in supplication. - -'And whither goest thou?' said the woman, handing him the half of -a cake from a greasy package. - -'Even to Benares.' - -'Jugglers belike?' the young soldier suggested. 'Have ye any -tricks to pass the time? Why does not that yellow man answer?' - - -'Because,' said Kim stoutly, 'he is holy, and thinks upon matters -hidden from thee.' - -'That may be well. We of the Ludhiana Sikhs' - he rolled it out -sonorously -'do not trouble our heads with doctrine. We fight.' - -'My sister's brother's son is naik (corporal] in that regiment,' -said the Sikh craftsman quietly. 'There are also some Dogra -companies there.' The soldier glared, for a Dogra is of other -caste than a Sikh, and the banker tittered. - -'They are all one to me, ' said the Amritzar girl. - -'That we believe,' snorted the cultivator's wife malignantly. - -'Nay, but all who serve the Sirkar with weapons in their hands -are, as it were, one brotherhood. There is one brotherhood of the -caste, but beyond that again' - she looked round timidly -'the -bond of the Pulton - the Regiment -eh?' - -'My brother is in a Jat regiment,' said the cultivator. 'Dogras -be good men.' - -'Thy Sikhs at least were of that opinion,' said the soldier, with -a scowl at the placid old man in the corner. 'Thy Sikhs thought -so when our two companies came to help them at the Pirzai Kotal -in the face of eight Afridi standards on the ridge not three -months gone.' - -He told the story of a Border action in which the Dogra companies -of the Ludhiana Sikhs had acquitted themselves well. The Amritzar -girl smiled; for she knew the talc was to win her approval. - -'Alas!' said the cultivator's wife at the end. 'So their villages -were burnt and their little children made homeless?' - -'They had marked our dead. They paid a great payment after we of -the Sikhs had schooled them. So it was. Is this Amritzar?' - -'Ay, and here they cut our tickets,' said the banker, fumbling at -his belt. - -The lamps were paling in the dawn when the half-caste guard came -round. Ticket-collecting is a slow business in the East, where -people secrete their tickets in all sorts of curious places. Kim -produced his and was told to get out. - -'But I go to Umballa,' he protested. 'I go with this holy man.' - -'Thou canst go to Jehannum for aught I care. This ticket is only - -Kim burst into a flood of tears, protesting that the lama was his -father and his mother, that he was the prop of the lama's -declining years, and that the lama would die without his care. -All the carriage bade the guard be merciful - the banker was -specially eloquent here - but the guard hauled Kim on to the -platform. The lama blinked - he could not overtake the situation -and Kim lifted up his voice and wept outside the carriage -window. - -'I am very poor. My father is dead - my mother is dead. O -charitable ones, if I am left here, who shall tend that old man?' - -'What - what is this?' the lama repeated. 'He must go to Benares. -He must come with me. He is my chela. If there is money to be -paid -' - -'Oh, be silent,' whispered Kim; 'are we Rajahs to throw away good -silver when the world is so charitable?' - -The Amritzar girl stepped out with her bundles, and it was on her -that Kim kept his watchful eye. Ladies of that persuasion, he -knew, were generous. - -'A ticket - a little tikkut to Umballa - O Breaker of Hearts!' -She laughed. 'Hast thou no charity?' - -'Does the holy man come from the North' - -'From far and far in the North he comes,' cried Kim. 'From among -the hills.' - -'There is snow among the pine-trees in the North - in the hills -there is snow. My mother was from Kulu. Get thee a ticket. Ask -him for a blessing.' - -'Ten thousand blessings,' shrilled Kim. 'O Holy One, a woman has -given us in charity so that I can come with thee - a woman with a -golden heart. I run for the tikkut.' - -The girl looked up at the lama, who had mechanically followed Kim -to the platform. He bowed his head that he might not see her, and -muttered in Tibetan as she passed on with the crowd. - -'Light come - light go,' said the cultivator's wife viciously. - -'She has acquired merit,' returned the lama. 'Beyond doubt it was -a nun.' - -'There be ten thousand such nuns in Amritzar alone. Return, -old man, or the te-rain may depart without thee,' cried the -banker. - -'Not only was it sufficient for the ticket, but for a little food -also, ' said Kim, leaping to his place. 'Now eat, Holy One. Look. -Day comes!' - -Golden, rose, saffron, and pink, the morning mists smoked away -across the flat green levels. All the rich Punjab lay out in the -splendour of the keen sun. The lama flinched a little as the -telegraph-posts swung by. - -'Great is the speed of the te-rain,' said the banker, with a -patronizing grin. 'We have gone farther since Lahore than thou -couldst walk in two days: at even, we shall enter Umballa.' - -'And that is still far from Benares,' said the lama wearily, -mumbling over the cakes that Kim offered. They all unloosed their -bundles and made their morning meal. Then the banker, the -cultivator, and the soldier prepared their pipes and wrapped the -compartment in choking, acrid smoke, spitting and coughing and -enjoying themselves. The Sikh and the cultivator's wife chewed -pan; the lama took snuff and told his beads, while Kim, cross- -legged, smiled over the comfort of a full stomach. - -'What rivers have ye by Benares?' said the lama of a sudden to -the carriage at large. - -'We have Gunga,' returned the banker, when the little titter had -subsided. - -'What others?' - -'What other than Gunga?' - -'Nay, but in my mind was the thought of a certain River of -healing.' - -'That is Gunga. Who bathes in her is made clean and goes to the -Gods. Thrice have I made pilgrimage to Gunga.' He looked round -proudly. - -'There was need,' said the young sepoy drily, and the travellers' -laugh turned against the banker. - -'Clean - to return again to the Gods,' the lama muttered. 'And to -go forth on the round of lives anew - still tied to the Wheel.' -He shook his head testily. 'But maybe there is a mistake. Who, -then, made Gunga in the beginning?' - -'The Gods. Of what known faith art thou?' the banker said, -appalled. - -'I follow the Law - the Most Excellent Law. So it was the Gods -that made Gunga. What like of Gods were they?' - -The carriage looked at him in amazement. It was inconceivable -that anyone should be ignorant of Gunga. - -'What - what is thy God?' said the money-lender at last. - -'Hear!' said the lama, shifting the rosary to his hand. 'Hear: -for I speak of Him now! O people of Hind, listen!' - -He began in Urdu the tale of the Lord Buddha, but, borne by his -own thoughts, slid into Tibetan and long-droned texts from a -Chinese book of the Buddha's life. The gentle, tolerant folk -looked on reverently. All India is full of holy men stammering -gospels in strange tongues; shaken and consumed in the fires of -their own zeal; dreamers, babblers, and visionaries: as it has -been from the beginning and will continue to the end. - -'Um!' said the soldier of the Ludhiana Sikhs. 'There was a -Mohammedan regiment lay next to us at the Pirzai Kotal, and a -priest of theirs - he was, as I remember, a naik - when the fit -was on him, spake prophecies. But the mad all are in God's -keeping. His officers overlooked much in that man.' - -The lama fell back on Urdu, remembering that he was in a strange -land. 'Hear the tale of the Arrow which our Lord loosed from the -bow,' he said. - -This was much more to their taste, and they listened curiously -while he told it. 'Now, O people of Hind, I go to seek that -River. Know ye aught that may guide me, for we be all men and -women in evil case.' - -'There is Gunga - and Gunga alone - who washes away sin.' ran the -murmur round the carriage. - -'Though past question we have good Gods Jullundur-way,' said the -cultivator's wife, looking out of the window. 'See how they have -blessed the crops.' - -'To search every river in the Punjab is no small matter,' said -her husband. 'For me, a stream that leaves good silt on my land -suffices, and I thank Bhumia, the God of the Home-stead.' He -shrugged one knotted, bronzed shoulder. - -'Think you our Lord came so far North?' said the lama, turning to -Kim. - -'It may be,' Kim replied soothingly, as he spat red pan-juice on -the floor. - -'The last of the Great Ones,' said the Sikh with authority, 'was -Sikander Julkarn [Alexander the Great]. He paved the streets of -Jullundur and built a great tank near Umballa. That pavement -holds to this day; and the tank is there also. I never heard of -thy God.' - -'Let thy hair grow long and talk Punjabi,' said the young soldier -jestingly to Kim, quoting a Northern proverb. 'That is all that -makes a Sikh.' But he did not say this very loud. - -The lama sighed and shrank into himself, a dingy, shapeless mass. -In the pauses of their talk they could hear the low droning _'Om -mane pudme hum! Om mane pudme hum!' - and the thick click of the -wooden rosary beads. - -'It irks me,' he said at last. 'The speed and the clatter irk me. -Moreover, my chela, I think that maybe we have over-passed that -River.' - -'Peace, peace,' said Kim. 'Was not the River near Benares? We are -yet far from the place.' - -'But - if our Lord came North, it may be any one of these little -ones that we have run across.' - -'I do not know.' - -'But thou wast sent to me - wast thou sent to me? - for the merit -I had acquired over yonder at Such-zen. From beside the cannon -didst thou come - bearing two faces -and two garbs.' - -'Peace. One must not speak of these things here,' whispered Kim. -'There was but one of me. Think again and thou wilt remember. A -boy - a Hindu boy - by the great green cannon.' - -'But was there not also an Englishman with a white beard holy -among images - who himself made more sure my assurance of the -River of the Arrow?' - -'He - we - went to the Ajaib-Gher in Lahore to pray before the -Gods there,' Kim explained to the openly listening company. 'And -the Sahib of the Wonder House talked to him - yes, this is truth -as a brother. He is a very holy man, from far beyond the Hills. -Rest, thou. In time we come to Umballa.' - -'But my River - the River of my healing?' - -'And then, if it please thee, we will go hunting for that River -on foot. So that we miss nothing - not even a little rivulet in a -field-side.' - -'But thou hast a Search of thine own?' The lama - very pleased -that he remembered so well - sat bolt upright. - -'Ay,' said Kim, humouring him. The boy was entirely happy to be -out chewing pan and seeing new people in the great good-tempered -world. - -'It was a bull - a Red Bull that shall come and help thee and -carry thee - whither? I have forgotten. A Red Bull on a green -field, was it not?' - -'Nay, it will carry me nowhere,' said Kim. 'It is but a tale I -told thee.' - -'What is this?' The cultivator's wife leaned forward, her -bracelets clinking on her arm. 'Do ye both dream dreams? A Red -Bull on a green field, that shall carry thee to the heavens or -what? Was it a vision? Did one make a prophecy? We have a Red -Bull in our village behind Jullundur city, and he grazes by -choice in the very greenest of our fields!' - -'Give a woman an old wife's tale and a weaver-bird a leaf and a -thread', they will weave wonderful things,' said the Sikh. 'All -holy men dream dreams, and by following holy men their disciples -attain that power.' - -'A Red Bull on a green field, was it?' the lama repeated. 'In a -former life it may be thou hast acquired merit, and the Bull will -come to reward thee.' - -'Nay - nay - it was but a tale one told to me - for a jest -belike. But I will seek the Bull about Umballa, and thou canst -look for thy River and rest from the clatter of the train.' - -'It may be that the Bull knows - that he is sent to guide us -both.' said the lama, hopefully as a child. Then to the company, -indicating Kim: 'This one was sent to me but yesterday. He is -not, I think, of this world.' - -'Beggars aplenty have I met, and holy men to boot, but never such -a yogi nor such a disciple,' said the woman. - - -Her husband touched his forehead lightly with one finger -and smiled. But the next time the lama would eat they took care -to give him of their best. - -And at last - tired, sleepy, and dusty - they reached Umballa -City Station. - -'We abide here upon a law-suit,' said the cultivator's wife to -Kim. 'We lodge with my man's cousin's younger brother. There is -room also in the courtyard for thy yogi and for thee. Will- will -he give me a blessing?' - -'O holy man! A woman with a heart of gold gives us lodging for -the night. It is a kindly land, this land of the South. See how -we have been helped since the dawn!' - -The lama bowed his head in benediction. - -'To fill my cousin's younger brother's house with wastrels -' the -husband began, as he shouldered his heavy bamboo staff. - -'Thy cousin's younger brother owes my father's cousin something -yet on his daughter's marriage-feast,' said the woman crisply. -'Let him put their food to that account. The yogi will beg, I -doubt not.' - -'Ay, I beg for him,' said Kim, anxious only to get the lama under -shelter for the night, that he might seek Mahbub Ali's Englishman -and deliver himself of the white stallion's pedigree. - -'Now,' said he, when the lama had come to an anchor in the inner -courtyard of a decent Hindu house behind the cantonments, 'I go -away for a while - to - to buy us victual in the bazar. Do not -stray abroad till I return.' - -'Thou wilt return? Thou wilt surely return?' The old man caught -at his wrist. 'And thou wilt return in this very same shape? Is -it too late to look tonight for the River?' - -'Too late and too dark. Be comforted. Think how far thou art on -the road - an hundred miles from Lahore already.' - -'Yea - and farther from my monastery. Alas! It is a great and -terrible world.' - -Kim stole out and away, as unremarkable a figure as ever carried -his own and a few score thousand other folk's fate slung round -his neck. Mahbub Ali's directions left him little doubt of the -house in which his Englishman lived; and a groom, bringing a dog- -cart home from the Club, made him quite sure. It remained only to -identify his man, and Kim slipped through the garden hedge and -hid in a clump of plumed grass close to the veranda. The house -blazed with lights, and servants moved about tables dressed with -flowers, glass, and silver. Presently forth came an Englishman, -dressed in black and - white, humming a tune. It was too dark to -see his face, so Kim, beggar-wise, tried an old experiment. - -'Protector of the Poor!' - -The man backed towards the voice. - -'Mahbub Ali says -' - -'Hah! What says Mahbub Ali?' He made no attempt to look for the -speaker, and that showed Kim that he knew. - -'The pedigree of the white stallion is fully established.' - -'What proof is there?' The Englishman switched at the rose-hedge -in the side of the drive. - -'Mahbub Ali has given me this proof.' Kim flipped the wad of -folded paper into the air, and it fell in the path beside the -man, who put his foot on it as a gardener came round the corner. -When the servant passed he picked it up, dropped a rupee - Kim -could hear the clink - and strode into the house, never turning -round. Swiftly Kim took up the money; but for all his training, -he was Irish enough by birth to reckon silver the least part of -any game. What he desired was the visible effect of action; so, -instead of slinking away, he lay close in the grass and wormed -nearer to the house. - -He saw - Indian bungalows are open through and through the -Englishman return to a small dressing-room, in a comer of the -veranda, that was half office, littered with papers and despatch- -boxes, and sit down to study Mahbub Ali's message. His face, by -the full ray of the kerosene lamp, changed and darkened, and Kim, -used as every beggar must be to watching countenances, took good -note. - -'Will! Will, dear!' called a woman's voice. 'You ought to be in -the drawing-room. They'll be here in a minute.' - -The man still read intently. - -'Will!' said the voice, five minutes later. 'He's come. I can -hear the troopers in the drive.' - -The man dashed out bareheaded as a big landau with four native -troopers behind it halted at the veranda, and a tall, black -haired man, erect as an arrow, swung out, preceded by a young -officer who laughed pleasantly. - -Flat on his belly lay Kim, almost touching the high wheels. His -man and the black stranger exchanged two sentences. - -'Certainly, sir,' said the young officer promptly. 'Everything -waits while a horse is concerned.' - -'We shan't be more than twenty minutes,' said Kim's man. 'You can -do the honours -keep 'em amused, and all that.' - -'Tell one of the troopers to wait,' said the tall man, and they -both passed into the dressing-room together as the landau rolled -away. Kim saw their heads bent over Mahbub Ali's message, and -heard the voices - one low and deferential, the other sharp and -decisive. - -'It isn't a question of weeks. It is a question of days - hours -almost,' said the elder. 'I'd been expecting it for some time, -but this' - he tapped Mahbub Ali's paper - 'clinches it. Grogan's -dining here to-night, isn't he?' - -'Yes, sir, and Macklin too.' - -'Very good. I'll speak to them myself. The matter will be -referred to the Council, of course, but this is a case where one -is justified in assuming that we take action at once. Warn the -Pined and Peshawar brigades. It will disorganize all the summer -reliefs, but we can't help that. This comes of not smashing them -thoroughly the first time. Eight thousand should be enough.' - -'What about artillery, sir?' - -'I must consult Macklin.' - -'Then it means war?' - -'No. Punishment. When a man is bound by the action of his -predecessor -' - -'But C25 may have lied.' - -'He bears out the other's information. Practically, they showed -their hand six months back. But Devenish would have it there was -a chance of peace. Of course they used it to make themselves -stronger. Send off those telegrams at once - the new code, not -the old - mine and Wharton's. I don't think we need keep the -ladies waiting any longer. We can settle the rest over the -cigars. I thought it was coming. It's punishment - not war.' - -As the trooper cantered off, Kim crawled round to the back of the -house, where, going on his Lahore experiences, he judged there -would be food - and information. The kitchen was crowded with -excited scullions, one of whom kicked him. - -'Aie,' said Kim, feigning tears. 'I came only to wash dishes in -return for a bellyful.' - -'All Umballa is on the same errand. Get hence. They go in now -with the soup. Think you that we who serve Creighton Sahib need -strange scullions to help us through a big dinner?' - -'It is a very big dinner,' said Kim, looking at the plates. - -'Small wonder. The guest of honour is none other than the Jang-i- -Lat Sahib [the Commander-in-Chief].' - -'Ho!' said Kim, with the correct guttural note of wonder. He had -learned what he wanted, and when the scullion turned he was gone. - -'And all that trouble,' said he to himself, thinking as usual in -Hindustani, 'for a horse's pedigree! Mahbub Ali should have come -to me to learn a little lying. Every time before that I have -borne a message it concerned a woman. Now it is men. Better. The -tall man said that they will loose a great army to punish someone --somewhere - the news goes to Pindi and Peshawur. There are also -guns. Would I had crept nearer. It is big news!' - -He returned to find the cultivator's cousin's younger brother -discussing the family law-suit in all its bearings with the -cultivator and his wife and a few friends, while the lama dozed. -After the evening meal some one passed him a water-pipe; and Kim -felt very much of a man as he pulled at the smooth coconut-shell, -his legs spread abroad in the moonlight, his tongue clicking in -remarks from time to time. His hosts were most polite; for the -cultivator's wife had told them of his vision of the Red Bull, -and of his probable descent from another world. Moreover, the -lama was a great and venerable curiosity. - - -The family priest, an old, tolerant Sarsut Brahmin, dropped in -later, and naturally started a theological argument to impress -the family. By creed, of course, they were all on their priest's -side, but the lama was the guest and the novelty. His gentle -kindliness, and his impressive Chinese quotations, that sounded -like spells, delighted them hugely; and in this sympathetic, -simple air, he expanded like the Bodhisat's own lotus, speaking -of his life in the great hills of Such-zen, before, as he said, -'I rose up to seek enlightenment.' - -Then it came out that in those worldly days he had been a master- -hand at casting horoscopes and nativities; and the family priest -led him on to describe his methods; each giving the planets names -that the other could not understand, and pointing upwards as the -big stars sailed across the dark. The children of the house -tugged unrebuked at his rosary; and he clean forgot the Rule -which forbids looking at women as he talked of enduring snows, -landslips, blocked passes, the remote cliffs where men find -sapphires and turquoise, and that wonderful upland road that -leads at last into Great China itself. - -'How thinkest thou of this one?' said the cultivator aside to the -priest. - -'A holy man - a holy man indeed. His Gods are not the Gods, but -his feet are upon the Way,' was the answer. 'And his methods of -nativities, though that is beyond thee, are wise and sure.1 - -'Tell me,' said Kim lazily, 'whether I find my Red Bull on a -green field, as was promised me.' - -'What knowledge hast thou of thy birth-hour?' the priest asked, -swelling with importance. - -'Between first and second cockcrow of the first night in May.' - -'Of what year?' - -'I do not know; but upon the hour that I cried first fell the -great earthquake in Srinagar which is in Kashmir.' This Kim had -from the woman who took care of him, and she again from Kimball -O'Hara. The earthquake had been felt in India, and for long stood -a leading date in the Punjab. - -'Ai!' said a woman excitedly. This seemed to make Kim's -supernatural origin more certain. "Was not such an one's daughter -born then -' - -'And her mother bore her husband four sons in four years all -likely boys,' cried the cultivator's wife, sitting outside the -circle in the shadow. - -'None reared in the knowledge,' said the family priest, 'forget -how the planets stood in their Houses upon that night.' He began -to draw in the dust of the courtyard. 'At least thou hast good -claim to a half of the House of the Bull. How runs thy prophecy?' - -'Upon a day,' said Kim, delighted at the sensation he was -creating, 'I shall be made great by means of a Red Bull on a -green field, but first there will enter two men making all things -ready.' - -'Yes: thus ever at the opening of a vision. A thick darkness that -clears slowly; anon one enters with a broom making ready the -place. Then begins the Sight. Two men - thou sayest? Ay, ay. The -Sun, leaving the House of the Bull, enters that of the Twins. -Hence the two men of the prophecy. Let us now consider. Fetch me -a twig, little one.' - -He knitted his brows, scratched, smoothed out, and scratched -again in the dust mysterious signs - to the wonder of all save -the lama, who, with fine instinct, forbore to interfere. - -At the end of half an hour, he tossed the twig from him with a -grunt. - -'Hm! Thus say the stars. Within three days come the two men to -make all things ready. After them follows the Bull; but the sign -over against him is the sign of War and armed men.' - -'There was indeed a man of the Ludhiana Sikhs in the carriage -from Lahore,' said the cultivator's wife hopefully. - -'Tck! Armed men - many hundreds. What concern hast thou with -war?' said the priest to Kim. 'Thine is a red and an angry sign -of War to be loosed very soon.' - -'None - none.' said the lama earnestly. 'We seek only peace and -our River.' - -Kim smiled, remembering what he had overheard in the dressing- -room. Decidedly he was a favourite of the stars. - -The priest brushed his foot over the rude horoscope. 'More than -this I cannot see. In three days comes the Bull to thee, boy.' - -'And my River, my River,' pleaded the lama. 'I had hoped his Bull -would lead us both to the River.' - -'Alas, for that wondrous River, my brother,' the priest replied. -'Such things are not common.' - -Next morning, though they were pressed to stay, the lama insisted -on departure. They gave Kim a large bundle of good food and -nearly three annas in copper money for the needs of the road, and -with many blessings watched the two go southward in the dawn. - -'Pity it is that these and such as these could not be freed from - -'Nay, then would only evil people be left on the earth, and who -would give us meat and shelter?' quoth Kim, stepping merrily -under his burden. - -'Yonder is a small stream. Let us look,' said the lama, and he -led from the white road across the fields; walking into a very -hornets' nest of pariah dogs. - - - - - -Chapter 3 - - -Yea, voice of every Soul that clung - -To life that strove from rung to rung -When Devadatta's rule was young, -The warm wind brings Kamakura. - -Buddha at Kamakura. - - -Behind them an angry farmer brandished a bamboo pole. He was a -market-gardener, Arain by caste, growing vegetables and flowers -for Umballa city, and well Kim knew the breed. - -'Such an one,' said the lama, disregarding the dogs, 'is impolite -to strangers, intemperate of speech and uncharitable. Be warned -by his demeanour, my disciple.' - -'Ho, shameless beggars!' shouted the farmer. 'Begone! Get hence!' - -'We go,' the lama returned, with quiet dignity. 'We go from these -unblessed fields.' - -'Ah,' said Kim, sucking in his breath. 'If the next crops fail, -thou canst only blame thine own tongue.' - -The man shuffled uneasily in his slippers. 'The land is full of -beggars,' he began, half apologetically. - -'And by what sign didst thou know that we would beg from thee, O -Mali?' said Kim tartly, using the name that a market-gardener -least likes. 'All we sought was to look at that river beyond the -field there.' - -'River, forsooth!' the man snorted. 'What city do ye hail from -not to know a canal-cut? It runs as straight as an arrow ' and I -pay for the water as though it were molten silver. There is a -branch of a river beyond. But if ye need water I can give that - -and milk.' - -'Nay, we will go to the river,' said the lama, striding out. - -'Milk and a meal.' the man stammered, as he looked at the strange -tall figure. 'I - I would not draw evil upon myself - or my -crops. But beggars are so many in these hard days.' - -'Take notice.' The lama turned to Kim. 'He was led to speak -harshly by the Red Mist of anger. That clearing from his eyes, he -becomes courteous and of an affable heart. May his fields be -blessed! Beware not to judge men too hastily, O farmer.' - -'I have met holy ones who would have cursed thee from hearthstone -to byre,' said Kim to the abashed man. 'Is he not wise and holy? -I am his disciple.' - -He cocked his nose in the air loftily and stepped across the -narrow field-borders with great dignity. - -'There is no pride,' said the lama, after a pause, 'there is no -pride among such as follow the Middle Way.' - -'But thou hast said he was low-caste and discourteous.' - -'Low-caste I did not say, for how can that be which is not? -Afterwards he amended his discourtesy, and I forgot the offence. -Moreover, he is as we are, bound upon the Wheel of Things; but he -does not tread the way of deliverance.' He halted at a little -runlet among the fields, and considered the hoof-pitted bank. - -'Now, how wilt thou know thy River?' said Kim, squatting in the -shade of some tall sugar-cane. - -'When I find it, an enlightenment will surely be given. This, I -feel, is not the place. O littlest among the waters, if only thou -couldst tell me where runs my River! But be thou blessed to make -the fields bear!' - -'Look! Look!' Kim sprang to his side and dragged him back. A -yellow-and-brown streak glided from the purple rustling stems to -the bank, stretched its neck to the water, drank, and lay still - -a big cobra with fixed, lidless eyes. - -'I have no stick - I have no stick,' said Kim. '1 will get me one -and break his back.' - -'Why? He is upon the Wheel as we are - a life ascending or -descending - very far from deliverance. Great evil must the soul -have done that is cast into this shape.' - -'I hate all snakes,' said Kim. No native training can quench the -white man's horror of the Serpent. - -'Let him live out his life.' The coiled thing hissed and half -opened its hood. 'May thy release come soon, brother!' the lama -continued placidly. 'Hast thou knowledge, by chance, of my -River?' - -'Never have I seen such a man as thou art,' Kim whispered, -overwhelmed. 'Do the very snakes understand thy talk?' - -'Who knows?' He passed within a foot of the cobra's poised head. -It flattened itself among the dusty coils. - -'Come, thou!' he called over his shoulder. - -'Not I,' said Kim'. 'I go round.' - -'Come. He does no hurt.' - -Kim hesitated for a moment. The lama backed his order by some -droned Chinese quotation which Kim took for a charm. He obeyed -and bounded across the rivulet, and the snake, indeed, made no -sign. - -'Never have I seen such a man.' Kim wiped the sweat from his -forehead. 'And now, whither go we?' - -'That is for thee to say. I am old, and a stranger - far from my -own place. But that the rel-carriage fills my head with noises of -devil-drums I would go in it to Benares now ... Yet by so going -we may miss the River. Let us find another river.' - -Where the hard-worked soil gives three and even four crops a year -through patches of sugar-cane, tobacco, long white radishes, -and nol-kol, all that day they strolled on, turning aside to -every glimpse of water; rousing village dogs and sleeping -villages at noonday; the lama replying to the volleyed questions -with an unswerving simplicity. They sought a River a River of -miraculous healing. Had any one knowledge of such a stream? -Sometimes men laughed, but more often heard the story out to the -end and offered them a place in the shade, a drink of milk, and a -meal. The women were always kind, and the little children as -children are the world over, alternately shy and venturesome. -Evening found them at rest under the village tree of a mud- -walled, mud-roofed hamlet, talking to the headman as the cattle -came in from the grazing-grounds and the women prepared the day's -last meal. They had passed beyond the belt of market-gardens -round hungry Umballa, and were among the mile-wide green of the -staple crops. - -He was a white-bearded and affable elder, used to entertaining -strangers. He dragged out a string bedstead for the lama, set -warm cooked food before him, prepared him a pipe, and, the -evening ceremonies being finished in the village temple, sent for -the village priest. - -Kim told the older children tales of the size and beauty of -Lahore, of railway travel, and such-like city things, while the -men talked, slowly as their cattle chew the cud. - -'I cannot fathom it,' said the headman at last to the priest. -'How readest thou this talk?' The lama, his tale told, was -silently telling his beads. - -'He is a Seeker.' the priest answered. 'The land is full of such. -Remember him who came only last, month - the fakir with the -tortoise?' - -'Ay, but that man had right and reason, for Krishna Himself -appeared in a vision promising him Paradise without the burning- -pyre if he journeyed to Prayag. This man seeks no God who is -within my knowledge.' - -'Peace, he is old: he comes from far off, and he is mad,' the -smooth-shaven priest replied. 'Hear me.' He turned to the lama. -'Three koss [six miles] to the westward runs the great road to -Calcutta.' - -'But I would go to Benares - to Benares.' - -'And to Benares also. It crosses all streams on this side of -Hind. Now my word to thee, Holy One, is rest here till tomorrow. -Then take the road' (it was the Grand Trunk Road he meant) 'and -test each stream that it overpasses; for, as I understand, the -virtue of thy River lies neither in one pool nor place, but -throughout its length. Then, if thy Gods will, be assured that -thou wilt come upon thy freedom.' - -'That is well said.' The lama was much impressed by the plan. 'We -will begin tomorrow, and a blessing on thee for showing old feet -such a near road.' A deep, sing-song Chinese half-chant closed -the sentence. Even the priest was impressed, and the headman -feared an evil spell: but none could look at the lama's simple, -eager face and doubt him long. - -'Seest thou my chela?' he said, diving into his snuff-gourd with -an important sniff. It was his duty to repay courtesy with -courtesy. - -'I see - and hear.' The headman rolled his eye where Kim was -chatting to a girl in blue as she laid crackling thorns on a -fire. - -'He also has a Search of his own. No river, but a Bull. Yea, a -Red Bull on a green field will some day raise him to honour. He -is, I think, not altogether of this world. He was sent of a -sudden to aid me in this search, and his name is Friend of all -the World.' - -The priest smiled. 'Ho, there, Friend of all the World,' he cried -across the sharp-smelling smoke, 'what art thou?' - -'This Holy One's disciple,' said Kim. - -'He says thou are a but [a spirit].' - -'Can buts eat?' said Kim, with a twinkle. 'For I am hungry.' - -'It is no jest,' cried the lama. 'A certain astrologer of that city -whose name I have forgotten -' - -'That is no more than the city of Umballa where we slept last -night,' Kim whispered to the priest. - -'Ay, Umballa was it? He cast a horoscope and declared that my -chela should find his desire within two days. But what said he of -the meaning of the stars, Friend of all the World?' - -Kim cleared his throat and looked around at the village -greybeards. - -'The meaning of my Star is War,' he replied pompously. - -Somebody laughed at the little tattered figure strutting on the -brickwork plinth under the great tree. Where a native would have -lain down, Kim's white blood set him upon his feet. - -'Ay, War,' he answered. - -'That is a sure prophecy,' rumbled a deep voice. 'For there is -always war along the Border -as I know.' - -It was an old, withered man, who had served the Government in the -days of the Mutiny as a native officer in a newly raised cavalry -regiment. The Government had given him a good holding in the -village, and though the demands of his sons, now grey-bearded -officers on their own account, had impoverished him, he was still -a person of consequence. English officials - Deputy Commissioners -even - turned aside from the main road to visit him, and on those -occasions he dressed himself in the uniform of ancient days, and -stood up like a ramrod. - -'But this shall be a great war - a war of eight thousand.' Kim's -voice shrilled across the quick-gathering crowd, astonishing -himself. - -'Redcoats or our own regiments?' the old man snapped, as though -he were asking an equal. His tone made men respect Kim. - -'Redcoats,' said Kim at a venture. 'Redcoats and guns.' - -'But - but the astrologer said no word of this,' cried the lama, -snuffing prodigiously in his excitement. - -'But I know. The word has come to me, who am this Holy One's -disciple. There will rise a war - a war of eight thousand redcoats. -From Pindi and Peshawur they will be drawn. This is -sure. - -'The boy has heard bazar-talk,' said the priest. - -'But he was always by my side,' said the lama. 'How should he know? -I did not know.' - -'He will make a clever juggler when the old man is dead,' muttered -the priest to the headman. 'What new trick is this?' - -'A sign. Give me a sign,' thundered the old soldier suddenly. 'If -there were war my sons would have told me.' - -'When all is ready, thy sons, doubt not, will be told. But it is a -long road from thy sons to the man in whose hands these things -lie.' Kim warmed to the game, for it reminded him of experiences -in the letter-carrying line, when, for the sake of a few pice, he -pretended to know more than he knew. But now he was playing for -larger things - the sheer excitement and the sense of power. He -drew a new breath and went on. - -'Old man, give me a sign. Do underlings order the goings of eight -thousand redcoats -with guns?' - -'No.' Still the old man answered as though Kim were an equal. - -'Dost thou know who He is, then, that gives the order?' - -'I have seen Him.' - -'To know again?' - -'I have known Him since he was a lieutenant in the topkhana (the -Artillery].' - -'A tall man. A tall man with black hair, walking thus?' Kim took -a few paces in a stiff, wooden style. - -'Ay. But that anyone may have seen.' The crowd were breathless- -still through all this talk. - -'That is true,' said Kim. 'But I will say more. Look now. First -the great man walks thus. Then He thinks thus.' (Kim drew a -forefinger over his forehead and downwards till it came to rest -by the angle of the jaw.) 'Anon He twitches his fingers thus. -Anon He thrusts his hat under his left armpit.' Kim illustrated -the motion and stood like a stork. - -The old man groaned, inarticulate with amazement; and the crowd -shivered. - -'So - so - so. But what does He when He is about to give an order?' - -'He rubs the skin at the back of his neck - thus. Then falls one -finger on the table and He makes a small sniffing noise through -his nose. Then He speaks, saying: "Loose such and such a regiment. -Call out such guns."' - -The old man rose stiffly and saluted. - -'"For"' - Kim translated into the vernacular the clinching -sentences he had heard in the dressing-room at Umballa - '"For," -says He, "we should have done this long ago. It is not war - it is -a chastisement. Snff!"' - -'Enough. I believe. I have seen Him thus in the smoke of battles. -Seen and heard. It is He!' - -'I saw no smoke' - Kim's voice shifted to the rapt sing-song of the -wayside fortune-teller. 'I saw this in darkness. First came a man -to make things clear. Then came horsemen. Then came He. standing in -a ring of light. The rest followed as I have said. Old man, have I -spoken truth?' - -'It is He. Past all doubt it is He.' - -The crowd drew a long, quavering breath, staring alternately at the -old man, still at attention, and ragged Kim against the purple -twilight. - -'Said I not - said I not he was from the other world?' cried the -lama proudly. 'He is the Friend of all the World. He is the -Friend of the Stars!' - -'At least it does not concern us,' a man cried. 'O thou young -soothsayer, if the gift abides with thee at all seasons, I have a -red-spotted cow. She may be sister to thy Bull for aught I know - -' - -'Or I care,' said Kim. 'My Stars do not concern themselves with thy -cattle.' - -'Nay, but she is very sick,' a woman struck in. 'My man is a -buffalo, or he would have chosen his words better. Tell me if she -recover?' - -Had Kim been at all an ordinary boy, he would have carried on the -play; but one does not know Lahore city, and least of all the -fakirs by the Taksali Gate, for thirteen years without also knowing -human nature. - -The priest looked at him sideways, something bitterly - a dry and -blighting smile. - -'Is there no priest, then, in the village? I thought I had seen a -great one even now,' cried Kim. - -'Ay - but -' the woman began. - -'But thou and thy husband hoped to get the cow cured for a handful -of thanks.' The shot told: they were notoriously the closest-fisted -couple in the village. 'It is not well to cheat the temples. Give a -young calf to thine own priest, and, unless thy Gods are angry past -recall, she will give milk within a month.' - -'A master-beggar art thou,' purred the priest approvingly. 'Not the -cunning of forty years could have done better. Surely thou hast -made the old man rich?' - -'A little flour, a little butter and a mouthful of cardamoms,' Kim -retorted, flushed with the praise, but still cautious -'Does one -grow rich on that? And, as thou canst see, he is mad. But it serves -me while I learn the road at least." - -He knew what the fakirs of the Taksali Gate were like when they -talked among themselves, and copied the very inflection of their -lewd disciples. - -'Is his Search, then, truth or a cloak to other ends? It may be -treasure.' - -'He is mad - many times mad. There is nothing else.' - -Here the old soldier bobbled up and asked if Kim would accept his -hospitality for the night. The priest recommended him to do so, but -insisted that the honour of entertaining the lama belonged to the -temple - at which the lama smiled guilelessly. Kim glanced from one -face to the other, and drew his own conclusions. - -'Where is the money?' he whispered, beckoning the old man off into -the darkness. - -'In my bosom. Where else?' - -'Give it me. Quietly and swiftly give it me.' - -'But why? Here is no ticket to buy.' - -'Am I thy chela, or am I not? Do I not safeguard thy old feet about -the ways? Give me the money and at dawn I will return it.' He -slipped his hand above the lama's girdle and brought away the -purse. - -'Be it so - be it so.' The old man nodded his head. 'This is a -great and terrible world. I never knew there were so many men alive -in it.' - -Next morning the priest was in a very bad temper, but the lama was -quite happy; and Kim had enjoyed a most interesting evening with -the old man, who brought out his cavalry sabre and, balancing it on -his dry knees, told tales of the Mutiny and young captains thirty -years in their graves, till Kim dropped off to sleep. - -'Certainly the air of this country is good,' said the lama. 'I -sleep lightly, as do all old men; but last night I slept unwaking -till broad day. Even now I am heavy.' - -'Drink a draught of hot milk,' said Kim, who had carried not a few -such remedies to opium-smokers of his acquaintance. 'It is time to -take the Road again.' - -'The long Road that overpasses all the rivers of Hind,' said the -lama gaily. 'Let us go. But how thinkest thou, chela, to recompense -these people, and especially the priest, for their great kindness? -Truly they are but-parast, but in other lives, maybe, they will -receive enlightenment. A rupee to the temple? The thing within is -no more than stone and red paint, but the heart of man we must -acknowledge when and where it is good.' - -'Holy One, hast thou ever taken the Road alone?' Kim looked up -sharply, like the Indian crows so busy about the fields. - -'Surely, child: from Kulu to Pathankot - from Kulu, where my first -chela died. When men were kind to us we made offerings, and all men -were well-disposed throughout all the Hills.' - -'It is otherwise in Hind,' said Kim drily. 'Their Gods are many- -armed and malignant. Let them alone.' - -'I would set thee on thy road for a little, Friend of all the World -thou and thy yellow man.' The old soldier ambled up the village -street, all shadowy in the dawn, on a punt, scissor-hocked pony. -'Last night broke up the fountains of remembrance in my so-dried -heart, and it was as a blessing to me. Truly there is war abroad in -the air. I smell it. See! I have brought my sword.' - -He sat long-legged on the little beast, with the big sword at his -side -hand dropped on the pommel - staring fiercely over the flat -lands towards the North. 'Tell me again how He showed in thy -vision. Come up and sit behind me. The beast will carry two.' - -'I am this Holy One's disciple,' said Kim, as they cleared the -village-gate. The villagers seemed almost sorry to be rid of them, -but the priest's farewell was cold and distant. He had wasted some -opium on a man who carried no money. - -'That is well spoken. I am not much used to holy men, but respect -is always good. There is no respect in these days - not even when -a Commissioner Sahib comes to see me. But why should one whose -Star leads him to war follow a holy man?' - -'But he is a holy man,' said Kim earnestly. 'In truth, and in talk -and in act, holy. He is not like the others. I have never seen such -an one. We be not fortune-tellers, or jugglers, or beggars.' - -'Thou art not. That I can see. But I do not know that other. He -marches well, though.' - -The first freshness of the day carried the lama forward with long, -easy, camel-like strides. He was deep in meditation, mechanically -clicking his rosary. - -They followed the rutted and worn country road that wound across -the flat between the great dark-green mango-groves, the line of the -snowcapped Himalayas faint to the eastward. All India was at work -in the fields, to the creaking of well-wheels, the shouting of -ploughmen behind their cattle, and the clamour of the crows. Even -the pony felt the good influence and almost broke into a trot as -Kim laid a hand on the stirrup-leather. - -'It repents me that I did not give a rupee to the shrine,' said the -lama on the last bead of his eighty-one. - -The old soldier growled in his beard, so that the lama for the -first time was aware of him. - -'Seekest thou the River also?' said he, turning. - -'The day is new,' was the reply. 'What need of a river save to -water at before sundown? I come to show thee a short lane to the -Big Road.' - -'That is a courtesy to be remembered, O man of good will. But why -the sword?' - -The old soldier looked as abashed as a child interrupted in his -game of make-believe. - -'The sword,' he said, fumbling it. 'Oh, that was a fancy of mine -an old man's fancy. Truly the police orders are that no man must -bear weapons throughout Hind, but' - he cheered up and slapped the -hilt - 'all the constabeels hereabout know me.' - -'It is not a good fancy,' said the lama. 'What profit to kill men?' - -'Very little - as I know; but if evil men were not now and then -slain it would not be a good world for weaponless dreamers. I do -not speak without knowledge who have seen the land from Delhi south -awash with blood.' - -'What madness was that, then?' - -'The Gods', who sent it for a plague, alone know. A madness ate -into all the Army, and they turned against their officers. That -was the first evil, but not past remedy if they had then held their -hands. But they chose to kill the Sahibs' wives and children. Then -came the Sahibs from over the sea and called them to most strict -account.' - -'Some such rumour, I believe, reached me once long ago. They -called it the Black Year, as I remember.' - -'What manner of life hast thou led, not to know The Year? A rumour -indeed! All earth knew, and trembled!' - -'Our earth never shook but once - upon the day that the Excellent -One received Enlightenment.' - -'Umph! I saw Delhi shake at least- and Delhi is the navel of the -world.' - -'So they turned against women and children? That was a bad deed, -for which the punishment cannot be avoided.' - -'Many strove to do so, but with very small profit. I was then in -a regiment of cavalry. It broke. Of six hundred and eighty sabres -stood fast to their salt - how many, think you? Three. Of whom I -was one.' - -'The greater merit.' - -'Merit! We did not consider it merit in those days. My people, my -friends, my brothers fell from me. They said: "The time of the -English is accomplished. Let each strike out a little holding for -himself." But I had talked with the men of Sobraon, of -Chilianwallah, of Moodkee and Ferozeshah. I said: "Abide a little -and the wind turns. There is no blessing in this work." In those -days I rode seventy miles with an English Memsahib and her babe on -my saddle-bow. (Wow! That was a horse fit for a man!) I placed them -in safety, and back came I to my officer the one that was not -killed of our five. "Give me work," said I, "for I am an outcast -among my own kind, and my cousin's blood is wet on my sabre." "Be -content," said he. "There is great work forward. When this madness -is over there is a recompense."' - -'Ay, there is a recompense when the madness is over, surely?' the -lama muttered half to himself. - -'They did not hang medals in those days on all who by accident had -heard a gun fired. No! In nineteen pitched battles was I; in six- -and-forty skirmishes of horse; and in small affairs without number. -Nine wounds I bear; a medal and four clasps and the medal of an -Order, for my captains, who are now generals, remembered me when -the Kaisar-i-Hind had accomplished fifty years of her reign, and -all the land rejoiced. They said: "Give him the Order of Berittish -India." I carry it upon my neck now. I have also my jaghir -[holding] from the hands of the State - a free gift to me and mine. -The men of the old days -they are now Commissioners - come riding -to me through the crops - high upon horses so that all the village -sees - and we talk out the old skirmishes, one dead man's name -leading to another.' - -'And after?' said the lama. - -'Oh, afterwards they go away, but not before my village has seen. - -'And at the last what wilt thou do?' - -'At the last I shall die.' - -'And after?' - -'Let the Gods order it. I have never pestered Them with prayers. -I do not think They will pester me. Look you, I have noticed in my -long life that those who eternally break in upon Those Above with -complaints and reports and bellowings and weepings are presently -sent for in haste, as our Colonel used to send for slack-jawed -down-country men who talked too much. No, I have never wearied the -Gods. They will remember this, and give me a quiet place where I -can drive my lance in the shade, and wait to welcome my sons: I -have no less than three Rissaldar-majors all - in the regiments.' - -'And they likewise, bound upon the Wheel, go forth from life to -life - from despair to despair,' said the lama below his breath, -'hot, uneasy, snatching.' - -'Ay,' the old soldier chuckled. 'Three Rissaldar-majors in three -regiments. Gamblers a little, but so am I. They must be well -mounted; and one cannot take the horses as in the old days one took -women. Well, well, my holding can pay for all. How thinkest thou? -It is a well-watered strip, but my men cheat me. I do not know how -to ask save at the lance's point. Ugh! I grow angry and I curse -them, and they feign penitence, but behind my back I know they call -me a toothless old ape.' - -'Hast thou never desired any other thing?' - -'Yes - yes - a thousand times! A straight back and a close-clinging -knee once more; a quick wrist and a keen eye; and the marrow that -makes a man. Oh, the old days - the good days of my strength!' - -'That strength is weakness.' - -'It has turned so; but fifty years since I could have proved it -otherwise,' the old soldier retorted, driving his stirrup-edge into -the pony's lean flank. - -'But I know a River of great healing.' - -'I have drank Gunga-water to the edge of dropsy. All she gave me -was a flux, and no sort of strength.' - -'It is not Gunga. The River that I know washes from all taint of -sin. Ascending the far bank one is assured of Freedom. I do not -know thy life, but thy face is the face of the honourable and -courteous. Thou hast clung to thy Way, rendering fidelity when it -was hard to give, in that Black Year of which I now remember -other tales. Enter now upon the Middle Way which is the path to -Freedom. Hear the Most Excellent Law, and do not follow dreams.' - -'Speak, then, old man,' the soldier smiled, half saluting. 'We be -all babblers at our age.' - -The lama squatted under the shade of a mango, whose shadow played -checkerwise over his face; the soldier sat stiffly on the pony; -and Kim, making sure that there were no snakes, lay down in the -crotch of the twisted roots. - -There was a drowsy buzz of small life in hot sunshine, a cooing -of doves, and a sleepy drone of well-wheels across the fields. -Slowly and impressively the lama began. At the end of ten minutes -the old soldier slid from his pony, to hear better as he said, -and sat with the reins round his wrist. The lama's voice faltered -the periods lengthened. Kim was busy watching a grey squirrel. -When the little scolding bunch of fur, close pressed to the -branch, disappeared, preacher and audience were fast asleep, the -old officer's strong-cut head pillowed on his arm, the lama's -thrown back against the tree-bole, where it showed like yellow -ivory. A naked child toddled up, stared, and, moved by some quick -impulse of reverence, made a solemn little obeisance before the -lama - only the child was so short and fat that it toppled over -sideways, and Kim laughed at the sprawling, chubby legs. The -child, scared and indignant, yelled aloud. - -'Hai! Hai!' said the soldier, leaping to his feet. 'What is it? -What orders? ... It is ... a child! I dreamed it was an alarm. -Little one - little one - do not cry. Have I slept? That was -discourteous indeed!' - -'I fear! I am afraid!' roared the child. - -'What is it to fear? Two old men and a boy? How wilt thou ever make -a soldier, Princeling?' - -The lama had waked too, but, taking no direct notice of the child, -clicked his rosary. - -'What is that?' said the child, stopping a yell midway. 'I have -never seen such things. Give them me.' - -'Aha.' said the lama, smiling, and trailing a loop of it on the -grass: - -This is a handful of cardamoms, -This is a lump of ghi: -This is millet and chillies and rice, -A supper for thee and me! - -The child shrieked with joy, and snatched at the dark, glancing -beads. - -'Oho!' said the old soldier. 'Whence hadst thou that song, despiser -of this world?' - -'I learned it in Pathankot - sitting on a doorstep,' said the lama -shyly. 'It is good to be kind to babes.' - -'As I remember, before the sleep came on us, thou hadst told me -that marriage and bearing were darkeners of the true light, -stumbling-blocks upon the Way. Do children drop from Heaven in thy -country? Is it the Way to sing them songs?' - -'No man is all perfect,' said the lama gravely, recoiling the -rosary. 'Run now to thy mother, little one.' - -'Hear him!' said the soldier to Kim. 'He is ashamed for that he has -made a child happy. There was a very good householder lost in thee, -my brother. Hai, child!' He threw it a pice. 'Sweetmeats are always -sweet.' And as the little figure capered away into the sunshine: -'They grow up and become men. Holy One, I grieve that I slept in -the midst of thy preaching. Forgive me.' - -'We be two old men,' said the lama. 'The fault is mine. I listened -to thy talk of the world and its madness, and one fault led to the -next.' - -'Hear him! What harm do thy Gods suffer from play with a babe? And -that song was very well sung. Let us go on and I will sing thee the -song of Nikal Seyn before Delhi - the old song.' - -And they fared out from the gloom of the mango tope, the old man's -high, shrill voice ringing across the field, as wail by long-drawn -wail he unfolded the story of Nikal Seyn [Nicholson] - the song -that men sing in the Punjab to this day. Kim was delighted, and the -lama listened with deep interest. - -'Ahi! Nikal Seyn is dead - he died before Delhi! Lances of the -North, take vengeance for Nikal Seyn.' He quavered it out to the -end, marking the trills with the flat of his sword on the pony's -rump. - -'And now we come to the Big Road,' said he, after receiving the -compliments of Kim; for the lama was markedly silent. 'It is long -since I have ridden this way, but thy boy's talk stirred me. See, -Holy One - the Great Road which is the backbone of all Hind. For -the most part it is shaded, as here, with four lines of trees; the -middle road -all hard takes the quick traffic. In the days before -rail-carriages the Sahibs travelled up and down here in hundreds. -Now there are only country-carts and such like. Left and right is -the rougher road for the heavy carts - grain and cotton and timber, -fodder, lime and hides. A man goes in safety here for at every few -koss is a police-station. The police are thieves and extortioners -(I myself would patrol it with cavalry - young recruits under a -strong captain), but at least they do not suffer any rivals. All -castes and kinds of men move here. - -Look! Brahmins and chumars, bankers and tinkers, barbers and -bunnias, pilgrims -and potters - all the world going and coming. It -is to me as a river from which I am withdrawn like a log after a -flood.' - -And truly the Grand Trunk Road is a wonderful spectacle. It runs -straight, bearing without crowding India's traffic for fifteen -hundred miles - such a river of life as nowhere else exists in -the world. They looked at the green-arched, shade-flecked length -of it, the white breadth speckled with slow-pacing folk; and the -two-roomed police-station opposite. - -'Who bears arms against the law?' a constable called out -laughingly, as he caught sight of the soldier's sword. 'Are not -the police enough to destroy evil-doers?' - -'It was because of the police I bought it,' was the answer. 'Does -all go well in Hind?' - -'Rissaldar Sahib, all goes well.' - -'I am like an old tortoise, look you, who puts his head out from -the bank and draws it in again. Ay, this is the Road of Hindustan. -All men come by this way...' - -'Son of a swine, is the soft part of the road meant for thee to -scratch thy back upon? Father of all the daughters of shame and -husband of ten thousand virtueless ones, thy mother was devoted -to a devil, being led thereto by her mother. Thy aunts have never -had a nose for seven generations! Thy sister - What Owl's folly -told thee to draw thy carts across the road? A broken wheel? Then -take a broken head and put the two together at leisure!' - -The voice and a venomous whip-cracking came out of a pillar of -dust fifty yards away, where a cart had broken down. A thin, high -Kathiawar mare, with eyes and nostrils aflame, rocketed out of -the jam, snorting and wincing as her rider bent her across the -road in chase of a shouting man. He was tall and grey-bearded, -sitting the almost mad beast as a piece of her, and scientifically -lashing his victim between plunges. - -The old man's face lit with pride. 'My child!' said he briefly, and -strove to rein the pony's neck to a fitting arch. - -'Am I to be beaten before the police?' cried the carter. 'Justice! -I will have Justice -' - -'Am I to be blocked by a shouting ape who upsets ten thousand sacks -under a young horse's nose? That is the way to ruin a mare.' - -'He speaks truth. He speaks truth. But she follows her man close,' -said the old man. The carter ran under the wheels of his cart and -thence threatened all sorts of vengeance. - -'They are strong men, thy sons,' said the policeman serenely, -picking his teeth. - -The horseman delivered one last vicious cut with his whip and came -on at a canter. - -'My father!' He reigned back ten yards and dismounted. - -The old man was off his pony in an instant, and they embraced as do -father and son in the East. - - - - -Chapter 4 - - -Good Luck, she is never a lady, -But the cursedest quean alive, -Tricksy, wincing, and jady - -Kittle to lead or drive. -Greet her - she's hailing a stranger! -Meet her - she's busking to leave! -Let her alone for a shrew to the bone -And the hussy comes plucking your sleeve! -Largesse! Largesse, O Fortune! -Give or hold at your will. -If I've no care for Fortune, -Fortune must follow me still! - -The Wishing-Caps. - - -Then, lowering their voices, they spoke together. Kim came to rest -under a tree, but the lama tugged impatiently at his elbow. - -'Let us go on. The River is not here.' - -'Hai mai! Have we not walked enough for a little? Our River will -not run away. Patience, and he will give us a dole.' - -'This.' said the old soldier suddenly, 'is the Friend of the Stars. -He brought me the news yesterday. Having seen the very man Himself, -in a vision, giving orders for the war.' - -'Hm!' said his son, all deep in his broad chest. 'He came by a -bazar-rumour and made profit of it.' - -His father laughed. 'At least he did not ride to me begging for a -new charger, and the Gods know how many rupees. Are thy brothers' -regiments also under orders?' - -'I do not know. I took leave and came swiftly to thee in case -' - -'In case they ran before thee to beg. O gamblers and spendthrifts -all! But thou hast never yet ridden in a charge. A good horse is -needed there, truly. A good follower and a good pony also for the -marching. Let us see - let us see.' He thrummed on the pommel. - -'This is no place to cast accounts in, my father. Let us go to thy -house.' - -'At least pay the boy, then: I have no pice with me, and he brought -auspicious news. Ho! Friend of all the World, a war is toward as -thou hast said.' - -'Nay, as I know, the war,' returned Kim composedly. - -'Eh?' said the lama, fingering his beads, all eager for the road. - -'My master does not trouble the Stars for hire. We brought the news -bear witness, we brought the news, and now we go.' Kim half-crooked -his hand at his side. - -The son tossed a silver coin through the sunlight, grumbling -something about beggars and jugglers. It was a four-anna piece, and -would feed them well for days. The lama, seeing the flash of the -metal, droned a blessing. - -'Go thy way, Friend of all the World,' piped the old soldier, -wheeling his scrawny mount. 'For once in all my days I have met a -true prophet - who was not in the Army.' - -Father and son swung round together: the old man sitting as erect -as the younger. - -A Punjabi constable in yellow linen trousers slouched across the -road. He had seen the money pass. - -'Halt!' he cried in impressive English. 'Know ye not that there is -a takkus of two annas a head, which is four annas, on those who -enter the Road from this side-road? It is the order of the Sirkar, -and the money is spent for the planting of trees and the -beautification of the ways.' - -'And the bellies of the police,' said Kim, slipping out of arm's -reach. 'Consider for a while, man with a mud head. Think you we -came from the nearest pond like the frog, thy father-in-law? Hast -thou ever heard the name of thy brother?' - -'And who was he? Leave the boy alone,' cried a senior constable, -immensely delighted, as he squatted down to smoke his pipe in the -veranda. - -'He took a label from a bottle of belaitee-pani [soda-water], and, -affixing it to a bridge, collected taxes for a month from those who -passed, saying that it was the Sirkar's order. Then came an -Englishman and broke his head. Ah, brother, I am a town-crow, not a -village-crow!' - -The policeman drew back abashed, and Kim hooted at him all down the -road. - -'Was there ever such a disciple as I?' he cried merrily to the -lama. 'All earth would have picked thy bones within ten mile of -Lahore city if I had not guarded thee.' - -'I consider in my own mind whether thou art a spirit, sometimes, or -sometimes an evil imp,' said the lama, smiling slowly. - -'I am thy chela.' Kim dropped into step at his side - that -indescribable gait of the long-distance tramp all the world over. - -'Now let us walk,' muttered the lama, and to the click of his -rosary they walked in silence mile upon mile. The lama as usual, -was deep in meditation, but Kim's bright eyes were open wide. This -broad, smiling river of life, he considered, was a vast improvement -on the cramped and crowded Lahore streets. There were new people -and new sights at every stride - castes he knew and castes that -were altogether out of his experience. - -They met a troop of long-haired, strong-scented Sansis with baskets -of lizards and other unclean food on their backs, their lean dogs -sniffing at their heels. These people kept their own side of the -road', moving at a quick, furtive jog-trot, and all other castes -gave them ample room; for the Sansi is deep pollution. Behind them, -walking wide and stiffly across the strong shadows, the memory of -his leg-irons still on him, strode one newly released from the -jail; his full stomach and shiny skin to prove that the Government -fed its prisoners better than most honest men could feed -themselves. Kim knew that walk well, and made broad jest of it as -they passed. Then an Akali, a wild-eyed, wild-haired Sikh devotee -in the blue-checked clothes of his faith, with polished-steel -quoits glistening on the cone of his tall blue turban, stalked -past, returning from a visit to one of the independent Sikh States, -where he had been singing the ancient glories of the Khalsa to -College-trained princelings in top-boots and white-cord breeches. -Kim was careful not to irritate that man; for the Akali's temper is -short and his arm quick. Here and there they met or were overtaken -by the gaily dressed crowds of whole villages turning out to some -local fair; the women, with their babes on their hips, walking -behind the men, the older boys prancing on sticks of sugar-cane, -dragging rude brass models of locomotives such as they sell for a -halfpenny, or flashing the sun into the eyes of their betters from -cheap toy mirrors. One could see at a glance what each had bought; -and if there were any doubt it needed only to watch the wives -comparing, brown arm against brown arm, the newly purchased dull -glass bracelets that come from the North-West. These merry-makers -stepped slowly, calling one to the other and stopping to haggle -with sweetmeat-sellers, or to make a prayer before one of the -wayside shrines - sometimes Hindu, sometimes Mussalman - which the -low-caste of both creeds share with beautiful impartiality. A solid -line of blue, rising and falling like the back of a caterpillar in -haste, would swing up through the quivering dust and trot past to a -chorus of quick cackling. That was a gang of changars - the women -who have taken all the embankments of all the Northern railways -under their charge - a flat-footed, big-bosomed, strong-limbed, -blue-petticoated clan of earth-carriers, hurrying north on news of -a job, and wasting no time by the road. They belong to the caste -whose men do not count, and they walked with squared elbows, -swinging hips, and heads on high, as suits women who carry heavy -weights. A little later a marriage procession would strike into the -Grand Trunk with music and shoutings, and a smell of marigold and -jasmine stronger even than the reek of the dust. One could see the -bride's litter, a blur of red and tinsel, staggering through the -haze, while the bridegroom's bewreathed pony turned aside to snatch -a mouthful from a passing fodder-cart. Then Kim would join the -Kentish-fire of good wishes and bad jokes, wishing the couple a -hundred sons and no daughters, as the saying is. Still more -interesting and more to be shouted over it was when a strolling -juggler with some half-trained monkeys, or a panting, feeble bear, -or a woman who tied goats' horns to her feet, and with these danced -on a slack-rope, set the horses to shying and the women to shrill, -long-drawn quavers of amazement. - -The lama never raised his eyes. He did not note the money-lender on -his goose-rumped pony, hastening along to collect the cruel -interest; or the long-shouting, deep-voiced little mob -still in -military formation - of native soldiers on leave, rejoicing to be -rid of their breeches and puttees, and saying the most outrageous -things to the most respectable women in sight. Even the seller of -Ganges-water he did not see, and Kim expected that he would at -least buy a bottle of that precious stuff. He looked steadily at -the ground, and strode as steadily hour after hour, his soul busied -elsewhere. But Kim was in the seventh heaven of joy. The Grand Trunk -at this point was built on an embankment to guard against -winter floods from the foothills, so that one walked, as it were, a -little above the country, along a stately corridor, seeing all -India spread out to left and right. It was beautiful to behold the -many-yoked grain and cotton wagons crawling over the country roads: -one could hear their axles, complaining a mile away, coming nearer, -till with shouts and yells and bad words they climbed up the steep -incline and plunged on to the hard main road, carter reviling -carter. It was equally beautiful to watch the people, little clumps -of red and blue and pink and white and saffron, turning aside to go -to their own villages, dispersing and growing small by twos and -threes across the level plain. Kim felt these things, though he -could not give tongue to his feelings, and so contented himself -with buying peeled sugar-cane and spitting the pith generously -about his path. From time to time the lama took snuff, and at last -Kim could endure the silence no longer. - -'This is a good land - the land of the South!' said he. 'The air is -good; the water is good. Eh?' - -'And they are all bound upon the Wheel,' said the lama. 'Bound from -life after life. To none of these has the Way been shown.' He shook -himself back to this world. - -'And now we have walked a weary way,' said Kim. 'Surely we shall -soon come to a parao [a resting-place]. Shall we stay there? Look, -the sun is sloping.' - -'Who will receive us this evening?' - -'That is all one. This country is full of good folk. Besides' he -sunk his voice beneath a whisper - 'we have money.' - -The crowd thickened as they neared the resting-place which marked -the end of their day's journey. A line of stalls selling very -simple food and tobacco, a stack of firewood, a police-station, a -well, a horse-trough, a few trees, and, under them, some trampled -ground dotted with the black ashes of old fires, are all that mark -a parao on the Grand Trunk; if you except the beggars and the crows -- both hungry. - -By this time the sun was driving broad golden spokes through the -lower branches of the mango-trees; the parakeets and doves were -coming. home in their hundreds; the chattering, grey-backed Seven -Sisters, talking over the day's adventures, walked back and forth -in twos and threes almost under the feet of the travellers; and -shufflings and scufflings in the branches showed that the bats were -ready to go out on the night-picket. Swiftly the light gathered -itself together, painted for an instant the faces and the -cartwheels and the bullocks' horns as red as blood. Then the night -fell, changing the touch of the air, drawing a low, even haze, like -a gossamer veil of blue, across the face of the country, and -bringing out, keen and distinct, the smell of wood-smoke and cattle -and the good scent of wheaten cakes cooked on ashes. The evening -patrol hurried out of the police-station with important coughings -and reiterated orders; and a live charcoal ball in the cup of a -wayside carter's hookah glowed red while Kim's eye mechanically -watched the last flicker of the sun on the brass tweezers. - -The life of the parao was very like that of the Kashmir Serai on a -small scale. Kim dived into the happy Asiatic disorder which, if -you only allow time, will bring you everything that a simple man -needs. - -His wants were few, because, since the lama had no caste scruples, -cooked food from the nearest stall would serve; but, for luxury's -sake, Kim bought a handful of dung-cakes to build a fire. All -about, coming and going round the little flames, men cried for oil, -or grain, or sweetmeats, or tobacco, jostling one another while -they waited their turn at the well; and under the men's voices you -heard from halted, shuttered carts the high squeals and giggles of -women whose faces should not be seen in public. - -Nowadays, well-educated natives are of opinion that when their -womenfolk travel - and they visit a good deal - it is better to -take them quickly by rail in a properly screened compartment; and -that custom is spreading. But there are always those of the old -rock who hold by the use of their forefathers; and, above all, -there are always the old women - more conservative than the men - -who toward the end of their days go on a pilgrimage. They, being -withered and undesirable, do not, under certain circumstances, -object to unveiling. After their long seclusion, during which they -have always been in business touch with a thousand outside -interests, they love the bustle and stir of the open road, the -gatherings at the shrines, and the infinite possibilities of gossip -with like-minded dowagers. Very often it suits a longsuffering -family that a strong-tongued, iron-willed old lady should disport -herself about India in this fashion; for certainly pilgrimage is -grateful to the Gods. So all about India, in the most remote -places, as in the most public, you find some knot of grizzled -servitors in nominal charge of an old lady who is more or less -curtained and hid away in a bullock-cart. Such men are staid and -discreet, and when a European or a high-caste native is near will -net their charge with most elaborate precautions; but in the -ordinary haphazard chances of pilgrimage the precautions are not -taken. The old lady is, after all, intensely human, and lives to -look upon life. - -Kim marked down a gaily ornamented ruth or family bullock-cart, -with a broidered canopy of two domes, like a double-humped camel, -which had just been drawn into the par. Eight men made its retinue, -and two of the eight were armed with rusty sabres - sure signs that -they followed a person of distinction, for the common folk do not -bear arms. An increasing cackle of complaints, orders, and jests, -and what to a European would have been bad language, came from -behind the curtains. Here was evidently a woman used to command. - -Kim looked over the retinue critically. Half of them were thin- -legged, grey-bearded Ooryas from down country. The other half were -duffle-clad, felt-hatted hillmen of the North; and that mixture -told its own tale, even if he had not overheard the incessant -sparring between the two divisions. The old lady was going south on -a visit - probably to a rich relative, most probably to a son-in- -law, who had sent up an escort as a mark of respect. The hillmen -would be of her own people - Kulu or Kangra folk. It was quite -clear that she was not taking her daughter down to be wedded, or -the curtains would have been laced home and the guard would have -allowed no one near the car. A merry and a high-spirited dame, -thought Kim, balancing the dung-cake in one hand, the cooked food -in the other, and piloting the lama with a nudging shoulder. -Something might be made out of the meeting. The lama would give him -no help, but, as a conscientious chela, Kim was delighted to beg -for two. - -He built his fire as close to the cart as he dared, waiting for one -of the escort to order him away. The lama dropped wearily to the -ground, much as a heavy fruit-eating bat cowers, and returned to -his rosary. - -'Stand farther off, beggar!' The order was shouted in broken -Hindustani by one of the hillmen. - -'Huh! It is only a pahari [a hillman]', said Kim over his shoulder. -'Since when have the hill-asses owned all Hindustan?' - -The retort was a swift and brilliant sketch of Kim's pedigree for -three generations. - -'Ah!' Kim's voice was sweeter than ever, as he broke the dung-cake -into fit pieces. 'In my country we call that the beginning of love-talk.' - -A harsh, thin cackle behind the curtains put the hillman on his -mettle for a second shot. - -'Not so bad - not so bad,' said Kim with calm. 'But have a care, my -brother, lest we - we, I say - be minded to give a curse or so in -return. And our curses have the knack of biting home.' - -The Ooryas laughed; the hillman sprang forward threateningly. The -lama suddenly raised his head, bringing his huge tam-o'-shanter hat -into the full light of Kim's new-started fire. - -'What is it?' said he. - -The man halted as though struck to stone. 'I - I - am saved from a -great sin,' he stammered. - -'The foreigner has found him a priest at last,' whispered one of -the Ooryas. - -'Hai! Why is that beggar-brat not well beaten?' the old woman -cried. - -The hillman drew back to the cart and whispered something to the -curtain. There was dead silence, then a muttering. - -'This goes well,' thought Kim, pretending neither to see nor hear. - -'When - when - he has eaten' - the hillman fawned on Kim - 'it - it -is requested that the Holy One will do the honour to talk to one -who would speak to him.' - -'After he has eaten he will sleep,' Kim returned loftily. He could -not quite see what new turn the game had taken, but stood resolute -to profit by it. 'Now I will get him his food.' The last sentence, -spoken loudly, ended with a sigh as of faintness. - -'I - I myself and the others of my people will look to that - if it -is permitted.' - -'It is permitted,' said Kim, more loftily than ever. 'Holy One, -these people will bring us food.' - -'The land is good. All the country of the South is good - a great -and a terrible world,' mumbled the lama drowsily. - -'Let him sleep,' said Kim, 'but look to it that we are well fed -when he wakes. He is a very holy man.' - -Again one of the Ooryas said something contemptuously. - -'He is not a fakir. He is not a down-country beggar,' Kim went on -severely, addressing the stars. 'He is the most holy of holy men. -He is above all castes. I am his chela.' - -'Come here!' said the flat thin voice behind the curtain; and Kim -came, conscious that eyes he could not see were staring at him. One -skinny brown finger heavy with rings lay on the edge of the cart, -and the talk went this way: - -'Who is that one?' - -'An exceedingly holy one. He comes from far off. He comes from -Tibet.' - -'Where in Tibet?' - -'From behind the snows - from a very far place. He knows the stars; -he makes horoscopes; he reads nativities. But he does not do this -for money. He does it for kindness and great charity. I am his -disciple. I am called also the Friend of the Stars.' - -'Thou art no hillman.' - -'Ask him. He will tell thee I was sent to him from the Stars to -show him an end to his pilgrimage.' - -'Humph! Consider, brat, that I am an old woman and not altogether a -fool. Lamas I know, and to these I give reverence, but thou art no -more a lawful chela than this my finger is the pole of this wagon. -Thou art a casteless Hindu - a bold and unblushing beggar, -attached, belike, to the Holy One for the sake of gain.' - -'Do we not all work for gain?' Kim changed his tone promptly to -match that altered voice. 'I have heard' - this was a bow drawn at -a venture - 'I have heard -' - -'What hast thou heard?' she snapped, rapping with the finger. - -'Nothing that I well remember, but some talk in the bazars, which -is doubtless a lie, that even Rajahs - small Hill Rajahs -' - -'But none the less of good Rajput blood.' - -'Assuredly of good blood. That these even sell the more comely of -their womenfolk for gain. Down south they sell them - to zemindars -and such-all of Oudh.' - -If there be one thing in the world that the small Hill Rajahs deny -it is just this charge; but it happens to be one thing that the -bazars believe, when they discuss the mysterious slave-traffics of -India. The old lady explained to Kim, in a tense, indignant -whisper, precisely what manner and fashion of malignant liar he -was. Had Kim hinted this when she was a girl, he would have been -pommelled to death that same evening by an elephant. This was -perfectly true. - -'Ahai! I am only a beggar's brat, as the Eye of Beauty has said,' -he wailed in extravagant terror. - -'Eye of Beauty, forsooth! Who am I that thou shouldst fling -beggar-endearments at me?' And yet she laughed at the long- -forgotten word. 'Forty years ago that might have been said, and not -without truth. Ay. thirty years ago. But it is the fault of this -gadding up and down Hind that a king's widow must jostle all the -scum of the land, and be made a mock by beggars.' - -'Great Queen,' said Kim promptly, for he heard her shaking with -indignation, 'I am even what the Great Queen says I am; but none -the less is my master holy. He has not yet heard the Great Queen's -order that -' I - -'Order? I order a Holy One - a Teacher of the Law - to come and -speak to a woman? Never!' - -'Pity my stupidity. I thought it was given as an order -' - -'It was not. It was a petition. Does this make all clear?' - -A silver coin clicked on the edge of the cart. Kim took it and -salaamed profoundly. The old lady recognized that, as the eyes and -the ears of the lama, he was to be propitiated. - -'I am but the Holy One's disciple. When he has eaten perhaps he -will come.' - -'Oh, villain and shameless rogue!' The jewelled forefinger shook -itself at him reprovingly; but he could hear the old lady's -chuckle. - -'Nay, what is it?' he said, dropping into his most caressing and -confidential tone - the one, he well knew, that few could resist. -'Is - is there any need of a son in thy family? Speak freely, for -we priests -' That last was a direct plagiarism from a fakir by the -Taksali Gate. - -'We priests! Thou art not yet old enough to -' She checked the joke -with another laugh. 'Believe me, now and again, we women, O priest, -think of other matters than sons. Moreover, my daughter has borne -her man-child.' - -'Two arrows in the quiver are better than one; and three are better -still.' Kim quoted the proverb with a meditative cough, looking -discreetly earthward. - -'True - oh, true. But perhaps that will come. Certainly those down- -country Brahmins are utterly useless. I sent gifts and monies and -gifts again to them, and they prophesied.' - -'Ah,' drawled Kim, with infinite contempt, 'they prophesied!' A -professional could have done no better. - -'And it was not till I remembered my own Gods that my prayers were -heard. I chose an auspicious hour, and - perhaps thy Holy One has -heard of the Abbot of the Lung-Cho lamassery. It was to him I put -the matter, and behold in the due time all came about as I desired. -The Brahmin in the house of the father of my daughter's son has -since said that it was through his prayers - which is a little -error that I will explain to him when we reach our journey's end. -And so afterwards I go to Buddh Gaya, to make shraddha for the -father of my children.' - -'Thither go we.' - -'Doubly auspicious,' chirruped the old lady. 'A second son at -least!' - -'O Friend of all the World!' The lama had waked, and, simply as a -child bewildered in a strange bed, called for Kim. - -'I come! I come, Holy One!' He dashed to the fire, where he found -the lama already surrounded by dishes of food, the hillmen visibly -adoring him and the Southerners looking sourly. - -'Go back! Withdraw!' Kim cried. 'Do we eat publicly like dogs?' -They finished the meal in silence, each turned a little from the -other, and Kim topped it with a native-made cigarette. - -'Have I not said an hundred times that the South is a good land? -Here is a virtuous and high-born widow of a Hill Rajah on -pilgrimage, she says, to Buddha Gay. She it is sends us those -dishes; and when thou art well rested she would speak to thee.' - -'Is this also thy work?' The lama dipped deep into his snuff-gourd. - -'Who else watched over thee since our wonderful journey began?' -Kim's eyes danced in his head as he blew the rank smoke through his -nostrils and stretched him on the dusty ground. 'Have I failed to -oversee thy comforts, Holy One?' - -'A blessing on thee.' The lama inclined his solemn head. 'I have -known many men in my so long life, and disciples not a few. But to -none among men, if so be thou art woman-born, has my heart gone out -as it has to thee - thoughtful, wise, and courteous; but something -of a small imp.' - -'And I have never seen such a priest as thou.' Kim considered the -benevolent yellow face wrinkle by wrinkle. 'It is less than three -days since we took the road together, and it is as though it were a -hundred years.' - -'Perhaps in a former life it was permitted that I should have -rendered thee some service. Maybe' - he smiled -'I freed thee from -a trap; or, having caught thee on a hook in the days when I was -not enlightened, cast thee back into the river.' - -'Maybe,' said Kim quietly. He had heard this sort of speculation -again and again, from the mouths of many whom the English would not -consider imaginative. 'Now, as regards that - -women in the bullock-cart I think she needs a second son for her -daughter.' - -'That is no part of the Way,' sighed the lama. 'But at least she is -from the Hills. Ah, the Hills, and the snow of the Hills!' - -He rose and stalked to the cart. Kim would have given his ears to -come too, but the lama did not invite him; and the few words he -caught were in an unknown tongue, for they spoke some common speech -of the mountains. The woman seemed to ask questions which the lama -turned over in his mind before answering. Now and again he heard -the singsong cadence of a Chinese quotation. It was a strange -picture that Kim watched between drooped eyelids. The lama, very -straight and erect, the deep folds of his yellow clothing slashed -with black in the light of the parao fires precisely as a knotted -tree-trunk is slashed with the shadows of the low sun, addressed a -tinsel and lacquered ruth which burned like a many-coloured jewel -in the same uncertain light. The patterns on the gold-worked -curtains ran up and down, melting and reforming as the folds shook -and quivered to the night wind; and when the talk grew more earnest -the jewelled forefinger snapped out little sparks of light between -the embroideries. Behind the cart was a wall of uncertain darkness -speckled with little flames and alive with half-caught forms and -faces and shadows. The voices of early evening had settled down to -one soothing hum whose deepest note was the steady chumping of the -bullocks above their chopped straw, and whose highest was the -tinkle of a Bengali dancing-girl's sitar. Most men had eaten and -pulled deep at their gurgling, grunting hookahs, which in full -blast sound like bull-frogs. - -At last the lama returned. A hillman walked behind him with a -wadded cotton-quilt and spread it carefully by the fire. - -'She deserves ten thousand grandchildren,' thought Kim. 'None the -less, but for me, those gifts would not have come.' - -'A virtuous woman - and a wise one.' The lama slackened off, joint -by joint, like a slow camel. 'The world is full of charity to those -who follow the Way.' He flung a fair half of the quilt over Kim. -'And what said she?' Kim rolled up in his share of it. - -'She asked me many questions and propounded many problems - the -most of which were idle tales which she had heard from devil- -serving priests who pretend to follow the Way. Some I answered, and -some I said were foolish. Many wear the Robe, but few keep the -Way.' - -'True. That is true.' Kim used the thoughtful, conciliatory tone of -those who wish to draw confidences. - -'But by her lights she is most right-minded. She desires greatly -that we should go with her to Buddh Gaya; her road being ours, as I -understand, for many days' journey to the southward.' - -'And?' - -'Patience a little. To this I said that my Search came before all -things. She had heard many foolish legends, but this great truth of -my River she had never heard. Such are the priests of the lower -hills! She knew the Abbot of Lung-Cho, but she did not know of my -River - nor the tale of the Arrow.' - -'And?' - -'I spoke therefore of the Search, and of the Way, and of matters -that were profitable; she desiring only that I should accompany her -and make prayer for a second son.' - -'Aha! "We women" do not think of anything save children,' said Kim -sleepily. - -'Now, since our roads run together for a while, I do not see that -we in any way depart from our Search if so be we accompany her - at -least as far as - I have forgotten the name of the city.' - -'Ohe!' said Kim, turning and speaking in a sharp whisper to one of -the Ooryas a few yards away. 'Where is your master's house?' - -'A little behind Saharunpore, among the fruit gardens.' He named -the village. - -'That was the place,' said the lama. 'So far, at least, we can go -with her.' - -'Flies go to carrion,' said the Oorya, in an abstracted voice. - -'For the sick cow a crow; for the sick man a Brahmin.' Kim breathed -the proverb impersonally to the shadow-tops of the trees overhead. - -The Oorya grunted and held his peace. - -'So then we go with her, Holy One?' - -'Is there any reason against? I can still step aside and try all -the rivers that the road overpasses. She desires that I should -come. She very greatly desires it.' - -Kim stifled a laugh in the quilt. When once that imperious old lady -had recovered from her natural awe of a lama he thought it probable -that she would be worth listening to. - -He was nearly asleep when the lama suddenly quoted a proverb: 'The -husbands of the talkative have a great reward hereafter.' Then Kim -heard him snuff thrice, and dozed off, still laughing. - -The diamond-bright dawn woke men and crows and bullocks together. -Kim sat up and yawned, shook himself, and thrilled with delight. -This was seeing the world in real truth; this was life as he would -have it - bustling and shouting, the buckling of belts, and beating -of bullocks and creaking of wheels, lighting of fires and cooking -of food, and new sights at every turn of the approving eye. The -morning mist swept off in a whorl of silver, the parrots shot away -to some distant river in shrieking green hosts: all the well-wheels -within ear-shot went to work. India was awake, and Kim was in the -middle of it, more awake and more excited than anyone, chewing on a -twig that he would presently use as a toothbrush; for he borrowed -right- and left-handedly from all the customs of the country he -knew and loved. There was no need to worry about food - no need to -spend a cowrie at the crowded stalls. He was the disciple of a holy -man annexed by a strong-willed old lady. All things would be -prepared for them, and when they were respectfully invited so to do -they would sit and eat. For the rest - Kim giggled here as he -cleaned his teeth - his hostess would rather heighten the enjoyment -of the road. He inspected her bullocks critically, as they came up -grunting and blowing under the yokes. If they went too fast -it was -not likely - there would be a pleasant seat for himself along the -pole; the lama would sit beside the driver. The escort, of course, -would walk. The old lady, equally of course, would talk a great -deal, and by what he had heard that conversation would not lack -salt. She was already ordering, haranguing, rebuking, and, it must -be said, cursing her servants for delays. - -'Get her her pipe. In the name of the Gods, get her her pipe and -stop her ill-omened mouth,' cried an Oorya, tying up his shapeless -bundles of bedding. 'She and the parrots are alike. They screech in -the dawn.' - -'The lead-bullocks! Hai! Look to the lead-bullocks!' They were -backing and wheeling as a grain-cart's axle caught them by the -horns. "Son of an owl, where dost thou go?' This to the grinning -carter. - -'Ai! Yai! Yai! That within there is the Queen of Delhi going to -pray for a son,' the man called back over his high load. 'Room for -the Queen of Delhi and her Prime Minister the grey monkey climbing -up his own sword!' Another cart loaded with bark for a down-country -tannery followed close behind, and its driver added a few -compliments as the ruth-bullocks backed and backed again. - -From behind the shaking curtains came one volley of invective. It -did not last long, but in kind and quality, in blistering, biting -appropriateness, it was beyond anything that even Kim had heard. He -could see the carter's bare chest collapse with amazement, as the -man salaamed reverently to the voice, leaped from the pole, and -helped the escort haul their volcano on to the main road. Here the -voice told him truthfully what sort of wife he had wedded, and what -she was doing in his absence. - -'Oh, shabash!' murmured Kim, unable to contain himself, as the man -slunk away. - -'Well done, indeed? It is a shame and a scandal that a poor woman -may not go to make prayer to her Gods except she be jostled and -insulted by all the refuse of Hindustan - that she must eat gali -[abuse] as men eat ghi. But I have yet a wag left to my tongue - a -word or two well spoken that serves the occasion. And still am I -without my tobacco! Who is the one-eyed and luckless son of shame -that has not yet prepared my pipe?' - -It was hastily thrust in by a hillman, and a trickle of thick smoke -from each corner of the curtains showed that peace was restored. - -If Kim had walked proudly the day before, disciple of a holy man, -today he paced with tenfold pride in the train of a semi-royal -procession, with a recognized place under the patronage of an old -lady of charming manners and infinite resource. The escort, their -heads tied up native-fashion, fell in on either side the cart, -shuffling enormous clouds of dust. - -The lama and Kim walked a little to one side; Kim chewing his stick -of sugarcane, and making way for no one under the status of a -priest. They could hear the old lady's tongue clack as steadily as -a rice-husker. She bade the escort tell her what was going on on -the road; and so soon as they were clear of the parao she flung -back the curtains and peered out, her veil a third across her face. -Her men did not eye her directly when she addressed them, and thus -the proprieties were more or less observed. - -A dark, sallowish District Superintendent of Police, faultlessly -uniformed, an Englishman, trotted by on a tired horse, and, seeing -from her retinue what manner of person she was, chaffed her. - -'O mother,' he cried, 'do they do this in the zenanas? Suppose an -Englishman came by and saw that thou hats no nose?' - -'What?' she shrilled back. 'Thine own mother has no nose? Why say -so, then, on the open road?' - -It was a fair counter. The Englishman threw up his hand with the -gesture of a man hit at sword-play. She laughed and nodded. - -'Is this a face to tempt virtue aside?. She withdrew all her veil -and stared at him. - -It was by no means lovely, but as the man gathered up his reins he -called it a Moon of Paradise, a Disturber of Integrity, and a few -other fantastic epithets which doubled her up with mirth. - -'That is a nut-cut [rogue],' she said. 'All police-constables are -nut-cuts; but the police-wallahs are the worst. Hai, my son, thou -hast never learned all that since thou camest from Belait [Europe]. -Who suckled thee?' - -'A pahareen - a hillwoman of Dalhousie, my mother. Keep thy beauty -under a shade - O Dispenser of Delights,' and he was gone. - -'These be the sort' - she took a fine judicial tone, and stuffed -her mouth with pan - 'These be the sort to oversee justice. They -know the land and the customs of the land, The others, all new from -Europe, suckled by white women and learning our tongues from books, -are worse than the pestilence. They do harm to Kings.' Then she -told a long, long tale to the world at large, of an ignorant young -policeman who had disturbed some small Hill Rajah, a- ninth cousin -of her own, in the matter of a trivial land-case, winding up with a -quotation from a work by no means devotional. - -Then her mood changed, and she bade one of the escort ask whether -the lama would walk alongside and discuss matters of religion. So -Kim dropped back into the dust and returned to his sugar-cane. For -an hour or more the lama's tam-o'shanter showed like a moon through -the haze; and, from all he heard, Kim gathered that the old woman -wept. One of the Ooryas half apologized for his rudeness overnight, -saying that he had never known his mistress of so bland a temper, -and he ascribed it to the presence of the strange priest. -Personally, he believed in Brahmins, though, like all natives, he -was acutely aware of their cunning and their greed. Still, when -Brahmins but irritated with begging demands the mother of his -master's wife, and when she sent them away so angry that they -cursed the whole retinue (which was the real reason of the second -off-side bullock going lame, and of the pole breaking the night -before), he was prepared to accept any priest of any other -denomination in or out of India. To this Kim assented with wise -nods, and bade the Oorya observe that the lama took no money, and -that the cost of his and Kim's food would be repaid a hundred times -in the good luck that would attend the caravan henceforward. He -also told stories of Lahore city, and sang a song or two which made -the escort laugh. As a town-mouse well acquainted with the latest -songs by the most fashionable composers - they are women for the -most part - Kim had a distinct advantage over men from a little -fruit-village behind Saharunpore, but he let that advantage be -inferred. - -At noon they turned aside to eat, and the meal was good, plentiful, -and well-served on plates of clean leaves, in decency, out of drift -of the dust. They gave the scraps to certain beggars, that all -requirements might be fulfilled, and sat down to a long, luxurious -smoke. The old lady had retreated behind her curtains, but mixed -most freely in the talk, her servants arguing with and -contradicting her as servants do throughout the East. She compared -the cool and the pines of the Kangra and Kulu hills with the dust -and the mangoes of the South; she told a tale of some old local -Gods at the edge of her husband's territory; she roundly abused the -tobacco which she was then smoking, reviled all Brahmins, and -speculated without reserve on the coming of many grandsons. - - - - - - Chapter 5 - - -Here come I to my own again -Fed, forgiven, and known again -Claimed by bone of my bone again, -And sib to flesh of my flesh! -The fatted calf is dressed for me, -But the husks have greater zest for me ... -I think my pigs will be best for me, -So I'm off to the styes afresh. - -The Prodigal Son. - - -Once more the lazy, string-tied, shuffling procession got under -way, and she slept till they reached the next halting-stage. It was -a very short march, and time lacked an hour to sundown, so Kim cast -about for means of amusement. - -'But why not sit and rest?' said one of the escort. 'Only the -devils and the English walk to and fro without reason.' - -'Never make friends with the Devil, a Monkey, or a Boy. No man -knows what they will do next,' said his fellow. - -Kim turned a scornful back - he did not want to hear the old story -how the Devil played with the boys and repented of it and walked -idly across country. - -The lama strode after him. All that day, whenever they passed a -stream, he had turned aside to look at it, but in no case had he -received any warning that he had found his River. Insensibly, too, -the comfort of speaking to someone in a reasonable tongue,' and of -being properly considered and respected as her spiritual adviser by -a well-born woman, had weaned his thoughts a little from the -Search. And further, he was prepared to spend serene years in his -quest; having nothing of the white manis impatience, but a great -faith. - -'Where goest thou?' he called after Kim. - -'Nowhither - it was a small march, and all this'- Kim waved his -hands abroad - 'is new to me.' - -'She is beyond question a wise and a discerning woman. But it is -hard to meditate when -' - -'All women are thus.' Kim spoke as might have Solomon. - -'Before the lamassery was a broad platform,' the lama muttered, -looping up the well-worn rosary, 'of stone. On that I have left the -marks of my feet - pacing to and fro with these.' - -He clicked the beads, and began the 'Om mane pudme hum's of his -devotion; grateful for the cool, the quiet, and the absence of -dust. - -One thing after another drew Kim's idle eye across the plain. There -was no purpose in his wanderings, except that the build of the huts -near by seemed new, and he wished to investigate. - -They came out on a broad tract of grazing-ground, brown and purple -in the afternoon light, with a heavy clump of mangoes in the -centre. It struck Kim as curious that no shrine stood in so -eligible a spot: the boy was observing as any priest for these -things. Far across the plain walked side by side four men, made -small by the distance. He looked intently under his curved palms -and caught the sheen of brass. - -'Soldiers. White soldiers!' said he. 'Let us see.' - -'It is always soldiers when thou and I go out alone together. But I -have never seen the white soldiers.' - -'They do no harm except when they are drunk. Keep behind this -tree.' - -They stepped behind the thick trunks in the cool dark of the mango- -tope. Two little figures halted; the other two came forward -uncertainly. They were the advance-party of a regiment on the -march, sent out, as usual, to mark the camp. They bore five-foot -sticks with fluttering flags, and called to each other as they -spread over the flat earth. - -At last they entered the mango-grove, walking heavily. - -'It's here or hereabouts - officers' tents under the trees, I take -it, an' the rest of us can stay outside. Have they marked out for -the baggage-wagons behind?' - -They cried again to their comrades in the distance, and the rough -answer came back faint and mellowed. - -'Shove the flag in here, then,' said one. - -'What do they prepare?' said the lama, wonderstruck. 'This is a -great and terrible world. What is the device on the flag?' - -A soldier thrust a stave within a few feet of them, grunted -discontentedly, pulled it up again, conferred with his companion, -who looked up and down the shaded cave of greenery, and returned -it. - -Kim stared with all his eyes, his breath coming short and sharp -between his teeth. The soldiers stamped off into the sunshine. - -'O Holy One!' he gasped. 'My horoscope! The drawing in the dust by -the priest at Umballa! Remember what he said. First come two - -ferashes - to make all things ready - in a dark place, as it is -always at the beginning of a vision.' - -'But this is not vision,' said the lama. 'It is the world's -Illusion, and no more.' - -'And after them comes the Bull - the Red Bull on the green field. -Look! It is he!' - -He pointed to the flag that was snap snapping in the evening breeze -not ten feet away. It was no more than an ordinary camp marking- -flag; but the regiment, always punctilious in matters of millinery, -had charged it with the regimental device, the Red Bull, which is -the crest of the Mavericks - the great Red Bull on a background of -Irish green. - -'I see, and now I remember.' said the lama. 'Certainly it is thy -Bull. Certainly, also, the two men came to make all ready.' - -'They are soldiers - white soldiers. What said the priest? "The -sign over against the Bull is the sign of War and armed men." Holy -One, this thing touches my Search.' - -'True. It is true.' The lama stared fixedly at the device that -flamed like a ruby in the dusk. 'The priest at Umballa said that -thine was the sign of War.' - -'What is to do now?' - -'Wait. Let us wait.' - -'Even now the darkness clears" said Kim. It was only natural that -the descending sun should at last strike through the tree-trunks, -across the grove, filling it with mealy gold light for a few -minutes; but to Kim it was the crown of the Umballa Brahmin's -prophecy. - -'Hark!' said the lama. 'One beats a drum - far off!' - -At first the sound, carrying diluted through the still air, -resembled the beating of an artery in the head. Soon a sharpness -was added. - -'Ah! The music,' Kim explained. He knew the sound of a regimental -band, but it amazed the lama. - -At the far end of the plain a heavy, dusty column crawled in sight. -Then the wind brought the tune: - -We crave your condescension -To tell you what we know -Of marching in the Mulligan Guards -To Sligo Port below! - -Here broke in the shrill-tongued fifes: - -We shouldered arms, -We marched - we marched away. -From Phoenix Park -We marched to Dublin Bay. -The drums and the fifes, -Oh, sweetly they did play, -As we marched - marched - marched - with the -Mulligan Guards! - -It was the band of the Mavericks playing the regiment to camp; for -the men were route-marching with their baggage. The rippling column -swung into the level - carts behind it divided left and right, ran -about like an ant-hill, and ... - -'But this is sorcery!' said the lama. - -The plain dotted itself with tents that seemed to rise, all spread, -from the carts. Another rush of men invaded the grove, pitched a -huge tent in silence, ran up yet eight or nine more by the side of -it, unearthed cooking-pots, pans, and bundles, which were taken -possession of by a crowd of native servants; and behold the mango- -tope turned into an orderly town as they watched! - -'Let us go,' said the lama, sinking back afraid, as the fires -twinkled and white officers with jingling swords stalked into the -Mess-tent. - -'Stand back in the shadow. No one can see beyond the light of a -fire,' said Kim, his eyes still on the flag. He had never before -watched the routine of a seasoned regiment pitching camp in thirty -minutes. - -'Look! look! look!' clucked the lama. 'Yonder comes a priest.' It -was Bennett, the Church of England Chaplain of the regiment, -limping in dusty black. One of his flock had made some rude remarks -about the Chaplain's mettle; and to abash him Bennett had marched -step by step with the men that day. The black dress, gold cross on -the watch-chain, the hairless face, and the soft, black wideawake -hat would have marked him as a holy man anywhere in all India. He -dropped into a camp-chair by the door of the Mess-tent and slid off -his boots. Three or four officers gathered round him, laughing and -joking over his exploit. - -'The talk of white men is wholly lacking in dignity,' said the -lama, who judged only by tone. 'But I considered the countenance of -that priest and I think he is learned. Is it likely that he will -understand our talk? I would talk to him of my Search.' - -'Never speak to a white man till he is fed,' said Kim, quoting a -well-known proverb. 'They will eat now, and - and I do not think -they are good to beg from. Let us go back to the resting-place. -After we have eaten we will come again. It certainly was a Red Bull -- my Red Bull.' - -They were both noticeably absent-minded when the old lady's retinue -set their meal before them; so none broke their reserve, for it is -not lucky to annoy guests. - -'Now,' said Kim, picking his teeth, 'we will return to that place; -but thou, O Holy One, must wait a little way off, because thy feet -are heavier than mine and I am anxious to see more of that Red -Bull.' - -'But how canst thou understand the talk? Walk slowly. The road is -dark,' the lama replied uneasily. - -Kim put the question aside. 'I marked a place near to the trees,' -said he, 'where thou canst sit till I call. Nay,' as the lama made -some sort of protest, 'remember this is my Search - the Search for -my Red Bull. The sign in the Stars was not for thee. I know a -little of the customs of white soldiers, and I always desire to see -some new things.' - -'What dost thou not know of this world?' The lama squatted -obediently in a little hollow of the ground not a hundred yards -from the hump of the mango-trees dark against the star-powdered -sky. - -'Stay till I call.' Kim flitted into the dusk. He knew that in all -probability there would be sentries round the camp, and smiled to -himself as he heard the thick boots of one. A boy who can dodge -over the roofs of Lahore city on a moonlight night, using every -little patch and corner of darkness to discomfit his pursuer, is -not likely to be checked by a line of well-trained soldiers. He -paid them the compliment of crawling between a couple, and, running -and halting, crouching and dropping flat, worked his way toward the -lighted Mess-tent where, close pressed behind the mango-tree, he -waited till some chance word should give him a returnable lead. - -The one thing now in his mind was further information as to the Red -Bull. For aught he knew, and Kim's limitations were as curious and -sudden as his expansions, the men, the nine hundred thorough devils -of his father's prophecy, might pray to the beast after dark, as -Hindus pray to the Holy Cow. That at least would be entirely right -and logical, and the padre with the gold cross would be therefore -the man to consult in the matter. On the other hand, remembering -sober-faced padres whom he had avoided in Lahore city, the priest -might be an inquisitive nuisance who would bid him learn. But had -it not been proven at Umballa that his sign in the high heavens -portended War and armed men? Was he not the Friend of the Stars as -well as of all the World, crammed to the teeth with dreadful -secrets? Lastly - and firstly as the undercurrent of all his quick -thoughts -this adventure, though he did not know the English word, -was a stupendous lark - a delightful continuation of his old -flights across the housetops, as well as the fulfilment of sublime -prophecy. He lay belly-flat and wriggled towards the Mess-tent -door, a hand on the amulet round his neck. - -It was as he suspected. The Sahibs prayed to their God; for in the -centre of the Mess-table - its sole ornament when they were on the -line of march - stood a golden bull fashioned from old-time loot of -the Summer Palace at Pekin - a red-gold bull with lowered head, -ramping upon a field of Irish green. To him the Sahibs held out -their glasses and cried aloud confusedly. - -Now the Reverend Arthur Bennett always left Mess after that toast, -and being rather tired by his march his movements were more abrupt -than usual. Kim, with slightly raised head, was still staring at -his totem on the table, when the Chaplain stepped on his right -shoulder-blade. Kim flinched under the leather, and, rolling -sideways, brought down the Chaplain, who, ever a man of action, -caught him by the throat and nearly choked the life out of him. Kim -then kicked him desperately in the stomach. Mr Bennett gasped and -doubled up, but without relaxing his grip, rolled over again, and -silently hauled Kim to his own tent. The Mavericks were incurable -practical jokers; and it occurred to the Englishman that silence -was best till he had made complete inquiry. - -'Why, it's a boy!' he said, as he drew his prize under the light of -the tent-pole lantern, then shaking him severely cried: 'What were -you doing? You're a thief. Choor? Mallum?' His Hindustani was very -limited, and the ruffled and disgusted Kim intended to keep to the -character laid down for him. As he recovered his breath he was -inventing a beautifully plausible tale of his relations to some -scullion, and at the same time keeping a keen eye on and a little -under the Chaplain's left arm-pit. The chance came; he ducked for -the doorway, but a long arm shot out and clutched at his neck, -snapping the amulet-string and closing on the amulet. - -'Give it me. O, give it me. Is it lost? Give me the papers.' - -The words were in English - the tinny, saw-cut English of the -native-bred, and the Chaplain jumped. - -'A scapular,' said he, opening his hand. 'No, some sort of heathen -charm. Why - why, do you speak English? Little boys who steal are -beaten. You know that?' - -'I do not - I did not steal.' Kim danced in agony like a terrier at -a lifted stick. 'Oh, give it me. It is my charm. Do not thieve it -from me.' - -The Chaplain took no heed, but, going to the tent door, called -aloud. A fattish, clean-shaven man appeared. - -'I want your advice, Father Victor,' said Bennett. 'I found this -boy in the dark outside the Mess-tent. Ordinarily, I should have -chastised him and let him go, because I believe him to be a thief. -But it seems he talks English, and he attaches some sort of value -to a charm round his neck. I thought perhaps you might help me.' - -Between himself and the Roman Catholic Chaplain of the Irish -contingent lay, as Bennett believed, an unbridgeable gulf, but it -was noticeable that whenever the Church of England dealt with a -human problem she was very likely to call in the Church of Rome. -Bennett's official abhorrence of the Scarlet Woman and all her ways -was only equalled by his private respect for Father Victor. - -'A thief talking English, is it? Let's look at his charm. No, it's -not a scapular, Bennett.' He held out his hand. - -'But have we any right to open it? A sound whipping -' - -'I did not thieve,' protested Kim. 'You have hit me kicks all over -my body. Now give me my charm and I will go away.' - -'Not quite so fast. We'll look first,' said Father Victor, -leisurely rolling out poor Kimball O'Hara's 'ne varietur' -parchment, his clearance-certificate, and Kim's baptismal -certificate. On this last O'Hara - with some confused idea that he -was doing wonders for his son - had scrawled scores of times: 'Look -after the boy. Please look after the boy' - signing his name and -regimental number in full. - -'Powers of Darkness below!" said Father Victor, passing all over to -Mr Bennett. 'Do you know what these things are?' - -'Yes.' said Kim. 'They are mine, and I want to go away.' - -'I do not quite understand,' said Mr Bennett. 'He probably brought -them on purpose. It may be a begging trick of some kind.' - -'I never saw a beggar less anxious to stay with his company, then. -There's the makings of a gay mystery here. Ye believe in -Providence, Bennett?' - -'I hope so.' - -'Well, I believe in miracles, so it comes to the same thing. Powers -of Darkness! Kimball O'Hara! And his son! But then he's a native, -and I saw Kimball married myself to Annie Shott. How long have you -had these things, boy?' - -'Ever since I was a little baby.' - -Father Victor stepped forward quickly and opened the front of Kim's -upper garment. 'You see, Bennett, he's not very black. What's your -name?' - -'Kim.' - -'Or Kimball?' - -'Perhaps. Will you let me go away?' - -'What else?' - -'They call me Kim Rishti ke. That is Kim of the Rishti.' - -'What is that - "Rishti"?' - -'Eye-rishti - that was the Regiment - my father's.' - -'Irish - oh, I see.' - -'Yess. That was how my father told me. My father, he has lived.' - -'Has lived where?' - -'Has lived. Of course he is dead - gone-out.' - -'Oh! That's your abrupt way of putting it, is it?' - -Bennett interrupted. 'It is possible I have done the boy an -injustice. He is certainly white, though evidently neglected. I am -sure I must have bruised him. I do not think spirits -' - -'Get him a glass of sherry, then, and let him squat on the cot. -Now, Kim,' continued Father Victor, 'no one is going to hurt you. -Drink that down and tell us about yourself. The truth, if you've no -objection.' - -Kim coughed a little as he put down the empty glass, and -considered. This seemed a time for caution and fancy. Small boys -who prowl about camps are generally turned out after a whipping. -But he had received no stripes; the amulet was evidently working in -his favour, and it looked as though the Umballa horoscope and the -few words that he could remember of his father's maunderings fitted -in most miraculously. Else why did the fat padre seem so impressed, -and why the glass of hot yellow drink from the lean one? - -'My father, he is dead in Lahore city since I was very little. The -woman, she kept kabarri shop near where the hire-carriages are.' -Kim began with a plunge, not quite sure how far the truth would -serve him. - -'Your mother?' - -'No!' - with a gesture of disgust. 'She went out when I was born. -My father, he got these papers from the Jadoo-Gher what do you call -that?' (Bennett nodded) 'because he was in good-standing. What do -you call that?' (again Bennett nodded). 'My father told me that. He -said, too, and also the Brahmin who made the drawing in the dust at -Umballa two days ago, he said, that I shall find a Red Bull on a -green field and that the Bull shall help me.' - -'A phenomenal little liar,' muttered Bennett. - -'Powers of Darkness below, what a country!' murmured Father Victor. -'Go on, Kim.' - -'I did not thieve. Besides, I am just now disciple of a very holy -man. He is sitting outside. We saw two men come with flags, making -the place ready. That is always so in a dream, or on account of a - -a -prophecy. So I knew it was come true. I saw the Red Bull on the -green field, and my father he said: "Nine hundred pukka devils and -the Colonel riding on a horse will look after you when you find the -Red Bull!" I did not know what to do when I saw the Bull, but I -went away and I came again when it was dark. I wanted to see the -Bull again, and I saw the Bull again with the - the Sahibs praying -to it. I think the Bull shall help me. The holy man said so too. He -is sitting outside. Will you hurt him, if I call him a shout now? -He is very holy. He can witness to all the things I say, and he -knows I am not a thief.' - -'"Sahibs praying to a bull!" What in the world do you make of -that?' said Bennett. "'Disciple of a holy man!" Is the boy mad?' - -'It's O'Hara's boy, sure enough. O'Hara's boy leagued with all the -Powers of Darkness. It's very much what his father would have done -if he was drunk. We'd better invite the holy man. He may know -something.' - -'He does not know anything,' said Kim. 'I will show you him if you -come. He is my master. Then afterwards we can go.' - -'Powers of Darkness!' was all that Father Victor could say, as -Bennett marched off, with a firm hand on Kim's shoulder. - -They found the lama where he had dropped. - -'The Search is at an end for me,' shouted Kim in the vernacular. 'I -have found the Bull, but God knows what comes next. They will not -hurt you. Come to the fat priest's tent with this thin man and see -the end. It is all new, and they cannot talk Hindi. They are only -uncurried donkeys.' - -'Then it is not well to make a jest of their ignorance,' the lama -returned. 'I am glad if thou art rejoiced, chela.' - -Dignified and unsuspicious, he strode into the little tent, saluted -the Churches as a Churchman, and sat down by the open charcoal -brazier. The yellow lining of the tent reflected in the lamplight -made his face red-gold. - -Bennett looked at him with the triple-ringed uninterest of the -creed that lumps nine-tenths of the world under the title of -'heathen'. - -'And what was the end of the Search? What gift has the Red Bull -brought?' The lama addressed himself to Kim. - -'He says, "What are you going to do?"' Bennett was staring uneasily -at Father Victor, and Kim, for his own ends, took upon himself the -office of interpreter. - -'I do not see what concern this fakir has with the boy, who is -probably his dupe or his confederate,' Bennett began. 'We cannot -allow an English boy - Assuming that he is the son of a Mason, the -sooner he goes to the Masonic Orphanage the better.' - -'Ah! That's your opinion as Secretary to the Regimental Lodge,' -said Father Victor; 'but we might as well tell the old man what we -are going to do. He doesn't look like a villain.' - -'My experience is that one can never fathom the Oriental mind. Now, -Kimball, I wish you to tell this man what I say word for word.' - -Kim gathered the import of the next few sentences and began thus: - -'Holy One, the thin fool who looks like a camel says that I am the -son of a Sahib.' - -'But how?' - -'Oh, it is true. I knew it since my birth, but he could only find -it out by rending the amulet from my neck and reading all the -papers. He thinks that once a Sahib is always a Sahib, and between -the two of them they purpose to keep me in this Regiment or to send -me to a madrissah [a school]. It has happened before. I have always -avoided it. The fat fool is of one mind and the camel-like one of -another. But that is no odds. I may spend one night here and -perhaps the next. It has happened before. Then I will run away and -return to thee.' - -'But tell them that thou art my chela. Tell them how thou didst -come to me when I was faint and bewildered. Tell them of our -Search, and they will surely let thee go now.' - -'I have already told them. They laugh, and they talk of the -police.' - -'What are you saying?' asked Mr Bennett. - -'Oah. He only says that if you do not let me go it will stop him in -his business - his ur-gent private af-fairs.' This last was a -reminiscence of some talk with a Eurasian clerk in the Canal -Department, but it only drew a smile, which nettled him. 'And if -you did know what his business was you would not be in such a -beastly hurry to interfere.' - -'What is it then?' said Father Victor, not without feeling, as he -watched the lama's face. - -'There is a River in this country which he wishes to find so verree -much. It was put out by an Arrow which -'Kim tapped his foot -impatiently as he translated in his own mind from the vernacular to -his clumsy English. 'Oah, it was made by our Lord God Buddha, you -know, and if you wash there you are washed away from all your sins -and made as white as cotton-wool.' (Kim had heard mission-talk in -his time.) 'I am his disciple, and we must find that River. It is -so verree valuable to us.' - -'Say that again,' said Bennett. Kim obeyed, with amplifications. - -'But this is gross blasphemy!' cried the Church of England. - -'Tck! Tck!' said Father Victor sympathetically. 'I'd give a good -deal to be able to talk the vernacular. A river that washes away -sin! And how long have you two been looking for it?' - -'Oh, many days. Now we wish to go away and look for it again. It is -not here, you see.' - -'I see,' said Father Victor gravely. 'But he can't go on in that -old man's company. It would be different, Kim, if you were not a -soldier's son. Tell him that the Regiment will take care of you and -make you as good a man as your - as good a man as can be. Tell him -that if he believes in miracles he must believe that -' - -'There is no need to play on his credulity,' Bennett interrupted. - -'I'm doing no such thing. He must believe that the boy's coming -here -to his own Regiment - in search of his Red Bull is in the -nature of a miracle. Consider the chances against it, Bennett. This -one boy in all India, and our Regiment of all others on the line o' -march for him to meet with! It's predestined on the face of it. -Yes, tell him it's Kismet. Kismet, mallum? [Do you understand?]' - -He turned towards the lama, to whom he might as well have talked of -Mesopotamia. - -'They say,' - the old man's eye lighted at Kim's speech 'they say -that the meaning of my horoscope is now accomplished, and that -being led back - though as thou knowest I went out of curiosity - -to these people and their Red Bull I must needs go to a madrissah -and be turned into a Sahib. Now I make pretence of agreement, for -at the worst it will be but a few meals eaten away from thee. Then -I will slip away and follow down the road to Saharunpore. -Therefore, Holy One, keep with that Kulu woman - on no account -stray far from her cart till I come again. Past question, my sign -is of War and of armed men. See how they have given me wine to -drink and set me upon a bed of honour! My father must have been -some great person. So if they raise me to honour among them, good. -If not, good again. However it goes, I will run back to thee when I -am tired. But stay with the Rajputni, or I shall miss thy feet ... -Oah yess,' said the boy, 'I have told him everything you tell me to -say.' - -'And I cannot see any need why he should wait,' said Bennett, -feeling in his trouser-pocket. 'We can investigate the details -later - and I will give him a ru -' - -'Give him time. Maybe he's fond of the lad,' said Father Victor, -half arresting the clergyman's motion. - -The lama dragged forth his rosary and pulled his huge hat-brim over -his eyes. - -'What can he want now?' - -'He says' - Kim put up one hand. 'He says: Be quiett.' He wants to -speak to me by himself You see, you do not know one little word of -what he says, and I think if you talk he will perhaps give you very -bad curses. When he takes those beads like that, you see, he always -wants to be quiett.' - -The two Englishmen sat overwhelmed, but there was a look in -Bennett's eye that promised ill for Kim when he should be relaxed -to the religious arm. - -'A Sahib and the son of a Sahib -' The lama's voice was harsh with -pain. 'But no white man knows the land and the customs of the land -as thou knowest. How comes it this is true?' - -'What matter, Holy One? - but remember it is only for a night or -two. Remember, I can change swiftly. It will all be as it was when -I first spoke to thee under Zam-Zammah the great gun -' - -'As a boy in the dress of white men - when I first went to the -Wonder House. And a second time thou wast a Hindu. What shall the -third incarnation be?' He chuckled drearily. 'Ah, chela, thou has -done a wrong to an old man because my heart went out to thee.' - -'And mine to thee. But how could I know that the Red Bull would -bring me to this business?' - -The lama covered his face afresh, and nervously rattled the rosary. -Kim squatted beside him and laid hold upon a fold of his clothing. - -'Now it is understood that the boy is a Sahib?' he went on in a -muffled tone. 'Such a Sahib as was he who kept the images in the -Wonder House.' The lama's experience of white men was limited. He -seemed to be repeating a lesson. 'So then it is not seemly that he -should do other than as the Sahibs do. He must go back to his own -people.' - -'For a day and a night and a day,' Kim pleaded. - -'No, ye don't!' Father Victor saw Kim edging towards the door, and -interposed a strong leg. - -'I do not understand the customs of white men. The Priest of the -Images in the Wonder House in Lahore was more courteous than the -thin one here. This boy will be taken from me. They will make a -Sahib of my disciple? Woe to me! How shall I find my River? Have -they no disciples? Ask.' - -'He says he is very sorree that he cannot find the River now any -more. He says, Why have you no disciples, and stop bothering him? -He wants to be washed of his sins.' - -Neither Bennett nor Father Victor found any answer ready. - -Said Kim in English, distressed for the lama's agony: 'I think if -you will let me go now we will walk away quietly and not steal. We -will look for that River like before I was caught. I wish I did not -come here to find the Red Bull and all that sort of thing. I do not -want it.' - -'It's the very best day's work you ever did for yourself, young -man,' said Bennett. - -'Good heavens, I don't know how to console him,' said Father -Victor, watching the lama intently. 'He can't take the boy away -with him, and yet he's a good man - I'm sure he's a good man. -Bennett, if you give him that rupee he'll curse you root and -branch!' - -They listened to each other's breathing - three - five full -minutes. Then the lama raised his head, and looked forth across -them into space and emptiness. - -'And I am a Follower of the Way,' he said bitterly. 'The sin is -mine and the punishment is mine. I made believe to myself for now I -see it was but make-belief - that thou wast sent to me to aid in -the Search. So my heart went out to thee for thy charity and thy -courtesy and the wisdom of thy little years. But those who follow -the Way must permit not the fire of any desire or attachment, for -that is all Illusion. As says . . .' He quoted an old, old Chinese -text, backed it with another, and reinforced these with a third. 'I -stepped aside from the Way, my chela. It was no fault of thine. I -delighted in the sight of life, the new people upon the roads, and -in thy joy at seeing these things. I was pleased with thee who -should have considered my Search and my Search alone. Now I am -sorrowful because thou art taken away and my River is far from me. -It is the Law which I have broken!' - -'Powers of Darkness below!' said Father Victor, who, wise in the -confessional, heard the pain in every sentence. - -'I see now that the sign of the Red Bull was a sign for me as well -as for thee. All Desire is red - and evil. I will do penance and -find my River alone.' - -'At least go back to the Kulu woman,' said Kim, 'otherwise thou -wilt be lost upon the roads. She will feed thee till I run back to -thee.' - -The lama waved a hand to show that the matter was finally settled -in his mind. - -'Now,' - his tone altered as he turned to Kim, - 'what will they do -with thee? At least I may, acquiring merit, wipe out past ill.' - -'Make me a Sahib - so they think. The day after tomorrow I return. -Do not grieve.' - -'Of what sort? Such an one as this or that man?' He pointed to -Father Victor. 'Such an one as those I saw this evening men wearing -swords and stamping heavily?' - -'Maybe.' - -'That is not well. These men follow desire and come to emptiness. -Thou must not be of their sort.' - -'The Umballa priest said that my Star was War,' Kim interjected. 'I -will ask these fools - but there is truly no need. I will run away -this night, for all I wanted to see the new things.' - -Kim put two or three questions in English to Father Victor, -translating the replies to the lama. - -Then: 'He says, "You take him from me and you cannot say what you -will make him." He says, "Tell me before I go, for it is not a -small thing to make a child."' - -'You will be sent to a school. Later on, we shall see. Kimball, I -suppose you'd like to be a soldier?' - -'Gorah-log [white-folk]. No-ah! No-ah!' Kim shook his head -violently. There was nothing in his composition to which drill and -routine appealed. 'I will not be a soldier.' - -'You will be what you're told to be,' said Bennett; 'and you should -be grateful that we're going to help you.' - - -Kim smiled compassionately. If these men lay under the delusion -that he would do anything that he did not fancy, so much the -better. - -Another long silence followed. Bennett fidgeted with impatience, -and suggested calling a sentry to evict the fakir. - -'Do they give or sell learning among the Sahibs? Ask them,' said -the lama, and Kim interpreted. - -'They say that money is paid to the teacher - but that money the -Regiment will give ... What need? It is only for a night.' - -'And - the more money is paid the better learning is given?' The -lama disregarded Kim's plans for an early flight. 'It is no wrong -to pay for learning. To help the ignorant to wisdom is always a -merit.' The rosary clicked furiously as an abacus. Then he faced -his oppressors. - -'Ask them for how much money do they give a wise and suitable -teaching? And in what city is that teaching given?' - -'Well,'said Father Victor in English, when Kim had translated, -'that depends. The Regiment would pay for you all the time you are -at the Military Orphanage; or you might go on the Punjab Masonic -Orphanage's list (not that he or you 'ud understand what that -means); but the best schooling a boy can get in India is, of -course, at St Xavier's in Partibus at Lucknow.' This took some time -to interpret, for Bennett wished to cut it short. - -'He wants to know how much?' said Kim placidly. - -'Two or three hundred rupees a year.' Father Victor was long past -any sense of amazement. Bennett, impatient, did not understand. - -'He says: "Write that name and the money upon a paper and give it -him." And he says you must write your name below, because he is -going to write a letter in some days to you. He says you are a good -man. He says the other man is a fool. He is going away.' - -The lama rose suddenly. 'I follow my Search,' he cried, and was -gone. - -'He'll run slap into the sentries,' cried Father Victor, jumping up -as the lama stalked out; 'but I can't leave the boy.' Kim made -swift motion to follow, but checked himself. There was no sound of -challenge outside. The lama had disappeared. - -Kim settled himself composedly on the Chaplain's cot. At least the -lama had promised that he would stay with the Raiput woman from -Kulu, and the rest was of the smallest importance. It pleased him -that the two padres were so evidently excited. They talked long in -undertones, Father Victor urging some scheme on Mr Bennett, who -seemed incredulous. All this was very new and fascinating, but Kim -felt sleepy. They called men into the tent - one of them certainly -was the Colonel, as his father had prophesied - and they asked him -an infinity of questions, chiefly about the woman who looked after -him, all of which Kim answered truthfully. They did not seem to -think the woman a good guardian. - -After all, this was the newest of his experiences. Sooner or later, -if he chose, he could escape into great, grey, formless India, -beyond tents and padres and colonels. Meantime, if the Sahibs were -to be impressed, he would do his best to impress them. He too was a -white man. - -After much talk that he could not comprehend, they handed him over -to a sergeant, who had strict instructions not to let him escape. -The Regiment would go on to Umballa, and Kim would be sent up, -partly at the expense of the Lodge and in part by subscription, to -a place called Sanawar. - -'It's miraculous past all whooping, Colonel,' said Father Victor, -when he had talked without a break for ten minutes. 'His Buddhist -friend has levanted after taking my name and address. I can't quite -make out whether he'll pay for the boy's education or whether he is -preparing some sort of witchcraft on his own account.' Then to Kim: -'You'll live to be grateful to your friend the Red Bull yet. We'll -make a man of you at Sanawar - even at the price o' making you a -Protestant.' - -'Certainly - most certainly,' said Bennett. - -'But you will not go to Sanawar,' said Kim. - -'But we will go to Sanawar, little man. That's the order of the -Commander-in-Chief, who's a trifle more important than O'Hara's -son.' - -'You will not go to Sanawar. You will go to thee War.' - -There was a shout of laughter from the full tent. - -'When you know your own Regiment a trifle better you won't confuse -the line of march with line of battle, Kim. We hope to go to "thee -War" sometime.' - -'Oah, I know all thatt.' Kim drew his bow again at a venture. If -they were not going to the war, at least they did not know what he -knew of the talk in the veranda at Umballa. - -'I know you are not at thee war now; but I tell you that as soon as -you get to Umballa you will be sent to the war - the new war. It is -a war of eight thousand men, besides the guns.' - -'That's explicit. D'you add prophecy to your other gifts? Take him -along, sergeant. Take up a suit for him from the Drums, an' take -care he doesn't slip through your fingers. Who says the age of -miracles is gone by? I think I'll go to bed. My poor mind's -weakening.' - -At the far end of the camp, silent as a wild animal, an hour later -sat Kim, newly washed all over, in a horrible stuff suit that -rasped his arms and legs. - -'A most amazin' young bird,' said the sergeant. 'He turns up in -charge of a yellow-headed buck-Brahmin priest, with his father's -Lodge certificates round his neck, talkin' God knows what all of a -red bull. The buck-Brahmin evaporates without explanations, an' the -bhoy sets cross-legged on the Chaplain's bed prophesyin' bloody war -to the men at large. Injia's a wild land for a God-fearin' man. -I'll just tie his leg to the tent-pole in case he'll go through the -roof What did ye say about the war?' - -'Eight thousand men, besides guns,' said Kim. 'Very soon you will -see.' - -'You're a consolin' little imp. Lie down between the Drums an' go -to bye-bye. Those two boys will watch your slumbers.' - - - - - - Chapter 6 - - -Now I remember comrades - -Old playmates on new seas - -Whenas we traded orpiment -Among the savages. -Ten thousand leagues to southward, -And thirty years removed - -They knew not noble Valdez, -But me they knew and loved. - -Song of Diego Valdez. - - -Very early in the morning the white tents came down and disappeared -as the Mavericks took a side-road to Umballa. It did not skirt the -resting-place, and Kim, trudging beside a baggage-cart under fire -of comments from soldiers' wives, was not so confident as -overnight. He discovered that he was closely watched - Father -Victor on the one side, and Mr Bennett on the other. - -In the forenoon the column checked. A camel-orderly handed the -Colonel a letter. He read it, and spoke to a Major. Half a mile in -the rear, Kim heard a hoarse and joyful clamour rolling down on him -through the thick dust. Then someone beat him on the back, crying: -'Tell us how ye knew, ye little limb of Satan? Father dear, see if -ye can make him tell.' - -A pony ranged alongside, and he was hauled on to the priest's -saddlebow. - -'Now, my son, your prophecy of last night has come true. Our orders -are to entrain at Umballa for the Front tomorrow.' - -'What is thatt?' said Kim, for 'front' and 'entrain' were newish -words to him. - -'We are going to "thee War," as you called it.' - -'Of course you are going to thee War. I said last night.' - -'Ye did; but, Powers o' Darkness, how did ye know?' - -Kim's eyes sparkled. He shut his lips, nodded his head, and looked -unspeakable things. The Chaplain moved on through the dust, and -privates, sergeants, and subalterns called one another's attention -to the boy. The Colonel, at the head of the column, stared at him -curiously. 'It was probably some bazar rumour.' he said; 'but even -then -' He referred to the paper in his hand. 'Hang it all, the -thing was only decided within the last forty-eight hours.' - -Are there many more like you in India?' said Father Victor, 'or are -you by way o' being a lusus naturae?' - -'Now I have told you,' said the boy, 'will you let me go back to my -old man? If he has not stayed with that woman from Kulu, I am -afraid he will die.' - -'By what I saw of him he's as well able to take care of himself as -you. No. Ye've brought us luck, an' we're goin' to make a man of -you. I'll take ye back to your baggage-cart and ye'll come to me -this evening.' - -For the rest of the day Kim found himself an object of -distinguished consideration among a few hundred white men. The -story of his appearance in camp, the discovery of his parentage, -and his prophecy, had lost nothing in the telling. A big, shapeless -white woman on a pile of bedding asked him mysteriously whether he -thought her husband would come back from the war. Kim reflected -gravely, and said that he would, and the woman gave him food. In -many respects, this big procession that played music at intervals - -this crowd that talked and laughed so easily - resembled a festival -in Lahore city. So far, there was no sign of hard work, and he -resolved to lend the spectacle his patronage. At evening there came -out to meet them bands of music, and played the Mavericks into camp -near Umballa railway station. That was an interesting night. Men of -other regiments came to visit the Mavericks. The Mavericks went -visiting on their own account. Their pickets hurried forth to bring -them back, met pickets of strange regiments on the same duty; and, -after a while, the bugles blew madly for more pickets with officers -to control the tumult. The Mavericks had a reputation for -liveliness to live up to. But they fell in on the platform next -morning in perfect shape and condition; and Kim, left behind with -the sick, women, and boys, found himself shouting farewells -excitedly as the trains drew away. Life as a Sahib was amusing so -far; but he touched it with a cautious hand. Then they marched him -back in charge of a drummer-boy to empty, lime-washed barracks, -whose floors were covered with rubbish and string and paper, and -whose ceilings gave back his lonely footfall. Native-fashion, he -curled himself up on a stripped cot and went to sleep. An angry man -stumped down the veranda, woke him up, and said he was a -schoolmaster. This was enough for Kim, and he retired into his -shell. He could just puzzle out the various English Police notices -in Lahore city, because they affected his comfort; and among the -many guests of the woman who looked after him had been a queer -German who painted scenery for the Parsee travelling theatre. He -told Kim that he had been 'on the barricades in 'Forty-eight,' and -therefore - at least that was how it struck Kim - he would teach -the boy to write in return for food. Kim had been kicked as far as -single letters, but did not think well of them. - -'I do not know anything. Go away!' said Kim, scenting evil. -Hereupon the man caught him by the ear, dragged him to a room in a -far-off wing where a dozen drummer-boys were sitting on forms, and -told him to be still if he could do nothing else. This he managed -very successfully. The man explained something or other with white -lines on a black board for at least half an hour, and Kim continued -his interrupted nap. He much disapproved of the present aspect of -affairs, for this was the very school and discipline he had spent -two-thirds of his young life in avoiding. Suddenly a beautiful idea -occurred to him, and he wondered that he had not thought of it -before. - -The man dismissed them, and first to spring through the veranda -into the open sunshine was Kim. - -' 'Ere, you! 'Alt! Stop!' said a high voice at his heels. 'I've got -to look after you. My orders are not to let you out of my sight. -Where are you goin'?' - -It was the drummer-boy who had been hanging round him all the -forenoon - a fat and freckled person of about fourteen, and Kim -loathed him from the soles of his boots to his cap-ribbons. - -'To the bazar - to get sweets - for you,' said Kim, after thought. - -'Well, the bazar's out o' bounds. If we go there we'll get a -dressing-down. You come back.' - -'How near can we go?' Kim did not know what bounds meant, but he -wished to be polite - for the present. - -' 'Ow near? 'Ow far, you mean! We can go as far as that tree down -the road.' - -'Then I will go there.' - -'All right. I ain't goin'. It's too 'ot. I can watch you from 'ere. -It's no good your runnin' away. If you did, they'd spot you by your -clothes. That's regimental stuff you're wearin'. There ain't a -picket in Umballa wouldn't 'ead you back quicker than you started -out.' - -This did not impress Kim as much as the knowledge that his raiment -would tire him out if he tried to run. He slouched to the tree at -the corner of a bare road leading towards the bazar, and eyed the -natives passing. Most of them were barrack-servants of the lowest -caste. Kim hailed a sweeper, who promptly retorted with a piece of -unnecessary insolence, in the natural belief that the European boy -could not follow it. The low, quick answer undeceived him. Kim put -his fettered soul into it, thankful for the late chance to abuse -somebody in the tongue he knew best. 'And now, go to the nearest -letter-writer in the bazar and tell him to come here. I would write -a letter.' - -'But - but what manner of white man's son art thou to need a bazar -letter-writer? Is there not a schoolmaster in the barracks?' - -'Ay; and Hell is full of the same sort. Do my order, you - you Od! -Thy mother was married under a basket! Servant of Lal Beg' (Kim -knew the God of the sweepers), 'run on my business or we will talk -again.' - -The sweeper shuffled off in haste. 'There is a white boy by the -barracks waiting under a tree who is not a white boy,' he stammered -to the first bazar letter-writer he came across. 'He needs thee.' - -'Will he pay?' said the spruce scribe, gathering up his desk -and pens and sealing-wax all in order. - -'I do not know. He is not like other boys. Go and see. It is -well worth.' - -Kim danced with impatience when the slim young Kayeth hove in -sight. As soon as his voice could carry he cursed him volubly. - -'First I will take my pay,' the letter-writer said. 'Bad words have -made the price higher. But who art thou, dressed in that fashion, -to speak in this fashion?' - -'Aha! That is in the letter which thou shalt write. Never was such -a tale. But I am in no haste. Another writer will serve me. Umballa -city is as full of them as is Lahore.' - -'Four annas,' said the writer, sitting down and spreading his cloth -in the shade of a deserted barrack-wing. - -Mechanically Kim squatted beside him squatted as only the natives -can - in spite of the abominable clinging trousers. - -The writer regarded him sideways. - -'That is the price to ask of Sahibs,' said Kim. 'Now fix me a true -one.' - -'An anna and a half. How do I know, having written the letter, that -thou wilt not run away?' - -I must not go beyond this tree, and there is also the stamp to be -considered.' - -'I get no commission on the price of the stamp. Once more, what -manner of white boy art thou?' - -'That shall be said in the letter, which is to Mahbub Ali, the -horse-dealer in the Kashmir Serai, at Lahore. He is my friend.' - -'Wonder on wonder!' murmured the letter-writer, dipping a reed in -the inkstand. 'To be written in Hindi?' - -'Assuredly. To Mahbub Ali then. Begin! I have come down with the -old man as far as Umballa in the train. At Umballa I carried the -news of the bay mare's pedigree.' After what he had seen in the -garden, he was not going to write of white stallions. - -'Slower a little. What has a bay mare to do . . . Is it Mahbub Ali, -the great dealer?' - -'Who else? I have been in his service. Take more ink. Again. As the -order was, so I did it. We then went on foot towards Benares, but -on the third day we found a certain regiment. Is that down?' - -'Ay, pulton,''' murmured the writer, all ears. - -'I went into their camp and was caught, and by means of the charm -about my neck, which thou kno west, it was established that I was -the son of some man in the regiment: according to the prophecy of -the Red Bull, which thou knowest was common talk of our bazar.' Kim -waited for this shaft to sink into the letter-writer's heart, -cleared his throat, and continued: 'A priest clothed me and gave me -a new name . . . One priest, however, was a fool. The clothes are -very heavy, but I am a Sahib and my heart is heavy too. They send -me to a school and beat me. I do not like the air and water here. -Come then and help me, Mahbub Ali, or send me some money, for I -have not sufficient to pay the writer who writes this. - -' "Who writes this." It is my own fault that I was tricked. Thou -art as clever as Husain Bux that forged the Treasury stamps at -Nucklao. But what a tale! What a tale! Is it true by any chance?' - -'It does not profit to tell lies to Mahbub Ali. It is better to -help his friends by lending them a stamp. When the money comes I -will repay.' - -The writer grunted doubtfully, but took a stamp out of his desk, -sealed the letter, handed it over to Kim, and departed. Mahbub -Ali's was a name of power in Umballa. - -'That is the way to win a good account with the Gods,' Kim shouted -after him. - -'Pay me twice over when the money comes,' the man cried over his -shoulder. - -'What was you bukkin' to that nigger about?' said the drummer-boy -when Kim returned to the veranda. 'I was watch-in' you.' - -'I was only talkin' to him.' - -'You talk the same as a nigger, don't you?' - -'No-ah! No-ah! I onlee speak a little. What shall we do now?' - -'The bugles'll go for dinner in arf a minute. My Gawd! I wish I'd -gone up to the Front with the Regiment. It's awful doin' nothin' -but school down 'ere. Don't you 'ate it?' - -'Oah yess!' - -I'd run away if I knew where to go to, but, as the men say, in this -bloomin' Injia you're only a prisoner at large. You can't desert -without bein' took back at once. I'm fair sick of it.' - -'You have been in Be - England?' - -'W'y, I only come out last troopin' season with my mother. I should -think I 'ave been in England. What a ignorant little beggar you -are! You was brought up in the gutter, wasn't you?' - -'Oah yess. Tell me something about England. My father he came from -there.' - -Though he would not say so, Kim of course disbelieved every word -the drummer-boy spoke about the Liverpool suburb which was his -England. It passed the heavy time till dinner - a most unappetizing -meal served to the boys and a few invalids in a corner of a -barrack-room. But that he had written to Mahbub Ali, Kim would have -been almost depressed. The indifference of native crowds he was -used to; but this strong loneliness among white men preyed on him. -He was grateful when, in the course of the afternoon, a big soldier -took him over to Father Victor, who lived in another wing across -another dusty parade-ground. The priest was reading an English -letter written in purple ink. He looked at Kim more curiously than -ever. - -'An' how do you like it, my son, as far as you've gone? Not much, -eh? It must be hard - very hard on a wild animal. Listen now. I've -an amazin' epistle from your friend.' - -'Where is he? Is he well? Oah! If he knows to write me letters, it -is all right.' - -'You're fond of him then?' - -'Of course I am fond of him. He was fond of me.' - -'It seems so by the look of this. He can't write English, can he?' - -'Oah no. Not that I know, but of course he found a letter-writer -who can write English verree well, and so he wrote. I do hope you -understand.' - -'That accounts for it. D'you know anything about his money -affairs?' Kim's face showed that he did not. - -'How can I tell?' - -'That's what I'm askin'. Now listen if you can make head or tail o' -this. We'll skip the first part . . . It's written from Jagadhir -Road . . . "Sitting on wayside in grave meditation, trusting to be -favoured with your Honour's applause of present step, which -recommend your Honour to execute for Almighty God's sake. Education -is greatest blessing if of best sorts. Otherwise no earthly use." -Faith, the old man's hit the bull's-eye that time! "If your Honour -condescending giving my boy best educations Xavier" (I suppose -that's St Xavier's in Partibus) "in terms of our conversation dated -in your tent 15th instant" (a business-like touch there!) "then -Almighty God blessing your Honour's succeedings to third an' fourth -generation and" - now listen! -"confide in your Honour's humble -servant for adequate remuneration per hoondi per annum three -hundred rupees a year to one expensive education St Xavier, -Lucknow, and allow small time to forward same per hoondi sent to -any part of India as your Honour shall address yourself This -servant of your Honour has presently no place to lay crown of his -head, but going to Benares by train on account of persecution of -old woman talking so much and unanxious residing Saharunpore in any -domestic capacity." Now what in the world does that mean?' - -'She has asked him to be her puro - her clergyman - at Saharunpore, -I think. He would not do that on account of his River. She did -talk.' - -'It's clear to you, is it? It beats me altogether. "So going to -Benares, where will find address and forward rupees for boy who is -apple of eye, and for Almighty God's sake execute this education, -and your petitioner as in duty bound shall ever awfully pray. -Written by Sobrao Satai, Failed Entrance Allahabad University, for -Venerable Teshoo Lama the priest of Such-zen looking for a River, -address care of Tirthankars' Temple, Benares. P. M. -Please note -boy is apple of eye, and rupees shall be sent per hoondi three -hundred per annum. For God Almighty's sake." Now, is that ravin' -lunacy or a business proposition? I ask you, because I'm fairly at -my wits' end.' - -'He says he will give me three hundred rupees a year? So he will -give me them.' - -'Oh, that's the way you look at it, is it?' - -'Of course. If he says so!' - -The priest whistled; then he addressed Kim as an equal.'I don't -believe it; but we'll see. You were goin' off today to the -Military Orphanage at Sanawar, where the Regiment would keep you -till you were old enough to enlist. Ye'd be brought up to the -Church of England. Bennett arranged for that. On the other hand, if -ye go to St Xavier's ye'll get a better education an - an can have -the religion. D'ye see my dilemma? Kim saw nothing save a vision -of the lama going south in a train with none to beg for him. - -'Like most people, I'm going to temporize. If your friend sends the -money from Benares - Powers of Darkness below, where's a street- -beggar to raise three hundred rupees? - ye'll go down to Lucknow -and I'll pay your fare, because I can't touch the subscription- -money if I intend, as I do, to make ye a Catholic. If he doesn't, -ye'll go to the Military Orphanage at the Regiment's expense. I'll -allow him three days' grace, though I don't believe it at all. Even -then, if he fails in his payments later on . . . but it's beyond -me. We can only walk one step at a time in this world, praise God! -An' they sent Bennett to the Front an' left me behind. Bennett -can't expect everything.' - -'Oah yess,' said Kim vaguely. - -The priest leaned forward. 'I'd give a month's pay to find what's -goin' on inside that little round head of yours.' - -'There is nothing,' said Kim, and scratched it. He was wondering -whether Mahbub Ali would send him as much as a whole rupee. Then he -could pay the letter-writer and write letters to the lama at -Benares. Perhaps Mahbub Ali would visit him next time he came south -with horses. Surely he must know that Kim's delivery of the letter -to the officer at Umballa had caused the great war which the men -and boys had discussed so loudly over the barrack dinner-tables. -But if Mahbub Ali did not know this, it would be very unsafe to -tell him so. Mahbub Ali was hard upon boys who knew, or thought -they knew, too much. - -'Well, till I get further news' - Father Victor's voice interrupted -the reverie. 'Ye can run along now and play with the other boys. -They'll teach ye something - but I don't think ye'll like it.' - -The day dragged to its weary end. When he wished to sleep he was -instructed how to fold up his clothes and set out his boots; the -other boys deriding. Bugles waked him in the dawn; the schoolmaster -caught him after breakfast, thrust a page of meaningless characters -under his nose, gave them senseless names and whacked him without -reason. Kim meditated poisoning him with opium borrowed from a -barrack-sweeper, but reflected that, as they all ate at one table -in public (this was peculiarly revolting to Kim, who preferred to -turn his back on the world at meals), the stroke might be dangerous. -Then he attempted running off to the village where the priest had tried -to drug the lama--the village where the old soldier lived. But far-seeing -sentries at every exit headed back the little scarlet figure. -Trousers and jacket crippled body and mind alike dangerous. Then he -attempted running off to the village where the priest had tried to, -so he abandoned the project and fell back, Oriental-fashion, on -time and chance. Three days of torment passed in the big, echoing -white rooms. He walked out of affernoons under escort of the -drummer-boy, and all he heard from his companions were the few -useless words which seemed to make two-thirds of the white man's -abuse. Kim knew and despised them all long ago. The boy resented -his silence and lack of interest by beating him, as was only -natural. He did not care for any of the bazars which were in -bounds. He styled all natives 'niggers'; yet servants and sweepers -called him abominable names to his face, and, misled by their -deferential attitude, he never understood. This somewhat consoled -Kim for the beatings. - -On the morning of the fourth day a judgement overtook that drummer. -They had gone out together towards Umballa racecourse. He returned -alone, weeping, with news that young O'Hara, to whom he had been -doing nothing in particular, had hailed a scarlet-bearded nigger on -horseback; that the nigger had then and there laid into him with a -peculiarly adhesive quirt, picked up young O'Hara, and borne him -off at full gallop. These tidings came to Father Victor, and he -drew down his long upper lip. He was already sufficiently startled -by a letter from the Temple of the Tirthankars at Benares, -enclosing a native banker's note of hand for three hundred rupees, -and an amazing prayer to 'Almighty God'. The lama would have been -more annoyed than the priest had he known how the bazar letter- -writer had translated his phrase 'to acquire merit - -'Powers of Darkness below!' Father Victor fumbled with the note. -'An' now he's off with another of his peep-o'-day friends. I don't -know whether it will be a greater relief to me to get him back or -to have him lost. He's beyond my comprehension. How the Divil - -yes, he's the man I mean -can a street-beggar raise money to -educate white boys?' - -Three miles off, on Umballa racecourse, Mahbub Ali, reining a grey -Kabuli stallion with Kim in front of him, was saying: - -'But, Little Friend of all the World, there is my honour and -reputation to be considered. All the officer-Sahibs in all the -regiments, and all Umballa, know Mahbub Ali. Men saw me pick thee -up and chastise that boy. We are seen now from far across this -plain. How can I take thee away, or account for thy disappearing if -I set thee down and let thee run off into the crops? They would put -me in jail. Be patient. Once a Sahib, always a Sahib. When thou art -a man - who knows? - thou wilt be grateful to Mahbub Ali.' - -'Take me beyond their sentries where I can change this red. Give me -money and I will go to Benares and be with my lama again. I do not -want to be a Sahib, and remember I did deliver that message.' - -The stallion bounded wildly. Mahbub Ali had incautiously driven -home the sharp-edged stirrup. (He was not the new sort of fluent -horse-dealer who wears English boots and spurs.) Kim drew his own -conclusions from that betrayal. - -'That was a small matter. It lay on the straight road to Benares. I -and the Sahib have by this time forgotten it. I send so many -letters and messages to men who ask questions about horses, I -cannot well remember one from the other. Was it some matter of a -bay mare that Peters Sahib wished the pedigree of?' - -Kim saw the trap at once. If he had said 'bay mare' Mahbub would -have known by his very readiness to fall in with the amendment that -the boy suspected something. Kim replied therefore: - -'Bay mare. No. I do not forget my messages thus. It was a white -stallion.' - -'Ay, so it was. A white Arab stallion. But thou didst write "bay -mare" to me.' - -'Who cares to tell truth to a letter-writer?' Kim answered, feeling -Mahbub's palm on his heart. - -'Hi! Mahbub, you old villain, pull up!' cried a voice, and an -Englishman raced alongside on a little polo-pony. 'I've been -chasing you half over the country. That Kabuli of yours can go. For -sale, I suppose?' - -'I have some young stuff coming on made by Heaven for the delicate -and difficult polo-game. He has no equal. He - ' - - 'Plays polo and waits at table. Yes. We know all that. What the -deuce have you got there?' - -'A. boy,' said Mahbub gravely. 'He was being beaten by another boy. -His father was once a white soldier in the big war. The boy was a -child in Lahore city. He played with my horses when he was a babe. -Now I think they will make him a soldier. He has been newly caught -by his father's Regiment that went up to the war last week. But I -do not think he wants to be a soldier. I take him for a ride. Tell -me where thy barracks are and I will set thee there.' - -'Let me go. I can find the barracks alone.' - -'And if thou runnest away who will say it is not my fault?' - -'He'll run back to his dinner. Where has he to run to?' the -Englishman asked. - -'He was born in the land. He has friends. He goes where he chooses. -He is a chabuk sawai [a sharp chap]. It needs only to change his -clothing, and in a twinkling he would be a low-caste Hindu boy.' - -'The deuce he would!' The Englishman looked critically at the boy -as Mahbub headed towards the barracks. Kim ground his teeth. Mahbub -was mocking him, as faithless Afghans will; for he went on: - -'They will send him to a school and put heavy boots on his feet and -swaddle him in these clothes. Then he will forget all he knows. -Now, which of the barracks is thine?' - -Kim pointed - he could not speak - to Father Victor's wing, all -staring white near by. - -'Perhaps he will make a good soldier,' said Mahbub reflectively. - -'He will make a good orderly at least. I sent him to deliver a -message once from Lahore. A message concerning the pedigree of a -white stallion.' - -Here was deadly insult on deadlier injury - and the Sahib to whom -he had so craftily given that war-waking letter heard it all. Kim -beheld Mahbub Ali frying in flame for his treachery, but for -himself he saw one long grey vista of barracks, schools, and -barracks again. He gazed imploringly at the clear-cut face in which -there was no glimmer of recognition; but even at this extremity it -never occurred to him to throw himself on the white man's mercy or -to denounce the Afghan. And Mahbub stared deliberately at the -Englishman, who stared as deliberately at Kim, quivering and -tongue-tied. - -'My horse is well trained,' said the dealer. 'Others would have -kicked, Sahib.' - -'Ah,' said the Englishman at last, rubbing his pony's damp withers -with his whip-butt. 'Who makes the boy a soldier?' - -'He says the Regiment that found him, and especially the Padre- -sahib of that regiment. - -'There is the Padre!' Kim choked as bare-headed Father Victor -sailed down upon them from the veranda. - -'Powers O' Darkness below, O'Hara! How many more mixed friends do -you keep in Asia?' he cried, as Kim slid down and stood helplessly -before him. - -'Good morning, Padre,' the Englishman said cheerily. 'I know you by -reputation well enough. Meant to have come over and called before -this. I'm Creighton.' - -'Of the Ethnological Survey?' said Father Victor. The Englishman -nodded. 'Faith, I'm glad to meet ye then; an' I owe you some thanks -for bringing back the boy.' - -'No thanks to me, Padre. Besides, the boy wasn't going away. You -don't know old Mahbub Ali.' The horse-dealer sat impassive in the -sunlight. 'You will when you have been in the station a month. He -sells us all our crocks. That boy is rather a curiosity. Can you -tell me anything about him?' - -'Can I tell you?' puffed Father Victor. 'You'll be the one man that -could help me in my quandaries. Tell you! Powers o' Darkness, I'm -bursting to tell someone who knows something o' the native!' - -A groom came round the corner. Colonel Creighton raised his voice, -speaking in Urdu. 'Very good, Mahbub Ali, but what is the use of -telling me all those stories about the pony? Not one pice more than -three hundred and fifty rupees will I give.' - -'The Sahib is a little hot and angry after riding,' the horse- -dealer returned, with the leer of a privileged jester. 'Presently, -he will see my horse's points more clearly. I will wait till he has -finished his talk with the Padre. I will wait under that tree.' - -'Confound you!' The Colonel laughed. 'That comes of looking at one -of Mahbub's horses. He's a regular old leech, Padre. Wait, then, if -thou hast so much time to spare, Mahbub. Now I'm at your service, -Padre. Where is the boy? Oh, he's gone off to collogue with Mahbub. -Queer sort of boy. Might I ask you to send my mare round under -cover?' - -He dropped into a chair which commanded a clear view of Kim and -Mahbub Ali in conference beneath the tree. The Padre went indoors -for cheroots. - -Creighton heard Kim say bitterly: 'Trust a Brahmin before a snake, -and a snake before an harlot, and an harlot before a Pathan, Mahbub -Ali.' - -'That is all one.' The great red beard wagged solemnly. 'Children -should not see a carpet on the loom till the pattern is made plain. -Believe me, Friend of all the World, I do thee great service. They -will not make a soldier of thee.' - -'You crafty old sinner!' thought Creighton. 'But you're not far -wrong. That boy mustn't be wasted if he is as advertised.' - -'Excuse me half a minute,' cried the Padre from within, 'but I'm -gettin' the documents in the case. - -'If through me the favour of this bold and wise Colonel Sahib comes -to thee, and thou art raised to honour, what thanks wilt thou give -Mahbub Ali when thou art a man?' - -'Nay, nay! I begged thee to let me take the Road again, where I -should have been safe; and thou hast sold me back to the English. -What will they give thee for blood-money?' - -'A cheerful young demon!' The Colonel bit his cigar, and turned -politely to Father Victor. - -'What are the letters that the fat priest is waving before the -Colonel? Stand behind the stallion as though looking at my bridle!' -said Mahbub Ali. - -'A letter from my lama which he wrote from Jagadhir Road, saying -that he will pay three hundred rupees by the year for my -schooling.' - -'Oho! Is old Red Hat of that sort? At which school?' - -'God knows. I think in Nucklao.' - -'Yes. There is a big school there for the sons of Sahibs - and -half-Sahibs. I have seen it when I sell horses there. So the lama -also loved the Friend of all the World?' - -'Ay; and he did not tell lies, or return me to captivity.' - -'Small wonder the Padre does not know how to unravel the thread. -How fast he talks to the Colonel Sahib!' Mahbub Ali chuckled. 'By -Allah!' the keen eyes swept the veranda for an Instant - 'thy lama -has sent what to me looks like a note of hand. I have had some few -dealings in hoondis. The Colonel Sahib is looking at it.' - -'What good is all this to me?' said Kim wearily. 'Thou wilt go -away, and they will return me to those empty rooms where there is -no good place to sleep and where the boys beat me.' - -'I do not think that. Have patience, child. All Pathans are not -faithless - except in horseflesh.' - -Five - ten- fifteen minutes passed, Father Victor talking -energetically or asking questions which the Colonel answered. - -'Now I've told you everything that I know about the boy from -beginnin to end; and it's a blessed relief to me. Did ye ever hear -the like?' - -'At any rate, the old man has sent the money. Gobind Sahai's notes -of hand are good from here to China,' said the Colonel. 'The more -one knows about natives the less can one say what they will or -won't do.' - -'That's consolin' - from the head of the Ethnological Survey. It's -this mixture of Red Bulls and Rivers of Healing (poor heathen, God -help him!) an' notes of hand and Masonic certificates. Are you a -Mason, by any chance?' - -'By Jove, I am, now I come to think of it. That's an additional -reason,' said the Colonel absently. - - 'I'm glad ye see a reason in it. But as I said, it's the mixture -o' things that's beyond me. An' his prophesyin' to our Colonel, -sitting on my bed with his little shimmy torn open showing his -white skin; an' the prophecy comin' true! They'll cure all that -nonsense at St Xavier's, eh?' - -'Sprinkle him with holy water' the Colonel laughed. - -'On my word, I fancy I ought to sometimes. But I'm hoping he'll be -brought up as a good Catholic. All that troubles me is what'll -happen if the old beggar-man -' - -'Lama, lama, my dear sir; and some of them are gentlemen in their -own country - -'The lama, then, fails to pay next year. He's a fine business head -to plan on the spur of the moment, but he's bound to die some day. -An' takin' a heathen's money to give a child a Christian education --' - -'But he said explicitly what he wanted. As soon as he knew the boy -was white he seems to have made his arrangements accordingly. I'd -give a month's pay to hear how he explained it all at the -Tirthankars' Temple at Benares. Look here, Padre, I don't pretend -to know much about natives, but if he says he'll pay, he'll pay - -dead or alive. I mean, his heirs will assume the debt. My advice to -you is, send the boy down to Lucknow. If your Anglican Chaplain -thinks you've stolen a march on him -' - -Bad luck to Bennett! He was sent to the Front instead O' me. -Doughty certified me medically unfit. I'll excommunicate Doughty if -he comes back alive! Surely Bennett ought to be content with -, - -'Glory, leaving you the religion. Quite so! As a matter of fact I -don't think Bennett will mind. Put the blame on me. I - er - -strongly recommend sending the boy to St Xavier's. He can go down -on pass as a soldier's orphan, so the railway fare will be saved. -You can buy him an outfit from the Regimental subscription. The -Lodge will be saved the expense of his education, and that will put -the Lodge in a good temper. It's perfectly easy. I've got to go -down to Lucknow next week. I'll look after the boy on the way - -give him in charge of my servants, and so on.' - -'You're a good man. - -'Not in the least. Don't make that mistake. The lama has sent us -money for a definite end. We can't very well return it. We shall -have to do as he says. Well, that's settled, isn't it? Shall we say -that, Tuesday next, you'll hand him over to me at the night train -south? That's only three days. He can't do much harm in three -days.' - -'It's a weight off my mind, but - this thing here?' - he -waved the note of hand - 'I don't know Gobind Sahai: or his bank, -which may be a hole in a wall.' - -'You've never been a subaltern in debt. I'll cash it if you -like, and send you the vouchers in proper order.' - -'But with all your own work too! It's askin' -' - -'It's not the least trouble indeed. You see, as an -ethnologist, the thing's very interesting to me. I'd like to make a -note of it for some Government work that I'm doing. The -transformation of a regimental badge like your Red Bull into a sort -of fetish that the boy follows is very interesting.' - -'But I can't thank you enough.' - -'There's one thing you can do. All we Ethnological men are as -jealous as jackdaws of one another's discoveries. They're of no -interest to anyone but ourselves, of course, but you know what -book-collectors are like. Well, don't say a word, directly or -indirectly, about the Asiatic side of the boy's character - his -adventures and his prophecy, and so on. I'll worm them out of the -boy later on and - you see?' - -'I do. Ye'll make a wonderful account of it. Never a word will I -say to anyone till I see it in print.' - -'Thank you. That goes straight to an ethnologist's heart. Well, I -must be getting back to my breakfast. Good Heavens! Old Mabbub here -still?' He raised his voice, and the horse-dealer came out from -under the shadow of the tree, 'Well, what is it?' - -'As regards that young horse,' said Mahbub, 'I say that when a colt -is born to be a polo-pony, closely following the ball without -teaching - when such a colt knows the game by divination - then I -say it is a great wrong to break that colt to a heavy cart, Sahib!' - -'So say I also, Mahbub. The colt will be entered for polo only. -(These fellows think of nothing in the world but horses, Padre.) -I'll see you tomorrow, Mahbub, if you've anything likely for sale.' - -The dealer saluted, horseman-fashion, with a sweep of the off hand. -'Be patient a little, Friend of all the World,' he whispered to -the agonized Kim. 'Thy fortune is made. In a little while thou -goest to Nucklao, and - here is something to pay the letter-writer. -I shall see thee again, I think, many times,' and he cantered off -down the road. - -'Listen to me,' said the Colonel from the veranda, speaking in the -vernacular. 'In three days thou wilt go with me to Lucknow, seeing -and hearing new things all the while. Therefore sit still for three -days and do not run away. Thou wilt go to school at Lucknow.' - -'Shall I meet my Holy One there?' Kim whimpered. - -'At least Lucknow is nearer to Benares than Umballa. It may be thou -wilt go under my protection. Mahbub Ali knows this, and he will be -angry if thou returnest to the Road now. Remember - much has been -told me which I do not forget.' - -'I will wait,' said Kim, 'but the boys will beat me.' - -Then the bugles blew for dinner. - - - - - -Chapter 7 - - -Unto whose use the pregnant suns are poised -With idiot moons and stars retracing stars? -Creep thou betweene - thy coming's all unnoised. -Heaven hath her high, as Earth her baser, wars. -Heir to these tumults, this affright, that fraye -(By Adam's, fathers', own, sin bound alway); -Peer up, draw out thy horoscope and say -Which planet mends thy threadbare fate or mars? - -Sir John Christie. - - - -In the afternoon the red-faced schoolmaster told Kim that he had -been 'struck off the strength', which conveyed no meaning to him -till he was ordered to go away and play. Then he ran to the bazar, -and found the young letter-writer to whom he owed a stamp. - -'Now I pay,' said Kim royally, 'and now I need another letter to be -written.' - -'Mahbub Ali is in Umballa,' said the writer jauntily. He was, by -virtue of his office, a bureau of general misinformation. - -'This is not to Mahbub, but to a priest. Take thy pen and write -quickly. To Teshoo La ma, the Holy One from Bhotiyal seeking for a -River, who is now in the Temple of the Tirthankars at Benares. Take -more ink! In three days I am to go down to Nucklao to the school at -Nucklao. The name of the school is Xavier. I do not know where that -school is, but it is at Nucklao.' - -'But I know Nucklao,' the writer interrupted. 'I know the school.' - -'Tell him where it is, and I give half an anna.' - -The reed pen scratched busily. 'He cannot mistake.' The man lifted -his head. 'Who watches us across the street?' - -Kim looked up hurriedly and saw Colonel Creighton in tennis- -flannels. - -'Oh, that is some Sahib who knows the fat priest in the barracks. -He is beckoning me.' - -'What dost thou?' said the Colonel, when Kim trotted up. - -'I - I am not running away. I send a letter to my Holy One at -Benares.' - -'I had not thought of that. Hast thou said that I take thee to -Lucknow?' - -'Nay, I have not. Read the letter, if there be a doubt.' - -'Then why hast thou left out my name in writing to that Holy One?' -The Colonel smiled a queer smile. Kim took his courage in both -hands. - -'It was said once to me that it is inexpedient to write the names -of strangers concerned in any matter, because by the naming of -names many good plans are brought to confusion.' - -'Thou hast been well taught,' the Colonel replied, and Kim flushed. -'I have left my cheroot-case in the Padre's veranda. Bring it to my -house this even.' - -'Where is the house?' said Kim. His quick wit told him that he was -being tested in some fashion or another, and he stood on guard. - -'Ask anyone in the big bazar.' The Colonel walked on. - -'He has forgotten his cheroot-case,' said Kim, returning. 'I must -bring it to him this evening. That is all my letter except, thrice -over, Come to me! Come to me! Come to me! Now I will pay for a -stamp and put it in the post. He rose to go, and as an afterthought -asked: 'Who is that angry-faced Sahib who lost the cheroot-case?' - -'Oh, he is only Creighton Sahib - a very foolish Sahib, who is a -Colonel Sahib without a regiment.' - -'What is his business?' - -'God knows. He is always buying horses which he cannot ride, and -asking riddles about the works of God - such as plants and stones -and the customs of people. The dealers call him the father of -fools, because he is so easily cheated about a horse. Mahbub Ali -says he is madder than most other Sahibs.' - -'Oh!' said Kim, and departed. His training had given him some small -knowledge of character, and he argued that fools are not given -information which leads to calling out eight thousand men besides -guns. The Commander-in-Chief of all India does not talk, as Kim had -heard him talk, to fools. Nor would Mahbub Ali's tone have changed, -as it did every time he mentioned the Colonel's name, if the -Colonel had been a fool. Consequently - and this set Kim to -skipping - there was a mystery somewhere, and Mahbub Ali probably -spied for the Colonel much as Kim had spied for Mahbub. And, like -the horse-dealer, the Colonel evidently respected people who did -not show themselves to be too clever. - - -He rejoiced that he had not betrayed his knowledge of the Colonel's -house; and when, on his return to barracks, he discovered that no -cheroot-case had been left behind, he beamed with delight. Here was -a man after his own heart - a tortuous and indirect person playing -a hidden game. Well, if he could be a fool, so could Kim. - -He showed nothing of his mind when Father Victor, for three long -mornings, discoursed to him of an entirely new set of Gods and -Godlings - notably of a Goddess called Mary, who, he gathered, was -one with Bibi Miriam of Mahbub Ali's theology. He betrayed no -emotion when, after the lecture, Father Victor dragged him from -shop to shop buying articles of outfit, nor when envious drummer- -boys kicked him because he was going to a superior school did he -complain, but awaited the play of circumstances with an interested -soul. Father Victor, good man, took him to the station, put him -into an empty second-class next to Colonel Creighton's first, and -bade him farewell with genuine feeling. - -'They'll make a man o' you, O'Hara, at St Xavier's - a white man, -an', I hope, a good man. They know all about your comin', an' the -Colonel will see that ye're not lost or mislaid anywhere on the -road. I've given you a notion of religious matters, - at least I -hope so, - and you'll remember, when they ask you your religion, -that you're a Cath'lic. Better say Roman Cath'lic, tho' I'm not -fond of the word.' - -Kim lit a rank cigarette - he had been careful to buy a stock in -the bazar - and lay down to think. This solitary passage was verv -different from that joyful down-journey in the third-class with the -lama. 'Sahibs get little pleasure of travel,' he reflected. - -'Hai mai! I go from one place to another as it might be a kickball. -It is my Kismet. No man can escape his Kismet. But I am to pray to -Bibi Miriam, and I am a Sahib.' He looked at his boots ruefully. -'No; I am Kim. This is the great world, and I am only Kim. Who is -Kim?' He considered his own identity, a thing he had never done -before, till his head swam. He was one insignificant person in all -this roaring whirl of India, going southward to he knew not what -fate. - -Presently the Colonel sent for him, and talked for a long time. So -far as Kim could gather, he was to be diligent and enter the Survey -of India as a chain-man. If he were very good, and passed the -proper examinations, he would be earning thirty rupees a month at -seventeen years old, and Colonel Creighton would see that he found -suitable employment. - -Kim pretended at first to understand perhaps one word in three of -this talk. Then the Colonel, seeing his mistake, turned to fluent -and picturesque Urdu and Kim was contented. No man could be a fool -who knew the language so intimately, who moved so gently and -silently, and whose eyes were so different from the dull fat eyes -of other Sahibs. - -'Yes, and thou must learn how to make pictures of roads and -mountains and rivers to carry these pictures in thine eye till a -suitable time comes to set them upon paper. Perhaps some day, when -thou art a chain-man, I may say to thee when we are working -together: "Go across those hills and see what lies beyond." Then -one will say: "There are bad people living in those hills who will -slay the chain-man if he be seen to look like a Sahib." What then?' - -Kim thought. Would it be safe to return the Colonel's lead? - -'I would tell what that other man had said.' - -'But if I answered: "I will give thee a hundred rupees for -knowledge of what is behind those hills - for a picture of a river -and a little news of what the people say in the villages there"?' - -'How can I tell? I am only a boy. Wait till I am a man.' Then, -seeing the Colonel's brow clouded, he went on: 'But I think I -should in a few days earn the hundred rupees.' - -'By what road?' - -Kim shook his head resolutely. 'If I said how I would earn them, -another man might hear and forestall me. It is not good to sell -knowledge for nothing.' - -'Tell now.' The Colonel held up a rupee. Kim's hand half reached -towards it, and dropped. - -'Nay, Sahib; nay. I know the price that will be paid for the -answer, but I do not know why the question is asked.' - -'Take it for a gift, then,' said Creighton, tossing it over. 'There -is a good spirit in thee. Do not let it be blunted at St Xavier's. -There are many boys there who despise the black men.' - -'Their mothers were bazar-women,' said Kim. He knew well there is -no hatred like that of the half-caste for his brother-in-law. - -'True; but thou art a Sahib and the son of a Sahib. Therefore, do -not at any time be led to contemn the black men. I have known boys -newly entered into the service of the Government who feigned not to -understand the talk or the customs of black men. Their pay was cut -for ignorance. There is no sin so great as ignorance. Remember -this.' - -Several times in the course of the long twenty-four hours' run -south did the Colonel send for Kim, always developing this latter -text. - -'We be all on one lead-rope, then,' said Kim at last, 'the Colonel, -Mahbub Ali, and I - when I become a chain-man. He will use me as -Mahbub Ali employed me, I think. That is good, if it allows me to -return to the Road again. This clothing grows no easier by wear.' - -When they came to the crowded Lucknow station there was no sign of -the lama. He swallowed his disappointment, while the Colonel -bundled him into a ticca-gharri with his neat belongings and -despatched him alone to St Xavier's. - -'I do not say farewell, because we shall meet again,' he cried. -'Again, and many times, if thou art one of good spirit. But thou -art not yet tried.' - -'Not when I brought thee' - Kim actually dared to use the tum of -equals - 'a white stallion's pedigree that night?' - -'Much is gained by forgetting, little brother,' said the Colonel, -with a look that pierced through Kim's shoulder-blades as he - scuttled into the carriage. - -It took him nearly five minutes to recover. Then he sniffed the new -air appreciatively. 'A rich city,' he said. 'Richer than Lahore. -How good the bazars must be! Coachman, drive me a little through -the bazars here.' - -'My order is to take thee to the school.' The driver used the -'thou', which is rudeness when applied to a white man. In the -clearest and most fluent vernacular Kim pointed out his error, -climbed on to the box-seat, and, perfect understanding established, -drove for a couple of hours up and down, estimating, comparing, and -enjoying. There is no city - except Bombay, the queen of all - more -beautiful in her garish style than Lucknow, whether you see her -from the bridge over the river, or from the top of the Imambara -looking down on the gilt umbrellas of the Chutter Munzil, and the -trees in which the town is bedded. Kings have adorned her with -fantastic buildings, endowed her with charities, crammed her with -pensioners, and drenched her with blood. She is the centre of all -idleness, intrigue, and luxury, and shares with Delhi the claim to -talk the only pure Urdu. - -'A fair city - a beautiful city.' The driver, as a Lucknow man, was -pleased with the compliment, and told Kim many astounding things -where an English guide would have talked of the Mutiny. - -'Now we will go to the school,' said Kim at last. The great old -school of St Xavier's in Partibus, block on block of low white -buildings, stands in vast grounds over against the Gumti River,' at -some distance from the city. - -'What like of folk are they within?' said Kim. - -'Young Sahibs - all devils. But to speak truth, and I drive many of -them to and fro from the railway station, I have never seen one -that had in him the making of a more perfect devil than thou - this -young Sahib whom I am now driving.' - -Naturally, for he was never trained to consider them in any way -improper, Kim had passed the time of day with one or two frivolous -ladies at upper windows in a certain street, and naturally, in the -exchange of compliments, had acquitted himself well. He was about -to acknowledge the driver's last insolence, when his eye - it was -growing dusk - caught a figure sitting by one of the white plaster -gate-pillars in the long sweep of wall. - -'Stop!' he cried. 'Stay here. I do not go to the school at once.' - -'But what is to pay me for this coming and re-coming?' said the -driver petulantly. 'Is the boy mad? Last time it was a dancing- -girl. This time it is a priest.' - -Kim was in the road headlong, patting the dusty feet beneath the -dirty yellow robe. - -'I have waited here a day and a half,' the lama's level voice -began. 'Nay, I had a disciple with me. He that was my friend at the -Temple of the Tirthankars gave me a guide for this journey. I came -from Benares in the te-rain, when thy letter was given me. Yes, I -am well fed. I need nothing.' - -'But why didst thou not stay with the Kulu woman, O Holy One? In -what way didst thou get to Benares? My heart has been heavy since -we parted.' - -'The woman wearied me by constant flux of talk and requiring charms -for children. I separated myself from that company, permitting her -to acquire merit by gifts. She is at least a woman of open hands, -and I made a promise to return to her house if need arose. Then, -perceiving myself alone in this great and terrible world, I -bethought me of the te-rain to Benares, where I knew one abode in -the Tirthankars' Temple who was a Seeker, even as I.' - -'Ah! Thy River,' said Kim. 'I had forgotten the River.' - -'So soon, my chela? I have never forgotten it. But when I had left -thee it seemed better that I should go to the Temple and take -counsel, for, look you, India is very large, and it may be that -wise men before us, some two or three, have left a record of the -place of our River. There is debate in the Temple of the -Tirthankars on this matter; some saying one thing, and some -another. They are courteous folk.' - -'So be it; but what dost thou do now?' - -'I acquire merit in that I help thee, my chela, to wisdom. The -priest of that body of men who serve the Red Bull wrote me that all -should be as I desired for thee. I sent the money to suffice for -one year, and then I came, as thou seest me, to watch for thee -going up into the Gates of Learning. A day and a half have I waited -not because I was led by any affection towards thee - that is no -part of the Way - but, as they said at the Tirthankars' Temple, -because, money having been paid for learning, it was right that I -should oversee the end of the matter. They resolved my doubts most -clearly. I had a fear that, perhaps, I came because I wished to see -thee - misguided by the Red Mist of affection. It is not so . . . -Moreover, I am troubled by a dream.' - -'But surely, Holy One, thou hast not forgotten the Road and all -that befell on it. Surely it was a little to see me that thou didst -come?' - -'The horses are cold, and it is past their feeding-time,' whined -the driver. - -'Go to Jehannum and abide there with thy reputationless aunt!' Kim -snarled over his shoulder. 'I am all alone in this land; I know not -where I go nor what shall befall me. My heart was in that letter I -sent thee. Except for Mahbub Ali, and he is a Pathan, I have no -friend save thee, Holy One. Do not altogether go away.' - -'I have considered that also,' the lama replied, in a shaking -voice. 'It is manifest that from time to time I shall acquire merit -if before that I have not found my River - by assuring myself -that thy feet are set on wisdom. What they will teach thee I do -not know, but the priest wrote me that no son of a Sahib in all -India will be better taught than thou. So from time to time, -therefore, I will come again. Maybe thou wilt be such a Sahib as he -who gave me these spectacles' - the lama wiped them elaborately - -'in the Wonder House at Lahore. That is my hope, for he was a -Fountain of Wisdom - wiser than many abbots .... Again, maybe thou -wilt forget me and our meetings.' - -'If I eat thy bread,' cried Kim passionately, 'how shall I ever -forget thee?' 'No - no.' He put the boy aside. 'I must go back to -Benares. From time to time,now that I know the customs of letter- -writers in this land, I will send thee a letter, and from time to -time I will come and see thee.' - -'But whither shall I send my letters?' wailed Kim, clutching at the -robe, all forgetful that he was a Sahib. - -'To the Temple of the Tirthankars at Benares. That is the place I -have chosen till I find my River. Do not weep; for, look you, all -Desire is Illusion and a new binding upon the Wheel. Go up to the -Gates of Learning. Let me see thee go . .. Dost thou love me? Then -go, or my heart cracks .. . I will come again. Surely I will come -again. - -The lama watched the ticca-gharri rumble into the compound, and -strode off, snuffing between each long stride. - -'The Gates of Learning' shut with a clang. - -The country born and bred boy has his own manners and customs, -which do not resemble those of any other land; and his teachers -approach him by roads which an English master would not understand. -Therefore, you would scarcely be interested in Kim's experiences as -a St Xavier's boy among two or three hundred precocious youths, -most of whom had never seen the sea. He suffered the usual -penalties for breaking out of bounds when there was cholera in the -city. This was before he had learned to write fair English, and so -was obliged to find a bazar letter-writer. He was, of course, -indicted for smoking and for the use of abuse more full-flavoured -than even St Xavier's had ever heard. He learned to wash himself -with the Levitical scrupulosity of the native-born, who in his -heart considers the Englishman rather dirty. He played the usual -tricks on the patient coolies pulling the punkahs in the sleeping- -rooms where the boys threshed through the hot nights telling tales -till the dawn; and quietly he measured himself against his self- -reliant mates. - -They were sons of subordinate officials in the Railway, Telegraph, -and Canal Services; of warrant-officers, sometimes retired and -sometimes acting as commanders-in-chief to a feudatory Rajah's -army; of captains of the Indian Marine Government pensioners, -planters, Presidency shopkeepers, and missionaries. A few were -cadets of the old Eurasian houses that have taken strong root in -Dhurrumtollah - Pereiras, De Souzas, and D'Silvas. Their parents -could well have educated them in England, but they loved the school -that had served their own youth, and generation followed sallow- -hued generation at St Xavier's. Their homes ranged from Howrah of -the railway people to abandoned cantonments like Monghyr and -Chunar; lost tea-gardens Shillong-way; villages where their fathers -were large landholders in Oudh or the Deccan; Mission-stations a -week from the nearest railway line; seaports a thousand miles -south, facing the brazen Indian surf; and cinchona-plantations -south of all. The mere story of their adventures, which to them -were no adventures, on their road to and from school would have -crisped a Western boy's hair. They were used to jogging off alone -through a hundred miles of jungle, where there was always the -delightful chance of being delayed by tigers; but they would no -more have bathed in the English Channel in an English August than -their brothers across the world would have lain still while a -leopard snuffed at their palanquin. There were boys of fifteen who -had spent a day and a half on an islet in the middle of a flooded -river, taking charge, as by right, of a camp of frantic pilgrims -returning from a shrine. There were seniors who had requisitioned a -chance-met Rajah's elephant, in the name of St Francis Xavier, when -the Rains once blotted out the cart-track that led to their -father's estate, and had all but lost the huge beast in a -quicksand. There was a boy who, he said, and none doubted, had -helped his father to beat off with rifles from the veranda a rush -of Akas in the days when those head-hunters were bold against -lonely plantations. - -And every tale was told in the even, passionless voice of the -native-born, mixed with quaint reflections, borrowed unconsciously -from native foster-mothers, and turns of speech that showed they -had been that instant translated from the vernacular. Kim watched, -listened, and approved. This was not insipid, single-word talk of -drummer-boys. It dealt with a life he knew and in part understood. -The atmosphere suited him, and he throve by inches. They gave him a -white drill suit as the weather warmed, and he rejoiced in the new- -found bodily comforts as he rejoiced to use his sharpened mind over -the tasks they set him. His quickness would have delighted an -English master; but at St Xavier's they know the first rush of -minds developed by sun and surroundings, as they know the half- -collapse that sets in at twenty-two or twenty-three. - -None the less he remembered to hold himself lowly. When tales were -told of hot nights, Kim did not sweep the board with his -reminiscences; for St Xavier's looks down on boys who 'go native -all-together.' One must never forget that one is a Sahib, and that -some day, when examinations are passed, one will command natives. -Kim made a note of this, for he began to understand where -examinations led. - -Then came the holidays from August to October - the long holidays -imposed by the heat and the Rains. Kim was informed that he would -go north to some station in the hills behind Umballa, where Father -Victor would arrange for him. - -'A barrack-school?' said Kim, who had asked many questions and -thought more. - -'Yes, I suppose so,' said the master. 'It will not do you any harm -to keep you out of mischief. You can go up with young De Castro as -far as Delhi.' - -Kim considered it in every possible light. He had been diligent, -even as the Colonel advised. A boy's holiday was his own property - -of so much the talk of his companions had advised him, - and a -barrack-school would be torment after St Xavier's. Moreover - this -was magic worth anything else - he could write. In three months he -had discovered how men can speak to each other without a third -party, at the cost of half an anna and a little knowledge. No word -had come from the lama, but there remained the Road. Kim yearned -for the caress of soft mud squishing up between the toes, as his -mouth watered for mutton stewed with butter and cabbages, for rice -speckled with strong scented cardamoms, for the saffron-tinted -rice, garlic and onions, and the forbidden greasy sweetmeats of the -bazars. They would feed him raw beef on a platter at the barrack- -school, and he must smoke by stealth. But again, he was a Sahib and -was at St Xavier's, and that pig Mahbub Ali ... No, he would not -test Mahbub's hospitality - and yet ... He thought - -it out alone in the dormitory, and came to the conclusion he had -been unjust to Mahbub. - -The school was empty; nearly all the masters had gone away; Colonel -Creighton 's railway pass lay in his hand, and Kim puffed himself -that he had not spent Colonel Creighton 's or Mahbub's money in -riotous living. He was still lord of two rupees seven annas. His -new bullock-trunk, marked 'K. O'H.', and bedding-roll lay in the -empty sleeping-room. 'Sahibs are always tied to their baggage,' -said Kim, nodding at them. 'You will stay here' He went out into -the warm rain, smiling sinfully, and sought a certain house whose -outside he had noted down some time before. . . - -'Arre'! Dost thou know what manner of women we be in this quarter? -Oh, shame!' - -'Was I born yesterday?' Kim squatted native-fashion on the cushions -of that upper room. 'A little dyestuff and three yards of cloth to -help out a jest. Is it much to ask?' - -'Who is she? Thou art full young, as Sahibs go, for this devilry.' - -'Oh, she? She is the daughter of a certain schoolmaster of a -regiment in the cantonments. He has beaten me twice because I -went over their wall in these clothes. Now I would go as a -gardener's boy. Old men are very jealous.' - -'That is true. Hold thy face still while I dab on the juice.' - -'Not too black, Naikan. I would not appear to her as a hubshi -[nigger).' - -'Oh, love makes nought of these things. And how old is she?' - -'Twelve years, I think,' said the shameless Kim. 'Spread it also on -the breast. It may be her father will tear my clothes off me, and -if I am piebald -' he laughed. - -The girl worked busily, dabbing a twist of cloth into a little -saucer of brown dye that holds longer than any walnut-juice. - -'Now send out and get me a cloth for the turban. Woe is me, my head -is all unshaved! And he will surely knock off my turban.' - -'I am not a barber, but I will make shift. Thou wast born to be a -breaker of hearts! All this disguise for one evening? Remember, the -stuff does not wash away.' She shook with laughter till her -bracelets and anklets jingled. 'But who is to pay me for this? -Huneefa herself could not have given thee better stuff.' - -'Trust in the Gods, my sister,' said Kim gravely, screwing his face -round as the stain dried. 'Besides, hast thou ever helped to paint -a Sahib thus before?' - -'Never indeed. But a jest is not money.' - -'It is worth much more.' - -'Child, thou art beyond all dispute the most shameless son of -Shaitan that I have ever known to take up a poor girl's time with -this play, and then to say: "Is not the jest enough?" Thou wilt go -very far in this world.' She gave the dancing-girls' salutation in -mockery. - -'All one. Make haste and rough-cut my head.' Kim shifted from foot -to foot, his eyes ablaze with mirth as he thought of the fat days -before him. He gave the girl four annas, and ran down the stairs in -the likeness of a low-caste Hindu boy -perfect in every detail. A -cookshop was his next point of call, where he feasted in -extravagance and greasy luxury. - -On Lucknow station platform he watched young De Castro, all covered -with prickly-heat, get into a second-class compartment. Kim -patronized a third, and was the life and soul of it. He explained -to the company that he was assistant to a juggler who had left him -behind sick with fever, and that he would pick up his master at -Umballa. As the occupants of the carriage changed, he varied this -tale, or adorned it with all the shoots of a budding fancy, the -more rampant for being held off native speech so long. In all India -that night was no human being so joyful as Kim. At Umballa he got -out and headed eastward, plashing over the sodden fields to the -village where the old soldier lived. - -About this time Colonel Creighton at Simla was advised from Lucknow -by wire that young O'Hara had disappeared. Mahbub Ali was in town -selling horses, and to him the Colonel confided the affair one -morning cantering round Annandale racecourse. - -'Oh, that is nothing,' said the horse-dealer. 'Men are like horses. -At certain times they need salt, and if that salt is not in the -mangers they will lick it up from the earth. He has gone back to -the Road again for a while. The madrissak wearied him. I knew it -would. Another time, I will take him upon the Road myself. Do not -be troubled, Creighton Sahib. It is as though a polo-pony, breaking -loose, ran out to learn the game alone.' - -'Then he is not dead, think you?' - -'Fever might kill him. I do not fear for the boy otherwise. A -monkey does not fall among trees.' - -Next morning, on the same course, Mahbub's stallion ranged -alongside the Colonel. - -'It is as I had thought,' said the horse-dealer. 'He has come -through Umballa at least, and there he has written a letter to me, -having learned in the bazar that I was here.' - -'Read,' said the Colonel, with a sigh of relief. It was absurd that -a man of his position should take an interest in a little country- -bred vagabond; but the Colonel remembered the conversation in the -train, and often in the past few months had caught himself thinking -of the queer, silent, self-possessed boy. His evasion, of course, -was the height of insolence, but it argued some resource and nerve. - -Mahbub's eyes twinkled as he reined out into the centre of the -cramped little plain, where none could come near unseen. - -'"The Friend of the Stars, who is the Friend of all the World-"' - -'What is this?' - -'A name we give him in Lahore city. "The Friend of all the World -takes leave to go to his own places. He will come back upon the -appointed day. Let the box and the bedding-roll be sent for; and if -there has been a fault, let the Hand of Friendship turn aside the -Whip of Calamity." There is yet a little more, but-' - -'No matter, read.' - -'"Certain things are not known to those who eat with forks. It is -better to eat with both hands for a while. Speak soft words to -those who do not understand this that the return may be -propitious." Now the manner in which that was cast is, of course, -the work of the letter-writer, but see how wisely the boy has -devised the matter of it so that no hint is given except to those -who know!' - -'Is this the Hand of Friendship to avert the Whip of Calamity?' -laughed the Colonel. - -'See how wise is the boy. He would go back to the Road again, as I -said. Not knowing yet thy trade -' - -'I am not at all sure of that,' the Colonel muttered. - -'He turns to me to make a peace between you. Is he not wise? He -says he will return. He is but perfecting his knowledge. Think, -Sahib! He has been three months at the school. And he is not -mouthed to that bit. For my part, I rejoice. The pony learns the -game.' - -'Ay, but another time he must not go alone.' - -'Why? He went alone before he came under the Colonel Sahib's -protection. When he comes to the Great Game he must go alone - -alone, and at peril of his head. Then, if he spits, or sneezes, or -sits down other than as the people do whom he watches, he may be -slain. Why hinder him now? Remember how the Persians say: The -jackal that lives in the wilds of Mazanderan can only be caught by - the hounds of Mazanderan.' - -'True. It is true, Mahbub Ali. And if he comes to no harm, I do not -desire anything better. But it is great insolence on his part.' - -'He does not tell me, even, whither he goes,' said Mahbub. 'He is -no fool. When his time is accomplished he will come to me. It is -time the healer of pearls took him in hand. He ripens too quickly - -as Sahibs reckon.' - -This prophecy was fulfilled to the letter a month later. Mahbub had -gone down to Umballa to bring up a fresh consignment of horses, and -Kim met him on the Kalka road at dusk riding alone, begged an alms -of him, was sworn at, and replied in English. There was nobody -within earshot to hear Mahbub's gasp of amazement. - -'Oho! And where hast thou been?' 'Up and down - down and up.' - -'Come under a tree, out of the wet, and tell.' 'I stayed for a -while with an old man near Umballa; anon with a household of my -acquaintance in Umballa. With one of these I went as far as Delhi -to the southward. That is a wondrous city. Then I drove a bullock -for a teli [an oilman] coming north; but I heard of a great feast -forward in Patiala, and thither went I in the company of a -firework-maker. It was a great feast' (Kim rubbed his stomach). 'I -saw Rajahs, and elephants with gold and silver trappings; and they -lit all the fireworks at once, whereby eleven men were killed, my -fire-work-maker among them, and I was blown across a tent but took -no harm. Then I came back to the rel with a Sikh horseman, to whom -I was groom for my bread; and so here.' - -'Shabash!' said Mahbub Ali. - -'But what does the Colonel Sahib say? I do not wish to be beaten. - -'The Hand of Friendship has averted the Whip of Calamity; but -another time, when thou takest the Road it will be with me. This is -too early.' - -'Late enough for me. I have learned to read and to write English a -little at the madrissah. I shall soon be altogether a Sahib.' - -'Hear him!' laughed Mahbub, looking at the little drenched figure -dancing in the wet. 'Salaam - Sahib,' and he saluted ironically. -'Well, art tired of the Road, or wilt thou come on to Umballa with -me and work back with the horses?' - -'I come with thee, Mahbub Ali.' - - - - - -Chapter 8 - - -Something I owe to the soil that grew - -More to the life that fed - -But most to Allah Who gave me two -Separate sides to my head. - -I would go without shirts or shoes, -Friends, tobacco or bread -Sooner than for an instant lose -Either side of my head.' - -The Two-Sided Man. - - -'Then in God's name take blue for red,' said Mahbub, alluding to -the Hindu colour of Kim's disreputable turban. - -Kim countered with the old proverb, 'I will change my faith and my -bedding, but thou must pay for it.' - -The dealer laughed till he nearly fell from his horse. At a shop on -the outskirts of the city the change was made, and Kim stood up, -externally at least, a Mohammedan. - -Mahbub hired a room over against the railway station, sent for a -cooked meal of the finest with the almond-curd sweet-meats -[balushai we call it] and fine-chopped Lucknow tobacco. - -'This is better than some other meat that I ate with the Sikh,' -said Kim, grinning as he squatted, 'and assuredly they give no such -victuals at my madrissah.' - -'I have a desire to hear of that same madrissah.' Mahbub stuffed -himself with great boluses of spiced mutton fried in fat with -cabbage and golden-brown onions. 'But tell me first, altogether and -truthfully, the manner of thy escape. For, O Friend of all the -World,' - he loosed his cracking belt - 'I do not think it is -often that a Sahib and the son of a Sahib runs away from there.' - -'How should they? They do not know the land. It was nothing,' said -Kim, and began his tale. When he came to the disguisement and the -interview with the girl in the bazar, Mahbub Ali's gravity went -from him. He laughed aloud and beat his hand on his thigh. - -'Shabash! Shabash! Oh, well done, little one! What will the healer -of turquoises say to this? Now, slowly, let us hear what befell -afterwards - step by step, omitting nothing.' - -Step by step then, Kim told his adventures between coughs as the -full-flavoured tobacco caught his lungs. - -'I said,' growled Mahbub Ali to himself, 'I said it was the pony -breaking out to play polo. The fruit is ripe already -except that -he must learn his distances and his pacings, and his rods and his -compasses. Listen now. I have turned aside the Colonel's whip from -thy skin, and that is no small service.' - -'True.' Kim pulled serenely. 'That is true.' - -'But it is not to be thought that this running out and in is any -way good.' - -'It was my holiday, Hajji. I was a slave for many weeks. Why should -I not run away when the school was shut? Look, too, how I, living -upon my friends or working for my bread, as I did with the Sikh, -have saved the Colonel Sahib a great expense.' - -Mahbub's lips twitched under his well-pruned Mohammedan moustache. - -'What are a few rupees' - the Pathan threw out his open hand -carelessly - 'to the Colonel Sahib? He spends them for a purpose, -not in any way for love of thee.' - -'That,' said Kim slowly, 'I knew a very long time ago.' - -'Who told?' - -'The Colonel Sahib himself. Not in those many words, but plainly -enough for one who is not altogether a mud-head. Yea, he told me in -the te-rain when we went down to Lucknow.' - -'Be it so. Then I will tell thee more, Friend of all the World, -though in the telling I lend thee my head.' - -'It was forfeit to me,' said Kim, with deep relish, 'in Umballa, -when thou didst pick me up on the horse after the drummer-boy beat -me.' - -'Speak a little plainer. All the world may tell lies save thou and -I. For equally is thy life forfeit to me if I chose to raise my -finger here.' - -'And this is known to me also,' said Kim, readjusting the live -charcoal-ball on the weed. 'It is a very sure tie between us. -Indeed, thy hold is surer even than mine; for who would miss a boy -beaten to death, or, it may be, thrown into a well by the roadside? -Most people here and in Simla and across the passes behind the -Hills would, on the other hand, say: "What has come to Mahbub Ali?" -if he were found dead among his horses. Surely, too, the Colonel -Sahib would make inquiries. But again,'- Kim's face puckered with -cunning, - 'he would not make overlong inquiry, lest people should -ask: "What has this Colonel Sahib to do with that horse-dealer?" -But I - if I lived -, - -'As thou wouldst surely die -, - -'Maybe; but I say, if I lived, I, and I alone, would know that one -had come by night, as a common thief perhaps, to Mahbub Ali's -bulkhead in the serai, and there had slain him, either before or -after that thief had made a full search into his saddlebags and -between the soles of his slippers. Is that news to tell to the -Colonel, or would he say to me - (I have not forgotten when he sent -me back for a cigar-case that he had not left behind him) - "What -is Mahbub Ali to me?"?' - -Up went a gout of heavy smoke. There was a long pause: then Mahbub -Ali spoke in admiration: 'And with these things on thy mind, dost -thou lie down and rise again among all the Sahibs' little sons at -the madrissah and meekly take instruction from thy teachers?' - -'It is an order,' said Kim blandly. 'Who am I to dispute an order?' - -'A most finished Son of Eblis,' said Mahbub Ali. 'But what is this -tale of the thief and the search?' - -'That which I saw,' said Kim, 'the night that my lama and I lay -next thy place in the Kashmir Seral. The door was left unlocked, -which I think is not thy custom, Mahbub. He came in as one assured -that thou wouldst not soon return. My eye was against a knot-hole -in the plank. He searched as it were for something - not a rug, not -stirrups, nor a bridle, nor brass pots- something little and most -carefully hid. Else why did he prick with an iron between the soles -of thy slippers?' - -'Ha!' Mahbub Ali smiled gently. 'And seeing these things, what tale -didst thou fashion to thyself, Well of the Truth?' - -'None. I put my hand upon my amulet, which lies always next to my -skin, and, remembering the pedigree of a white stallion that I had -bitten out of a piece of Mussalmani bread, I went away to Umballa -perceiving that a heavy trust was laid upon me. At that hour, had I -chosen, thy head was forfeit. It needed only to say to that man, "I -have here a paper concerning a horse which I cannot read." And -then?' Kim peered at Mahbub under his eyebrows. - -'Then thou wouldst have drunk water twice - perhaps thrice, -afterwards. I do not think more than thrice,' said Mahbub simply. - -'It is true. I thought of that a little, but most I thought that I -loved thee, Mahbub. Therefore I went to Umballa, as thou knowest, -but (and this thou dost not know) I lay hid in the garden-grass to -see what Colonel Creighton Sahib might do upon reading the white -stallion's pedigree.' - -'And what did he?' for Kim had bitten off the conversation. - -'Dost thou give news for love, or dost thou sell it?' Kim asked. - -'I sell and - I buy.' Mahbub took a four-anna piece out of his belt -and held it up. - -'Eight!' said Kim, mechanically following the huckster instinct of -the East. - -Mahbub laughed, and put away the coin. It is too easy to deal in -that market, Friend of all the World. Tell me for love. Our lives -lie in each other's hand.' - -'Very good. I saw the Jang-i-Lat Sahib [the Commander-in-Chief] -come to a big dinner. I saw him in Creighton Sahib's office. I saw -the two read the white stallion's pedigree. I heard the very orders -given for the opening of a great war.' - -'Hah!' Mahbub nodded with deepest eyes afire. 'The game is well -played. That war is done now, and the evil, we hope, nipped before -the flower- thanks to me - and thee. What didst thou later?' - -'I made the news as it were a hook to catch me victual and honour -among the villagers in a village whose priest drugged my lama. But -I bore away the old man's purse, and the Brahmin found nothing. So -next morning he was angry. Ho! Ho! And I also used the news when I -fell into the hands of that white Regiment with their Bull!' - -'That was foolishness.' Mahbub scowled. 'News is not meant to be -thrown about like dung-cakes, but used sparingly - like bhang.' - -'So I think now, and moreover, it did me no sort of good. But that -was very long ago,' he made as to brush it all away with a thin -brown hand - 'and since then, and especially in the nights under -the punkah at the madrissah, I have thought very greatly.' - -'Is it permitted to ask whither the Heaven-born's thought might -have led?' said Mahbub, with an elaborate sarcasm, smoothing his -scarlet beard. - -'It is permitted,' said Kim, and threw back the very tone. 'They -say at Nucklao that no Sahib must tell a black man that he has made -a fault.' - -Mahbub's hand shot into his bosom, for to call a Pathan a 'black -man' [kala admi] is a blood-insult. Then he remembered and laughed. -'Speak, Sahib. Thy black man hears.' - -'But,' said Kim, 'I am not a Sahib, and I say I made a fault to -curse thee, Mahbub Ali, on that day at Umballa when I thought I was -betrayed by a Pathan. I was senseless; for I was but newly caught, -and I wished to kill that low-caste drummer-boy. I say now, Hajji, -that it was well done; and I see my road all clear before me to a -good service. I will stay in the madrissah till I am ripe.' - -'Well said. Especially are distances and numbers and the manner of -using compasses to be learned in that game. One waits in the Hills -above to show thee.' - -'I will learn their teaching upon a condition - that my time is -given to me without question when the madrissah is shut. Ask that -for me of the Colonel.' - -'But why not ask the Colonel in the Sahibs' tongue?' - -'The Colonel is the servant of the Government. He is sent hither -and yon at a word, and must consider his own advancement. (See how -much I have already learned at Nucklao!) Moreover, the Colonel I -know since three months only. I have known one Mahbub Ali for six -years. So! To the madrissah I will go. At the madrissah I will -learn. In the madrissah I will be a Sahib. But when the madrissah -is shut, then must I be free and go among my people. Otherwise I -die!' - -'And who are thy people, Friend of all the World?' - -'This great and beautiful land,' said Kim, waving his paw round the -little clay-walled room where the oil-lamp in its niche burned -heavily through the tobacco-smoke. 'And, further, I would see my -lama again. And, further, I need money.' - -'That is the need of everyone,' said Mahbub ruefully. 'I will give -thee eight annas, for much money is not picked out of horses' -hooves, and it must suffice for many days. As to all the rest, I am -well pleased, and no further talk is needed. Make haste to learn, -and in three years, or it may be less, thou wilt be an aid - even -to me.' - -'Have I been such a hindrance till now?' said Kim, with a boy's -giggle. - -'Do not give answers,' Mahbub grunted. 'Thou art my new horse-boy. -Go and bed among my men. They are near the north end of the -station, with the horses.' - -'They will beat me to the south end of the station if I come -without authority.' - -Mahbub felt in his belt, wetted his thumb on a cake of Chinese ink, -and dabbed the impression on a piece of soft native paper. From -Balkh to Bombay men know that rough-ridged print with the old scar -running diagonally across it. - -'That is enough to show my headman. I come in the morning.' - -'By which road?' said Kim. - -'By the road from the city. There is but one, and then we return to -Creighton Sahib. I have saved thee a beating.' - -'Allah! What is a beating when the very head is loose on the -shoulders?' - -Kim slid out quietly into the night, walked half round the house, -keeping close to the walls, and headed away from the station for a -mile or so. Then, fetching a wide compass, he worked back at -leisure, for he needed time to invent a story if any of Mahbub's -retainers asked questions. - -They were camped on a piece of waste ground beside the railway, -and, being natives, had not, of course, unloaded the two trucks in -which Mahbub's animals stood among a consignment of country-breds -bought by the Bombay tram-company. The headman, a broken-down, -consumptive-looking Mohammedan, promptly challenged Kim, but was -pacified at sight of Mahbub's sign-manual. - -'The Hajji has of his favour given me service,' said Kim testily. -'If this be doubted, wait till he comes in the morning. Meantime, a -place by the fire.' - -Followed the usual aimless babble that every low-caste native must -raise on every occasion. It died down, and Kim lay out behind the -little knot of Mahbub's followers, almost under the wheels of a -horse-truck, a borrowed blanket for covering. Now a bed among -brickbats and ballast-refuse on a damp night, between overcrowded -horses and unwashed Baltis, would not appeal to many white boys; -but Kim was utterly happy. Change of scene, service, and -surroundings were the breath of his little nostrils, and thinking -of the neat white cots of St Xavier's all arow under the punkah -gave him joy as keen as the repetition of the multiplication-table -in English. - -'I am very old,' he thought sleepily. 'Every month I become a year -more old. I was very young, and a fool to boot, when I took -Mahbub's message to Umballa. Even when I was with that white -Regiment I was very young and small and had no wisdom. But now I -learn every day, and in three years the Colonel will take me out of -the madrissah and let me go upon the Road with Mahbub hunting for -horses' pedigrees, or maybe I shall go by myself; or maybe I shall -find the lama and go with him. Yes; that is best. To walk again as -a chela with my lama when he comes back to Benares.' The thoughts -came more slowly and disconnectedly. He was plunging into a -beautiful dreamland when his ears caught a whisper, thin and sharp, -above the monotonous babble round the fire. It came from behind the -iron-skinned horse-truck. - -'He is not here, then?' - -'Where should he be but roystering in the city. Who looks for a rat -in a frog-pond? Come away. He is not our man.' - -'He must not go back beyond the Passes a second time. It is the -order.' - -'Hire some woman to drug him. It is a few rupees only, and there is -no evidence.' - -'Except the woman. It must be more certain; and remember the price -upon his head.' - -'Ay, but the police have a long arm, and we are far from the -Border. If it were in Peshawur, now!' - -'Yes - in Peshawur,' the second voice sneered. 'Peshawur, full of -his blood-kin - full of bolt-holes and women behind whose clothes -he will hide. Yes, Peshawur or Jehannum would suit us equally -well.' - -'Then what is the plan?' - -'O fool, have I not told it a hundred times? Wait till he comes to -lie down, and then one sure shot. The trucks are between us and -pursuit. We have but to run back over the lines and go our way. -They will not see whence the shot came. Wait here at least till the -dawn. What manner of fakir art thou, to shiver at a little -watching?' - -'Oho!' thought Kim, behind close-shut eyes. 'Once again it is -Mahbub. Indeed a white stallion's pedigree is not a good thing to -peddle to Sahibs! Or maybe Mahbub has been selling other news. Now -what is to do, Kim? I know not where Mahbub houses, and if he comes -here before the dawn they will shoot him. That would be no profit -for thee, Kim. And this is not a matter for the police. That would -be no profit for Mahbub; and' - he giggled almost aloud - 'I do not -remember any lesson at Nucklao which will help me. Allah! Here is -Kim and yonder are they. First, then, Kim must wake and go away, so -that they shall not suspect. A bad dream wakes a man - thus -, - -He threw the blanket off his face, and raised himself suddenly with -the terrible, bubbling, meaningless yell of the Asiatic roused by -nightmare. - -'Urr-urr-urr-urr! Ya-la-la-la-la! Narain! The churel! The churel!' - -A churel is the peculiarly malignant ghost of a woman who has died -in child-bed. She haunts lonely roads, her feet are turned -backwards on the ankles, and she leads men to torment. - -Louder rose Kim's quavering howl, till at last he leaped to his -feet and staggered off sleepily, while the camp cursed him for -waking them. Some twenty yards farther up the line he lay down -again, taking care that the whisperers should hear his grunts and -groans as he recomposed himself. After a few minutes he rolled -towards the road and stole away into the thick darkness. - -He paddled along swiftly till he came to a culvert, and dropped -behind it, his chin on a level with the coping-stone. Here he could -command all the night-traffic, himself unseen. - -Two or three carts passed, jingling out to the suburbs; a coughing -policeman and a hurrying foot-passenger or two who sang to keep off -evil spirits. Then rapped the shod feet of a horse. - -'Ah! This is more like Mahbub,' thought Kim, as the beast shied at -the little head above the culvert. - -'Ohe', Mahbub Ali,' he whispered, 'have a care!' - -The horse was reined back almost on its haunches, and forced -towards the culvert. - -'Never again,' said Mahbub, 'will I take a shod horse for night- -work. They pick up all the bones and nails in the city.' He stooped -to lift its forefoot, and that brought his head within a foot of -Kim's. Down - keep down,' he muttered. 'The night is full of -eyes.' - -'Two men wait thy coming behind the horse-trucks. They will shoot -thee at thy lying down, because there is a price on thy head. I -heard, sleeping near the horses.' - -'Didst thou see them? . .. Hold still, Sire of Devils!' This -furiously to the horse. - -'No.' - -'Was one dressed belike as a fakir?' - -'One said to the other, "What manner of fakir art thou, to shiver -at a little watching?"' - -'Good. Go back to the camp and lie down. I do not die tonight.' - -Mahbub wheeled his horse and vanished. Kim tore back down the ditch -till he reached a point opposite his second resting-place, slipped -across the road like a weasel, and re-coiled himself in the -blanket. - -'At least Mahbub knows,' he thought contentedly. 'And certainly he -spoke as one expecting it. I do not think those two men will profit -by tonight's watch.' - -An hour passed, and, with the best will in the world to keep awake -all night, he slept deeply. Now and again a night train roared -along the metals within twenty feet of him; but he had all the -Oriental's indifference to mere noise, and it did not even weave a -dream through his slumber. - -Mahbub was anything but asleep. It annoyed him vehemently that -people outside his tribe and unaffected by his casual amours should -pursue him for the life. His first and natural impulse was to cross -the line lower down, work up again, and, catching his well-wishers -from behind, summarily slay them. Here, he reflected with sorrow, -another branch of the Government, totally unconnected with Colonel -Creighton, might demand explanations which would be hard to supply; -and he knew that south of the Border a perfectly ridiculous fuss is -made about a corpse or so. He had not been troubled in this way -since he sent Kim to Umballa with the message, and hoped that -suspicion had been finally diverted. - -Then a most brilliant notion struck him. - -'The English do eternally tell the truth,' he said, 'therefore we -of this country are eternally made foolish. By Allah, I will tell -the truth to an Englishman! Of what use is the Government police if -a poor Kabuli be robbed of his horses in their very trucks. This is -as bad as Peshawur! I should lay a complaint at the station. Better -still, some young Sahib on the Railway! They are zealous, and if -they catch thieves it is remembered to their honour.' - -He tied up his horse outside the station, and strode on to the -platform. - -'Hullo, Mahbub Ali' said a young Assistant District Traffic -Superintendent who was waiting to go down the line - a tall, tow- -haired, horsey youth in dingy white linen. 'What are you doing -here? Selling weeds - eh?' - -'No; I am not troubled for my horses. I come to look for Lutuf -Ullah. I have a truck-load up the line. Could anyone take them out -without the Railway's knowledge?' - -'Shouldn't think so, Mahbub. You can claim against us if they do.' - -'I have seen two men crouching under the wheels of one of the -trucks nearly all night. Fakirs do not steal horses, so I gave them -no more thought. I would find Lutuf Ullah, my partner.' - -'The deuce you did? And you didn't bother your head about it? 'Pon -my word, it's just almost as well that I met you. What were they -like, eh?' - -'They were only fakirs. They will no more than take a little grain, -perhaps, from one of the trucks. There are many up the line. The -State will never miss the dole. I came here seeking for my partner, -Lutuf Ullah - -'Never mind your partner. Where are your horse-trucks?' - -'A little to this side of the farthest place where they make lamps -for the trains.' - -'The signal-box! Yes.' - -'And upon the rail nearest to the road upon the right-hand side - -looking up the line thus. But as regards Lutuf Ullah - a tall man -with a broken nose, and a Persian greyhound Aie!' - -The boy had hurried off to wake up a young and enthusiastic -policeman; for, as he said, the Railway had suffered much from -depredations in the goods-yard. Mahbub Ali chuckled in his dyed -beard. - -'They will walk in their boots, making a noise, and then they will -wonder why there are no fakirs. They are very clever boys--Barton -Sahib and Young Sahib.' - -He waited idly for a few minutes, expecting to see them hurry up -the line girt for action. A light engine slid through the station, -and he caught a glimpse of young Barton in the cab. - -'I did that child an injustice. He is not altogether a fool,' said -Mahbub Ali. 'To take a fire-carriage for a thief is a new game!' - -When Mahbub Ali came to his camp in the dawn, no one thought it -worth while to tell him any news of the night. No one, at least, -but one small horseboy, newly advanced to the great man's service, -whom Mahbub called to his tiny tent to assist in some packing. - -'It is all known to me,' whispered Kim, bending above saddlebags. -'Two Sahibs came up on a te-train. I was running to and fro in the -dark on this side of the trucks as the te-train moved up and down -slowly. They fell upon two men sitting under this truck - Hajji, -what shall I do with this lump of tobacco? Wrap it in paper and put -it under the salt-bag? Yes - and struck them down. But one man -struck at a Sahib with a fakir's buck's horn' (Kim meant the -conjoined black-buck horns, which are a fakir's sole temporal -weapon) - 'the blood came. So the other Sahib, first smiting his -own man senseless, smote the stabber with a short gun which had -rolled from the first man's hand. They all raged as though mad -together.' - -Mahbub smiled with heavenly resignation. 'No! That is not so much -dewanee [madness, or a case for the civil court - the word can be -punned upon both ways] as nizamut [a criminal case]. A gun, sayest -thou? Ten good years in jail.' - -'Then they both lay still, but I think they were nearly dead when -they were put on the te-train. Their heads moved thus. And there is -much blood on the line. Come and see?' - -'I have seen blood before. Jail is the sure place - and assuredly -they will give false names, and assuredly no man will find them for -a long time. They were unfriends of mine. Thy fate and mine seem on -one string. What a tale for the healer of pearls! Now swiftly with -the saddle-bags and the cooking-platter. We will take out the -horses and away to Simla.' - -Swiftly - as Orientals understand speed - with long explanations, -with abuse and windy talk, carelessly, amid a hundred checks for -little things forgotten, the untidy camp broke up and led the half- -dozen stiff and fretful horses along the Kalka road in the fresh of -the rain-swept dawn. Kim, regarded as Mahbub Ali's favourite by all -who wished to stand well with the Pathan, was not called upon to -work. They strolled on by the easiest of stages, halting every few -hours at a wayside shelter. Very many Sahibs travel along the Kalka -road; and, as Mahbub Ali says, every young Sahib must needs esteem -himself a judge of a horse, and, though he be over head in debt to -the money-lender, must make as if to buy. That was the reason that -Sahib after Sahib, rolling along in a stage-carriage, would stop -and open talk. Some would even descend from their vehicles and feel -the horses' legs; asking inane questions, or, through sheer -ignorance of the vernacular, grossly insulting the imperturbable -trader. - -'When first I dealt with Sahibs, and that was when Colonel Soady -Sahib was Governor of Fort Abazai and flooded the Commissioner's -camping-ground for spite,' Mahbub confided to Kim as the boy filled -his pipe under a tree, 'I did not know how greatly they were fools, -and this made me wroth. As thus -, and he told Kim a tale of an -expression, misused in all innocence, that doubled Kim up with -mirth. 'Now I see, however,' - he exhaled smoke slowly - 'that it -is with them as with all men - in certain matters they are wise, -and in others most foolish. Very foolish it is to use the wrong -word to a stranger; for though the heart may be clean of offence, -how is the stranger to know that? He is more like to search truth -with a dagger.' - -'True. True talk,' said Kim solemnly. 'Fools speak of a cat when a -woman is brought to bed, for instance. I have heard them.' - -'Therefore, in one situate as thou art, it particularly behoves -thee to remember this with both kinds of faces. Among Sahibs, never -forgetting thou art a Sahib; among the folk of Hind, always -remembering thou art -' He paused, with a puzzled smile. - -'What am I? Mussalman, Hindu, Jain, or Buddhist? That is a hard -knot.' - -'Thou art beyond question an unbeliever, and therefore thou wilt be -damned. So says my Law - or I think it does. But thou art also my -Little Friend of all the World, and I love thee. So says my heart. -This matter of creeds is like horseflesh. The wise man knows horses -are good - that there is a profit to be made from all; and for -myself- but that I am a good Sunni and hate the men of Tirah - I -could believe the same of all the Faiths. Now manifestly a -Kathiawar mare taken from the sands of her birthplace and removed -to the west of Bengal founders - nor is even a Balkh stallion (and -there are no better horses than those of Balkh, were they not so -heavy in the shoulder) of any account in the great Northern deserts -beside the snow-camels I have seen. Therefore I say in my heart the -Faiths are like the horses. Each has merit in its own country.' - -'But my lama said altogether a different thing.' - -'Oh, he is an old dreamer of dreams from Bhotiyal. My heart is a -little angry, Friend of all the World, that thou shouldst see such -worth in a man so little known.' - -'It is true, Hajji; but that worth do I see, and to him my heart is -drawn.' - -'And his to thine, I hear. Hearts are like horses. They come and -they go against bit or spur. Shout Gul Sher Khan yonder to drive in -that bay stallion's pickets more firmly. We do not want a horse- -fight at every resting-stage, and the dun and the black will be -locked in a little . . . Now hear me. Is it necessary to the -comfort of thy heart to see that lama?' - -'It is one part of my bond,' said Kim. 'If I do not see him, and if -he is taken from me, I will go out of that madrissah in Nucklao -and, and - once gone, who is to find me again?' - -'It is true. Never was colt held on a lighter heel-rope than thou.' -Mahbub nodded his head. - -'Do not be afraid.' Kim spoke as though he could have evanished on -the moment. 'My lama has said that he will come to see me at the -madrissah -, - -'A beggar and his bowl in the presence of those young Sa -' - -'Not all!' Kim cut in with a snort. 'Their eyes are blued and their -nails are blackened with low-caste blood, many of them. Sons of -mehteranees - brothers-in-law to the bhungi [sweeper].' - -We need not follow the rest of the pedigree; but Kim made his -little point clearly and without heat, chewing a piece of sugar- -cane the while. - -'Friend of all the World,' said Mahbub, pushing over the pipe for -the boy to clean, 'I have met many men, women, and boys, and not a -few Sahibs. I have never in all my days met such an imp as thou -art.' - -'And why? When I always tell thee the truth.' - -'Perhaps the very reason, for this is a world of danger to honest -men.' Mahbub Ali hauled himself off the ground, girt in his belt, -and went over to the horses. - -'Or sell it?' - -There was that in the tone that made Mahbub halt and turn. 'What -new devilry?' - -'Eight annas, and I will tell,' said Kim, grinning. 'It touches thy -peace.' - -'O Shaitan!' Mahbub gave the money. - -'Rememberest thou the little business of the thieves in the dark, -down yonder at Umballa?' - -'Seeing they sought my life, I have not altogether forgotten. Why?' - -'Rememberest thou the Kashmir Serai?' - -'I will twist thy ears in a moment - Sahib.' - -'No need - Pathan. Only, the second fakir, whom the Sahibs beat -senseless, was the man who came to search thy bulkhead at Lahore. I -saw his face as they helped him on the engine. The very same man.' - -'Why didst thou not tell before?' - -'Oh, he will go to jail, and be safe for some years. There is no -need to tell more than is necessary at any one time. Besides, I did -not then need money for sweetmeats.' - -'Allah kerim!' said Mahbub Ah. 'Wilt thou some day sell my head for -a few sweetmeats if the fit takes thee?' - -Kim will remember till he dies that long, lazy journey from -Umballa, through Kalka and the Pinjore Gardens near by, up to -Simla. A sudden spate in the Gugger River swept down one horse -(the most valuable, be sure), and nearly drowned Kim among the -dancing boulders. Farther up the road the horses were stampeded by -a Government elephant, and being in high condition of grass food, -it cost a day and a half to get them together again. Then they met -Sikandar Khan coming down with a few unsaleable screws - remnants -of his string -and Mahbub, who has more of horse-coping in his -little fingernail than Sikandar Khan in all his tents, must needs -buy two of the worst, and that meant eight hours' laborious -diplomacy and untold tobacco. But it was all pure delight - the -wandering road, climbing, dipping, and sweeping about the growing -spurs; the flush of the morning laid along the distant snows; the -branched cacti, tier upon tier on the stony hillsides; the voices -of a thousand water-channels; the chatter of the monkeys; the -solemn deodars, climbing one after another with down-drooped -branches; the vista of the Plains rolled out far beneath them; the -incessant twanging of the tonga-horns and the wild rush of the led -horses when a tonga swung round a curve; the halts for prayers -(Mahbub was very religious in dry-washings and bellowings when time -did not press); the evening conferences by the halting-places, when -camels and bullocks chewed solemnly together and the stolid drivers -told the news of the Road - all these things lifted Kim's heart to -song within him. - -'But, when the singing and dancing is done,' said Mahbub Ali, -'comes the Colonel Sahib's, and that is not so sweet.' - -'A fair land - a most beautiful land is this of Hind - and the land -of the Five Rivers is fairer than all,' Kim half chanted. 'Into it -I will go again if Mahbub Ali or the Colonel lift hand or foot -against me. Once gone, who shall find me? Look, Hajji, is yonder -the city of Simla? Allah, what a city!' - -'My father's brother, and he was an old man when Mackerson Sahib's -well was new at Peshawur, could recall when there were but two -houses in it. - -He led the horses below the main road into the lower Simla bazar - -the crowded rabbit-warren that climbs up from the valley to the -Town Hall at an angle of forty-five. A man who knows his way there -can defy all the police of India's summer capital, so cunningly -does veranda communicate with veranda, alley-way with alley-way, -and bolt-hole with bolt-hole. Here live those who minister to the -wants of the glad city - jhampanis who pull the pretty ladies' -'rickshaws by night and gamble till the dawn; grocers, oil-sellers, -curio-vendors, firewood-dealers, priests, pickpockets, and native -employees of the Government. Here are discussed by courtesans the -things which are supposed to be profoundest secrets of the India -Council; and here gather all the sub-sub-agents of half the Native -States. Here, too, Mahbub Ali rented a room, much more securely -locked than his bulkhead at Lahore, in the house of a Mohammedan -cattle-dealer. It was a place of miracles, too, for there went in -at twilight a Mohammedan horseboy, and there came out an hour later -a Eurasian lad - the Lucknow girl's dye was of the best - in badly- -fitting shop-clothes. - -'I have spoken with Creighton Sahib,' quoth Mahbub Ali, and a -second time has the Hand of Friendship averted the Whip of -Calamity. He says that thou hast altogether wasted sixty days upon -the Road, and it is too late, therefore, to send thee to any Hill- -school.' - -'I have said that my holidays are my own. I do not go to school -twice over. That is one part of my bond.' - -'The Colonel Sahib is not yet aware of that contract. Thou art to -lodge in Lurgan Sahib's house till it is time to go again to -Nucklao.' - -'I had sooner lodge with thee, Mahbub.' - -'Thou dost not know the honour. Lurgan Sahib himself asked for -thee. Thou wilt go up the hill and along the road atop, and there -thou must forget for a while that thou hast ever seen or spoken to -me, Mahbub Ali, who sells horses to Creighton Sahib, whom thou dost -not know. Remember this order.' - -Kim nodded. 'Good,' said he, 'and who is Lurgan Sahib? Nay' - he -caught Mahbub's sword-keen glance - 'indeed I have never heard his -name. Is he by chance - he lowered his voice -'one of us?' - -'What talk is this of us, Sahib?' Mahbub Ali returned, in the tone -he used towards Europeans. 'I am a Pathan; thou art a Sahib and the -son of a Sahib. Lurgan Sahib has a shop among the European shops. -All Simla knows it. Ask there ... and, Friend of all the World, he -is one to be obeyed to the last wink of his eyelashes. Men say he -does magic, but that should not touch thee. Go up the hill and ask. -Here begins the Great Game.' - - - - - -Chapter 9 - - -S' doaks was son of Yelth the wise - -Chief of the Raven clan. -Itswoot the Bear had him in care -To make him a medicine-man. - -He was quick and quicker to learn - -Bold and bolder to dare: -He danced the dread Kloo-Kwallie Dance -To tickle Itswoot the Bear! - -Oregon Legend - - - -Kim flung himself whole-heartedly upon the next turn of the wheel. -He would be a Sahib again for a while. In that idea, so soon as he -had reached the broad road under Simla Town Hall, he cast about for -one to impress. A Hindu child, some ten years old, squatted under a -lamp-post. - -Where is Mr Lurgan's house?' demanded Kim. - -'I do not understand English,' was the answer, and Kim shifted his -speech accordingly. - -'I will show.' - -Together they set off through the mysterious dusk, full of the -noises of a city below the hillside, and the breath of a cool wind -in deodar-crowned Jakko, shouldering the stars. The house-lights, -scattered on every level, made, as it were, a double firmament. -Some were fixed, others belonged to the 'rickshaws of the careless, -open-spoken English folk, going out to dinner. - -'It is here,' said Kim's guide, and halted in a veranda flush with -the main road. No door stayed them, but a curtain of beaded reeds -that split up the lamplight beyond. - -'He is come,' said the boy, in a voice little louder than a sigh, -and vanished. Kim felt sure that the boy had been posted to guide -him from the first, but, putting a bold face on it, parted the -curtain. A black-bearded man, with a green shade over his eyes, sat -at a table, and, one by one, with short, white hands, picked up -globules of light from a tray before him, threaded them on a -glancing silken string, and hummed to himself the while. Kim was -conscious that beyond the circle of light the room was full of -things that smelt like all the temples of all the East. A whiff of -musk, a puff of sandal-wood, and a breath of sickly jessamine-oil -caught his opened nostrils. - -'I am here,' said Kim at last, speaking in the vernacular: the -smells made him forget that he was to be a Sahib - -'Seventy-nine, eighty, eighty-one,' the man counted to himself, -stringing pearl after pearl so quickly that Kim could scarcely -follow his fingers. He slid off the green shade and looked fixedly -at Kim for a full half-minute. The pupils of the eye dilated and -closed to pin-pricks, as if at will. There was a fakir by the -Taksali Gate who had just this gift and made money by it, -especially when cursing silly women. Kim stared with interest. His -disreputable friend could further twitch his ears, almost like a -goat, and Kim was disappointed that this new man could not imitate -him. - -'Do not be afraid,' said Lurgan Sahib suddenly. - -'Why should I fear?' - -'Thou wilt sleep here tonight, and stay with me till it is time to -go again to Nucklao. It is an order.' - -'It is an order,' Kim repeated. 'But where shall I sleep?' - -'Here, in this room.' Lurgan Sahib waved his hand towards the -darkness behind him. - -'So be it,' said Kim composedly. 'Now?' - -He nodded and held the lamp above his head. As the light swept -them, there leaped out from the walls a collection of Tibetan -devil-dance masks, hanging above the fiend-embroidered draperies of -those ghastly functions - horned masks, scowling masks, and masks -of idiotic terror. In a corner, a Japanese warrior, mailed and -plumed, menaced him with a halberd, and a score of lances and -khandas and kuttars gave back the unsteady gleam. But what -interested Kim more than all these things - he had seen devil-dance -masks at the Lahore Museum - was a glimpse of the soft-eyed Hindu -child who had left him in the doorway, sitting cross-legged under -the table of pearls with a little smile on his scarlet lips. - -'I think that Lurgan Sahib wishes to make me afraid. And I am sure -that that devil's brat below the table wishes to see me afraid. -This place,' he said aloud, 'is like a Wonder House. Where is my -bed?' - -Lurgan Sahib pointed to a native quilt in a corner by the loathsome -masks, picked up the lamp, and left the room black. - -'Was that Lurgan Sahib?' Kim asked as he cuddled down. No answer. -He could hear the Hindu boy breathing, however, and, guided by the -sound, crawled across the floor, and cuffed into the darkness, -crying: 'Give answer, devil! Is this the way to lie to a Sahib?' - -From the darkness he fancied he could hear the echo of a chuckle. -It could not be his soft-fleshed companion, because he was weeping. -So Kim lifted up his voice and called aloud: - -'Lurgan Sahib! O Lurgan Sahib! Is it an order that thy servant does -not speak to me?' - -'It is an order.' The voice came from behind him and he started. - -'Very good. But remember,' he muttered, as he resought the quilt, -'I will beat thee in the morning. I do not love Hindus.' - - -That was no cheerful night; the room being overfull of voices and -music. Kim was waked twice by someone calling his name. The second -time he set out in search, and ended by bruising his nose against a -box that certainly spoke with a human tongue, but in no sort of -human accent. It seemed to end in a tin trumpet and to be joined by -wires to a smaller box on the floor - so far, at least, as he could -judge by touch. And the voice, very hard and whirring, came out of -the trumpet. Kim rubbed his nose and grew furious, thinking, as -usual, in Hindi. - -'This with a beggar from the bazar might be good, but - I am a -Sahib and the son of a Sahib and, whichis twice as much more -beside, a student of Nucklao. Yess' (here he turned to English), -'a boy of St Xavier's. Damn Mr Lurgan's eyes! - It is some sort of -machinery like a sewing-machine. Oh, it is a great cheek of him - -we are not frightened that way at Lucknow - No!' Then in Hindi: -'But what does he gain? He is only a trader - I am in his -shop. But Creighton Sahib is a Colonel - and I think Creighton -Sahib gave orders that it should be done. How I will beat that -Hindu in the morning! What is this?' - -The trumpet-box was pouring out a string of the most elaborate -abuse that even Kim had ever heard, in a high uninterested voice, -that for a moment lifted the short hairs of his neck. When the vile -thing drew breath, Kim was reassured by the soft, sewing-machine- -like whirr. - -'Chup! [Be still)' he cried, and again he heard a chuckle that -decided him. 'Chup - or I break your head.' - -The box took no heed. Kim wrenched at the tin trumpet and something -lifted with a click. He had evidently raised a lid. If there were a -devil inside, now was its time, for - he sniffed -thus did the -sewing-machines of the bazar smell. He would clean that shaitan. He -slipped off his jacket, and plunged it into the box's mouth. -Something long and round bent under the pressure, there was a whirr -and the voice stopped - as voices must if you ram a thrice-doubled -coat on to the wax cylinder and into the works of an expensive -phonograph. Kim finished his slumbers with a serene mind. - -In the morning he was aware of Lurgan Sahib looking down on him. - -'Oah!' said Kim, firmly resolved to cling to his Sahib-dom. 'There -was a box in the night that gave me bad talk. So I stopped it. Was -it your box?' - -The man held out his hand. - -'Shake hands, O'Hara,' he said. 'Yes, it was my box. I keep such -things because my friends the Rajahs like them. That one is broken, -but it was cheap at the price. Yes, my friends, the Kings, are very -fond of toys - and so am I sometimes.' - -Kim looked him over out of the corners of his eyes. He was a Sahib -in that he wore Sahib's clothes; the accent of his Urdu, the -intonation of his English, showed that he was anything but a Sahib. -He seemed to understand what moved in Kim's mind ere the boy opened -his mouth, and he took no pains to explain himself as did Father -Victor or the Lucknow masters. Sweetest of all - he treated Kim as -an equal on the Asiatic side. - -'I am sorry you cannot beat my boy this morning. He says he will -kill you with a knife or poison. He is jealous, so I have put him -in the corner and I shall not speak to him today. He has just tried -to kill me. You must help me with the breakfast. He is almost too -jealous to trust, just now.' - -Now a genuine imported Sahib from England would have made a great -to-do over this tale. Lurgan Sahib stated it as simply as Mahbub -Ali was used to record his little affairs in the North. - -The back veranda of the shop was built out over the sheer hillside, -and they looked down into their neighbours' chimney-pots, as is the -custom of Simla. But even more than the purely Persian meal cooked -by Lurgan Sahib with his own hands, the shop fascinated Kim. The -Lahore Museum was larger, but here were more wonders - ghost- -daggers and prayer-wheels from Tibet; turquoise and raw amber -necklaces; green jade bangles; curiously packed incense-sticks in -jars crusted over with raw garnets; the devil-masks of overnight -and a wall full of peacock-blue draperies; gilt figures of Buddha, -and little portable lacquer altars; Russian samovars with -turquoises on the lid; egg-shell china sets in quaint octagonal -cane boxes; yellow ivory crucifixes - from Japan of all places in -the world, so Lurgan Sahib said; carpets in dusty bales, smelling -atrociously, pushed back behind torn and rotten screens of -geometrical work; Persian water-jugs for the hands after meals; -dull copper incense-burners neither Chinese nor Persian, with -friezes of fantastic devils running round them; tarnished silver -belts that knotted like raw hide; hairpins of jade, ivory, and -plasma; arms of all sorts and kinds, and a thousand other oddments -were cased, or piled, or merely thrown into the room, leaving a -clear space only round the rickety deal table, where Lurgan Sahib -worked. - -'Those things are nothing,' said his host, following Kim's glance. -'I buy them because they are pretty, and sometimes I sell - if I -like the buyer's look. My work is on the table - some of it.' - -It blazed in the morning light - all red and blue and green -flashes, picked out with the vicious blue-white spurt of a diamond -here and there. Kim opened his eyes. - -'Oh, they are quite well, those stones. It will not hurt them to -take the sun. Besides, they are cheap. But with sick stones it is -very different.' He piled Kim's plate anew. 'There is no one but me -can doctor a sick pearl and re-blue turquoises. I grant you opals - -any fool can cure an opal - but for a sick pearl there is only me. -Suppose I were to die! Then there would be no one ... Oh no! You -cannot do anything with jewels. It will be quite enough if you -understand a little about the Turquoise - some day.' - -He moved to the end of the veranda to refill the heavy, porous clay -water-jug from the filter. - -'Do you want drink?' - -Kim nodded. Lurgan Sahib, fifteen feet off, laid one hand on the -jar. Next instant, it stood at Kim's elbow, full to within half an -inch of the brim - the white cloth only showing, by a small -wrinkle, where it had slid into place. - -'Wah!' said Kim in most utter amazement. 'That is magic.' Lurgan -Sahib's smile showed that the compliment had gone home. - -'Throw it back.' - -'It will break.' - -'I say, throw it back.' - -Kim pitched it at random. It fell short and crashed into fifty -pieces, while the water dripped through the rough veranda boarding. - -'I said it would break.' - -'All one. Look at it. Look at the largest piece.' - -That lay with a sparkle of water in its curve, as it were a star on -the floor. Kim looked intently. Lurgan Sahib laid one hand gently -on the nape of his neck, stroked it twice or thrice, and whispered: -'Look! It shall come to life again, piece by piece. First the big -piece shall join itself to two others on the right and the left - -on the right and the left. Look!' - -To save his life, Kim could not have turned his head. The light -touch held him as in a vice, and his blood tingled pleasantly -through him. There was one large piece of the jar where there had -been three, and above them the shadowy outline of the entire -vessel. He could see the veranda through it, but it was thickening -and darkening with each beat of his pulse. Yet the jar - how slowly -the thoughts came! - the jar had been smashed before his eyes. -Another wave of prickling fire raced down his neck, as Lurgan Sahib -moved his hand. - -'Look! It is coming into shape,' said Lurgan Sahib. - -So far Kim had been thinking in Hindi, but a tremor came on him, -and with an effort like that of a swimmer before sharks, who hurls -himself half out of the water, his mind leaped up from a darkness -that was swallowing it and took refuge in - the multiplication- -table in English! - -'Look! It is coming into shape,' whispered Lurgan Sahib. - -The jar had been smashed - yess, smashed - not the native word, he -would not think of that - but smashed - into fifty pieces, and -twice three was six, and thrice three was nine, and four times -three was twelve. He clung desperately to the repetition. The -shadow-outline of the jar cleared like a mist after rubbing eyes. -There were the broken shards; there was the spilt water drying in -the sun, and through the cracks of the veranda showed, all ribbed, -the white house-wall below - and thrice twelve was thirty-six! - -'Look! Is it coming into shape?' asked Lurgan Sahib. - -'But it is smashed - smashed,' he gasped - Lurgan Sahib had been -muttering softly for the last half-minute. Kim wrenched his head -aside. 'Look! Dekho! It is there as it was there.' - -'It is there as it was there,' said Lurgan, watching Kim closely -while the boy rubbed his neck. 'But you are the first of many who -has ever seen it so.' He wiped his broad forehead. - -'Was that more magic?' Kim asked suspiciously. The tingle had gone -from his veins; he felt unusually wide awake. - -'No, that was not magic. It was only to see if there was - a flaw -in a jewel. Sometimes very fine jewels will fly all to pieces if a -man holds them in his hand, and knows the proper way. That is why -one must be careful before one sets them. Tell me, did you see the -shape of the pot?' - -'For a little time. It began to grow like a flower from the -ground.' - -'And then what did you do? I mean, how did you think?' - -'Oah! I knew it was broken, and so, I think, that was what I -thought - and it was broken.' - -'Hm! Has anyone ever done that same sort of magic to you before?' - -'If it was,' said Kim 'do you think I should let it again? I should -run away.' - -'And now you are not afraid - eh?' - -'Not now.' - -Lurgan Sahib looked at him more closely than ever. 'I shall ask -Mahbub Ali - not now, but some day later,' he muttered. 'I am -pleased with you - yes; and I am pleased with you - no. You are the -first that ever saved himself. I wish I knew what it was that ... -But you are right. You should not tell that - not even to me.' - -He turned into the dusky gloom of the shop, and sat down at the -table, rubbing his hands softly. A small, husky sob came from -behind a pile of carpets. It was the Hindu child obediently facing -towards the wall. His thin shoulders worked with grief. - -'Ah! He is jealous, so jealous. I wonder if he will try to poison -me again in my breakfast, and make me cook it twice. - -'Kubbee - kubbee nahin [Never - never. No!]', came the broken -answer. - -'And whether he will kill this other boy?' - - -'Kubbee - kubbee nahin.' - -'What do you think he will do?' He turned suddenly on Kim. - -'Oah! I do not know. Let him go, perhaps. Why did he want to poison -you?' - -'Because he is so fond of me. Suppose you were fond of someone, and -you saw someone come, and the man you were fond of was more pleased -with him than he was with you, what would you do?' - -Kim thought. Lurgan repeated the sentence slowly in the vernacular. -'I should not poison that man,' said Kim reflectively, 'but I -should beat that boy - if that boy was fond of my man. But first, I -would ask that boy if it were true.' - -'Ah! He thinks everyone must be fond of me.' - -'Then I think he is a fool.' - -'Hearest thou?' said Lurgan Sahib to the shaking shoulders. 'The -Sahib's son thinks thou art a little fool. Come out, and next time -thy heart is troubled, do not try white arsenic quite so openly. -Surely the Devil Dasim was lord of our table-cloth that day! It -might have made me ill, child, and then a stranger would have -guarded the jewels. Come!' - -The child, heavy-eyed with much weeping, crept out from behind the -bale and flung himself passionately at Lurgan Sahib's feet, with an -extravagance of remorse that impressed even Kim. - -'I will look into the ink-pools - I will faithfully guard the -jewels! Oh, my Father and my Mother, send him away!' He indicated -Kim with a backward jerk of his bare heel. - -'Not yet - not yet. In a little while he will go away again. But -now he is at school - at a new madrissah - and thou shalt be his -teacher. Play the Play of the Jewels against him. I will keep -tally.' - -The child dried his tears at once, and dashed to the back of the -shop, whence he returned with a copper tray. - -'Give me!' he said to Lurgan Sahib. 'Let them come from thy hand, -for he may say that I knew them before.' - -'Gently - gently,' the man replied, and from a drawer under the -table dealt a half-handful of clattering trifles into the tray. - -'Now,' said the child, waving an old newspaper. 'Look on them as -long as thou wilt, stranger. Count and, if need be, handle. One -look is enough for me.' He turned his back proudly. - -'But what is the game?' - -'When thou hast counted and handled and art sure that thou canst -remember them all, I cover them with this paper, and thou must tell -over the tally to Lurgan Sahib. I will write mine.' - -'Oah!' The instinct of competition waked in his breast. He bent -over the tray. There were but fifteen stones on it. 'That is easy,' -he said after a minute. The child slipped the paper over the -winking jewels and scribbled in a native account-book. - -'There are under that paper five blue stones - one big, one -smaller, and three small,' said Kim, all in haste. 'There are four -green stones, and one with a hole in it; there is one yellow stone -that I can see through, and one like a pipe-stem. There are two red -stones, and - and - I made the count fifteen, but two I have -forgotten. No! Give me time. One was of ivory, little and brownish; -and - and - give me time...' - -'One - two' - Lurgan Sahib counted him out up to ten. Kim shook his -head. - -'Hear my count!' the child burst in, trilling with laughter. -'First, are two flawed sapphires - one of two ruttees and one of -four as I should judge. The four-ruttee sapphire is chipped at the -edge. There is one Turkestan turquoise, plain with black veins, and -there are two inscribed - one with a Name of God in gilt, and the -other being cracked across, for it came out of an old ring, I -cannot read. We have now all five blue stones. Four flawed emeralds -there are, but one is drilled in two places, and one is a little -carven-' - -'Their weights?' said Lurgan Sahib impassively. - -'Three - five - five - and four ruttees as I judge it. There is one -piece of old greenish pipe amber, and a cut topaz from Europe. -There is one ruby of Burma, of two ruttees, without a flaw, and -there is a balas-ruby, flawed, of two ruttees. There is a carved -ivory from China representing a rat sucking an egg; and there is -last - ah ha! - a ball of crystal as big as a bean set on a gold -leaf.' - -He clapped his hands at the close. - -'He is thy master,' said Lurgan Sahib, smiling. - -'Huh! He knew the names of the stones,' said Kim, flushing. 'Try -again! With common things such as he and I both know.' - -They heaped the tray again with odds and ends gathered from the -shop, and even the kitchen, and every time the child won, till Kim -marvelled. - -'Bind my eyes - let me feel once with my fingers, and even then I -will leave thee opened-eyed behind,' he challenged. - -Kim stamped with vexation when the lad made his boast good. - -'If it were men - or horses,' he said, 'I could do better. This -playing with tweezers and knives and scissors is too little.' - -'Learn first - teach later,' said Lurgan Sahib. 'Is he thy master?' - -'Truly. But how is it done?' - -'By doing it many times over till it is done perfectly - for it is -worth doing.' - -The Hindu boy, in highest feather, actually patted Kim on the back. - -'Do not despair,' he said. 'I myself will teach thee.' - -'And I will see that thou art well taught,' said Lurgan Sahib, -still speaking in the vernacular, 'for except my boy here - it was -foolish of him to buy so much white arsenic when, if he had asked, -I could have given it - except my boy here I have not in a long -time met with one better worth teaching. And there are ten days -more ere thou canst return to Lucknao where they teach nothing - at -the long price. We shall, I think, be friends.' - -They were a most mad ten days, but Kim enjoyed himself too much to -reflect on their craziness. In the morning they played the Jewel -Game - sometimes with veritable stones, sometimes with piles of -swords and daggers, sometimes with photo-graphs of natives. Through -the afternoons he and the Hindu boy would mount guard in the shop, -sitting dumb behind a carpet-bale or a screen and watching Mr -Lurgan's many and very curious visitors. There were small Rajahs, -escorts coughing in the veranda, who came to buy curiosities - such -as phonographs and mechanical toys. There were ladies in search of -necklaces, and men, it seemed to Kim - but his mind may have been -vitiated by early training - in search of the ladies; natives from -independent and feudatory Courts whose ostensible business was the -repair of broken necklaces - rivers of light poured out upon the -table - but whose true end seemed to be to raise money for angry -Maharanees or young Rajahs. There were Babus to whom Lurgan Sahib -talked with austerity and authority, but at the end of each -interview he gave them money in coined silver and currency notes. -There were occasional gatherings of long-coated theatrical natives -who discussed metaphysics in English and Bengali, to Mr Lurgan's -great edification. He was always interested in religions. At the -end of the day, Kim and the Hindu boy - whose name varied at -Lurgan's pleasure - were expected to give a detailed account of all -that they had seen and heard - their view of each man's character, -as shown in his face, talk, and manner, and their notions of his -real errand. After dinner, Lurgan Sahib's fancy turned more to what -might be called dressing-up, in which game he took a most informing -interest. He could paint faces to a marvel; with a brush-dab here -and a line there changing them past recognition. The shop was full -of all manner of dresses and turbans, and Kim was apparelled -variously as a young Mohammedan of good family, an oilman, and once -- which was a joyous evening - as the son of an Oudh landholder in -the fullest of full dress. Lurgan Sahib had a hawk's eye to detect -the least flaw in the make-up; and lying on a worn teak-wood couch, -would explain by the half-hour together how such and such a caste -talked, or walked, or coughed, or spat, or sneezed, and, since -'hows' matter little in this world, the 'why' of everything. The -Hindu child played this game clumsily. That little mind, keen as an -icicle where tally of jewels was concerned, could not temper itself -to enter another's soul; but a demon in Kim woke up and sang with -joy as he put on the changing dresses, and changed speech and -gesture therewith. - -Carried away by enthusiasm, he volunteered to show Lurgan Sahib one -evening how the disciples of a certain caste of fakir, old Lahore -acquaintances, begged doles by the roadside; and what sort of -language he would use to an Englishman, to a Punjabi farmer going -to a fair, and to a woman without a veil. Lurgan Sahib laughed -immensely, and begged Kim to stay as he was, immobile for half an -hour - cross-legged, ash-smeared, and wild-eyed, in the back room. -At the end of that time entered a hulking, obese Babu whose -stockinged legs shook with fat, and Kim opened on him with a shower -of wayside chaff. Lurgan Sahib - this annoyed Kim - watched the -Babu and not the play. - -'I think,' said the Babu heavily, lighting a cigarette, 'I am of -opeenion that it is most extraordinary and effeecient performance. -Except that you had told me I should have opined that- that- that -you were pulling my legs. How soon can he become approximately -effeecient chain-man? Because then I shall indent for him.' - -'That is what he must learn at Lucknow.' - -'Then order him to be jolly-dam'-quick. Good-night, Lurgan.' The -Babu swung out with the gait of a bogged cow. - -When they were telling over the day's list of visitors, Lurgan -Sahib asked Kim who he thought the man might be. - -'God knows!' said Kim cheerily. The tone might almost have deceived -Mahbub Ali, but it failed entirely with the healer of sick pearls. - -'That is true. God, He knows; but I wish to know what you think.' - -Kim glanced sideways at his companion, whose eye had a way of -compelling truth. - -'I - I think he will want me when I come from the school, but' - -confidentially, as Lurgan Sahib nodded approval - 'I do not -understand how he can wear many dresses and talk many tongues.' - -'Thou wilt understand many things later. He is a writer of tales -for a certain Colonel. His honour is great only in Simla, and it is -noticeable that he has no name, but only a number and a letter - -that is a custom among us.' - -'And is there a price upon his head too - as upon Mah - all the -others?' - -'Not yet; but if a boy rose up who is now sitting here and went - -look, the door is open! - as far as a certain house with a red- -painted veranda, behind that which was the old theatre in the Lower -Bazar, and whispered through the shutters: "Hurree Chunder -Mookerjee bore the bad news of last month", that boy might take -away a belt full of rupees.' - -'How many?' said Kim promptly. - -'Five hundred - a thousand - as many as he might ask for.' - -'Good. And for how long might such a boy live after the news was -told?' He smiled merrily at Lurgan's Sahib's very beard. - -'Ah! That is to be well thought of. Perhaps if he were very clever, -he might live out the day - but not the night. By no means the -night.' - -'Then what is the Babu's pay if so much is put upon his head?' - -'Eighty - perhaps a hundred - perhaps a hundred and fifty rupees; -but the pay is the least part of the work. From time to time, -God causes men to be born - and thou art one of them -who have a -lust to go abroad at the risk of their lives and discover news - -today it may be of far-off things, tomorrow of some hidden mountain, -and the next day of some near-by men who have done a foolishness -against the State. These souls are very few; and of these few, not -more than ten are of the best. Among these ten I count the Babu, -and that is curious. How great, therefore, and desirable must be a -business that brazens the heart of a Bengali!' - -'True. But the days go slowly for me. I am yet a boy, and it is only -within two months I learned to write Angrezi. Even now I cannot -read it well. And there are yet years and years and long years -before I can be even a chain-man.' - -'Have patience, Friend of all the World' - Kim started at the title. -'Would I had a few of the years that so irk thee. I have proved thee -in several small ways. This will not be forgotten when I make my -report to the Colonel Sahib.' Then, changing suddenly into English -with a deep laugh: - -'By Jove! O'Hara, I think there is a great deal in you; but you must -not become proud and you must not talk. You must go back to Lucknow -and be a good little boy and mind your book, as the English say, and -perhaps, next holidays if you care, you can come back to me!' Kim's -face fell. 'Oh, I mean if you like. I know where you want to go.' - -Four days later a seat was booked for Kim and his small trunk at the -rear of a Kalka tonga. His companion was the whale-like Babu, who, -with a fringed shawl wrapped round his head, and his fat openwork- -stockinged left leg tucked under him, shivered and grunted in the -morning chill. - -'How comes it that this man is one of us?' thought Kim considering -the jelly back as they jolted down the road; and the reflection -threw him into most pleasant day-dreams. Lurgan Sahib had given him -five rupees - a splendid sum - as well as the assurance of his -protection if he worked. Unlike Mahbub, Lurgan Sahib had spoken most -explicitly of the reward that would follow obedience, and Kim was -content. If only, like the Babu, he could enjoy the dignity of a -letter and a number - and a price upon his head! Some day he would -be all that and more. Some day he might be almost as great as Mahbub -Ali! The housetops of his search should be half India; he would -follow Kings and Ministers, as in the old days he had followed -vakils and lawyers' touts across Lahore city for Mahbub Ali's sake. -Meantime, there was the present, and not at all unpleasant, fact of -St Xavier's immediately before him. There would be new boys to -condescend to, and there would be tales of holiday adventures to -hear. Young Martin, son of the tea-planter at Manipur, had boasted -that he would go to war, with a rifle, against the head-hunters. - -That might be, but it was certain young Martin had not been blown -half across the forecourt of a Patiala palace by an explosion of -fireworks; nor had he... Kim fell to telling himself the story of -his own adventures through the last three months. He could paralyse -St Xavier's - even the biggest boys who shaved - with the recital, -were that permitted. But it was, of course, out of the question. -There would be a price upon his head in good time, as Lurgan Sahib -had assured him; and if he talked foolishly now, not only would that -price never be set, but Colonel Creighton would cast him off - and -he would be left to the wrath of Lurgan Sahib and Mahbub Ali - for -the short space of life that would remain to him. - -'So I should lose Delhi for the sake of a fish,' was his proverbial -philosophy. It behoved him to forget his holidays (there would -always remain the fun of inventing imaginary adventures) and, as -Lurgan Sahib had said, to work. Of all the boys hurrying back to St -Xavier's, from Sukkur in the sands to Galle beneath the palms, none -was so filled with virtue as Kimball O'Hara, jiggeting down to -Umballa behind Hurree Chunder Mookerjee, whose name on the books of -one section of the Ethnological Survey was R.17. - -And if additional spur were needed, the Babu supplied it. After a -huge meal at Kalka, he spoke uninterruptedly. Was Kim going to -school? Then he, an M A of Calcutta University, would explain the -advantages of education. There were marks to be gained by due -attention to Latin and Wordsworth's Excursion (all this was Greek to -Kim). French, too was vital, and the best was to be picked up in -Chandernagore a few miles from Calcutta. Also a man might go far, as -he himself had done, by strict attention to plays called Lear and -Julius Caesar, both much in demand by examiners. Lear was not so -full of historical allusions as Julius Caesar; the book cost four -annas, but could be bought second-hand in Bow Bazar for two. Still -more important than Wordsworth, or the eminent authors, Burke and -Hare, was the art and science of mensuration. A boy who had passed -his examination in these branches - for which, by the way, there -were no cram-books - could, by merely marching over a country with a -compass and a level and a straight eye, carry away a picture of that -country which might be sold for large sums in coined silver. But as -it was occasionally inexpedient to carry about measuring-chains a -boy would do well to know the precise length of his own foot-pace, -so that when he was deprived of what Hurree Chunder called -adventitious aids' he might still tread his distances. To keep count -of thousands of paces, Hurree Chunder's experience had shown him -nothing more valuable than a rosary of eighty-one or a hundred and -eight beads, for 'it was divisible and sub-divisible into many -multiples and sub-multiples'. Through the volleying drifts of -English, Kim caught the general trend of the talk, and it interested -him very much. Here was a new craft that a man could tuck away in -his head and by the look of the large wide world unfolding itself -before him, it seemed that the more a man knew the better for him. - -Said the Babu when he had talked for an hour and a half 'I hope some -day to enjoy your offeecial acquaintance. Ad interim, if I may be -pardoned that expression, I shall give you this betel-box, which is -highly valuable article and cost me two rupees only four years ago.' -It was a cheap, heart-shaped brass thing with three compartments for -carrying the eternal betel-nut, lime and pan-leaf; but it was filled -with little tabloid-bottles. 'That is reward of merit for your -performance in character of that holy man. You see, you are so young -you think you will last for ever and not take care of your body. It -is great nuisance to go sick in the middle of business. I am fond of -drugs myself, and they are handy to cure poor people too. These are -good Departmental drugs - quinine and so on. I give it you for -souvenir. Now good-bye. I have urgent private business here by the -roadside.' - -He slipped out noiselessly as a cat, on the Umballa road, hailed a -passing cart and jingled away, while Kim, tongue-tied, twiddled the -brass betel-box in his hands. - -The record of a boy's education interests few save his parents, and, -as you know, Kim was an orphan. It is written in the books of St -Xavier's in Partibus that a report of Kim's progress was forwarded -at the end of each term to Colonel Creighton and to Father Victor, -from whose hands duly came the money for his schooling. It is -further recorded in the same books that he showed a great aptitude -for mathematical studies as well as map-making, and carried away a -prize (The Life of Lord Lawrence, tree-calf, two vols., nine rupees, -eight annas) for proficiency therein; and the same term played in St -Xavier's eleven against the Alighur Mohammedan College, his age -being fourteen years and ten months. He was also re-vaccinated (from -which we may assume that there had been another epidemic of smallpox -at Lucknow) about the same time. Pencil notes on the edge of an old -muster-roll record that he was punished several times for -'conversing with improper persons', and it seems that he was once -sentenced to heavy pains for 'absenting himself for a day in the -company of a street beggar'. That was when he got over the gate and -pleaded with the lama through a whole day down the banks of the -Gumti to accompany him on the Road next holidays - for one month - -for a little week; and the lama set his face as a flint against it, -averring that the time had not yet come. Kim's business, said the -old man as they ate cakes together, was to get all the wisdom of the -Sahibs and then he would see. The Hand of Friendship must in some -way have averted the Whip of Calamity, for six weeks later Kim seems -to have passed an examination in elementary surveying 'with great -credit', his age being fifteen years and eight months. From this -date the record is silent. His name does not appear in the year's -batch of those who entered for the subordinate Survey of India, but -against it stand the words 'removed on appointment. - -Several times in those three years, cast up at the Temple of the -Tirthankars in Benares the lama, a little thinner and a shade -yellower, if that were possible, but gentle and untainted as ever. -Sometimes it was from the South that he came - from south of -Tuticorin, whence the wonderful fire-boats go to Ceylon where are -priests who know Pali; sometimes it was from the wet green West and -the thousand cotton-factory chimneys that ring Bombay; and once from -the North, where he had doubled back eight hundred miles to talk for -a day with the Keeper of the Images in the Wonder House. He would -stride to his cell in the cool, cut marble - the priests of the -Temple were good to the old man, - wash off the dust of travel, make -prayer, and depart for Lucknow, well accustomed now to the way of -the rail, in a third-class carriage. Returning, it was noticeable, -as his friend the Seeker pointed out to the head-priest, that he -ceased for a while to mourn the loss of his River, or to draw -wondrous pictures of the Wheel of Life, but preferred to talk of the -beauty and wisdom of a certain mysterious chela whom no man of the -Temple had ever seen. Yes, he had followed the traces of the Blessed -Feet throughout all India. (The Curator has still in his possession -a most marvellous account of his wanderings and meditations.) There -remained nothing more in life but to find the River of the Arrow. -Yet it was shown to him in dreams that it was a matter not to be -undertaken with any hope of success unless that seeker had with him -the one chela appointed to bring the event to a happy issue, and -versed in great wisdom - such wisdom as white-haired Keepers of -Images possess. For example (here came out the snuff-gourd, and the -kindly Jain priests made haste to be silent): - -'Long and long ago, when Devadatta was King of Benares -let all -listen to theTataka! - an elephant was captured for a time by the -king's hunters and ere he broke free, beringed with a grievous -legiron. This he strove to remove with hate and frenzy in his heart, -and hurrying up and down the forests, besought his brother-elephants -to wrench it asunder. One by one, with their strong trunks, they -tried and failed. At the last they gave it as their opinion that the -ring was not to be broken by any bestial power. And in a thicket, -new-born, wet with moisture of birth, lay a day-old calf of the herd -whose mother had died. The fettered elephant, forgetting his own -agony, said: "If I do not help this suckling it will perish under -our feet." So he stood above the young thing, making his legs -buttresses against the uneasily moving herd; and he begged milk of a -virtuous cow, and the calf throve, and the ringed elephant was the -calf's guide and defence. Now the days of an elephant - let all -listen to the Tataka! - are thirty-five years to his full strength, -and through thirty-five Rains the ringed elephant befriended the -younger, and all the while the fetter ate into the flesh. - -'Then one day the young elephant saw the half-buried iron, and -turning to the elder said: "What is this?" "It is even my sorrow," -said he who had befriended him. Then that other put out his trunk -and in the twinkling of an eyelash abolished the ring, saying: "The -appointed time has come." So the virtuous elephant who had waited -temperately and done kind acts was relieved, at the appointed time, -by the very calf whom he had turned aside to cherish - let all -listen to the Tataka! for the Elephant was Ananda, and the Calf -that broke the ring was none other than The Lord Himself...' - -Then he would shake his head benignly, and over the ever-clicking -rosary point out how free that elephant-calf was from the sin of -pride. He was as humble as a chela who, seeing his master sitting in -the dust outside the Gates of Learning, over-leapt the gates (though -they were locked) and took his master to his heart in the presence -of the proud-stomached city. Rich would be the reward of such a -master and such a chela when the time came for them to seek freedom -together! - -So did the lama speak, coming and going across India as softly as a -bat. A sharp-tongued old woman in a house among the fruit-trees -behind Saharunpore honoured him as the woman honoured the prophet, -but his chamber was by no means upon the wall. In an apartment of -the forecourt overlooked by cooing doves he would sit, while she -laid aside her useless veil and chattered of spirits and fiends of -Kulu, of grandchildren unborn, and of the free-tongued brat who had -talked to her in the resting-place. Once, too, he strayed alone from -the Grand Trunk Road below Umballa to the very village whose priest -had tried to drug him; but the kind Heaven that guards lamas sent -him at twilight through the crops, absorbed and unsuspicious, to the -Rissaldar's door. Here was like to have been a grave -misunderstanding, for the old soldier asked him why the Friend of -the Stars had gone that way only six days before. - -'That may not be,' said the lama. 'He has gone back to his own -people.' - -'He sat in that corner telling a hundred merry tales five nights -ago,' his host insisted. 'True, he vanished somewhat suddenly in the -dawn after foolish talk with my granddaughter. He grows apace, but -he is the same Friend of the Stars as brought me true word of the -war. Have ye parted?' - -'Yes - and no,' the lama replied. 'We - we have not altogether -parted, but the time is not ripe that we should take the Road -together. He acquires wisdom in another place. We must wait.' - -'All one - but if it were not the boy how did he come to speak so -continually of thee?' - -'And what said he?' asked the lama eagerly. - -'Sweet words - an hundred thousand - that thou art his father and -mother and such all. Pity that he does not take the Qpeen's service. -He is fearless.' - -This news amazed the lama, who did not then know how religiously Kim -kept to the contract made with Mahbub Ali, and perforce ratified by -Colonel Creighton... - -'There is no holding the young pony from the game,' said the horse- -dealer when the Colonel pointed out that vagabonding over India in -holiday time was absurd. 'If permission be refused to go and come as -he chooses, he will make light of the refusal. Then who is to catch -him? Colonel Sahib, only once in a thousand years is a horse born so -well fitted for the game as this our colt. And we need men.' - - - - - -Chapter 10 - - -Your tiercel's too long at hack, Sire. He's no eyass -But a passage-hawk that footed ere we caught him, -Dangerously free o' the air. Faith! were he mine -(As mine's the glove he binds to for his tirings) -I'd fly him with a make-hawk. He's in yarak -Plumed to the very point - so manned, so weathered ... -Give him the firmament God made him for, -And what shall take the air of him? - -Gow's Watch - - - -Lurgan Sahib did not use as direct speech, but his advice tallied -with Mahbub's; and the upshot was good for Kim. He knew better now -than to leave Lucknow city in native garb, and if Mahbub were -anywhere within reach of a letter, it was to Mahbub's camp he -headed, and made his change under the Pathan's wary eye. Could -the little Survey paint-box that he used for map-tinting in term- -time have found a tongue to tell of holiday doings, he might have -been expelled. Once Mahbub and he went together as far as the -beautiful city of Bombay, with three truckloads of tram-horses, and -Mahbub nearly melted when Kim proposed a sail in a dhow across the -Indian Ocean to buy Gulf Arabs, which, he understood from a hanger- -on of the dealer Abdul Rahman, fetched better prices than mere -Kabulis. - -He dipped his hand into the dish with that great trader when Mahbub -and a few co-religionists were invited to a big Haj dinner. They -came back by way of Karachi by sea, when Kim took his first -experience of sea-sickness sitting on the fore-hatch of a coasting- -steamer, well persuaded he had been poisoned. The Babu's famous -drug-box proved useless, though Kim had restocked it at Bombay. -Mahbub had business at Quetta, and there Kim, as Mahbub admitted, -earned his keep, and perhaps a little over, by spending four curious -days as scullion in the house of a fat Commissariat sergeant, from -whose office-box, in an auspicious moment, he removed a little -vellum ledger which he copied out - it seemed to deal entirely with -cattle and camel sales - by moonlight, lying behind an outhouse, all -through one hot night. Then he returned the ledger to its place, -and, at Mahbub's word, left that service unpaid, rejoining him six -miles down the road, the clean copy in his bosom. - -'That soldier is a small fish,' Mahbub Ali explained, 'but in time -we shall catch the larger one. He only sells oxen at two prices - -one for himself and one for the Government which I do not think is -a sin.' - -'Why could not I take away the little book and be done with it?' - -Then he would have been frightened, and he would have told his -master. Then we should miss, perhaps, a great number of new rifles -which seek their way up from Quetta to the North. The Game is so -large that one sees but a little at a time.' - -'Oho!' said Kim, and held his tongue. That was in the monsoon -holidays, after he had taken the prize for mathematics. The -Christmas holidays he spent - deducting ten days for private -amusements - with Lurgan Sahib, where he sat for the most part in -front of a roaring wood-fire - Jakko road was four feet deep in snow -that year - and - the small Hindu had gone away to be married - -helped Lurgan to thread pearls. He made Kim learn whole chapters of -the Koran by heart, till he could deliver them with the very roll -and cadence of a mullah. Moreover, he told Kim the names and -properties of many native drugs, as well as the runes proper to -recite when you administer them. And in the evenings he wrote charms -on parchment - elaborate pentagrams crowned with the names of devils -- Murra, and Awan the Companion of Kings - all fantastically written -in the corners. More to the point, he advised Kim as to the care of -his own body, the cure of fever-fits, and simple remedies of the -Road. A week before it was time to go down, Colonel Creighton Sahib -- this was unfair - sent Kim a written examination paper that -concerned itself solely with rods and chains and links and angles. - -Next holidays he was out with Mahbub, and here, by the way, he -nearly died of thirst, plodding through the sand on a camel to the -mysterious city of Bikanir, where the wells are four hundred feet -deep, and lined throughout with camel-bone. It was not an amusing -trip from Kim's point of view, because - in defiance of the contract -- the Colonel ordered him to make a map of that wild, walled city; -and since Mohammedan horse-boys and pipe-tenders are not expected to -drag Survey-chains round the capital of an independent Native State, -Kim was forced to pace all his distances by means of a bead rosary. -He used the compass for bearings as occasion served - after dark -chiefly, when the camels had been fed - and by the help of his -little Survey paint-box of six colour-cakes and three brushes, he -achieved something not remotely unlike the city of Jeysulmir. Mahbub -laughed a great deal, and advised him to make up a written report as -well; and in the back of the big account-book that lay under the -flap of Mahbub's pet saddle Kim fell to work.. - -'It must hold everything that thou hast seen or touched or -considered. Write as though the Jung-i-Lat Sahib himself had come by -stealth with a vast army outsetting to war.' - -'How great an army?' - -'Oh, half a lakh of men.' - -'Folly! Remember how few and bad were the wells in the sand. Not a -thousand thirsty men could come near by here.' - -'Then write that down - also all the old breaches in the walls and -whence the firewood is cut - and what is the temper and disposition -of the King. I stay here till all my horses are sold. I will hire a -room by the gateway, and thou shalt be my accountant. There is a -good lock to the door.' - -The report in its unmistakable St Xavier's running script, and the -brown, yellow, and lake-daubed map, was on hand a few years ago (a -careless clerk filed it with the rough notes of E's second Seistan -survey), but by now the pencil characters must be almost illegible. -Kim translated it, sweating under the light of an oil-lamp, to -Mahbub, the second day of their return-journey. - -The Pathan rose and stooped over his dappled saddle-bags. - -'I knew it would be worthy a dress of honour, and so I made one -ready,' he said, smiling. 'Were I Amir of Afghanistan (and some day -we may see him), I would fill thy mouth with gold.' He laid the -garments formally at Kim's feet. There was a gold-embroidered -Peshawur turban-cap, rising to a cone, and a big turban-cloth ending -in a broad fringe of gold. There was a Delhi embroidered waistcoat -to slip over a milky white shirt, fastening to the right, ample and -flowing; green pyjamas with twisted silk waist-string; and that -nothing might be lacking, russia-leather slippers, smelling -divinely, with arrogantly curled tips. - -'Upon a Wednesday, and in the morning, to put on new clothes is -auspicious,' said Mahbub solemnly. 'But we must not forget the -wicked folk in the world. So!' - -He capped all the splendour, that was taking Kim's delighted breath -away, with a mother-of-pearl, nickel-plated, self-extracting .450 -revolver. - -'I had thought of a smaller bore, but reflected that this takes -Government bullets. A man can always come by those - especially -across the Border. Stand up and let me look.' He clapped Kim on the -shoulder. 'May you never be tired, Pathan! Oh, the hearts to be -broken! Oh, the eyes under the eyelashes, looking sideways!' - -Kim turned about, pointed his toes, stretched, and felt mechanically -for the moustache that was just beginning. Then he stooped towards -Mahbub's feet to make proper acknowledgment with fluttering, quick- -patting hands; his heart too full for words. Mahbub forestalled and -embraced him. - -'My son, said he, 'what need of words between us? But is not the -little gun a delight? All six cartridges come out at one twist. It -is borne in the bosom next the skin, which, as it were, keeps it -oiled. Never put it elsewhere, and please God, thou shalt some day -kill a man with it.' - -'Hai mai!' said Kim ruefully. 'If a Sahib kills a man he is hanged -in the jail.' - -'True: but one pace beyond the Border, men are wiser. Put it away; -but fill it first. Of what use is a gun unfed?' - - -'When I go back to the madrissah I must return it. They do not allow -little guns. Thou wilt keep it for me?' - - -'Son, I am wearied of that madrissah, where they take the best years -of a man to teach him what he can only learn upon the Road. The -folly of the Sahibs has neither top nor bottom. No matter. Maybe thy -written report shall save thee further bondage; and God He knows we -need men more and more in the Game.' - -They marched, jaw-bound against blowing sand, across the salt desert -to Jodhpur, where Mahbub and his handsome nephew Habib Ullah did -much trading; and then sorrowfully, in European clothes, which he -was fast outgrowing, Kim went second-class to St Xavier's. Three -weeks later, Colonel Creighton, pricing Tibetan ghost-daggers at -Lurgan's shop, faced Mahbub Ali openly mutinous. Lurgan Sahib -operated as support in reserve. - -'The pony is made - finished - mouthed and paced, Sahib! From now -on, day by day, he will lose his manners if he is kept at tricks. -Drop the rein on his back and let go,' said the horse-dealer. 'We -need him.' - -'But he is so young, Mahbub - not more than sixteen - is he?' - -'When I was fifteen, I had shot my man and begot my man, Sahib.' - -'You impenitent old heathen!' Creighton turned to Lurgan. The black -beard nodded assent to the wisdom of the Afghan's dyed scarlet. - -'I should have used him long ago,' said Lurgan. 'The younger the -better. That is why I always have my really valuable jewels watched -by a child. You sent him to me to try. I tried him in every way: he -is the only boy I could not make to see things.' - -'In the crystal - in the ink-pool?' demanded Mahbub. - -'No. Under my hand, as I told you. That has never happened before. -It means that he is strong enough - but you think it skittles, -Colonel Creighton - to make anyone do anything he wants. And that is -three years ago. I have taught him a good deal since, Colonel -Creighton. I think you waste him now.' - -'Hmm! Maybe you're right. But, as you know, there is no Survey work -for him at present.' - -'Let him out let him go,' Mahbub interrupted. 'Who expects any colt -to carry heavy weight at first? Let him run with the caravans - like -our white camel-colts - for luck. I would take him myself, but -, - -'There is a little business where he would be most useful - in the -South,' said Lurgan, with peculiar suavity, dropping his heavy blued -eyelids. - -'E.23 has that in hand,' said Creighton quickly. 'He must not go down -there. Besides, he knows no Turki.' - -'Only tell him the shape and the smell of the letters we want and he -will bring them back,' Lurgan insisted. - -'No. That is a man's job,' said Creighton. - -It was a wry-necked matter of unauthorized and incendiary -correspondence between a person who claimed to be the ultimate -authority in all matters of the Mohammedan religion throughout the -world, and a younger member of a royal house who had been brought to -book for kidnapping women within British territory. The Moslem -Archbishop had been emphatic and over-arrogant; the young prince was -merely sulky at the curtailment of his privileges, but there was no -need he should continue a correspondence which might some day -compromise him. One letter indeed had been procured, but the finder -was later found dead by the roadside in the habit of an Arab trader, -as E.23, taking up the work, duly reported. - -These facts, and a few others not to be published, made both Mahbub -and Creighton shake their heads. - -'Let him go out with his Red Lama,' said the horse-dealer with -visible effort. 'He is fond of the old man. He can learn his paces -by the rosary at least.' - -'I have had some dealings with the old man - by letter,' said -Colonel Creighton, smiling to himself. 'Whither goes he?' - -'Up and down the land, as he has these three years. He seeks a River -of Healing. God's curse upon all -' Mahbub checked himself. 'He beds -down at the Temple of the Tirthankars or at Buddh Gaya when he is in -from the Road. Then he goes to see the boy at the madrissah, as we -know for the boy was punished for it twice or thrice. He is quite -mad, but a peaceful man. I have met him. The Babu also has had -dealings with him. We have watched him for three years. Red Lamas -are not so common in Hind that one loses track.' - -'Babus are very curious,' said Lurgan meditatively. 'Do you know -what Hurree Babu really wants? He wants to be made a member of the -Royal Society by taking ethnological notes. I tell you, I tell him -about the lama everything which Mahbub and the boy have told me. -Hurree Babu goes down to Benares - at his own expense, I think.' - -'I don't,' said Creighton briefly. He had paid Hurree's travelling -expenses, out of a most lively curiosity to learn what the lama -might be. - -'And he applies to the lama for information on lamaism, and devil- -dances, and spells and charms, several times in these few years. -Holy Virgin! I could have told him all that yeears ago. I think -Hurree Babu is getting too old for the Road. He likes better to -collect manners and customs information. Yes, he wants to be an FRS. - -'Hurree thinks well of the boy, doesn't he?' - -'Oh, very indeed - we have had some pleasant evenings at my little -place - but I think it would be waste to throw him away with Hurree -on the Ethnological side.' - -'Not for a first experience. How does that strike you, Mahbub? Let -the boy run with the lama for six months. After that we can see. He -will get experience.' - -'He has it already, Sahib - as a fish controls the water he swims -in. But for every reason it will be well to loose him from the -school.' - -'Very good, then,' said Creighton, half to himself. 'He can go with -the lama, and if Hurree Babu cares to keep an eye on them so much -the better. He won't lead the boy into any danger as Mahbub would. -Curious - his wish to be an F R S. Very human, too. He is best on -the Ethnological side - Hurree.' - -No money and no preferment would have drawn Creighton from his work -on the Indian Survey, but deep in his heart also lay the ambition to -write 'F R S' after his name. Honours of a sort he knew could be -obtained by ingenuity and the help of friends, but, to the best of -his belief, nothing save work -papers representing a life of it - -took a man into the Society which he had bombarded for years with -monographs on strange Asiatic cults and unknown customs. Nine men -out of ten would flee from a Royal Society soiree in extremity of -boredom; but Creighton was the tenth, and at times his soul yearned -for the crowded rooms in easy London where silver-haired, bald- -headed gentlemen who know nothing of the Army move among -spectroscopic experiments, the lesser plants of the frozen tundras, -electric flight-measuring machines, and apparatus for slicing into -fractional millimetres the left eye of the female mosquito. By all -right and reason, it was the Royal Geographical that should have -appealed to him, but men are as chancy as children in their choice -of playthings. So Creighton smiled, and thought the better of Hurree -Babu, moved by like desire. - -He dropped the ghost-dagger and looked up at Mahbub. - -'How soon can we get the colt from the stable?' said the horse- -dealer, reading his eyes. - -'Hmm! If I withdraw him by order now - what will he do, think you? I -have never before assisted at the teaching of such an one.' - -'He will come to me,' said Mahbub promptly. 'Lurgan Sahib and I will -prepare him for the Road.' - -'So be it, then. For six months he shall run at his choice. But who -will be his sponsor?' - -Lurgan slightly inclined his head. 'He will not tell anything, if -that is what you are afraid of, Colonel Creighton.' - -'It's only a boy, after all.' - -'Ye-es; but first, he has nothing to tell; and secondly, he knows -what would happen. Also, he is very fond of Mahbub, and of me a -little.' - -'Will he draw pay?' demanded the practical horse-dealer. - -'Food and water allowance only. Twenty rupees a month.' - -One advantage of the Secret Service is that it has no worrying -audit. That Service is ludicrously starved, of course, but the funds -are administered by a few men who do not call for vouchers or -present itemized accounts. Mahbub's eyes lighted with almost a -Sikh's love of money. Even Lurgan's impassive face changed. He -considered the years to come when Kim would have been entered and -made to the Great Game that never ceases day and night, throughout -India. He foresaw honour and credit in the mouths of a chosen few, -coming to him from his pupil. Lurgan Sahib had made E.23 what E.23 was, -out of a bewildered, impertinent, lying, little North-West Province -man. - -But the joy of these masters was pale and smoky beside the joy of -Kim when St Xavier's Head called him aside, with word that Colonel -Creighton had sent for him. - -'I understand, O'Hara, that he has found you a place as an assistant -chain-man in the Canal Department: that comes of taking up -mathematics. It is great luck for you, for you are only sixteen; but -of course you understand that you do not become pukka [permanent] -till you have passed the autumn examination. So you must not think -you are going out into the world to enjoy yourself, or that your -fortune is made. There is a great deal of hard work before you. -Only, if you succeed in becoming pukka, you can rise, you know, to -four hundred and fifty a month.' Whereat the Principal gave him much -good advice as to his conduct, and his manners, and his morals; and -others, his elders, who had not been wafted into billets, talked as -only Anglo-Indian lads can, of favouritism and corruption. Indeed, -young Cazalet, whose father was a pensioner at Chunar, hinted very -broadly that Colonel Creighton's interest in Kim was directly -paternal; and Kim, instead of retaliating, did not even use -language. He was thinking of the immense fun to come, of Mahbub's -letter of the day before, all neatly written in English, making -appointment for that afternoon in a house the very name of which -would have crisped the Principal's hair with horror... - -Said Kim to Mahbub in Lucknow railway station that evening, above -the luggage-scales: 'I feared lest at the last, the roof would fall -upon me and cheat me. It is indeed all finished, O my father?' - -Mahbub snapped his fingers to show the utterness of that end, and -his eyes blazed like red coals. - -'Then where is the pistol that I may wear it?' - -'Softly! A half-year, to run without heel-ropes. I begged that much -from Colonel Creighton Sahib. At twenty rupees a month. Old Red Hat -knows that thou art coming.' - -'I will pay thee dustoorie [commission] on my pay for three months,' -said Kim gravely. 'Yea, two rupees a month. But first we must get -rid of these.' He plucked his thin linen trousers and dragged at his -collar. 'I have brought with me all that I need on the Road. My -trunk has gone up to Lurgan Sahib's.' - -'Who sends his salaams to thee - Sahib.' - -'Lurgan Sahib is a very clever man. But what dost thou do?' - -'I go North again, upon the Great Game. What else? Is thy mind still -set on following old Red Hat?' - -'Do not forget he made me that I am - though he did not know it. -Year by year, he sent the money that taught me.' - -'I would have done as much - had it struck my thick head,' Mahbub -growled. 'Come away. The lamps are lit now, and none will mark thee -in the bazar. We go to Huneefa's house.' - -On the way thither, Mahbub gave him much the same sort of advice as -his mother gave to Lemuel, and curiously enough, Mahbub was exact to -point out how Huneefa and her likes destroyed kings. - -'And I remember,' he quoted maliciously, 'one who said, "Trust a -snake before an harlot, and an harlot before a Pathan, Mahbub Ali." -Now, excepting as to Pathans, of whom I am one, all that is true. -Most true is it in the Great Game, for it is by means of women that -all plans come to ruin and we lie out in the dawning with our -throats cut. So it happened to such a one.' He gave the reddest -particulars. - -'Then why -?' Kim paused before a filthy staircase that climbed to -the warm darkness of an upper chamber, in the ward that is behind -Azim Ullah's tobacco-shop. Those who know it call it The Birdcage - -it is so full of whisperings and whistlings and chirrupings. - -The room, with its dirty cushions and half-smoked hookahs, smelt -abominably of stale tobacco. In one corner lay a huge and shapeless -woman clad in greenish gauzes, and decked, brow, nose, ear, neck, -wrist, arm, waist, and ankle with heavy native jewellery. When she -turned it was like the clashing of copper pots. A lean cat in the -balcony outside the window mewed hungrily. Kim checked, bewildered, -at the door-curtain. - -'Is that the new stuff, Mahbub?' said Huneefa lazily, scarce -troubling to remove the mouthpiece from her lips. 'O Buktanoos!' - -like most of her kind, she swore by the Djinns - 'O Buktanoos! He is -very good to look upon.' - -'That is part of the selling of the horse,' Mahbub explained to Kim, -who laughed. - -'I have heard that talk since my Sixth Day,' he replied, squatting -by the light. 'Whither does it lead?' - -'To protection. Tonight we change thy colour. This sleeping under -roofs has blanched thee like an almond. But Huneefa has the secret -of a colour that catches. No painting of a day or two. Also, we -fortify thee against the chances of the Road. That is my gift to -thee, my son. Take out all metals on thee and lay them here. Make -ready, Huneefa.' - -Kim dragged forth his compass, Survey paint-box, and the new-filled -medicine-box. They had all accompanied his travels, and boylike he -valued them immensely. - -The woman rose slowly and moved with her hands a little spread -before her. Then Kim saw that she was blind. 'No, no,' she muttered, -'the Pathan speaks truth - my colour does not go in a week or a -month, and those whom I protect are under strong guard.' - -'When one is far off and alone, it would not be well to grow -blotched and leprous of a sudden,' said Mahbub. 'When thou wast with -me I could oversee the matter. Besides, a Pathan is a fair-skin. -Strip to the waist now and look how thou art whitened.' Huneefa felt -her way back from an inner room. 'It is no matter, she cannot see.' -He took a pewter bowl from her ringed hand. - -The dye-stuff showed blue and gummy. Kim experimented on the back of -his wrist, with a dab of cotton-wool; but Huneefa heard him. - -'No, no,' she cried, 'the thing is not done thus, but with the -proper ceremonies. The colouring is the least part. I give thee the -full protection of the Road.' - -'Tadoo? [magic],'said Kim, with a half start. He did not like the -white, sightless eyes. Mahbub's hand on his neck bowed him to the -floor, nose within an inch of the boards. - -'Be still. No harm comes to thee, my son. I am thy sacrifice!' - -He could not see what the woman was about, but heard the dish-clash -of her jewellery for many minutes. A match lit up the darkness; he -caught the well-known purr and fizzle of grains of incense. Then the -room filled with smoke - heavy aromatic, and stupefying. Through -growing drowse he heard the names of devils - of Zulbazan, Son of -Eblis, who lives in bazars and paraos, making all the sudden lewd -wickedness of wayside halts; of Dulhan, invisible about mosques, -the dweller among the slippers of the faithful, who hinders folk -from their prayers; and Musboot, Lord of lies and panic. Huneefa, -now whispering in his ear, now talking as from an immense distance, -touched him with horrible soft fingers, but Mahbub's grip never -shifted from his neck till, relaxing with a sigh, the boy lost his -senses. - -'Allah! How he fought! We should never have done it but for the -drugs. That was his white blood, I take it,' said Mahbub testily. -'Go on with the dawut [invocation]. Give him full Protection.' - -'O Hearer! Thou that hearest with ears, be present. Listen, O -Hearer!' Huneefa moaned, her dead eyes turned to the west. The dark -room filled with moanings and snortings. - -From the outer balcony, a ponderous figure raised a round bullet -head and coughed nervously. - -'Do not interrupt this ventriloquial necromanciss, my friend,' it -said in English. 'I opine that it is very disturbing to you, but no -enlightened observer is jolly-well upset.' - -'..........I will lay a plot for their ruin! O Prophet, bear with -the unbelievers. Let them alone awhile!' Huneefa's face, turned to -the northward, worked horribly, and it was as though voices from the -ceiling answered her. - -Hurree Babu returned to his note-book, balanced on the window-sill, -but his hand shook. Huneefa, in some sort of drugged ecstasy, -wrenched herself to and fro as she sat cross-legged by Kim's still -head, and called upon devil after devil, in the ancient order of the -ritual, binding them to avoid the boy's every action. - -'With Him are the keys of the Secret Things! None knoweth them -besides Himself He knoweth that which is in the dry land and in the -sea!' Again broke out the unearthly whistling responses. - -'I - I apprehend it is not at all malignant in its operation?' said -the Babu, watching the throat-muscles quiver and jerk as Huneefa -spoke with tongues. 'It - it is not likely that she has killed the -boy? If so, I decline to be witness at the trial .....What was the -last hypothetical devil mentioned?' - -'Babuji,' said Mahbub in the vernacular. 'I have no regard for the -devils of Hind, but the Sons of Eblis are far otherwise, and whether -they be jumalee [well-affected] or jullalee [terrible) they love not -Kafirs.' - -'Then you think I had better go?' said Hurree Babu, half rising. -'They are, of course, dematerialized phenomena. Spencer says ' - -Huneefa's crisis passed, as these things must, in a paroxysm of -howling, with a touch of froth at the lips. She lay spent and -motionless beside Kim, and the crazy voices ceased. - -'Wah! That work is done. May the boy be better for it; and Huneefa -is surely a mistress of dawut. Help haul her aside, Babu. Do not be -afraid.' - -'How am I to fear the absolutely non-existent?' said Hurree Babu, -talking English to reassure himself. It is an awful thing still to -dread the magic that you contemptuously investigate -to collect -folk-lore for the Royal Society with a lively belief in all Powers -of Darkness. - -Mahbub chuckled. He had been out with Hurree on the Road ere now. -'Let us finish the colouring,' said he. 'The boy is well protected -if - if the Lords of the Air have ears to hear. I am a Sufi [free- -thinker), but when one can get blind-sides of a woman, a stallion, -or a devil, why go round to invite a kick? Set him upon the way, -Babu, and see that old Red Hat does not lead him beyond our reach. I -must get back to my horses.' - -'All raight,' said Hurree Babu. 'He is at present curious -spectacle.' - -About third cockcrow, Kim woke after a sleep of thousands of years. -Huneefa, in her corner, snored heavily, but Mahbub was gone. - -'I hope you were not frightened,' said an oily voice at his elbow. -'I superintended entire operation, which was most interesting from -ethnological point of view. It was high-class dawut.' - -'Huh!' said Kim, recognizing Hurree Babu, who smiled ingratiatingly. - -'And also I had honour to bring down from Lurgan your present -costume. I am not in the habit offeecially of carrying such gauds to -subordinates, but' - he giggled - 'your case is noted as exceptional -on the books. I hope Mr Lurgan will note my action.' - -Kim yawned and stretched himself. It was good to turn and twist -within loose clothes once again. - -'What is this?' He looked curiously at the heavy duffle-stuff loaded -with the scents of the far North. - -'Oho! That is inconspicuous dress of chela attached to service of -lamaistic lama. Complete in every particular,' said Hurree Babu, -rolling into the balcony to clean his teeth at a goglet. 'I am of -opeenion it is not your old gentleman's precise releegion, but -rather sub-variant of same. I have contributed rejected notes To -Whom It May Concern: Asiatic Quarterly Review on these subjects. Now -it is curious that the old gentleman himself is totally devoid of -releegiosity. He is not a dam' particular.' - -'Do you know him?' - -Hurree Babu held up his hand to show he was engaged in the -prescribed rites that accompany tooth-cleaning and such things among -decently bred Bengalis. Then he recited in English an Arya-Somaj -prayer of a theistical nature, and stuffed his mouth with pan and -betel. - -'Oah yes. I have met him several times at Benares, and also at Buddh -Gaya, to interrogate him on releegious points and devil-worship. He -is pure agnostic - same as me.' - -Huneefa stirred in her sleep, and Hurree Babu jumped nervously to -the copper incense-burner, all black and discoloured in morning- -light, rubbed a finger in the accumulated lamp-black, and drew it -diagonally across his face. - -'Who has died in thy house?' asked Kim in the vernacular. - -'None. But she may have the Evil Eye - that sorceress,' the Babu -replied. - -'What dost thou do now, then?' - -'I will set thee on thy way to Benares, if thou goest thither, and -tell thee what must be known by Us.' - -'I go. At what hour runs the te-rain?' He rose to his feet, looked -round the desolate chamber and at the yellow-wax face of Huneefa as -the low sun stole across the floor. 'Is there money to be paid that -witch?' - -'No. She has charmed thee against all devils and all dangers in the -name of her devils. It was Mahbub's desire.' In English: 'He is -highly obsolete, I think, to indulge in such supersteetion. Why, it -is all ventriloquy. Belly-speak - eh?' - -Kim snapped his fingers mechanically to avert whatever evil - -Mahbub, he knew, meditated none - might have crept in through -Huneefa's ministrations; and Hurree giggled once more. But as he -crossed the room he was careful not to step in Huneefa's blotched, -squat shadow on the boards. Witches -when their time is on them - -can lay hold of the heels of a man's soul if he does that. - -'Now you must well listen,' said the Babu when they were in the -fresh air. 'Part of these ceremonies which we witnessed they include -supply of effeecient amulet to those of our Department. If you feel -in your neck you will find one small silver amulet, verree cheap. -That is ours. Do you understand?' - -'Oah yes, hawa-dilli [a heart-lifter],' said Kim, feeling at his -neck. - -'Huneefa she makes them for two rupees twelve annas with - oh, all -sorts of exorcisms. They are quite common, except they are partially -black enamel, and there is a paper inside each one full of names of -local saints and such things. Thatt is Huneefa's look-out, you see? -Huneefa makes them onlee for us, but in case she does not, when we -get them we put in, before issue, one small piece of turquoise. Mr -Lurgan he gives them. There is no other source of supply; but it was -me invented all this. It is strictly unoffeecial of course, but -convenient for subordinates. Colonel Creighton he does not know. He -is European. The turquoise is wrapped in the paper . . . Yes, that -is road to railway station . . . Now suppose you go with the lama, -or with me, I hope, some day, or with Mahbub. Suppose we get into a -dam'-tight place. I am a fearful man - most fearful - but I tell you -I have been in dam'-tight places more than hairs on my head. You -say: "I am Son of the Charm." Verree good.' - -'I do not understand quite. We must not be heard talking English -here.' - -'That is all raight. I am only Babu showing off my English to you. -All we Babus talk English to show off;' said Hurree, flinging his -shoulder-cloth jauntily. 'As I was about to say, "Son of the Charm" -means that you may be member of the Sat Bhai - the Seven Brothers, -which is Hindi and Tantric. It is popularly supposed to be extinct -Society, but I have written notes to show it is still extant. You -see, it is all my invention. Verree good. Sat Bhai has many members, -and perhaps before they jolly-well-cut-your-throat they may give you -just a chance of life. That is useful, anyhow. And moreover, these -foolish natives - if they are not too excited - they always stop to -think before they kill a man who says he belongs to any speecific -organization. You see? You say then when you are in tight place, "I -am Son of the Charm", and you get - perhaps - ah -your second wind. -That is only in extreme instances, or to open negotiations with a -stranger. Can you quite see? Verree good. But suppose now, I, or any -one of the Department, come to you dressed quite different. You -would not know me at all unless I choose, I bet you. Some day I will -prove it. I come as Ladakhi trader - oh, anything - and I say to -you: "You want to buy precious stones?" You say: "Do I look like a -man who buys precious stones?" Then I say: "Even verree poor man can -buy a turquoise or tarkeean." ' - -'That is kichree - vegetable curry,' said Kim. - -'Of course it is. You say: "Let me see the tarkeean." Then I say: -"It was cooked by a woman, and perhaps it is bad for your caste." -Then you say: "There is no caste when men go to - look for -tarkeean." You stop a little between those words, "to - look". That -is thee whole secret. The little stop before the words.' - -Kim repeated the test-sentence. - -'That is all right. Then I will show you my turquoise if there is -time, and then you know who I am, and then we exchange views and -documents and those-all things. And so it is with any other man of -us. We talk sometimes about turquoises and sometimes about tarkeean, -but always with that little stop in the words. It is verree easy. -First, "Son of the Charm", if you are in a tight place. Perhaps that -may help you - perhaps not. Then what I have told you about the -tarkeean, if you want to transact offeecial business with a strange -man. Of course, at present, you have no offeecial business. You are -- ah ha! - supernumerary on probation. Quite unique specimen. If you -were Asiatic of birth you might be employed right off; but this -half-year of leave is to make you de~Englishized, you see? The lama -he expects you, because I have demi-offeecially informed him you -have passed all your examinations, and will soon obtain Government -appointment. Oh ho! You are on acting-allowance, you see: so if you -are called upon to help Sons of the Charm mind you jolly-well try. -Now I shall say good-bye, my dear fellow, and I hope you - ah - will -come out top-side all raight.' - -Hurree Babu stepped back a pace or two into the crowd at the -entrance of Lucknow station and -- was gone. Kim drew a deep breath -and hugged himself all over. The nickel-plated revolver he could -feel in the bosom of his sad-coloured robe, the amulet was on his -neck; begging-gourd, rosary, and ghost-dagger (Mr Lurgan had -forgotten nothing) were all to hand, with medicine, paint-box, and -compass, and in a worn old purse-belt embroidered with porcupine- -quill patterns lay a month's pay. Kings could be no richer. He -bought sweetmeats in a leaf-cup from a Hindu trader, and ate them -with glad rapture till a policeman ordered him off the steps. - - - - - -Chapter ll - - -Give the man who is not made -To his trade -Swords to fling and catch again, -Coins to ring and snatch again, -Men to harm and cure again, -Snakes to charm and lure again - -He'll be hurt by his own blade, -By his serpents disobeyed, -By his clumsiness bewrayed,' -By the people mocked to scorn - -So 'tis not with juggler born! -Pinch of dust or withered flower, -Chance-flung fruit or borrowed staff, -Serve his need and shore his power, -Bind the spell, or loose the laugh! -But a man who, etc. - - The Juggler's Song, op. 15 - - -Followed a sudden natural reaction. - -'Now am I alone all alone,' he thought. 'In all India is no one so -alone as I! If I die today, who shall bring the news -and to whom? -If I live and God is good, there will be a price upon my head, for I -am a Son of the Charm - I, Kim.' - -A very few white people, but many Asiatics, can throw themselves -into a mazement as it were by repeating their own names over and -over again to themselves, letting the mind go free upon speculation -as to what is called personal identity. When one grows older, the -power, usually, departs, but while it lasts it may descend upon a man -at any moment. - -'Who is Kim - Kim - Kim?' - -He squatted in a corner of the clanging waiting-room, rapt from all -other thoughts; hands folded in lap, and pupils contracted to pin- -points. In a minute - in another half-second - he felt he would -arrive at the solution of the tremendous puzzle; but here, as always -happens, his mind dropped away from those heights with a rush of a -wounded bird, and passing his hand before his eyes, he shook his -head. - -A long-haired Hindu bairagi [holy man], who had just bought a -ticket, halted before him at that moment and stared intently. - -'I also have lost it,' he said sadly. 'It is one of the Gates to the -Way, but for me it has been shut many years.' - -'What is the talk?' said Kim, abashed. - -'Thou wast wondering there in thy spirit what manner of thing thy -soul might be. The seizure came of a sudden. I know. Who should know -but I? Whither goest thou?' - -'Toward Kashi [Benares].' - -'There are no Gods there. I have proved them. I go to Prayag -[Allahabad] for the fifth time - seeking the Road to Enlightenment. -Of what faith art thou?' - -'I too am a Seeker,' said Kim, using one of the lama's pet words. -'Though'- he forgot his Northern dress for the moment - 'though -Allah alone knoweth what I seek.' - -The old fellow slipped the bairagi's crutch under his armpit and sat -down on a patch of ruddy leopard's skin as Kim rose at the call for -the Benares train. - -'Go in hope, little brother,' he said. 'It is a long road to the -feet of the One; but thither do we all travel.' - -Kim did not feel so lonely after this, and ere he had sat out twenty -miles in the crowded compartment, was cheering his neighbours with a -string of most wonderful yarns about his own and his master's -magical gifts. - -Benares struck him as a peculiarly filthy city, though it was -pleasant to find how his cloth was respected. At least one-third of - the population prays eternally to some group or other of the many -million deities, and so reveres every sort of holy man. Kim was -guided to the Temple of the Tirthankars, about a mile outside the -city, near Sarnath, by a chance-met Punjabi farmer - a Kamboh from -Jullundur-way who had appealed in vain to every God of his homestead -to cure his small son, and was trying Benares as a last resort. - -'Thou art from the North?' he asked, shouldering through the press -of the narrow, stinking streets much like his own pet bull at home. - -'Ay, I know the Punjab. My mother was a pahareen, but my father came -from Amritzar - by Jandiala,' said Kim, oiling his ready tongue for -the needs of the Road. - -'Jandiala - Jullundur? Oho! Then we be neighbours in some sort, as -it were.' He nodded tenderly to the wailing child in his arms. 'Whom -dost thou serve?' - -'A most holy man at the Temple of the Tirthankers.' - -'They are all most holy and - most greedy,' said the Jat with -bitterness. 'I have walked the pillars and trodden the temples till -my feet are flayed, and the child is no whit better. And the mother -being sick too ... Hush, then, little one ... We changed his name -when the fever came. We put him into girl's clothes. There was -nothing we did not do, except - I said to his mother when she -bundled me off to Benares -she should have come with me - I said -Sakhi Sarwar Sultan would serve us best. We know His generosity, but -these down-country Gods are strangers.' - -The child turned on the cushion of the huge corded arms and looked -at Kim through heavy eyelids. - -'And was it all worthless?' Kim asked, with easy interest. - -'All worthless - all worthless,' said the child, lips cracking with -fever. - -'The Gods have given him a good mind, at least' said the father -proudly. 'To think he should have listened so cleverly. Yonder is -thy Temple. Now I am a poor man - many priests have dealt with me - -but my son is my son, and if a gift to thy master can cure him - I -am at my very wits' end.' - -Kim considered for a while, tingling with pride. Three years ago he -would have made prompt profit on the situation and gone his way -without a thought; but now, the very respect the Jat paid him proved -that he was a man. Moreover, he had tasted fever once or twice -already, and knew enough to recognize starvation when he saw it. - -'Call him forth and I will give him a bond on my best yoke, so that -the child is cured.' - -Kim halted at the carved outer door of the temple. A white-clad -Oswal banker from Ajmir, his sins of usury new wiped out, asked -him what he did. - -'I am chela to Teshoo Lama, an Holy One from Bhotiyal -within there. -He bade me come. I wait. Tell him.' - -'Do not forget the child,' cried the importunate Jat over his -shoulder, and then bellowed in Punjabi; 'O Holy One - O disciple of -the Holy One - O Gods above all the Worlds -behold affliction -sitting at the gate!' That cry is so common in Benares that the -passers never turned their heads. - -The Oswal, at peace with mankind, carried the message into the -darkness behind him, and the easy, uncounted Eastern minutes slid -by; for the lama was asleep in his cell, and no priest would wake -him. When the click of his rosary again broke the hush of the inner -court where the calm images of the Arhats stand, a novice whispered, -'Thy chela is here,' and the old man strode forth, forgetting the -end of that prayer. - -Hardly had the tall figure shown in the doorway than the Jat ran -before him, and, lifting up the child, cried: 'Look upon this, Holy -One; and if the Gods will, he lives - he lives!' - -He fumbled in his waist-belt and drew out a small silver coin. - -'What is now?' The lama's eyes turned to Kim. It was noticeable he -spoke far clearer Urdu than long ago, under ZamZammah; but -father would allow no private talk. - -'It is no more than a fever,' said Kim. 'The child is not well fed.' - -'He sickens at everything, and his mother is not here.' - -'If it be permitted, I may cure, Holy One.' - -'What! Have they made thee a healer? Wait here,' said the lama, and -he sat down by the Jat upon the lowest step of the temple, while -Kim, looking out of the corner of his eyes, slowly opened the little -betel-box. He had dreamed dreams at school of returning to the lama -as a Sahib - of chaffing the old man before he revealed himself - -boy's dreams all. There was more drama in this abstracted, brow- -puckered search through the tabloid-bottles, with a pause here and -there for thought and a muttered invocation between whiles. Quinine -he had in tablets, and dark brown meat-lozenges - beef most -probably, but that was not his business. The little thing would not -eat, but it sucked at a lozenge greedily, and said it liked the salt -taste. - -'Take then these six.' Kim handed them to the man. 'Praise the Gods, -and boil three in milk; other three in water. After he has drunk the -milk give him this' (it was the half of a quinine pill), 'and wrap -him warm. Give him the water of the other three, and the other half -of this white pill when he wakes. Meantime, here is another brown -medicine that he may suck at on the way home.' - -'Gods, what wisdom!' said the Kamboh, snatching. - -It was as much as Kim could remember of his own treatment in a bout -of autumn malaria - if you except the patter that he added to -impress the lama. - -'Now go! Come again in the morning.' - -'But the price - the price,' said the Jat, and threw back his sturdy -shoulders. 'My son is my son. Now that he will be whole again, how -shall I go back to his mother and say I took help by the wayside and -did not even give a bowl of curds in return?' - -'They are alike, these Jats,' said Kim softly. 'The Jat stood on his -dunghill and the King's elephants went by. "O driver," said he, -"what will you sell those little donkeys for?"' - -The Jat burst into a roar of laughter, stifled with apologies to the -lama. 'It is the saying of my own country the very talk of it. So -are we Jats all. I will come tomorrow with the child; and the -blessing of the Gods of the Homesteads - who are good little Gods - -be on you both ... Now, son, we grow strong again. Do not spit it -out, little Princeling! King of my Heart, do not spit it out, and we -shall be strong men, wrestlers and club-wielders, by morning.' - -He moved away, crooning and mumbling. The lama turned to Kim, and -all the loving old soul of him looked out through his narrow eyes. - -'To heal the sick is to acquire merit; but first one gets knowledge. -That was wisely done, O Friend of all the World.' - -'I was made wise by thee, Holy One,' said Kim, forgetting the little -play just ended; forgetting St Xavier's; forgetting his white blood; -forgetting even the Great Game as he stooped, Mohammedan-fashion, to -touch his master's feet in the dust of the Jain temple. 'My teaching -I owe to thee. I have eaten thy bread three years. My time is -finished. I am loosed from the schools. I come to thee.' - -'Herein is my reward. Enter! Enter! And is all well?' They passed to -the inner court, where the afternoon sun sloped golden across. -'Stand that I may see. So!' He peered critically. 'It is no longer a -child, but a man, ripened in wisdom, walking as a physician. I did -well - I did well when I gave thee up to the armed men on that black -night. Dost thou remember our first day under Zam-Zammah?' - -'Ay,' said Kim. 'Dost thou remember when I leapt off the carriage -the first day I went to -' - -'The Gates of Learning? Truly. And the day that we ate the cakes -together at the back of the river by Nucklao. Aha! Many times hast -thou begged for me, but that day I begged for thee.' - -'Good reason,' quoth Kim. 'I was then a scholar in the Gates of -Learning, and attired as a Sahib. Do not forget, Holy One,' he went -on playfully. 'I am still a Sahib - by thy favour.' - -'True. And a Sahib in most high esteem. Come to my cell, chela.' - -'How is that known to thee?' - -The lama smiled. 'First by means of letters from the kindly priest -whom we met in the camp of armed men; but he is now gone to his own -country, and I sent the money to his brother.' Colonel Creighton, -who had succeeded to the trusteeship when Father Victor went to -England with the Mavericks, was hardly the Chaplain's brother. 'But -I do not well understand Sahibs' letters. They must be interpreted -to me. I chose a surer way. Many times when I returned from my -Search to this Temple, which has always been a nest to me, there -came one seeking Enlightenment - a man from Leh - that had been, he -said, a Hindu, but wearied of all those Gods.' The lama pointed to -the Arhats. - -'A fat man?' said Kim, a twinkle in his eye. - -'Very fat; but I perceived in a little his mind was wholly given up -to useless things - such as devils and charms and the form and -fashion of our tea-drinkings in the monasteries, and by what road we -initiated the novices. A man abounding in questions; but he was a -friend of thine, chela. He told me that thou wast on the road to -much honour as a scribe. And I see thou art a physician.' - -'Yes, that am I - a scribe, when I am a Sahib, but it is set aside -when I come as thy disciple. I have accomplished the years appointed -for a Sahib.' - -'As it were a novice?' said the lama, nodding his head. 'Art thou -freed from the schools? I would not have thee unripe.' - -'I am all free. In due time I take service under the Government as a -scribe -' - -'Not as a warrior. That is well.' - -'But first I come to wander with thee. Therefore I am here. Who -begs for thee, these days?' he went on quickly. The ice was thin. - -'Very often I beg myself; but, as thou knowest, I am seldom here, -except when I come to look again at my disciple. From one end to -another of Hind have I travelled afoot and in the te-rain. A great -and a wonderful land! But here, when I put in, is as though I were -in mv own Bhotiyal.' - -He looked round the little clean cell complacently. A low cushion -gave him a seat, on which he had disposed himself in the cross- -legged attitude of the Bodhisat emerging from meditation; a black -teak-wood table, not twenty inches high, set with copper tea-cups, -was before him. In one corner stood a tiny altar, also of heavily -carved teak, bearing a copper-gilt image of the seated Buddha and -fronted by a lamp, an incense-holder, and a pair of copper flower- -pots. - -'The Keeper of the Images in the Wonder House acquired merit by -giving me these a year since,' he said, following Kim's eye. 'When -one is far from one's own land such things carry remembrance; and we -must reverence the Lord for that He showed the Way. See!' He pointed -to a curiously-built mound of coloured rice crowned with a fantastic -metal ornament. 'When I was Abbot in my own place - before I came to -better knowledge I made that offering daily. It is the Sacrifice of -the Universe to the Lord. Thus do we of Bhotiyal offer all the world -daily to the Excellent Law. And I do it even now, though I know that -the Excellent One is beyond all pinchings and pattings.' He snuffed -from his gourd. - -'It is well done, Holy One,' Kim murmured, sinking at ease on the -cushions, very happy and rather tired. - -'And also,' the old man chuckled, 'I write pictures of the Wheel of -Life. Three days to a picture. I was busied on it - or it may be I -shut my eyes a little - when they brought word of thee. It is good -to have thee here: I will show thee my art - not for pride's sake, -but because thou must learn. The Sahibs have not all this world's -wisdom.' - -He drew from under the table a sheet of strangely scented yellow -Chinese paper, the brushes, and slab of Indian ink. In cleanest, -severest outline he had traced the Great Wheel with its six spokes, -whose centre is the conjoined Hog, Snake, and Dove (Ignorance, -Anger, and Lust), and whose compartments are all the Heavens and -Hells, and all the chances of human life. Men say that the Bodhisat -Himself first drew it with grains of rice upon dust, to teach His -disciples the cause of things. Many ages have crystallized it into a -most wonderful convention crowded with hundreds of little figures -whose every line carries a meaning. Few can translate the picture- -parable; there are not twenty in all the world who can draw it -surely without a copy: of those who can both draw and expound are -but three. - -'I have a little learned to draw,' said Kim. 'But this is a marvel -beyond marvels.' - -'I have written it for many years,' said the lama. 'Time was when I -could write it all between one lamp-lighting and the next. I will -teach thee the art - after due preparation; and I will show thee the -meaning of the Wheel.' - -'We take the Road, then?' - -'The Road and our Search. I was but waiting for thee. It was made -plain to me in a hundred dreams - notably one that came upon the -night of the day that the Gates of Learning first shut that without -thee I should never find my River. Again and again, as thou knowest, -I put this from me, fearing an illusion. Therefore I would not take -thee with me that day at Lucknow, when we ate the cakes. I would not -take thee till the. time was ripe and auspicious. From the Hills to -the Sea, from the Sea to the Hills have I gone, but it was vain. -Then I remembered the Tataka.' - -He told Kim the story of the elephant with the leg-iron, as he had -told it so often to the Jam priests. - -'Further testimony is not needed,' he ended serenely. 'Thou wast -sent for an aid. That aid removed, my Search came to naught. -Therefore we will go out again together, and our Search sure.' - -'Whither go we?' - -'What matters, Friend of all the World? The Search, I say, is sure. -If need be, the River will break from the ground before us. I -acquired merit when I sent thee to the Gates of Learning, and gave -thee the jewel that is Wisdom. Thou didst return, I saw even now, a -follower of Sakyamuni, the Physician, whose altars are many in -Bhotiyal. It is sufficient. We are together, and all things are as -they were - Friend of all the World -Friend of the Stars - my -chela!' - -Then they talked of matters secular; but it was noticeable that the -lama never demanded any details of life at St Xavier's, nor showed -the faintest curiosity as to the manners and customs of Sahibs. His -mind moved all in the past, and he revived every step of their -wonderful first journey together, rubbing his hands and chuckling, -till it pleased him to curl himself up into the sudden sleep of old -age. - -Kim watched the last dusty sunshine fade out of the court, and -played with his ghost-dagger and rosary. The clamour of Benares, -oldest of all earth's cities awake before the Gods, day and night, - beat round the walls as the sea's roar round a breakwater. Now and -again, a Jain priest crossed the court, with some small offering to -the images, and swept the path about him lest by chance he should -take the life of a living thing. A lamp twinkled, and there followed -the sound of a prayer. Kim watched the stars as they rose one after -another in the still, sticky dark, till he fell asleep at the foot -of the altar. That night he dreamed in Hindustani, with never an -English word... - -'Holy One, there is the child to whom we gave the medicine,' he -said, about three o'clock in the morning, when the lama, also waking -from dreams, would have fared forth on pilgrimage. 'The Jat will be -here at the light.' - -'I am well answered. In my haste I would have done a wrong.' He sat -down on the cushions and returned to his rosary. 'Surely old folk -are as children,' he said pathetically. 'They desire a matter - -behold, it must be done at once, or they fret and weep! Many times -when I was upon the Road I have been ready to stamp with my feet at -the hindrance of an ox-cart in the way, or a mere cloud of dust. -It was not so when I was a man - a long time ago. None the less it -is wrongful -' - -'But thou art indeed old, Holy One.' - -'The thing was done. A Cause was put out into the world, and, old or -young, sick or sound, knowing or unknowing, who can rein in the -effect of that Cause? Does the Wheel hang still if a child spin it - -or a drunkard? Chela, this is a great and a terrible world.' - -'I think it good,' Kim yawned. 'What is there to eat? I have not -eaten since yesterday even.' - -'I had forgotten thy need. Yonder is good Bhotiyal tea and cold -rice.' - -'We cannot walk far on such stuff.' Kim felt all the European's lust -for flesh-meat, which is not accessible in a Jain temple. Yet, -instead of going out at once with the begging-bowl, he stayed his -stomach on slabs of cold rice till the full dawn. It brought the -farmer, voluble, stuttering with gratitude. - -'In the night the fever broke and the sweat came, he cried. 'Feel -here - his skin is fresh and new! He esteemed the salt lozenges, and -took milk with greed.' He drew the cloth from the child's face, and -it smiled sleepily at Kim. A little knot of Jain priests, silent -but all-observant, gathered by the temple door. They knew, and Kim -knew that they knew, how the old lama had met his disciple. Being -courteous folk, they had not obtruded themselves overnight by -presence, word, or gesture. Wherefore Kim repaid them as the sun -rose. - -'Thank the Gods of the Jains, brother,' he said, not knowing how -those Gods were named. 'The fever is indeed broken.' - -'Look! See!' The lama beamed in the background upon his hosts of -three years. 'Was there ever such a chela? He follows our Lord the -Healer.' - -Now the Jains officially recognize all the Gods of the Hindu creed, -as well as the Lingam and the Snake. They wear the Brahminical -thread; they adhere to every claim of Hindu caste-law. But, because -they knew and loved the lama, because he was an old man, because he -sought the Way, because he was their guest, and because he collogued -long of nights with the head-priest - as free-thinking a -metaphysician as ever split one hair into seventy - they murmured -assent. - -'Remember,' - Kim bent over the child -. 'this trouble may come -again. - -'Not if thou hast the proper spell,' said the father. - -'But in a little while we go away.' - -'True,' said the lama to all the Jains. 'We go now together upon the -Search whereof I have often spoken. I waited till my chela was ripe. -Behold him! We go North. Never again shall I look upon this place of -my rest, O people of good will.' - -'But I am not a beggar.' The cultivator rose to his feet, clutching -the child. - -'Be still. Do not trouble the Holy One,' a priest cried. - -'Go,' Kim whispered. 'Meet us again under the big railway bridge, -and for the sake of all the Gods of our Punjab, bring food - curry, -pulse, cakes fried in fat, and sweetmeats. Specially sweetmeats. Be -swift!' - -The pallor of hunger suited Kim very well as he stood, tall and -slim, in his sand-coloured, sweeping robes, one hand on his rosary -and the other in the attitude of benediction, faithfully copied from -the lama. An English observer might have said that he looked rather -like the young saint of a stained-glass window, whereas he was but a -growing lad faint with emptiness. - -Long and formal were the farewells, thrice ended and thrice renewed. - The Seeker - he who had invited the lama to that haven from far- -away Tibet, a silver-faced, hairless ascetic -took no part in it, -but meditated, as always, alone among the images. The others were -very human; pressing small comforts upon the old man - a betel-box, -a fine new iron pencase, a food-bag, and such-like - warning him -against the dangers of the world without, and prophesying a happy -end to the Search. Meantime Kim, lonelier than ever, squatted on the -steps, and swore to himself in the language of St Xavier's. - -'But it is my own fault,' he concluded. 'With Mahbub, I ate Mahbub's -bread, or Lurgan Sahib's. At St Xavier's, three meals a day. Here I -must jolly-well look out for myself. Besides, I am not in good -training. How I could eat a plate of beef now! ... Is it finished, -Holy One?' - -The lama, both hands raised, intoned a final blessing in ornate -Chinese. 'I must lean on thy shoulder,' said he, as the temple gates -closed. 'We grow stiff, I think.' - -The weight of a six-foot man is not light to steady through miles of -crowded streets, and Kim, loaded down with bundles and packages for -the way, was glad to reach the shadow of the railway bridge. - -'Here we eat,' he said resolutely, as the Kamboh, blue-robed and -smiling, hove in sight, a basket in one hand and the child in the -other. - -'Fall to, Holy Ones!' he cried from fifty yards. (They were by the -shoal under the first bridge-span, out of sight of hungry priests.) -'Rice and good curry, cakes all warm and well scented with hing -[asafoetida], curds and sugar. King of my fields,' -this to the -small son - 'let us show these holy men that we Jats of Jullundur -can pay a service . . . I had heard the Jains would eat nothing that -they had not cooked, but truly' - he looked away politely over the -broad river - 'where there is no eye there is no caste.' - -'And we,' said Kim, turning his back and heaping a leafplatter for -the lama, 'are beyond all castes.' - -They gorged themselves on the good food in silence. Nor till he had -licked the last of the sticky sweetstuff from his little finger did -Kim note that the Kamboh too was girt for travel. - -'If our roads lie together,' he said roughly, 'I go with thee. One -does not often find a worker of miracles, and the child is still -weak. But I am not altogether a reed.' He picked up his lathi - a -five-foot male-bamboo ringed with bands of polished iron - and -flourished it in the air. 'The Jats are called quarrel-some, but -that is not true. Except when we are crossed, we are like our own -buffaloes.' - -'So be it,' said Kim. 'A good stick is a good reason.' - -The lama gazed placidly up-stream, where in long, smudged -perspective the ceaseless columns of smoke go up from the burning- -ghats by the river. Now and again, despite all municipal -regulations, the fragment of a half-burned body bobbed by on the -full current. - -'But for thee,' said the Kamboh to Kim, drawing the child into his -hairy breast, 'I might today have gone thither - with this one. The -priests tell us that Benares is holy - which none doubt - and -desirable to die in. But I do not know their Gods, and they ask for -money; and when one has done one worship a shaved-head vows it is of -none effect except one do another. Wash here! Wash there! Pour, -drink, lave, and scatter flowers -but always pay the priests. No, -the Punjab for me, and the soil of the Jullundur-doab for the best -soil in it. - -'I have said many times - in the Temple, I think - that if need be, -the River will open at our feet. We will therefore go North,' said -the lama, rising. 'I remember a pleasant place, set about with -fruit-trees, where one can walk in meditation - and the air is -cooler there. It comes from the Hills and the snow of the Hills.' - -'What is the name?' said Kim. - -'How should I know? Didst thou not - no, that was after the Army -rose out of the earth and took thee away. I abode there in -meditation in a room against the dovecot - except when she talked -eternally.' - -'Oho! the woman from Kulu. That is by Saharunpore.' Kim laughed. - -'How does the spirit move thy master? Does he go afoot, for the sake -of past sins?' the Jat demanded cautiously. 'It is a far cry to -Delhi.' - -'No,' said Kim. 'I will beg a tikkut for the te-rain.' One does not -own to the possession of money in India. - -'Then, in the name of the Gods, let us take the fire-carriage. My -son is best in his mother's arms. The Government has brought on us -many taxes, but it gives us one good thing - the te-rain that joins -friends and unites the anxious. A wonderful matter is the te-rain.' - -They all piled into it a couple of hours later, and slept through -the heat of the day. The Kamboh plied Kim with ten thousand -questions as to the lama's walk and work in life, and received some -curious answers. Kim was content to be where he was, to look out -upon the flat North-Western landscape, and to talk to the -changing mob of fellow-passengers. Even today, tickets and ticket- -clipping are dark oppression to Indian rustics. They do not -understand why, when they have paid for a magic piece of paper, -strangers should punch great pieces out of the charm. So, long and -furious are the debates between travellers and Eurasian ticket- -collectors. Kim assisted at two or three with grave advice, meant to -darken counsel and to show off his wisdom before the lama and the -admiring Kamboh. But at Somna Road the Fates sent him a matter to -think upon. There tumbled into the compartment, as the train was -moving off, a mean, lean little person - a Mahratta, so far as Kim -could judge by the cock of the tight turban. His face was cut, his -muslin upper-garment was badly torn, and one leg was bandaged. He -told them that a country-cart had upset and nearlv slain him: he -was going to Delhi, where his son lived. Kim watched him closely. -If, as he asserted, he had been rolled over and over on the earth, -there should have been signs of gravel-rash on the skin. But all his -injuries seemed clean cuts, and a mere fall from a cart could not -cast a man into such extremity of terror. As, with shaking fingers, -he knotted up the torn cloth about his neck he laid bare an amulet -of the kind called a keeper-up of the heart. Now, amulets are common -enough, but they are not generally strung on square-plaited copper -wire, and still fewer amulets bear black enamel on silver. There -were none except the Kamboh and the lama in the compartment, which, -luckily, was of an old type with solid ends. Kim made as to scratch -in his bosom, and thereby lifted his own amulet. The Mahratta's face -changed altogether at the sight, and he disposed the amulet fairly on -his breast. - -'Yes,' he went on to the Kamboh, 'I was in haste, and the cart, -driven by a bastard, bound its wheel in a water-cut, and besides the -harm done to me there was lost a full dish of tarkeean. I was not a -Son of the Charm [a lucky man] that day.' - -'That was a great loss,' said the Kamboh, withdrawing interest. His -experience of Benares had made him suspicious. - -'Who cooked it?' said Kim. - -'A woman.' The Mahratta raised his eyes. - -'But all women can cook tarkeean,' said the Kamboh. 'It is a good -curry, as I know.' - -'Oh yes, it is a good curry,' said the Mahratta. - -'And cheap,' said Kim. 'But what about caste?' - -'Oh, there is no caste where men go to - look for tarkeean,' the -Mahratta replied, in the prescribed cadence. 'Of whose service art -thou?' - -'Of the service of this Holy One.' Kim pointed to the happy, drowsy -lama, who woke with a jerk at the well-loved word. - -'Ah, he was sent from Heaven to aid me. He is called the Friend of -all the World. He is also called the Friend of the Stars. He walks -as a physician - his time being ripe. Great is his wisdom.' - -'And a Son of the Charm,' said Kim under his breath, as the Kamboh -made haste to prepare a pipe lest the Mahratta should beg. - -'And who is that?' the Mahratta asked, glancing sideways nervously. - -'One whose child I - we have cured, who lies under great debt to us. -Sit by the window, man from Jullundur. Here is a sick one.' - -'Humph! I have no desire to mix with chance-met wastrels. My ears -are not long. I am not a woman wishing to overhear secrets.' The Jat -slid himself heavily into a far corner. - -'Art thou anything of a healer? I am ten leagues deep in calamity,' -cried the Mahratta, picking up the cue. - -'This man is cut and bruised all over. I go about to cure him,' Kim -retorted. 'None interfered between thy babe and me.' - -'I am rebuked,' said the Kamboh meekly. 'I am thy debtor for the -life of my son. Thou art a miracle-worker - I know it.' - -'Show me the cuts.' Kim bent over the Mahratta's neck, his heart -nearly choking him; for this was the Great Game with a vengeance. -'Now, tell thy tale swiftly, brother, while I say a charm.' - -'I come from the South, where my work lay. One of us they slew by -the roadside. Hast thou heard?' Kim shook his head. He, of course, -knew nothing of E's predecessor, slain down South in the habit of an -Arab trader. 'Having found a certain letter which I was sent to -seek, I came away. I escaped from the city and ran to Mhow. So sure -was I that none knew, I did not change my face. At Mhow a woman -brought charge against me of theft of jewellery in that city which I -had left. Then I saw the cry was out against me. I ran from Mhow by -night, bribing the police, who had been bribed to hand me over -without question to my enemies in the South. Then I lay in old -Chitor city a week, a penitent in a temple, but I could not get rid -of the letter which was my charge. I buried it under the Queen's -Stone, at Chitor, in the place known to us all.' - -Kim did not know, but not for worlds would he have broken the -thread. - -'At Chitor, look you, I was all in Kings' country; for Kotah to the -east is beyond the Queen's law, and east again lie Jaipur and -Gwalior. Neither love spies, and there is no justice. I was hunted -like a wet jackal; but I broke through at Bandakui, where I heard -there was a charge against me of murder in the city I had left - of -the murder of a boy. They have both the corpse and the witnesses -waiting.' - -'But cannot the Government protect?' - -'We of the Game are beyond protection. If we die, we die. Our names -are blotted from the book. That is all. At Bandakui, where lives one -of Us, I thought to slip the scent by changing my face, and so made -me a Mahratta. Then I came to Agra, and would have turned back to -Chitor to recover the letter. So sure I was I had slipped them. -Therefore I did not send a tar [telegram] to any one saying where -the letter lay. I wished the credit of it all.' - -Kim nodded. He understood that feeling well. - -'But at Agra, walking in the streets, a man cried a debt against me, -and approaching with many witnesses, would hale me to the courts -then and there. Oh, they are clever in the South! He recognized me -as his agent for cotton. May he burn in Hell for it!' - -'And wast thou?' - -'O fool! I was the man they sought for the matter of the letter! I -ran into the Fleshers' Ward and came out by the House of the Jew, -who feared a riot and pushed me forth. I came afoot to Somna Road - -I had only money for my tikkut to Delhi - and there, while I lay in -a ditch with a fever, one sprang out of the bushes and beat me and -cut me and searched me from head to foot. Within earshot of the te- -rain it was!' - -'Why did he not slay thee out of hand?' - -'They are not so foolish. If I am taken in Delhi at the instance of -lawyers, upon a proven charge of murder, my body is handed over to -the State that desires it. I go back guarded, and then - I die -slowly for an example to the rest of Us. The South is not my -country. I run in circles - like a goat with one eye. I have not -eaten for two days. I am marked' - he touched the filthy bandage on -his leg - 'so that they will know me at Delhi.' - -'Thou art safe in the te-rain, at least.' - -'Live a year at the Great Game and tell me that again! The wires -will be out against me at Delhi, describing every tear and rag upon -me. Twenty - a hundred, if need be - will have seen me slay that -boy. And thou art useless!' - -Kim knew enough of native methods of attack not to doubt that the -case would be deadly complete - even to the corpse. The Mahratta -twitched his fingers with pain from time to time. The Kamboh in his -corner glared sullenly; the lama was busy over his beads; and Kim, -fumbling doctor-fashion at the man's neck, thought out his plan -between invocations. - -'Hast thou a charm to change my shape? Else I am dead. Five - ten -minutes alone, if I had not been so pressed, and I might -' - -'Is he cured yet, miracle-worker?' said the Kamboh jealously. 'Thou -hast chanted long enough.' - -'Nay. There is no cure for his hurts, as I see, except he sit for -three days in the habit of a bairagi.' This is a common penance, -often imposed on a fat trader by his spiritual teacher. - -'One priest always goes about to make another priest,' was the -retort. Like most grossly superstitious folk, the Kamboh could not -keep his tongue from deriding his Church. - -'Will thy son be a priest, then? It is time he took more of my -quinine.' - -'We Jats are all buffaloes,' said the Kamboh, softening anew. - -Kim rubbed a finger-tip of bitterness on the child's trusting little -lips. 'I have asked for nothing,' he said sternly to the father, -'except food. Dost thou grudge me that? I go to heal another man. -Have I thy leave - Prince?' - -Up flew the man's huge paws in supplication. 'Nay - nay. Do not mock -me thus.' - -'It pleases me to cure this sick one. Thou shalt acquire merit by -aiding. What colour ash is there in thy pipe-bowl? White. That is -auspicious. Was there raw turmeric among thy foodstuffs?' - -'I - I -' - -'Open thy bundle!' - -It was the usual collection of small oddments: bits of cloth, quack -medicines, cheap fairings, a clothful of atta - greyish, rough- -ground native flour - twists of down-country tobacco, tawdry pipe- -stems, and a packet of curry-stuff, all wrapped in. a quilt. Kim -turned it over with the air of a wise warlock, muttering a -Mohammedan invocation. - -'This is wisdom I learned from the Sahibs,' he whispered to the -lama; and here, when one thinks of his training at Lurgan's, he -spoke no more than the truth. 'There is a great evil in this man's -fortune, as shown by the Stars, which - which troubles him. Shall I -take it away?' - -'Friend of the Stars, thou hast done well in all things. Let it be -at thy pleasure. Is it another healing?' - -'Quick! Be quick!' gasped the Mahratta. 'The train may stop.' - -'A healing against the shadow of death,' said Kim, mixing the -Kamboh's flour with the mingled charcoal and tobacco ash in the red- -earth bowl of the pipe. E, without a word, slipped off his turban -and shook down his long black hair. - - -'That is my food - priest,' the jat growled. - -'A buffalo in the temple! Hast thou dared to look even thus far?' -said Kim. 'I must do mysteries before fools; but have a care for -thine eyes. Is there a film before them already? I save the babe, -and for return thou - oh, shameless!' The man flinched at the direct -gaze, for Kim was wholly in earnest. - -'Shall I curse thee, or shall I -' He picked up the outer cloth of -the bundle and threw it over the bowed head. 'Dare so much as to -think a wish to see, and - and - even I cannot save thee. Sit! - -Be dumb!' - -'I am blind - dumb. Forbear to curse! Co - come, child; we will -play a game of hiding. Do not, for my sake, look from under the -cloth.' - -'I see hope,' said E23. 'What is thy scheme?' - -'This comes next,' said Kim, plucking the thin body-shirt. E23 -hesitated, with all a North-West man's dislike of baring his body. - -'What is caste to a cut throat?' said Kim, rending it to the waist. -'We must make thee a yellow Saddhu all over. Strip - strip -swiftly, and shake thy hair over thine eyes while I scatter the ash. -Now, a caste-mark on thy forehead.' He drew from his bosom the -little Survey paint-box and a cake of crimson lake. - -'Art thou only a beginner?' said E23, labouring literally for the -dear life, as he slid out of his body-wrappings and stood clear in -the loin-cloth while Kim splashed in a noble caste-mark on the ash- -smeared brow. - -'But two days entered to the Game, brother,' Kim replied. 'Smear -more ash on the bosom.' - -'Hast thou met - a physician of sick pearls?' He switched out his -long, tight-rolled turban-cloth and, with swiftest hands, rolled it -over and under about his loins into the intricate devices of a -Saddhu's cincture. - -'Hah! Dost thou know his touch, then? He was my teacher for a -while. We must bar thy legs. Ash cures wounds. Smear it again.' - -'I was his pride once, but thou art almost better. The Gods are -kind to us! Give me that.' - -It was a tin box of opium pills among the rubbish of the Jat's -bundle. E23 gulped down a half handful. 'They are good against -hunger, fear, and chill. And they make the eyes red too,' he -explained. 'Now I shall have heart to play the Game. We lack only -a Saddhu's tongs. What of the old clothes?' - -Kim rolled them small, and stuffed them into the slack folds of his -tunic. With a yellow-ochre paint cake he smeared the legs and the -breast, great streaks against the background of flour, ash, and -turmeric. - -'The blood on them is enough to hang thee, brother.' - -'Maybe; but no need to throw them out of the window ... It is -finished.' His voice thrilled with a boy's pure delight in the Game. -'Turn and look, O jat!' - -'The Gods protect us,' said the hooded Kamboh, emerging like a -buffalo from the reeds. 'But - whither went the Mahratta? What hast -thou done?' - -Kim had been trained by Lurgan Sahib; E23, by virtue of his -business, was no bad actor. In place of the tremulous, shrinking -trader there lolled against the corner an all but naked, ash- -smeared, ochre-barred, dusty-haired Saddhu, his swollen eyes - opium -takes quick effect on an empty stomach - luminous with insolence and -bestial lust, his legs crossed under him, Kim's brown rosary round -his neck, and a scant yard of worn, flowered chintz on his -shoulders. The child buried his face in his amazed father's arms. - -'Look up, Princeling! We travel with warlocks, but they will not -hurt thee. Oh, do not cry ... What is the sense of curing a child -one day and killing him with fright the next?' - -'The child will be fortunate all his life. He has seen a great -healing. When I was a child I made clay men and horses.' - -'I have made them too. Sir Banas, he comes in the night and makes -them all alive at the back of our kitchen-midden,' piped the child. - -'And so thou art not frightened at anything. Eh, Prince?' - -'I was frightened because my father was frightened. I felt his arms -shake.' - -'Oh, chicken-man!' said Kim, and even the abashed Jat laughed. 'I -have done a healing on this poor trader. He must forsake his gains -and his account-books, and sit by the wayside three nights to -overcome the malignity of his enemies. The Stars are against him.' - -'The fewer money-lenders the better, say I; but, Saddhu or no -Saddhu, he should pay for my stuff on his shoulders.' - -'So? But that is thy child on thy shoulder - given over to the -burning-ghat not two days ago. There remains one thing more. I did -this charm in thy presence because need was great. I changed his -shape and his soul. None the less, if, by any chance, O man from -Jullundur, thou rememberest what thou hast seen, either among the -elders sitting under the village tree, or in thine own house, or in -company of thy priest when he blesses thy cattle, a murrain will -come among the buffaloes, and a fire in thy thatch, and rats in the -corn-bins, and the curse of our Gods upon thy fields that they may -be barren before thy feet and after thy ploughshare.' This was part -of an old curse picked up from a fakir by the Taksali Gate in the -days of Kim's innocence. It lost nothing by repetition. - -'Cease, Holy One! In mercy, cease!' cried the Jat. 'Do not curse -the household. I saw nothing! I heard nothing! I am thy cow!' and -he made to grab at Kim's bare foot beating rhythmically on the -carriage floor. 'But since thou hast been permitted to aid me in the -matter of a pinch of flour and a little opium and such trifles as I -have honoured by using in my art, so will the Gods return a -blessing,' and he gave it at length, to the man's immense relief. It -was one that he had learned from Lurgan Sahib. - -The lama stared through his spectacles as he had not stared at the -business of disguisement. 'Friend of the Stars,' he said at last, -'thou hast acquired great wisdom. Beware that it do not give birth -to pride. No man having the Law before his eyes speaks hastily of -any matter which he has seen or encountered.' - -'No - no - no, indeed,' cried the farmer, fearful lest the master -should be minded to improve on the pupil. E23, with relaxed mouth, -gave himself up to the opium that is meat, tobacco, and medicine to -the spent Asiatic. - -So, in a silence of awe and great miscomprehension, they slid into -Delhi about lamp-lighting time. - - - - - -Chapter 12 - - -Who hath desired the Sea - the sight of salt-water unbounded? -The heave and the halt and the hurl and the crash of the comber -wind-hounded? -The sleek-barrelled swell before storm - grey, foamless, enormous, -and growing? -Stark calm on the lap of the Line - or the crazy-eyed hurricane -blowing? -His Sea in no showing the same - his Sea and the same 'neath all -showing - -His Sea that his being fulfils? -So and no otherwise - so and no otherwise hill-men desire their -Hills! - -The Sea and the Hills. - - - -'I have found my heart again,' said E23, under cover of the -platform's tumult. 'Hunger and fear make men dazed, or I might have -thought of this escape before. I was right. They come to hunt for -me. Thou hast saved my head.' - -A group of yellow-trousered Punjab policemen, headed by a hot and -perspiring young Englishman, parted the crowd about the carriages. -Behind them, inconspicuous as a cat, ambled a small fat person who -looked like a lawyer's tout. - -'See the young Sahib reading from a paper. My description is in his -hand,' said E23. 'Thev go carriage by carriage, like fisher-folk -netting a pool.' - -When the procession reached their compartment, E23 was counting his -beads with a steady jerk of the wrist; while Kim jeered at him for -being so drugged as to have lost the ringed fire-tongs which are the -Saddhu's distinguishing mark. The lama, deep in meditation, stared -straight before him; and the farmer, glancing furtively, gathered up -his belongings. - -'Nothing here but a parcel of holy-bolies,' said the Englishman -aloud, and passed on amid a ripple of uneasiness; for native police -mean extortion to the native all India over. - -'The trouble now, ' whispered E23, 'lies in sending a wire as to the -place where I hid that letter I was sent to find. I cannot go to the -tar-office in this guise.' - -'Is it not enough I have saved thy neck?' - -'Not if the work be left unfinished. Did never the healer of sick -pearls tell thee so? Comes another Sahib! Ah!' - -This was a tallish, sallowish District Superintendent of Police - -belt, helmet, polished spurs and all - strutting and twirling his -dark moustache. - -'What fools are these Police Sahibs!' said Kim genially. - -E23 glanced up under his eyelids. 'It is well said,' he muttered in -a changed voice. 'I go to drink water. Keep my place.' - -He blundered out almost into the Englishman's arms, and was bad- -worded in clumsy Urdu. - -'Tum mut? You drunk? You mustn't bang about as though Delhi -station belonged to you, my friend.' - -E23, not moving a muscle of his countenance, answered with a stream -of the filthiest abuse, at which Kim naturally rejoiced. It reminded -him of the drummer-boys and the barrack- sweepers at Umballa in the -terrible time of his first schooling. - -'My good fool,' the Englishman drawled. 'Nickle-jao! Go back to -your carriage.' - -Step by step, withdrawing deferentially and dropping his voice, the -yellow Saddhu clomb back to the carriage, cursing the D.S.P. to -remotest posterity, by - here Kim almost jumped - by the curse of -the Queen's Stone, by the writing under the Queen's Stone, and by an -assortment of Gods "with wholly, new names. - -'I don't know what you're saving,' - the Englishman flushed angrily -- 'but it's some piece of blasted impertinence. Come out of that!' - -E23, affecting to misunderstand, gravely produced his ticket, which -the Englishman wrenched angrily from his hand. - -'Oh, zoolum! What oppression!' growled the Jat from his corner. -'All for the sake of a jest too.' He had been grinning at the -freedom of the Saddhu's tongue. 'Thy charms do not work well today, -Holy One!' - -The Saddhu followed the policeman, fawning and supplicating. The -ruck of passengers, busy, with their babies andtheir bundles, had -not noticed the affair. Kim slipped outbehind him; for it flashed -through his head that he had heardthis angry, stupid Sahib -discoursing loud personalities to an oldlady near Umballa three -years ago. - -'It is well', the Saddhu whispered, jammed in the calling, -shouting, bewildered press - a Persian greyhound between his feet -and a cageful of yelling hawks under charge of a Rajput falconer in -the small of his back. 'He has gone now to send word of the letter -which I hid. Thev told me he was in Peshawur. I might have known -that he is like the crocodile - always at the other ford. He has -saved me from present calamity, but I owe my life to thee.' - -'Is he also one of Us?' Kim ducked under a Mewar camel-driver's -greasy armpit and cannoned off a covey of jabbering Sikh matrons. - -'Not less than the greatest. We are both fortunate! I will make -report to him of what thou hast done. I am safe under his -protection.' - -He bored through the edge of the crowd besieging the carriages, and -squatted by the bench near the telegraph-office. - -'Return, or they take thy place! Have no fear for the work, brother -- or my life. Thou hast given me breathing-space, and Strickland -Sahib has pulled me to land. We may work together at the Game yet. -Farewell!' - -Kim hurried to his carriage: elated, bewildered, but a little -nettled in that he had no key to the secrets about him. - -'I am only a beginner at the Game, that is sure. I could not have -leaped into safety as did the Saddhu. He knew it was darkest under -the lamp. I could not have thought to tell news under pretence of -cursing ... and how clever was the Sahib! No matter, I savcd the -life of one ... Where is the Kamboh gone, Holy One?' he whispered, -as he took his seat in the now crowded compartment. - -'A fear gripped him,' the lama replied, with a touch of tender -malice. 'He saw thee change the Mahratta to a Saddhu in the -twinkling of an eye, as a protection against evil. That shook him. -Then he saw the Saddhu fall sheer into the hands of the polis - all -the effect of thy art. Then he gathered up his son and fled; for he -said that thou didst change a quiet trader into an impudent bandier -of words with the Sahibs, and he feared a like fate. Where is the -Saddhu?' - -'With the polis,' said Kim . . . 'Yet I saved the Kamboh's child.' - -The lama snuffed blandly. - -'Ah, chela, see how thou art overtaken! Thou didst cure the -Kamboh's child solely to acquire merit. But thou didst put a spell -on the Mahratta with prideful workings - I watched thee - and with -sidelong glances to bewilder an old old man and a foolish farmer: -whence calamity and suspicion.' - -Kim controlled himself with an effort beyond his years. Not more -than any other youngster did he like to eat dirt or to be misjudged, -but he saw himself in a cleft stick. The train rolled out of Delhi -into the night. - -'It is true,' he murmured. 'Where I have offended thee I have done -wrong.' - -'It is more, chela. Thou hast loosed an Act upon the world, and as -a stone thrown into a pool so spread the consequences thou canst not -tell how far.' - -This ignorance was well both for Kim's vanity and for the lama's -peace of mind, when we think that there was then being handed in at -Simla a code-wire reporting the arrival of E23 at Delhi, and, more -important, the whereabouts of a letter he had been commissioned to - -abstract. Incidentally, an over-zealous policeman had arrested, on -charge of murder done in a far southern State, a horribly indignant -Ajmir cotton-broker, who was explaining himself to a Mr Strickland -on Delhi platform, while E23 was paddling through byways into the -locked heart of Delhi city. In two hours several telegrams had -reached the angry minister of a southern State reporting that all -trace of a somewhat bruised Mahratta had been lost; and by the time -the leisurely train halted at Saharunpore the last ripple of the -stone Kim had helped to heave was lapping against the steps of a -mosque in far-away Roum - where it disturbed a pious man at prayers. - -The lama made his in ample form near the dewy bougainvillea-trellis -near the platform, cheered by the clear sunshine and the presence of -his disciple. 'We will put these things behind us,' he said, -indicating the brazen engine and the gleaming track. 'The jolting of -the te-rain - though a wonderful thing - has turned my bones to -water. We will use clean air henceforward.' - -'Let us go to the Kulu woman's house' said Kim, and stepped forth -cheerily under the bundles. Early morning Saharunpore-way is clean -and well scented. He thought of the other mornings at St Xavier's, -and it topped his already thrice-heaped contentment. - -'Where is this new haste born from? Wise men do not run about like -chickens in the sun. We have come hundreds upon hundreds of koss -already, and, till now, I have scarcely been alone with thee an -instant. How canst thou receive instruction all jostled of crowds? -How can I, whelmed by a flux of talk, meditate upon the Way?' - -'Her tongue grows no shorter with the years, then?' the disciple -smiled. - -'Nor her desire for charms. I remember once when I spoke of the -Wheel of Life' - the lama fumbled in his bosom for his latest copy - -'she was only curious about the devils that besiege children. She -shall acquire merit by entertaining us - in a little while - at an -after-occasion - softly, softly. Now we will wander loose-foot, -waiting upon the Chain of Things. The Search is sure.' - -So they travelled very easily across and among the broad bloomful -fruit-gardens - by way of Aminabad, Sahaigunge, Akrola of the Ford, -and little Phulesa - the line of the Siwaliks always to the north, -and behind them again the snows. After long, sweet sleep under the -dry stars came the lordly, leisurely passage through a waking -village - begging-bowl held forth in silence, but eyes roving in -defiance of the Law from sky's edge to sky's edge. Then would Kim -return soft-footed through the soft dust to his master under the -shadow of a mango-tree or the thinner shade of a white Doon siris, -to eat and drink at ease. At mid-day, after talk and a little -wayfaring, they slept; meeting the world refreshed when the air was -cooler. Night found them adventuring into new territory - some -chosen village spied three hours before across the fat land, and -much discussed upon the road. - -There they told their tale - a new one each evening so far as Kim -was concerned - and there were they made welcome, either by priest -or headman, after the custom of the kindly East. - -When the shadows shortened and the lama leaned more heavily upon -Kim, there was always the Wheel of Life to draw forth, to hold flat -under wiped stones, and with a long straw to expound cycle by cycle. -Here sat the Gods on high - and they were dreams of dreams. Here was -our Heaven and the world of the demi-Gods - horsemen fighting among -the hills. Here were the agonies done upon the beasts, souls -ascending or descending the ladder and therefore not to be -interfered with. Here were the Hells, hot and cold, and the abodes -of tormented ghosts. Let the chela study the troubles that come from -over-eating - bloated stomach and burning bowels. Obediently, then, -with bowed head and brown finger alert to follow the pointer, did -the chela study; but when they came to the Human World, busy and -profitless, that is just above the Hells, his mind was distracted; -for by the roadside trundled the very Wheel itself, eating, -drinking, trading, marrying, and quarrelling - all warmly alive. -Often the lama made the living pictures the matter of his text, -bidding Kim - too ready - note how the flesh takes a thousand -shapes, desirable or detestable as men reckon, but in truth of no -account either way; and how the stupid spirit, bond-slave to the -Hog, the Dove, and the Serpent - lusting after betel-nut, a new yoke -of oxen, women, or the favour of kings - is bound to follow the body -through all the Heavens and all the Hells, and strictly round again. -Sometimes a woman or a poor man, watching the ritual - it was -nothing less - when the great yellow chart was unfolded, would throw -a few flowers or a handful of cowries upon its edge. It sufficed -these humble ones that they had met a Holy One who might be moved to -remember them in his prayers. - -'Cure them if they are sick,' said the lama, when Kim's sporting -instincts woke. 'Cure them if they have fever, but by no means work -charms. Remember what befell the Mahratta.' - -'Then all Doing is evil?' Kim replied, lying out under a big tree at -the fork of the Doon road, watching the little ants run over his -hand. - -'To abstain from action is well - except to acquire merit.' - -'At the Gates of Learning we were taught that to abstain from action -was unbefitting a Sahib. And I am a Sahib.' - -'Friend of all the World,' - the lama looked directly at Kim - 'I am -an old man - pleased with shows as are children. To those who -follow the Way there is neither black nor white, Hind nor Bhotiyal. -We be all souls seeking escape. No matter what thy wisdom learned -among Sahibs, when we come to my River thou wilt be freed from all -illusion - at my side. Hai! My bones ache for that River, as they -ached in the te-rain; but my spirit sits above my bones, waiting. -The Search is sure!' - -'I am answered. Is it permitted to ask a question?' - -The lama inclined his stately head. - -'I ate thy bread for three years - as thou knowest. Holy One, -whence came -?' - -'There is much wealth, as men count it, in Bhotiyal,' the lama -returned with composure. 'In my own place I have the illusion of -honour. I ask for that I need. I am not concerned with the account. -That is for my monastery. Ai! The black high seats in the -monastery, and novices all in order!' - -And he told stories, tracing with a finger in the dust, of the -immense and sumptuous ritual of avalanche-guarded cathedrals; of -processions and devil-dances; of the changing of monks and nuns into -swine; of holy cities fifteen thousand feet in the air; of intrigue -between monastery and monastery; of voices among the hills, and of -that mysterious mirage that dances on dry snow. He spoke even of -Lhassa and of the Dalai Lama, whom he had seen and adored. - -Each long, perfect day rose behind Kim for a barrier to cut him off -from his race and his mother-tongue. He slipped back to thinking -and dreaming in the vernacular, and mechanically followed the lama's -ceremonial observances at eating, drinking, and the like. The old -man's mind turned more and more to his monastery as his eyes turned -to the steadfast snows. His River troubled him nothing. Now and -again, indeed, he would gaze long and long at a tuft or a twig, -expecting, he said, the earth to cleave and deliver its blessing; -but he was content to be with his disciple, at ease in the temperate -wind that comes down from the Doon. This was not Ceylon, nor Buddh -Gaya, nor Bombay, nor some grass-tangled ruins that he seemed to -have stumbled upon two years ago. He spoke of those places as a -scholar removed from vanity, as a Seeker walking in humility, as an -old man, wise and temperate, illumining knowledge with brilliant -insight. Bit by bit, disconnectedly, each tale called up by some -wayside thing, he spoke of all his wanderings up and down Hind; till -Kim, who had loved him without reason, now loved him for fifty good -reasons. So they enjoyed themselves in high felicity, abstaining, -as the Rule demands, from evil words, covetous desires; not over- -eating, not lying on high beds, nor wearing rich clothes. Their -stomachs told them the time, and the people brought them their food, -as the saying is. They were lords of the villages of Aminabad, -Sahaigunge, Akrola of the Ford, and little Phulesa, where Kim gave -the soulless woman a blessing. - -But news travels fast in India, and too soon shuffled across the -crop-land, bearing a basket of fruits with a box of Kabul grapes and -gilt oranges, a white-whiskered servitor - a lean, dry Oorya - -begging them to bring the honour of their presence to his mistress, -distressed in her mind that the lama had neglected her so long. - -'Now do I remember' - the lama spoke as though it were a wholly new -proposition. 'She is virtuous, but an inordinate talker.' - -Kim was sitting on the edge of a cow's manger, telling stories to a -village smith's children. - -'She will only ask for another son for her daughter. I have not -forgotten her,' he said. 'Let her acquire merit. Send word that we -will come.' - -They covered eleven miles through the fields in two days, and were -overwhelmed with attentions at the end; for the old lady held a fine -tradition of hospitality, to which she forced her son-in-law, who -was under the thumb of his women-folk and bought peace by borrowing -of the money-lender. Age had not weakened her tongue or her memory, -and from a discreetly barred upper window, in the hearing of not -less than a dozen servants, she paid Kim compliments that would have -flung European audiences into unclean dismay. - -'But thou art still the shameless beggar-brat of the parao,' she -shrilled. 'I have not forgotten thee. Wash ye and eat. The father of -my daughter's son is gone away awhile. So we poor women are dumb and -useless.' - -For proof, she harangued the entire household unsparingly till food -and drink were brought; and in the evening - the smoke-scented -evening, copper-dun and turquoise across the fields - it pleased her -to order her palanquin to be set down in the untidy forecourt by -smoky torchlight; and there, behind not too closely drawn curtains, -she gossiped. - -'Had the Holy One come alone, I should have received him otherwise; -but with this rogue, who can be too careful?' - -'Maharanee,' said Kim, choosing as always the amplest title, 'is it -my fault that none other than a Sahib - a polis-Sahib - called the -Maharanee whose face he -' 'Chutt! That was on the pilgrimage. -When we travel - thou knowest the proverb.' - -'Called the Maharanee a Breaker of Hearts and a Dispenser of -Delights?' - -'To remember that! It was true. So he did. That was in the time of -the bloom of my beauty.' She chuckled like a contented parrot above -the sugar lump. 'Now tell me of thy goings and comings - as much as -may be without shame. How many maids, and whose wives, hang upon -thine eyelashes? Ye hail from Benares? I would have gone there again -this year, but my daughter - we have only two sons. Phaii! Such is -the effect of these low plains. Now in Kulu men are elephants. But I -would ask thy Holy One - stand aside, rogue - a charm against most -lamentable windy colics that in mango-time overtake my daughter's -eldest. Two years back he gave me a powerful spell.' - -'Oh, Holy One!' said Kim, bubbling with mirth at the lama's rueful -face. - -'It is true. I gave her one against wind.' - -'Teeth - teeth - teeth, ' snapped the old woman. - -"'Cure them if they are sick,"' Kim quoted relishingly, "'but by no -means work charms. Remember what befell the Mahratta."' - -'That was two Rains ago; she wearied me with her continual -importunity.' The lama groaned as the Unjust judge had groaned -before him. 'Thus it comes - take note, my chela - that even those -who would follow the Way are thrust aside by idle women. Three days -through, when the child was sick, she talked to me.' - -'Arre! and to whom else should I talk? The boy's mother knew -nothing, and the father - in the nights of the cold weather it was - -"Pray to the Gods," said he, forsooth, and turning over, snored!' - -'I gave her the charm. What is an old man to do?' - -"'To abstain from action is well - except to acquire merit."' - -'Ah chela, if thou desertest me, I am all alone.' - -'He found his milk-teeth easily at any rate,' said the old lady. -'But all priests are alike.' - -Kim coughed severely. Being young, he did not approve of her -flippancy. 'To importune the wise out of season is to invite -calamitv.' - -'There is a talking mynah' - the thrust came back with the well- -remembered snap of the jewelled fore-finger - 'over the stables -which has picked up the very tone of the family priest. Maybe I -forget honour to my guests, but if ye had seen him double his fists -into his belly, which was like a half-grown gourd, and cry: "Here is -the pain!" ye would forgive. I am half minded to take the hakim's -medicine. He sells it cheap, and certainly it makes him fat as -Shiv's own bull. He does not deny remedies, but I doubted for the -child because of the in-auspicious colour of the bottles.' - -The lama, under cover of the monologue, had faded out into the -darkness towards the room prepared. - -'Thou hast angered him, belike,' said Kim. - -'Not he. He is wearied, and I forgot, being a grandmother. (None -but a grandmother should ever oversee a child. Mothers are only fit -for bearing.) Tomorrow, when he sees how my daughter's son is grown, -he will write the charm. Then, too, he can judge of the new hakim's -drugs.' - -'Who is the hakim, Maharanee?' - -'A wanderer, as thou art, but a most sober Bengali from Dacca - a -master of medicine. He relieved me of an oppression after meat by -means of a small pill that wrought like a devil unchained. He -travels about now, vending preparations of great value. He has even -papers, printed in Angrezi, telling what things he has done for -weak-backed men and slack women. He has been here four days; but -hearing ye were coming (hakims and priests are snake and tiger the -world over) he has, as I take it, gone to cover.' - -While she drew breath after this volley, the ancient servant, -sitting unrebuked on the edge of the torchlight, muttered: 'This -house is a cattle-pound, as it were, for all charlatans and - -priests. Let the boy stop eating mangoes ... but who can argue with -a grandmother?' He raised his voice respectfully: 'Sahiba, the hakim -sleeps after his meat. He is in the quarters behind the dovecote' - -Kim bristled like an expectant terrier. To outface and down- talk a -Calcutta-taught Bengali, a voluble Dacca drug-vendor, would be a -good game. It was not seemly that the lama, and incidentally -himself, should be thrown aside for such an one. He knew those -curious bastard English advertisements at the backs of native -newspapers. St Xavier's boys sometimes brought them in by stealth to -snigger over among their mates; for the language of the grateful -patient recounting his symptoms is most simple and revealing. The -Oorya, not unanxious to play off one parasite against the other, -slunk away towards the dovecote - -'Yes,' said Kim, with measured scorn. 'Their stock-in-trade is a -little coloured water and a very great shamelessness. Their prey are -broken-down kings and overfed Bengalis. Their profit is in children -- who are not born.' The old lady chuckled. 'Do not be envious. -Charms are better, eh? I never gainsaid it. See that thy Holy One -writes me a good amulet by the morning.' - -'None but the ignorant deny' - a thick, heavy voice boomed through -the darkness, as a figure came to rest squatting - 'None but the -ignorant deny the value of charms. None but the ignorant deny the -value of medicines.' - -'A rat found a piece of turmeric. Said he: "I will open a grocer's -shop,"' Kim retorted. - -Battle was fairly joined now, and they heard the old lady stiffen to -attention. - -'The priest's son knows the names of his nurse and three Gods. Says -he: "Hear me, or I will curse you by the three million Great Ones."' -Decidedly this invisible had an arrow or two in his quiver. He went -on: 'I am but a teacher of the alphabet. I have learned all the -wisdom of the Sahibs.' - -'The Sahibs never grow old. They dance and they play like children -when they are grandfathers. A strong-backed breed,' piped the voice -inside the palanquin. - -'I have, too, our drugs which loosen humours of the head in hot and -angry men. Sina well compounded when the moon stands in the proper -House; yellow earths I have - arplan from China that makes a man -renew his youth and astonish his household; saffron from Kashmir, -and the best salep of Kabul. Many people have died before -' - -'That I surely believe,' said Kim. - -'They knew the value of my drugs. I do not give my sick the mere -ink in which a charm is written, but hot and rending drugs which -descend and wrestle with the evil.' - -'Very mightily they do so,' sighed the old lady. - -The voice launched into an immense tale of misfortune and -bankruptcy, studded with plentiful petitions to the Government. 'But -for my fate, which overrules all, I had been now in Government -employ. I bear a degree from the great school at Calcutta - whither, -maybe, the son of this House shall go.' - -'He shall indeed. If our neighbour's brat can in a few years be -made an F A' (First Arts - she used the English word, of which she -had heard so often), 'how much more shall children clever as some -that I know bear away prizes at rich Calcutta.' - -'Never,' said the voice, 'have I seen such a child! Born in an -auspicious hour, and - but for that colic which, alas! turning into -black cholers, may carry him off like a pigeon - destined to many -years, he is enviable.' - -'Hai mai!' said the old lady. 'To praise children is inauspicious, -or I could listen to this talk. But the back of the house is -unguarded, and even in this soft air men think themselves to be men, -and women we know ... The child's father is away too, and I must be -chowkedar [watchman] in my old age. Up! Up! Take up the palanquin. -Let the hakim and the young priest settle between them whether -charms or medicine most avail. Ho! worthless people, fetch tobacco -for the guests, and - round the homestead go I!' - -The palanquin reeled off, followed by straggling torches and a horde -of dogs. Twenty villages knew the Sahiba - her failings, her tongue, -and her large charity. Twenty villages cheated her after immemorial -custom, but no man would have stolen or robbed within her -jurisdiction for any gift under heaven. None the less, she made -great parade of her formal inspections, the riot of which could be -heard half-way to Mussoorie. - -Kim relaxed, as one augur must when he meets another. The hakim, -still squatting, slid over his hookah with a friendly foot, and Kim -pulled at the good weed. The hangers-on expected grave professional -debate, and perhaps a little free doctoring. - -'To discuss medicine before the ignorant is of one piece with -teaching the peacock to sing,' said the hakim. - -'True courtesy,' Kim echoed, 'is very often inattention.' - -These, be it understood, were company-manners, designed to impress. - -'Hi! I have an ulcer on my leg,' cried a scullion. 'Look at it!' - -'Get hence! Remove!' said the hakim. 'Is it the habit of the place -to pester honoured guests? Ye crowd in like buffaloes.' - -'If the Sahiba knew -' Kim began. - -'Ai! Ai! Come away. They are meat for our mistress. When her young -Shaitan's colics are cured perhaps we poor people may be suffered to --' - -'The mistress fed thy wife when thou wast in jail for breaking the -money-lender's head. Who speaks against her?' The old servitor -curled his white moustaches savagely in the young moonlight. 'I am -responsible for the honour of this house. Go!' and he drove the -underlings before him. - -Said the hakim, hardly more than shaping the words with his lips: -'How do you do, Mister O'Hara? I am jolly glad to see you again.' - -Kim's hand clenched about the pipe-stem. Anywhere on the open road, -perhaps, he would not have been astonished; but here, in this quiet -backwater of life, he was not prepared for Hurree Babu. It annoyed -him, too, that he had been hoodwinked. - -'Ah ha! I told you at Lucknow - resurgam - I shall rise again and -you shall not know me. How much did you bet - eh?' - -He chewed leisurely upon a few cardamom seeds, but he breathed -uneasily. - -'But why come here, Babuji?' - -'Ah! Thatt is the question, as Shakespeare hath it. I come to -congratulate you on your extraordinary effeecient performance at -Delhi. Oah! I tell you we are all proud of you. It was verree -neat and handy. Our mutual friend, he is old friend of mine. He has -been in some dam'-tight places. Now he will be in some more. He -told me; I tell Mr Lurgan; and he is pleased you graduate so nicely. -All the Department is pleased.' - -For the first time in his life, Kim thrilled to the clean pride (it -can be a deadly pitfall, none the less) of Departmental praise - -ensnaring praise from an equal of work appreciated by fellow- -workers. Earth has nothing on the same plane to compare with it. -But, cried the Oriental in him, Babus do not travel far to retail -compliments. - -'Tell thy tale, Babu,' he said authoritatively. - -'Oah, it is nothing. Onlee I was at Simla when the wire came in -about what our mutual friend said he had hidden, and old Creighton - -' He looked to see how Kim would take this piece of audacity. - -'The Colonel Sahib,' the boy from St Xavier's corrected. 'Of -course. He found me at a loose string, and I had to go down to -Chitor to find that beastly letter. I do not like the South - too -much railway travel; but I drew good travelling allowance. Ha! Ha! I -meet our mutual at Delhi on the way back. He lies quiett just now, -and says Saddhu-disguise suits him to the ground. Well, there I -hear what you have done so well, so quickly, upon the instantaneous -spur of the moment. I tell our mutual you take the bally bun, by -Jove! It was splendid. I come to tell you so.' - -'Umm!' - -The frogs were busy in the ditches, and the moon slid to her -setting. Some happy servant had gone out to commune with the night -and to beat upon a drum. Kim's next sentence was in the vernacular. - -'How didst thou follow us?' - -'Oah. Thatt was nothing. I know from our mutual friend you go to -Saharunpore. So I come on. Red Lamas are not inconspicuous persons. -I buy myself my drug-box, and I am very good doctor really. I go to -Akrola of the Ford, and hear all about you, and I talk here and talk -there. All the common people know what you do. I knew when the -hospitable old lady sent the dooli. They have great recollections of -the old lama's visits here. I know old ladies cannot keep their -hands from medicines. So I am a doctor, and - you hear my talk? I -think it is verree good. My word, Mister O'Hara, they know about -you and the lama for fifty miles - the common people. So I come. Do -you mind?' - -'Babuji,' said Kim, looking up at the broad, grinning face, 'I am a -Sahib.' - -'My dear Mister O'Hara - -'And I hope to play the Great Game.' - -'You are subordinate to me departmentally at present.' - -'Then why talk like an ape in a tree? Men do not come after one from -Simla and change their dress, for the sake of a few sweet words. I -am not a child. Talk Hindi and let us get to the yolk of the egg. -Thou art here - speaking not one word of truth in ten. Why art thou -here? Give a straight answer.' - -'That is so verree disconcerting of the Europeans, Mister O'Hara. -you should know a heap better at your time of life.' - -'But I want to know,' said Kim, laughing. 'If it is the Game, I may -help. How can I do anything if you bukh [babble] all round the -shop?' - -Hurree Babu reached for the pipe, and sucked it till it guggled -again. - -'Now I will speak vernacular. You sit tight, Mister O'Hara . . . It -concerns the pedigree of a white stallion.' - -'Still? That was finished long ago.' - -'When everyone is dead the Great Game is finished. Not before. -Listen to me till the end. There were Five Kings who prepared a -sudden war three years ago, when thou wast given the stallion's -pedigree by Mahbub Ali. Upon them, because of that news, and ere -they were ready, fell our Army.' - -'Ay - eight thousand men with guns. I remember that night.' - -'But the war was not pushed. That is the Government custom. The -troops were recalled because the Government believed the Five Kings -were cowed; and it is not cheap to feed men among the high Passes. -HilaS and Bunar - Rajahs with guns - undertook for a price to guard -the Passes against all coming from the North. They protested both -fear and friendship.' He broke off with a giggle into English: "Of -course, I tell you this unoffeecialiv to elucidate political -situation, Mister O'Hara. Offeecially, I am debarred from -criticizing any action of superiors. Now I go on. - This pleased the -Government, anxious to avoid expense, and a bond was made for so -many rupees a month that Hilas and Bunar should guard the Passes as -soon as the State's troops were withdrawn. At that time - it was -after we two met - I, who had been selling tea in Leh, became a -clerk of accounts in the Army. When the troops were withdrawn, I -was left behind to pay the coolies who made new roads in the Hills. -This road-making was part of the bond between Bunar, Hilas, and the -Government.' - -'So? And then?' - -'I tell you, it was jolly-beastly cold up there too, after summer,' -said Hurree Babu confidentially. 'I was afraid these Bunar men would -cut my throat every night for thee pay-chest. My native sepoy-guard, -they laughed at me! By Jove! I was such a fearful man. Nevar mind -thatt. I go on colloquially ... I send word many times that these -two Kings were sold to the North; and Mahbub Ali, who was yet -farther North, amply confirmed it. Nothing was done. Only my feet -were frozen, and a toe dropped off. I sent word that the roads for -which I was paying money to the diggers were being made for the feet -of strangers and enemies.' - -'For?' - -'For the Russians. The thing was an open jest among the coolies. -Then I was called down to tell what I knew by speech of tongue. -Mahbub came South too. See the end! Over the Passes this year after -snow-melting' - he shivered afresh - come two strangers under cover -of shooting wild goats. They bear guns, but they bear also chains -and levels and compasses.' - -'Oho! The thing gets clearer.' - -'They are well received by Hilas and Bunar. They make great -promises; they speak as the mouthpiece of a Kaisar with gifts. Up -the valleys, down the valleys go they, saying, "Here is a place to -build a breastwork; here can ye pitch a fort. Here can ye hold the -road against an army" - the very roads for which I paid out the -rupees monthly. The Government knows', but does nothing. The three -other Kings, who were not paid for guarding the Passes, tell them by -runner of the bad faith of Bunar and Hilas. When all the evil is -done, look you - when these two strangers with the levels and the -compasses make the Five Kings to believe that a great army will -sweep the Passes tomorrow or the next day - Hill-people are all -fools - comes the order to me, Hurree Babu, "Go North and see what -those strangers do." I say to Creighton Sahib, "This is not a -lawsuit, that we go about to collect evidence."'Hurree returned to -his English with a jerk: "'By Jove," I said, "why the dooce do you -not issue demi-offeecial orders to some brave man to poison them, -for an example? It is, if you permit the observation, most -reprehensible laxity on your part." And Colonel Creighton, he -laughed at me! It is all your beastly English pride. You think no -one dare conspire! That is all tommy-rott.' - -Kim smoked slowly, revolving the business, so far as he understood -it, in his quick mind. - -'Then thou goest forth to follow the strangers?' - -'No. To meet them. They are coming in to Simla to send down their -horns and heads to be dressed at Calcutta. They are exclusively -sporting gentlemen, and they are allowed special faceelities by the -Government. Of course, we always do that. It is our British pride.' - -'Then what is to fear from them?' - -'By Jove, they are not black people. I can do all sorts of things -with black people, of course. They are Russians, and highly -unscrupulous people. I - I do not want to consort with them without -a witness.' - -'Will they kill thee?' - -'Oah, thatt is nothing. I am good enough Herbert Spencerian, I -trust, to meet little thing like death, which is all in my fate, you -know. But - but they may beat me.' - -'Why?' - -Hurree Babu snapped his fingers with irritation. 'Of course I shall -affeeliate myself to their camp in supernumerary capacity as perhaps -interpreter, or person mentally impotent and hungree, or some such -thing. And then I must pick up what I can, I suppose. That is as -easy for me as playing Mister Doctor to the old lady. Onlee - onlee -- you see, Mister O'Hara, I am unfortunately Asiatic, which is -serious detriment in some respects. And all-so I am Bengali - a -fearful man.' - -'God made the Hare and the Bengali. What shame?' said Kim, quoting -the proverb. - -'It was process of Evolution, I think, from Primal Necessity, but -the fact remains in all the cui bono. I am, oh, awfully fearful! - I -remember once they wanted to cut off my head on the road to Lhassa. -(No, I have never reached to Lhassa.) I sat down and cried, Mister -O'Hara, anticipating Chinese tortures. I do not suppose these two -gentlemen will torture me, but I like to provide for possible -contingency with European assistance in emergency.' He coughed and -spat out the cardamoms. 'It is purely unoffeecial indent, to which -you can say "No, Babu". If you have no pressing engagement with your -old man - perhaps you might divert him; perhaps I can seduce his -fancies - I should like you to keep in Departmental touch with me -till I find those sporting coves. I have great opeenion of you -since I met my friend at Delhi. And also I will embody your name in -my offeecial report when matter is finally adjudicated. It will be -a great feather in your cap. That is why I come really. - -'Humph! The end of the tale, I think, is true; but what of the -fore-part?' - -'About the Five Kings? Oah! there is ever so much truth in it. A -lots more than you would suppose,' said Hurree earnestly. 'You come -- eh? I go from here straight into the Doon. It is verree verdant -and painted meads. I shall go to Mussoorie to good old Munsoorie -Pahar, as the gentlemen and ladies say. Then by Rampur into Chini. -That is the only way they can come. I do not like waiting in the -cold, but we must wait for them. I want to walk with them to Simla. -You see, one Russian is a Frenchman, and I know my French pretty -well. I have friends in Chandernagore.' - -'He would certainly rejoice to see the Hills again,' said Kim -meditatively. 'All his speech these ten days past has been of little -else. If we go together -' - -'Oah! We can be quite strangers on the road, if your lama prefers. I -shall just be four or five miles ahead. There is no hurry for Hurree -- that is an Europe pun, ha! ha! - and you come after. There is -plenty of time; they will plot and survey and map, of course. I -shall go tomorrow, and you the next day, if you choose. Eh? You go -think on it till morning. By Jove, it is near morning now.' He -yawned ponderously, and with never a civil word lumbered off to his -sleeping-place. But Kim slept little, and his thoughts ran in -Hindustani: - -'Well is the Game called great! I was four days a scullion at -Quetta, waiting on the wife of the man whose book I stole. And that -was part of the Great Game! From the South - God knows how far - -came up the Mahratta, playing the Great Game in fear of his life. -Now I shall go far and far into the North playing the Great Game. -Truly, it runs like a shuttle throughout all Hind. And my share and -my joy' - he smiled to the darkness-'I owe to the lama here. Also to -Mahbub Ali - also to Creighton Sahib, but chiefly to the Holy One. -He is right - a great and a wonderful world - and I am Kim - Kim - -Kim - alone - one person - in the middle of it all. But I will see -these strangers with their levels and chains . . .' - -'What was the upshot of last night's babble?' said the lama, after -his orisons - -'There came a strolling seller of drugs - a hanger-on of the -Sahiba's. Him I abolished by arguments and prayers, proving that -our charms are worthier than his coloured waters.' - -'Alas, my charms! Is the virtuous woman still bent upon a new one?' - -'Very strictly.' - -'Then it must be written, or she will deafen me with her clamour.' -He fumbled at his pencase. - -'In the Plains,' said Kim, 'are always too many people. In the -Hills, as I understand, there are fewer.' - -'Oh! the Hills, and the snows upon the Hills.' The lami tore off a -tiny square of paper fit to go in an amulet. 'But what dost thou -know of the Hills?' - -'They are very close.' Kim thrust open the door and looked at the -long, peaceful line of the Himalayas flushed in morning- gold. -'Except in the dress of a Sahib, I have never set foot among them.' - -The lama snuffed the wind wistfully. - -'If we go North,' - Kim put the question to the waking sunrise - -'would not much mid-day heat be avoided by walking among the lower -hills at least? ... Is the charm made, Holy One?' - -'I have written the names of seven silly devils - not one of whom is -worth a grain of dust in the eye. Thus do foolish women drag us -from the Way!' - -Hurree Babu came out from behind the dovecote washing his teeth with -ostentatious ritual. Full-fleshed, heavy-haunched, bull-necked, and -deep-voiced, he did not look like 'a fearful man'. Kim signed -almost imperceptibly that matters were in good train, and when the -morning toilet was over, Hurree Babu, in flowery speech, came to do -honour to the lama. They ate, of course, apart, and afterwards the -old lady, more or less veiled behind a window, returned to the vital -business of green-mango colics in the young. The lama's knowledge of -medicine "was, of course, sympathetic only. He believed that the -dung of a black horse, mixed with sulphur, and carried in a snake- -skin, was a sound remedy for cholera; but the symbolism interested -him far more than the science. Hurree Babu deferred to these views -with enchanting politeness, so that the lama called him a courteous -physician. Hurree Babu replied that he was no more than an inexpert -dabbler in the mysteries; but at least - he thanked the Gods -therefore - he knew when he sat in the presence of a master. He -himself had been taught by the Sahibs, who do not consider expense, -in the lordly halls of Calcutta; but, as he was ever first to -acknowledge, there lay a wisdom behind earthly wisdom - the high and -lonely lore of meditation. Kim looked on with envy. The Hurree Babu -of his knowledge - oily, effusive, and nervous - was gone; gone, -too, was the brazen drug-vendor of overnight. There remained - -polished, polite, attentive - a sober, learned son of experience and -adversity, gathering wisdom from the lama's lips. The old lady -confided to Kim that these rare levels were beyond her. She liked -charms with plenty of ink that one could wash off in water, swallow, -and be done with. Else what was the use of the Gods? She liked men -and women, and she spoke of them - of kinglets she had known in the -past; of her own youth and beauty; of the depredations of leopards -and the eccentricities of love Asiatic; of the incidence of -taxation, rack-renting, funeral ceremonies, her son-in-law (this by -allusion, easy to be followed), the care of the young, and the age's -lack of decency. And Kim, as interested in the life of this world as -she soon to leave it, squatted with his feet under the hem of his -robe, drinking all in, while the lama demolished one after another -every theory of body-curing put forward by Hurree Babu. - -At noon the Babu strapped up his brass-bound drug-box, took his -patent-leather shoes of ceremony in one hand, a gay blue-and-white -umbrella in the other, and set off northwards to the Doon, where, he -said, he was in demand among the lesser kings of those parts. - -'We will go in the cool of the evening, chela,' said the lama. 'That -doctor, learned in physic and courtesy, affirms that the people -among these lower hills are devout, generous, and much in need of a -teacher. In a very short time - so says the hakim - we come to cool -air and the smell of pines.' - -'Ye go to the Hills? And by Kulu road? Oh, thrice happy!' shrilled -the old lady. 'But that I am a little pressed with the care of the -homestead I would take palanquin ... but that would be shameless, -and my reputation would be cracked. Ho! Ho! I know the road - every -march of the road I know. Ye will find charity throughout - it is -not denied to the well-looking. I will give orders for provision. A -servant to set you forth upon your journey? No ... Then I will at -least cook ye good food.' - -'What a woman is the Sahiba!' said the white-bearded Oorya, when a -tumult rose by the kitchen quarters. 'She has never forgotten a -friend: she has never forgotten an enemy in all her years. And her -cookery - wah!' He rubbed his slim stomach. - -There were cakes, there were sweetmeats, there was cold fowl stewed -to rags with rice and prunes - enough to burden Kim like a mule. - -'I am old and useless,' she said. 'None now love me - and none -respect - but there are few to compare with me when I call on the -Gods and squat to my cooking-pots. Come again, O people of good -will. Holy One and disciple, come again. The room is always -prepared; the welcome is always ready ... See the women do not -follow thy chela too openly. I know the women of Kulu. Take heed, -chela, lest he run away when he smells his Hills again ... Hai! Do -not tilt the rice-bag upside down ... Bless the household, Holy One, -and forgive thy servant her stupidities.' - -She wiped her red old eyes on a corner of her veil, and clucked -throatily. - -'Women talk,' said the lama at last, 'but that is a woman's -infirmity. I gave her a charm. She is upon the Wheel and wholly -given over to the shows of this life, but none the less, chela, she -is virtuous, kindly, hospitable - of a whole and zealous heart. Who -shall say she does not acquire merit?' - -'Not I, Holy One,' said Kim, reslinging the bountiful provision on -his shoulders. 'In my mind - behind my eyes - I have tried to -picture such an one altogether freed from the Wheel - desiring -nothing, causing nothing - a nun, as it were' - -'And, O imp?' The lama almost laughed aloud. - -'I cannot make the picture.' - -'Nor I. But there are many, many millions of lives before her. She -will get wisdom a little, it may be, in each one.' - -'And will she forget how to make stews with saffron upon that road?' - -'Thy mind is set on things unworthy. But she has skill. I am -refreshed all over. When we reach the lower hills I shall be yet -stronger. The hakim spoke truly to me this morn when he said a -breath from the snows blows away twenty years from the life of a -man. We will go up into the Hills - the high hills - up to the -sound of snow-waters and the sound of the trees - for a little -while. The hakim said that at any time we may return to the Plains, -for we do no more than skirt the pleasant places. The hakim is full -of learning; but he is in no way proud. I spoke to him - when thou -wast talking to the Sahiba - of a certain dizziness that lays hold -upon the back of my neck in the night, and he said it rose from -excessive heat - to be cured by cool air. Upon consideration, I -marvelled that I had not thought of such a simple remedy.' - -'Didst thou tell him of thy Search?' said Kim, a little jealously. -He preferred to sway the lama by his own speech - not through the -wiles of Hurree Babu. - -'Assuredly. I told him of my dream, and of the manner by which I had -acquired merit by causing thee to be taught wisdom.' - -'Thou didst not say I was a Sahib?' - -'What need? I have told thee many times we be but two souls seeking -escape. He said - and he is just herein - that the River of Healing -will break forth even as I dreamed - at my feet, if need be. Having -found the Way, seest thou, that shall free me from the Wheel, need I -trouble to find a way about the mere fields of earth - which are -illusion? That were senseless. I have my dreams, night upon night -repeated; I have Jataka; and I have thee, Friend of all the World. -It was written in thy horoscope that a Red Bull on a green field - I -have not forgotten - should bring thee to honour. Who but I saw that -prophecy accomplished? Indeed, I was the instrument. Thou shalt find -me my River, being in return the instrument. The Search is sure!' - -He set his ivory-yellow face, serene and untroubled, towards the -beckoning Hills; his shadow shouldering far before him in the dust. - - - - - -Chapter 13 - - -Who hath desired the Sea - the immense and contemptuous surges? -The shudder, the stumble, the swerve ere the star-stabbing bowsprit -merges - -The orderly clouds of the Trades and the ridged roaring -sapphire thereunder - -Unheralded cliff-lurking flaws and the head-sails' low-volleying -thunder? -His Sea in no wonder the same - his Sea and the same in each wonder -- -His Sea that his being fulfils? -So and no otherwise - so and no otherwise hill-men desire their -hills! - -The Sea and the Hills. - - - -'Who goes to the hills goes to his mother.' - -They had crossed the Siwaliks and the half-tropical Doon, left -Mussoorie behind them, and headed north along the narrow hill-roads. -Day after day they struck deeper into the huddled mountains, and day -after day Kim watched the lama return to a man's strength. Among the -terraces of the Doon he had leaned on the boy's shoulder, ready to -profit by wayside halts. Under the great ramp to Mussoorie he drew -himself together as an old hunter faces a well-remembered bank, and -where he should have sunk exhausted swung his long draperies about -him, drew a deep double-lungful of the diamond air, and walked as -only a hillman can. Kim, plains-bred and plains-fed, sweated and -panted astonished. 'This is my country,' said the lama. 'Beside -Such-zen, this is flatter than a rice-field'; and with steady, -driving strokes from the loins he strode upwards. But it was on the -steep downhill marches, three thousand feet in three hours, that he -went utterly away from Kim, whose back ached with holding back, and -whose big toe was nigh cut off by his grass sandal-string. Through -the speckled shadow of the great deodar-forests; through oak -feathered and plumed with ferns; birch, ilex, rhododendron, and -pine, out on to the bare hillsides' slippery sunburnt grass, and -back into the woodlands' coolth again, till oak gave way to bamboo -and palm of the valley, the lama swung untiring. - -Glancing back in the twilight at the huge ridges behind him and the -faint, thin line of the road whereby they had come, he would lay -out, with a hillman's generous breadth of vision, fresh marches for -the morrow; or, halting in the neck of some uplifted pass that gave -on Spiti and Kulu, would stretch out his hands yearningly towards -the high snows of the horizon. In the dawns they flared windy-red -above stark blue, as Kedar- nath and Badrinath - kings of that -wilderness - took the first sunlight. All day long they lay like -molten silver under the sun, and at evening put on their jewels -again. At first they breathed temperately upon the travellers, winds -good to meet when one crawled over some gigantic hog's-back; but in -a few days, at a height of nine or ten thousand feet, those breezes -bit; and Kim kindly allowed a village of hillmen to acquire merit by -giving him a rough blanket-coat. The lama was mildly surprised that -anyone should object to the knife-edged breezes which had cut the -years off his shoulders. - -'These are but the lower hills, chela. There is no cold till we come -to the true Hills.' - -'Air and water are good, and the people are devout enough, but the -food is very bad,' Kim growled; 'and we walk as though we were mad - -or English. It freezes at night, too.' - -'A little, maybe; but only enough to make old bones rejoice in the -sun. We must not always delight in soft beds and rich food.' - -'We might at least keep to the road.' - -Kim had all a plainsman's affection for the well-trodden track, not -six feet wide, that snaked among the mountains; but the lama, being -Tibetan, could not refrain from short cuts over spurs and the rims -of gravel-strewn slopes. As he explained to his limping disciple, a -man bred among mountains can prophesy the course of a mountain-road, -and though low-lying clouds might be a hindrance to a short-cutting -stranger, they made no earthly difference to a thoughtful man. Thus, -after long hours of what would be reckoned very fair mountaineering -in civilized countries, they would pant over a saddle-back, sidle -past a few landslips, and drop through forest at an angle of forty- -five onto the road again. Along their track lay the villages of the -hillfolk - mud and earth huts, timbers now and then rudely carved -with an axe - clinging like swallows' nests against the steeps, -huddled on tiny flats half-way down a three-thousand-foot glissade; -jammed into a corner between cliffs that funnelled and focused every -wandering blast; or, for the sake of summer pasture, cowering down -on a neck that in winter would be ten feet deep in snow. And the -people - the sallow, greasy, duffle- clad people, with short bare -legs and faces almost Esquimaux - would flock out and adore. The -Plains - kindly and gentle - had treated the lama as a holy man -among holy men. But the Hills worshipped him as one in the -confidence of all their devils. Theirs was an almost obliterated -Buddhism, overlaid with a nature-worship fantastic as their own -landscapes, elaborate as the terracing of their tiny fields; but -they recognized the big hat, the clicking rosary, and the rare -Chinese texts for great authority; and they respected the man -beneath the hat. - -'We saw thee come down over the black Breasts of Eua,' said a Betah -who gave them cheese, sour milk, and stone-hard bread one evening. -'We do not use that often - except when calving cows stray in -summer. There is a sudden wind among those stones that casts men -down on the stillest day. But what should such folk care for the -Devil of Eua!' - -Then did Kim, aching in every fibre, dizzy with looking down, -footsore with cramping desperate toes into inadequate crannies, take -joy in the day's march - such joy as a boy of St Xavier's who had -won the quarter-mile on the flat might take in the praises of his -friends. The hills sweated the ghi and sugar suet off his bones; -the dry air, taken sobbingly at the head of cruel passes, firmed and -built out his upper ribs; and the tilted levels put new hard muscles -into calf and thigh. - -They meditated often on the Wheel of Life - the more so since, as -the lama said, they were freed from its visible temptations. Except -the grey eagle and an occasional far-seen bear grubbing and rooting -on the hillside; a vision of a furious painted leopard met at dawn -in a still valley devouring a goat; and now and again a bright- -coloured bird, they were alone with the winds and the grass singing -under the wind. The women of the smoky huts over whose roofs the -two walked as they descended the mountains, were unlovely and -unclean, wives of many husbands, and afflicted with goitre. The men -were woodcutters when they were not farmers - meek, and of an -incredible simplicity. But that suitable discourse might not fail, -Fate sent them, overtaking and overtaken upon the road, the -courteous Dacca physician, who paid for his food in ointments good -for goitre and counsels that restore peace between men and women. He -seemed to know these hills as well as he knew the hill dialects, and -gave the lama the lie of the land towards Ladakh and Tibet. He said -they could return to the Plains at any moment. Meantime, for such as -loved mountains, yonder road might amuse. This was not all revealed -in a breath, but at evening encounters on the stone threshing- -floors, when, patients disposed of, the doctor would smoke and the -lama snuff, while Kim watched the wee cows grazing on the housetops, -or threw his soul after his eyes across the deep blue gulfs between -range and range. And there were talks apart in the dark woods, when -the doctor would seek herbs, and Kim, as budding physician, must -accompany him. - -'You see, Mister O'Hara, I do not know what the deuce-an'- all I -shall do when I find our sporting friends; but if you will kindly -keep within sight of my umbrella, which is fine fixed point for -cadastral survey, I shall feel much better.' - -Kim looked out across the jungle of peaks. 'This is not my country, -hakim. Easier, I think, to find one louse in a bear-skin.' - -'Oah, thatt is my strong points. There is no hurry for Hurree. They -were at Leh not so long ago. They said they had come down from the -Karakorum with their heads and horns and all. I am onlee afraid they -will have sent back all their letters and compromising things from -Leh into Russian territoree. Of course they will walk away as far to -the East as possible - just to show that they were never among the -Western States. You do not know the Hills?' He scratched with a twig -on the earth. 'Look! They should have come in by Srinagar or -Abbottabad. Thatt is their short road - down the river by Bunji and -Astor. But they have made mischief in the West. So' - he drew a -furrow from left to right - 'they march and they march away East to -Leh (ah! it is cold there), and down the Indus to Hanle (I know that -road), and then down, you see, to Bushahr and Chini valley. That is -ascertained by process of elimination, and also by asking questions -from people that I cure so well. Our friends have been a long time -playing about and producing impressions. So they are well known from -far off. You will see me catch them somewhere in Chini valley. -Please keep your eye on the umbrella.' - -It nodded like a wind-blown harebell down the valleys and round the -mountain sides, and in due time the lama and Kim, who steered by -compass, would overhaul it, vending ointments and powders at -eventide. 'We came by such and such a way!' The lama would throw a -careless finger backward at the ridges, and the umbrella would -expend itself in compliments. - -They crossed a snowy pass in cold moonlight, when the lama, mildly -chaffing Kim, went through up to his knees, like a Bactrian camel - -the snow-bred, shag-haired sort that came into the Kashmir Serai. -They dipped across beds of light snow and snow-powdered shale, where -they took refuge from a gale in a camp of Tibetans hurrying down -tiny sheep, each laden with a bag of borax. They came out upon -grassy shoulders still snow-speckled, and through forest, to grass -anew. For all their marchings, Kedarnath and Badrinath were not -impressed; and it was only after days of travel that Kim, uplifted -upon some insignificant ten-thousand-foot hummock, could see that a -shoulder-knot or horn of the two great lords had - ever so slightly -- changed outline. - -At last they entered a world within a world - a valley of leagues -where the high hills were fashioned of a mere rubble and refuse from -off the knees of the mountains. Here one day's march carried them no -farther, it seemed, than a dreamer's clogged pace bears him in a -nightmare. They skirted a shoulder painfully for hours, and, -behold, it was but an outlying boss in an outlying buttress of the -main pile! A rounded meadow revealed itself, when they had reached -it, for a vast tableland running far into the valley. Three days -later, it was a dim fold in the earth to southward. - -'Surely the Gods live here!' said Kim, beaten down by the silence -and the appalling sweep and dispersal of the cloud-shadows after -rain. 'This is no place for men!' - -'Long and long ago,' said the lama, as to himself, 'it was asked of -the Lord whether the world were everlasting. o this the Excellent -One returned no answer ... When I was in Ceylon, a wise Seeker -confirmed that from the gospel which is written in Pali. Certainly, -since we know the way to Freedom, the question were unprofitable, -but - look, and know illusion, chela! These- are the true Hills! -They are like my hills by Suchzen. Never were such hills!' - -Above them, still enormously above them, earth towered away towards -the snow-line, where from east to west across hundreds of miles, -ruled as with a ruler, the last of the bold birches stopped. Above -that, in scarps and blocks upheaved, the rocks strove to fight their -heads above the white smother. Above these again, changeless since -the world's beginning, but changing to every mood of sun and cloud, -lay out the eternal snow. They could see blots and blurs on its face -where storm and wandering wullie-wa got up to dance. Below them, as -they stood, the forest slid away in a sheet of blue-green for mile -upon mile; below the forest was a village in its sprinkle of -terraced fields and steep grazing-grounds. Below the village they -knew, though a thunderstorm worried and growled there for the -moment, a pitch of twelve or fifteen hundred feet gave to the moist -valley where the streams gather that are the mothers of young -Sutluj. - -As usual, the lama had led Kim by cow-track and by-road, far from -the main route along which Hurree Babu, that 'fearful man', had -bucketed three days before through a storm to which nine Englishmen -out of ten would have given full right of way. Hurree was no game- -shot - the snick of a trigger made him change colour - but, as he -himself would have said, he was 'fairly effeecient stalker', and he -had raked the huge valley with a pair of cheap binoculars to some -purpose. Moreover, the white of worn canvas tents against green -carries far. Hurree Babu had seen all he wanted to see when he sat -on the threshing-floor of Ziglaur, twenty miles away as the eagle -flies, and forty by road - that is to say, two small dots which one -day were just below the snow-line, and the next had moved downward -perhaps six inches on the hillside. Once cleaned out and set to the -work, his fat bare legs could cover a surprising amount of ground, -and this was the reason why, while Kim and the lama lay in a leaky -hut at Ziglaur till the storm should be over-past, an oily, wet, but -always smiling Bengali, talking the best of English with the vilest -of phrases, was ingratiating himself with two sodden and rather -rheumatic foreigners. He had arrived, revolving many wild schemes, -on the heels of a thunderstorm which had split a pine over against -their camp, and so convinced a dozen or two forcibly impressed -baggage-coolies the day was inauspicious for farther travel that -with one accord they had thrown down their loads and jibbed. They -were subjects of a Hill Rajah who farmed out their services, as is -the custom, for his private gain; and, to add to their personal -distresses, the strange Sahibs had already threatened them with -rifles. The most of them knew rifles and Sahibs of old: they were -trackers and shikarris of the Northern valleys, keen after bear and -wild goat; but they had never been thus treated in their lives. So -the forest took them to her bosom, and, for all oaths and clamour, -refused to restore. There was no need to feign madness or - the Babu -had thought of another means of securing a welcome. He wrung out his -wet clothes, slipped on his patent-leather shoes, opened the blue- -and-white umbrella, and with mincing gait and a heart beating -against his tonsils appeared as 'agent for His Royal Highness, the -Rajah of Rampur, gentlemen. What can I do for you, please?' - -The gentlemen were delighted. One was visibly French, the other -Russian, but they spoke English not much inferior to the Babu's. -They begged his kind offices. Their native servants had gone sick at -Leh. They had hurried on because they were anxious to bring the -spoils of the chase to Simla ere the skins grew moth-eaten. They -bore a general letter of introduction (the Babu salaamed to it -orientally) to all Government officials. No, they had not met any -other shooting-parties en route. They did for themselves. They had -plenty of supplies. They only wished to push on as soon as might be. -At this he waylaid a cowering hillman among the trees, and after -three minutes' talk and a little silver (one cannot be economical -upon State service, though Hurree's heart bled at the waste) the -eleven coolies and the three hangers-on reappeared. At least the -Babu would be a witness to their oppression. - -'My royal master, he will be much annoyed, but these people are -onlee common people and grossly ignorant. If your honours will -kindly overlook unfortunate affair, I shall be much pleased. In a -little while rain will stop and we can then proceed. You have been -shooting, eh? That is fine performance!' - -He skipped nimbly from one kilta to the next, making pretence to -adjust each conical basket. The Englishman is not, as a rule, -familiar with the Asiatic, but he would not strike across the wrist -a kindly Babu who had accidentally upset a kilta with a red oilskin -top. On the other hand, he would not press drink upon a Babu were -he never so friendly, nor would he invite him to meat. The -strangers did all these things, and asked many questions - about -women mostly - to which Hurree returned gay and unstudied answers. -They gave him a glass of whitish fluid like to gin, and then more; -and in a little time his gravity departed from him. He became -thickly treasonous, and spoke in terms of sweeping indecency of a -Government which had forced upon him a white man's education and -neglected to supply him with a white man's salary. He babbled tales -of oppression and wrong till the tears ran down his cheeks for the -miseries of his land. Then he staggered off, singing love-songs of -Lower Bengal, and collapsed upon a wet tree-trunk. Never was so -unfortunate a product of English rule in India more unhappily thrust -upon aliens. - -'They are all just of that pattern,' said one sportsman to the other -in French. 'When we get into India proper thou wilt see. I should -like to visit his Rajah. One might speak the good word there. It is -possible that he has heard of us and wishes to signify his good- -will.' - -'We have not time. We must get into Simla as soon as may be,' his -companion replied. 'For my own part, I wish our reports had been -sent back from Hilas, or even Leh.' - -'The English post is better and safer. Remember we are given all -facilities - and Name of God! - they give them to us too! Is it -unbelievable stupidity?' - -'It is pride - pride that deserves and will receive punishment.' - -'Yes! To fight a fellow-Continental in our game is something. There -is a risk attached, but these people - bah! It is too easy.' - -'Pride - all pride, my friend.' - -'Now what the deuce is good of Chandernagore being so close to -Calcutta and all,' said Hurree, snoring open-mouthed on the sodden -moss, 'if I cannot understand their French? They talk so -particularly fast! It would have been much better to cut their -beastly throats.' - -When he presented himself again he was racked with a headache - -penitent, and volubly afraid that in his drunkenness he might have -been indiscreet. He loved the British Government - it was the source -of all prosperity and honour, and his master at Rampur held the very -same opinion. Upon this the men began to deride him and to quote -past words, till step by step, with deprecating smirks, oily grins, -and leers of infinite cunning, the poor Babu was beaten out of his -defences and forced to speak - truth. When Lurgan was told the tale -later, he mourned aloud that he could not have been in the place of -the stubborn, inattentive coolies, who with grass mats over their -heads and the raindrops puddling in their footprints, waited on the -wea- ther. All the Sahibs of their acquaintance - rough-clad men -joyously returning year after year to their chosen gullies - had -servants and cooks and orderlies, very often hillmen. These Sahibs -travelled without any retinue. Therefore they were poor Sahibs, and -ignorant; for no Sahib in his senses would follow a Bengali's -advice. But the Bengali, appearing from somewhere, had given them -money, and could make shift with their dialect. Used to -comprehensive ill-treatment from their own colour, they suspected a -trap somewhere, and stood by to run if occasion offered. - -Then through the new-washed air, steaming with delicious earth- -smells, the Babu led the way down the slopes - walking ahead of the -coolies in pride; walking behind the foreigners in humility. His -thoughts were many and various. The least of them would have -interested his companions beyond words. But he was an agreeable -guide, ever keen to point out the beauties of his royal master's -domain. He peopled the hills with anything thev had a mind to slay - -thar, ibex, or markhor, and bear by Elisha's allowance. He -discoursed of botany and ethnology with unimpeachable inaccuracy, -and his store of local legends - he had been a trusted agent of the -State for fifteen years, remember - was inexhaustible. - -'Decidedly this fellow is an original,' said the taller of the two -foreigners. 'He is like the nightmare of a Viennese courier.' - -'He represents in little India in transition - the monstrous -hybridism of East and West,' the Russian replied. 'It is we who can -deal with Orientals.' - -'He has lost his own country and has not acquired any other. But he -has a most complete hatred of his conquerors. Listen. He confided to -me last night,' said the other. - -Under the striped umbrella Hurree Babu was straining ear and brain -to follow the quick-poured French, and keeping both eyes on a kilta -full of maps and documents - an extra-large one with a double red -oil-skin cover. He did not wish to steal anything. He only desired -to know what to steal, and, incidentally, how to get away when he -had stolen it. He thanked all the Gods of Hindustan, and Herbert -Spencer, that there remained some valuables to steal. - -On the second dav the road rose steeply to a grass spur above the -forest; and it was here, about sunset, that they came across an aged -lama - but they called him a bonze - sitting cross-legged above a -mysterious chart held down by stones, which he was explaining to a -young man, evidently a neophyte, of singular, though unwashen, -beauty. The striped umbrella had been sighted half a march away, and -Kim had suggested a halt till it came up to them. - -'Ha!' said Hurree Babu, resourceful as Puss-in-Boots. 'That is -eminent local holy man. Probably subject of my royal master.' - -'What is he doing? It is very curious.' - -'He is expounding holy picture - all hand-worked.' - -The two men stood bareheaded in the wash of the afternoon sunlight -low across the gold-coloured grass. The sullen coolies, glad of the -check, halted and slid down their loads. - -'Look!' said the Frenchman. 'It is like a picture for the birth of a -religion - the first teacher and the first disciple. Is he a -Buddhist?' - -'Of some debased kind,' the other answered. 'There are no true -Buddhists among the Hills. But look at the folds of the drapery. -Look at his eyes - how insolent! Why does this make one feel that we -are so young a people?' The speaker struck passionately at a tall -weed. 'We have nowhere left our mark yet. Nowhere! That, do you -understand, is what disquiets me.' He scowled at the placid face, -and the monumental calm of the pose. - -'Have patience. We shall make your mark together - we and you young -people. Meantime, draw his picture.' - -The Babu advanced loftily; his back out of all keeping with his -deferential speech, or his wink towards Kim. - -'Holy One, these be Sahibs. My medicines cured one of a flux, and I -go into Simla to oversee his recovery. They wish to see thy picture --' - -'To heal the sick is always good. This is the Wheel of Life,' said -the lama, 'the same I showed thee in the hut at Ziglaur when the -rain fell.' - -'And to hear thee expound it.' - -The lama's eyes lighted at the prospect of new listeners. 'To -expound the Most Excellent Way is good. Have they any knowledge of -Hindi, such as had the Keeper of Images?' - -'A little, maybe.' - -Hereat, simply as a child engrossed with a new game, the lama threw -back his head and began the full-throated invocation of the Doctor -of Divinity ere he opens the full doctrine. The strangers leaned on -their alpenstocks and listened. Kim, squatting humbly, watched the -red sunlight on their faces, and the blend and parting of their long -shadows. They wore un-English leggings and curious girt-in belts -that reminded him hazily of the pictures in a book in St Xavier's -library "The Adventures of a Young Naturalist in Mexico" was its -name. Yes, they looked very like the wonderful M. Sumichrast of that -tale, and very unlike the 'highly unscrupulous folk' of Hurree -Babu's imagining. The coolies, earth-coloured and mute, crouched -reverently some twenty or thirty yards away, and the Babu, the slack -of his thin gear snapping like a marking-flag in the chill breeze, -stood by with an air of happy proprietorship. - -'These are the men,' Hurree whispered, as the ritual went on and the -two whites followed the grass-blade sweeping from Hell to Heaven and -back again. 'All their books are in the large kilta with the reddish -top - books and reports and maps - and I have seen a King's letter -that either Hilas or Bunar has written. They guard it most -carefully. They have sent nothing back from Hilas or Leh. That is -sure.' - -'Who is with them?' - -'Only the beegar-coolies. They have no servants. They are so close -they cook their own food.' - -'But what am I to do?' - -'Wait and see. Only if any chance comes to me thou wilt know where -to seek for the papers.' - -'This were better in Mahbub Ali's hands than a Bengali's,' said Kim -scornfully. - -'There are more ways of getting to a sweetheart than butting down a -wall.' - -'See here the Hell appointed for avarice and greed. Flanked upon the -one side by Desire and on the other by Weariness.' The lama warmed -to his work, and one of the strangers sketched him in the quick- -fading light. - -'That is enough,' the man said at last brusquely. 'I cannot -understand him, but I want that picture. He is a better artist than -I. Ask him if he will sell it.' - -'He says "No, sar,"' the Babu replied. The lama, of course, would no -more have parted with his chart to a casual wayfarer than an -archbishop would pawn the holy vessels of his cathedral. All Tibet -is full of cheap reproductions of the Wheel; but the lama was an -artist, as well as a wealthy Abbot in his own place. - -'Perhaps in three days, or four, or ten, if I perceive that the -Sahib is a Seeker and of good understanding, I may myself draw him -another. But this was used for the initiation of a novice. Tell him -so, hakim.' - -'He wishes it now - for money.' - -The lama shook his head slowly and began to fold up the Wheel. The -Russian, on his side, saw no more than an unclean old man haggling -over a dirty piece of paper. He drew out a handful of rupees, and -snatched half-jestingly at the chart, which tore in the lama's grip. -A low murmur of horror went up from the coolies - some of whom were -Spiti men and, by their lights, good Buddhists. The lama rose at the -insult; his hand went to the heavy iron pencase that is the priest's -weapon, and the Babu danced in agony. - -'Now you see - you see why I wanted witnesses. They are highly -unscrupulous people. Oh, sar! sar! You must not hit holyman!' - -'Chela! He has defiled the Written Word!' - -It was too late. Before Kim could ward him off, the Russian struck -the old man full on the face. Next instant he was rolling over and -over downhill with Kim at his throat. The blow had waked every -unknown Irish devil in the boy's blood, and the sudden fall of his -enemy did the rest. The lama dropped to his knees, half-stunned; the -coolies under their loads fled up the hill as fast as plainsmen run -aross the level. They had seen sacrilege unspeakable, and it behoved -them to get away before the Gods and devils of the hills took -vengeance. The Frenchman ran towards the lama, fumbling at his -revolver with some notion of making him a hostage for his companion. -A shower of cutting stones - hillmen are very straight shots - drove -him away, and a coolie from Ao-chung snatched the lama into the -stampede. All came about as swiftly as the sudden mountain-darkness. - -'They have taken the baggage and all the guns,' yelled the -Frenchman, firing blindly into the twilight. - -'All right, sar! All right! Don't shoot. I go to rescue,' and -Hurree, pounding down the slope, cast himself bodily upon the -delighted and astonished Kim, who was banging his breathless foe's -head against a boulder. - -'Go back to the coolies,' whispered the Babu in his ear. 'They have -the baggage. The papers are in the kilta with the red top, but look -through all. Take their papers, and specially the murasla [King's -letter]. Go! The other man comes!' - -Kim tore uphill. A revolver-bullet rang on a rock by his side, and -he cowered partridge-wise. - -'If you shoot,' shouted Hurree, 'they will descend and annihilate -us. I have rescued the gentleman, sar. This is particularly -dangerous.' - -'By Jove!' Kim was thinking hard in English. 'This is dam'-tight -place, but I think it is self-defence.' He felt in his bosom for -Mahbub's gift, and uncertainly - save for a few practice shots in -the Bikanir desert, he had never used the little gun -pulled the -trigger. - -'What did I say, sar!' The Babu seemed to be in tears. 'Come down -here and assist to resuscitate. We are all up a tree, I tell you.' - -The shots ceased. There was a sound of stumbling feet, and Kim -hurried upward through the gloom, swearing like a cat - or a -country-bred. - -'Did they wound thee, chela?' called the lama above him. - -'No. And thou?' He dived into a clump of stunted firs. - -'Unhurt. Come away. We go with these folk to Shamlegh-under-the- -Snow.' - -'But not before we have done justice,' a voice cried. 'I have got -the Sahibs' guns - all four. Let us go down.' - -'He struck the Holy One - we saw it! Our cattle will be barren- our -wives will cease to bear! The snows will slide upon us as we go home -... Atop of all other oppression too!' - -The little fir-clump filled with clamouring coolies - panic- -stricken, and in their terror capable of anything. The man from -Ao-chung clicked the breech-bolt of his gun impatiently, and made as -to go downhill. - -'Wait a little, Holy One; they cannot go far. Wait till I return,' -said he. - -'It is this person who has suffered wrong,' said the lama, his hand -over his brow. - -'For that very reason,' was the reply. - -'If this person overlooks it, your hands are clean. Moreover, ye -acquire merit by obedience.' - -'Wait, and we will all go to Shamlegh together,' the man insisted. - -For a moment, for just so long as it needs to stuff a cartridge into -a breech-loader, the lama hesitated. Then he rose to his feet, and -laid a finger on the man's shoulder. - -'Hast thou heard? I say there shall be no killing - I who was Abbot -of Such-zen. Is it any lust of thine to be re-born as a rat,or a -snake under the eaves - a worm in the belly of the most mean beast? -Is it thy wish to -' - -The man from Ao-chung fell to his knees, for the voice boomed like a -Tibetan devil-gong. - -'Ai! ai!' cried the Spiti men.'Do not curse us - do not curse him. -It was but his zeal, Holy One! . . . Put down the rifle, fool!' - -'Anger on anger! Evil on evil! There will be no killing. Let the -priest-beaters go in bondage to their own acts. Just and sure is the -Wheel, swerving not a hair! They will be born many times - in -torment.' His head drooped, and he leaned heavily on Kim's shoulder. - -'I have come near to great evil, chela,' he whispered in that dead -hush under the pines. 'I was tempted to loose the bullet; and truly, -in Tibet there would have been a heavy and a slow death for them ... -He struck me across the face ... upon the flesh ...' He slid to the -ground, breathing heavily, and Kim could hear the over-driven heart -bump and check. - -'Have they hurt him to the death?' said the Ao-chung man, while the -others stood mute. - -Kim knelt over the body in deadly fear. 'Nay,' he cried -passionately, 'this is only a weakness.' Then he remembered that he -was a white man, with a white man's camp-fittings at his service. -'Open the kiltas! The Sahibs may have a medicine.' - -'Oho! Then I know it,' said the Ao-chung man with a laugh. 'Not for -five years was I Yankling Sahib's shikarri without knowing that -medicine. I too have tasted it. Behold!' - -He drew from his breast a bottle of cheap whisky - such as is sold -to explorers at Leh - and cleverly forced a little between the -lama's teeth. - -'So I did when Yankling Sahib twisted his foot beyond Astor. Aha! I -have already looked into their baskets - but we will make fair -division at Shamlegh. Give him a little more. It is good medicine. -Feel! His heart goes better now. Lay his head down and rub a little -on the chest. If he had waited quietly while I accounted for the -Sahibs this would never have come. But perhaps the Sahibs may chase -us here. Then it would not be wrong to shoot them with their own -guns, heh?' - -'One is paid, I think, already,' said Kim between his teeth. 'I -kicked him in the groin as we went downhill. Would I had killed -him!' - -'It is well to be brave when one does not live in Rampur,' said one -whose hut lay within a few miles of the Rajah's rickety palace. 'If -we get a bad name among the Sahibs, none will employ us as shikarris -any more.' - -'Oh, but these are not Angrezi Sahibs - not merry-minded men like -Fostum Sahib or Yankling Sahib. They are foreigners - they cannot -speak Angrezi as do Sahibs.' - -Here the lama coughed and sat up, groping for the rosary. - -'There shall be no killing,' he murmured. 'Just is the Wheel! Evil -on evil -' - -'Nay, Holy One. We are all here.' The Ao-chung man timidly patted -his feet. 'Except by thy order, no one shall be slain. Rest awhile. -We will make a little camp here, and later, as the moon rises, we go -to Shamlegh-under-the-Snow.' - -'After a blow, ' said a Spiti man sententiously, 'it is best to -sleep.' - -'There is, as it were, a dizziness at the back of my neck, and a -pinching in it. Let me lay my head on thy lap, chela. I am an old -man, but not free from passion . . . We must think of the Cause of -Things.' - -'Give him a blanket. We dare not light a fire lest the Sahibs see.' - -'Better get away to Shamlegh. None will follow us to Shamlegh.' - -This was the nervous Rampur man. - -'I have been Fostum Sahib's shikarri, and I am Yankling Sahib's -shikarri. I should have been with Yankling Sahib now but for this -cursed beegar [the corvee]. Let two men watch below with the guns -lest the Sahibs do more foolishness. I shall not leave this Holy -One.' - -They sat down a little apart from the lama, and, after listening -awhile, passed round a water-pipe whose receiver was an old Day and -Martin blacking-bottle. The glow of the red charcoal as it went from -hand to hand lit up the narrow, blinking eyes, the high Chinese -cheek-bones, and the bull-throats that melted away into the dark -duffle folds round the shoulders. They looked like kobolds from some -magic mine - gnomes of the hills in conclave. And while they talked, -the voices of the snow-waters round them diminished one by one as -the night- frost choked and clogged the runnels.' - -'How he stood up against us!' said a Spiti man admiring. 'I remember -an old ibex, out Ladakh-way, that Dupont Sahib missed on a shoulder- -shot, seven seasons back, standing up just like him. Dupont Sahib -was a good shikarri.' - -'Not as good as Yankling Sahib.' The Ao-chung man took a pull at the -whisky-bottle and passed it over. 'Now hear me - unless any other -man thinks he knows more.' - -The challenge was not taken up. - -'We go to Shamlegh when the moon rises. There we will fairly divide -the baggage between us. I am content with this new little rifle and -all its cartridges.' - -'Are the bears only bad on thy holding? said a mate, sucking at the -pipe. - -'No; but musk-pods are worth six rupees apiece now, and thy women -can have the canvas of the tents and some of the cooking-gear. We -will do all that at Shamlegh before dawn. Then we all go our ways, -remembering that we have never seen or taken service with these -Sahibs, who may, indeed, say that we have stolen their baggage.' - -'That is well for thee, but what will our Rajah say?' - -'Who is to tell him? Those Sahibs, who cannot speak our talk, or -the Babu, who for his own ends gave us money? Will he lead an army -against us? What evidence will remain? That we do not need we shall -throw on Shamlegh-midden, where no man has yet set foot.' - -'Who is at Shamlegh this summer?' The place was only a grazing centre -of three or four huts. - -'The Woman of Shamlegh. She has no love for Sahibs, as we know. The -others can be pleased with little presents; and here is enough for -us all.' He patted the fat sides of the nearest basket. - -'But - but -' - -'I have said they are not true Sahibs. All their skins and heads -were bought in the bazar at Leh. I know the marks. I showed them to -ye last march.' - -'True. They were all bought skins and heads. Some had even the moth -in them.' - -That was a shrewd argument, and the Ao-chung man knew his fellows. - -'If the worst comes to the worst, I shall tell Yankling Sahib, who -is a man of a merry mind, and he will laugh. We are not doing any -wrong to any Sahibs whom we know. They are priest-beaters. They -frightened us. We fled! Who knows where we dropped the baggage? Do -ye think Yankling Sahib will permit down-country police to wander -all over the hills, disturbing his game? It is a far cry from Simla -to Chini, and farther from Shamlegh to Shamlegh-midden.' - -'So be it, but I carry the big kilta. The basket with the red top -that the Sahibs pack themselves every morning.' - -'Thus it is proved,' said the Shamlegh man adroitly, 'that they are -Sahibs of no account. Who ever heard of Fostum Sahib, or Yankling -Sahib, or even the little Peel Sahib that sits up of nights to shoot -serow - I say, who, ever heard of these Sahibs coming into the hills -without a down-country cook, and a bearer, and - and all manner of -well-paid, high-handed and oppressive folk in their tail? How can -they make trouble? What of the kilta?' - -'Nothing, but that it is full of the Written Word - books and papers -in which they wrote, and strange instruments, as of worship.' - -'Shamlegh-midden will take them all.' - -'True! But how if we insult the Sahibs' Gods thereby! I do not like -to handle the Written Word in that fashion. And their brass idols -are beyond my comprehension. It is no plunder for simple hill-folk.' - -'The old man still sleeps. Hst! We will ask his chela.' The Ao-chung -man refreshed himself, and swelled with pride of leadership. - -'We have here,' he whispered, 'a kilta whose nature we do not know.' - -'But I do,' said Kim cautiously. The lama drew breath in natural, -easy sleep, and Kim had been thinking of Hurree's last words. As a -player of the Great Game, he was disposed just then to reverence the -Babu. 'It is a kilta with a red top full of very wonderful things, -not to be handled by fools.' - -'I said it; I said it,' cried the bearer of that burden. 'Thinkest -thou it will betray us?' - -'Not if it be given to me. I can draw out its magic. Otherwise it -will do great harm.' - -'A priest always takes his share.' Whisky was demoralizing the Ao- -chung man. - -'It is no matter to me.' Kim answered, with the craft of his mother- -country. 'Share it among you, and see what comes!' - -'Not I. I was only jesting. Give the order. There is more than -enough for us all. We go our way from Shamlegh in the dawn.' - -They arranged and re-arranged their artless little plans for another -hour, while Kim shivered with cold and pride. The humour of the -situation tickled the Irish and the Oriental in his soul. Here were -the emissaries of the dread Power of the North, very possibly as -great in their own land as Mahbub or Colonel Creighton, suddenly -smitten helpless. One of them, he privately knew, would be lame for -a time. They had made promises to Kings. Tonight they lay out -somewhere below him, chartless, foodless, tentless, gunless - except -for Hurree Babu, guideless. And this collapse of their Great Game -(Kim wondered to whom they would report it), this panicky bolt into -the night, had come about through no craft of Hurree's or -contrivance of Kim's, but simply, beautifully, and inevitably as the -capture of Mahbub's fakir-friends by the zealous young policeman at - Umballa. - -'They are there - with nothing; and, by Jove, it is cold! I am here -with all their things. Oh, they will be angry! I am sorry for Hurree -Babu.' - -Kim might have saved his pity, for though at that moment the Bengali -suffered acutely in the flesh, his soul was puffed and lofty. A mile -down the hill, on the edge of the pine-forest, two half-frozen men - -one powerfully sick at intervals - were varying mutual -recriminations with the most poignant abuse of the Babu, who seemed -distraught with terror. They demanded a plan of action. He -explained that they were very lucky to be alive; that their coolies, -if not then stalking them, had passed beyond recall; that the Rajah, -his master, was ninety miles away, and, so far from lending them -money and a retinue for the Simla journey, would surely cast them -into prison if he heard that they had hit a priest. He enlarged on -this sin and its consequences till they bade him change the subject. -Their one hope, said he, was unostentatious flight from village to -village till they reached civilization; and, for the hundredth time -dissolved in tears, he demanded of the high stars why the Sahibs -'had beaten holy man'. - -Ten steps would have taken Hurree into the creaking gloom utterly -beyond their reach - to the shelter and food of the nearest village, -where glib-tongued doctors were scarce. But he preferred to endure -cold, belly-pinch, bad words, and occasional blows in the company of -his honoured employers. Crouched against a tree-trunk, he sniffed -dolefully. - -'And have you thought,' said the uninjured man hotly, 'what sort of -spectacle we shall present wandering through these hills among these -aborigines?' - -Hurree Babu had thought of little else for some hours, but the -remark was not to his address. - -'We cannot wander! I can hardly walk,' groaned Kim's victim. - -'Perhaps the holy man will be merciful in loving-kindness, sar, -otherwise -' - -'I promise myself a peculiar pleasure in emptying my revolver into -that young bonze when next we meet,' was the unchristian answer. - -'Revolvers! Vengeance! Bonzes!' Hurree crouched lower. The war was -breaking out afresh. 'Have you no consideration for our loss? The -baggage! The baggage!' He could hear the speaker literally dancing -on the grass. 'Everything we bore! Everything we have secured! Our -gains! Eight months' work! Do you know what that means? "Decidedly -it is we who can deal with Orientals!" Oh, you have done well.' - -They fell to it in several tongues, and Hurree smiled. Kim was with -the kiltas, and in the kiltas lay eight months of good diplomacy. -There was no means of communicating with the boy, but he could be -trusted. For the rest, Hurree could so stage-manage the journey -through the hills that Hilas, Bunar, and four hundred miles of hill- -roads should tell the tale for a generation. Men who cannot control -their own coolies are little respected in the Hills, and the hillman -has a very keen sense of humour. - -'If I had done it myself,' thought Hurree, 'it would not have been -better; and, by Jove, now I think of it, of course I arranged it -myself. How quick I have been! Just when I ran downhill I thought -it! Thee outrage was accidental, but onlee me could have worked it - -ah - for all it was dam'-well worth. Consider the moral effect upon -these ignorant peoples! No treaties - no papers - no written -documents at all - and me to interpret for them. How I shall laugh -with the Colonel! I wish I had their papers also: but you cannot -occupy two places in space simultaneously. Thatt is axiomatic.' - - - - - -Chapter 14 - - -My brother kneels (so saith Kabir) -To stone and brass in heathen wise, -But in my brother's voice I hear -My own unanswered agonies. -His God is as his Fates assign - -His prayer is all the world's - and mine. - -The Prayer. - - -At moonrise the cautious coolies got under way. The lama, refreshed -by his sleep and the spirit, needed no more than Kim's shoulder to -bear him along - a silent, swift-striding man. They held the shale- -sprinkled grass for an hour, swept round the shoulder of an immortal -cliff, and climbed into a new country entirely blocked off from all -sight of Chini valley. A huge pasture-ground ran up fan-shaped to -the living snow. At its base was perhaps half an acre of flat land, -on which stood a few soil and timber huts. Behind them - for, hill- -fashion, they were perched on the edge of all things - the ground -fell sheer two thousand feet to Shamlegh-midden, where never yet man -has set foot. - -The men made no motion to divide the plunder till they had seen the -lama bedded down in the best room of the place, with Kim shampooing -his feet, Mohammedan-fashion. - -'We will send food, ' said the Ao-chung man, 'and the red- topped -kilta. By dawn there will be none to give evidence, one way or the -other. If anything is not needed in the kilta - see here!' - -He pointed through the window - opening into space that was filled -with moonlight reflected from the snow - and threw out an empty -whisky-bottle. - -'No need to listen for the fall. This is the world's end,' he said, -and went out. The lama looked forth, a hand on either sill, with -eyes that shone like yellow opals. From the enormous pit before him -white peaks lifted themselves yearning to the moonlight. The rest -was as the darkness of interstellar space. - -'These,' he said slowly, 'are indeed my Hills. Thus should a man -abide, perched above the world, separated from delights, considering -vast matters.' - -'Yes; if he has a chela to prepare tea for him, and to fold a -blanket for his head, and to chase out calving cows.' - -A smoky lamp burned in a niche, but the full moonlight beat it down; -and by the mixed light, stooping above the food-bag and cups, Kim -moved like a tall ghost. - -'Ai! But now I have let the blood cool, my head still beats and -drums, and there is a cord round the back of my neck.' - -'No wonder. It was a strong blow. May he who dealt it -' - -'But for my own passions there would have been no evil.' - -'What evil? Thou hast saved the Sahibs from the death they deserved -a hundred times.' - -'The lesson is not well learnt, chela.' The lama came to rest on a -folded blanket, as Kim went forward with his evening routine. 'The -blow was but a shadow upon a shadow. Evil in itself - my legs weary -apace these latter days! - it met evil in me anger, rage, and a lust -to return evil. These wrought in my blood, woke tumult in my -stomach, and dazzled my ears.' Here he drank scalding block-tea -ceremonially, taking the hot cup from Kim's hand. 'Had I been -passionless, the evil blow would have done only bodily evil - a -scar, or a bruise - which is illusion. But my mind was not -abstracted, for rushed in straightway a lust to let the Spiti men -kill. In fighting that lust, my soul was torn and wrenched beyond a -thousand blows. Not till I had repeated the Blessings' (he meant the -Buddhist Beatitudes) 'did I achieve calm. But the evil planted in -me by that moment's carelessness works out to its end. Just is the -Wheel, swerving not a hair! Learn the lesson, chela.' - -'It is too high for me,' Kim muttered. 'I am still all shaken. I am -glad I hurt the man.' - -'I felt that, sleeping upon thy knees, in the wood below. It -disquieted me in my dreams - the evil in thy soul working through to -mine. Yet on the other hand' - he loosed his rosary -'I have -acquired merit by saving two lives - the lives of those that wronged -me. Now I must see into the Cause of Things. The boat of my soul -staggers.' - -'Sleep, and be strong. That is wisest.' - -'I meditate. There is a need greater than thou knowest.' - -Till the dawn, hour after hour, as the moonlight paled on the high -peaks, and that which had been belted blackness on the sides of the -far hills showed as tender green forest, the lama stared fixedly at -the wall. From time to time he groaned. Outside the barred door, -where discomfited kine came to ask for their old stable, Shamlegh -and the coolies gave itself up to plunder and riotous living. The -Ao-chung man was their leader, and once they had opened the Sahibs' -tinned foods and found that they were very good they dared not turn -back. Shamlegh kitchen-midden took the dunnage. - -When Kim, after a night of bad dreams, stole forth to brush his -teeth in the morning chill, a fair-coloured woman with turquoise- -studded headgear drew him aside. - -'The others have gone. They left thee this kilta as the promise was. -I do not love Sahibs, but thou wilt make us a charm in return for -it. We do not wish little Shamlegh to get a bad name on account of -the - accident. I am the Woman of Shamlegh.' She looked him over -with bold, bright eyes, unlike the usual furtive glance of -hillwomen. - -'Assuredly. But it must be done in secret.' - -She raised the heavy kilta like a toy and slung it into her own hut. - -'Out and bar the door! Let none come near till it is finished,' -said Kim. - -'But afterwards - we may talk?' - -Kim tilted the kilta on the floor - a cascade of Survey-instruments, -books, diaries, letters, maps, and queerly scented native -correspondence. At the very bottom was an embroidered bag covering a -sealed, gilded, and illuminated document such as one King sends to -another. Kim caught his breath with delight, and reviewed the -situation from a Sahib's point of view. - -'The books I do not want. Besides, they are logarithms - Survey, I -suppose.' He laid them aside. 'The letters I do not understand, but -Colonel Creighton will. They must all be kept. The maps - they draw -better maps than me - of course. All the native letters - oho! - and -particularly the murasla.' He sniffed the embroidered bag. 'That -must be from Hilas or Bunar, and Hurree Babu spoke truth. By Jove! -It is a fine haul. I wish Hurree could know . . . The rest must go -out of the window.' He fingered a superb prismatic compass and the -shiny top of a theodolite. But after all, a Sahib cannot very well -steal, and the things might be inconvenient evidence later. He -sorted out every scrap of manuscript, every map, and the native -letters. They made one softish slab. The three locked ferril-backed - books, with five worn pocket-books, he put aside. - -'The letters and the murasla I must carry inside my coat and under -my belt, and the hand-written books I must put into the food-bag. It -will be very heavy. No. I do not think there is anything more. If -there is, the coolies have thrown it down the khud, so thatt is all -right. Now you go too.' He repacked the kilta with all he meant to -lose, and hove it up on to the windowsill. A thousand feet below lay -a long, lazy, round-shouldered bank of mist, as yet untouched by the -morning sun. A thousand feet below that was a hundred-year-old pine- -forest. He could see the green tops looking like a bed of moss when -a wind-eddy thinned the cloud. - -'No! I don't think any one will go after you!' - -The wheeling basket vomited its contents as it dropped. The -theodolite hit a jutting cliff-ledge and exploded like a shell; the -books, inkstands, paint-boxes, compasses, and rulers showed for a -few seconds like a swarm of bees. Then they vanished; and, though -Kim, hanging half out of the window, strained his young ears, never -a sound came up from the gulf. - -'Five hundred - a thousand rupees could not buy them,' he thought -sorrowfully. 'It was verree wasteful, but I have all their other -stuff - everything they did - I hope. Now how the deuce am I to tell -Hurree Babu, and whatt the deuce am I to do? And my old man is sick. -I must tie up the letters in oilskin. That is something to do first -- else they will get all sweated ... And I am all alone!' He bound -them into a neat packet, swedging down the stiff, sticky oilskin at -the comers, for his roving life had made him as methodical as an old -hunter in matters of the road. Then with double care he packed away -the books at the bottom of the food-bag. - -The woman rapped at the door. - -'But thou hast made no charm,' she said, looking about. - -'There is no need.' Kim had completely overlooked the necessity for -a little patter-talk. The woman laughed at his confusion -irreverently. - -'None - for thee. Thou canst cast a spell by the mere winking of an -eye. But think of us poor people when thou art gone. They were all -too drunk last night to hear a woman. Thou art not drunk?' - -'I am a priest.' Kim had recovered himself, and, the woman being -aught but unlovely, thought best to stand on his office. - -'I warned them that the Sahibs will be angry and will make an -inquisition and a report to the Rajah. There is also the Babu with -them. Clerks have long tongues.' - -'Is that all thy trouble?' The plan rose fully formed in Kim's mind, -and he smiled ravishingly. - -'Not all,' quoth the woman, putting out a hard brown hand all -covered with turquoises set in silver. - -'I can finish that in a breath,' he went on quickly. 'The Babu is -the very hakim (thou hast heard of him?) who was wandering among the -hills by Ziglaur. I know him.' - -'He will tell for the sake of a reward. Sahibs cannot distinguish -one hillman from another, but Babus have eyes for men - and women.' - -'Carry a word to him from me.' - -'There is nothing I would not do for thee.' - -He accepted the compliment calmly, as men must in lands where women -make the love, tore a leaf from a note-book, and with a patent -indelible pencil wrote in gross Shikast - the script that bad little -boys use when they write dirt on walls: 'I have everything that they -have written: their pictures of the country, and many letters. -Especially the murasla. Tell me what to do. I am at Shamlegh-under- -the-Snow. The old man is sick.' - -"Take this to him. It will altogether shut his mouth. He cannot have -gone far.' - -'Indeed no. They are still in the forest across the spur. Our -children went to watch them when the light came, and have cried the -news as they moved.' - -Kim looked his astonishment; but from the edge of the sheep-pasture -floated a shrill, kite-like trill. A child tending cattle had picked -it up from a brother or sister on the far side of the slope that -commanded Chini valley, - -'My husbands are also out there gathering wood.' She drew a handful -of walnuts from her bosom, split one neatly, and began to eat. Kim -affected blank ignorance. - -'Dost thou not know the meaning of the walnut -- priest?' she said -coyly, and handed him the half-shells. - -'Well thought of.' He slipped the piece of paper between them -quickly. 'Hast thou a little wax to close them on this letter?' - -The woman sighed aloud, and Kim relented. - -'There is no payment till service has been rendered. Carry this to -the Babu, and say it was sent by the Son of the Charm.' - -'Al! Truly! Truly! By a magician - who is like a Sahib.' - -'Nay, a Son of the Charm: and ask if there be any answer.' - -'But if he offer a rudeness? I - I am afraid.' - -Kim laughed. 'He is, I have no doubt, very tired and very hungry. -The Hills make cold bedfellows. Hai, my' - it was on the tip of his -tongue to say Mother, but he turned it to Sister -'thou art a wise -and witty woman. By this time all the villages know what has -befallen the Sahibs - eh?' - -'True. News was at Ziglaur by midnight, and by tomorrow should be at -Kotgarh. The villages are both afraid and angry.' - -'No need. Tell the villages to feed the Sahibs and pass them on, in -peace. We must get them quietly away from our valleys. To steal is -one thing - to kill another. The Babu will understand, and there -will be no after-complaints. Be swift. I must tend my master when he -wakes.' - -'So be it. After service - thou hast said? - comes the reward. I am -the Woman of Shamlegh, and I hold from the Rajah. I am no common -bearer of babes. Shamlegh is thine: hoof and horn and hide, milk and -butter. Take or leave.' - -She turned resolutely uphill, her silver necklaces clicking on her -broad breast, to meet the morning sun fifteen hundred feet above -them. This time Kim thought in the vernacular as he waxed down the -oilskin edges of the packets. - -'How can a man follow the Way or the Great Game when he is so-always -pestered by women? There was that girl at Akrola of the Ford; and -there was the scullion's wife behind the dovecot - not counting the -others - and now comes this one! When I was a child it was well -enough, but now I am a man and they will not regard me as a man. -Walnuts, indeed! Ho! ho! It is almonds in the Plains!' - -He went out to levy on the village - not with a begging-bowl, which -might do for down-country, but in the manner of a prince. Shamlegh's -summer population is only three families - four women and eight or -nine men. They were all full of tinned meats and mixed drinks, from -ammoniated quinine to white vodka, for they had taken their full -share in the overnight loot. The neat Continental tents had been cut -up and shared long ago, and there were patent aluminium saucepans -abroad. - -But they considered the lama's presence a perfect safeguard against -all consequences, and impenitently brought Kim of their best - even -to a drink of chang - the barley-beer that comes from Ladakh-way. -Then they thawed out in the sun, and sat with their legs hanging -over infinite abysses, chattering, laughing, and smoking. They -judged India and its Government solely from their experience of -wandering Sahibs who had employed them or their friends as -shikarris. Kim heard tales of shots missed upon ibex, serow, or -markhor, by Sahibs twenty years in their graves - every detail -lighted from behind like twigs on tree-tops seen against lightning. -They told him of their little diseases, and, more important, the -diseases of their tiny, sure-footed cattle; of trips as far as -Kotgarh, where the strange missionaries live, and beyond even to -marvellous Simla, where the streets are paved with silver, and -anyone, look you, can get service with the Sahibs, who ride about in -two-wheeled carts and spend money with a spade. Presently, grave -and aloof, walking very heavily, the lama joined himself to the -chatter under the eaves, and they gave him great room. The thin air -refreshed him, and he sat on the edge of precipices with the best of -them, and, when talk languished, flung pebbles into the void. Thirty -miles away, as the eagle flies, lay the next range, seamed and -channelled and pitted with little patches of brush - forests, each a -day's dark march. Behind the village, Shamlegh hill itself cut off -all view to southward. It was like sitting in a swallow's nest -under the eaves of the roof of the world. - -From time to time the lama stretched out his hand, and with a little -low-voiced prompting would point out the road to Spiti and north -across the Parungla. - -'Beyond, where the hills lie thickest, lies De-ch'en' (he meant -Han-le'), 'the great Monastery. s'Tag-stan-ras-ch'en built it,and of -him there runs this tale.' Whereupon he told it: a fantastic piled -narrative of bewitchment and miracles that set Shamlegh a-gasping. -Turning west a little, he speered for the green hills of Kulu, and -sought Kailung under the glaciers.'For thither came I in the old, -old days. From Leh I came, over the Baralachi.' - -'Yes, yes; we know it,' said the far-faring people of Shamlegh. - -'And I slept two nights with the priests of Kailung. These are the -Hills of my delight! Shadows blessed above all other shadows! There -my eyes opened on this world; there my eyes were opened to this -world; there I found Enlightenment; and there I girt my loins for my -Search. Out of the Hills I came - the high Hills and the strong -winds. Oh, just is the Wheel!' He blessed them in detail - the great -glaciers, the naked rocks, the piled moraines and tumbled shale; dry -upland, hidden salt-lake, age-old timber and fruitful water-shot -valley one after the other, as a dying man blesses his folk; and Kim -marvelled at his passion. - -'Yes - yes. There is no place like our Hills,' said the people of -Shamlegh. And they fell to wondering how a man could live in the hot -terrible Plains where the cattle run as big as elephants, unfit to -plough on a hillside; where village touches village, they had heard, -for a hundred miles; where folk went about stealing in gangs, and -what the robbers spared the Police carried utterly away. - -So the still forenoon wore through, and at the end of it Kim's -messenger dropped from the steep pasture as unbreathed as when she -had set out. - -'I sent a word to the hakim,' Kim explained, while she made -reverence. - -'He joined himself to the idolaters? Nay, I remember he did a -healing upon one of them. He has acquired merit, though the healed -employed his strength for evil. Just is the Wheel! What of the -hakim?' - -'I feared that thou hadst been bruised and - and I knew he was -wise.' Kim took the waxed walnut-shell and read in English on the -back of his note: Your favour received. Cannot get away from present -company at present, but shall take them into Simla. After which, -hope to rejoin you. Inexpedient to follow angry gentlemen. Return by -same road you came, and will overtake. Highly gratified about -correspondence due to my forethought. 'He says, Holy One, that he -will escape from the idolaters, and will return to us. Shall we wait -awhile at Shamlegh, then?' - -The lama looked long and lovingly upon the hills and shook his head. - -'That may not be, chela. From my bones outward I do desire it, but -it is forbidden. I have seen the Cause of Things.' - -'Why? When the Hills give thee back thy strength day by day? -Remember we were weak and fainting down below there in the Doon.' - -'I became strong to do evil and to forget. A brawler and a -swashbuckler upon the hillsides was I.' Kim bit back a smile. 'Just -and perfect is the Wheel, swerving not a hair. When I was a man - a -long time ago - I did pilgrimage to Guru Ch'wan among the poplars' -(he pointed Bhotanwards), 'where they keep the Sacred Horse.' - -'Quiet, be quiet!' said Shamlegh, all arow. 'He speaks of Jam-lin- -nin-k'or, the Horse That Can Go Round The World In a Day.' - -'I speak to my chela only,' said the lama, in gentle reproof, and -they scattered like frost on south eaves of a morning. 'I did not -seek truth in those days, but the talk of doctrine. All illusion! I -drank the beer and ate the bread of Guru Ch'wan. Next day one said: -"We go out to fight Sangor Gutok down the valley to discover" (mark -again how Lust is tied to Anger!) "which Abbot shall bear rule in -the valley and take the profit of the prayers they print at Sangor -Gutok." I went, and we fought a day.' - -'But how, Holy One?' - -'With our long pencases as I could have shown . . . I say, we -fought under the poplars, both Abbots and all the monks, and one -laid open my forehead to the bone. See!' He tilted back his cap and -showed a puckered silvery scar. 'Just and perfect is the Wheel! -Yesterday the scar itched, and after fifty years I recalled how it -was dealt and the face of him who dealt it; dwelling a little in -illusion. Followed that which thou didst see - strife and stupidity. -Just is the Wheel! The idolater's blow fell upon the scar. Then I -was shaken in my soul: my soul was darkened, and the boat of my soul -rocked upon the waters of illusion. Not till I came to Shamlegh -could I meditate upon the Cause of Things, or trace the running -grass-roots of Evil. I strove all the long night.' - -'But', Holy One, thou art innocent of all evil. May I be thy -sacrifice!' - -Kim was genuinely distressed at the old man's sorrow, and Mahbub -Ali's phrase slipped out unawares. - -'In the dawn,' the lama went on more gravely, ready rosary clicking -between the slow sentences, 'came enlightenment. It is here ... I am -an old man . . . hill-bred, hill-fed, never to sit down among my -Hills. Three years I travelled through Hind, but - can earth be -stronger than Mother Earth? My stupid body yearned to the Hills and -the snows of the Hills, from below there. I said, and it is true, -my Search is sure. So, at the Kulu woman's house I turned hillward, -over-persuaded by myself. There is no blame to the hakim. He - -following Desire - foretold that the Hills would make me strong. -They strengthened me to do evil, to forget my Search. I delighted in -life and the lust of life. I desired strong slopes to climb. I cast -about to find them. I measured the strength of my body, which is -evil, against the high Hills, I made a mock of thee when thy breath -came short under Jamnotri. I jested when thou wouldst not face the -snow of the pass.' - -'But what harm? I was afraid. It was just. I am not a hillman; and I -loved thee for thy new strength.' - -'More than once I remember' - he rested his cheek dolefully on his -hand - 'I sought thy praise and the hakim's for the mere strength of -my legs. Thus evil followed evil till the cup was full. Just is the -Wheel! All Hind for three years did me all honour. From the Fountain -of Wisdom in the Wonder House to' - he smiled -'a little child -playing by a big gun - the world prepared my road. And why?' - -'Because we loved thee. It is only the fever of the blow. I myself -am still sick and shaken.' - -'No! It was because I was upon the Way - tuned as are si-nen -[cymbals] to the purpose of the Law. I departed from that ordinance. -The tune was broken: followed the punishment. In my own Hills, on -the edge of my own country, in the very place of my evil desire, -comes the buffet - here!' (He touched his brow.) 'As a novice is -beaten when he misplaces the cups, so am I beaten, who was Abbot of -Such-zen. No word, look you, but a blow, chela.' - -'But the Sahibs did not know thee, Holy One?' - -'We were well matched. Ignorance and Lust met Ignorance and Lust -upon the road, and they begat Anger. The blow was a sign to me, who -am no better than a strayed yak, that my place is not here. Who can -read the Cause of an act is halfway to Freedom! "Back to the path," -says the Blow. "The Hills are not for thee. Thou canst not choose -Freedom and go in bondage to the delight of life."' - -'Would we had never met that cursed Russian!' - -'Our Lord Himself cannot make the Wheel swing backward. And for my -merit that I had acquired I gain yet another sign.' He put his hand -in his bosom, and drew forth the Wheel of Life. 'Look! I considered -this after I had meditated. There remains untorn by the idolater no -more than the breadth of my fingernail.' - -'I see.' - -'So much, then, is the span of my life in this body. I have served -the Wheel all my days. Now the Wheel serves me. But for the merit I -have acquired in guiding thee upon the Way, there would have been -added to me yet another life ere I had found my River. Is it plain, -chela?' - -Kim stared at the brutally disfigured chart. From left to right -diagonally the rent ran - from the Eleventh House where Desire gives -birth to the Child (as it is drawn by Tibetans) - across the human -and animal worlds, to the Fifth House - the empty House of the -Senses. The logic was unanswerable. - -'Before our Lord won Enlightenment' - the lama folded all away with -reverence - 'He was tempted. I too have been tempted, but it is -finished. The Arrow fell in the Plains - not in the Hills. -Therefore, what make we here?' - -'Shall we at least wait for the hakim?' - -'I know how long I shall live in this body. What can a hakim do?' - -'But thou art all sick and shaken. Thou canst not walk.' - -'How can I be sick if I see Freedom?' He rose unsteadily to his -feet. - -'Then I must get food from the village. Oh, the weary Road!' Kim -felt that he too needed rest. - -'That is lawful. Let us eat and go. he Arrow fell in the Plains ... -but I yielded to Desire. Make ready, chela.' - -Kim turned to the woman with the turquoise headgear who had been -idly pitching pebbles over the cliff. She smiled very kindly. - -'I found him like a strayed buffalo in a cornfield - the Babu; -snorting and sneezing with cold. He was so hungry that he forgot his -dignity and gave me sweet words. The Sahibs have nothing.' She flung -out an empty palm. 'One is very sick about the stomach. Thy work?' - -Kim nodded, with a bright eye. - -'I spoke to the Bengali first - and to the people of a near-by -village after. The Sahibs will be given food as they need it - nor -will the people ask money. The plunder is already distributed. The -Babu makes lying speeches to the Sahibs. Why does he not leave -them?' - -'Out of the greatness of his heart.' - -"Was never a Bengali yet had one bigger than a dried walnut. But it -is no matter ... Now as to walnuts. After service comes reward. I -have said the village is thine.' - -'It is my loss,' Kim began. 'Even now I had planned desirable things -in my heart which' - there is no need to go through the compliments -proper to these occasions. He sighed deeply . . . 'But my master, -led by a vision -' - -'Huh! What can old eyes see except a full begging-bowl?' - -'- turns from this village to the Plains again.' - -'Bid him stay.' - -Kim shook his head. 'I know my Holy One, and his rage if he be -crossed,' he replied impressively. 'His curses shake the Hills.' - -'Pity they did not save him from a broken head! I heard that thou -wast the tiger-hearted one who smote the Sahib. Let him dream a -little longer. Stay!' - -'Hillwoman,' said Kim, with austerity that could not harden the -outlines of his young oval face, 'these matters are too high for -thee.' - -'The Gods be good to us! Since when have men and women been other -than men and women?' - -'A priest is a priest. He says he will go upon this hour. I am his -chela, and I go with him. We need food for the Road. He is an -honoured guest in all the villages, but' - he broke into a pure -boy's grin - 'the food here is good. Give me some.' - -'What if I do not give it thee? I am the woman of this village.' - -'Then I curse thee - a little - not greatly, but enough to -remember.' He could not help smiling. - -'Thou hast cursed me already by the down-dropped eyelash and the -uplifted chin. Curses? What should I care for mere words?' She -clenched her hands upon her bosom . . . 'But I would not have thee -to go in anger, thinking hardly of me - a gatherer of cow-dung and -grass at Shamlegh, but still a woman of substance.' - -'I think nothing,' said Kim, 'but that I am grieved to go, for I am -very weary; and that we need food. Here is the bag.' - -The woman snatched it angrily. 'I was foolish,' said she. 'Who is -thy woman in the Plains? Fair or black? I was fair once. Laughest -thou? Once, long ago, if thou canst believe, a Sahib looked on me -with favour. Once, long ago, I wore European clothes at the Mission- -house yonder.' She pointed towards Kotgarh. 'Once, long ago. I was -Ker-lis-ti-an and spoke English - as the Sahibs speak it. Yes. My -Sahib said he would return and wed me - yes, wed me. He went away - -I had nursed him when he was sick - but he never returned. Then I -saw that the Gods of the Kerlistians lied, and I went back to my own -people . . . I have never set eyes on a Sahib since. (Do not laugh -at me. The fit is past, little priestling.) Thy face and thy walk -and thy fashion of speech put me in mind of my Sahib, though thou -art only a wandering mendicant to whom I give a dole. Curse me? Thou -canst neither curse nor bless!' She set her hands on her hips and -laughed bitterly. 'Thy Gods are lies; thy works are lies; thy words -are lies. There are no Gods under all the Heavens. I know it ... But -for awhile I thought it was my Sahib come back, and he was my God. -Yes, once I made music on a pianno in the Mission-house at Kotgarh. -Now I give alms to priests who are heatthen.' She wound up with the -English word, and tied the mouth of the brimming bag. - -'I wait for thee, chela, ' said the lama, leaning against the door- -post. - -The woman swept the tall figure with her eyes. 'He walk! He cannot -cover half a mile. Whither would old bones go?' - -At this Kim, already perplexed by the lama's collapse and foreseeing -the weight of the bag, fairly lost his temper. - -'What is it to thee, woman of ill-omen, where he goes?' - -'Nothing - but something to thee, priest with a Sahib's face. Wilt -thou carry him on thy shoulders?' - -'I go to the Plains. None must hinder my return. I have wrestled -with my soul till I am strengthless. The stupid body is spent, and -we are far from the Plains.' - -'Behold!' she said simply, and drew aside to let Kim see his own -utter helplessness. 'Curse me. Maybe it will give him strength. Make -a charm! Call on thy great God. Thou art a priest.' She turned away. - -The lama had squatted limply, still holding by the door-post. One -cannot strike down an old man that he recovers again like a boy in -the night. Weakness bowed him to the earth, but his eyes that hung -on Kim were alive and imploring. - -'It is all well,' said Kim. 'It is the thin air that weakens thee. -In a little while we go! It is the mountain-sickness. I too am a -little sick at stomach,' ... and he knelt and comforted with such -poor words as came first to his lips. Then the woman returned, more -erect than ever. - -'Thy Gods useless, heh? Try mine. I am the Woman of Shamlegh.' She -hailed hoarsely, and there came out of a cow-pen her two husbands -and three others with a dooli, the rude native litter of the Hills, -that they use for carrying the sick and for visits of state. 'These -cattle' - she did not condescend to look at them - 'are thine for so -long as thou shalt need.' - -'But we will not go Simla-way. We will not go near the Sahibs,' -cried the first husband. - -'They will not run away as the others did, nor will they steal -baggage. Two I know for weaklings. Stand to the rear-pole, Sonoo and -Taree.' They obeyed swiftly. 'Lower now, and lift in that holy man. -I will see to the village and your virtuous wives till ye return.' - -'When will that be?' - -'Ask the priests. Do not pester me. Lay the food-bag at the foot, it -balances better so.' - -'Oh, Holy One, thy Hills are kinder than our Plains!' cried Kim, -relieved, as the lama tottered to the litter. 'It is a very king's -bed - a place of honour and ease. And we owe it to -' - -'A woman of ill-omen. I need thy blessings as much as I do thy -curses. It is my order and none of thine. Lift and away! Here! Hast -thou money for the road?' - -She beckoned Kim to her hut, and stooped above a battered English -cash-box under her cot. - -'I do not need anything,' said Kim, angered where he should have -been grateful. 'I am already rudely loaded with favours.' - -She looked up with a curious smile and laid a hand on his shoulder. -'At least, thank me. I am foul-faced and a hillwoman, but, as thy -talk goes, I have acquired merit. Shall I show thee how the Sahibs -render thanks?' and her hard eyes softened. - -'I am but a wandering priest,' said Kim, his eyes lighting in -answer. 'Thou needest neither my blessings nor my curses.' - -'Nay. But for one little moment - thou canst overtake the dooli in -ten strides - if thou wast a Sahib, shall I show thee what thou -wouldst do?' - - -'How if I guess, though?' said Kim, and putting his arm round her -waist, he kissed her on the cheek, adding in English: 'Thank you -verree much, my dear.' - -Kissing is practically unknown among Asiatics, which may have been -the reason that she leaned back with wide-open eyes and a face of -panic. - -'Next time,' Kim went on, 'you must not be so sure of your heatthen -priests. Now I say good-bye.' He held out his hand English-fashion. -She took it mechanically. 'Good-bye, my dear.' - -'Good-bye, and - and' - she was remembering her English words one by -one -'you will come back again? Good-bye, and - thee God bless you.' - -Half an hour later, as the creaking litter jolted up the hill path -that leads south-easterly from Shamlegh, Kim saw a tiny figure at -the hut door waving a white rag. - -'She has acquired merit beyond all others,' said the lama. 'For to -set a man upon the way to Freedom is half as great as though she had -herself found it.' - -'Umm,' said Kim thoughtfully, considering the past. 'It may be that -I have acquired merit also ... At least she did not treat me like a -child.' He hitched the front of his robe, where lay the slab of -documents and maps, re-stowed the precious food-bag at the lama's -feet, laid his hand on the litter's edge, and buckled down to the -slow pace of the grunting husbands. - -'These also acquire merit,' said the lama after three miles. - -'More than that, they shall be paid in silver,' quoth Kim. The Woman -of Shamlegh had given it to him; and it was only fair, he argued, -that her men should earn it back again. - - - - - -Chapter 15 - - -I'd not give room for an Emperor - -I'd hold my road for a King. -To the Triple Crown I'd not bow down - -But this is a different thing! -I'll not fight with the Powers of Air - -Sentry, pass him through! -Drawbridge let fall - He's the Lord of us all - -The Dreamer whose dream came true! - -The Siege of the Fairies. - - -Two hundred miles north of Chini, on the blue shale of Ladakh, lies -Yankling Sahib, the merry-minded man, spy-glassing wrathfully across -the ridges for some sign of his pet tracker - a man from Ao-chung. -But that renegade, with a new Mannlicher rifle and two hundred -cartridges, is elsewhere, shooting musk-deer for the market, and -Yankling Sahib will learn next season how very ill he has been. - -Up the valleys of Bushahr - the far-beholding eagles of the -Himalayas swerve at his new blue-and-white gored umbrella - hurries -a Bengali, once fat and well-looking, now lean and weather-worn. He -has received the thanks of two foreigners of distinction, piloted -not unskilfully to Mashobra tunnel, which leads to the great and gay -capital of India. It was not his fault that, blanketed by wet mists, -he conveyed them past the telegraph-station and European colony of -Kotgarh. It was not his fault, but that of the Gods, of whom he -discoursed so engagingly, that he led them into the borders of -Nahan, where the Rahah of that State mistook them for deserting -British soldiery. Hurree Babu explained the greatness and glory, in -their own country, of his companions, till the drowsy kinglet -smiled. He explained it to everyone who asked - many times - aloud - -variously. He begged food, arranged accommodation, proved a skilful -leech for an injury of the groin - such a blow as one may receive -rolling down a rock-covered hillside in the dark - and in all things -indispensable. The reason of his friendliness did him credit. With -millions of fellow-serfs, he had learned to look upon Russia as the -great deliverer from the North. He was a fearful man. He had been -afraid that he could not save his illustrious employers from the -anger of an excited peasantry. He himself would just as lief hit a -holy man as not, but ... He was deeply grateful and sincerely -rejoiced that he had done his 'little possible' towards bringing -their venture to - barring the lost baggage - a successful issue, he -had forgotten the blows; denied that any blows had been dealt that -unseemly first night under the pines. He asked neither pension nor -retaining fee, but, if they deemed him worthy, would they write him -a testimonial? It might be useful to him later, if others, their -friends, came over the Passes. He begged them to remember him in -their future greatnesses, for he 'opined subtly' that he, even he, -Mohendro Lal Dutt, MA of Calcutta, had 'done the State some -service'. - -They gave him a certificate praising his courtesy, helpfulness, and -unerring skill as a guide. He put it in his waist-belt and sobbed -with emotion; they had endured so many dangers together. He led them -at high noon along crowded Simla Mall to the Alliance Bank of Simla, -where they wished to establish their identity. Thence he vanished -like a dawn-cloud on Jakko. - -Behold him, too fine-drawn to sweat, too pressed to vaunt the drugs -in his little brass-bound box, ascending Shamlegh slope, a just man -made perfect. Watch him, all Babudom laid aside, smoking at noon on -a cot, while a woman with turquoise-studded headgear points south- -easterly across the bare grass. Litters, she says, do not travel as -fast as single men, but his birds should now be in the Plains. The -holy man would not stay though Lispeth pressed him. The Babu groans -heavily, girds up his huge loins, and is off again. He does not care -to travel after dusk; but his days' marches - there is none to enter -them in a book - would astonish folk who mock at his race. Kindly -villagers, remembering the Dacca drug-vendor of two months ago, give -him shelter against evil spirits of the wood. He dreams of Bengali -Gods, University text-books of education, and the Royal Society, -London, England. Next dawn the bobbing blue-and-white umbrella goes -forward. - -On the edge of the Doon, Mussoorie well behind them and the Plains -spread out in golden dust before, rests a worn litter in which - all -the Hills know it - lies a sick lama who seeks a River for his -healing. Villages have almost come to blows over the honour of -bearing it, for not only has the lama given them blessings, but his -disciple good money - full one-third Sahibs' prices. Twelve miles a -day has the dooli travelled, as the greasy, rubbed pole-ends show, -and by roads that few Sahibs use. Over the Nilang Pass in storm when -the driven snow-dust filled every fold of the impassive lama's -drapery; between the black horns of Raieng where they heard the -whistle of the wild goats through the clouds; pitching and strained -on the shale below; hard-held between shoulder and clenched jaw when -they rounded the hideous curves of the Cut Road under Bhagirati; -swinging and creaking to the steady jog-trot of the descent into the -Valley of the Waters; pressed along the steamy levels of that locked -valley; up, up and out again, to meet the roaring gusts off -Kedarnath; set down of mid-days in the dun gloom of kindly oak- -forests; passed from village to village in dawn-chill, when even -devotees may be forgiven for swearing at impatient holy men; or by -torchlight, when the least fearful think of ghosts - the dooli has -reached her last stage. The little hill-folk sweat in the modified -heat of the lower Siwaliks, and gather round the priests for their -blessing and their wage. - -'Ye have acquired merit,' says the lama. 'Merit greater than your -knowing. And ye will return to the Hills,' he sighs. - -'Surely. The high Hills as soon as may be.' The bearer rubs his -shoulder, drinks water, spits it out again, and readjusts his grass -sandal. Kim - his face is drawn and tired - pays very small silver -from his belt', heaves out the food-bag, crams an oilskin packet - -they are holy writings - into his bosom, and helps the lama to his -feet. The peace has come again into the old man's eyes, and he does -not look for the hills to fall down and crush him as he did that -terrible night when they were delayed by the flooded river. - -The men pick up the dooli and swing out of sight between the scrub -clumps. - -The lama raises a hand toward the rampart of the Himalayas. 'Not -with you, O blessed among all hills, fell the Arrow of Our Lord! And -never shall I breathe your airs again!' - -'But thou art ten times the stronger man in this good air,' says -Kim, for to his wearied soul appeal the well-cropped, kindly Plains. -'Here, or hereabouts, fell the Arrow, yes. We will go very softly, -perhaps, a koss a day, for the Search is sure. But the bag weighs -heavy.' - -'Ay, our Search is sure. I have come out of great temptation.' - -It was never more than a couple of miles a day now, and Kim's -shoulders bore all the weight of it - the burden of an old man, the -burden of the heavy food-bag with the locked books, the load of the -writings on his heart, and the details of the daily routine. He -begged in the dawn, set blankets for the lama's meditation, held the -weary head on his lap through the noonday heats, fanning away the -flies till his wrists ached, begged again in the evenings, and -rubbed the lama's feet, who rewarded him with promise of Freedom - -today, tomorrow, or, at furthest, the next day. - -'Never was such a chela. I doubt at times whether Ananda more -faithfully nursed Our Lord. And thou art a Sahib? When I was a man - -a long time ago - I forgot that. Now I look upon thee often, and -every time I remember that thou art a Sahib. It is strange.' - -'Thou hast said there is neither black nor white. Why plague me with -this talk, Holy One? Let me rub the other foot. It vexes me. I am -not a Sahib. I am thy chela, and my head is heavy on my shoulders.' - -'Patience a little! We reach Freedom together. Then thou and I, upon -the far bank of the River, will look back upon our lives as in the -Hills we saw our days' marches laid out behind us. Perhaps I was once -a Sahib.' - -"Was -never a Sahib like thee, I swear it.' - -'I am certain the Keeper of the Images in the Wonder House was in -past life a very wise Abbot. But even his spectacles do not make my -eyes see. There fall shadows when I would look steadily. No matter - -we know the tricks of the poor stupid carcass - shadow changing to -another shadow. I am bound by the illusion of Time and Space. How -far came we today in the flesh?' - -'Perhaps half a koss.' (Three quarters of a mile, and it was a - weary march.) - -'Half a koss. Ha! I went ten thousand thousand in the spirit. How, -we are all lapped and swathed and swaddled in these senseless -things.' He looked at his thin blue-veined hand that found the beads -so heavy. 'Chela, hast thou never a wish to leave me?' - -Kim thought of the oilskin packet and the books in the food- bag. If -someone duly authorized would only take delivery of them the Great -Game might play itself for aught he then cared. He was tired and hot -in his head, and a cough that came from the stomach worried him. - -'No.' he said almost sternly. 'I am not a dog or a snake to bite -when I have learned to love.' - -'Thou art too tender towards me.' - -'Not that either. I have moved in one matter without consulting -thee. I have sent a message to the Kulu woman by that woman who gave -us the goat's milk this morn, saying that thou wast a little feeble -and wouldst need a litter. I beat myself in mv mind that I did not -do it when we entered the Doon. We stay in this place till the -litter returns.' - -'I am content. She is a woman with a heart of gold, as thou sayest, -but a talker - something of a talker.' - -'She will not weary thee. I have looked to that also. Holy One, my -heart is very heavy for my many carelessnesses towards thee.' An -hysterical catch rose in his throat. 'I have walked thee too far: I -have not picked good food always for thee; I have not considered the -heat; I have talked to people on the road and left thee alone ... I -have - I have ... Hai mai! But I love thee ... and it is all too -late ... I was a child . . . Oh, why was I not a man? . . .' -Overborne by strain, fatigue, and the weight beyond his years, Kim -broke down and sobbed at the lama's feet. - -'What a to-do is here!' said the old man gently. 'Thou hast never -stepped a hair's breadth from the Way of Obedience. Neglect me? -Child, I have lived on thy strength as an old tree lives on the lime -of a new wall. Day by day, since Shamlegh down, I have stolen -strength from thee. Therefore, not through any sin of thine, art -thou weakened. It is the Body - the silly, stupid Body - that speaks -now. Not the assured Soul. Be comforted! Know at least the devils -that thou fightest. They are earth-born - children of illusion. We -will go to the woman from Kulu. She shall acquire merit in housing -us, and specially in tending me. Thou shalt run free till strength -returns. I had forgotten the stupid Body. If there be any blame, I -bear it. But we are too close to the Gates of Deliverance to weigh -blame. I could praise thee, but what need? In a little - in a very -little - we shall sit beyond all needs.' - -And so he petted and comforted Kim with wise saws and grave texts on -that little-understood beast, our Body, who, being but a delusion, -insists on posing as the Soul, to the darkening of the Way, and the -immense multiplication of unnecessary devils. - -'Hai! hai! Let us talk of the woman from Kulu. Think you she will -ask another charm for her grandsons? When I was a young man, a very -long time ago, I was plagued with these vapours - and some others - -and I went to an Abbot - a very holy man and a seeker after truth, -though then I knew it not. Sit up and listen, child of my soul! My -tale was told. Said he to me, "Chela, know this. There are many lies -in the world, and not a few liars, but there are no liars like our -bodies, except it be the sensations of our bodies." Considering this -I was comforted, and of his great favour he suffered me to drink tea -In his presence. Suffer me now to drink tea, for I am thirsty.' - -With a laugh across his tears, Kim kissed the lama's feet, and set -about the tea-making. - -'Thou leanest on me in the body, Holy One, but I lean on thee for -some other things. Dost know it?' - -'I have guessed maybe,' and the lama's eyes twinkled. 'We must -change that.' - -So, when with scufflings and scrapings and a hot air of importance, -paddled up nothing less than the Sahiba's pet palanquin sent twenty -miles, with that same grizzled old Oorya servant in charge, and when -they reached the disorderly order of the long white rambling house -behind Saharunpore, the lama took his own measures. - -Said the Sahiba cheerily from an upper window, after compliments: -'What is the good of an old woman's advice to an old man? I told -thee - I told thee, Holy One, to keep an eye upon the chela. How -didst thou do it? Never answer me! I know. He has been running among -the women. Look at his eyes - hollow and sunk - and the Betraying -Line from the nose down! He has been sifted out! Fie! Fie! And a -priest, too!' - -Kim looked up, over-weary to smile, shaking his head in denial. - -'Do not jest,' said the lama. 'That time is done. We are here upon -great matters. A sickness of soul took me in the Hills, and him a -sickness of the body. Since then I have lived upon his strength - -eating him.' - -'Children together - young and old,' she sniffed, but forbore to -make any new jokes. 'May this present hospitality restore ye! Hold -awhile and I will come to gossip of the high good Hills.' - -At evening time - her son-in-law was returned, so she did not need -to go on inspection round the farm - she won to the meat of the -matter, explained low-voicedly by the lama. The two old heads nodded -wisely together. Kim had reeled to a room with a cot in it, and was -dozing soddenly. The lama had forbidden him to set blankets or get -food. - -'I know - I know. Who but I?' she cackled. 'We who go down to the -burning-ghats clutch at the hands of those coming up from the River -of Life with full water-jars - yes, brimming water-jars. I did the -boy wrong. He lent thee his strength? It is true that the old eat -the young daily. Stands now we must restore him.' - -'Thou hast many times acquired merit -' - -'My merit. What is it? Old bag of bones making curries for men -who do not ask "Who cooked this?" Now if it were stored up for my -grandson -' - -'He that had the belly-pain?' - -'To think the Holy One remembers that! I must tell his mother. It is -most singular honour! "He that had the belly-pain" - straightway the -Holy One remembered. She will be proud.' - -'My chela is to me as is a son to the unenlightened.' - -'Say grandson, rather. Mothers have not the wisdom of our years. If -a child cries they say the heavens are falling. Now a grandmother is -far enough separated from the pain of bearing and the pleasure of -giving the breast to consider whether a cry is wickedness pure or -the wind. And since thou speakest once again of wind, when last the -Holy One was here, maybe I offended in pressing for charms.' - -'Sister,' said the lama, using that form of address a Buddhist monk -may sometimes employ towards a nun, 'if charms comfort thee -' - -'They are better than ten thousand doctors.' - -'I say, if they comfort thee, I who was Abbot of Such-zen, will make -as many as thou mayest desire. I have never seen thy face -' - -'That even the monkeys who steal our loquats count for again. Hee! -hee!' - -'But as he who sleeps there said,' - he nodded at the shut door of -the guest-chamber across the forecourt - 'thou hast a heart of gold -... And he is in the spirit my very "grandson" to me' - -'Good! I am the Holy One's cow." This was pure Hinduism, but the -lama never heeded. 'I am old. I have borne sons in the body. Oh, -once I could please men! Now I can cure them.' He heard her armlets -tinkle as though she bared arms for action. 'I will take over the -boy and dose him, and stuff him, and make him all whole. Hat! hai'! -We old people know something yet.' - -Wherefore when Kim, aching in every bone, opened his eyes, and would -go to the cook-house to get his master's food, he found strong -coercion about him, and a veiled old figure at the door, flanked by -the grizzled manservant, who told him very precisely the things that -he was on no account to do. - -'Thou must have? Thou shalt have nothing. What? A locked box in -which to keep holy books? Oh, that is another matter. Heavens -forbid I should come between a priest and his prayers! It shall be -brought, and thou shalt keep the key.' - -They pushed the coffer under his cot, and Kim shut away Mahbub's -pistol, the oilskin packet of letters, and the locked books and -diaries, with a groan of relief. For some absurd reason their weight -on his shoulders was nothing to their weight on his poor mind. His -neck ached under it of nights. - -'Thine is a sickness uncommon in youth these days: since young folk -have given up tending their betters. The remedy is sleep, and -certain drugs,' said the Sahiba; and he was glad to give himself up -to the blankness that half menaced and half soothed him. - -She brewed drinks, in some mysterious Asiatic equivalent to the -still-room - drenches that smelt pestilently and tasted worse. She -stood over Kim till they went down, and inquired exhaustively after -they had come up. She laid a taboo upon the forecourt, and enforced -it by means of an armed man. It is true he was seventy odd, that his -scabbarded sword ceased at the hilt; but he represented the -authority of the Sahiba, and loaded wains, chattering servants, -calves, dogs, hens, and the like, fetched a wide compass by those -parts. Best of all, when the body was cleared, she cut out from the -mass of poor relations that crowded the back of the buildings - -house-hold dogs, we name them - a cousin's widow, skilled in what -Europeans, who know nothing about it, call massage. And the two of -them, laying him east and west, that the mysterious earth-currents -which thrill the clay of our bodies might help and not hinder, took -him to pieces all one long afternoon - bone by bone, muscle by -muscle, ligament by ligament, and lastly, nerve by nerve. Kneaded to -irresponsible pulp, half hypnotized by the perpetual flick and -readjustment of the uneasy chudders that veiled their eyes, Kim slid -ten thousand miles into slumber - thirty-six hours of it - sleep -that soaked like rain after drought. - -Then she fed him, and the house spun to her clamour. She caused -fowls to be slain; she sent for vegetables, and the sober, slow- -thinking gardener, nigh as old as she, sweated for it; she took -spices, and milk, and onion, with little fish from the brooks - anon -limes for sherbets, fat quails from the pits, then chicken-livers -upon a skewer, with sliced ginger between. - -'I have seen something of this world,' she said over the crowded -trays, 'and there are but two sorts of women in it -those who take -the strength out of a man and those who put it back. Once I was that -one, and now I am this. Nay - do not play the priestling with me. -Mine was but a jest. If it does not hold good now, it will when thou -takest the road again. Cousin,' - this to the poor relation, never -wearied of extolling her patroness's charity -'he is getting a bloom -on the skin of a new-curried horse. Our work is like polishing -jewels to be thrown to a dance-girl - eh?' - -Kim sat up and smiled. The terrible weakness had dropped from him -like an old shoe. His tongue itched for free speech again, and but a -week back the lightest word clogged it like ashes. The pain in his -neck (he must have caught it from the lama) had gone with the heavy -dengue-aches and the evil taste in the mouth. The two old women, a -little, but not much, more careful about their veils now, clucked as -merrily as the hens that had entered pecking through the open door. - -'Where is my Holy One?' he demanded. - -'Hear him! Thy Holy One is well,' she snapped viciously. 'Though -that is none of his merit., Knew I a charm to make him wise, I'd -sell my jewels and buy it. To refuse good food that I cooked myself -- and go roving into the fields for two nights on an empty belly - -and to tumble into a brook at the end of it - call you that -holiness? Then, when he has nearly broken what thou hast left of my -heart with anxiety, he tells me that he has acquired merit. Oh, how -like are all men! No, that was not it - he tells me that he is freed -from all sin. I could have told him that before he wetted himself -all over. He is well now - this happened a week ago - but burn me -such holiness! A babe of three would do better. Do not fret thyself -for the Holy One. He keeps both eyes on thee when he is not wading -our brooks.' - -'I do not remember to have seen him. I remember that the days and -nights passed like bars of white and black, opening and shutting. I -was not sick: I was but tired." - -'A lethargy that comes by right some few score years later. But it is -done now.' - -'Maharanee,' Kim began, but led by the look in her eye, changed it -to the title of plain love - 'Mother, I owe my life to thee. How -shall I make thanks? Ten thousand blessings upon thy house and -' - -'The house be unblessed!' (It is impossible to give exactly the old -lady's word.) 'Thank the Gods as a priest if thou wilt, but thank -me, if thou carest, as a son. Heavens above! Have I shifted thee and -lifted thee and slapped and twisted thy ten toes to find texts flung -at my head? Somewhere a mother must have borne thee to break her -heart. What used thou to her - son?' - -'I had no mother, my mother,' said Kim. 'She died, they tell me, -when I was young.' - -'Hai mai! Then none can say I have robbed her of any right if - when -thou takest the road again and this house is but one of a thousand -used for shelter and forgotten, after an easy-flung blessing. No -matter. I need no blessings, but - but -' She stamped her foot at -the poor relation. 'Take up the trays to the house. What is the good -of stale food in the room, O woman of ill-omen?' - -'I ha - have borne a son in my time too, but he died,' whimpered the -bowed sister-figure behind the chudder. 'Thou knowest he died! I -only waited for the order to take away the, tray.' - -'It is I that am the woman of ill-omen,' cried the old lady -penitently. 'We that go down to the chattris [the big umbrellas -above the burning-ghats where the priests take their last dues] -clutch hard at the bearers of the chattis [water-jars - young folk -full of the pride of life, she meant; but the pun is clumsy].When -one cannot dance in the festival one must e'en look out of the -window, and grandmothering takes all a woman's time. Thy master -gives me all the charms I now desire for my daughter's eldest, by -reason - is it? - that he is wholly free from sin. The hakim is -brought very low these days. He goes about poisoning my servants for -lack of their betters.' - -'What hakim, mother?' - -'That very Dacca man who gave me the pill which rent me in three -pieces. He cast up like a strayed camel a week ago, vowing that he -and thou had been blood-brothers together up Kulu-way, and feigning -great anxiety for thy health. He was very thin and hungry, so I gave -orders to have him stuffed too - him and his anxiety!' - -'I would see him if he is here.' - -'He eats five times a day, and lances boils for my hinds to save -himself from an apoplexy. He is so full of anxiety for thy health -that he sticks to the cook-house door and stays himself with scraps. -He will keep. We shall never get rid of him.' - -'Send him here, mother' - the twinkle returned to Kim's eye for a -flash - 'and I will try.' - -'I'll send him, but to chase him off is an ill turn. At least he had -the sense to fish the Holy One out of the brook; thus, as the Holy -One did not say, acquiring merit.' - -'He is a very wise hakim. Send him, mother.' - -'Priest praising priest? A miracle! If he is any friend of thine (ye -squabbled at your last meeting) I'll hale him here with horse-ropes -and - and give him a caste-dinner afterwards, my son ... Get up and -see the world! This lying abed is the mother of seventy devils ... -my son! my son!' - -She trotted forth to raise a typhoon off the cook-house, and almost -on her shadow rolled in the Babu, robed as to the shoulders like a -Roman emperor, jowled like Titus, bare-headed, with new patent- -leather shoes, in highest condition of fat, exuding joy and -salutations. - -'By Jove, Mister O'Hara, but I are jolly-glad to see you. I will -kindly shut the door. It is a pity you are sick. Are you very sick?' - -'The papers - the papers from the kilta. The maps and the murasla!' -He held out the key impatiently; for the present need on his soul -was to get rid of the loot. - -'You are quite right. That is correct Departmental view to take. You -have got everything?' - -'All that was handwritten in the kilta I took. The rest I threw down -the hill.' He could hear the key's grate in the lock, the sticky -pull of the slow-rending oilskin, and a quick shuffling of papers. -He had been annoyed out of all reason by the knowledge that they lay -below him through the sick idle days - a burden incommunicable. For -that reason the blood tingled through his body, when Hurree, -skipping elephantinely, shook hands again. - -'This is fine! This is finest! Mister O'Hara! you have - ha! ha! -swiped the whole bag of tricks - locks, stocks, and barrels. They -told me it was eight months' work gone up the spouts! By Jove, how -they beat me! ... Look, here is the letter from Hilas!' He intoned a -line or two of Court Persian, which is the language of authorized -and unauthorized diplomacy. 'Mister Rajah Sahib has just about put -his foot in the holes. He will have to explain offeecially how the -deuce-an'-all he is writing love-letters to the Czar. And they are -very clever maps ... and there is three or four Prime Ministers of -these parts implicated by the correspondence. By Gad, sar! The -British Government will change the succession in Hilas and Bunar, -and nominate new heirs to the throne. "Trea-son most base" ... but -you do not understand? Eh?' - -'Are they in thy hands?' said Kim. It was all he cared for. - -'Just you jolly-well bet yourself they are.' He stowed the entire -trove about his body, as only Orientals can. 'They are going up to -the office, too. The old lady thinks I am permanent fixture here, -but I shall go away with these straight off - immediately. Mr Lurgan -will be proud man. You are offeecially subordinate to me, but I -shall embody your name in my verbal report. It is a pity we are not -allowed written reports. We Bengalis excel in thee exact science.' -He tossed back the key and showed the box empty. - -'Good. That is good. I was very tired. My Holy One was sick, too. -And did he fall into -' - -'Oah yess. I am his good friend, I tell you. He was behaving very -strange when I came down after you, and I thought perhaps he might -have the papers. I followed him on his meditations, and to discuss -ethnological points also. You see, I am verree small person here -nowadays, in comparison with all his charms. By Jove, O'Hara, do you -know, he is afflicted with infirmity of fits. Yess, I tell you. -Cataleptic, too, if not also epileptic. I found him in such a state -under a tree in articulo mortem, and he jumped up and walked into a -brook and he was nearly drowned but for me. I pulled him out.' - -'Because I was not there!' said Kim. 'He might have died.' - -'Yes, he might have died, but he is dry now, and asserts he has -undergone transfiguration.' The Babu tapped his forehead knowingly. -'I took notes of his statements for Royal Society - in posse. You -must make haste and be quite well and come back to Simla, and I will -tell you all my tale at Lurgan's. It was splendid. The bottoms of -their trousers were quite torn, and old Nahan Rajah, he thought they -were European soldiers deserting.' - -'Oh, the Russians? How long were they with thee?' - -'One was a Frenchman. Oh, days and days and days! Now all the hill- -people believe all Russians are all beggars. By Jove! they had not -one dam'-thing that I did not get them. And I told the common people -- oah, such tales and anecdotes! -I will tell you at old Lurgan's -when you come up. We will have - ah - a night out! It is feather in -both our caps! Yess, and they gave me a certificate. That is -creaming joke. You should have seen them at the Alliance Bank -identifying themselves! And thank Almighty God you got their papers -so well! You do not laugh verree much, but you shall laugh when you -are well. Now I will go straight to the railway and get out. You -shall have all sorts of credits for your game. When do you come -along? We are very proud of you though you gave us great frights. -And especially Mahbub.' - -'Ay, Mahbub. And where is he?' - -'Selling horses in this vi-cinity, of course.' - -'Here! Why? Speak slowly. There is a thickness in my head still.' - -The Babu looked shyly down his nose. 'Well, you see, I am fearful -man, and I do not like responsibility. You were sick, you see, and I -did not know where deuce-an'-all the papers were, and if so, how -many. So when I had come down here I slipped in private wire to -Mahbub - he was at Meerut for races - and I tell him how case -stands. He comes up with his men and he consorts with the lama, and -then he calls me a fool, and is very rude -' - -'But wherefore - wherefore?' - -'That is what I ask. I only suggest that if anyone steals the papers -I should like some good strong, brave men to rob them back again. -You see, they are vitally important, and Mahbub Ali he did not know -where you were.' - -'Mahbub Ali to rob the Sahiba's house? Thou art mad, Babu,' said -Kim with indignation. - -'I wanted the papers. Suppose she had stole them? It was only -practical suggestion, I think. You are not pleased, eh?' - -A native proverb - unquotable - showed the blackness of Kim's -disapproval. - -'Well,' - Hurree shrugged his shoulders - 'there is no accounting -for thee taste. Mahbub was angry too. He has sold horses all about -here, and he says old lady is pukka [thorough] old lady and would -not condescend to such ungentlemanly things. I do not care. I have -got the papers, and I was very glad of moral support from Mahbub. I -tell you, I am fearful man, but, somehow or other, the more fearful -I am the more dam'-tight places I get into. So I was glad you came -with me to Chini, and I am glad Mahbub was close by. The old lady -she is sometimes very rude to me and my beautiful pills.' - -'Allah be merciful!' said Kim on his elbow, rejoicing. 'What a beast -of wonder is a Babu! And that man walked alone - if he did walk - -with robbed and angry foreigners!' - -'Oah, thatt was nothing, after they had done beating me; but if I -lost the papers it was pretty-jolly serious. Mahbub he nearly beat -me too, and he went and consorted with the lama no end. I shall -stick to ethnological investigations henceforwards. Now good-bye, -Mister O'Hara. I can catch 4.25 p.m. to Umballa if I am quick. It -will be good times when we all tell thee tale up at Mr Lurgan's. I -shall report you offeecially better. Good-bye, my dear fallow, and -when next you are under thee emotions please do not use the -Mohammedan terms with the Tibetan dress.' - -He shook hands twice - a Babu to his boot-heels - and opened the -door. With the fall of the sunlight upon his still triumphant face -he returned to the humble Dacca quack. - -'He robbed them,' thought Kim, forgetting his own share in the game. -'He tricked them. He lied to them like a Bengali. They give him a -chit [a testimonial]. He makes them a mock at the risk of his life - -I never would have gone down to them after the pistol-shots - and -then he says he is a fearful man ... And he is a fearful man. I must -get into the world again.' - -At first his legs bent like bad pipe-stems, and the flood and rush -of the sunlit air dazzled him. He squatted by the white wall, the -mind rummaging among the incidents of the long dooli journey, the -lama's weaknesses, and, now that the stimulus of talk was removed, -his own self-pity, of which, like the sick, he had great store. The -unnerved brain edged away from all the outside, as a raw horse, once -rowelled, sidles from the spur. It was enough, amply enough, that -the spoil of the kilta was away - off his hands - out of his -possession. He tried to think of the lama - to wonder why he had -tumbled into a brook - but the bigness of the world, seen between -the forecourt gates, swept linked thought aside. Then he looked upon -the trees and the broad fields, with the thatched huts hidden among -crops - looked with strange eyes unable to take up the size and -proportion and use of things - stared for a still half-hour. All -that while he felt, though he could not put it into words, that his -soul was out of gear with its surroundings - a cog-wheel -unconnected with any machinery, just like the idle cog-wheel of a -cheap Beheea sugar-crusher laid by in a corner. The breezes fanned -over him, the parrots shrieked at him, the noises of the populated -house behind - squabbles, orders, and reproofs - hit on dead ears. - -'I am Kim. I am Kim. And what is Kim?' His soul repeated it again -and again. - -He did not want to cry - had never felt less like crying in his life -- but of a sudden easy, stupid tears trickled down his nose, and -with an almost audible click he felt the wheels of his being lock up -anew on the world without. Things that rode meaningless on the -eyeball an instant before slid into proper proportion. Roads were -meant to be walked upon, houses to belived in, cattle to be driven, -fields to be tilled, and men and women to be talked to. They were -all real and true - solidly planted upon the feet - perfectly -comprehensible - clay of his clay, neither more nor less. He shook -himself like a dog with a flea in his ear, and rambled out of the -gate. Said the Sahiba, to whom watchful eyes reported this move: -'Let him go. I have done my share. Mother Earth must do the rest. -When the Holy One comes back from meditation, tell him.' - -There stood an empty bullock-cart on a little knoll half a mile -away, with a young banyan tree behind - a look-out, as it were, -above some new-ploughed levels; and his eyelids, bathed in soft air, -grew heavy as he neared it. The ground was good clean dust - no new -herbage that, living, is half-way to death already, but the hopeful -dust that holds the seeds of all life. He felt it between his toes, -patted it with his palms, and joint by joint, sighing luxuriously, -laid him down full length along in the shadow of the wooden-pinned -cart. And Mother Earth was as faithful as the Sahiba. She breathed -through him to restore the poise he had lost lying so long on a cot -cut off from her good currents. His head lay powerless upon her -breast, and his opened hands surrendered to her strength. The many- -rooted tree above him, and even the dead manhandled wood beside, -knew what he sought, as he himself did not know. Hour upon hour he -lay deeper than sleep. - -Towards evening, when the dust of returning kine made all the -horizons smoke, came the lama and Mahbub Ali, both afoot, walking -cautiously, for the house had told them where he had gone. - -'Allah! What a fool's trick to play in open country!' muttered the -horse-dealer. 'He could be shot a hundred times - but this is not -the Border.' - -'And,' said the lama, repeating a many-times-told tale, 'never was -such a chela. Temperate, kindly, wise, of ungrudging disposition, a -merry heart upon the road, never forgetting, learned, truthful, -courteous. Great is his reward!' - -'I know the boy - as I have said.' - -'And he was all those things?' - -'Some of them - but I have not yet found a Red Hat's charm for -making him overly truthful. He has certainly been well nursed.' - -'The Sahiba is a heart of gold,' said the lama earnestly. 'She looks -upon him as her son.' - -'Hmph! Half Hind seems that way disposed. I only wished to see that -the boy had come to no harm and was a free agent. As thou knowest, -he and I were old friends in the first days of your pilgrimage -together.' - -'That is a bond between us.' The lama sat down. 'We are at the end -of the pilgrimage.' - -'No thanks to thee thine was not cut off for good and all a week -back. I heard what the Sahiba said to thee when we bore thee up on -the cot.' Mahbub laughed, and tugged his newly dyed beard. - -'I was meditating upon other matters that tide. It was the hakim -from Dacca broke my meditations.' - -'Otherwise' - this was in Pushtu for decency's sake -'thou wouldst -have ended thy meditations upon the sultry side of Hell - being an -unbeliever and an idolater for all thy child's simplicity. But now, -Red Hat, what is to be done?' - -'This very night,' - the words came slowly, vibrating with triumph - -'this very night he will be as free as I am from all taint of sin - -assured as I am, when he quits this body, of Freedom from the Wheel -of Things. I have a sign' - he laid his hand above the torn chart in -his bosom -'that my time is short; but I shall have safeguarded him -throughout the years. Remember, I have reached Knowledge, as I told -thee only three nights back.' - -'It must be true, as the Tirah priest said when I stole his cousin's -wife, that I am a Sufi [a free-thinker]; for here I sit, I said -Mahbub to himself, 'drinking in blasphemy unthinkable ... I remember -the tale. On that, then, he goes to Fannatu l'Adn [the Gardens of -Eden]. But how? Wilt thou slay him or drown him in that wonderful -river from which the Babu dragged thee?' - -'I was dragged from no river,' said the lama simply. 'Thou hast -forgotten what befell. I found it by Knowledge.' - -'Oh, ay. True,' stammered Mahbub, divided between high indignation -and enormous mirth. 'I had forgotten the exact run of what happened. -Thou didst find it knowingly.' - -'And to say that I would take life is - not a sin, but a madness -simple. My chela aided me to the River. It is his right to be -cleansed from sin - with me.' - -'Ay, he needs cleansing. But afterwards, old man - afterwards?' - -'What matter under all the Heavens? He is sure of Nibban - -enlightened - as I am.' - -'Well said. I had a fear he might mount Mohammed's Horse and fly -away.' - -'Nay - he must go forth as a teacher.' - -'Aha! Now I see! That is the right gait for the colt. Certainly he -must go forth as a teacher. He is somewhat urgently needed as a -scribe by the State, for instance.' - -'To that end he was prepared. I acquired merit in that I gave alms -for his sake. A good deed does not die. He aided me in my Search. I -aided him in his. Just is the Wheel, O horse-seller from the North. -Let him be a teacher; let him be a scribe - what matter? He will -have attained Freedom at the end. The rest is illusion.' - -'What matter? When I must have him with me beyond Balkh in six -months! I come up with ten lame horses and three strong-backed men - -thanks to that chicken of a Babu - to break a sick boy by force out -of an old trot's house. It seems that I stand by while a young Sahib -is hoisted into Allah knows what of an idolater's Heaven by means of -old Red Hat. And I am reckoned something of a player of the Game -myself! But the madman is fond of the boy; and I must be very -reasonably mad too.' - -'What is the prayer?' said the lama, as the rough Pushtu rumbled -into the red beard. - -'No matter at all; but now I understand that the boy, sure of -Paradise, can yet enter Government service, my mind is easier. I -must get to my horses. It grows dark. Do not wake him. I have no -wish to hear him call thee master.' - -'But he is my disciple. What else?' - -'He has told me.' Mahbub choked down his touch of spleen and rose -laughing. 'I am not altogether of thy faith, Red Hat - if so small a -matter concern thee.' - -'It is nothing, said the lama. - -'I thought not. Therefore it will not move thee, sinless, new- -washed and three parts drowned to boot, when I call thee a good man -- a very good man. We have talked together some four or five -evenings now, and for all I am a horse-coper I can still, as the -saying is, see holiness beyond the legs of a horse. Yea, can see, -too, how our Friend of all the World put his hand in thine at the -first. Use him well, and suffer him to return to the world as a -teacher, when thou hast - bathed his legs, if that be the proper -medicine for the colt.' - -'Why not follow the Way thyself, and so accompany the boy?' - -Mahbub stared stupefied at the magnificent insolence of the demand, -which across the Border he would have paid with more than a blow. -Then the humour of it touched his worldly soul. - -'Softly - softly - one foot at a time, as the lame gelding went over -the Umballa jumps. I may come to Paradise later - I have workings -that way - great motions - and I owe them to thy simplicity. Thou -hast never lied?' - -'What need?' - -'O Allah, hear him! "What need" in this Thy world! Nor ever harmed a -man?' - -'Once - with a pencase - before I was wise.' - -'So? I think the better of thee. Thy teachings are good. Thou hast -turned one man that I know from the path of strife.' He laughed -immensely. 'He came here open-minded to commit a dacoity [a house- -robbery with violence]. Yes, to cut, rob, kill, and carry off what -he desired.' - -'A great foolishness!' - -'Oh! black shame too. So he thought after he had seen thee - and a -few others, male and female. So he abandoned it; and now he goes to -beat a big fat Babu man.' - -'I do not understand.' - -'Allah forbid it! Some men are strong in knowledge, Red Hat. Thy -strength is stronger still. Keep it - I think thou wilt. If the boy -be not a good servant, pull his ears off.' - -With a hitch of his broad Bokhariot belt the Pathan swaggered off -into the gloaming, and the lama came down from his clouds so far as -to look at the broad back. - -'That person lacks courtesy, and is deceived by the shadow of -appearances. But he spoke well of my chela, who now enters upon his -reward. Let me make the prayer! ... Wake, O fortunate above all born -of women. Wake! It is found!' - -Kim came up from those deep wells, and the lama attended his yawning -pleasure; duly snapping fingers to head off evil spirits. - -'I have slept a hundred years. Where -? Holy One, hast thou been -here long? I went out to look for thee, but' - he laughed drowsily - -'I slept by the way. I am all well now. Hast thou eaten? Let us go -to the house. It is many days since I tended thee. And the Sahiba -fed thee well? Who shampooed thy legs? What of the weaknesses - the -belly and the neck, and the beating in the ears?' - -'Gone - all gone. Dost thou not know?' - -'I know nothing, but that I have not seen thee in a monkey's age. -Know what?' - -'Strange the knowledge did not reach out to thee, when all my -thoughts were theeward.' - -'I cannot see the face, but the voice is like a gong. Has the Sahiba -made a young man of thee by her cookery?' - -He peered at the cross-legged figure, outlined jet-black against the -lemon-coloured drift of light. So does the stone Bodhisat sit who -looks down upon the patent self-registering turnstiles of the Lahore -Museum. - -The lama held his peace. Except for the click of the rosary and a -faint clop-clop of Mahbub's retreating feet, the soft, smoky silence -of evening in India wrapped them close. - -'Hear me! I bring news.' - -'But let us -' - -Out shot the long yellow hand compelling silence. Kim tucked his -feet under his robe-edge obediently. - -'Hear me! I bring news! The Search is finished. Comes now the Reward -... Thus. When we were among the Hills, I lived on thy strength till -the young branch bowed and nigh broke. When we came out of the -Hills, I was troubled for thee and for other matters which I held in -my heart. The boat of my soul lacked direction; I could not see into -the Cause of Things. So I gave thee over to the virtuous woman -altogether. I took no food. I drank no water. Still I saw not the -Way. They pressed food upon me and cried at my shut door. So I -removed myself to a hollow under a tree. I took no food. I took no -water. I sat in meditation two days and two nights, abstracting my -mind; inbreathing and outbreathing in the required manner . . . Upon -the second night - so great was my reward - the wise Soul loosed -itself from the silly Body and went free. This I have never before -attained, though I have stood on the threshold of it. Consider, for -it is a marvel!' - -'A marvel indeed. Two days and two nights without food! Where was -the Sahiba?' said Kim under his breath. - -'Yea, my Soul went free, and, wheeling like an eagle, saw indeed -that there was no Teshoo Lama nor any other soul. As a drop draws to -water, so my Soul drew near to the Great Soul which is beyond all -things. At that point, exalted in contemplation, I saw all Hind, -from Ceylon in the sea to the Hills, and my own Painted Rocks at -Such-zen; I saw every camp and village, to the least, where we have -ever rested. I saw them at one time and in one place; for they were -within the Soul. By this I knew the Soul had passed beyond the -illusion of Time and Space and of Things. By this I knew that I was -free. I saw thee lying in thy cot, and I saw thee falling downhill -under the idolater - at one time, in one place, in my Soul, which, -as I say, had touched the Great Soul. Also I saw the stupid body of -Teshoo Lama lying down, and the hakim from Dacca kneeled beside, -shouting in its ear. Then my Soul was all alone, and I saw nothing, -for I was all things, having reached the Great Soul. And I meditated -a thousand thousand years, passionless, well aware of the Causes of -all Things. Then a voice cried: "What shall come to the boy if thou -art dead?" and I was shaken back and forth in myself with pity for -thee; and I said: "I will return to my chela, lest he miss the Way." -Upon this my Soul, which is the Soul of Teshoo Lama, withdrew itself -from the Great Soul with strivings and yearnings and retchings and -agonies not to be told. As the egg from the fish, as the fish from -the water, as the water from the cloud, as the cloud from the thick -air, so put forth, so leaped out, so drew away, so fumed up the Soul -of Teshoo Lama from the Great Soul. Then a voice cried: "The River! -Take heed to the River!" and I looked down upon all the world, which -was as I had seen it before - one in time, one in place - and I saw -plainly the River of the Arrow at my feet. At that hour my Soul was -hampered by some evil or other whereof I was not wholly cleansed, -and it lay upon my arms and coiled round my waist; but I put it -aside, and I cast forth as an eagle in my flight for the very place -of the River. I pushed aside world upon world for thy sake. I saw -the River below me - the River of the Arrow - and, descending, the -waters of it closed over me; and behold I was again in the body of -Teshoo Lama, but free from sin, and the hakim from Decca bore up my -head in the waters of the River. It is here! It is behind the mango- -tope here - even here!' - -'Allah kerim! Oh, well that the Babu was by! Wast thou very wet?' - -'Why should I regard? I remember the hakim was concerned for the -body of Teshoo Lama. He haled it out of the holy water in his hands, -and there came afterwards thy horse-seller from the North with a cot -and men, and they put the body on the cot and bore it up to the -Sahiba's house.' - -'What said the Sahiba?' - -'I was meditating in that body, and did not hear. So thus the Search -is ended. For the merit that I have acquired, the River of the Arrow -is here. It broke forth at our feet, as I have said. I have found -it. Son of my Soul, I have wrenched my Soul back from the Threshold -of Freedom to free thee from all sin - as I am free, and sinless! -Just is the Wheel! Certain is our deliverance! Come!' - -He crossed his hands on his lap and smiled, as a man may who has won -salvation for himself and his beloved. - - -End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of Kim, by Rudyard Kipling diff --git a/old/kimrk11.zip b/old/kimrk11.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 5a13b3e..0000000 --- a/old/kimrk11.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/kimrk12.txt b/old/kimrk12.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 87485ae..0000000 --- a/old/kimrk12.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,13138 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg Etext of Kim, by Rudyard Kipling -(#10 in our series by Rudyard Kipling) - -Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the -copyright laws for your country before distributing this or any other -Project Gutenberg file. - -We encourage you to keep this file, exactly as it is, on your -own disk, thereby keeping an electronic path open for future -readers. Please do not remove this. - -This header should be the first thing seen when anyone starts to -view the etext. 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Smith, BIT Student -Broome Community College -Front Street -Binghamton, NY 13902 -franks_p@mail.sunybroome.edu - -With updates and fixes by Dave Bruchie. - - - - -Kim - -by Rudyard Kipling - - - - -Chapter I - - -O ye who tread the Narrow Way -By Tophet-flare to judgment Day, -Be gentle when 'the heathen' pray -To Buddha at Kamakura! - -Buddha at Kamakura. - - - -He sat, in defiance of municipal orders, astride the gun Zam -Zammah on her brick platform opposite the old Ajaib-Gher - -the Wonder House, as the natives call the Lahore Museum. -Who hold Zam-Zammah, that 'fire-breathing dragon', hold the -Punjab, for the great green-bronze piece is always first of the -conqueror's loot. - -There was some justification for Kim - he had kicked Lala -Dinanath's boy off the trunnions - since the English held the -Punjab and Kim was English. Though he was burned black as any -native; though he spoke the vernacular by preference, and his -mother-tongue in a clipped uncertain sing-song; though he -consorted on terms of perfect equality with the small boys of the -bazar; Kim was white - a poor white of the very poorest. The -half-caste woman who looked after him (she smoked opium, and -pretended to keep a second-hand furniture shop by the square -where the cheap cabs wait) told the missionaries that she was -Kim's mother's sister; but his mother had been nursemaid in a -Colonel's family and had married Kimball O'Hara, a young colour- -sergeant of the Mavericks, an Irish regiment. He afterwards took -a post on the Sind, Punjab, and Delhi Railway, and his Regiment -went home without him. The wife died of cholera in Ferozepore, -and O'Hara fell to drink and loafing up and down the line with -the keen-eyed three-year-old baby. Societies and chaplains, -anxious for the child, tried to catch him, but O'Hara drifted -away, till he came across the woman who took opium and learned -the taste from her, and died as poor whites die in India. His -estate at death consisted of three papers - one he called his 'ne -varietur' because those words were written below his signature -thereon, and another his 'clearance-certificate'. The third was -Kim's birth-certificate. Those things, he was used to say, in his -glorious opium-hours, would yet make little Kimball a man. On no -account was Kim to part with them, for they belonged to a great -piece of magic - such magic as men practised over yonder behind -the Museum, in the big blue-and-white Jadoo-Gher - the Magic -House, as we name the Masonic Lodge. It would, he said, all come -right some day, and Kim's horn would be exalted between pillars - -monstrous pillars - of beauty and strength. The Colonel himself, -riding on a horse, at the head of the finest Regiment in the -world, would attend to Kim - little Kim that should have been -better off than his father. Nine hundred first-class devils, -whose God was a Red Bull on a green field, would attend to Kim, -if they had not forgotten O'Hara - poor O'Hara that was gang- -foreman on the Ferozepore line. Then he would weep bitterly in -the broken rush chair on the veranda. So it came about after his -death that the woman sewed parchment, paper, and birth- -certificate into a leather amulet-case which she strung round -Kim's neck. - -'And some day,' she said, confusedly remembering O'Hara's -prophecies, 'there will come for you a great Red Bull on a green -field, and the Colonel riding on his tall horse, yes, and' -dropping into English - 'nine hundred devils.' - -'Ah,' said Kim, 'I shall remember. A Red Bull and a Colonel on a -horse will come, but first, my father said, will come the two men -making ready the ground for these matters. That is how my father -said they always did; and it is always so when men work magic.' - -If the woman had sent Kim up to the local Jadoo-Gher with those -papers, he would, of course, have been taken over by the -Provincial Lodge, and sent to the Masonic Orphanage in the Hills; -but what she had heard of magic she distrusted. Kim, too, held -views of his own. As he reached the years of indiscretion, he -learned to avoid missionaries and white men of serious aspect who -asked who he was, and what he did. For Kim did nothing with an -immense success. True, he knew the wonderful walled city of -Lahore from the Delhi Gate to the outer Fort Ditch; was hand in -glove with men who led lives stranger than anything Haroun al -Raschid dreamed of; and he lived in a life wild as that of the -Arabian Nights, but missionaries and secretaries of charitable -societies could not see the beauty of it. His nickname through -the wards was 'Little Friend of all the World'; and very often, -being lithe and inconspicuous, he executed commissions by night -on the crowded housetops for sleek and shiny young men of -fashion. It was intrigue, - of course he knew that much, as he -had known all evil since he could speak, - but what he loved was -the game for its own sake - the stealthy prowl through the dark -gullies and lanes, the crawl up a waterpipe, the sights and -sounds of the women's world on the flat roofs, and the headlong -flight from housetop to housetop under cover of the hot dark. -Then there were holy men, ash-smeared fakirs by their brick -shrines under the trees at the riverside, with whom he was quite -familiar - greeting them as they returned from begging-tours, -and, when no one was by, eating from the same dish. The woman who -looked after him insisted with tears that he should wear European -clothes - trousers, a shirt and a battered hat. Kim found it -easier to slip into Hindu or Mohammedan garb when engaged on -certain businesses. One of the young men of fashion - he who was -found dead at the bottom of a well on the night of the earthquake - -had once given him a complete suit of Hindu kit, the costume -of a lowcaste street boy, and Kim stored it in a secret place -under some baulks in Nila Ram's timber-yard, beyond the Punjab -High Court, where the fragrant deodar logs lie seasoning after -they have driven down the Ravi. When there was business or frolic -afoot, Kim would use his properties, returning at dawn to the -veranda, all tired out from shouting at the heels of a marriage -procession, or yelling at a Hindu festival. Sometimes there was -food in the house, more often there was not, and then Kim went -out again to eat with his native friends. - -As he drummed his heels against Zam-Zammah he turned now and -again from his king-of-the-castle game with little Chota Lal and -Abdullah the sweetmeat-seller's son, to make a rude remark to the -native policeman on guard over rows of shoes at the Museum door. -The big Punjabi grinned tolerantly: he knew Kim of old. So did -the water-carrier, sluicing water on the dry road from his goat- -skin bag. So did Jawahir Singh, the Museum carpenter, bent over -new packing-cases. So did everybody in sight except the peasants -from the country, hurrying up to the Wonder House to view the -things that men made in their own province and elsewhere. The -Museum was given up to Indian arts and manufactures, and anybody -who sought wisdom could ask the Curator to explain. - -'Off! Off! Let me up!' cried Abdullah, climbing up Zam-Zammah's -wheel. - -'Thy father was a pastry-cook, Thy mother stole the ghi" sang -Kim. 'All Mussalmans fell off Zam-Zammah long ago!' - -'Let me up!' shrilled little Chota Lal in his gilt-embroidered -cap. His father was worth perhaps half a million sterling, but -India is the only democratic land in the world. - -'The Hindus fell off Zam-Zammah too. The Mussalmans pushed them -off. Thy father was a pastry-cook -' - -He stopped; for there shuffled round the corner, from the roaring -Motee Bazar, such a man as Kim, who thought he knew all castes, -had never seen. He was nearly six feet high, dressed in fold upon -fold of dingy stuff like horse-blanketing, and not one fold of it -could Kim refer to any known trade or profession. At his belt -hung a long open-work iron pencase and a wooden rosary such as -holy men wear. On his head was a gigantic sort of tam-o'-shanter. -His face was yellow and wrinkled, like that of Fook Shing, the -Chinese bootmaker in the bazar. His eyes turned up at the corners -and looked like little slits of onyx. - -'Who is that?' said Kim to his companions. - -'Perhaps it is a man,' said Abdullah, finger in mouth, staring. - -'Without doubt.' returned Kim; 'but he is no man of India that I -have ever seen.' - -'A priest, perhaps,' said Chota Lal, spying the rosary. 'See! He -goes into the Wonder House!' - -'Nay, nay,' said the policeman, shaking his head. 'I do not -understand your talk.' The constable spoke Punjabi. 'O Friend of -all the World, what does he say?' - -'Send him hither,' said Kim, dropping from Zam-Zammah, -flourishing his bare heels. 'He is a foreigner, and thou art a -buffalo.' - -The man turned helplessly and drifted towards the boys. He was -old, and his woollen gaberdine still reeked of the stinking -artemisia of the mountain passes. - -'O Children, what is that big house?' he said in very fair Urdu. - -'The Ajaib-Gher, the Wonder House!' Kim gave him no title - such -as Lala or Mian. He could not divine the man's creed. - -'Ah! The Wonder House! Can any enter?' - -'It is written above the door - all can enter.' - -'Without payment?' - -'I go in and out. I am no banker,' laughed Kim. - -'Alas! I am an old man. I did not know.' Then, fingering his -rosary, he half turned to the Museum. - -'What is your caste? Where is your house? Have you come far?' Kim -asked. - -'I came by Kulu - from beyond the Kailas - but what know you? -From the Hills where' - he sighed - 'the air and water are fresh -and cool.' - -'Aha! Khitai [a Chinaman],' said Abdullah proudly. Fook Shing had -once chased him out of his shop for spitting at the joss above -the boots. - -'Pahari [a hillman],' said little Chota Lal. - -'Aye, child - a hillman from hills thou'lt never see. Didst hear -of Bhotiyal [Tibet]? I am no Khitai, but a Bhotiya [Tibetan], -since you must know - a lama - or, say, a guru in your tongue.' - -'A guru from Tibet,' said Kim. 'I have not seen such a man. They -be Hindus in Tibet, then?' - -'We be followers of the Middle Way, living in peace in our -lamasseries, and I go to see the Four Holy Places before I die. -Now do you, who are children, know as much as I do who am old.' -He smiled benignantly on the boys. - -'Hast thou eaten?' - -He fumbled in his bosom and drew forth a worn, wooden begging- -bowl. The boys nodded. All priests of their acquaintance begged. - -'I do not wish to eat yet.' He turned his head like an old -tortoise in the sunlight. 'Is it true that there are many images -in the Wonder House of Lahore?' He repeated the last words as one -making sure of an address. - -'That is true,' said Abdullah. 'It is full of heathen busts. Thou -also art an idolater.' - -'Never mind him,' said. Kim. 'That is the Government's house and -there is no idolatry in it, but only a Sahib with a white beard. -Come with me and I will show.' - -'Strange priests eat boys,' whispered Chota Lal. - -'And he is a stranger and a but-parast [idolater],' said -Abdullah, the Mohammedan. - -Kim laughed. 'He is new. Run to your mothers' laps, and be safe. -Come!' - -Kim clicked round the self-registering turnstile; the old man -followed and halted amazed. In the entrance-hall stood the larger -figures of the Greco-Buddhist sculptures done, savants know how -long since, by forgotten workmen whose hands were feeling, and -not unskilfully, for the mysteriously transmitted Grecian touch. -There were hundreds of pieces, friezes of figures in relief, -fragments of statues and slabs crowded with figures that had -encrusted the brick walls of the Buddhist stupas and viharas of -the North Country and now, dug up and labelled, made the pride of -the Museum. In open-mouthed wonder the lama turned to this and -that, and finally checked in rapt attention before a large alto- -relief representing a coronation or apotheosis of the Lord -Buddha. The Master was represented seated on a lotus the petals -of which were so deeply undercut as to show almost detached. -Round Him was an adoring hierarchy of kings, elders, and old-time -Buddhas. Below were lotus-covered waters with fishes and water- -birds. Two butterfly-winged devas held a wreath over His head; -above them another pair supported an umbrella surmounted by the -jewelled headdress of the Bodhisat. - -'The Lord! The Lord! It is Sakya Muni himself,' the lama half -sobbed; and under his breath began the wonderful Buddhist -invocation: - -To Him the Way, the Law, apart, Whom Maya held beneath her heart, -Ananda's Lord, the Bodhisat. - -'And He is here! The Most Excellent Law is here also. My -pilgrimage is well begun. And what work! What work!' - -'Yonder is the Sahib.' said Kim, and dodged sideways among the -cases of the arts and manufacturers wing. A white-bearded -Englishman was looking at the lama, who gravely turned and -saluted him and after some fumbling drew forth a note-book and a -scrap of paper. - -'Yes, that is my name,' smiling at the clumsy, childish print. - -'One of us who had made pilgrimage to the Holy Places - he is now -Abbot of the Lung-Cho Monastery - gave it me,' stammered the -lama. 'He spoke of these.' His lean hand moved tremulously round. - -'Welcome, then, O lama from Tibet. Here be the images, and I am -here' - he glanced at the lama's face - 'to gather knowledge. -Come to my office awhile.' The old man was trembling with -excitement. - -The office was but a little wooden cubicle partitioned off from -the sculpture-lined gallery. Kim laid himself down, his ear -against a crack in the heat-split cedar door, and, following his -instinct, stretched out to listen and watch. - -Most of the talk was altogether above his head. The lama, -haltingly at first, spoke to the Curator of his own lamassery, -the Such-zen, opposite the Painted Rocks, four months' march -away. The Curator brought out a huge book of photos and showed -him that very place, perched on its crag, overlooking the -gigantic valley of many-hued strata. - -'Ay, ay!' The lama mounted a pair of horn-rimmed spectacles of -Chinese work. 'Here is the little door through which we bring -wood before winter. And thou - the English know of these things? -He who is now Abbot of Lung-Cho told me, but I did not believe. -The Lord - the Excellent One - He has honour here too? And His -life is known?' - -'It is all carven upon the stones. Come and see, if thou art -rested.' - -Out shuffled the lama to the main hall, and, the Curator beside -him, went through the collection with the reverence of a devotee -and the appreciative instinct of a craftsman. - -Incident by incident in the beautiful story he identified on the -blurred stone, puzzled here and there by the unfamiliar Greek -convention, but delighted as a child at each new trove. Where the -sequence failed, as in the Annunciation, the Curator supplied it -from his mound of books - French and German, with photographs and -reproductions. - -Here was the devout Asita, the pendant of Simeon in the Christian -story, holding the Holy Child on his knee while mother and father -listened; and here were incidents in the legend of the cousin -Devadatta. Here was the wicked woman who accused the Master of -impurity, all confounded; here was the teaching in the Deer-park; -the miracle that stunned the fire-worshippers; here was the -Bodhisat in royal state as a prince; the miraculous birth; the -death at Kusinagara, where the weak disciple fainted; while there -were almost countless repetitions of the meditation under the -Bodhi tree; and the adoration of the alms-bowl was everywhere. In -a few minutes the Curator saw that his guest was no mere bead- -telling mendicant, but a scholar of parts. And they went at it -all over again, the lama taking snuff, wiping his spectacles, and -talking at railway speed in a bewildering mixture of Urdu and -Tibetan. He had heard of the travels of the Chinese pilgrims, Fu- -Hiouen and Hwen-Tsiang, and was anxious to know if there was any -translation of their record. He drew in his breath as he turned -helplessly over the pages of Beal and Stanislas Julien. "Tis all -here. A treasure locked.' Then he composed himself reverently to -listen to fragments hastily rendered into Urdu. For the first -time he heard of the labours of European scholars, who by the -help of these and a hundred other documents have identified the -Holy Places of Buddhism. Then he was shown a mighty map, spotted -and traced with yellow. The brown finger followed the Curator's -pencil from point to point. Here was Kapilavastu, here the Middle -Kingdom, and here Mahabodhi, the Mecca of Buddhism; and here was -Kusinagara, sad place of the Holy One's death. The old man bowed -his head over the sheets in silence for a while, and the Curator -lit another pipe. Kim had fallen asleep. When he waked, the talk, -still in spate, was more within his comprehension. - -'And thus it was, O Fountain of Wisdom, that I decided to go to -the Holy Places which His foot had trod - to the Birthplace, even -to Kapila; then to Mahabodhi, which is Buddh Gaya - to the -Monastery - to the Deer-park -to the place of His death.' - -The lama lowered his voice. 'And I come here alone. For five - -seven - eighteen - forty years it was in my mind that the Old Law -was not well followed; being overlaid, as thou knowest, with -devildom, charms, and idolatry. Even as the child outside said -but now. Ay, even as the child said, with but-parasti.' - -'So it comes with all faiths.' - -'Thinkest thou? The books of my lamassery I read, and they were -dried pith; and the later ritual with which we of the Reformed -Law have cumbered ourselves - that, too, had no worth to these -old eyes. Even the followers of the Excellent One are at feud on -feud with one another. It is all illusion. Ay, maya, illusion. -But I have another desire' - the seamed yellow face drew within -three inches of the Curator, and the long forefinger-nail tapped -on the table. 'Your scholars, by these books, have followed the -Blessed Feet in all their wanderings; but there are things which -they have not sought out. I know nothing - nothing do I know - -but I go to free myself from the Wheel of Things by a broad and -open road.' He smiled with most simple triumph. 'As a pilgrim to -the Holy Places I acquire merit. But there is more. Listen to a -true thing. When our gracious Lord, being as yet a youth, sought -a mate, men said, in His father's Court, that He was too tender -for marriage. Thou knowest?' - -The Curator nodded, wondering what would come next. - -'So they made the triple trial of strength against all comers. -And at the test of the Bow, our Lord first breaking that which -they gave Him, called for such a bow as none might bend. Thou -knowest?' - -'It is written. I have read.' - -'And, overshooting all other marks, the arrow passed far and far -beyond sight. At the last it fell; and, where it touched earth, -there broke out a stream which presently became a River, whose -nature, by our Lord's beneficence, and that merit He acquired ere -He freed himself, is that whoso bathes in it washes away all -taint and speckle of sin.' - -'So it is written,' said the Curator sadly. - -The lama drew a long breath. "Where is that River? Fountain of -Wisdom, where fell the arrow?" - -'Alas, my brother, I do not know,' said the Curator. - -'Nay, if it please thee to forget - the one thing only that thou -hast not told me. Surely thou must know? See, I am an old man! I -ask with my head between thy feet, O Fountain of Wisdom. We know -He drew the bow! We know the arrow fell! We know the stream -gushed! Where, then, is the River? My dream told me to find it. -So I came. I am here. But where is the River?' - -'If I knew, think you I would not cry it aloud?' - -'By it one attains freedom from the Wheel of Things,' the lama -went on, unheeding. 'The River of the Arrow! Think again! Some -little stream, maybe - dried in the heats? But the Holy One would -never so cheat an old man.' - -'I do not know. I do not know.' - -The lama brought his thousand-wrinkled face once more a -handsbreadth from the Englishman's. 'I see thou dost not know. -Not being of the Law, the matter is hid from thee.' - -'Ay - hidden - hidden.' - -'We are both bound, thou and I, my brother. But I' - he rose with -a sweep of the soft thick drapery - 'I go to cut myself free. -Come also!' - -'I am bound,' said the Curator. 'But whither goest thou?' - -'First to Kashi [Benares]: where else? There I shall meet one of -the pure faith in a Jain temple of that city. He also is a Seeker -in secret, and from him haply I may learn. Maybe he will go with -me to Buddh Gaya. Thence north and west to Kapilavastu, and there -will I seek for the River. Nay, I will seek everywhere as I go - -for the place is not known where the arrow fell.' - -'And how wilt thou go? It is a far cry to Delhi, and farther to -Benares.' - -'By road and the trains. From Pathankot, having left the Hills, I -came hither in a te-rain. It goes swiftly. At first I was amazed -to see those tall poles by the side of the road snatching up and -snatching up their threads,' - he illustrated the stoop and whirl -of a telegraph-pole flashing past the train. 'But later, I was -cramped and desired to walk, as I am used.' - -'And thou art sure of thy road?' said the Curator. - -'Oh, for that one but asks a question and pays money, and the -appointed persons despatch all to the appointed place. That much -I knew in my lamassery from sure report,' said the lama proudly. - -'And when dost thou go?' The Curator smiled at the mixture of -old-world piety and modern progress that is the note of India -today. - -'As soon as may be. I follow the places of His life till I come -to the River of the Arrow. There is, moreover, a written paper of -the hours of the trains that go south.' - -'And for food?' Lamas, as a rule, have good store of money -somewhere about them, but the Curator wished to make sure. - -'For the journey, I take up the Master's begging-bowl. Yes. Even -as He went so go I, forsaking the ease of my monastery. There was -with me when I left the hills a chela [disciple] who begged for -me as the Rule demands, but halting in Kulu awhile a fever took -him and he died. I have now no chela, but I will take the alms- -bowl and thus enable the charitable to acquire merit.' He nodded -his head valiantly. Learned doctors of a lamassery do not beg, -but the lama was an enthusiast in this quest. - -'Be it so,' said the Curator, smiling. 'Suffer me now to acquire -merit. We be craftsmen together, thou and I. Here is a new book -of white English paper: here be sharpened pencils two and three - -thick and thin, all good for a scribe. Now lend me thy spectacles.' - -The Curator looked through them. They were heavily scratched, but -the power was almost exactly that of his own pair, which he slid -into the lama's hand, saying: 'Try these.' - -'A feather! A very feather upon the face.' The old man turned his -head delightedly and wrinkled up his nose. 'How scarcely do I -feel them! How clearly do I see!' - -'They be bilaur - crystal - and will never scratch. May they -help thee to thy River, for they are thine.' - -'I will take them and the pencils and the white note-book,' said -the lama, 'as a sign of friendship between priest and priest - -and now -' He fumbled at his belt, detached the open-work iron -pincers, and laid it on the Curator's table. 'That is for a -memory between thee and me - my pencase. It is something old - -even as I am.' - -It was a piece of ancient design, Chinese, of an iron that is not -smelted these days; and the collector's heart in the Curator's -bosom had gone out to it from the first. For no persuasion would -the lama resume his gift. - -'When I return, having found the River, I will bring thee a -written picture of the Padma Samthora such as I used to make on -silk at the lamassery. Yes - and of the Wheel of Life,' he -chuckled, 'for we be craftsmen together, thou and I.' - -The Curator would have detained him: they are few in the world -who still have the secret of the conventional brush-pen Buddhist -pictures which are, as it were, half written and half drawn. But -the lama strode out, head high in air, and pausing an instant -before the great statue of a Bodhisat in meditation, brushed -through the turnstiles. - -Kim followed like a shadow. What he had overheard excited him -wildly. This man was entirely new to all his experience, and he -meant to investigate further, precisely as he would have -investigated a new building or a strange festival in Lahore city. -The lama was his trove, and he purposed to take possession. Kim's -mother had been Irish, too. - -The old man halted by Zam-Zammah and looked round till his eye -fell on Kim. The inspiration of his pilgrimage had left him for -awhile, and he felt old, forlorn, and very empty. - -'Do not sit under that gun,' said the policeman loftily. - -'Huh! Owl!' was Kim's retort on the lama's behalf. 'Sit under that -gun if it please thee. When didst thou steal the milkwoman's -slippers, Dunnoo?' - -That was an utterly unfounded charge sprung on the spur of the -moment, but it silenced Dunnoo, who knew that Kim's clear yell -could call up legions of bad bazaar boys if need arose. - -'And whom didst thou worship within?' said Kim affably, squatting -in the shade beside the lama. - -'I worshipped none, child. I bowed before the Excellent Law.' - -Kim accepted this new God without emotion. He knew already a few -score. - -'And what dost thou do?' - -'I beg. I remember now it is long since I have eaten or drunk. -What is the custom of charity in this town? In silence, as we do -of Tibet, or speaking aloud?' - -'Those who beg in silence starve in silence,' said Kim, quoting a -native proverb. The lama tried to rise, but sank back again, -sighing for his disciple, dead in far-away Kulu. Kim watched head -to one side, considering and interested. - -'Give me the bowl. I know the people of this city - all who are -charitable. Give, and I will bring it back filled.' - -Simply as a child the old man handed him the bowl. - -'Rest, thou. I know the people.' - -He trotted off to the open shop of a kunjri, a low-caste -vegetable-seller, which lay opposite the belt-tramway line down -the Motee Bazar. She knew Kim of old. - -'Oho, hast thou turned yogi with thy begging-bowl?' she cried. - -'Nay.' said Kim proudly. 'There is a new priest in the city - a man -such as I have never seen.' - -'Old priest - young tiger,' said the woman angrily. 'I am tired -of new priests! They settle on our wares like flies. Is the -father of my son a well of charity to give to all who ask?' - -'No,' said Kim. 'Thy man is rather yagi [bad-tempered] than yogi -[a holy man]. But this priest is new. The Sahib in the Wonder -House has talked to him like a brother. O my mother, fill me this -bowl. He waits.' - -'That bowl indeed! That cow-bellied basket! Thou hast as much -grace as the holy bull of Shiv. He has taken the best of a basket -of onions already, this morn; and forsooth, I must fill thy bowl. -He comes here again.' - -The huge, mouse-coloured Brahmini bull of the ward was -shouldering his way through the many-coloured crowd, a stolen -plantain hanging out of his mouth. He headed straight for the -shop, well knowing his privileges as a sacred beast, lowered his -head, and puffed heavily along the line of baskets ere making his -choice. Up flew Kim's hard little heel and caught him on his -moist blue nose. He snorted indignantly, and walked away across -the tram-rails, his hump quivering with rage. - -'See! I have saved more than the bowl will cost thrice over. Now, -mother, a little rice and some dried fish atop - yes, and some -vegetable curry.' - -A growl came out of the back of the shop, where a man lay. - -'He drove away the bull,' said the woman in an undertone. 'It is -good to give to the poor.' She took the bowl and returned it full -of hot rice. - -'But my yogi is not a cow,' said Kim gravely, making a hole with -his fingers in the top of the mound. 'A little curry is good, and -a fried cake, and a morsel of conserve would please him, I -think.' - -'It is a hole as big as thy head,' said the woman fretfully. But -she filled it, none the less, with good, steaming vegetable -curry, clapped a fried cake atop, and a morsel of clarified -butter on the cake, dabbed a lump of sour tamarind conserve at -the side; and Kim looked at the load lovingly. - -'That is good. When I am in the bazar the bull shall not come to -this house. He is a bold beggar-man.' - -'And thou?' laughed the woman. 'But speak well of bulls. Hast -thou not told me that some day a Red Bull will come out of a -field to help thee? Now hold all straight and ask for the holy -man's blessing upon me. Perhaps, too, he knows a cure for my -daughter's sore eyes. Ask. him that also, O thou Little Friend -of all the World.' - -But Kim had danced off ere the end of the sentence, dodging -pariah dogs and hungry acquaintances. - -'Thus do we beg who know the way of it,' said he proudly to the -lama, who opened his eyes at the contents of the bowl. 'Eat now -and - I will eat with thee. Ohe, bhisti!' he called to the water- -carrier, sluicing the crotons by the Museum. 'Give water here. We -men are thirsty.' - -'We men!' said the bhisti, laughing. 'Is one skinful enough for -such a pair? Drink, then, in the name of the Compassionate.' - -He loosed a thin stream into Kim's hands, who drank native fashion; -but the lama must needs pull out a cup from his inexhaustible -upper draperies and drink ceremonially. - -'Pardesi [a foreigner],' Kim explained, as the old man delivered -in an unknown tongue what was evidently a blessing. - -They ate together in great content, clearing the beggingbowl. -Then the lama took snuff from a portentous wooden snuff-gourd, -fingered his rosary awhile, and so dropped into the easy sleep of -age, as the shadow of Zam-Zammah grew long. - -Kim loafed over to the nearest tobacco-seller, a rather lively -young Mohammedan woman, and begged a rank cigar of the brand that -they sell to students of the Punjab University who copy English -customs. Then he smoked and thought, knees to chin, under the -belly of the gun, and the outcome of his thoughts was a sudden -and stealthy departure in the direction of Nila Ram's timber- -yard. - -The lama did not wake till the evening life of the city had begun -with lamp-lighting and the return of white-robed clerks and -subordinates from the Government offices. He stared dizzily in -all directions, but none looked at him save a Hindu urchin in a -dirty turban and Isabella-coloured clothes. Suddenly he bowed his -head on his knees and wailed. - -'What is this?' said the boy, standing before him. 'Hast thou -been robbed?' - -'It is my new chela [disciple] that is gone away from me, and I -know not where he is.' - -'And what like of man was thy disciple?' - -'It was a boy who came to me in place of him who died, on account -of the merit which I had gained when I bowed before the Law -within there.' He pointed towards the Museum. 'He came upon me to -show me a road which I had lost. He led me into the Wonder House, -and by his talk emboldened me to speak to the Keeper of the -Images, so that I was cheered and made strong. And when I was -faint with hunger he begged for me, as would a chela for his -teacher. Suddenly was he sent. Suddenly has he gone away. It was -in my mind to have taught him the Law upon the road to Benares.' - -Kim stood amazed at this, because he had overheard the talk in -the Museum, and knew that the old man was speaking the truth, -which is a thing a native on the road seldom presents to a -stranger. - -'But I see now that he was but sent for a purpose. By this I know -that I shall find a certain River for which I seek.' - -'The River of the Arrow?' said Kim, with a superior smile. - -'Is this yet another Sending?' cried the lama. 'To none have I -spoken of my search, save to the Priest of the Images. Who art -thou?' - -'Thy chela,' said Kim simply, sitting on his heels. 'I have never -seen anyone like to thee in all this my life. I go with thee to -Benares. And, too, I think that so old a man as thou, speaking -the truth to chance-met people at dusk, is in great need of a -disciple.' - -'But the River - the River of the Arrow?' - -'Oh, that I heard when thou wast speaking to the Englishman. I -lay against the door.' - -The lama sighed. 'I thought thou hadst been a guide permitted. -Such things fall sometimes - but I am not worthy. Thou dost not, -then, know the River?' - -'Not I," Kim laughed uneasily. 'I go to look for - for a bull - a -Red. Bull on a green field who shall help me.' Boylike, if an -acquaintance had a scheme, Kim was quite ready with one of his own; -and, boylike, he had really thought for as much as twenty minutes at a -time of his father's prophecy. - -'To what, child?' said the lama. - -'God knows, but so my father told me'. I heard thy talk in the -Wonder House of all those new strange places in the Hills, and if -one so old and so little - so used to truth-telling - may go out -for the small matter of a river, it seemed to me that I too must -go a-travelling. If it is our fate to find those things we shall -find them - thou, thy River; and I, my Bull, and the Strong -Pillars and some other matters that I forget.' - -'It is not pillars but a Wheel from which I would be free,' said -the lama. - -'That is all one. Perhaps they will make me a king,' said Kim, -serenely prepared for anything. - -'I will teach thee other and better desires upon the road,' the -lama replied in the voice of authority. 'Let us go to Benares.' - -'Not by night. Thieves are abroad. Wait till the day.' - -'But there is no place to sleep.' The old man was used to the -order of his monastery, and though he slept on the ground, as the -Rule decrees, preferred a decency in these things. - -'We shall get good lodging at the Kashmir Serai,' said Kim, -laughing at his perplexity. 'I have a friend there. Come!' - -The hot and crowded bazars blazed with light as they made their -way through the press of all the races in Upper India, and the -lama mooned through it like a man in a dream. It was his first -experience of a large manufacturing city, and the crowded tram- -car with its continually squealing brakes frightened him. Half -pushed, half towed, he arrived at the high gate of the Kashmir -Serai: that huge open square over against the railway station, -surrounded with arched cloisters, where the camel and horse -caravans put up on their return from Central Asia. Here were all -manner of Northern folk, tending tethered ponies and kneeling -camels; loading and unloading bales and bundles; drawing water -for the evening meal at the creaking well-windlasses; piling -grass before the shrieking, wild-eyed stallions; cuffing the -surly caravan dogs; paying off camel-drivers; taking on new -grooms; swearing, shouting, arguing, and chaffering in the packed -square. The cloisters, reached by three or four masonry steps, -made a haven of refuge around this turbulent sea. Most of them -were rented to traders, as we rent the arches of a viaduct; the -space between pillar and pillar being bricked or boarded off into -rooms, which were guarded by heavy wooden doors and cumbrous -native padlocks. Locked doors showed that the owner was away, and -a few rude - sometimes very rude - chalk or paint scratches told -where he had gone. Thus: 'Lutuf Ullah is gone to Kurdistan.' -Below, in coarse verse: 'O Allah, who sufferest lice to live on -the coat of a Kabuli, why hast thou allowed this louse Lutuf to -live so long?' - -Kim, fending the lama between excited men and excited beasts, -sidled along the cloisters to the far end, nearest therailway -station, where Mahbub Ali, the horse-trader, lived when he came -in from that mysterious land beyond the Passes of the North. - -Kim had had many dealings with Mahbub in his little life, -especially between his tenth and his thirteenth year - and the -big burly Afghan, his beard dyed scarlet with lime (for he was -elderly and did not wish his grey hairs to show), knew the boy's -value as a gossip. Sometimes he would tell Kim to watch a man who -had nothing whatever to do with horses: to follow him for one -whole day and report every soul with whom he talked. Kim would -deliver himself of his tale at evening, and Mahbub would listen -without a word or gesture. It was intrigue of some kind, Kim -knew; but its worth lay in saying nothing whatever to anyone -except Mahbub, who gave him beautiful meals all hot from the -cookshop at the head of the serai, and once as much as eight -annas in money. - -'He is here,' said Kim, hitting a bad-tempered camel on the nose. -'Ohe. Mahbub Ali!' He halted at a dark arch and slipped behind -the bewildered lama. - -The horse-trader, his deep, embroidered Bokhariot belt unloosed, -was lying on a pair of silk carpet saddle-bags, pulling lazily at -an immense silver hookah. He turned his head very slightly at the -cry; and seeing only the tall silent figure, chuckled in his -deep chest. - -'Allah! A lama! A Red Lama! It is far from Lahore to the Passes. -What dost thou do here?' - -The lama held out the begging-bowl mechanically. - -'God's curse on all unbelievers!' said Mahbub. 'I do not give to -a lousy Tibetan; but ask my Baltis over yonder behind the camels. -They may value your blessings. Oh, horseboys, here is a -countryman of yours. See if he be hungry.' - -A shaven, crouching Balti, who had come down with the horses, and -who was nominally some sort of degraded Buddhist, fawned upon the -priest, and in thick gutturals besought the Holy One to sit at -the horseboys' fire. - -'Go!' said Kim, pushing him lightly, and the lama strode away, -leaving Kim at the edge of the cloister. - -'Go!' said Mahbub Ali, returning to his hookah. 'Little Hindu, -run away. God's curse on all unbelievers! Beg from those of my -tail who are of thy faith.' - -'Maharaj,' whined Kim, using the Hindu form of address, and -thoroughly enjoying the situation; 'my father is dead - my mother -is dead - my stomach is empty.' - -'Beg from my men among the horses, I say. There must be some -Hindus in my tail.' - -'Oh, Mahbub Ali, but am I a Hindu?' said Kim in English. - -The trader gave no sign of astonishment, but looked under shaggy -eyebrows. - -'Little Friend of all the World,' said he, 'what is this?' - -'Nothing. I am now that holy man's disciple; and we go a -pilgrimage together - to Benares, he says. He is quite mad, and I -am tired of Lahore city. I wish new air and water.' - -'But for whom dost thou work? Why come to me?' The voice was -harsh with suspicion. - -'To whom else should I come? I have no money. It is not good to -go about without money. Thou wilt sell many horses to the -officers. They are very fine horses, these new ones: I have seen -them. Give me a rupee, Mahbub Ali, and when I come to my wealth I -will give thee a bond and pay.' - -'Um!' said Mahbub Ali, thinking swiftly. 'Thou hast never before -lied to me. Call that lama - stand back in the dark.' - -'Oh, our tales will agree,' said Kim, laughing. - -'We go to Benares,' said the lama, as soon as he understood the -drift of Mahbub Ali's questions. 'The boy and I, I go to seek for -a certain River.' - -'Maybe - but the boy?' - -'He is my disciple. He was sent, I think, to guide me to that -River. Sitting under a gun was I when he came suddenly. Such -things have befallen the fortunate to whom guidance was allowed. -But I remember now, he said he was of this world - a Hindu.' - -'And his name?' - -'That I did not ask. Is he not my disciple?' - -'His country - his race - his village? Mussalman - Sikh Hindu - -Jain - low caste or high?' - -'Why should I ask? There is neither high nor low in the Middle -Way. If he is my chela - does - will - can anyone take him from -me? for, look you, without him I shall not find my River.' He -wagged his head solemnly. - -'None shall take him from thee. Go, sit among my Baltis,' said -Mahbub Ali, and the lama drifted off, soothed by the promise. - -'Is he not quite mad?' said Kim, coming forward to the light -again. 'Why should I lie to thee, Hajji?' - -Mahbub puffed his hookah in silence. Then he began, almost -whispering: 'Umballa is on the road to Benares - if indeed ye two -go there.' - -'Tck! Tck! I tell thee he does not know how to lie - as we two -know.' - -'And if thou wilt carry a message for me as far as Umballa, I -will give thee money. It concerns a horse - a white stallion -which I have sold to an officer upon the last time I returned -from the Passes. But then - stand nearer and hold up hands as -begging -the pedigree of the white stallion was not fully -established, and that officer, who is now at Umballa, bade me -make it clear.' (Mahbub here described the horse and the -appearance of the officer.) 'So the message to that officer will -be: "The pedigree of the white stallion is fully established." By -this will he know that thou comest from me. He will then say -"What proof hast thou?" and thou wilt answer: "Mahbub Ali has -given me the proof."' - -'And all for the sake of a white stallion,' said Kim, with a -giggle, his eyes aflame. - -'That pedigree I will give thee now - in my own fashion and some -hard words as well.' A shadow passed behind Kim, and a feeding -camel. Mahbub Ali raised his voice. - -'Allah! Art thou the only beggar in the city? Thy mother is dead. -Thy father is dead. So is it with all of them. Well, well - ' - -He turned as feeling on the floor beside him and tossed a flap of -soft, greasy Mussalman bread to the boy. 'Go and lie down among -my horseboys for tonight - thou and the lama. Tomorrow I may give -thee service.' - -Kim slunk away, his teeth in the bread, and, as he expected, he -found a small wad of folded tissue-paper wrapped in oilskin, with -three silver rupees - enormous largesse. He smiled and thrust -money and paper into his leather amulet-case. The lama, -sumptuously fed by Mahbub's Baltis, was already asleep in a -corner of one of the stalls. Kim lay down beside him and laughed. -He knew he had rendered a service to Mahbub Ali, and not for one -little minute did he believe the tale of the stallion's pedigree. - -But Kim did not suspect that Mahbub Ali, known as one of the best -horse-dealers in the Punjab, a wealthy and enterprising trader, -whose caravans penetrated far and far into the Back of Beyond, -was registered in one of the locked books of the Indian Survey -Department as C25 IB. Twice or thrice yearly C25 would send in a -little story, baldly told but most interesting, and generally - -it was checked by the statements of R17 and M4 - quite true. It -concerned all manner of out-of-the-way mountain principalities, -explorers of nationalities other than English, and the guntrade - -was, in brief, a small portion of that vast mass of 'information -received' on which the Indian Government acts. But, recently, -five confederated Kings, who had no business to confederate, had -been informed by a kindly Northern Power that there was a leakage -of news from their territories into British India. So those -Kings' Prime Ministers were seriously annoyed and took steps, -after the Oriental fashion. They suspected, among many others, -the bullying, red-bearded horsedealer whose caravans ploughed -through their fastnesses belly-deep in snow. At least, his -caravan that season had been ambushed and shot at twice on the -way down, when Mahbub's men accounted for three strange ruffians -who might, or might not, have been hired for the job. Therefore -Mahbub had avoided halting at the insalubrious city of Peshawur, -and had come through without stop to Lahore, where, knowing his -country-people, he anticipated curious developments. - -And there was that on Mahbub Ali which he did not wish to keep an -hour longer than was necessary - a wad of closely folded tissue- -paper, wrapped in oilskin - an impersonal, unaddressed statement, -with five microscopic pin-holes in one corner, that most -scandalously betrayed the five confederated Kings, the -sympathetic Northern Power, a Hindu banker in Peshawur, a firm of -gun-makers in Belgium, and an important, semi-independent -Mohammedan ruler to the south. This last was R17's work, which -Mahbub had picked up beyond the Dora Pass and was carrying in for -R17, who, owing to circumstances over which he had no control, -could not leave his post of observation. Dynamite was milky and -innocuous beside that report of C25; and even an Oriental, with -an Oriental's views of the value of time, could see that the -sooner it was in the proper hands the better. Mahbub had no -particular desire to die by violence, because two or three family -blood-feuds across the Border hung unfinished on his hands, and -when these scores were cleared he intended to settle down as a -more or less virtuous citizen. He had never passed the serai gate -since his arrival two days ago, but had been ostentatious in -sending telegrams to Bombay, where he banked some of his money; -to Delhi, where a sub-partner of his own clan was selling horses -to the agent of a Rajputana state; and to Umballa, where an -Englishman was excitedly demanding the pedigree of a white -stallion. The public letter-writer, who knew English, composed -excellent telegrams, such as: 'Creighton, Laurel Bank, Umballa. -Horse is Arabian as already advised. Sorrowful delayed pedigree -which am translating.' And later to the same address: 'Much -sorrowful delay. Will forward pedigree.' To his sub-partner at -Delhi he wired: 'Lutuf Ullah. Have wired two thousand rupees your -credit Luchman Narain's bank-' This was entirely in the way of -trade, but every one of those telegrams was discussed and re- -discussed, by parties who conceived themselves to be interested, -before they went over to the railway station in charge of a -foolish Balti, who allowed all sorts of people to read them on -the road. - -When, in Mahbub's own picturesque language, he had muddied the -wells of inquiry with the stick of precaution, Kim had dropped on -him, sent from Heaven; and, being as prompt as he was -unscrupulous, Mahbub Ali used to taking all sorts of gusty -chances, pressed him into service on the spot. - -A wandering lama with a low-caste boy-servant might attract a -moment's interest as they wandered about India, the land of -pilgrims; but no one would suspect them or, what was more to the -point, rob. - -He called for a new light-ball to his hookah, and considered the -case. If the worst came to the worst, and the boy came to harm, -the paper would incriminate nobody. And he would go up to Umballa -leisurely and - at a certain risk of exciting fresh suspicion - -repeat his tale by word of mouth to the people concerned. - -But R17's report was the kernel of the whole affair, and it would -be distinctly inconvenient if that failed to come to hand. -However, God was great, and Mahbub Ali felt he had done all he -could for the time being. Kim was the one soul in the world who -had never told him a lie. That would have been a fatal blot on -Kim's character if Mahbub had not known that to others, for his -own ends or Mahbub's business, Kim could lie like an Oriental. - -Then Mahbub Ali rolled across the serai to the Gate of the -Harpies who paint their eyes and trap the stranger, and was at -some pains to call on the one girl who, he had reason to believe, -was a particular friend of a smooth-faced Kashmiri pundit who had -waylaid his simple Balti in the matter of the telegrams. It was -an utterly foolish thing to do; because they fell to drinking -perfumed brandy against the Law of the Prophet, and Mahbub grew -wonderfully drunk, and the gates of his mouth were loosened, and -he pursued the Flower of Delight with the feet of intoxication -till he fell flat among the cushions, where the Flower of -Delight, aided by a smooth-faced Kashmiri pundit, searched him -from head to foot most thoroughly. - -About the same hour Kim heard soft feet in Mahbub's deserted -stall. The horse-trader, curiously enough, had left his door -unlocked, and his men were busy celebrating their return to India -with a whole sheep of Mahbub's bounty. A sleek young gentleman -from Delhi, armed with a bunch of keys which the Flower had -unshackled from the senseless one's belt, went through every -single box, bundle, mat, and saddle-bag in Mahbub's possession -even more systematically than the Flower and the pundit were -searching the owner. - -'And I think.' said the Flower scornfully an hour later, one -rounded elbow on the snoring carcass, 'that he is no more than a -pig of an Afghan horse-dealer, with no thought except women and -horses. Moreover, he may have sent it away by now - if ever there -were such a thing.' - -'Nay - in a matter touching Five Kings it would be next his black -heart,' said the pundit. 'Was there nothing?' - -The Delhi man laughed and resettled his turban as he entered. 'I -searched between the soles of his slippers as the Flower searched -his clothes. This is not the man but another. I leave little -unseen.' - -'They did not say he was the very man,' said the pundit -thoughtfully. 'They said, "Look if he be the man, since our -counsels are troubled."' - -'That North country is full of horse-dealers as an old coat of -lice. There is Sikandar Khan, Nur Ali Beg, and Farrukh Shah all -heads of kafilas [caravans] - who deal there,' said the Flower. - -'They have not yet come in,' said the pundit. 'Thou must ensnare -them later.' - -Phew!' said the Flower with deep disgust, rolling Mahbub's head -from her lap. 'I earn my money. Farrukh Shah is a bear, Ali Beg a -swashbuckler, and old Sikandar Khan - yaie! Go! I sleep now. This -swine will not stir till dawn.' - -When Mahbub woke, the Flower talked to him severely on the sin of -drunkenness. Asiatics do not wink when they have outmanoeuvred an -enemy, but as Mahbub Ali cleared his throat, tightened his belt, -and staggered forth under the early morning stars, he came very -near to it. - -'What a colt's trick!' said he to himself. 'As if every girl in -Peshawur did not use it! But 'twas prettily done. Now God He -knows how many more there be upon the Road who have orders to -test me - perhaps with the knife. So it stands that the boy must -go to Umballa - and by rail - for the writing is something -urgent. I abide here, following the Flower and drinking wine as -an Afghan coper should.' - -He halted at the stall next but one to his own. His men lay there -heavy with sleep. There was no sign of Kim or the lama. - -'Up!' He stirred a sleeper. 'Whither went those who lay here last -even - the lama and the boy? Is aught missing?' - -'Nay,' grunted the man, 'the old madman rose at second cockcrow -saying he would go to Benares, and the young one led him away.' - -'The curse of Allah on all unbelievers!' said Mahbub heartily, -and climbed into his own stall, growling in his beard. - -But it was Kim who had wakened the lama - Kim with one eye laid -against a knot-hole in the planking, who had seen the Delhi man's -search through the boxes. This was no common thief that turned -over letters, bills, and saddles - no mere burglar who ran a -little knife sideways into the soles of Mahbub's slippers, or -picked the seams of the saddle-bags so deftly. At first Kim had -been minded to give the alarm - the long-drawn -choor - choor! -[thief! thief!] that sets the serai ablaze of nights; but he -looked more carefully, and, hand on amulet, drew his own -conclusions. - -'It must be the pedigree of that made-up horse-lie,' said he, -'the thing that I carry to Umballa. Better that we go now. Those -who search bags with knives may presently search bellies with -knives. Surely there is a woman behind this. Hai! Hai! in a -whisper to the light-sleeping old man. 'Come. It is time - time -to go to Benares.' - -The lama rose obediently, and they passed out of the serai like -shadows. - - - - - -Chapter 2 - - -And whoso will, from Pride released; -Contemning neither creed nor priest, -May feel the Soul of all the East. -About him at Kamakura. - -Buddha at Kamakura. - - -They entered the fort-like railway station, black in the end of -night; the electrics sizzling over the goods-yard where they -handle the heavy Northern grain-traffic. - -'This is the work of devils!' said the lama, recoiling from the -hollow echoing darkness, the glimmer of rails between the masonry -platforms, and the maze of girders above. He stood in a gigantic -stone hall paved, it seemed, with the sheeted dead third-class -passengers who had taken their tickets overnight and were -sleeping in the waiting-rooms. All hours of the twenty-four are -alike to Orientals, and their passenger traffic is regulated -accordingly. - -'This is where the fire-carriages come. One stands behind that -hole' - Kim pointed to the ticket-office - 'who will give thee a -paper to take thee to Umballa.' - -'But we go to Benares,' he replied petulantly. - -'All one. Benares then. Quick: she comes!' - -'Take thou the purse.' - -The lama, not so well used to trains as he had pretended, started -as the 3.25 a.m. south-bound roared in. The sleepers sprang to -life, and the station filled with clamour and shoutings, cries of -water and sweetmeat vendors, shouts of native policemen, and -shrill yells of women gathering up their baskets, their families, -and their husbands. - -'It is the train - only the te-rain. It will not come here. -Wait!' Amazed at the lama's immense simplicity (he had handed -him a small bag full of rupees), Kim asked and paid for a ticket -to Umballa. A sleepy clerk grunted and flung out a ticket to the -next station, just six miles distant. - -'Nay,' said Kim, scanning it with a grin. 'This may serve for -farmers, but I live in the city of Lahore. It was cleverly done, -Babu. Now give the ticket to Umballa.' - -The Babu scowled and dealt the proper ticket. - -'Now another to Amritzar,' said Kim, who had no notion of -spending Mahbub Ali's money on anything so crude as a paid ride -to Umballa. 'The price is so much. The small money in return is -just so much. I know the ways of the te-rain ... Never did yogi -need chela as thou dost,' he went on merrily to the bewildered -lama. 'They would have flung thee out at Mian Mir but for me. -This way! Come!' He returned the money, keeping only one anna in -each rupee of the price of the Umballa ticket as his commission - -the immemorial commission of Asia. - -The lama jibbed at the open door of a crowded third-class -carriage. 'Were it not better to walk?' said he weakly. - -A burly Sikh artisan thrust forth his bearded head. 'Is he -afraid? Do not be afraid. I remember the time when I was afraid -of the te-rain. Enter! This thing is the work of the Government.' - -'I do not fear,' said the lama. 'Have ye room within for two?' - -'There is no room even for a mouse,' shrilled the wife of a -well-to-do cultivator - a Hindu Jat from the rich Jullundur, district. -Our night trains are not as well looked after as the day ones, -where the sexes are very strictly kept to separate carriages. - -'Oh, mother of my son, we can make space,' said the blueturbaned -husband. 'Pick up the child. It is a holy man, see'st thou?' - -'And my lap full of seventy times seven bundles! Why not bid him -sit on my knee, Shameless? But men are ever thus!' She looked -round for approval. An Amritzar courtesan near the window sniffed -behind her head drapery. - -'Enter! Enter!' cried a fat Hindu money-lender, his folded -account-book in a cloth under his arm. With an oily smirk: 'It is -well to be kind to the poor.' - -'Ay, at seven per cent a month with a mortgage on the unborn -calf,' said a young Dogra soldier going south on leave; and they -all laughed. - -'Will it travel to Benares?' said the lama. - -'Assuredly. Else why should we come? Enter, or we are left,' -cried Kim. - -'See!' shrilled the Amritzar girl. 'He has never entered a train. -Oh, see!' - -'Nay, help,' said the cultivator, putting out a large brown hand -and hauling him in. 'Thus is it done, father.' - -'But - but - I sit on the floor. It is against the Rule to sit on -a bench,' said the lama. 'Moreover, it cramps me.' - -'I say,' began the money-lender, pursing his lips, 'that there is -not one rule of right living which these te-rains do not cause us -to break. We sit, for example, side by side with all castes and -peoples.' - -'Yea, and with most outrageously shameless ones,' said the wife, -scowling at the Amritzar girl making eyes at the young sepoy. - -'I said we might have gone by cart along the road,' said the -husband, 'and thus have saved some money.' - -'Yes - and spent twice over what we saved on food by the way. -That was talked out ten thousand times.' - -'Ay, by ten thousand tongues,' grunted he. - -'The Gods help us poor women if we may not speak. Oho! He is of -that sort which may not look at or reply to a woman.' For the -lama, constrained by his Rule, took not the faintest notice of -her. 'And his disciple is like him?' - -'Nay, mother,' said Kim most promptly. 'Not when the woman is -well-looking and above all charitable to the hungry.' - -'A beggar's answer,' said the Sikh, laughing. 'Thou hast brought -it on thyself, sister!' Kim's hands were crooked in supplication. - -'And whither goest thou?' said the woman, handing him the half of -a cake from a greasy package. - -'Even to Benares.' - -'Jugglers belike?' the young soldier suggested. 'Have ye any -tricks to pass the time? Why does not that yellow man answer?' - - -'Because,' said Kim stoutly, 'he is holy, and thinks upon matters -hidden from thee.' - -'That may be well. We of the Ludhiana Sikhs' - he rolled it out -sonorously -'do not trouble our heads with doctrine. We fight.' - -'My sister's brother's son is naik (corporal] in that regiment,' -said the Sikh craftsman quietly. 'There are also some Dogra -companies there.' The soldier glared, for a Dogra is of other -caste than a Sikh, and the banker tittered. - -'They are all one to me, ' said the Amritzar girl. - -'That we believe,' snorted the cultivator's wife malignantly. - -'Nay, but all who serve the Sirkar with weapons in their hands -are, as it were, one brotherhood. There is one brotherhood of the -caste, but beyond that again' - she looked round timidly -'the -bond of the Pulton - the Regiment - eh?' - -'My brother is in a Jat regiment,' said the cultivator. 'Dogras -be good men.' - -'Thy Sikhs at least were of that opinion,' said the soldier, with -a scowl at the placid old man in the corner. 'Thy Sikhs thought -so when our two companies came to help them at the Pirzai Kotal -in the face of eight Afridi standards on the ridge not three -months gone.' - -He told the story of a Border action in which the Dogra companies -of the Ludhiana Sikhs had acquitted themselves well. The Amritzar -girl smiled; for she knew the talk -was to win her approval. - -'Alas!' said the cultivator's wife at the end. 'So their villages -were burnt and their little children made homeless?' - -'They had marked our dead. They paid a great payment after we of -the Sikhs had schooled them. So it was. Is this Amritzar?' - -'Ay, and here they cut our tickets,' said the banker, fumbling at -his belt. - -The lamps were paling in the dawn when the half-caste guard came -round. Ticket-collecting is a slow business in the East, where -people secrete their tickets in all sorts of curious places. Kim -produced his and was told to get out. - -'But I go to Umballa,' he protested. 'I go with this holy man.' - -'Thou canst go to Jehannum for aught I care. This ticket is only -' - -Kim burst into a flood of tears, protesting that the lama was his -father and his mother, that he was the prop of the lama's -declining years, and that the lama would die without his care. -All the carriage bade the guard be merciful - the banker was -specially eloquent here - but the guard hauled Kim on to the -platform. The lama blinked - he could not overtake the situation -and Kim lifted up his voice and wept outside the carriage -window. - -'I am very poor. My father is dead - my mother is dead. O -charitable ones, if I am left here, who shall tend that old man?' - -'What - what is this?' the lama repeated. 'He must go to Benares. -He must come with me. He is my chela. If there is money to be -paid -' - -'Oh, be silent,' whispered Kim; 'are we Rajahs to throw away good -silver when the world is so charitable?' - -The Amritzar girl stepped out with her bundles, and it was on her -that Kim kept his watchful eye. Ladies of that persuasion, he -knew, were generous. - -'A ticket - a little tikkut to Umballa - O Breaker of Hearts!' -She laughed. 'Hast thou no charity?' - -'Does the holy man come from the North?' - -'From far and far in the North he comes,' cried Kim. 'From among -the hills.' - -'There is snow among the pine-trees in the North - in the hills -there is snow. My mother was from Kulu. Get thee a ticket. Ask -him for a blessing.' - -'Ten thousand blessings,' shrilled Kim. 'O Holy One, a woman has -given us in charity so that I can come with thee - a woman with a -golden heart. I run for the tikkut.' - -The girl looked up at the lama, who had mechanically followed Kim -to the platform. He bowed his head that he might not see her, and -muttered in Tibetan as she passed on with the crowd. - -'Light come - light go,' said the cultivator's wife viciously. - -'She has acquired merit,' returned the lama. 'Beyond doubt it was -a nun.' - -'There be ten thousand such nuns in Amritzar alone. Return, -old man, or the te-rain may depart without thee,' cried the -banker. - -'Not only was it sufficient for the ticket, but for a little food -also,' said Kim, leaping to his place. 'Now eat, Holy One. Look. -Day comes!' - -Golden, rose, saffron, and pink, the morning mists smoked away -across the flat green levels. All the rich Punjab lay out in the -splendour of the keen sun. The lama flinched a little as the -telegraph-posts swung by. - -'Great is the speed of the te-rain,' said the banker, with a -patronizing grin. 'We have gone farther since Lahore than thou -couldst walk in two days: at even, we shall enter Umballa.' - -'And that is still far from Benares,' said the lama wearily, -mumbling over the cakes that Kim offered. They all unloosed their -bundles and made their morning meal. Then the banker, the -cultivator, and the soldier prepared their pipes and wrapped the -compartment in choking, acrid smoke, spitting and coughing and -enjoying themselves. The Sikh and the cultivator's wife chewed -pan; the lama took snuff and told his beads, while Kim, -cross-legged, smiled over the comfort of a full stomach. - -'What rivers have ye by Benares?' said the lama of a sudden to -the carriage at large. - -'We have Gunga,' returned the banker, when the little titter had -subsided. - -'What others?' - -'What other than Gunga?' - -'Nay, but in my mind was the thought of a certain River of -healing.' - -'That is Gunga. Who bathes in her is made clean and goes to the -Gods. Thrice have I made pilgrimage to Gunga.' He looked round -proudly. - -'There was need,' said the young sepoy drily, and the travellers' -laugh turned against the banker. - -'Clean - to return again to the Gods,' the lama muttered. 'And to -go forth on the round of lives anew - still tied to the Wheel.' -He shook his head testily. 'But maybe there is a mistake. Who, -then, made Gunga in the beginning?' - -'The Gods. Of what known faith art thou?' the banker said, -appalled. - -'I follow the Law - the Most Excellent Law. So it was the Gods -that made Gunga. What like of Gods were they?' - -The carriage looked at him in amazement. It was inconceivable -that anyone should be ignorant of Gunga. - -'What - what is thy God?' said the money-lender at last. - -'Hear!' said the lama, shifting the rosary to his hand. 'Hear: -for I speak of Him now! O people of Hind, listen!' - -He began in Urdu the tale of the Lord Buddha, but, borne by his -own thoughts, slid into Tibetan and long-droned texts from a -Chinese book of the Buddha's life. The gentle, tolerant folk -looked on reverently. All India is full of holy men stammering -gospels in strange tongues; shaken and consumed in the fires of -their own zeal; dreamers, babblers, and visionaries: as it has -been from the beginning and will continue to the end. - -'Um!' said the soldier of the Ludhiana Sikhs. 'There was a -Mohammedan regiment lay next to us at the Pirzai Kotal, and a -priest of theirs - he was, as I remember, a naik - when the fit -was on him, spake prophecies. But the mad all are in God's -keeping. His officers overlooked much in that man.' - -The lama fell back on Urdu, remembering that he was in a strange -land. 'Hear the tale of the Arrow which our Lord loosed from the -bow,' he said. - -This was much more to their taste, and they listened curiously -while he told it. 'Now, O people of Hind, I go to seek that -River. Know ye aught that may guide me, for we be all men and -women in evil case.' - -'There is Gunga - and Gunga alone - who washes away sin.' ran the -murmur round the carriage. - -'Though past question we have good Gods Jullundur-way,' said the -cultivator's wife, looking out of the window. 'See how they have -blessed the crops.' - -'To search every river in the Punjab is no small matter,' said -her husband. 'For me, a stream that leaves good silt on my land -suffices, and I thank Bhumia, the God of the Home-stead.' He -shrugged one knotted, bronzed shoulder. - -'Think you our Lord came so far North?' said the lama, turning to -Kim. - -'It may be,' Kim replied soothingly, as he spat red pan-juice on -the floor. - -'The last of the Great Ones,' said the Sikh with authority, 'was -Sikander Julkarn [Alexander the Great]. He paved the streets of -Jullundur and built a great tank near Umballa. That pavement -holds to this day; and the tank is there also. I never heard of -thy God.' - -'Let thy hair grow long and talk Punjabi,' said the young soldier -jestingly to Kim, quoting a Northern proverb. 'That is all that -makes a Sikh.' But he did not say this very loud. - -The lama sighed and shrank into himself, a dingy, shapeless mass. -In the pauses of their talk they could hear the low droning 'Om -mane pudme hum! Om mane pudme hum!' - and the thick click of the -wooden rosary beads. - -'It irks me,' he said at last. 'The speed and the clatter irk me. -Moreover, my chela, I think that maybe we have over-passed that -River.' - -'Peace, peace,' said Kim. 'Was not the River near Benares? We are -yet far from the place.' - -'But - if our Lord came North, it may be any one of these little -ones that we have run across.' - -'I do not know.' - -'But thou wast sent to me - wast thou sent to me? - for the merit -I had acquired over yonder at Such-zen. From beside the cannon -didst thou come - bearing two faces - and two garbs.' - -'Peace. One must not speak of these things here,' whispered Kim. -'There was but one of me. Think again and thou wilt remember. A -boy - a Hindu boy - by the great green cannon.' - -'But was there not also an Englishman with a white beard holy -among images - who himself made more sure my assurance of the -River of the Arrow?' - -'He - we - went to the Ajaib-Gher in Lahore to pray before the -Gods there,' Kim explained to the openly listening company. 'And -the Sahib of the Wonder House talked to him - yes, this is truth -as a brother. He is a very holy man, from far beyond the Hills. -Rest, thou. In time we come to Umballa.' - -'But my River - the River of my healing?' - -'And then, if it please thee, we will go hunting for that River -on foot. So that we miss nothing - not even a little rivulet in a -field-side.' - -'But thou hast a Search of thine own?' The lama - very pleased -that he remembered so well - sat bolt upright. - -'Ay,' said Kim, humouring him. The boy was entirely happy to be -out chewing pan and seeing new people in the great good-tempered -world. - -'It was a bull - a Red Bull that shall come and help thee and -carry thee - whither? I have forgotten. A Red Bull on a green -field, was it not?' - -'Nay, it will carry me nowhere,' said Kim. 'It is but a tale I -told thee.' - -'What is this?' The cultivator's wife leaned forward, her -bracelets clinking on her arm. 'Do ye both dream dreams? A Red -Bull on a green field, that shall carry thee to the heavens or -what? Was it a vision? Did one make a prophecy? We have a Red -Bull in our village behind Jullundur city, and he grazes by -choice in the very greenest of our fields!' - -'Give a woman an old wife's tale and a weaver-bird a leaf and a -thread', they will weave wonderful things,' said the Sikh. 'All -holy men dream dreams, and by following holy men their disciples -attain that power.' - -'A Red Bull on a green field, was it?' the lama repeated. 'In a -former life it may be thou hast acquired merit, and the Bull will -come to reward thee.' - -'Nay - nay - it was but a tale one told to me - for a jest -belike. But I will seek the Bull about Umballa, and thou canst -look for thy River and rest from the clatter of the train.' - -'It may be that the Bull knows - that he is sent to guide us -both.' said the lama, hopefully as a child. Then to the company, -indicating Kim: 'This one was sent to me but yesterday. He is -not, I think, of this world.' - -'Beggars aplenty have I met, and holy men to boot, but never such -a yogi nor such a disciple,' said the woman. - -Her husband touched his forehead lightly with one finger -and smiled. But the next time the lama would eat they took care -to give him of their best. - -And at last - tired, sleepy, and dusty - they reached Umballa -City Station. - -'We abide here upon a law-suit,' said the cultivator's wife to -Kim. 'We lodge with my man's cousin's younger brother. There is -room also in the courtyard for thy yogi and for thee. Will - will -he give me a blessing?' - -'O holy man! A woman with a heart of gold gives us lodging for -the night. It is a kindly land, this land of the South. See how -we have been helped since the dawn!' - -The lama bowed his head in benediction. - -'To fill my cousin's younger brother's house with wastrels -' the -husband began, as he shouldered his heavy bamboo staff. - -'Thy cousin's younger brother owes my father's cousin something -yet on his daughter's marriage-feast,' said the woman crisply. -'Let him put their food to that account. The yogi will beg, I -doubt not.' - -'Ay, I beg for him,' said Kim, anxious only to get the lama under -shelter for the night, that he might seek Mahbub Ali's Englishman -and deliver himself of the white stallion's pedigree. - -'Now,' said he, when the lama had come to an anchor in the inner -courtyard of a decent Hindu house behind the cantonments, 'I go -away for a while - to - to buy us victual in the bazar. Do not -stray abroad till I return.' - -'Thou wilt return? Thou wilt surely return?' The old man caught -at his wrist. 'And thou wilt return in this very same shape? Is -it too late to look tonight for the River?' - -'Too late and too dark. Be comforted. Think how far thou art on -the road - an hundred miles from Lahore already.' - -'Yea - and farther from my monastery. Alas! It is a great and -terrible world.' - -Kim stole out and away, as unremarkable a figure as ever carried -his own and a few score thousand other folk's fate slung round -his neck. Mahbub Ali's directions left him little doubt of the -house in which his Englishman lived; and a groom, bringing a dog- -cart home from the Club, made him quite sure. It remained only to -identify his man, and Kim slipped through the garden hedge and -hid in a clump of plumed grass close to the veranda. The house -blazed with lights, and servants moved about tables dressed with -flowers, glass, and silver. Presently forth came an Englishman, -dressed in black and white, humming a tune. It was too dark to -see his face, so Kim, beggar-wise, tried an old experiment. - -'Protector of the Poor!' - -The man backed towards the voice. - -'Mahbub Ali says -' - -'Hah! What says Mahbub Ali?' He made no attempt to look for the -speaker, and that showed Kim that he knew. - -'The pedigree of the white stallion is fully established.' - -'What proof is there?' The Englishman switched at the rose-hedge -in the side of the drive. - -'Mahbub Ali has given me this proof.' Kim flipped the wad of -folded paper into the air, and it fell in the path beside the -man, who put his foot on it as a gardener came round the corner. -When the servant passed he picked it up, dropped a rupee - Kim -could hear the clink - and strode into the house, never turning -round. Swiftly Kim took up the money; but for all his training, -he was Irish enough by birth to reckon silver the least part of -any game. What he desired was the visible effect of action; so, -instead of slinking away, he lay close in the grass and wormed -nearer to the house. - -He saw - Indian bungalows are open through and through - the -Englishman return to a small dressing-room, in a comer of the -veranda, that was half office, littered with papers and despatch- -boxes, and sit down to study Mahbub Ali's message. His face, by -the full ray of the kerosene lamp, changed and darkened, and Kim, -used as every beggar must be to watching countenances, took good -note. - -'Will! Will, dear!' called a woman's voice. 'You ought to be in -the drawing-room. They'll be here in a minute.' - -The man still read intently. - -'Will!' said the voice, five minutes later. 'He's come. I can -hear the troopers in the drive.' - -The man dashed out bareheaded as a big landau with four native -troopers behind it halted at the veranda, and a tall, black -haired man, erect as an arrow, swung out, preceded by a young -officer who laughed pleasantly. - -Flat on his belly lay Kim, almost touching the high wheels. His -man and the black stranger exchanged two sentences. - -'Certainly, sir,' said the young officer promptly. 'Everything -waits while a horse is concerned.' - -'We shan't be more than twenty minutes,' said Kim's man. 'You can -do the honours -keep 'em amused, and all that.' - -'Tell one of the troopers to wait,' said the tall man, and they -both passed into the dressing-room together as the landau rolled -away. Kim saw their heads bent over Mahbub Ali's message, and -heard the voices - one low and deferential, the other sharp and -decisive. - -'It isn't a question of weeks. It is a question of days - hours -almost,' said the elder. 'I'd been expecting it for some time, -but this' - he tapped Mahbub Ali's paper - 'clinches it. Grogan's -dining here to-night, isn't he?' - -'Yes, sir, and Macklin too.' - -'Very good. I'll speak to them myself. The matter will be -referred to the Council, of course, but this is a case where one -is justified in assuming that we take action at once. Warn the -Pined and Peshawar brigades. It will disorganize all the summer -reliefs, but we can't help that. This comes of not smashing them -thoroughly the first time. Eight thousand should be enough.' - -'What about artillery, sir?' - -'I must consult Macklin.' - -'Then it means war?' - -'No. Punishment. When a man is bound by the action of his -predecessor -' - -'But C25 may have lied.' - -'He bears out the other's information. Practically, they showed -their hand six months back. But Devenish would have it there was -a chance of peace. Of course they used it to make themselves -stronger. Send off those telegrams at once - the new code, not -the old - mine and Wharton's. I don't think we need keep the -ladies waiting any longer. We can settle the rest over the -cigars. I thought it was coming. It's punishment - not war.' - -As the trooper cantered off, Kim crawled round to the back of the -house, where, going on his Lahore experiences, he judged there -would be food - and information. The kitchen was crowded with -excited scullions, one of whom kicked him. - -'Aie,' said Kim, feigning tears. 'I came only to wash dishes in -return for a bellyful.' - -'All Umballa is on the same errand. Get hence. They go in now -with the soup. Think you that we who serve Creighton Sahib need -strange scullions to help us through a big dinner?' - -'It is a very big dinner,' said Kim, looking at the plates. - -'Small wonder. The guest of honour is none other than the Jang-i- -Lat Sahib [the Commander-in-Chief].' - -'Ho!' said Kim, with the correct guttural note of wonder. He had -learned what he wanted, and when the scullion turned he was gone. - -'And all that trouble,' said he to himself, thinking as usual in -Hindustani, 'for a horse's pedigree! Mahbub Ali should have come -to me to learn a little lying. Every time before that I have -borne a message it concerned a woman. Now it is men. Better. The -tall man said that they will loose a great army to punish someone -- somewhere - the news goes to Pindi and Peshawur. There are also -guns. Would I had crept nearer. It is big news!' - -He returned to find the cultivator's cousin's younger brother -discussing the family law-suit in all its bearings with the -cultivator and his wife and a few friends, while the lama dozed. -After the evening meal some one passed him a water-pipe; and Kim -felt very much of a man as he pulled at the smooth coconut-shell, -his legs spread abroad in the moonlight, his tongue clicking in -remarks from time to time. His hosts were most polite; for the -cultivator's wife had told them of his vision of the Red Bull, -and of his probable descent from another world. Moreover, the -lama was a great and venerable curiosity. - - -The family priest, an old, tolerant Sarsut Brahmin, dropped in -later, and naturally started a theological argument to impress -the family. By creed, of course, they were all on their priest's -side, but the lama was the guest and the novelty. His gentle -kindliness, and his impressive Chinese quotations, that sounded -like spells, delighted them hugely; and in this sympathetic, -simple air, he expanded like the Bodhisat's own lotus, speaking -of his life in the great hills of Such-zen, before, as he said, -'I rose up to seek enlightenment.' - -Then it came out that in those worldly days he had been a master- -hand at casting horoscopes and nativities; and the family priest -led him on to describe his methods; each giving the planets names -that the other could not understand, and pointing upwards as the -big stars sailed across the dark. The children of the house -tugged unrebuked at his rosary; and he clean forgot the Rule -which forbids looking at women as he talked of enduring snows, -landslips, blocked passes, the remote cliffs where men find -sapphires and turquoise, and that wonderful upland road that -leads at last into Great China itself. - -'How thinkest thou of this one?' said the cultivator aside to the -priest. - -'A holy man - a holy man indeed. His Gods are not the Gods, but -his feet are upon the Way,' was the answer. 'And his methods of -nativities, though that is beyond thee, are wise and sure.' - -'Tell me,' said Kim lazily, 'whether I find my Red Bull on a -green field, as was promised me.' - -'What knowledge hast thou of thy birth-hour?' the priest asked, -swelling with importance. - -'Between first and second cockcrow of the first night in May.' - -'Of what year?' - -'I do not know; but upon the hour that I cried first fell the -great earthquake in Srinagar which is in Kashmir.' This Kim had -from the woman who took care of him, and she again from Kimball -O'Hara. The earthquake had been felt in India, and for long stood -a leading date in the Punjab. - -'Ai!' said a woman excitedly. This seemed to make Kim's -supernatural origin more certain. "Was not such an one's daughter -born then -' - -'And her mother bore her husband four sons in four years all -likely boys,' cried the cultivator's wife, sitting outside the -circle in the shadow. - -'None reared in the knowledge,' said the family priest, 'forget -how the planets stood in their Houses upon that night.' He began -to draw in the dust of the courtyard. 'At least thou hast good -claim to a half of the House of the Bull. How runs thy prophecy?' - -'Upon a day,' said Kim, delighted at the sensation he was -creating, 'I shall be made great by means of a Red Bull on a -green field, but first there will enter two men making all things -ready.' - -'Yes: thus ever at the opening of a vision. A thick darkness that -clears slowly; anon one enters with a broom making ready the -place. Then begins the Sight. Two men - thou sayest? Ay, ay. The -Sun, leaving the House of the Bull, enters that of the Twins. -Hence the two men of the prophecy. Let us now consider. Fetch me -a twig, little one.' - -He knitted his brows, scratched, smoothed out, and scratched -again in the dust mysterious signs - to the wonder of all save -the lama, who, with fine instinct, forbore to interfere. - -At the end of half an hour, he tossed the twig from him with a -grunt. - -'Hm! Thus say the stars. Within three days come the two men to -make all things ready. After them follows the Bull; but the sign -over against him is the sign of War and armed men.' - -'There was indeed a man of the Ludhiana Sikhs in the carriage -from Lahore,' said the cultivator's wife hopefully. - -'Tck! Armed men - many hundreds. What concern hast thou with -war?' said the priest to Kim. 'Thine is a red and an angry sign -of War to be loosed very soon.' - -'None - none.' said the lama earnestly. 'We seek only peace and -our River.' - -Kim smiled, remembering what he had overheard in the dressing- -room. Decidedly he was a favourite of the stars. - -The priest brushed his foot over the rude horoscope. 'More than -this I cannot see. In three days comes the Bull to thee, boy.' - -'And my River, my River,' pleaded the lama. 'I had hoped his Bull -would lead us both to the River.' - -'Alas, for that wondrous River, my brother,' the priest replied. -'Such things are not common.' - -Next morning, though they were pressed to stay, the lama insisted -on departure. They gave Kim a large bundle of good food and -nearly three annas in copper money for the needs of the road, and -with many blessings watched the two go southward in the dawn. - -'Pity it is that these and such as these could not be freed from -' - -'Nay, then would only evil people be left on the earth, and who -would give us meat and shelter?' quoth Kim, stepping merrily -under his burden. - -'Yonder is a small stream. Let us look,' said the lama, and he -led from the white road across the fields; walking into a very -hornets' nest of pariah dogs. - - - - - -Chapter 3 - - -Yea, voice of every Soul that clung -To life that strove from rung to rung -When Devadatta's rule was young, -The warm wind brings Kamakura. - -Buddha at Kamakura. - - -Behind them an angry farmer brandished a bamboo pole. He was a -market-gardener, Arain by caste, growing vegetables and flowers -for Umballa city, and well Kim knew the breed. - -'Such an one,' said the lama, disregarding the dogs, 'is impolite -to strangers, intemperate of speech and uncharitable. Be warned -by his demeanour, my disciple.' - -'Ho, shameless beggars!' shouted the farmer. 'Begone! Get hence!' - -'We go,' the lama returned, with quiet dignity. 'We go from these -unblessed fields.' - -'Ah,' said Kim, sucking in his breath. 'If the next crops fail, -thou canst only blame thine own tongue.' - -The man shuffled uneasily in his slippers. 'The land is full of -beggars,' he began, half apologetically. - -'And by what sign didst thou know that we would beg from thee, O -Mali?' said Kim tartly, using the name that a market-gardener -least likes. 'All we sought was to look at that river beyond the -field there.' - -'River, forsooth!' the man snorted. 'What city do ye hail from -not to know a canal-cut? It runs as straight as an arrow, and I -pay for the water as though it were molten silver. There is a -branch of a river beyond. But if ye need water I can give that - -and milk.' - -'Nay, we will go to the river,' said the lama, striding out. - -'Milk and a meal.' the man stammered, as he looked at the strange -tall figure. 'I - I would not draw evil upon myself - or my -crops. But beggars are so many in these hard days.' - -'Take notice.' The lama turned to Kim. 'He was led to speak -harshly by the Red Mist of anger. That clearing from his eyes, he -becomes courteous and of an affable heart. May his fields be -blessed! Beware not to judge men too hastily, O farmer.' - -'I have met holy ones who would have cursed thee from hearthstone -to byre,' said Kim to the abashed man. 'Is he not wise and holy? -I am his disciple.' - -He cocked his nose in the air loftily and stepped across the -narrow field-borders with great dignity. - -'There is no pride,' said the lama, after a pause, 'there is no -pride among such as follow the Middle Way.' - -'But thou hast said he was low-caste and discourteous.' - -'Low-caste I did not say, for how can that be which is not? -Afterwards he amended his discourtesy, and I forgot the offence. -Moreover, he is as we are, bound upon the Wheel of Things; but he -does not tread the way of deliverance.' He halted at a little -runlet among the fields, and considered the hoof-pitted bank. - -'Now, how wilt thou know thy River?' said Kim, squatting in the -shade of some tall sugar-cane. - -'When I find it, an enlightenment will surely be given. This, I -feel, is not the place. O littlest among the waters, if only thou -couldst tell me where runs my River! But be thou blessed to make -the fields bear!' - -'Look! Look!' Kim sprang to his side and dragged him back. A -yellow-and-brown streak glided from the purple rustling stems to -the bank, stretched its neck to the water, drank, and lay still - -a big cobra with fixed, lidless eyes. - -'I have no stick - I have no stick,' said Kim. '1 will get me one -and break his back.' - -'Why? He is upon the Wheel as we are - a life ascending or -descending - very far from deliverance. Great evil must the soul -have done that is cast into this shape.' - -'I hate all snakes,' said Kim. No native training can quench the -white man's horror of the Serpent. - -'Let him live out his life.' The coiled thing hissed and half -opened its hood. 'May thy release come soon, brother!' the lama -continued placidly. 'Hast thou knowledge, by chance, of my -River?' - -'Never have I seen such a man as thou art,' Kim whispered, -overwhelmed. 'Do the very snakes understand thy talk?' - -'Who knows?' He passed within a foot of the cobra's poised head. -It flattened itself among the dusty coils. - -'Come, thou!' he called over his shoulder. - -'Not I,' said Kim'. 'I go round.' - -'Come. He does no hurt.' - -Kim hesitated for a moment. The lama backed his order by some -droned Chinese quotation which Kim took for a charm. He obeyed -and bounded across the rivulet, and the snake, indeed, made no -sign. - -'Never have I seen such a man.' Kim wiped the sweat from his -forehead. 'And now, whither go we?' - -'That is for thee to say. I am old, and a stranger - far from my -own place. But that the rail-carriage fills my head with noises of -devil-drums I would go in it to Benares now ... Yet by so going -we may miss the River. Let us find another river.' - -Where the hard-worked soil gives three and even four crops a year -through patches of sugar-cane, tobacco, long white radishes, -and nol-kol, all that day they strolled on, turning aside to -every glimpse of water; rousing village dogs and sleeping -villages at noonday; the lama replying to the volleyed questions -with an unswerving simplicity. They sought a River: a River of -miraculous healing. Had any one knowledge of such a stream? - -Sometimes men laughed, but more often heard the story out to the -end and offered them a place in the shade, a drink of milk, and a -meal. The women were always kind, and the little children as -children are the world over, alternately shy and venturesome. - -Evening found them at rest under the village tree of a mud-walled, mud-roofed hamlet, talking to -the headman as the cattle -came in from the grazing-grounds and the women prepared the day's -last meal. They had passed beyond the belt of market-gardens -round hungry Umballa, and were among the mile-wide green of the -staple crops. - -He was a white-bearded and affable elder, used to entertaining -strangers. He dragged out a string bedstead for the lama, set -warm cooked food before him, prepared him a pipe, and, the -evening ceremonies being finished in the village temple, sent for -the village priest. - -Kim told the older children tales of the size and beauty of -Lahore, of railway travel, and such-like city things, while the -men talked, slowly as their cattle chew the cud. - -'I cannot fathom it,' said the headman at last to the priest. -'How readest thou this talk?' The lama, his tale told, was -silently telling his beads. - -'He is a Seeker.' the priest answered. 'The land is full of such. -Remember him who came only last, month - the fakir with the -tortoise?' - -'Ay, but that man had right and reason, for Krishna Himself -appeared in a vision promising him Paradise without the burning- -pyre if he journeyed to Prayag. This man seeks no God who is -within my knowledge.' - -'Peace, he is old: he comes from far off, and he is mad,' the -smooth-shaven priest replied. 'Hear me.' He turned to the lama. -'Three koss [six miles] to the westward runs the great road to -Calcutta.' - -'But I would go to Benares - to Benares.' - -'And to Benares also. It crosses all streams on this side of -Hind. Now my word to thee, Holy One, is rest here till tomorrow. -Then take the road' (it was the Grand Trunk Road he meant) 'and -test each stream that it overpasses; for, as I understand, the -virtue of thy River lies neither in one pool nor place, but -throughout its length. Then, if thy Gods will, be assured that -thou wilt come upon thy freedom.' - -'That is well said.' The lama was much impressed by the plan. 'We -will begin tomorrow, and a blessing on thee for showing old feet -such a near road.' A deep, sing-song Chinese half-chant closed -the sentence. Even the priest was impressed, and the headman -feared an evil spell: but none could look at the lama's simple, -eager face and doubt him long. - -'Seest thou my chela?' he said, diving into his snuff-gourd with -an important sniff. It was his duty to repay courtesy with -courtesy. - -'I see - and hear.' The headman rolled his eye where Kim was -chatting to a girl in blue as she laid crackling thorns on a -fire. - -'He also has a Search of his own. No river, but a Bull. Yea, a -Red Bull on a green field will some day raise him to honour. He -is, I think, not altogether of this world. He was sent of a -sudden to aid me in this search, and his name is Friend of all -the World.' - -The priest smiled. 'Ho, there, Friend of all the World,' he cried -across the sharp-smelling smoke, 'what art thou?' - -'This Holy One's disciple,' said Kim. - -'He says thou are a but [a spirit].' - -'Can buts eat?' said Kim, with a twinkle. 'For I am hungry.' - -'It is no jest,' cried the lama. 'A certain astrologer of that city -whose name I have forgotten -' - -'That is no more than the city of Umballa where we slept last -night,' Kim whispered to the priest. - -'Ay, Umballa was it? He cast a horoscope and declared that my -chela should find his desire within two days. But what said he of -the meaning of the stars, Friend of all the World?' - -Kim cleared his throat and looked around at the village -greybeards. - -'The meaning of my Star is War,' he replied pompously. - -Somebody laughed at the little tattered figure strutting on the -brickwork plinth under the great tree. Where a native would have -lain down, Kim's white blood set him upon his feet. - -'Ay, War,' he answered. - -'That is a sure prophecy,' rumbled a deep voice. 'For there is -always war along the Border - as I know.' - -It was an old, withered man, who had served the Government in the -days of the Mutiny as a native officer in a newly raised cavalry -regiment. The Government had given him a good holding in the -village, and though the demands of his sons, now grey-bearded -officers on their own account, had impoverished him, he was still -a person of consequence. English officials - Deputy Commissioners -even - turned aside from the main road to visit him, and on those -occasions he dressed himself in the uniform of ancient days, and -stood up like a ramrod. - -'But this shall be a great war - a war of eight thousand.' Kim's -voice shrilled across the quick-gathering crowd, astonishing -himself. - -'Redcoats or our own regiments?' the old man snapped, as though -he were asking an equal. His tone made men respect Kim. - -'Redcoats,' said Kim at a venture. 'Redcoats and guns.' - -'But - but the astrologer said no word of this,' cried the lama, -snuffing prodigiously in his excitement. - -'But I know. The word has come to me, who am this Holy One's -disciple. There will rise a war - a war of eight thousand redcoats. -From Pindi and Peshawur they will be drawn. This is -sure.' - -'The boy has heard bazar-talk,' said the priest. - -'But he was always by my side,' said the lama. 'How should he know? -I did not know.' - -'He will make a clever juggler when the old man is dead,' muttered -the priest to the headman. 'What new trick is this?' - -'A sign. Give me a sign,' thundered the old soldier suddenly. 'If -there were war my sons would have told me.' - -'When all is ready, thy sons, doubt not, will be told. But it is a -long road from thy sons to the man in whose hands these things -lie.' Kim warmed to the game, for it reminded him of experiences -in the letter-carrying line, when, for the sake of a few pice, he -pretended to know more than he knew. But now he was playing for -larger things - the sheer excitement and the sense of power. He -drew a new breath and went on. - -'Old man, give me a sign. Do underlings order the goings of eight -thousand redcoats - with guns?' - -'No.' Still the old man answered as though Kim were an equal. - -'Dost thou know who He is, then, that gives the order?' - -'I have seen Him.' - -'To know again?' - -'I have known Him since he was a lieutenant in the topkhana (the -Artillery).' - -'A tall man. A tall man with black hair, walking thus?' Kim took -a few paces in a stiff, wooden style. - -'Ay. But that anyone may have seen.' The crowd were breathless - -still through all this talk. - -'That is true,' said Kim. 'But I will say more. Look now. First -the great man walks thus. Then He thinks thus.' (Kim drew a -forefinger over his forehead and downwards till it came to rest -by the angle of the jaw.) 'Anon He twitches his fingers thus. -Anon He thrusts his hat under his left armpit.' Kim illustrated -the motion and stood like a stork. - -The old man groaned, inarticulate with amazement; and the crowd -shivered. - -'So - so - so. But what does He when He is about to give an order?' - -'He rubs the skin at the back of his neck - thus. Then falls one -finger on the table and He makes a small sniffing noise through -his nose. Then He speaks, saying: "Loose such and such a regiment. -Call out such guns."' - -The old man rose stiffly and saluted. - -'"For"' - Kim translated into the vernacular the clinching -sentences he had heard in the dressing-room at Umballa - '"For," -says He, "we should have done this long ago. It is not war - it is -a chastisement. Snff!"' - -'Enough. I believe. I have seen Him thus in the smoke of battles. -Seen and heard. It is He!' - -'I saw no smoke' - Kim's voice shifted to the rapt sing-song of the -wayside fortune-teller. 'I saw this in darkness. First came a man -to make things clear. Then came horsemen. Then came He standing in -a ring of light. The rest followed as I have said. Old man, have I -spoken truth?' - -'It is He. Past all doubt it is He.' - -The crowd drew a long, quavering breath, staring alternately at the -old man, still at attention, and ragged Kim against the purple -twilight. - -'Said I not - said I not he was from the other world?' cried the -lama proudly. 'He is the Friend of all the World. He is the -Friend of the Stars!' - -'At least it does not concern us,' a man cried. 'O thou young -soothsayer, if the gift abides with thee at all seasons, I have a -red-spotted cow. She may be sister to thy Bull for aught I know -' - -'Or I care,' said Kim. 'My Stars do not concern themselves with thy -cattle.' - -'Nay, but she is very sick,' a woman struck in. 'My man is a -buffalo, or he would have chosen his words better. Tell me if she -recover?' - -Had Kim been at all an ordinary boy, he would have carried on the -play; but one does not know Lahore city, and least of all the -fakirs by the Taksali Gate, for thirteen years without also knowing -human nature. - -The priest looked at him sideways, something bitterly - a dry and -blighting smile. - -'Is there no priest, then, in the village? I thought I had seen a -great one even now,' cried Kim. - -'Ay - but -' the woman began. - -'But thou and thy husband hoped to get the cow cured for a handful -of thanks.' The shot told: they were notoriously the closest-fisted -couple in the village. 'It is not well to cheat the temples. Give a -young calf to thine own priest, and, unless thy Gods are angry past -recall, she will give milk within a month.' - -'A master-beggar art thou,' purred the priest approvingly. 'Not the -cunning of forty years could have done better. Surely thou hast -made the old man rich?' - -'A little flour, a little butter and a mouthful of cardamoms,' Kim -retorted, flushed with the praise, but still cautious - 'Does one -grow rich on that? And, as thou canst see, he is mad. But it serves -me while I learn the road at least." - -He knew what the fakirs of the Taksali Gate were like when they -talked among themselves, and copied the very inflection of their -lewd disciples. - -'Is his Search, then, truth or a cloak to other ends? It may be -treasure.' - -'He is mad - many times mad. There is nothing else.' - -Here the old soldier bobbled up and asked if Kim would accept his -hospitality for the night. The priest recommended him to do so, but -insisted that the honour of entertaining the lama belonged to the -temple - at which the lama smiled guilelessly. Kim glanced from one -face to the other, and drew his own conclusions. - -'Where is the money?' he whispered, beckoning the old man off into -the darkness. - -'In my bosom. Where else?' - -'Give it me. Quietly and swiftly give it me.' - -'But why? Here is no ticket to buy.' - -'Am I thy chela, or am I not? Do I not safeguard thy old feet about -the ways? Give me the money and at dawn I will return it.' He -slipped his hand above the lama's girdle and brought away the -purse. - -'Be it so - be it so.' The old man nodded his head. 'This is a -great and terrible world. I never knew there were so many men alive -in it.' - -Next morning the priest was in a very bad temper, but the lama was -quite happy; and Kim had enjoyed a most interesting evening with -the old man, who brought out his cavalry sabre and, balancing it on -his dry knees, told tales of the Mutiny and young captains thirty -years in their graves, till Kim dropped off to sleep. - -'Certainly the air of this country is good,' said the lama. 'I -sleep lightly, as do all old men; but last night I slept unwaking -till broad day. Even now I am heavy.' - -'Drink a draught of hot milk,' said Kim, who had carried not a few -such remedies to opium-smokers of his acquaintance. 'It is time to -take the Road again.' - -'The long Road that overpasses all the rivers of Hind,' said the -lama gaily. 'Let us go. But how thinkest thou, chela, to recompense -these people, and especially the priest, for their great kindness? -Truly they are but parast, but in other lives, maybe, they will -receive enlightenment. A rupee to the temple? The thing within is -no more than stone and red paint, but the heart of man we must -acknowledge when and where it is good.' - -'Holy One, hast thou ever taken the Road alone?' Kim looked up -sharply, like the Indian crows so busy about the fields. - -'Surely, child: from Kulu to Pathankot - from Kulu, where my first -chela died. When men were kind to us we made offerings, and all men -were well-disposed throughout all the Hills.' - -'It is otherwise in Hind,' said Kim drily. 'Their Gods are many- -armed and malignant. Let them alone.' - -'I would set thee on thy road for a little, Friend of all the World, -thou and thy yellow man.' The old soldier ambled up the village -street, all shadowy in the dawn, on a punt, scissor-hocked pony. -'Last night broke up the fountains of remembrance in my so-dried -heart, and it was as a blessing to me. Truly there is war abroad in -the air. I smell it. See! I have brought my sword.' - -He sat long-legged on the little beast, with the big sword at his -side - hand dropped on the pommel - staring fiercely over the flat -lands towards the North. 'Tell me again how He showed in thy -vision. Come up and sit behind me. The beast will carry two.' - -'I am this Holy One's disciple,' said Kim, as they cleared the -village-gate. The villagers seemed almost sorry to be rid of them, -but the priest's farewell was cold and distant. He had wasted some -opium on a man who carried no money. - -'That is well spoken. I am not much used to holy men, but respect -is always good. There is no respect in these days - not even when -a Commissioner Sahib comes to see me. But why should one whose -Star leads him to war follow a holy man?' - -'But he is a holy man,' said Kim earnestly. 'In truth, and in talk -and in act, holy. He is not like the others. I have never seen such -an one. We be not fortune-tellers, or jugglers, or beggars.' - -'Thou art not. That I can see. But I do not know that other. He -marches well, though.' - -The first freshness of the day carried the lama forward with long, -easy, camel-like strides. He was deep in meditation, mechanically -clicking his rosary. - -They followed the rutted and worn country road that wound across -the flat between the great dark-green mango-groves, the line of the -snowcapped Himalayas faint to the eastward. All India was at work -in the fields, to the creaking of well-wheels, the shouting of -ploughmen behind their cattle, and the clamour of the crows. Even -the pony felt the good influence and almost broke into a trot as -Kim laid a hand on the stirrup-leather. - -'It repents me that I did not give a rupee to the shrine,' said the -lama on the last bead of his eighty-one. - -The old soldier growled in his beard, so that the lama for the -first time was aware of him. - -'Seekest thou the River also?' said he, turning. - -'The day is new,' was the reply. 'What need of a river save to -water at before sundown? I come to show thee a short lane to the -Big Road.' - -'That is a courtesy to be remembered, O man of good will. But why -the sword?' - -The old soldier looked as abashed as a child interrupted in his -game of make-believe. - -'The sword,' he said, fumbling it. 'Oh, that was a fancy of mine -an old man's fancy. Truly the police orders are that no man must -bear weapons throughout Hind, but' - he cheered up and slapped the -hilt - 'all the constabeels hereabout know me.' - -'It is not a good fancy,' said the lama. 'What profit to kill men?' - -'Very little - as I know; but if evil men were not now and then -slain it would not be a good world for weaponless dreamers. I do -not speak without knowledge who have seen the land from Delhi south -awash with blood.' - -'What madness was that, then?' - -'The Gods, who sent it for a plague, alone know. A madness ate -into all the Army, and they turned against their officers. That -was the first evil, but not past remedy if they had then held their -hands. But they chose to kill the Sahibs' wives and children. Then -came the Sahibs from over the sea and called them to most strict -account.' - -'Some such rumour, I believe, reached me once long ago. They -called it the Black Year, as I remember.' - -'What manner of life hast thou led, not to know The Year? A rumour -indeed! All earth knew, and trembled!' - -'Our earth never shook but once - upon the day that the Excellent -One received Enlightenment.' - -'Umph! I saw Delhi shake at least- and Delhi is the navel of the -world.' - -'So they turned against women and children? That was a bad deed, -for which the punishment cannot be avoided.' - -'Many strove to do so, but with very small profit. I was then in -a regiment of cavalry. It broke. Of six hundred and eighty sabres -stood fast to their salt - how many, think you? Three. Of whom I -was one.' - -'The greater merit.' - -'Merit! We did not consider it merit in those days. My people, my -friends, my brothers fell from me. They said: "The time of the -English is accomplished. Let each strike out a little holding for -himself." But I had talked with the men of Sobraon, of -Chilianwallah, of Moodkee and Ferozeshah. I said: "Abide a little -and the wind turns. There is no blessing in this work." In those -days I rode seventy miles with an English Memsahib and her babe on -my saddle-bow. (Wow! That was a horse fit for a man!) I placed them -in safety, and back came I to my officer - the one that was not -killed of our five. "Give me work," said I, "for I am an outcast -among my own kind, and my cousin's blood is wet on my sabre." "Be -content," said he. "There is great work forward. When this madness -is over there is a recompense."' - -'Ay, there is a recompense when the madness is over, surely?' the -lama muttered half to himself. - -'They did not hang medals in those days on all who by accident had -heard a gun fired. No! In nineteen pitched battles was I; in six- -and-forty skirmishes of horse; and in small affairs without number. -Nine wounds I bear; a medal and four clasps and the medal of an -Order, for my captains, who are now generals, remembered me when -the Kaisar-i-Hind had accomplished fifty years of her reign, and -all the land rejoiced. They said: "Give him the Order of Berittish -India." I carry it upon my neck now. I have also my jaghir -[holding] from the hands of the State - a free gift to me and mine. -The men of the old days -they are now Commissioners - come riding -to me through the crops - high upon horses so that all the village -sees - and we talk out the old skirmishes, one dead man's name -leading to another.' - -'And after?' said the lama. - -'Oh, afterwards they go away, but not before my village has seen.' - -'And at the last what wilt thou do?' - -'At the last I shall die.' - -'And after?' - -'Let the Gods order it. I have never pestered Them with prayers. -I do not think They will pester me. Look you, I have noticed in my -long life that those who eternally break in upon Those Above with -complaints and reports and bellowings and weepings are presently -sent for in haste, as our Colonel used to send for slack-jawed -down-country men who talked too much. No, I have never wearied the -Gods. They will remember this, and give me a quiet place where I -can drive my lance in the shade, and wait to welcome my sons: I -have no less than three Rissaldar - majors all - in the regiments.' - -'And they likewise, bound upon the Wheel, go forth from life to -life - from despair to despair,' said the lama below his breath, -'hot, uneasy, snatching.' - -'Ay,' the old soldier chuckled. 'Three Rissaldar -majors in three -regiments. Gamblers a little, but so am I. They must be well -mounted; and one cannot take the horses as in the old days one took -women. Well, well, my holding can pay for all. How thinkest thou? -It is a well-watered strip, but my men cheat me. I do not know how -to ask save at the lance's point. Ugh! I grow angry and I curse -them, and they feign penitence, but behind my back I know they call -me a toothless old ape.' - -'Hast thou never desired any other thing?' - -'Yes - yes - a thousand times! A straight back and a close-clinging -knee once more; a quick wrist and a keen eye; and the marrow that -makes a man. Oh, the old days - the good days of my strength!' - -'That strength is weakness.' - -'It has turned so; but fifty years since I could have proved it -otherwise,' the old soldier retorted, driving his stirrup-edge into -the pony's lean flank. - -'But I know a River of great healing.' - -'I have drank Gunga-water to the edge of dropsy. All she gave me -was a flux, and no sort of strength.' - -'It is not Gunga. The River that I know washes from all taint of -sin. Ascending the far bank one is assured of Freedom. I do not -know thy life, but thy face is the face of the honourable and -courteous. Thou hast clung to thy Way, rendering fidelity when it -was hard to give, in that Black Year of which I now remember -other tales. Enter now upon the Middle Way which is the path to -Freedom. Hear the Most Excellent Law, and do not follow dreams.' - -'Speak, then, old man,' the soldier smiled, half saluting. 'We be -all babblers at our age.' - -The lama squatted under the shade of a mango, whose shadow played -checkerwise over his face; the soldier sat stiffly on the pony; -and Kim, making sure that there were no snakes, lay down in the -crotch of the twisted roots. - -There was a drowsy buzz of small life in hot sunshine, a cooing -of doves, and a sleepy drone of well-wheels across the fields. -Slowly and impressively the lama began. At the end of ten minutes -the old soldier slid from his pony, to hear better as he said, -and sat with the reins round his wrist. The lama's voice faltered, -the periods lengthened. Kim was busy watching a grey squirrel. -When the little scolding bunch of fur, close pressed to the -branch, disappeared, preacher and audience were fast asleep, the -old officer's strong-cut head pillowed on his arm, the lama's -thrown back against the tree-bole, where it showed like yellow -ivory. A naked child toddled up, stared, and, moved by some quick -impulse of reverence, made a solemn little obeisance before the -lama - only the child was so short and fat that it toppled over -sideways, and Kim laughed at the sprawling, chubby legs. The -child, scared and indignant, yelled aloud. - -'Hai! Hai!' said the soldier, leaping to his feet. 'What is it? -What orders? ... It is ... a child! I dreamed it was an alarm. -Little one - little one - do not cry. Have I slept? That was -discourteous indeed!' - -'I fear! I am afraid!' roared the child. - -'What is it to fear? Two old men and a boy? How wilt thou ever make -a soldier, Princeling?' - -The lama had waked too, but, taking no direct notice of the child, -clicked his rosary. - -'What is that?' said the child, stopping a yell midway. 'I have -never seen such things. Give them me.' - -'Aha.' said the lama, smiling, and trailing a loop of it on the -grass: - -This is a handful of cardamoms, -This is a lump of ghi: -This is millet and chillies and rice, -A supper for thee and me! - -The child shrieked with joy, and snatched at the dark, glancing -beads. - -'Oho!' said the old soldier. 'Whence hadst thou that song, despiser -of this world?' - -'I learned it in Pathankot - sitting on a doorstep,' said the lama -shyly. 'It is good to be kind to babes.' - -'As I remember, before the sleep came on us, thou hadst told me -that marriage and bearing were darkeners of the true light, -stumbling-blocks upon the Way. Do children drop from Heaven in thy -country? Is it the Way to sing them songs?' - -'No man is all perfect,' said the lama gravely, recoiling the -rosary. 'Run now to thy mother, little one.' - -'Hear him!' said the soldier to Kim. 'He is ashamed for that he has -made a child happy. There was a very good householder lost in thee, -my brother. Hai, child!' He threw it a pice. 'Sweetmeats are always -sweet.' And as the little figure capered away into the sunshine: -'They grow up and become men. Holy One, I grieve that I slept in -the midst of thy preaching. Forgive me.' - -'We be two old men,' said the lama. 'The fault is mine. I listened -to thy talk of the world and its madness, and one fault led to the -next.' - -'Hear him! What harm do thy Gods suffer from play with a babe? And -that song was very well sung. Let us go on and I will sing thee the -song of Nikal Seyn before Delhi - the old song.' - -And they fared out from the gloom of the mango tope, the old man's -high, shrill voice ringing across the field, as wail by long-drawn -wail he unfolded the story of Nikal Seyn [Nicholson] - the song -that men sing in the Punjab to this day. Kim was delighted, and the -lama listened with deep interest. - -'Ahi! Nikal Seyn is dead - he died before Delhi! Lances of the -North, take vengeance for Nikal Seyn.' He quavered it out to the -end, marking the trills with the flat of his sword on the pony's -rump. - -'And now we come to the Big Road,' said he, after receiving the -compliments of Kim; for the lama was markedly silent. 'It is long -since I have ridden this way, but thy boy's talk stirred me. See, -Holy One - the Great Road which is the backbone of all Hind. For -the most part it is shaded, as here, with four lines of trees; the -middle road - all hard - takes the quick traffic. In the days before -rail-carriages the Sahibs travelled up and down here in hundreds. -Now there are only country-carts and such like. Left and right is -the rougher road for the heavy carts - grain and cotton and timber, -fodder, lime and hides. A man goes in safety here for at every few -koss is a police-station. The police are thieves and extortioners -(I myself would patrol it with cavalry - young recruits under a -strong captain), but at least they do not suffer any rivals. All -castes and kinds of men move here. - -'Look! Brahmins and chumars, bankers and tinkers, barbers and -bunnias, pilgrims -and potters - all the world going and coming. It -is to me as a river from which I am withdrawn like a log after a -flood.' - -And truly the Grand Trunk Road is a wonderful spectacle. It runs -straight, bearing without crowding India's traffic for fifteen -hundred miles - such a river of life as nowhere else exists in -the world. They looked at the green-arched, shade-flecked length -of it, the white breadth speckled with slow-pacing folk; and the -two-roomed police-station opposite. - -'Who bears arms against the law?' a constable called out -laughingly, as he caught sight of the soldier's sword. 'Are not -the police enough to destroy evil-doers?' - -'It was because of the police I bought it,' was the answer. 'Does -all go well in Hind?' - -'Rissaldar Sahib, all goes well.' - -'I am like an old tortoise, look you, who puts his head out from -the bank and draws it in again. Ay, this is the Road of Hindustan. -All men come by this way...' - -'Son of a swine, is the soft part of the road meant for thee to -scratch thy back upon? Father of all the daughters of shame and -husband of ten thousand virtueless ones, thy mother was devoted -to a devil, being led thereto by her mother. Thy aunts have never -had a nose for seven generations! Thy sister - What Owl's folly -told thee to draw thy carts across the road? A broken wheel? Then -take a broken head and put the two together at leisure!' - -The voice and a venomous whip-cracking came out of a pillar of -dust fifty yards away, where a cart had broken down. A thin, high -Kathiawar mare, with eyes and nostrils aflame, rocketed out of -the jam, snorting and wincing as her rider bent her across the -road in chase of a shouting man. He was tall and grey-bearded, -sitting the almost mad beast as a piece of her, and scientifically -lashing his victim between plunges. - -The old man's face lit with pride. 'My child!' said he briefly, and -strove to rein the pony's neck to a fitting arch. - -'Am I to be beaten before the police?' cried the carter. 'Justice! -I will have Justice -' - -'Am I to be blocked by a shouting ape who upsets ten thousand sacks -under a young horse's nose? That is the way to ruin a mare.' - -'He speaks truth. He speaks truth. But she follows her man close,' -said the old man. The carter ran under the wheels of his cart and -thence threatened all sorts of vengeance. - -'They are strong men, thy sons,' said the policeman serenely, -picking his teeth. - -The horseman delivered one last vicious cut with his whip and came -on at a canter. - -'My father!' He reigned back ten yards and dismounted. - -The old man was off his pony in an instant, and they embraced as do -father and son in the East. - - - - -Chapter 4 - - -Good Luck, she is never a lady, -But the cursedest quean alive, -Tricksy, wincing, and jady - -Kittle to lead or drive. -Greet her - she's hailing a stranger! -Meet her - she's busking to leave! -Let her alone for a shrew to the bone -And the hussy comes plucking your sleeve! -Largesse! Largesse, O Fortune! -Give or hold at your will. -If I've no care for Fortune, -Fortune must follow me still! - -The Wishing-Caps. - - -Then, lowering their voices, they spoke together. Kim came to rest -under a tree, but the lama tugged impatiently at his elbow. - -'Let us go on. The River is not here.' - -'Hai mai! Have we not walked enough for a little? Our River will -not run away. Patience, and he will give us a dole.' - -'This.' said the old soldier suddenly, 'is the Friend of the Stars. -He brought me the news yesterday. Having seen the very man Himself, -in a vision, giving orders for the war.' - -'Hm!' said his son, all deep in his broad chest. 'He came by a -bazar-rumour and made profit of it.' - -His father laughed. 'At least he did not ride to me begging for a -new charger, and the Gods know how many rupees. Are thy brothers' -regiments also under orders?' - -'I do not know. I took leave and came swiftly to thee in case -' - -'In case they ran before thee to beg. O gamblers and spendthrifts -all! But thou hast never yet ridden in a charge. A good horse is -needed there, truly. A good follower and a good pony also for the -marching. Let us see - let us see.' He thrummed on the pommel. - -'This is no place to cast accounts in, my father. Let us go to thy -house.' - -'At least pay the boy, then: I have no pice with me, and he brought -auspicious news. Ho! Friend of all the World, a war is toward as -thou hast said.' - -'Nay, as I know, the war,' returned Kim composedly. - -'Eh?' said the lama, fingering his beads, all eager for the road. - -'My master does not trouble the Stars for hire. We brought the news -bear witness, we brought the news, and now we go.' Kim half-crooked -his hand at his side. - -The son tossed a silver coin through the sunlight, grumbling -something about beggars and jugglers. It was a four-anna piece, and -would feed them well for days. The lama, seeing the flash of the -metal, droned a blessing. - -'Go thy way, Friend of all the World,' piped the old soldier, -wheeling his scrawny mount. 'For once in all my days I have met a -true prophet - who was not in the Army.' - -Father and son swung round together: the old man sitting as erect -as the younger. - -A Punjabi constable in yellow linen trousers slouched across the -road. He had seen the money pass. - -'Halt!' he cried in impressive English. 'Know ye not that there is -a takkus of two annas a head, which is four annas, on those who -enter the Road from this side-road? It is the order of the Sirkar, -and the money is spent for the planting of trees and the -beautification of the ways.' - -'And the bellies of the police,' said Kim, slipping out of arm's -reach. 'Consider for a while, man with a mud head. Think you we -came from the nearest pond like the frog, thy father-in-law? Hast -thou ever heard the name of thy brother?' - -'And who was he? Leave the boy alone,' cried a senior constable, -immensely delighted, as he squatted down to smoke his pipe in the -veranda. - -'He took a label from a bottle of belaitee-pani [soda-water], and, -affixing it to a bridge, collected taxes for a month from those who -passed, saying that it was the Sirkar's order. Then came an -Englishman and broke his head. Ah, brother, I am a town-crow, not a -village-crow!' - -The policeman drew back abashed, and Kim hooted at him all down the -road. - -'Was there ever such a disciple as I?' he cried merrily to the -lama. 'All earth would have picked thy bones within ten mile of -Lahore city if I had not guarded thee.' - -'I consider in my own mind whether thou art a spirit, sometimes, or -sometimes an evil imp,' said the lama, smiling slowly. - -'I am thy chela.' Kim dropped into step at his side - that -indescribable gait of the long-distance tramp all the world over. - -'Now let us walk,' muttered the lama, and to the click of his -rosary they walked in silence mile upon mile. The lama as usual, -was deep in meditation, but Kim's bright eyes were open wide. This -broad, smiling river of life, he considered, was a vast improvement -on the cramped and crowded Lahore streets. There were new people -and new sights at every stride - castes he knew and castes that -were altogether out of his experience. - -They met a troop of long-haired, strong-scented Sansis with baskets -of lizards and other unclean food on their backs, their lean dogs -sniffing at their heels. These people kept their own side of the -road', moving at a quick, furtive jog-trot, and all other castes -gave them ample room; for the Sansi is deep pollution. Behind them, -walking wide and stiffly across the strong shadows, the memory of -his leg-irons still on him, strode one newly released from the -jail; his full stomach and shiny skin to prove that the Government -fed its prisoners better than most honest men could feed -themselves. Kim knew that walk well, and made broad jest of it as -they passed. Then an Akali, a wild-eyed, wild-haired Sikh devotee -in the blue-checked clothes of his faith, with polished-steel -quoits glistening on the cone of his tall blue turban, stalked -past, returning from a visit to one of the independent Sikh States, -where he had been singing the ancient glories of the Khalsa to -College-trained princelings in top-boots and white-cord breeches. -Kim was careful not to irritate that man; for the Akali's temper is -short and his arm quick. Here and there they met or were overtaken -by the gaily dressed crowds of whole villages turning out to some -local fair; the women, with their babes on their hips, walking -behind the men, the older boys prancing on sticks of sugar-cane, -dragging rude brass models of locomotives such as they sell for a -halfpenny, or flashing the sun into the eyes of their betters from -cheap toy mirrors. One could see at a glance what each had bought; -and if there were any doubt it needed only to watch the wives -comparing, brown arm against brown arm, the newly purchased dull -glass bracelets that come from the North-West. These merry-makers -stepped slowly, calling one to the other and stopping to haggle -with sweetmeat-sellers, or to make a prayer before one of the -wayside shrines - sometimes Hindu, sometimes Mussalman - which the -low-caste of both creeds share with beautiful impartiality. A solid -line of blue, rising and falling like the back of a caterpillar in -haste, would swing up through the quivering dust and trot past to a -chorus of quick cackling. That was a gang of changars - the women -who have taken all the embankments of all the Northern railways -under their charge - a flat-footed, big-bosomed, strong-limbed, -blue-petticoated clan of earth-carriers, hurrying north on news of -a job, and wasting no time by the road. They belong to the caste -whose men do not count, and they walked with squared elbows, -swinging hips, and heads on high, as suits women who carry heavy -weights. A little later a marriage procession would strike into the -Grand Trunk with music and shoutings, and a smell of marigold and -jasmine stronger even than the reek of the dust. One could see the -bride's litter, a blur of red and tinsel, staggering through the -haze, while the bridegroom's bewreathed pony turned aside to snatch -a mouthful from a passing fodder-cart. Then Kim would join the -Kentish-fire of good wishes and bad jokes, wishing the couple a -hundred sons and no daughters, as the saying is. Still more -interesting and more to be shouted over it was when a strolling -juggler with some half-trained monkeys, or a panting, feeble bear, -or a woman who tied goats' horns to her feet, and with these danced -on a slack-rope, set the horses to shying and the women to shrill, -long-drawn quavers of amazement. - -The lama never raised his eyes. He did not note the money-lender on -his goose-rumped pony, hastening along to collect the cruel -interest; or the long-shouting, deep-voiced little mob -still in -military formation - of native soldiers on leave, rejoicing to be -rid of their breeches and puttees, and saying the most outrageous -things to the most respectable women in sight. Even the seller of -Ganges-water he did not see, and Kim expected that he would at -least buy a bottle of that precious stuff. He looked steadily at -the ground, and strode as steadily hour after hour, his soul busied -elsewhere. But Kim was in the seventh heaven of joy. The Grand Trunk -at this point was built on an embankment to guard against -winter floods from the foothills, so that one walked, as it were, a -little above the country, along a stately corridor, seeing all -India spread out to left and right. It was beautiful to behold the -many-yoked grain and cotton wagons crawling over the country roads: -one could hear their axles, complaining a mile away, coming nearer, -till with shouts and yells and bad words they climbed up the steep -incline and plunged on to the hard main road, carter reviling -carter. It was equally beautiful to watch the people, little clumps -of red and blue and pink and white and saffron, turning aside to go -to their own villages, dispersing and growing small by twos and -threes across the level plain. Kim felt these things, though he -could not give tongue to his feelings, and so contented himself -with buying peeled sugar-cane and spitting the pith generously -about his path. From time to time the lama took snuff, and at last -Kim could endure the silence no longer. - -'This is a good land - the land of the South!' said he. 'The air is -good; the water is good. Eh?' - -'And they are all bound upon the Wheel,' said the lama. 'Bound from -life after life. To none of these has the Way been shown.' He shook -himself back to this world. - -'And now we have walked a weary way,' said Kim. 'Surely we shall -soon come to a parao [a resting-place]. Shall we stay there? Look, -the sun is sloping.' - -'Who will receive us this evening?' - -'That is all one. This country is full of good folk. Besides' he -sunk his voice beneath a whisper - 'we have money.' - -The crowd thickened as they neared the resting-place which marked -the end of their day's journey. A line of stalls selling very -simple food and tobacco, a stack of firewood, a police-station, a -well, a horse-trough, a few trees, and, under them, some trampled -ground dotted with the black ashes of old fires, are all that mark -a parao on the Grand Trunk; if you except the beggars and the crows -- both hungry. - -By this time the sun was driving broad golden spokes through the -lower branches of the mango-trees; the parakeets and doves were -coming. home in their hundreds; the chattering, grey-backed Seven -Sisters, talking over the day's adventures, walked back and forth -in twos and threes almost under the feet of the travellers; and -shufflings and scufflings in the branches showed that the bats were -ready to go out on the night-picket. Swiftly the light gathered -itself together, painted for an instant the faces and the -cartwheels and the bullocks' horns as red as blood. Then the night -fell, changing the touch of the air, drawing a low, even haze, like -a gossamer veil of blue, across the face of the country, and -bringing out, keen and distinct, the smell of wood-smoke and cattle -and the good scent of wheaten cakes cooked on ashes. The evening -patrol hurried out of the police-station with important coughings -and reiterated orders; and a live charcoal ball in the cup of a -wayside carter's hookah glowed red while Kim's eye mechanically -watched the last flicker of the sun on the brass tweezers. - -The life of the parao was very like that of the Kashmir Serai on a -small scale. Kim dived into the happy Asiatic disorder which, if -you only allow time, will bring you everything that a simple man -needs. - -His wants were few, because, since the lama had no caste scruples, -cooked food from the nearest stall would serve; but, for luxury's -sake, Kim bought a handful of dung-cakes to build a fire. All -about, coming and going round the little flames, men cried for oil, -or grain, or sweetmeats, or tobacco, jostling one another while -they waited their turn at the well; and under the men's voices you -heard from halted, shuttered carts the high squeals and giggles of -women whose faces should not be seen in public. - -Nowadays, well-educated natives are of opinion that when their -womenfolk travel - and they visit a good deal - it is better to -take them quickly by rail in a properly screened compartment; and -that custom is spreading. But there are always those of the old -rock who hold by the use of their forefathers; and, above all, -there are always the old women - more conservative than the men - -who toward the end of their days go on a pilgrimage. They, being -withered and undesirable, do not, under certain circumstances, -object to unveiling. After their long seclusion, during which they -have always been in business touch with a thousand outside -interests, they love the bustle and stir of the open road, the -gatherings at the shrines, and the infinite possibilities of gossip -with like-minded dowagers. Very often it suits a longsuffering -family that a strong-tongued, iron-willed old lady should disport -herself about India in this fashion; for certainly pilgrimage is -grateful to the Gods. So all about India, in the most remote -places, as in the most public, you find some knot of grizzled -servitors in nominal charge of an old lady who is more or less -curtained and hid away in a bullock-cart. Such men are staid and -discreet, and when a European or a high-caste native is near will -net their charge with most elaborate precautions; but in the -ordinary haphazard chances of pilgrimage the precautions are not -taken. The old lady is, after all, intensely human, and lives to -look upon life. - -Kim marked down a gaily ornamented ruth or family bullock-cart, -with a broidered canopy of two domes, like a double-humped camel, -which had just been drawn into the par. Eight men made its retinue, -and two of the eight were armed with rusty sabres - sure signs that -they followed a person of distinction, for the common folk do not -bear arms. An increasing cackle of complaints, orders, and jests, -and what to a European would have been bad language, came from -behind the curtains. Here was evidently a woman used to command. - -Kim looked over the retinue critically. Half of them were thin- -legged, grey-bearded Ooryas from down country. The other half were -duffle-clad, felt-hatted hillmen of the North; and that mixture -told its own tale, even if he had not overheard the incessant -sparring between the two divisions. The old lady was going south on -a visit - probably to a rich relative, most probably to a son-in- -law, who had sent up an escort as a mark of respect. The hillmen -would be of her own people - Kulu or Kangra folk. It was quite -clear that she was not taking her daughter down to be wedded, or -the curtains would have been laced home and the guard would have -allowed no one near the car. A merry and a high-spirited dame, -thought Kim, balancing the dung-cake in one hand, the cooked food -in the other, and piloting the lama with a nudging shoulder. -Something might be made out of the meeting. The lama would give him -no help, but, as a conscientious chela, Kim was delighted to beg -for two. - -He built his fire as close to the cart as he dared, waiting for one -of the escort to order him away. The lama dropped wearily to the -ground, much as a heavy fruit-eating bat cowers, and returned to -his rosary. - -'Stand farther off, beggar!' The order was shouted in broken -Hindustani by one of the hillmen. - -'Huh! It is only a pahari [a hillman]', said Kim over his shoulder. -'Since when have the hill-asses owned all Hindustan?' - -The retort was a swift and brilliant sketch of Kim's pedigree for -three generations. - -'Ah!' Kim's voice was sweeter than ever, as he broke the dung-cake -into fit pieces. 'In my country we call that the beginning of love-talk.' - -A harsh, thin cackle behind the curtains put the hillman on his -mettle for a second shot. - -'Not so bad - not so bad,' said Kim with calm. 'But have a care, my -brother, lest we - we, I say - be minded to give a curse or so in -return. And our curses have the knack of biting home.' - -The Ooryas laughed; the hillman sprang forward threateningly. The -lama suddenly raised his head, bringing his huge tam-o'-shanter hat -into the full light of Kim's new-started fire. - -'What is it?' said he. - -The man halted as though struck to stone. 'I - I - am saved from a -great sin,' he stammered. - -'The foreigner has found him a priest at last,' whispered one of -the Ooryas. - -'Hai! Why is that beggar-brat not well beaten?' the old woman -cried. - -The hillman drew back to the cart and whispered something to the -curtain. There was dead silence, then a muttering. - -'This goes well,' thought Kim, pretending neither to see nor hear. - -'When - when - he has eaten' - the hillman fawned on Kim - 'it - it -is requested that the Holy One will do the honour to talk to one -who would speak to him.' - -'After he has eaten he will sleep,' Kim returned loftily. He could -not quite see what new turn the game had taken, but stood resolute -to profit by it. 'Now I will get him his food.' The last sentence, -spoken loudly, ended with a sigh as of faintness. - -'I - I myself and the others of my people will look to that - if it -is permitted.' - -'It is permitted,' said Kim, more loftily than ever. 'Holy One, -these people will bring us food.' - -'The land is good. All the country of the South is good - a great -and a terrible world,' mumbled the lama drowsily. - -'Let him sleep,' said Kim, 'but look to it that we are well fed -when he wakes. He is a very holy man.' - -Again one of the Ooryas said something contemptuously. - -'He is not a fakir. He is not a down-country beggar,' Kim went on -severely, addressing the stars. 'He is the most holy of holy men. -He is above all castes. I am his chela.' - -'Come here!' said the flat thin voice behind the curtain; and Kim -came, conscious that eyes he could not see were staring at him. One -skinny brown finger heavy with rings lay on the edge of the cart, -and the talk went this way: - -'Who is that one?' - -'An exceedingly holy one. He comes from far off. He comes from -Tibet.' - -'Where in Tibet?' - -'From behind the snows - from a very far place. He knows the stars; -he makes horoscopes; he reads nativities. But he does not do this -for money. He does it for kindness and great charity. I am his -disciple. I am called also the Friend of the Stars.' - -'Thou art no hillman.' - -'Ask him. He will tell thee I was sent to him from the Stars to -show him an end to his pilgrimage.' - -'Humph! Consider, brat, that I am an old woman and not altogether a -fool. Lamas I know, and to these I give reverence, but thou art no -more a lawful chela than this my finger is the pole of this wagon. -Thou art a casteless Hindu - a bold and unblushing beggar, -attached, belike, to the Holy One for the sake of gain.' - -'Do we not all work for gain?' Kim changed his tone promptly to -match that altered voice. 'I have heard' - this was a bow drawn at -a venture - 'I have heard -' - -'What hast thou heard?' she snapped, rapping with the finger. - -'Nothing that I well remember, but some talk in the bazars, which -is doubtless a lie, that even Rajahs - small Hill Rajahs -' - -'But none the less of good Rajput blood.' - -'Assuredly of good blood. That these even sell the more comely of -their womenfolk for gain. Down south they sell them - to zemindars -and such - all of Oudh.' - -If there be one thing in the world that the small Hill Rajahs deny -it is just this charge; but it happens to be one thing that the -bazars believe, when they discuss the mysterious slave-traffics of -India. The old lady explained to Kim, in a tense, indignant -whisper, precisely what manner and fashion of malignant liar he -was. Had Kim hinted this when she was a girl, he would have been -pommelled to death that same evening by an elephant. This was -perfectly true. - -'Ahai! I am only a beggar's brat, as the Eye of Beauty has said,' -he wailed in extravagant terror. - -'Eye of Beauty, forsooth! Who am I that thou shouldst fling -beggar-endearments at me?' And yet she laughed at the long- -forgotten word. 'Forty years ago that might have been said, and not -without truth. Ay. thirty years ago. But it is the fault of this -gadding up and down Hind that a king's widow must jostle all the -scum of the land, and be made a mock by beggars.' - -'Great Queen,' said Kim promptly, for he heard her shaking with -indignation, 'I am even what the Great Queen says I am; but none -the less is my master holy. He has not yet heard the Great Queen's -order that -' - -'Order? I order a Holy One - a Teacher of the Law - to come and -speak to a woman? Never!' - -'Pity my stupidity. I thought it was given as an order -' - -'It was not. It was a petition. Does this make all clear?' - -A silver coin clicked on the edge of the cart. Kim took it and -salaamed profoundly. The old lady recognized that, as the eyes and -the ears of the lama, he was to be propitiated. - -'I am but the Holy One's disciple. When he has eaten perhaps he -will come.' - -'Oh, villain and shameless rogue!' The jewelled forefinger shook -itself at him reprovingly; but he could hear the old lady's -chuckle. - -'Nay, what is it?' he said, dropping into his most caressing and -confidential tone - the one, he well knew, that few could resist. -'Is - is there any need of a son in thy family? Speak freely, for -we priests -' That last was a direct plagiarism from a fakir by the -Taksali Gate. - -'We priests! Thou art not yet old enough to -' She checked the joke -with another laugh. 'Believe me, now and again, we women, O priest, -think of other matters than sons. Moreover, my daughter has borne -her man-child.' - -'Two arrows in the quiver are better than one; and three are better -still.' Kim quoted the proverb with a meditative cough, looking -discreetly earthward. - -'True - oh, true. But perhaps that will come. Certainly those down- -country Brahmins are utterly useless. I sent gifts and monies and -gifts again to them, and they prophesied.' - -'Ah,' drawled Kim, with infinite contempt, 'they prophesied!' A -professional could have done no better. - -'And it was not till I remembered my own Gods that my prayers were -heard. I chose an auspicious hour, and - perhaps thy Holy One has -heard of the Abbot of the Lung-Cho lamassery. It was to him I put -the matter, and behold in the due time all came about as I desired. -The Brahmin in the house of the father of my daughter's son has -since said that it was through his prayers - which is a little -error that I will explain to him when we reach our journey's end. -And so afterwards I go to Buddh Gaya, to make shraddha for the -father of my children.' - -'Thither go we.' - -'Doubly auspicious,' chirruped the old lady. 'A second son at -least!' - -'O Friend of all the World!' The lama had waked, and, simply as a -child bewildered in a strange bed, called for Kim. - -'I come! I come, Holy One!' He dashed to the fire, where he found -the lama already surrounded by dishes of food, the hillmen visibly -adoring him and the Southerners looking sourly. - -'Go back! Withdraw!' Kim cried. 'Do we eat publicly like dogs?' -They finished the meal in silence, each turned a little from the -other, and Kim topped it with a native-made cigarette. - -'Have I not said an hundred times that the South is a good land? -Here is a virtuous and high-born widow of a Hill Rajah on -pilgrimage, she says, to Buddha Gay. She it is sends us those -dishes; and when thou art well rested she would speak to thee.' - -'Is this also thy work?' The lama dipped deep into his snuff-gourd. - -'Who else watched over thee since our wonderful journey began?' -Kim's eyes danced in his head as he blew the rank smoke through his -nostrils and stretched him on the dusty ground. 'Have I failed to -oversee thy comforts, Holy One?' - -'A blessing on thee.' The lama inclined his solemn head. 'I have -known many men in my so long life, and disciples not a few. But to -none among men, if so be thou art woman-born, has my heart gone out -as it has to thee - thoughtful, wise, and courteous; but something -of a small imp.' - -'And I have never seen such a priest as thou.' Kim considered the -benevolent yellow face wrinkle by wrinkle. 'It is less than three -days since we took the road together, and it is as though it were a -hundred years.' - -'Perhaps in a former life it was permitted that I should have -rendered thee some service. Maybe' - he smiled - 'I freed thee from -a trap; or, having caught thee on a hook in the days when I was -not enlightened, cast thee back into the river.' - -'Maybe,' said Kim quietly. He had heard this sort of speculation -again and again, from the mouths of many whom the English would not -consider imaginative. 'Now, as regards that -woman in the bullock-cart. I think she needs a second son for her -daughter.' - -'That is no part of the Way,' sighed the lama. 'But at least she is -from the Hills. Ah, the Hills, and the snow of the Hills!' - -He rose and stalked to the cart. Kim would have given his ears to -come too, but the lama did not invite him; and the few words he -caught were in an unknown tongue, for they spoke some common speech -of the mountains. The woman seemed to ask questions which the lama -turned over in his mind before answering. Now and again he heard -the singsong cadence of a Chinese quotation. It was a strange -picture that Kim watched between drooped eyelids. The lama, very -straight and erect, the deep folds of his yellow clothing slashed -with black in the light of the parao fires precisely as a knotted -tree-trunk is slashed with the shadows of the low sun, addressed a -tinsel and lacquered ruth which burned like a many-coloured jewel -in the same uncertain light. The patterns on the gold-worked -curtains ran up and down, melting and reforming as the folds shook -and quivered to the night wind; and when the talk grew more earnest -the jewelled forefinger snapped out little sparks of light between -the embroideries. Behind the cart was a wall of uncertain darkness -speckled with little flames and alive with half-caught forms and -faces and shadows. The voices of early evening had settled down to -one soothing hum whose deepest note was the steady chumping of the -bullocks above their chopped straw, and whose highest was the -tinkle of a Bengali dancing-girl's sitar. Most men had eaten and -pulled deep at their gurgling, grunting hookahs, which in full -blast sound like bull-frogs. - -At last the lama returned. A hillman walked behind him with a -wadded cotton-quilt and spread it carefully by the fire. - -'She deserves ten thousand grandchildren,' thought Kim. 'None the -less, but for me, those gifts would not have come.' - -'A virtuous woman - and a wise one.' The lama slackened off, joint -by joint, like a slow camel. 'The world is full of charity to those -who follow the Way.' He flung a fair half of the quilt over Kim. - -'And what said she?' Kim rolled up in his share of it. - -'She asked me many questions and propounded many problems - the -most of which were idle tales which she had heard from devil- -serving priests who pretend to follow the Way. Some I answered, and -some I said were foolish. Many wear the Robe, but few keep the -Way.' - -'True. That is true.' Kim used the thoughtful, conciliatory tone of -those who wish to draw confidences. - -'But by her lights she is most right-minded. She desires greatly -that we should go with her to Buddh Gaya; her road being ours, as I -understand, for many days' journey to the southward.' - -'And?' - -'Patience a little. To this I said that my Search came before all -things. She had heard many foolish legends, but this great truth of -my River she had never heard. Such are the priests of the lower -hills! She knew the Abbot of Lung-Cho, but she did not know of my -River - nor the tale of the Arrow.' - -'And?' - -'I spoke therefore of the Search, and of the Way, and of matters -that were profitable; she desiring only that I should accompany her -and make prayer for a second son.' - -'Aha! "We women" do not think of anything save children,' said Kim -sleepily. - -'Now, since our roads run together for a while, I do not see that -we in any way depart from our Search if so be we accompany her - at -least as far as - I have forgotten the name of the city.' - -'Ohe!' said Kim, turning and speaking in a sharp whisper to one of -the Ooryas a few yards away. 'Where is your master's house?' - -'A little behind Saharunpore, among the fruit gardens.' He named -the village. - -'That was the place,' said the lama. 'So far, at least, we can go -with her.' - -'Flies go to carrion,' said the Oorya, in an abstracted voice. - -'For the sick cow a crow; for the sick man a Brahmin.' Kim breathed -the proverb impersonally to the shadow-tops of the trees overhead. - -The Oorya grunted and held his peace. - -'So then we go with her, Holy One?' - -'Is there any reason against? I can still step aside and try all -the rivers that the road overpasses. She desires that I should -come. She very greatly desires it.' - -Kim stifled a laugh in the quilt. When once that imperious old lady -had recovered from her natural awe of a lama he thought it probable -that she would be worth listening to. - -He was nearly asleep when the lama suddenly quoted a proverb: 'The -husbands of the talkative have a great reward hereafter.' Then Kim -heard him snuff thrice, and dozed off, still laughing. - -The diamond-bright dawn woke men and crows and bullocks together. -Kim sat up and yawned, shook himself, and thrilled with delight. -This was seeing the world in real truth; this was life as he would -have it - bustling and shouting, the buckling of belts, and beating -of bullocks and creaking of wheels, lighting of fires and cooking -of food, and new sights at every turn of the approving eye. The -morning mist swept off in a whorl of silver, the parrots shot away -to some distant river in shrieking green hosts: all the well-wheels -within ear-shot went to work. India was awake, and Kim was in the -middle of it, more awake and more excited than anyone, chewing on a -twig that he would presently use as a toothbrush; for he borrowed -right- and left-handedly from all the customs of the country he -knew and loved. There was no need to worry about food - no need to -spend a cowrie at the crowded stalls. He was the disciple of a holy -man annexed by a strong-willed old lady. All things would be -prepared for them, and when they were respectfully invited so to do -they would sit and eat. For the rest - Kim giggled here as he -cleaned his teeth - his hostess would rather heighten the enjoyment -of the road. He inspected her bullocks critically, as they came up -grunting and blowing under the yokes. If they went too fast -it was -not likely - there would be a pleasant seat for himself along the -pole; the lama would sit beside the driver. The escort, of course, -would walk. The old lady, equally of course, would talk a great -deal, and by what he had heard that conversation would not lack -salt. She was already ordering, haranguing, rebuking, and, it must -be said, cursing her servants for delays. - -'Get her her pipe. In the name of the Gods, get her her pipe and -stop her ill-omened mouth,' cried an Oorya, tying up his shapeless -bundles of bedding. 'She and the parrots are alike. They screech in -the dawn.' - -'The lead-bullocks! Hai! Look to the lead-bullocks!' They were -backing and wheeling as a grain-cart's axle caught them by the -horns. "Son of an owl, where dost thou go?' This to the grinning -carter. - -'Ai! Yai! Yai! That within there is the Queen of Delhi going to -pray for a son,' the man called back over his high load. 'Room for -the Queen of Delhi and her Prime Minister the grey monkey climbing -up his own sword!' Another cart loaded with bark for a down-country -tannery followed close behind, and its driver added a few -compliments as the ruth-bullocks backed and backed again. - -From behind the shaking curtains came one volley of invective. It -did not last long, but in kind and quality, in blistering, biting -appropriateness, it was beyond anything that even Kim had heard. He -could see the carter's bare chest collapse with amazement, as the -man salaamed reverently to the voice, leaped from the pole, and -helped the escort haul their volcano on to the main road. Here the -voice told him truthfully what sort of wife he had wedded, and what -she was doing in his absence. - -'Oh, shabash!' murmured Kim, unable to contain himself, as the man -slunk away. - -'Well done, indeed? It is a shame and a scandal that a poor woman -may not go to make prayer to her Gods except she be jostled and -insulted by all the refuse of Hindustan - that she must eat gali -[abuse] as men eat ghi. But I have yet a wag left to my tongue - a -word or two well spoken that serves the occasion. And still am I -without my tobacco! Who is the one-eyed and luckless son of shame -that has not yet prepared my pipe?' - -It was hastily thrust in by a hillman, and a trickle of thick smoke -from each corner of the curtains showed that peace was restored. - -If Kim had walked proudly the day before, disciple of a holy man, -today he paced with tenfold pride in the train of a semi-royal -procession, with a recognized place under the patronage of an old -lady of charming manners and infinite resource. The escort, their -heads tied up native-fashion, fell in on either side the cart, -shuffling enormous clouds of dust. - -The lama and Kim walked a little to one side; Kim chewing his stick -of sugarcane, and making way for no one under the status of a -priest. They could hear the old lady's tongue clack as steadily as -a rice-husker. She bade the escort tell her what was going on on -the road; and so soon as they were clear of the parao she flung -back the curtains and peered out, her veil a third across her face. -Her men did not eye her directly when she addressed them, and thus -the proprieties were more or less observed. - -A dark, sallowish District Superintendent of Police, faultlessly -uniformed, an Englishman, trotted by on a tired horse, and, seeing -from her retinue what manner of person she was, chaffed her. - -'O mother,' he cried, 'do they do this in the zenanas? Suppose an -Englishman came by and saw that thou hast no nose?' - -'What?' she shrilled back. 'Thine own mother has no nose? Why say -so, then, on the open road?' - -It was a fair counter. The Englishman threw up his hand with the -gesture of a man hit at sword-play. She laughed and nodded. - -'Is this a face to tempt virtue aside?' She withdrew all her veil -and stared at him. - -It was by no means lovely, but as the man gathered up his reins he -called it a Moon of Paradise, a Disturber of Integrity, and a few -other fantastic epithets which doubled her up with mirth. - -'That is a nut-cut [rogue],' she said. 'All police-constables are -nut-cuts; but the police-wallahs are the worst. Hai, my son, thou -hast never learned all that since thou camest from Belait [Europe]. -Who suckled thee?' - -'A pahareen - a hillwoman of Dalhousie, my mother. Keep thy beauty -under a shade - O Dispenser of Delights,' and he was gone. - -'These be the sort' - she took a fine judicial tone, and stuffed -her mouth with pan - 'These be the sort to oversee justice. They -know the land and the customs of the land. The others, all new from -Europe, suckled by white women and learning our tongues from books, -are worse than the pestilence. They do harm to Kings.' Then she -told a long, long tale to the world at large, of an ignorant young -policeman who had disturbed some small Hill Rajah, a ninth cousin -of her own, in the matter of a trivial land-case, winding up with a -quotation from a work by no means devotional. - -Then her mood changed, and she bade one of the escort ask whether -the lama would walk alongside and discuss matters of religion. So -Kim dropped back into the dust and returned to his sugar-cane. For -an hour or more the lama's tam-o'shanter showed like a moon through -the haze; and, from all he heard, Kim gathered that the old woman -wept. One of the Ooryas half apologized for his rudeness overnight, -saying that he had never known his mistress of so bland a temper, -and he ascribed it to the presence of the strange priest. -Personally, he believed in Brahmins, though, like all natives, he -was acutely aware of their cunning and their greed. Still, when -Brahmins but irritated with begging demands the mother of his -master's wife, and when she sent them away so angry that they -cursed the whole retinue (which was the real reason of the second -off-side bullock going lame, and of the pole breaking the night -before), he was prepared to accept any priest of any other -denomination in or out of India. To this Kim assented with wise -nods, and bade the Oorya observe that the lama took no money, and -that the cost of his and Kim's food would be repaid a hundred times -in the good luck that would attend the caravan henceforward. He -also told stories of Lahore city, and sang a song or two which made -the escort laugh. As a town-mouse well acquainted with the latest -songs by the most fashionable composers - they are women for the -most part - Kim had a distinct advantage over men from a little -fruit-village behind Saharunpore, but he let that advantage be -inferred. - -At noon they turned aside to eat, and the meal was good, plentiful, -and well-served on plates of clean leaves, in decency, out of drift -of the dust. They gave the scraps to certain beggars, that all -requirements might be fulfilled, and sat down to a long, luxurious -smoke. The old lady had retreated behind her curtains, but mixed -most freely in the talk, her servants arguing with and -contradicting her as servants do throughout the East. She compared -the cool and the pines of the Kangra and Kulu hills with the dust -and the mangoes of the South; she told a tale of some old local -Gods at the edge of her husband's territory; she roundly abused the -tobacco which she was then smoking, reviled all Brahmins, and -speculated without reserve on the coming of many grandsons. - - - - - -Chapter 5 - - -Here come I to my own again -Fed, forgiven, and known again -Claimed by bone of my bone again, -And sib to flesh of my flesh! -The fatted calf is dressed for me, -But the husks have greater zest for me ... -I think my pigs will be best for me, -So I'm off to the styes afresh. - -The Prodigal Son. - - -Once more the lazy, string-tied, shuffling procession got under -way, and she slept till they reached the next halting-stage. It was -a very short march, and time lacked an hour to sundown, so Kim cast -about for means of amusement. - -'But why not sit and rest?' said one of the escort. 'Only the -devils and the English walk to and fro without reason.' - -'Never make friends with the Devil, a Monkey, or a Boy. No man -knows what they will do next,' said his fellow. - -Kim turned a scornful back - he did not want to hear the old story -how the Devil played with the boys and repented of it and walked -idly across country. - -The lama strode after him. All that day, whenever they passed a -stream, he had turned aside to look at it, but in no case had he -received any warning that he had found his River. Insensibly, too, -the comfort of speaking to someone in a reasonable tongue, and of -being properly considered and respected as her spiritual adviser by -a well-born woman, had weaned his thoughts a little from the -Search. And further, he was prepared to spend serene years in his -quest; having nothing of the white man's impatience, but a great -faith. - -'Where goest thou?' he called after Kim. - -'Nowhither - it was a small march, and all this' - Kim waved his -hands abroad - 'is new to me.' - -'She is beyond question a wise and a discerning woman. But it is -hard to meditate when -' - -'All women are thus.' Kim spoke as might have Solomon. - -'Before the lamassery was a broad platform,' the lama muttered, -looping up the well-worn rosary, 'of stone. On that I have left the -marks of my feet - pacing to and fro with these.' - -He clicked the beads, and began the 'Om mane pudme hum's of his -devotion; grateful for the cool, the quiet, and the absence of -dust. - -One thing after another drew Kim's idle eye across the plain. There -was no purpose in his wanderings, except that the build of the huts -near by seemed new, and he wished to investigate. - -They came out on a broad tract of grazing-ground, brown and purple -in the afternoon light, with a heavy clump of mangoes in the -centre. It struck Kim as curious that no shrine stood in so -eligible a spot: the boy was observing as any priest for these -things. Far across the plain walked side by side four men, made -small by the distance. He looked intently under his curved palms -and caught the sheen of brass. - -'Soldiers. White soldiers!' said he. 'Let us see.' - -'It is always soldiers when thou and I go out alone together. But I -have never seen the white soldiers.' - -'They do no harm except when they are drunk. Keep behind this -tree.' - -They stepped behind the thick trunks in the cool dark of the mango- -tope. Two little figures halted; the other two came forward -uncertainly. They were the advance-party of a regiment on the -march, sent out, as usual, to mark the camp. They bore five-foot -sticks with fluttering flags, and called to each other as they -spread over the flat earth. - -At last they entered the mango-grove, walking heavily. - -'It's here or hereabouts - officers' tents under the trees, I take -it, an' the rest of us can stay outside. Have they marked out for -the baggage-wagons behind?' - -They cried again to their comrades in the distance, and the rough -answer came back faint and mellowed. - -'Shove the flag in here, then,' said one. - -'What do they prepare?' said the lama, wonderstruck. 'This is a -great and terrible world. What is the device on the flag?' - -A soldier thrust a stave within a few feet of them, grunted -discontentedly, pulled it up again, conferred with his companion, -who looked up and down the shaded cave of greenery, and returned -it. - -Kim stared with all his eyes, his breath coming short and sharp -between his teeth. The soldiers stamped off into the sunshine. - -'O Holy One!' he gasped. 'My horoscope! The drawing in the dust by -the priest at Umballa! Remember what he said. First come two - -ferashes - to make all things ready - in a dark place, as it is -always at the beginning of a vision.' - -'But this is not vision,' said the lama. 'It is the world's -Illusion, and no more.' - -'And after them comes the Bull - the Red Bull on the green field. -Look! It is he!' - -He pointed to the flag that was snap snapping in the evening breeze -not ten feet away. It was no more than an ordinary camp marking- -flag; but the regiment, always punctilious in matters of millinery, -had charged it with the regimental device, the Red Bull, which is -the crest of the Mavericks - the great Red Bull on a background of -Irish green. - -'I see, and now I remember.' said the lama. 'Certainly it is thy -Bull. Certainly, also, the two men came to make all ready.' - -'They are soldiers - white soldiers. What said the priest? "The -sign over against the Bull is the sign of War and armed men." Holy -One, this thing touches my Search.' - -'True. It is true.' The lama stared fixedly at the device that -flamed like a ruby in the dusk. 'The priest at Umballa said that -thine was the sign of War.' - -'What is to do now?' - -'Wait. Let us wait.' - -'Even now the darkness clears,' said Kim. It was only natural that -the descending sun should at last strike through the tree-trunks, -across the grove, filling it with mealy gold light for a few -minutes; but to Kim it was the crown of the Umballa Brahmin's -prophecy. - -'Hark!' said the lama. 'One beats a drum - far off!' - -At first the sound, carrying diluted through the still air, -resembled the beating of an artery in the head. Soon a sharpness -was added. - -'Ah! The music,' Kim explained. He knew the sound of a regimental -band, but it amazed the lama. - -At the far end of the plain a heavy, dusty column crawled in sight. -Then the wind brought the tune: - -We crave your condescension -To tell you what we know -Of marching in the Mulligan Guards -To Sligo Port below! - -Here broke in the shrill-tongued fifes: - -We shouldered arms, -We marched - we marched away. -From Phoenix Park -We marched to Dublin Bay. -The drums and the fifes, -Oh, sweetly they did play, -As we marched - marched - marched - with the -Mulligan Guards! - -It was the band of the Mavericks playing the regiment to camp; for -the men were route-marching with their baggage. The rippling column -swung into the level - carts behind it divided left and right, ran -about like an ant-hill, and ... - -'But this is sorcery!' said the lama. - -The plain dotted itself with tents that seemed to rise, all spread, -from the carts. Another rush of men invaded the grove, pitched a -huge tent in silence, ran up yet eight or nine more by the side of -it, unearthed cooking-pots, pans, and bundles, which were taken -possession of by a crowd of native servants; and behold the mango- -tope turned into an orderly town as they watched! - -'Let us go,' said the lama, sinking back afraid, as the fires -twinkled and white officers with jingling swords stalked into the -Mess-tent. - -'Stand back in the shadow. No one can see beyond the light of a -fire,' said Kim, his eyes still on the flag. He had never before -watched the routine of a seasoned regiment pitching camp in thirty -minutes. - -'Look! look! look!' clucked the lama. 'Yonder comes a priest.' It -was Bennett, the Church of England Chaplain of the regiment, -limping in dusty black. One of his flock had made some rude remarks -about the Chaplain's mettle; and to abash him Bennett had marched -step by step with the men that day. The black dress, gold cross on -the watch-chain, the hairless face, and the soft, black wideawake -hat would have marked him as a holy man anywhere in all India. He -dropped into a camp-chair by the door of the Mess-tent and slid off -his boots. Three or four officers gathered round him, laughing and -joking over his exploit. - -'The talk of white men is wholly lacking in dignity,' said the -lama, who judged only by tone. 'But I considered the countenance of -that priest and I think he is learned. Is it likely that he will -understand our talk? I would talk to him of my Search.' - -'Never speak to a white man till he is fed,' said Kim, quoting a -well-known proverb. 'They will eat now, and - and I do not think -they are good to beg from. Let us go back to the resting-place. -After we have eaten we will come again. It certainly was a Red Bull -- my Red Bull.' - -They were both noticeably absent-minded when the old lady's retinue -set their meal before them; so none broke their reserve, for it is -not lucky to annoy guests. - -'Now,' said Kim, picking his teeth, 'we will return to that place; -but thou, O Holy One, must wait a little way off, because thy feet -are heavier than mine and I am anxious to see more of that Red -Bull.' - -'But how canst thou understand the talk? Walk slowly. The road is -dark,' the lama replied uneasily. - -Kim put the question aside. 'I marked a place near to the trees,' -said he, 'where thou canst sit till I call. Nay,' as the lama made -some sort of protest, 'remember this is my Search - the Search for -my Red Bull. The sign in the Stars was not for thee. I know a -little of the customs of white soldiers, and I always desire to see -some new things.' - -'What dost thou not know of this world?' The lama squatted -obediently in a little hollow of the ground not a hundred yards -from the hump of the mango-trees dark against the star-powdered -sky. - -'Stay till I call.' Kim flitted into the dusk. He knew that in all -probability there would be sentries round the camp, and smiled to -himself as he heard the thick boots of one. A boy who can dodge -over the roofs of Lahore city on a moonlight night, using every -little patch and corner of darkness to discomfit his pursuer, is -not likely to be checked by a line of well-trained soldiers. He -paid them the compliment of crawling between a couple, and, running -and halting, crouching and dropping flat, worked his way toward the -lighted Mess-tent where, close pressed behind the mango-tree, he -waited till some chance word should give him a returnable lead. - -The one thing now in his mind was further information as to the Red -Bull. For aught he knew, and Kim's limitations were as curious and -sudden as his expansions, the men, the nine hundred thorough devils -of his father's prophecy, might pray to the beast after dark, as -Hindus pray to the Holy Cow. That at least would be entirely right -and logical, and the padre with the gold cross would be therefore -the man to consult in the matter. On the other hand, remembering -sober-faced padres whom he had avoided in Lahore city, the priest -might be an inquisitive nuisance who would bid him learn. But had -it not been proven at Umballa that his sign in the high heavens -portended War and armed men? Was he not the Friend of the Stars as -well as of all the World, crammed to the teeth with dreadful -secrets? Lastly - and firstly as the undercurrent of all his quick -thoughts -this adventure, though he did not know the English word, -was a stupendous lark - a delightful continuation of his old -flights across the housetops, as well as the fulfilment of sublime -prophecy. He lay belly-flat and wriggled towards the Mess-tent -door, a hand on the amulet round his neck. - -It was as he suspected. The Sahibs prayed to their God; for in the -centre of the Mess-table - its sole ornament when they were on the -line of march - stood a golden bull fashioned from old-time loot of -the Summer Palace at Pekin - a red-gold bull with lowered head, -ramping upon a field of Irish green. To him the Sahibs held out -their glasses and cried aloud confusedly. - -Now the Reverend Arthur Bennett always left Mess after that toast, -and being rather tired by his march his movements were more abrupt -than usual. Kim, with slightly raised head, was still staring at -his totem on the table, when the Chaplain stepped on his right -shoulder-blade. Kim flinched under the leather, and, rolling -sideways, brought down the Chaplain, who, ever a man of action, -caught him by the throat and nearly choked the life out of him. Kim -then kicked him desperately in the stomach. Mr Bennett gasped and -doubled up, but without relaxing his grip, rolled over again, and -silently hauled Kim to his own tent. The Mavericks were incurable -practical jokers; and it occurred to the Englishman that silence -was best till he had made complete inquiry. - -'Why, it's a boy!' he said, as he drew his prize under the light of -the tent-pole lantern, then shaking him severely cried: 'What were -you doing? You're a thief. Choor? Mallum?' His Hindustani was very -limited, and the ruffled and disgusted Kim intended to keep to the -character laid down for him. As he recovered his breath he was -inventing a beautifully plausible tale of his relations to some -scullion, and at the same time keeping a keen eye on and a little -under the Chaplain's left arm-pit. The chance came; he ducked for -the doorway, but a long arm shot out and clutched at his neck, -snapping the amulet-string and closing on the amulet. - -'Give it me. O, give it me. Is it lost? Give me the papers.' - -The words were in English - the tinny, saw-cut English of the -native-bred, and the Chaplain jumped. - -'A scapular,' said he, opening his hand. 'No, some sort of heathen -charm. Why - why, do you speak English? Little boys who steal are -beaten. You know that?' - -'I do not - I did not steal.' Kim danced in agony like a terrier at -a lifted stick. 'Oh, give it me. It is my charm. Do not thieve it -from me.' - -The Chaplain took no heed, but, going to the tent door, called -aloud. A fattish, clean-shaven man appeared. - -'I want your advice, Father Victor,' said Bennett. 'I found this -boy in the dark outside the Mess-tent. Ordinarily, I should have -chastised him and let him go, because I believe him to be a thief. -But it seems he talks English, and he attaches some sort of value -to a charm round his neck. I thought perhaps you might help me.' - -Between himself and the Roman Catholic Chaplain of the Irish -contingent lay, as Bennett believed, an unbridgeable gulf, but it -was noticeable that whenever the Church of England dealt with a -human problem she was very likely to call in the Church of Rome. -Bennett's official abhorrence of the Scarlet Woman and all her ways -was only equalled by his private respect for Father Victor. - -'A thief talking English, is it? Let's look at his charm. No, it's -not a scapular, Bennett.' He held out his hand. - -'But have we any right to open it? A sound whipping -' - -'I did not thieve,' protested Kim. 'You have hit me kicks all over -my body. Now give me my charm and I will go away.' - -'Not quite so fast. We'll look first,' said Father Victor, -leisurely rolling out poor Kimball O'Hara's 'ne varietur' -parchment, his clearance-certificate, and Kim's baptismal -certificate. On this last O'Hara - with some confused idea that he -was doing wonders for his son - had scrawled scores of times: 'Look -after the boy. Please look after the boy' - signing his name and -regimental number in full. - -'Powers of Darkness below!" said Father Victor, passing all over to -Mr Bennett. 'Do you know what these things are?' - -'Yes.' said Kim. 'They are mine, and I want to go away.' - -'I do not quite understand,' said Mr Bennett. 'He probably brought -them on purpose. It may be a begging trick of some kind.' - -'I never saw a beggar less anxious to stay with his company, then. -There's the makings of a gay mystery here. Ye believe in -Providence, Bennett?' - -'I hope so.' - -'Well, I believe in miracles, so it comes to the same thing. Powers -of Darkness! Kimball O'Hara! And his son! But then he's a native, -and I saw Kimball married myself to Annie Shott. How long have you -had these things, boy?' - -'Ever since I was a little baby.' - -Father Victor stepped forward quickly and opened the front of Kim's -upper garment. 'You see, Bennett, he's not very black. What's your -name?' - -'Kim.' - -'Or Kimball?' - -'Perhaps. Will you let me go away?' - -'What else?' - -'They call me Kim Rishti ke. That is Kim of the Rishti.' - -'What is that - "Rishti"?' - -'Eye-rishti - that was the Regiment - my father's.' - -'Irish - oh, I see.' - -'Yess. That was how my father told me. My father, he has lived.' - -'Has lived where?' - -'Has lived. Of course he is dead - gone-out.' - -'Oh! That's your abrupt way of putting it, is it?' - -Bennett interrupted. 'It is possible I have done the boy an -injustice. He is certainly white, though evidently neglected. I am -sure I must have bruised him. I do not think spirits -' - -'Get him a glass of sherry, then, and let him squat on the cot. -Now, Kim,' continued Father Victor, 'no one is going to hurt you. -Drink that down and tell us about yourself. The truth, if you've no -objection.' - -Kim coughed a little as he put down the empty glass, and -considered. This seemed a time for caution and fancy. Small boys -who prowl about camps are generally turned out after a whipping. -But he had received no stripes; the amulet was evidently working in -his favour, and it looked as though the Umballa horoscope and the -few words that he could remember of his father's maunderings fitted -in most miraculously. Else why did the fat padre seem so impressed, -and why the glass of hot yellow drink from the lean one? - -'My father, he is dead in Lahore city since I was very little. The -woman, she kept kabarri shop near where the hire-carriages are.' -Kim began with a plunge, not quite sure how far the truth would -serve him. - -'Your mother?' - -'No!' - with a gesture of disgust. 'She went out when I was born. -My father, he got these papers from the Jadoo-Gher what do you call -that?' (Bennett nodded) 'because he was in good-standing. What do -you call that?' (again Bennett nodded). 'My father told me that. He -said, too, and also the Brahmin who made the drawing in the dust at -Umballa two days ago, he said, that I shall find a Red Bull on a -green field and that the Bull shall help me.' - -'A phenomenal little liar,' muttered Bennett. - -'Powers of Darkness below, what a country!' murmured Father Victor. -'Go on, Kim.' - -'I did not thieve. Besides, I am just now disciple of a very holy -man. He is sitting outside. We saw two men come with flags, making -the place ready. That is always so in a dream, or on account of a - -a - prophecy. So I knew it was come true. I saw the Red Bull on the -green field, and my father he said: "Nine hundred pukka devils and -the Colonel riding on a horse will look after you when you find the -Red Bull!" I did not know what to do when I saw the Bull, but I -went away and I came again when it was dark. I wanted to see the -Bull again, and I saw the Bull again with the - the Sahibs praying -to it. I think the Bull shall help me. The holy man said so too. He -is sitting outside. Will you hurt him, if I call him a shout now? -He is very holy. He can witness to all the things I say, and he -knows I am not a thief.' - -'"Sahibs praying to a bull!" What in the world do you make of -that?' said Bennett. "'Disciple of a holy man!" Is the boy mad?' - -'It's O'Hara's boy, sure enough. O'Hara's boy leagued with all the -Powers of Darkness. It's very much what his father would have done -if he was drunk. We'd better invite the holy man. He may know -something.' - -'He does not know anything,' said Kim. 'I will show you him if you -come. He is my master. Then afterwards we can go.' - -'Powers of Darkness!' was all that Father Victor could say, as -Bennett marched off, with a firm hand on Kim's shoulder. - -They found the lama where he had dropped. - -'The Search is at an end for me,' shouted Kim in the vernacular. 'I -have found the Bull, but God knows what comes next. They will not -hurt you. Come to the fat priest's tent with this thin man and see -the end. It is all new, and they cannot talk Hindi. They are only -uncurried donkeys.' - -'Then it is not well to make a jest of their ignorance,' the lama -returned. 'I am glad if thou art rejoiced, chela.' - -Dignified and unsuspicious, he strode into the little tent, saluted -the Churches as a Churchman, and sat down by the open charcoal -brazier. The yellow lining of the tent reflected in the lamplight -made his face red-gold. - -Bennett looked at him with the triple-ringed uninterest of the -creed that lumps nine-tenths of the world under the title of -'heathen'. - -'And what was the end of the Search? What gift has the Red Bull -brought?' The lama addressed himself to Kim. - -'He says, "What are you going to do?"' Bennett was staring uneasily -at Father Victor, and Kim, for his own ends, took upon himself the -office of interpreter. - -'I do not see what concern this fakir has with the boy, who is -probably his dupe or his confederate,' Bennett began. 'We cannot -allow an English boy - Assuming that he is the son of a Mason, the -sooner he goes to the Masonic Orphanage the better.' - -'Ah! That's your opinion as Secretary to the Regimental Lodge,' -said Father Victor; 'but we might as well tell the old man what we -are going to do. He doesn't look like a villain.' - -'My experience is that one can never fathom the Oriental mind. Now, -Kimball, I wish you to tell this man what I say word for word.' - -Kim gathered the import of the next few sentences and began thus: - -'Holy One, the thin fool who looks like a camel says that I am the -son of a Sahib.' - -'But how?' - -'Oh, it is true. I knew it since my birth, but he could only find -it out by rending the amulet from my neck and reading all the -papers. He thinks that once a Sahib is always a Sahib, and between -the two of them they purpose to keep me in this Regiment or to send -me to a madrissah [a school]. It has happened before. I have always -avoided it. The fat fool is of one mind and the camel-like one of -another. But that is no odds. I may spend one night here and -perhaps the next. It has happened before. Then I will run away and -return to thee.' - -'But tell them that thou art my chela. Tell them how thou didst -come to me when I was faint and bewildered. Tell them of our -Search, and they will surely let thee go now.' - -'I have already told them. They laugh, and they talk of the -police.' - -'What are you saying?' asked Mr Bennett. - -'Oah. He only says that if you do not let me go it will stop him in -his business - his ur-gent private af-fairs.' This last was a -reminiscence of some talk with a Eurasian clerk in the Canal -Department, but it only drew a smile, which nettled him. 'And if -you did know what his business was you would not be in such a -beastly hurry to interfere.' - -'What is it then?' said Father Victor, not without feeling, as he -watched the lama's face. - -'There is a River in this country which he wishes to find so verree -much. It was put out by an Arrow which -' Kim tapped his foot -impatiently as he translated in his own mind from the vernacular to -his clumsy English. 'Oah, it was made by our Lord God Buddha, you -know, and if you wash there you are washed away from all your sins -and made as white as cotton-wool.' (Kim had heard mission-talk in -his time.) 'I am his disciple, and we must find that River. It is -so verree valuable to us.' - -'Say that again,' said Bennett. Kim obeyed, with amplifications. - -'But this is gross blasphemy!' cried the Church of England. - -'Tck! Tck!' said Father Victor sympathetically. 'I'd give a good -deal to be able to talk the vernacular. A river that washes away -sin! And how long have you two been looking for it?' - -'Oh, many days. Now we wish to go away and look for it again. It is -not here, you see.' - -'I see,' said Father Victor gravely. 'But he can't go on in that -old man's company. It would be different, Kim, if you were not a -soldier's son. Tell him that the Regiment will take care of you and -make you as good a man as your - as good a man as can be. Tell him -that if he believes in miracles he must believe that -' - -'There is no need to play on his credulity,' Bennett interrupted. - -'I'm doing no such thing. He must believe that the boy's coming -here -to his own Regiment - in search of his Red Bull is in the -nature of a miracle. Consider the chances against it, Bennett. This -one boy in all India, and our Regiment of all others on the line o' -march for him to meet with! It's predestined on the face of it. -Yes, tell him it's Kismet. Kismet, mallum? [Do you understand?]' - -He turned towards the lama, to whom he might as well have talked of -Mesopotamia. - -'They say,' - the old man's eye lighted at Kim's speech 'they say -that the meaning of my horoscope is now accomplished, and that -being led back - though as thou knowest I went out of curiosity - -to these people and their Red Bull I must needs go to a madrissah -and be turned into a Sahib. Now I make pretence of agreement, for -at the worst it will be but a few meals eaten away from thee. Then -I will slip away and follow down the road to Saharunpore. -Therefore, Holy One, keep with that Kulu woman - on no account -stray far from her cart till I come again. Past question, my sign -is of War and of armed men. See how they have given me wine to -drink and set me upon a bed of honour! My father must have been -some great person. So if they raise me to honour among them, good. -If not, good again. However it goes, I will run back to thee when I -am tired. But stay with the Rajputni, or I shall miss thy feet ... -Oah yess,' said the boy, 'I have told him everything you tell me to -say.' - -'And I cannot see any need why he should wait,' said Bennett, -feeling in his trouser-pocket. 'We can investigate the details -later - and I will give him a ru -' - -'Give him time. Maybe he's fond of the lad,' said Father Victor, -half arresting the clergyman's motion. - -The lama dragged forth his rosary and pulled his huge hat-brim over -his eyes. - -'What can he want now?' - -'He says' - Kim put up one hand. 'He says: "Be quiet." He wants to -speak to me by himself. You see, you do not know one little word of -what he says, and I think if you talk he will perhaps give you very -bad curses. When he takes those beads like that, you see, he always -wants to be quiet.' - -The two Englishmen sat overwhelmed, but there was a look in -Bennett's eye that promised ill for Kim when he should be relaxed -to the religious arm. - -'A Sahib and the son of a Sahib -' The lama's voice was harsh with -pain. 'But no white man knows the land and the customs of the land -as thou knowest. How comes it this is true?' - -'What matter, Holy One? - but remember it is only for a night or -two. Remember, I can change swiftly. It will all be as it was when -I first spoke to thee under Zam-Zammah the great gun -' - -'As a boy in the dress of white men - when I first went to the -Wonder House. And a second time thou wast a Hindu. What shall the -third incarnation be?' He chuckled drearily. 'Ah, chela, thou has -done a wrong to an old man because my heart went out to thee.' - -'And mine to thee. But how could I know that the Red Bull would -bring me to this business?' - -The lama covered his face afresh, and nervously rattled the rosary. -Kim squatted beside him and laid hold upon a fold of his clothing. - -'Now it is understood that the boy is a Sahib?' he went on in a -muffled tone. 'Such a Sahib as was he who kept the images in the -Wonder House.' The lama's experience of white men was limited. He -seemed to be repeating a lesson. 'So then it is not seemly that he -should do other than as the Sahibs do. He must go back to his own -people.' - -'For a day and a night and a day,' Kim pleaded. - -'No, ye don't!' Father Victor saw Kim edging towards the door, and -interposed a strong leg. - -'I do not understand the customs of white men. The Priest of the -Images in the Wonder House in Lahore was more courteous than the -thin one here. This boy will be taken from me. They will make a -Sahib of my disciple? Woe to me! How shall I find my River? Have -they no disciples? Ask.' - -'He says he is very sorree that he cannot find the River now any -more. He says, Why have you no disciples, and stop bothering him? -He wants to be washed of his sins.' - -Neither Bennett nor Father Victor found any answer ready. - -Said Kim in English, distressed for the lama's agony: 'I think if -you will let me go now we will walk away quietly and not steal. We -will look for that River like before I was caught. I wish I did not -come here to find the Red Bull and all that sort of thing. I do not -want it.' - -'It's the very best day's work you ever did for yourself, young -man,' said Bennett. - -'Good heavens, I don't know how to console him,' said Father -Victor, watching the lama intently. 'He can't take the boy away -with him, and yet he's a good man - I'm sure he's a good man. -Bennett, if you give him that rupee he'll curse you root and -branch!' - -They listened to each other's breathing - three - five full -minutes. Then the lama raised his head, and looked forth across -them into space and emptiness. - -'And I am a Follower of the Way,' he said bitterly. 'The sin is -mine and the punishment is mine. I made believe to myself for now I -see it was but make-belief - that thou wast sent to me to aid in -the Search. So my heart went out to thee for thy charity and thy -courtesy and the wisdom of thy little years. But those who follow -the Way must permit not the fire of any desire or attachment, for -that is all Illusion. As says ...' He quoted an old, old Chinese -text, backed it with another, and reinforced these with a third. 'I -stepped aside from the Way, my chela. It was no fault of thine. I -delighted in the sight of life, the new people upon the roads, and -in thy joy at seeing these things. I was pleased with thee who -should have considered my Search and my Search alone. Now I am -sorrowful because thou art taken away and my River is far from me. -It is the Law which I have broken!' - -'Powers of Darkness below!' said Father Victor, who, wise in the -confessional, heard the pain in every sentence. - -'I see now that the sign of the Red Bull was a sign for me as well -as for thee. All Desire is red - and evil. I will do penance and -find my River alone.' - -'At least go back to the Kulu woman,' said Kim, 'otherwise thou -wilt be lost upon the roads. She will feed thee till I run back to -thee.' - -The lama waved a hand to show that the matter was finally settled -in his mind. - -'Now,' - his tone altered as he turned to Kim, - 'what will they do -with thee? At least I may, acquiring merit, wipe out past ill.' - -'Make me a Sahib - so they think. The day after tomorrow I return. -Do not grieve.' - -'Of what sort? Such an one as this or that man?' He pointed to -Father Victor. 'Such an one as those I saw this evening, men wearing -swords and stamping heavily?' - -'Maybe.' - -'That is not well. These men follow desire and come to emptiness. -Thou must not be of their sort.' - -'The Umballa priest said that my Star was War,' Kim interjected. 'I -will ask these fools - but there is truly no need. I will run away -this night, for all I wanted to see the new things.' - -Kim put two or three questions in English to Father Victor, -translating the replies to the lama. - -Then: 'He says, "You take him from me and you cannot say what you -will make him." He says, "Tell me before I go, for it is not a -small thing to make a child."' - -'You will be sent to a school. Later on, we shall see. Kimball, I -suppose you'd like to be a soldier?' - -'Gorah-log [white-folk]. No-ah! No-ah!' Kim shook his head -violently. There was nothing in his composition to which drill and -routine appealed. 'I will not be a soldier.' - -'You will be what you're told to be,' said Bennett; 'and you should -be grateful that we're going to help you.' - -Kim smiled compassionately. If these men lay under the delusion -that he would do anything that he did not fancy, so much the -better. - -Another long silence followed. Bennett fidgeted with impatience, -and suggested calling a sentry to evict the fakir. - -'Do they give or sell learning among the Sahibs? Ask them,' said -the lama, and Kim interpreted. - -'They say that money is paid to the teacher - but that money the -Regiment will give ... What need? It is only for a night.' - -'And - the more money is paid the better learning is given?' The -lama disregarded Kim's plans for an early flight. 'It is no wrong -to pay for learning. To help the ignorant to wisdom is always a -merit.' The rosary clicked furiously as an abacus. Then he faced -his oppressors. - -'Ask them for how much money do they give a wise and suitable -teaching? And in what city is that teaching given?' - -'Well,' said Father Victor in English, when Kim had translated, -'that depends. The Regiment would pay for you all the time you are -at the Military Orphanage; or you might go on the Punjab Masonic -Orphanage's list (not that he or you 'ud understand what that -means); but the best schooling a boy can get in India is, of -course, at St Xavier's in Partibus at Lucknow.' This took some time -to interpret, for Bennett wished to cut it short. - -'He wants to know how much?' said Kim placidly. - -'Two or three hundred rupees a year.' Father Victor was long past -any sense of amazement. Bennett, impatient, did not understand. - -'He says: "Write that name and the money upon a paper and give it -him." And he says you must write your name below, because he is -going to write a letter in some days to you. He says you are a good -man. He says the other man is a fool. He is going away.' - -The lama rose suddenly. 'I follow my Search,' he cried, and was -gone. - -'He'll run slap into the sentries,' cried Father Victor, jumping up -as the lama stalked out; 'but I can't leave the boy.' Kim made -swift motion to follow, but checked himself. There was no sound of -challenge outside. The lama had disappeared. - -Kim settled himself composedly on the Chaplain's cot. At least the -lama had promised that he would stay with the Raiput woman from -Kulu, and the rest was of the smallest importance. It pleased him -that the two padres were so evidently excited. They talked long in -undertones, Father Victor urging some scheme on Mr Bennett, who -seemed incredulous. All this was very new and fascinating, but Kim -felt sleepy. They called men into the tent - one of them certainly -was the Colonel, as his father had prophesied - and they asked him -an infinity of questions, chiefly about the woman who looked after -him, all of which Kim answered truthfully. They did not seem to -think the woman a good guardian. - -After all, this was the newest of his experiences. Sooner or later, -if he chose, he could escape into great, grey, formless India, -beyond tents and padres and colonels. Meantime, if the Sahibs were -to be impressed, he would do his best to impress them. He too was a -white man. - -After much talk that he could not comprehend, they handed him over -to a sergeant, who had strict instructions not to let him escape. -The Regiment would go on to Umballa, and Kim would be sent up, -partly at the expense of the Lodge and in part by subscription, to -a place called Sanawar. - -'It's miraculous past all whooping, Colonel,' said Father Victor, -when he had talked without a break for ten minutes. 'His Buddhist -friend has levanted after taking my name and address. I can't quite -make out whether he'll pay for the boy's education or whether he is -preparing some sort of witchcraft on his own account.' Then to Kim: -'You'll live to be grateful to your friend the Red Bull yet. We'll -make a man of you at Sanawar - even at the price o' making you a -Protestant.' - -'Certainly - most certainly,' said Bennett. - -'But you will not go to Sanawar,' said Kim. - -'But we will go to Sanawar, little man. That's the order of the -Commander-in-Chief, who's a trifle more important than O'Hara's -son.' - -'You will not go to Sanawar. You will go to thee War.' - -There was a shout of laughter from the full tent. - -'When you know your own Regiment a trifle better you won't confuse -the line of march with line of battle, Kim. We hope to go to "thee -War" sometime.' - -'Oah, I know all thatt.' Kim drew his bow again at a venture. If -they were not going to the war, at least they did not know what he -knew of the talk in the veranda at Umballa. - -'I know you are not at thee war now; but I tell you that as soon as -you get to Umballa you will be sent to the war - the new war. It is -a war of eight thousand men, besides the guns.' - -'That's explicit. D'you add prophecy to your other gifts? Take him -along, sergeant. Take up a suit for him from the Drums, an' take -care he doesn't slip through your fingers. Who says the age of -miracles is gone by? I think I'll go to bed. My poor mind's -weakening.' - -At the far end of the camp, silent as a wild animal, an hour later -sat Kim, newly washed all over, in a horrible stiff suit that -rasped his arms and legs. - -'A most amazin' young bird,' said the sergeant. 'He turns up in -charge of a yellow-headed buck-Brahmin priest, with his father's -Lodge certificates round his neck, talkin' God knows what all of a -red bull. The buck-Brahmin evaporates without explanations, an' the -bhoy sets cross-legged on the Chaplain's bed prophesyin' bloody war -to the men at large. Injia's a wild land for a God-fearin' man. -I'll just tie his leg to the tent-pole in case he'll go through the -roof. What did ye say about the war?' - -'Eight thousand men, besides guns,' said Kim. 'Very soon you will -see.' - -'You're a consolin' little imp. Lie down between the Drums an' go -to bye-bye. Those two boys will watch your slumbers.' - - - - - -Chapter 6 - - -Now I remember comrades - -Old playmates on new seas - -Whenas we traded orpiment -Among the savages. -Ten thousand leagues to southward, -And thirty years removed - -They knew not noble Valdez, -But me they knew and loved. - -Song of Diego Valdez. - - -Very early in the morning the white tents came down and disappeared -as the Mavericks took a side-road to Umballa. It did not skirt the -resting-place, and Kim, trudging beside a baggage-cart under fire -of comments from soldiers' wives, was not so confident as -overnight. He discovered that he was closely watched - Father -Victor on the one side, and Mr Bennett on the other. - -In the forenoon the column checked. A camel-orderly handed the -Colonel a letter. He read it, and spoke to a Major. Half a mile in -the rear, Kim heard a hoarse and joyful clamour rolling down on him -through the thick dust. Then someone beat him on the back, crying: -'Tell us how ye knew, ye little limb of Satan? Father dear, see if -ye can make him tell.' - -A pony ranged alongside, and he was hauled on to the priest's -saddlebow. - -'Now, my son, your prophecy of last night has come true. Our orders -are to entrain at Umballa for the Front tomorrow.' - -'What is thatt?' said Kim, for 'front' and 'entrain' were newish -words to him. - -'We are going to "thee War," as you called it.' - -'Of course you are going to thee War. I said last night.' - -'Ye did; but, Powers o' Darkness, how did ye know?' - -Kim's eyes sparkled. He shut his lips, nodded his head, and looked -unspeakable things. The Chaplain moved on through the dust, and -privates, sergeants, and subalterns called one another's attention -to the boy. The Colonel, at the head of the column, stared at him -curiously. 'It was probably some bazar rumour.' he said; 'but even -then -' He referred to the paper in his hand. 'Hang it all, the -thing was only decided within the last forty-eight hours.' - -'Are there many more like you in India?' said Father Victor, 'or are -you by way o' being a lusus naturae?' - -'Now I have told you,' said the boy, 'will you let me go back to my -old man? If he has not stayed with that woman from Kulu, I am -afraid he will die.' - -'By what I saw of him he's as well able to take care of himself as -you. No. Ye've brought us luck, an' we're goin' to make a man of -you. I'll take ye back to your baggage-cart and ye'll come to me -this evening.' - -For the rest of the day Kim found himself an object of -distinguished consideration among a few hundred white men. The -story of his appearance in camp, the discovery of his parentage, -and his prophecy, had lost nothing in the telling. A big, shapeless -white woman on a pile of bedding asked him mysteriously whether he -thought her husband would come back from the war. Kim reflected -gravely, and said that he would, and the woman gave him food. In -many respects, this big procession that played music at intervals - -this crowd that talked and laughed so easily - resembled a festival -in Lahore city. So far, there was no sign of hard work, and he -resolved to lend the spectacle his patronage. At evening there came -out to meet them bands of music, and played the Mavericks into camp -near Umballa railway station. That was an interesting night. Men of -other regiments came to visit the Mavericks. The Mavericks went -visiting on their own account. Their pickets hurried forth to bring -them back, met pickets of strange regiments on the same duty; and, -after a while, the bugles blew madly for more pickets with officers -to control the tumult. The Mavericks had a reputation for -liveliness to live up to. But they fell in on the platform next -morning in perfect shape and condition; and Kim, left behind with -the sick, women, and boys, found himself shouting farewells -excitedly as the trains drew away. Life as a Sahib was amusing so -far; but he touched it with a cautious hand. Then they marched him -back in charge of a drummer-boy to empty, lime-washed barracks, -whose floors were covered with rubbish and string and paper, and -whose ceilings gave back his lonely footfall. Native-fashion, he -curled himself up on a stripped cot and went to sleep. An angry man -stumped down the veranda, woke him up, and said he was a -schoolmaster. This was enough for Kim, and he retired into his -shell. He could just puzzle out the various English Police notices -in Lahore city, because they affected his comfort; and among the -many guests of the woman who looked after him had been a queer -German who painted scenery for the Parsee travelling theatre. He -told Kim that he had been 'on the barricades in 'Forty-eight,' and -therefore - at least that was how it struck Kim - he would teach -the boy to write in return for food. Kim had been kicked as far as -single letters, but did not think well of them. - -'I do not know anything. Go away!' said Kim, scenting evil. -Hereupon the man caught him by the ear, dragged him to a room in a -far-off wing where a dozen drummer-boys were sitting on forms, and -told him to be still if he could do nothing else. This he managed -very successfully. The man explained something or other with white -lines on a black board for at least half an hour, and Kim continued -his interrupted nap. He much disapproved of the present aspect of -affairs, for this was the very school and discipline he had spent -two-thirds of his young life in avoiding. Suddenly a beautiful idea -occurred to him, and he wondered that he had not thought of it -before. - -The man dismissed them, and first to spring through the veranda -into the open sunshine was Kim. - -' 'Ere, you! 'Alt! Stop!' said a high voice at his heels. 'I've got -to look after you. My orders are not to let you out of my sight. -Where are you goin'?' - -It was the drummer-boy who had been hanging round him all the -forenoon - a fat and freckled person of about fourteen, and Kim -loathed him from the soles of his boots to his cap-ribbons. - -'To the bazar - to get sweets - for you,' said Kim, after thought. - -'Well, the bazar's out o' bounds. If we go there we'll get a -dressing-down. You come back.' - -'How near can we go?' Kim did not know what bounds meant, but he -wished to be polite - for the present. - -' 'Ow near? 'Ow far, you mean! We can go as far as that tree down -the road.' - -'Then I will go there.' - -'All right. I ain't goin'. It's too 'ot. I can watch you from 'ere. -It's no good your runnin' away. If you did, they'd spot you by your -clothes. That's regimental stuff you're wearin'. There ain't a -picket in Umballa wouldn't 'ead you back quicker than you started -out.' - -This did not impress Kim as much as the knowledge that his raiment -would tire him out if he tried to run. He slouched to the tree at -the corner of a bare road leading towards the bazar, and eyed the -natives passing. Most of them were barrack-servants of the lowest -caste. Kim hailed a sweeper, who promptly retorted with a piece of -unnecessary insolence, in the natural belief that the European boy -could not follow it. The low, quick answer undeceived him. Kim put -his fettered soul into it, thankful for the late chance to abuse -somebody in the tongue he knew best. 'And now, go to the nearest -letter-writer in the bazar and tell him to come here. I would write -a letter.' - -'But - but what manner of white man's son art thou to need a bazar -letter-writer? Is there not a schoolmaster in the barracks?' - -'Ay; and Hell is full of the same sort. Do my order, you - you Od! -Thy mother was married under a basket! Servant of Lal Beg' (Kim -knew the God of the sweepers), 'run on my business or we will talk -again.' - -The sweeper shuffled off in haste. 'There is a white boy by the -barracks waiting under a tree who is not a white boy,' he stammered -to the first bazar letter-writer he came across. 'He needs thee.' - -'Will he pay?' said the spruce scribe, gathering up his desk -and pens and sealing-wax all in order. - -'I do not know. He is not like other boys. Go and see. It is -well worth.' - -Kim danced with impatience when the slim young Kayeth hove in -sight. As soon as his voice could carry he cursed him volubly. - -'First I will take my pay,' the letter-writer said. 'Bad words have -made the price higher. But who art thou, dressed in that fashion, -to speak in this fashion?' - -'Aha! That is in the letter which thou shalt write. Never was such -a tale. But I am in no haste. Another writer will serve me. Umballa -city is as full of them as is Lahore.' - -'Four annas,' said the writer, sitting down and spreading his cloth -in the shade of a deserted barrack-wing. - -Mechanically Kim squatted beside him - squatted as only the natives -can - in spite of the abominable clinging trousers. - -The writer regarded him sideways. - -'That is the price to ask of Sahibs,' said Kim. 'Now fix me a true -one.' - -'An anna and a half. How do I know, having written the letter, that -thou wilt not run away?' - -I must not go beyond this tree, and there is also the stamp to be -considered.' - -'I get no commission on the price of the stamp. Once more, what -manner of white boy art thou?' - -'That shall be said in the letter, which is to Mahbub Ali, the -horse-dealer in the Kashmir Serai, at Lahore. He is my friend.' - -'Wonder on wonder!' murmured the letter-writer, dipping a reed in -the inkstand. 'To be written in Hindi?' - -'Assuredly. To Mahbub Ali then. Begin! I have come down with the -old man as far as Umballa in the train. At Umballa I carried the -news of the bay mare's pedigree.' After what he had seen in the -garden, he was not going to write of white stallions. - -'Slower a little. What has a bay mare to do ... Is it Mahbub Ali, -the great dealer?' - -'Who else? I have been in his service. Take more ink. Again. As the -order was, so I did it. We then went on foot towards Benares, but -on the third day we found a certain regiment. Is that down?' - -'Ay, pulton,' murmured the writer, all ears. - -'I went into their camp and was caught, and by means of the charm -about my neck, which thou knowest, it was established that I was -the son of some man in the regiment: according to the prophecy of -the Red Bull, which thou knowest was common talk of our bazar.' Kim -waited for this shaft to sink into the letter-writer's heart, -cleared his throat, and continued: 'A priest clothed me and gave me -a new name ... One priest, however, was a fool. The clothes are -very heavy, but I am a Sahib and my heart is heavy too. They send -me to a school and beat me. I do not like the air and water here. -Come then and help me, Mahbub Ali, or send me some money, for I -have not sufficient to pay the writer who writes this.' - -' "Who writes this." It is my own fault that I was tricked. Thou -art as clever as Husain Bux that forged the Treasury stamps at -Nucklao. But what a tale! What a tale! Is it true by any chance?' - -'It does not profit to tell lies to Mahbub Ali. It is better to -help his friends by lending them a stamp. When the money comes I -will repay.' - -The writer grunted doubtfully, but took a stamp out of his desk, -sealed the letter, handed it over to Kim, and departed. Mahbub -Ali's was a name of power in Umballa. - -'That is the way to win a good account with the Gods,' Kim shouted -after him. - -'Pay me twice over when the money comes,' the man cried over his -shoulder. - -'What was you bukkin' to that nigger about?' said the drummer-boy -when Kim returned to the veranda. 'I was watch-in' you.' - -'I was only talkin' to him.' - -'You talk the same as a nigger, don't you?' - -'No-ah! No-ah! I onlee speak a little. What shall we do now?' - -'The bugles'll go for dinner in arf a minute. My Gawd! I wish I'd -gone up to the Front with the Regiment. It's awful doin' nothin' -but school down 'ere. Don't you 'ate it?' - -'Oah yess!' - -I'd run away if I knew where to go to, but, as the men say, in this -bloomin' Injia you're only a prisoner at large. You can't desert -without bein' took back at once. I'm fair sick of it.' - -'You have been in Be - England?' - -'W'y, I only come out last troopin' season with my mother. I should -think I 'ave been in England. What a ignorant little beggar you -are! You was brought up in the gutter, wasn't you?' - -'Oah yess. Tell me something about England. My father he came from -there.' - -Though he would not say so, Kim of course disbelieved every word -the drummer-boy spoke about the Liverpool suburb which was his -England. It passed the heavy time till dinner - a most unappetizing -meal served to the boys and a few invalids in a corner of a -barrack-room. But that he had written to Mahbub Ali, Kim would have -been almost depressed. The indifference of native crowds he was -used to; but this strong loneliness among white men preyed on him. -He was grateful when, in the course of the afternoon, a big soldier -took him over to Father Victor, who lived in another wing across -another dusty parade-ground. The priest was reading an English -letter written in purple ink. He looked at Kim more curiously than -ever. - -'An' how do you like it, my son, as far as you've gone? Not much, -eh? It must be hard - very hard on a wild animal. Listen now. I've -an amazin' epistle from your friend.' - -'Where is he? Is he well? Oah! If he knows to write me letters, it -is all right.' - -'You're fond of him then?' - -'Of course I am fond of him. He was fond of me.' - -'It seems so by the look of this. He can't write English, can he?' - -'Oah no. Not that I know, but of course he found a letter-writer -who can write English verree well, and so he wrote. I do hope you -understand.' - -'That accounts for it. D'you know anything about his money -affairs?' Kim's face showed that he did not. - -'How can I tell?' - -'That's what I'm askin'. Now listen if you can make head or tail o' -this. We'll skip the first part ... It's written from Jagadhir -Road ... "Sitting on wayside in grave meditation, trusting to be -favoured with your Honour's applause of present step, which -recommend your Honour to execute for Almighty God's sake. Education -is greatest blessing if of best sorts. Otherwise no earthly use." -Faith, the old man's hit the bull's-eye that time! "If your Honour -condescending giving my boy best educations Xavier" (I suppose -that's St Xavier's in Partibus) "in terms of our conversation dated -in your tent 15th instant" (a business-like touch there!) "then -Almighty God blessing your Honour's succeedings to third an' fourth -generation and" - now listen! -"confide in your Honour's humble -servant for adequate remuneration per hoondi per annum three -hundred rupees a year to one expensive education St Xavier, -Lucknow, and allow small time to forward same per hoondi sent to -any part of India as your Honour shall address yourself. This -servant of your Honour has presently no place to lay crown of his -head, but going to Benares by train on account of persecution of -old woman talking so much and unanxious residing Saharunpore in any -domestic capacity." Now what in the world does that mean?' - -'She has asked him to be her puro - her clergyman - at Saharunpore, -I think. He would not do that on account of his River. She did -talk.' - -'It's clear to you, is it? It beats me altogether. "So going to -Benares, where will find address and forward rupees for boy who is -apple of eye, and for Almighty God's sake execute this education, -and your petitioner as in duty bound shall ever awfully pray. -Written by Sobrao Satai, Failed Entrance Allahabad University, for -Venerable Teshoo Lama the priest of Such-zen looking for a River, -address care of Tirthankars' Temple, Benares. P. M. -Please note -boy is apple of eye, and rupees shall be sent per hoondi three -hundred per annum. For God Almighty's sake." Now, is that ravin' -lunacy or a business proposition? I ask you, because I'm fairly at -my wits' end.' - -'He says he will give me three hundred rupees a year? So he will -give me them.' - -'Oh, that's the way you look at it, is it?' - -'Of course. If he says so!' - -The priest whistled; then he addressed Kim as an equal. 'I don't -believe it; but we'll see. You were goin' off today to the -Military Orphanage at Sanawar, where the Regiment would keep you -till you were old enough to enlist. Ye'd be brought up to the -Church of England. Bennett arranged for that. On the other hand, if -ye go to St Xavier's ye'll get a better education an - an can have -the religion. D'ye see my dilemma? Kim saw nothing save a vision -of the lama going south in a train with none to beg for him. - -'Like most people, I'm going to temporize. If your friend sends the -money from Benares - Powers of Darkness below, where's a street- -beggar to raise three hundred rupees? - ye'll go down to Lucknow -and I'll pay your fare, because I can't touch the subscription- -money if I intend, as I do, to make ye a Catholic. If he doesn't, -ye'll go to the Military Orphanage at the Regiment's expense. I'll -allow him three days' grace, though I don't believe it at all. Even -then, if he fails in his payments later on ... but it's beyond -me. We can only walk one step at a time in this world, praise God! -An' they sent Bennett to the Front an' left me behind. Bennett -can't expect everything.' - -'Oah yess,' said Kim vaguely. - -The priest leaned forward. 'I'd give a month's pay to find what's -goin' on inside that little round head of yours.' - -'There is nothing,' said Kim, and scratched it. He was wondering -whether Mahbub Ali would send him as much as a whole rupee. Then he -could pay the letter-writer and write letters to the lama at -Benares. Perhaps Mahbub Ali would visit him next time he came south -with horses. Surely he must know that Kim's delivery of the letter -to the officer at Umballa had caused the great war which the men -and boys had discussed so loudly over the barrack dinner-tables. -But if Mahbub Ali did not know this, it would be very unsafe to -tell him so. Mahbub Ali was hard upon boys who knew, or thought -they knew, too much. - -'Well, till I get further news' - Father Victor's voice interrupted -the reverie. 'Ye can run along now and play with the other boys. -They'll teach ye something - but I don't think ye'll like it.' - -The day dragged to its weary end. When he wished to sleep he was -instructed how to fold up his clothes and set out his boots; the -other boys deriding. Bugles waked him in the dawn; the schoolmaster -caught him after breakfast, thrust a page of meaningless characters -under his nose, gave them senseless names and whacked him without -reason. Kim meditated poisoning him with opium borrowed from a -barrack-sweeper, but reflected that, as they all ate at one table -in public (this was peculiarly revolting to Kim, who preferred to -turn his back on the world at meals), the stroke might be dangerous. -Then he attempted running off to the village where the priest had tried -to drug the lama -- the village where the old soldier lived. But far-seeing -sentries at every exit headed back the little scarlet figure. -Trousers and jacket crippled body and mind alike so he abandoned the project and fell back, -Oriental-fashion, on -time and chance. Three days of torment passed in the big, echoing -white rooms. He walked out of afternoons under escort of the -drummer-boy, and all he heard from his companions were the few -useless words which seemed to make two-thirds of the white man's -abuse. Kim knew and despised them all long ago. The boy resented -his silence and lack of interest by beating him, as was only -natural. He did not care for any of the bazars which were in -bounds. He styled all natives 'niggers'; yet servants and sweepers -called him abominable names to his face, and, misled by their -deferential attitude, he never understood. This somewhat consoled -Kim for the beatings. - -On the morning of the fourth day a judgement overtook that drummer. -They had gone out together towards Umballa racecourse. He returned -alone, weeping, with news that young O'Hara, to whom he had been -doing nothing in particular, had hailed a scarlet-bearded nigger on -horseback; that the nigger had then and there laid into him with a -peculiarly adhesive quirt, picked up young O'Hara, and borne him -off at full gallop. These tidings came to Father Victor, and he -drew down his long upper lip. He was already sufficiently startled -by a letter from the Temple of the Tirthankars at Benares, -enclosing a native banker's note of hand for three hundred rupees, -and an amazing prayer to 'Almighty God'. The lama would have been -more annoyed than the priest had he known how the bazar letter- -writer had translated his phrase 'to acquire merit.' - -'Powers of Darkness below!' Father Victor fumbled with the note. -'An' now he's off with another of his peep-o'-day friends. I don't -know whether it will be a greater relief to me to get him back or -to have him lost. He's beyond my comprehension. How the Divil - -yes, he's the man I mean -can a street-beggar raise money to -educate white boys?' - -Three miles off, on Umballa racecourse, Mahbub Ali, reining a grey -Kabuli stallion with Kim in front of him, was saying: - -'But, Little Friend of all the World, there is my honour and -reputation to be considered. All the officer-Sahibs in all the -regiments, and all Umballa, know Mahbub Ali. Men saw me pick thee -up and chastise that boy. We are seen now from far across this -plain. How can I take thee away, or account for thy disappearing if -I set thee down and let thee run off into the crops? They would put -me in jail. Be patient. Once a Sahib, always a Sahib. When thou art -a man - who knows? - thou wilt be grateful to Mahbub Ali.' - -'Take me beyond their sentries where I can change this red. Give me -money and I will go to Benares and be with my lama again. I do not -want to be a Sahib, and remember I did deliver that message.' - -The stallion bounded wildly. Mahbub Ali had incautiously driven -home the sharp-edged stirrup. (He was not the new sort of fluent -horse-dealer who wears English boots and spurs.) Kim drew his own -conclusions from that betrayal. - -'That was a small matter. It lay on the straight road to Benares. I -and the Sahib have by this time forgotten it. I send so many -letters and messages to men who ask questions about horses, I -cannot well remember one from the other. Was it some matter of a -bay mare that Peters Sahib wished the pedigree of?' - -Kim saw the trap at once. If he had said 'bay mare' Mahbub would -have known by his very readiness to fall in with the amendment that -the boy suspected something. Kim replied therefore: - -'Bay mare. No. I do not forget my messages thus. It was a white -stallion.' - -'Ay, so it was. A white Arab stallion. But thou didst write "bay -mare" to me.' - -'Who cares to tell truth to a letter-writer?' Kim answered, feeling -Mahbub's palm on his heart. - -'Hi! Mahbub, you old villain, pull up!' cried a voice, and an -Englishman raced alongside on a little polo-pony. 'I've been -chasing you half over the country. That Kabuli of yours can go. For -sale, I suppose?' - -'I have some young stuff coming on made by Heaven for the delicate -and difficult polo-game. He has no equal. He - ' - -'Plays polo and waits at table. Yes. We know all that. What the -deuce have you got there?' - -'A. boy,' said Mahbub gravely. 'He was being beaten by another boy. -His father was once a white soldier in the big war. The boy was a -child in Lahore city. He played with my horses when he was a babe. -Now I think they will make him a soldier. He has been newly caught -by his father's Regiment that went up to the war last week. But I -do not think he wants to be a soldier. I take him for a ride. Tell -me where thy barracks are and I will set thee there.' - -'Let me go. I can find the barracks alone.' - -'And if thou runnest away who will say it is not my fault?' - -'He'll run back to his dinner. Where has he to run to?' the -Englishman asked. - -'He was born in the land. He has friends. He goes where he chooses. -He is a chabuk sawai [a sharp chap]. It needs only to change his -clothing, and in a twinkling he would be a low-caste Hindu boy.' - -'The deuce he would!' The Englishman looked critically at the boy -as Mahbub headed towards the barracks. Kim ground his teeth. Mahbub -was mocking him, as faithless Afghans will; for he went on: - -'They will send him to a school and put heavy boots on his feet and -swaddle him in these clothes. Then he will forget all he knows. -Now, which of the barracks is thine?' - -Kim pointed - he could not speak - to Father Victor's wing, all -staring white near by. - -'Perhaps he will make a good soldier,' said Mahbub reflectively. - -'He will make a good orderly at least. I sent him to deliver a -message once from Lahore. A message concerning the pedigree of a -white stallion.' - -Here was deadly insult on deadlier injury - and the Sahib to whom -he had so craftily given that war-waking letter heard it all. Kim -beheld Mahbub Ali frying in flame for his treachery, but for -himself he saw one long grey vista of barracks, schools, and -barracks again. He gazed imploringly at the clear-cut face in which -there was no glimmer of recognition; but even at this extremity it -never occurred to him to throw himself on the white man's mercy or -to denounce the Afghan. And Mahbub stared deliberately at the -Englishman, who stared as deliberately at Kim, quivering and -tongue-tied. - -'My horse is well trained,' said the dealer. 'Others would have -kicked, Sahib.' - -'Ah,' said the Englishman at last, rubbing his pony's damp withers -with his whip-butt. 'Who makes the boy a soldier?' - -'He says the Regiment that found him, and especially the Padre- -sahib of that regiment. - -'There is the Padre!' Kim choked as bare-headed Father Victor -sailed down upon them from the veranda. - -'Powers O' Darkness below, O'Hara! How many more mixed friends do -you keep in Asia?' he cried, as Kim slid down and stood helplessly -before him. - -'Good morning, Padre,' the Englishman said cheerily. 'I know you by -reputation well enough. Meant to have come over and called before -this. I'm Creighton.' - -'Of the Ethnological Survey?' said Father Victor. The Englishman -nodded. 'Faith, I'm glad to meet ye then; an' I owe you some thanks -for bringing back the boy.' - -'No thanks to me, Padre. Besides, the boy wasn't going away. You -don't know old Mahbub Ali.' The horse-dealer sat impassive in the -sunlight. 'You will when you have been in the station a month. He -sells us all our crocks. That boy is rather a curiosity. Can you -tell me anything about him?' - -'Can I tell you?' puffed Father Victor. 'You'll be the one man that -could help me in my quandaries. Tell you! Powers o' Darkness, I'm -bursting to tell someone who knows something o' the native!' - -A groom came round the corner. Colonel Creighton raised his voice, -speaking in Urdu. 'Very good, Mahbub Ali, but what is the use of -telling me all those stories about the pony? Not one pice more than -three hundred and fifty rupees will I give.' - -'The Sahib is a little hot and angry after riding,' the horse- -dealer returned, with the leer of a privileged jester. 'Presently, -he will see my horse's points more clearly. I will wait till he has -finished his talk with the Padre. I will wait under that tree.' - -'Confound you!' The Colonel laughed. 'That comes of looking at one -of Mahbub's horses. He's a regular old leech, Padre. Wait, then, if -thou hast so much time to spare, Mahbub. Now I'm at your service, -Padre. Where is the boy? Oh, he's gone off to collogue with Mahbub. -Queer sort of boy. Might I ask you to send my mare round under -cover?' - -He dropped into a chair which commanded a clear view of Kim and -Mahbub Ali in conference beneath the tree. The Padre went indoors -for cheroots. - -Creighton heard Kim say bitterly: 'Trust a Brahmin before a snake, -and a snake before an harlot, and an harlot before a Pathan, Mahbub -Ali.' - -'That is all one.' The great red beard wagged solemnly. 'Children -should not see a carpet on the loom till the pattern is made plain. -Believe me, Friend of all the World, I do thee great service. They -will not make a soldier of thee.' - -'You crafty old sinner!' thought Creighton. 'But you're not far -wrong. That boy mustn't be wasted if he is as advertised.' - -'Excuse me half a minute,' cried the Padre from within, 'but I'm -gettin' the documents in the case.' - -'If through me the favour of this bold and wise Colonel Sahib comes -to thee, and thou art raised to honour, what thanks wilt thou give -Mahbub Ali when thou art a man?' - -'Nay, nay! I begged thee to let me take the Road again, where I -should have been safe; and thou hast sold me back to the English. -What will they give thee for blood-money?' - -'A cheerful young demon!' The Colonel bit his cigar, and turned -politely to Father Victor. - -'What are the letters that the fat priest is waving before the -Colonel? Stand behind the stallion as though looking at my bridle!' -said Mahbub Ali. - -'A letter from my lama which he wrote from Jagadhir Road, saying -that he will pay three hundred rupees by the year for my -schooling.' - -'Oho! Is old Red Hat of that sort? At which school?' - -'God knows. I think in Nucklao.' - -'Yes. There is a big school there for the sons of Sahibs - and -half-Sahibs. I have seen it when I sell horses there. So the lama -also loved the Friend of all the World?' - -'Ay; and he did not tell lies, or return me to captivity.' - -'Small wonder the Padre does not know how to unravel the thread. -How fast he talks to the Colonel Sahib!' Mahbub Ali chuckled. 'By -Allah!' the keen eyes swept the veranda for an Instant - 'thy lama -has sent what to me looks like a note of hand. I have had some few -dealings in hoondis. The Colonel Sahib is looking at it.' - -'What good is all this to me?' said Kim wearily. 'Thou wilt go -away, and they will return me to those empty rooms where there is -no good place to sleep and where the boys beat me.' - -'I do not think that. Have patience, child. All Pathans are not -faithless - except in horseflesh.' - -Five - ten - fifteen minutes passed, Father Victor talking -energetically or asking questions which the Colonel answered. - -'Now I've told you everything that I know about the boy from -beginnin to end; and it's a blessed relief to me. Did ye ever hear -the like?' - -'At any rate, the old man has sent the money. Gobind Sahai's notes -of hand are good from here to China,' said the Colonel. 'The more -one knows about natives the less can one say what they will or -won't do.' - -'That's consolin' - from the head of the Ethnological Survey. It's -this mixture of Red Bulls and Rivers of Healing (poor heathen, God -help him!) an' notes of hand and Masonic certificates. Are you a -Mason, by any chance?' - -'By Jove, I am, now I come to think of it. That's an additional -reason,' said the Colonel absently. - -'I'm glad ye see a reason in it. But as I said, it's the mixture -o' things that's beyond me. An' his prophesyin' to our Colonel, -sitting on my bed with his little shimmy torn open showing his -white skin; an' the prophecy comin' true! They'll cure all that -nonsense at St Xavier's, eh?' - -'Sprinkle him with holy water,' the Colonel laughed. - -'On my word, I fancy I ought to sometimes. But I'm hoping he'll be -brought up as a good Catholic. All that troubles me is what'll -happen if the old beggar-man -' - -'Lama, lama, my dear sir; and some of them are gentlemen in their -own country.' - -'The lama, then, fails to pay next year. He's a fine business head -to plan on the spur of the moment, but he's bound to die some day. -An' takin' a heathen's money to give a child a Christian education --' - -'But he said explicitly what he wanted. As soon as he knew the boy -was white he seems to have made his arrangements accordingly. I'd -give a month's pay to hear how he explained it all at the -Tirthankars' Temple at Benares. Look here, Padre, I don't pretend -to know much about natives, but if he says he'll pay, he'll pay - -dead or alive. I mean, his heirs will assume the debt. My advice to -you is, send the boy down to Lucknow. If your Anglican Chaplain -thinks you've stolen a march on him -' - -'Bad luck to Bennett! He was sent to the Front instead o' me. -Doughty certified me medically unfit. I'll excommunicate Doughty if -he comes back alive! Surely Bennett ought to be content with -' - -'Glory, leaving you the religion. Quite so! As a matter of fact I -don't think Bennett will mind. Put the blame on me. I - er - -strongly recommend sending the boy to St Xavier's. He can go down -on pass as a soldier's orphan, so the railway fare will be saved. -You can buy him an outfit from the Regimental subscription. The -Lodge will be saved the expense of his education, and that will put -the Lodge in a good temper. It's perfectly easy. I've got to go -down to Lucknow next week. I'll look after the boy on the way - -give him in charge of my servants, and so on.' - -'You're a good man.' - -'Not in the least. Don't make that mistake. The lama has sent us -money for a definite end. We can't very well return it. We shall -have to do as he says. Well, that's settled, isn't it? Shall we say -that, Tuesday next, you'll hand him over to me at the night train -south? That's only three days. He can't do much harm in three -days.' - -'It's a weight off my mind, but - this thing here?' - he -waved the note of hand - 'I don't know Gobind Sahai: or his bank, -which may be a hole in a wall.' - -'You've never been a subaltern in debt. I'll cash it if you -like, and send you the vouchers in proper order.' - -'But with all your own work too! It's askin' -' - -'It's not the least trouble indeed. You see, as an -ethnologist, the thing's very interesting to me. I'd like to make a -note of it for some Government work that I'm doing. The -transformation of a regimental badge like your Red Bull into a sort -of fetish that the boy follows is very interesting.' - -'But I can't thank you enough.' - -'There's one thing you can do. All we Ethnological men are as -jealous as jackdaws of one another's discoveries. They're of no -interest to anyone but ourselves, of course, but you know what -book-collectors are like. Well, don't say a word, directly or -indirectly, about the Asiatic side of the boy's character - his -adventures and his prophecy, and so on. I'll worm them out of the -boy later on and - you see?' - -'I do. Ye'll make a wonderful account of it. Never a word will I -say to anyone till I see it in print.' - -'Thank you. That goes straight to an ethnologist's heart. Well, I -must be getting back to my breakfast. Good Heavens! Old Mahbub here -still?' He raised his voice, and the horse-dealer came out from -under the shadow of the tree, 'Well, what is it?' - -'As regards that young horse,' said Mahbub, 'I say that when a colt -is born to be a polo-pony, closely following the ball without -teaching - when such a colt knows the game by divination - then I -say it is a great wrong to break that colt to a heavy cart, Sahib!' - -'So say I also, Mahbub. The colt will be entered for polo only. -(These fellows think of nothing in the world but horses, Padre.) -I'll see you tomorrow, Mahbub, if you've anything likely for sale.' - -The dealer saluted, horseman-fashion, with a sweep of the off hand. -'Be patient a little, Friend of all the World,' he whispered to -the agonized Kim. 'Thy fortune is made. In a little while thou -goest to Nucklao, and - here is something to pay the letter-writer. -I shall see thee again, I think, many times,' and he cantered off -down the road. - -'Listen to me,' said the Colonel from the veranda, speaking in the -vernacular. 'In three days thou wilt go with me to Lucknow, seeing -and hearing new things all the while. Therefore sit still for three -days and do not run away. Thou wilt go to school at Lucknow.' - -'Shall I meet my Holy One there?' Kim whimpered. - -'At least Lucknow is nearer to Benares than Umballa. It may be thou -wilt go under my protection. Mahbub Ali knows this, and he will be -angry if thou returnest to the Road now. Remember - much has been -told me which I do not forget.' - -'I will wait,' said Kim, 'but the boys will beat me.' - -Then the bugles blew for dinner. - - - - - -Chapter 7 - - -Unto whose use the pregnant suns are poised -With idiot moons and stars retracing stars? -Creep thou betweene - thy coming's all unnoised. -Heaven hath her high, as Earth her baser, wars. -Heir to these tumults, this affright, that fraye -(By Adam's, fathers', own, sin bound alway); -Peer up, draw out thy horoscope and say -Which planet mends thy threadbare fate or mars? - -Sir John Christie. - - - -In the afternoon the red-faced schoolmaster told Kim that he had -been 'struck off the strength', which conveyed no meaning to him -till he was ordered to go away and play. Then he ran to the bazar, -and found the young letter-writer to whom he owed a stamp. - -'Now I pay,' said Kim royally, 'and now I need another letter to be -written.' - -'Mahbub Ali is in Umballa,' said the writer jauntily. He was, by -virtue of his office, a bureau of general misinformation. - -'This is not to Mahbub, but to a priest. Take thy pen and write -quickly. To Teshoo Lama, the Holy One from Bhotiyal seeking for a -River, who is now in the Temple of the Tirthankars at Benares. Take -more ink! In three days I am to go down to Nucklao to the school at -Nucklao. The name of the school is Xavier. I do not know where that -school is, but it is at Nucklao.' - -'But I know Nucklao,' the writer interrupted. 'I know the school.' - -'Tell him where it is, and I give half an anna.' - -The reed pen scratched busily. 'He cannot mistake.' The man lifted -his head. 'Who watches us across the street?' - -Kim looked up hurriedly and saw Colonel Creighton in tennis- -flannels. - -'Oh, that is some Sahib who knows the fat priest in the barracks. -He is beckoning me.' - -'What dost thou?' said the Colonel, when Kim trotted up. - -'I - I am not running away. I send a letter to my Holy One at -Benares.' - -'I had not thought of that. Hast thou said that I take thee to -Lucknow?' - -'Nay, I have not. Read the letter, if there be a doubt.' - -'Then why hast thou left out my name in writing to that Holy One?' -The Colonel smiled a queer smile. Kim took his courage in both -hands. - -'It was said once to me that it is inexpedient to write the names -of strangers concerned in any matter, because by the naming of -names many good plans are brought to confusion.' - -'Thou hast been well taught,' the Colonel replied, and Kim flushed. -'I have left my cheroot-case in the Padre's veranda. Bring it to my -house this even.' - -'Where is the house?' said Kim. His quick wit told him that he was -being tested in some fashion or another, and he stood on guard. - -'Ask anyone in the big bazar.' The Colonel walked on. - -'He has forgotten his cheroot-case,' said Kim, returning. 'I must -bring it to him this evening. That is all my letter except, thrice -over, Come to me! Come to me! Come to me! Now I will pay for a -stamp and put it in the post. He rose to go, and as an afterthought -asked: 'Who is that angry-faced Sahib who lost the cheroot-case?' - -'Oh, he is only Creighton Sahib - a very foolish Sahib, who is a -Colonel Sahib without a regiment.' - -'What is his business?' - -'God knows. He is always buying horses which he cannot ride, and -asking riddles about the works of God - such as plants and stones -and the customs of people. The dealers call him the father of -fools, because he is so easily cheated about a horse. Mahbub Ali -says he is madder than most other Sahibs.' - -'Oh!' said Kim, and departed. His training had given him some small -knowledge of character, and he argued that fools are not given -information which leads to calling out eight thousand men besides -guns. The Commander-in-Chief of all India does not talk, as Kim had -heard him talk, to fools. Nor would Mahbub Ali's tone have changed, -as it did every time he mentioned the Colonel's name, if the -Colonel had been a fool. Consequently - and this set Kim to -skipping - there was a mystery somewhere, and Mahbub Ali probably -spied for the Colonel much as Kim had spied for Mahbub. And, like -the horse-dealer, the Colonel evidently respected people who did -not show themselves to be too clever. - - -He rejoiced that he had not betrayed his knowledge of the Colonel's -house; and when, on his return to barracks, he discovered that no -cheroot-case had been left behind, he beamed with delight. Here was -a man after his own heart - a tortuous and indirect person playing -a hidden game. Well, if he could be a fool, so could Kim. - -He showed nothing of his mind when Father Victor, for three long -mornings, discoursed to him of an entirely new set of Gods and -Godlings - notably of a Goddess called Mary, who, he gathered, was -one with Bibi Miriam of Mahbub Ali's theology. He betrayed no -emotion when, after the lecture, Father Victor dragged him from -shop to shop buying articles of outfit, nor when envious drummer- -boys kicked him because he was going to a superior school did he -complain, but awaited the play of circumstances with an interested -soul. Father Victor, good man, took him to the station, put him -into an empty second-class next to Colonel Creighton's first, and -bade him farewell with genuine feeling. - -'They'll make a man o' you, O'Hara, at St Xavier's - a white man, -an', I hope, a good man. They know all about your comin', an' the -Colonel will see that ye're not lost or mislaid anywhere on the -road. I've given you a notion of religious matters, - at least I -hope so, - and you'll remember, when they ask you your religion, -that you're a Cath'lic. Better say Roman Cath'lic, tho' I'm not -fond of the word.' - -Kim lit a rank cigarette - he had been careful to buy a stock in -the bazar - and lay down to think. This solitary passage was very -different from that joyful down-journey in the third-class with the -lama. 'Sahibs get little pleasure of travel,' he reflected. - -'Hai mai! I go from one place to another as it might be a kickball. -It is my Kismet. No man can escape his Kismet. But I am to pray to -Bibi Miriam, and I am a Sahib.' He looked at his boots ruefully. -'No; I am Kim. This is the great world, and I am only Kim. Who is -Kim?' He considered his own identity, a thing he had never done -before, till his head swam. He was one insignificant person in all -this roaring whirl of India, going southward to he knew not what -fate. - -Presently the Colonel sent for him, and talked for a long time. So -far as Kim could gather, he was to be diligent and enter the Survey -of India as a chain-man. If he were very good, and passed the -proper examinations, he would be earning thirty rupees a month at -seventeen years old, and Colonel Creighton would see that he found -suitable employment. - -Kim pretended at first to understand perhaps one word in three of -this talk. Then the Colonel, seeing his mistake, turned to fluent -and picturesque Urdu and Kim was contented. No man could be a fool -who knew the language so intimately, who moved so gently and -silently, and whose eyes were so different from the dull fat eyes -of other Sahibs. - -'Yes, and thou must learn how to make pictures of roads and -mountains and rivers, to carry these pictures in thine eye till a -suitable time comes to set them upon paper. Perhaps some day, when -thou art a chain-man, I may say to thee when we are working -together: "Go across those hills and see what lies beyond." Then -one will say: "There are bad people living in those hills who will -slay the chain-man if he be seen to look like a Sahib." What then?' - -Kim thought. Would it be safe to return the Colonel's lead? - -'I would tell what that other man had said.' - -'But if I answered: "I will give thee a hundred rupees for -knowledge of what is behind those hills - for a picture of a river -and a little news of what the people say in the villages there"?' - -'How can I tell? I am only a boy. Wait till I am a man.' Then, -seeing the Colonel's brow clouded, he went on: 'But I think I -should in a few days earn the hundred rupees.' - -'By what road?' - -Kim shook his head resolutely. 'If I said how I would earn them, -another man might hear and forestall me. It is not good to sell -knowledge for nothing.' - -'Tell now.' The Colonel held up a rupee. Kim's hand half reached -towards it, and dropped. - -'Nay, Sahib; nay. I know the price that will be paid for the -answer, but I do not know why the question is asked.' - -'Take it for a gift, then,' said Creighton, tossing it over. 'There -is a good spirit in thee. Do not let it be blunted at St Xavier's. -There are many boys there who despise the black men.' - -'Their mothers were bazar-women,' said Kim. He knew well there is -no hatred like that of the half-caste for his brother-in-law. - -'True; but thou art a Sahib and the son of a Sahib. Therefore, do -not at any time be led to contemn the black men. I have known boys -newly entered into the service of the Government who feigned not to -understand the talk or the customs of black men. Their pay was cut -for ignorance. There is no sin so great as ignorance. Remember -this.' - -Several times in the course of the long twenty-four hours' run -south did the Colonel send for Kim, always developing this latter -text. - -'We be all on one lead-rope, then,' said Kim at last, 'the Colonel, -Mahbub Ali, and I - when I become a chain-man. He will use me as -Mahbub Ali employed me, I think. That is good, if it allows me to -return to the Road again. This clothing grows no easier by wear.' - -When they came to the crowded Lucknow station there was no sign of -the lama. He swallowed his disappointment, while the Colonel -bundled him into a ticca-gharri with his neat belongings and -despatched him alone to St Xavier's. - -'I do not say farewell, because we shall meet again,' he cried. -'Again, and many times, if thou art one of good spirit. But thou -art not yet tried.' - -'Not when I brought thee' - Kim actually dared to use the turn of -equals - 'a white stallion's pedigree that night?' - -'Much is gained by forgetting, little brother,' said the Colonel, -with a look that pierced through Kim's shoulder-blades as he -scuttled into the carriage. - -It took him nearly five minutes to recover. Then he sniffed the new -air appreciatively. 'A rich city,' he said. 'Richer than Lahore. -How good the bazars must be! Coachman, drive me a little through -the bazars here.' - -'My order is to take thee to the school.' The driver used the -'thou', which is rudeness when applied to a white man. In the -clearest and most fluent vernacular Kim pointed out his error, -climbed on to the box-seat, and, perfect understanding established, -drove for a couple of hours up and down, estimating, comparing, and -enjoying. There is no city - except Bombay, the queen of all - more -beautiful in her garish style than Lucknow, whether you see her -from the bridge over the river, or from the top of the Imambara -looking down on the gilt umbrellas of the Chutter Munzil, and the -trees in which the town is bedded. Kings have adorned her with -fantastic buildings, endowed her with charities, crammed her with -pensioners, and drenched her with blood. She is the centre of all -idleness, intrigue, and luxury, and shares with Delhi the claim to -talk the only pure Urdu. - -'A fair city - a beautiful city.' The driver, as a Lucknow man, was -pleased with the compliment, and told Kim many astounding things -where an English guide would have talked of the Mutiny. - -'Now we will go to the school,' said Kim at last. The great old -school of St Xavier's in Partibus, block on block of low white -buildings, stands in vast grounds over against the Gumti River, at -some distance from the city. - -'What like of folk are they within?' said Kim. - -'Young Sahibs - all devils. But to speak truth, and I drive many of -them to and fro from the railway station, I have never seen one -that had in him the making of a more perfect devil than thou - this -young Sahib whom I am now driving.' - -Naturally, for he was never trained to consider them in any way -improper, Kim had passed the time of day with one or two frivolous -ladies at upper windows in a certain street, and naturally, in the -exchange of compliments, had acquitted himself well. He was about -to acknowledge the driver's last insolence, when his eye - it was -growing dusk - caught a figure sitting by one of the white plaster -gate-pillars in the long sweep of wall. - -'Stop!' he cried. 'Stay here. I do not go to the school at once.' - -'But what is to pay me for this coming and re-coming?' said the -driver petulantly. 'Is the boy mad? Last time it was a dancing- -girl. This time it is a priest.' - -Kim was in the road headlong, patting the dusty feet beneath the -dirty yellow robe. - -'I have waited here a day and a half,' the lama's level voice -began. 'Nay, I had a disciple with me. He that was my friend at the -Temple of the Tirthankars gave me a guide for this journey. I came -from Benares in the te-rain, when thy letter was given me. Yes, I -am well fed. I need nothing.' - -'But why didst thou not stay with the Kulu woman, O Holy One? In -what way didst thou get to Benares? My heart has been heavy since -we parted.' - -'The woman wearied me by constant flux of talk and requiring charms -for children. I separated myself from that company, permitting her -to acquire merit by gifts. She is at least a woman of open hands, -and I made a promise to return to her house if need arose. Then, -perceiving myself alone in this great and terrible world, I -bethought me of the te-rain to Benares, where I knew one abode in -the Tirthankars' Temple who was a Seeker, even as I.' - -'Ah! Thy River,' said Kim. 'I had forgotten the River.' - -'So soon, my chela? I have never forgotten it. But when I had left -thee it seemed better that I should go to the Temple and take -counsel, for, look you, India is very large, and it may be that -wise men before us, some two or three, have left a record of the -place of our River. There is debate in the Temple of the -Tirthankars on this matter; some saying one thing, and some -another. They are courteous folk.' - -'So be it; but what dost thou do now?' - -'I acquire merit in that I help thee, my chela, to wisdom. The -priest of that body of men who serve the Red Bull wrote me that all -should be as I desired for thee. I sent the money to suffice for -one year, and then I came, as thou seest me, to watch for thee -going up into the Gates of Learning. A day and a half have I waited, -not because I was led by any affection towards thee - that is no -part of the Way - but, as they said at the Tirthankars' Temple, -because, money having been paid for learning, it was right that I -should oversee the end of the matter. They resolved my doubts most -clearly. I had a fear that, perhaps, I came because I wished to see -thee - misguided by the Red Mist of affection. It is not so ... -Moreover, I am troubled by a dream.' - -'But surely, Holy One, thou hast not forgotten the Road and all -that befell on it. Surely it was a little to see me that thou didst -come?' - -'The horses are cold, and it is past their feeding-time,' whined -the driver. - -'Go to Jehannum and abide there with thy reputationless aunt!' Kim -snarled over his shoulder. 'I am all alone in this land; I know not -where I go nor what shall befall me. My heart was in that letter I -sent thee. Except for Mahbub Ali, and he is a Pathan, I have no -friend save thee, Holy One. Do not altogether go away.' - -'I have considered that also,' the lama replied, in a shaking -voice. 'It is manifest that from time to time I shall acquire merit -if before that I have not found my River - by assuring myself -that thy feet are set on wisdom. What they will teach thee I do -not know, but the priest wrote me that no son of a Sahib in all -India will be better taught than thou. So from time to time, -therefore, I will come again. Maybe thou wilt be such a Sahib as he -who gave me these spectacles' - the lama wiped them elaborately - -'in the Wonder House at Lahore. That is my hope, for he was a -Fountain of Wisdom - wiser than many abbots .... Again, maybe thou -wilt forget me and our meetings.' - -'If I eat thy bread,' cried Kim passionately, 'how shall I ever -forget thee?' - -'No - no.' He put the boy aside. 'I must go back to -Benares. From time to time, now that I know the customs of letter- -writers in this land, I will send thee a letter, and from time to -time I will come and see thee.' - -'But whither shall I send my letters?' wailed Kim, clutching at the -robe, all forgetful that he was a Sahib. - -'To the Temple of the Tirthankars at Benares. That is the place I -have chosen till I find my River. Do not weep; for, look you, all -Desire is Illusion and a new binding upon the Wheel. Go up to the -Gates of Learning. Let me see thee go ... Dost thou love me? Then -go, or my heart cracks ... I will come again. Surely I will come -again. - -The lama watched the ticca-gharri rumble into the compound, and -strode off, snuffing between each long stride. - -'The Gates of Learning' shut with a clang. - -The country born and bred boy has his own manners and customs, -which do not resemble those of any other land; and his teachers -approach him by roads which an English master would not understand. -Therefore, you would scarcely be interested in Kim's experiences as -a St Xavier's boy among two or three hundred precocious youths, -most of whom had never seen the sea. He suffered the usual -penalties for breaking out of bounds when there was cholera in the -city. This was before he had learned to write fair English, and so -was obliged to find a bazar letter-writer. He was, of course, -indicted for smoking and for the use of abuse more full-flavoured -than even St Xavier's had ever heard. He learned to wash himself -with the Levitical scrupulosity of the native-born, who in his -heart considers the Englishman rather dirty. He played the usual -tricks on the patient coolies pulling the punkahs in the sleeping- -rooms where the boys threshed through the hot nights telling tales -till the dawn; and quietly he measured himself against his self- -reliant mates. - -They were sons of subordinate officials in the Railway, Telegraph, -and Canal Services; of warrant-officers, sometimes retired and -sometimes acting as commanders-in-chief to a feudatory Rajah's -army; of captains of the Indian Marine Government pensioners, -planters, Presidency shopkeepers, and missionaries. A few were -cadets of the old Eurasian houses that have taken strong root in -Dhurrumtollah - Pereiras, De Souzas, and D'Silvas. Their parents -could well have educated them in England, but they loved the school -that had served their own youth, and generation followed sallow- -hued generation at St Xavier's. Their homes ranged from Howrah of -the railway people to abandoned cantonments like Monghyr and -Chunar; lost tea-gardens Shillong-way; villages where their fathers -were large landholders in Oudh or the Deccan; Mission-stations a -week from the nearest railway line; seaports a thousand miles -south, facing the brazen Indian surf; and cinchona-plantations -south of all. The mere story of their adventures, which to them -were no adventures, on their road to and from school would have -crisped a Western boy's hair. They were used to jogging off alone -through a hundred miles of jungle, where there was always the -delightful chance of being delayed by tigers; but they would no -more have bathed in the English Channel in an English August than -their brothers across the world would have lain still while a -leopard snuffed at their palanquin. There were boys of fifteen who -had spent a day and a half on an islet in the middle of a flooded -river, taking charge, as by right, of a camp of frantic pilgrims -returning from a shrine. There were seniors who had requisitioned a -chance-met Rajah's elephant, in the name of St Francis Xavier, when -the Rains once blotted out the cart-track that led to their -father's estate, and had all but lost the huge beast in a -quicksand. There was a boy who, he said, and none doubted, had -helped his father to beat off with rifles from the veranda a rush -of Akas in the days when those head-hunters were bold against -lonely plantations. - -And every tale was told in the even, passionless voice of the -native-born, mixed with quaint reflections, borrowed unconsciously -from native foster-mothers, and turns of speech that showed they -had been that instant translated from the vernacular. Kim watched, -listened, and approved. This was not insipid, single-word talk of -drummer-boys. It dealt with a life he knew and in part understood. -The atmosphere suited him, and he throve by inches. They gave him a -white drill suit as the weather warmed, and he rejoiced in the new- -found bodily comforts as he rejoiced to use his sharpened mind over -the tasks they set him. His quickness would have delighted an -English master; but at St Xavier's they know the first rush of -minds developed by sun and surroundings, as they know the half- -collapse that sets in at twenty-two or twenty-three. - -None the less he remembered to hold himself lowly. When tales were -told of hot nights, Kim did not sweep the board with his -reminiscences; for St Xavier's looks down on boys who 'go native -all-together.' One must never forget that one is a Sahib, and that -some day, when examinations are passed, one will command natives. -Kim made a note of this, for he began to understand where -examinations led. - -Then came the holidays from August to October - the long holidays -imposed by the heat and the Rains. Kim was informed that he would -go north to some station in the hills behind Umballa, where Father -Victor would arrange for him. - -'A barrack-school?' said Kim, who had asked many questions and -thought more. - -'Yes, I suppose so,' said the master. 'It will not do you any harm -to keep you out of mischief. You can go up with young De Castro as -far as Delhi.' - -Kim considered it in every possible light. He had been diligent, -even as the Colonel advised. A boy's holiday was his own property - -of so much the talk of his companions had advised him, - and a -barrack-school would be torment after St Xavier's. Moreover - this -was magic worth anything else - he could write. In three months he -had discovered how men can speak to each other without a third -party, at the cost of half an anna and a little knowledge. No word -had come from the lama, but there remained the Road. Kim yearned -for the caress of soft mud squishing up between the toes, as his -mouth watered for mutton stewed with butter and cabbages, for rice -speckled with strong scented cardamoms, for the saffron-tinted -rice, garlic and onions, and the forbidden greasy sweetmeats of the -bazars. They would feed him raw beef on a platter at the barrack- -school, and he must smoke by stealth. But again, he was a Sahib and -was at St Xavier's, and that pig Mahbub Ali ... No, he would not -test Mahbub's hospitality - and yet ... He thought -it out alone in the dormitory, and came to the conclusion he had -been unjust to Mahbub. - -The school was empty; nearly all the masters had gone away; Colonel -Creighton 's railway pass lay in his hand, and Kim puffed himself -that he had not spent Colonel Creighton's or Mahbub's money in -riotous living. He was still lord of two rupees seven annas. His -new bullock-trunk, marked 'K. O'H.', and bedding-roll lay in the -empty sleeping-room. - -'Sahibs are always tied to their baggage,' -said Kim, nodding at them. 'You will stay here' He went out into -the warm rain, smiling sinfully, and sought a certain house whose -outside he had noted down some time before... - -'Arre'! Dost thou know what manner of women we be in this quarter? -Oh, shame!' - -'Was I born yesterday?' Kim squatted native-fashion on the cushions -of that upper room. 'A little dyestuff and three yards of cloth to -help out a jest. Is it much to ask?' - -'Who is she? Thou art full young, as Sahibs go, for this devilry.' - -'Oh, she? She is the daughter of a certain schoolmaster of a -regiment in the cantonments. He has beaten me twice because I -went over their wall in these clothes. Now I would go as a -gardener's boy. Old men are very jealous.' - -'That is true. Hold thy face still while I dab on the juice.' - -'Not too black, Naikan. I would not appear to her as a hubshi -(nigger).' - -'Oh, love makes nought of these things. And how old is she?' - -'Twelve years, I think,' said the shameless Kim. 'Spread it also on -the breast. It may be her father will tear my clothes off me, and -if I am piebald -' he laughed. - -The girl worked busily, dabbing a twist of cloth into a little -saucer of brown dye that holds longer than any walnut-juice. - -'Now send out and get me a cloth for the turban. Woe is me, my head -is all unshaved! And he will surely knock off my turban.' - -'I am not a barber, but I will make shift. Thou wast born to be a -breaker of hearts! All this disguise for one evening? Remember, the -stuff does not wash away.' She shook with laughter till her -bracelets and anklets jingled. 'But who is to pay me for this? -Huneefa herself could not have given thee better stuff.' - -'Trust in the Gods, my sister,' said Kim gravely, screwing his face -round as the stain dried. 'Besides, hast thou ever helped to paint -a Sahib thus before?' - -'Never indeed. But a jest is not money.' - -'It is worth much more.' - -'Child, thou art beyond all dispute the most shameless son of -Shaitan that I have ever known to take up a poor girl's time with -this play, and then to say: "Is not the jest enough?" Thou wilt go -very far in this world.' She gave the dancing-girls' salutation in -mockery. - -'All one. Make haste and rough-cut my head.' Kim shifted from foot -to foot, his eyes ablaze with mirth as he thought of the fat days -before him. He gave the girl four annas, and ran down the stairs in -the likeness of a low-caste Hindu boy - perfect in every detail. A -cookshop was his next point of call, where he feasted in -extravagance and greasy luxury. - -On Lucknow station platform he watched young De Castro, all covered -with prickly-heat, get into a second-class compartment. Kim -patronized a third, and was the life and soul of it. He explained -to the company that he was assistant to a juggler who had left him -behind sick with fever, and that he would pick up his master at -Umballa. As the occupants of the carriage changed, he varied this -tale, or adorned it with all the shoots of a budding fancy, the -more rampant for being held off native speech so long. In all India -that night was no human being so joyful as Kim. At Umballa he got -out and headed eastward, plashing over the sodden fields to the -village where the old soldier lived. - -About this time Colonel Creighton at Simla was advised from Lucknow -by wire that young O'Hara had disappeared. Mahbub Ali was in town -selling horses, and to him the Colonel confided the affair one -morning cantering round Annandale racecourse. - -'Oh, that is nothing,' said the horse-dealer. 'Men are like horses. -At certain times they need salt, and if that salt is not in the -mangers they will lick it up from the earth. He has gone back to -the Road again for a while. The madrissak wearied him. I knew it -would. Another time, I will take him upon the Road myself. Do not -be troubled, Creighton Sahib. It is as though a polo-pony, breaking -loose, ran out to learn the game alone.' - -'Then he is not dead, think you?' - -'Fever might kill him. I do not fear for the boy otherwise. A -monkey does not fall among trees.' - -Next morning, on the same course, Mahbub's stallion ranged -alongside the Colonel. - -'It is as I had thought,' said the horse-dealer. 'He has come -through Umballa at least, and there he has written a letter to me, -having learned in the bazar that I was here.' - -'Read,' said the Colonel, with a sigh of relief. It was absurd that -a man of his position should take an interest in a little country- -bred vagabond; but the Colonel remembered the conversation in the -train, and often in the past few months had caught himself thinking -of the queer, silent, self-possessed boy. His evasion, of course, -was the height of insolence, but it argued some resource and nerve. - -Mahbub's eyes twinkled as he reined out into the centre of the -cramped little plain, where none could come near unseen. - -'"The Friend of the Stars, who is the Friend of all the World -"' - -'What is this?' - -'A name we give him in Lahore city. "The Friend of all the World -takes leave to go to his own places. He will come back upon the -appointed day. Let the box and the bedding-roll be sent for; and if -there has been a fault, let the Hand of Friendship turn aside the -Whip of Calamity." There is yet a little more, but -' - -'No matter, read.' - -'"Certain things are not known to those who eat with forks. It is -better to eat with both hands for a while. Speak soft words to -those who do not understand this that the return may be -propitious." Now the manner in which that was cast is, of course, -the work of the letter-writer, but see how wisely the boy has -devised the matter of it so that no hint is given except to those -who know!' - -'Is this the Hand of Friendship to avert the Whip of Calamity?' -laughed the Colonel. - -'See how wise is the boy. He would go back to the Road again, as I -said. Not knowing yet thy trade -' - -'I am not at all sure of that,' the Colonel muttered. - -'He turns to me to make a peace between you. Is he not wise? He -says he will return. He is but perfecting his knowledge. Think, -Sahib! He has been three months at the school. And he is not -mouthed to that bit. For my part, I rejoice. The pony learns the -game.' - -'Ay, but another time he must not go alone.' - -'Why? He went alone before he came under the Colonel Sahib's -protection. When he comes to the Great Game he must go alone - -alone, and at peril of his head. Then, if he spits, or sneezes, or -sits down other than as the people do whom he watches, he may be -slain. Why hinder him now? Remember how the Persians say: The -jackal that lives in the wilds of Mazanderan can only be caught by -the hounds of Mazanderan.' - -'True. It is true, Mahbub Ali. And if he comes to no harm, I do not -desire anything better. But it is great insolence on his part.' - -'He does not tell me, even, whither he goes,' said Mahbub. 'He is -no fool. When his time is accomplished he will come to me. It is -time the healer of pearls took him in hand. He ripens too quickly - -as Sahibs reckon.' - -This prophecy was fulfilled to the letter a month later. Mahbub had -gone down to Umballa to bring up a fresh consignment of horses, and -Kim met him on the Kalka road at dusk riding alone, begged an alms -of him, was sworn at, and replied in English. There was nobody -within earshot to hear Mahbub's gasp of amazement. - -'Oho! And where hast thou been?' - -'Up and down - down and up.' - -'Come under a tree, out of the wet, and tell.' - -'I stayed for a -while with an old man near Umballa; anon with a household of my -acquaintance in Umballa. With one of these I went as far as Delhi -to the southward. That is a wondrous city. Then I drove a bullock -for a teli [an oilman] coming north; but I heard of a great feast -forward in Patiala, and thither went I in the company of a -firework-maker. It was a great feast' (Kim rubbed his stomach). 'I -saw Rajahs, and elephants with gold and silver trappings; and they -lit all the fireworks at once, whereby eleven men were killed, my -fire-work-maker among them, and I was blown across a tent but took -no harm. Then I came back to the rel with a Sikh horseman, to whom -I was groom for my bread; and so here.' - -'Shabash!' said Mahbub Ali. - -'But what does the Colonel Sahib say? I do not wish to be beaten.' - -'The Hand of Friendship has averted the Whip of Calamity; but -another time, when thou takest the Road it will be with me. This is -too early.' - -'Late enough for me. I have learned to read and to write English a -little at the madrissah. I shall soon be altogether a Sahib.' - -'Hear him!' laughed Mahbub, looking at the little drenched figure -dancing in the wet. 'Salaam - Sahib,' and he saluted ironically. - -'Well, art tired of the Road, or wilt thou come on to Umballa with -me and work back with the horses?' - -'I come with thee, Mahbub Ali.' - - - - - -Chapter 8 - - -Something I owe to the soil that grew - -More to the life that fed - -But most to Allah Who gave me two -Separate sides to my head. - -I would go without shirts or shoes, -Friends, tobacco or bread -Sooner than for an instant lose -Either side of my head.' - -The Two-Sided Man. - - -'Then in God's name take blue for red,' said Mahbub, alluding to -the Hindu colour of Kim's disreputable turban. - -Kim countered with the old proverb, 'I will change my faith and my -bedding, but thou must pay for it.' - -The dealer laughed till he nearly fell from his horse. At a shop on -the outskirts of the city the change was made, and Kim stood up, -externally at least, a Mohammedan. - -Mahbub hired a room over against the railway station, sent for a -cooked meal of the finest with the almond-curd sweet-meats -[balushai we call it] and fine-chopped Lucknow tobacco. - -'This is better than some other meat that I ate with the Sikh,' -said Kim, grinning as he squatted, 'and assuredly they give no such -victuals at my madrissah.' - -'I have a desire to hear of that same madrissah.' Mahbub stuffed -himself with great boluses of spiced mutton fried in fat with -cabbage and golden-brown onions. 'But tell me first, altogether and -truthfully, the manner of thy escape. For, O Friend of all the -World,' - he loosed his cracking belt - 'I do not think it is -often that a Sahib and the son of a Sahib runs away from there.' - -'How should they? They do not know the land. It was nothing,' said -Kim, and began his tale. When he came to the disguisement and the -interview with the girl in the bazar, Mahbub Ali's gravity went -from him. He laughed aloud and beat his hand on his thigh. - -'Shabash! Shabash! Oh, well done, little one! What will the healer -of turquoises say to this? Now, slowly, let us hear what befell -afterwards - step by step, omitting nothing.' - -Step by step then, Kim told his adventures between coughs as the -full-flavoured tobacco caught his lungs. - -'I said,' growled Mahbub Ali to himself, 'I said it was the pony -breaking out to play polo. The fruit is ripe already -except that -he must learn his distances and his pacings, and his rods and his -compasses. Listen now. I have turned aside the Colonel's whip from -thy skin, and that is no small service.' - -'True.' Kim pulled serenely. 'That is true.' - -'But it is not to be thought that this running out and in is any -way good.' - -'It was my holiday, Hajji. I was a slave for many weeks. Why should -I not run away when the school was shut? Look, too, how I, living -upon my friends or working for my bread, as I did with the Sikh, -have saved the Colonel Sahib a great expense.' - -Mahbub's lips twitched under his well-pruned Mohammedan moustache. - -'What are a few rupees' - the Pathan threw out his open hand -carelessly - 'to the Colonel Sahib? He spends them for a purpose, -not in any way for love of thee.' - -'That,' said Kim slowly, 'I knew a very long time ago.' - -'Who told?' - -'The Colonel Sahib himself. Not in those many words, but plainly -enough for one who is not altogether a mud-head. Yea, he told me in -the te-rain when we went down to Lucknow.' - -'Be it so. Then I will tell thee more, Friend of all the World, -though in the telling I lend thee my head.' - -'It was forfeit to me,' said Kim, with deep relish, 'in Umballa, -when thou didst pick me up on the horse after the drummer-boy beat -me.' - -'Speak a little plainer. All the world may tell lies save thou and -I. For equally is thy life forfeit to me if I chose to raise my -finger here.' - -'And this is known to me also,' said Kim, readjusting the live -charcoal-ball on the weed. 'It is a very sure tie between us. -Indeed, thy hold is surer even than mine; for who would miss a boy -beaten to death, or, it may be, thrown into a well by the roadside? -Most people here and in Simla and across the passes behind the -Hills would, on the other hand, say: "What has come to Mahbub Ali?" -if he were found dead among his horses. Surely, too, the Colonel -Sahib would make inquiries. But again,'- Kim's face puckered with -cunning, - 'he would not make overlong inquiry, lest people should -ask: "What has this Colonel Sahib to do with that horse-dealer?" -But I - if I lived -' - -'As thou wouldst surely die -' - -'Maybe; but I say, if I lived, I, and I alone, would know that one -had come by night, as a common thief perhaps, to Mahbub Ali's -bulkhead in the serai, and there had slain him, either before or -after that thief had made a full search into his saddlebags and -between the soles of his slippers. Is that news to tell to the -Colonel, or would he say to me - (I have not forgotten when he sent -me back for a cigar-case that he had not left behind him) - "What -is Mahbub Ali to me?"?' - -Up went a gout of heavy smoke. There was a long pause: then Mahbub -Ali spoke in admiration: 'And with these things on thy mind, dost -thou lie down and rise again among all the Sahibs' little sons at -the madrissah and meekly take instruction from thy teachers?' - -'It is an order,' said Kim blandly. 'Who am I to dispute an order?' - -'A most finished Son of Eblis,' said Mahbub Ali. 'But what is this -tale of the thief and the search?' - -'That which I saw,' said Kim, 'the night that my lama and I lay -next thy place in the Kashmir Seral. The door was left unlocked, -which I think is not thy custom, Mahbub. He came in as one assured -that thou wouldst not soon return. My eye was against a knot-hole -in the plank. He searched as it were for something - not a rug, not -stirrups, nor a bridle, nor brass pots - something little and most -carefully hid. Else why did he prick with an iron between the soles -of thy slippers?' - -'Ha!' Mahbub Ali smiled gently. 'And seeing these things, what tale -didst thou fashion to thyself, Well of the Truth?' - -'None. I put my hand upon my amulet, which lies always next to my -skin, and, remembering the pedigree of a white stallion that I had -bitten out of a piece of Mussalmani bread, I went away to Umballa -perceiving that a heavy trust was laid upon me. At that hour, had I -chosen, thy head was forfeit. It needed only to say to that man, "I -have here a paper concerning a horse which I cannot read." And -then?' Kim peered at Mahbub under his eyebrows. - -'Then thou wouldst have drunk water twice - perhaps thrice, -afterwards. I do not think more than thrice,' said Mahbub simply. - -'It is true. I thought of that a little, but most I thought that I -loved thee, Mahbub. Therefore I went to Umballa, as thou knowest, -but (and this thou dost not know) I lay hid in the garden-grass to -see what Colonel Creighton Sahib might do upon reading the white -stallion's pedigree.' - -'And what did he?' for Kim had bitten off the conversation. - -'Dost thou give news for love, or dost thou sell it?' Kim asked. - -'I sell and - I buy.' Mahbub took a four-anna piece out of his belt -and held it up. - -'Eight!' said Kim, mechanically following the huckster instinct of -the East. - -Mahbub laughed, and put away the coin. 'It is too easy to deal in -that market, Friend of all the World. Tell me for love. Our lives -lie in each other's hand.' - -'Very good. I saw the Jang-i-Lat Sahib [the Commander-in-Chief] -come to a big dinner. I saw him in Creighton Sahib's office. I saw -the two read the white stallion's pedigree. I heard the very orders -given for the opening of a great war.' - -'Hah!' Mahbub nodded with deepest eyes afire. 'The game is well -played. That war is done now, and the evil, we hope, nipped before -the flower - thanks to me - and thee. What didst thou later?' - -'I made the news as it were a hook to catch me victual and honour -among the villagers in a village whose priest drugged my lama. But -I bore away the old man's purse, and the Brahmin found nothing. So -next morning he was angry. Ho! Ho! And I also used the news when I -fell into the hands of that white Regiment with their Bull!' - -'That was foolishness.' Mahbub scowled. 'News is not meant to be -thrown about like dung-cakes, but used sparingly - like bhang.' - -'So I think now, and moreover, it did me no sort of good. But that -was very long ago,' he made as to brush it all away with a thin -brown hand - 'and since then, and especially in the nights under -the punkah at the madrissah, I have thought very greatly.' - -'Is it permitted to ask whither the Heaven-born's thought might -have led?' said Mahbub, with an elaborate sarcasm, smoothing his -scarlet beard. - -'It is permitted,' said Kim, and threw back the very tone. 'They -say at Nucklao that no Sahib must tell a black man that he has made -a fault.' - -Mahbub's hand shot into his bosom, for to call a Pathan a 'black -man' [kala admi] is a blood-insult. Then he remembered and laughed. -'Speak, Sahib. Thy black man hears.' - -'But,' said Kim, 'I am not a Sahib, and I say I made a fault to -curse thee, Mahbub Ali, on that day at Umballa when I thought I was -betrayed by a Pathan. I was senseless; for I was but newly caught, -and I wished to kill that low-caste drummer-boy. I say now, Hajji, -that it was well done; and I see my road all clear before me to a -good service. I will stay in the madrissah till I am ripe.' - -'Well said. Especially are distances and numbers and the manner of -using compasses to be learned in that game. One waits in the Hills -above to show thee.' - -'I will learn their teaching upon a condition - that my time is -given to me without question when the madrissah is shut. Ask that -for me of the Colonel.' - -'But why not ask the Colonel in the Sahibs' tongue?' - -'The Colonel is the servant of the Government. He is sent hither -and yon at a word, and must consider his own advancement. (See how -much I have already learned at Nucklao!) Moreover, the Colonel I -know since three months only. I have known one Mahbub Ali for six -years. So! To the madrissah I will go. At the madrissah I will -learn. In the madrissah I will be a Sahib. But when the madrissah -is shut, then must I be free and go among my people. Otherwise I -die!' - -'And who are thy people, Friend of all the World?' - -'This great and beautiful land,' said Kim, waving his paw round the -little clay-walled room where the oil-lamp in its niche burned -heavily through the tobacco-smoke. 'And, further, I would see my -lama again. And, further, I need money.' - -'That is the need of everyone,' said Mahbub ruefully. 'I will give -thee eight annas, for much money is not picked out of horses' -hooves, and it must suffice for many days. As to all the rest, I am -well pleased, and no further talk is needed. Make haste to learn, -and in three years, or it may be less, thou wilt be an aid - even -to me.' - -'Have I been such a hindrance till now?' said Kim, with a boy's -giggle. - -'Do not give answers,' Mahbub grunted. 'Thou art my new horse-boy. -Go and bed among my men. They are near the north end of the -station, with the horses.' - -'They will beat me to the south end of the station if I come -without authority.' - -Mahbub felt in his belt, wetted his thumb on a cake of Chinese ink, -and dabbed the impression on a piece of soft native paper. From -Balkh to Bombay men know that rough-ridged print with the old scar -running diagonally across it. - -'That is enough to show my headman. I come in the morning.' - -'By which road?' said Kim. - -'By the road from the city. There is but one, and then we return to -Creighton Sahib. I have saved thee a beating.' - -'Allah! What is a beating when the very head is loose on the -shoulders?' - -Kim slid out quietly into the night, walked half round the house, -keeping close to the walls, and headed away from the station for a -mile or so. Then, fetching a wide compass, he worked back at -leisure, for he needed time to invent a story if any of Mahbub's -retainers asked questions. - -They were camped on a piece of waste ground beside the railway, -and, being natives, had not, of course, unloaded the two trucks in -which Mahbub's animals stood among a consignment of country-breds -bought by the Bombay tram-company. The headman, a broken-down, -consumptive-looking Mohammedan, promptly challenged Kim, but was -pacified at sight of Mahbub's sign-manual. - -'The Hajji has of his favour given me service,' said Kim testily. -'If this be doubted, wait till he comes in the morning. Meantime, a -place by the fire.' - -Followed the usual aimless babble that every low-caste native must -raise on every occasion. It died down, and Kim lay out behind the -little knot of Mahbub's followers, almost under the wheels of a -horse-truck, a borrowed blanket for covering. Now a bed among -brickbats and ballast-refuse on a damp night, between overcrowded -horses and unwashed Baltis, would not appeal to many white boys; -but Kim was utterly happy. Change of scene, service, and -surroundings were the breath of his little nostrils, and thinking -of the neat white cots of St Xavier's all arow under the punkah -gave him joy as keen as the repetition of the multiplication-table -in English. - -'I am very old,' he thought sleepily. 'Every month I become a year -more old. I was very young, and a fool to boot, when I took -Mahbub's message to Umballa. Even when I was with that white -Regiment I was very young and small and had no wisdom. But now I -learn every day, and in three years the Colonel will take me out of -the madrissah and let me go upon the Road with Mahbub hunting for -horses' pedigrees, or maybe I shall go by myself; or maybe I shall -find the lama and go with him. Yes; that is best. To walk again as -a chela with my lama when he comes back to Benares.' - -The thoughts -came more slowly and disconnectedly. He was plunging into a -beautiful dreamland when his ears caught a whisper, thin and sharp, -above the monotonous babble round the fire. It came from behind the -iron-skinned horse-truck. - -'He is not here, then?' - -'Where should he be but roystering in the city. Who looks for a rat -in a frog-pond? Come away. He is not our man.' - -'He must not go back beyond the Passes a second time. It is the -order.' - -'Hire some woman to drug him. It is a few rupees only, and there is -no evidence.' - -'Except the woman. It must be more certain; and remember the price -upon his head.' - -'Ay, but the police have a long arm, and we are far from the -Border. If it were in Peshawur, now!' - -'Yes - in Peshawur,' the second voice sneered. 'Peshawur, full of -his blood-kin - full of bolt-holes and women behind whose clothes -he will hide. Yes, Peshawur or Jehannum would suit us equally -well.' - -'Then what is the plan?' - -'O fool, have I not told it a hundred times? Wait till he comes to -lie down, and then one sure shot. The trucks are between us and -pursuit. We have but to run back over the lines and go our way. -They will not see whence the shot came. Wait here at least till the -dawn. What manner of fakir art thou, to shiver at a little -watching?' - -'Oho!' thought Kim, behind close-shut eyes. 'Once again it is -Mahbub. Indeed a white stallion's pedigree is not a good thing to -peddle to Sahibs! Or maybe Mahbub has been selling other news. Now -what is to do, Kim? I know not where Mahbub houses, and if he comes -here before the dawn they will shoot him. That would be no profit -for thee, Kim. And this is not a matter for the police. That would -be no profit for Mahbub; and' - he giggled almost aloud - 'I do not -remember any lesson at Nucklao which will help me. Allah! Here is -Kim and yonder are they. First, then, Kim must wake and go away, so -that they shall not suspect. A bad dream wakes a man - thus -' - -He threw the blanket off his face, and raised himself suddenly with -the terrible, bubbling, meaningless yell of the Asiatic roused by -nightmare. - -'Urr-urr-urr-urr! Ya-la-la-la-la! Narain! The churel! The churel!' - -A churel is the peculiarly malignant ghost of a woman who has died -in child-bed. She haunts lonely roads, her feet are turned -backwards on the ankles, and she leads men to torment. - -Louder rose Kim's quavering howl, till at last he leaped to his -feet and staggered off sleepily, while the camp cursed him for -waking them. Some twenty yards farther up the line he lay down -again, taking care that the whisperers should hear his grunts and -groans as he recomposed himself. After a few minutes he rolled -towards the road and stole away into the thick darkness. - -He paddled along swiftly till he came to a culvert, and dropped -behind it, his chin on a level with the coping-stone. Here he could -command all the night-traffic, himself unseen. - -Two or three carts passed, jingling out to the suburbs; a coughing -policeman and a hurrying foot-passenger or two who sang to keep off -evil spirits. Then rapped the shod feet of a horse. - -'Ah! This is more like Mahbub,' thought Kim, as the beast shied at -the little head above the culvert. - -'Ohe', Mahbub Ali,' he whispered, 'have a care!' - -The horse was reined back almost on its haunches, and forced -towards the culvert. - -'Never again,' said Mahbub, 'will I take a shod horse for night- -work. They pick up all the bones and nails in the city.' He stooped -to lift its forefoot, and that brought his head within a foot of -Kim's. - -'Down - keep down,' he muttered. 'The night is full of -eyes.' - -'Two men wait thy coming behind the horse-trucks. They will shoot -thee at thy lying down, because there is a price on thy head. I -heard, sleeping near the horses.' - -'Didst thou see them? ... Hold still, Sire of Devils!' This -furiously to the horse. - -'No.' - -'Was one dressed belike as a fakir?' - -'One said to the other, "What manner of fakir art thou, to shiver -at a little watching?"' - -'Good. Go back to the camp and lie down. I do not die tonight.' - -Mahbub wheeled his horse and vanished. Kim tore back down the ditch -till he reached a point opposite his second resting-place, slipped -across the road like a weasel, and re-coiled himself in the -blanket. - -'At least Mahbub knows,' he thought contentedly. 'And certainly he -spoke as one expecting it. I do not think those two men will profit -by tonight's watch.' - -An hour passed, and, with the best will in the world to keep awake -all night, he slept deeply. Now and again a night train roared -along the metals within twenty feet of him; but he had all the -Oriental's indifference to mere noise, and it did not even weave a -dream through his slumber. - -Mahbub was anything but asleep. It annoyed him vehemently that -people outside his tribe and unaffected by his casual amours should -pursue him for the life. His first and natural impulse was to cross -the line lower down, work up again, and, catching his well-wishers -from behind, summarily slay them. Here, he reflected with sorrow, -another branch of the Government, totally unconnected with Colonel -Creighton, might demand explanations which would be hard to supply; -and he knew that south of the Border a perfectly ridiculous fuss is -made about a corpse or so. He had not been troubled in this way -since he sent Kim to Umballa with the message, and hoped that -suspicion had been finally diverted. - -Then a most brilliant notion struck him. - -'The English do eternally tell the truth,' he said, 'therefore we -of this country are eternally made foolish. By Allah, I will tell -the truth to an Englishman! Of what use is the Government police if -a poor Kabuli be robbed of his horses in their very trucks. This is -as bad as Peshawur! I should lay a complaint at the station. Better -still, some young Sahib on the Railway! They are zealous, and if -they catch thieves it is remembered to their honour.' - -He tied up his horse outside the station, and strode on to the -platform. - -'Hullo, Mahbub Ali' said a young Assistant District Traffic -Superintendent who was waiting to go down the line - a tall, tow- -haired, horsey youth in dingy white linen. 'What are you doing -here? Selling weeds - eh?' - -'No; I am not troubled for my horses. I come to look for Lutuf -Ullah. I have a truck-load up the line. Could anyone take them out -without the Railway's knowledge?' - -'Shouldn't think so, Mahbub. You can claim against us if they do.' - -'I have seen two men crouching under the wheels of one of the -trucks nearly all night. Fakirs do not steal horses, so I gave them -no more thought. I would find Lutuf Ullah, my partner.' - -'The deuce you did? And you didn't bother your head about it? 'Pon -my word, it's just almost as well that I met you. What were they -like, eh?' - -'They were only fakirs. They will no more than take a little grain, -perhaps, from one of the trucks. There are many up the line. The -State will never miss the dole. I came here seeking for my partner, -Lutuf Ullah.' - -'Never mind your partner. Where are your horse-trucks?' - -'A little to this side of the farthest place where they make lamps -for the trains.' - -'The signal-box! Yes.' - -'And upon the rail nearest to the road upon the right-hand side - -looking up the line thus. But as regards Lutuf Ullah - a tall man -with a broken nose, and a Persian greyhound Aie!' - -The boy had hurried off to wake up a young and enthusiastic -policeman; for, as he said, the Railway had suffered much from -depredations in the goods-yard. Mahbub Ali chuckled in his dyed -beard. - -'They will walk in their boots, making a noise, and then they will -wonder why there are no fakirs. They are very clever boys -- Barton -Sahib and Young Sahib.' - -He waited idly for a few minutes, expecting to see them hurry up -the line girt for action. A light engine slid through the station, -and he caught a glimpse of young Barton in the cab. - -'I did that child an injustice. He is not altogether a fool,' said -Mahbub Ali. 'To take a fire-carriage for a thief is a new game!' - -When Mahbub Ali came to his camp in the dawn, no one thought it -worth while to tell him any news of the night. No one, at least, -but one small horseboy, newly advanced to the great man's service, -whom Mahbub called to his tiny tent to assist in some packing. - -'It is all known to me,' whispered Kim, bending above saddlebags. -'Two Sahibs came up on a te-train. I was running to and fro in the -dark on this side of the trucks as the te-train moved up and down -slowly. They fell upon two men sitting under this truck - Hajji, -what shall I do with this lump of tobacco? Wrap it in paper and put -it under the salt-bag? Yes - and struck them down. But one man -struck at a Sahib with a fakir's buck's horn' (Kim meant the -conjoined black-buck horns, which are a fakir's sole temporal -weapon) - 'the blood came. So the other Sahib, first smiting his -own man senseless, smote the stabber with a short gun which had -rolled from the first man's hand. They all raged as though mad -together.' - -Mahbub smiled with heavenly resignation. 'No! That is not so much -dewanee [madness, or a case for the civil court - the word can be -punned upon both ways] as nizamut [a criminal case]. A gun, sayest -thou? Ten good years in jail.' - -'Then they both lay still, but I think they were nearly dead when -they were put on the te-train. Their heads moved thus. And there is -much blood on the line. Come and see?' - -'I have seen blood before. Jail is the sure place - and assuredly -they will give false names, and assuredly no man will find them for -a long time. They were unfriends of mine. Thy fate and mine seem on -one string. What a tale for the healer of pearls! Now swiftly with -the saddle-bags and the cooking-platter. We will take out the -horses and away to Simla.' - -Swiftly - as Orientals understand speed - with long explanations, -with abuse and windy talk, carelessly, amid a hundred checks for -little things forgotten, the untidy camp broke up and led the half- -dozen stiff and fretful horses along the Kalka road in the fresh of -the rain-swept dawn. Kim, regarded as Mahbub Ali's favourite by all -who wished to stand well with the Pathan, was not called upon to -work. They strolled on by the easiest of stages, halting every few -hours at a wayside shelter. Very many Sahibs travel along the Kalka -road; and, as Mahbub Ali says, every young Sahib must needs esteem -himself a judge of a horse, and, though he be over head in debt to -the money-lender, must make as if to buy. That was the reason that -Sahib after Sahib, rolling along in a stage-carriage, would stop -and open talk. Some would even descend from their vehicles and feel -the horses' legs; asking inane questions, or, through sheer -ignorance of the vernacular, grossly insulting the imperturbable -trader. - -'When first I dealt with Sahibs, and that was when Colonel Soady -Sahib was Governor of Fort Abazai and flooded the Commissioner's -camping-ground for spite,' Mahbub confided to Kim as the boy filled -his pipe under a tree, 'I did not know how greatly they were fools, -and this made me wroth. As thus -,' and he told Kim a tale of an -expression, misused in all innocence, that doubled Kim up with -mirth. 'Now I see, however,' - he exhaled smoke slowly - 'that it -is with them as with all men - in certain matters they are wise, -and in others most foolish. Very foolish it is to use the wrong -word to a stranger; for though the heart may be clean of offence, -how is the stranger to know that? He is more like to search truth -with a dagger.' - -'True. True talk,' said Kim solemnly. 'Fools speak of a cat when a -woman is brought to bed, for instance. I have heard them.' - -'Therefore, in one situate as thou art, it particularly behoves -thee to remember this with both kinds of faces. Among Sahibs, never -forgetting thou art a Sahib; among the folk of Hind, always -remembering thou art -' He paused, with a puzzled smile. - -'What am I? Mussalman, Hindu, Jain, or Buddhist? That is a hard -knot.' - -'Thou art beyond question an unbeliever, and therefore thou wilt be -damned. So says my Law - or I think it does. But thou art also my -Little Friend of all the World, and I love thee. So says my heart. -This matter of creeds is like horseflesh. The wise man knows horses -are good - that there is a profit to be made from all; and for -myself - but that I am a good Sunni and hate the men of Tirah - I -could believe the same of all the Faiths. Now manifestly a -Kathiawar mare taken from the sands of her birthplace and removed -to the west of Bengal founders - nor is even a Balkh stallion (and -there are no better horses than those of Balkh, were they not so -heavy in the shoulder) of any account in the great Northern deserts -beside the snow-camels I have seen. Therefore I say in my heart the -Faiths are like the horses. Each has merit in its own country.' - -'But my lama said altogether a different thing.' - -'Oh, he is an old dreamer of dreams from Bhotiyal. My heart is a -little angry, Friend of all the World, that thou shouldst see such -worth in a man so little known.' - -'It is true, Hajji; but that worth do I see, and to him my heart is -drawn.' - -'And his to thine, I hear. Hearts are like horses. They come and -they go against bit or spur. Shout Gul Sher Khan yonder to drive in -that bay stallion's pickets more firmly. We do not want a horse- -fight at every resting-stage, and the dun and the black will be -locked in a little ... Now hear me. Is it necessary to the -comfort of thy heart to see that lama?' - -'It is one part of my bond,' said Kim. 'If I do not see him, and if -he is taken from me, I will go out of that madrissah in Nucklao -and, and - once gone, who is to find me again?' - -'It is true. Never was colt held on a lighter heel-rope than thou.' -Mahbub nodded his head. - -'Do not be afraid.' Kim spoke as though he could have vanished on -the moment. 'My lama has said that he will come to see me at the -madrissah -' - -'A beggar and his bowl in the presence of those young Sa -' - -'Not all!' Kim cut in with a snort. 'Their eyes are blued and their -nails are blackened with low-caste blood, many of them. Sons of -mehteranees - brothers-in-law to the bhungi [sweeper].' - -We need not follow the rest of the pedigree; but Kim made his -little point clearly and without heat, chewing a piece of sugar- -cane the while. - -'Friend of all the World,' said Mahbub, pushing over the pipe for -the boy to clean, 'I have met many men, women, and boys, and not a -few Sahibs. I have never in all my days met such an imp as thou -art.' - -'And why? When I always tell thee the truth.' - -'Perhaps the very reason, for this is a world of danger to honest -men.' Mahbub Ali hauled himself off the ground, girt in his belt, -and went over to the horses. - -'Or sell it?' - -There was that in the tone that made Mahbub halt and turn. 'What -new devilry?' - -'Eight annas, and I will tell,' said Kim, grinning. 'It touches thy -peace.' - -'O Shaitan!' Mahbub gave the money. - -'Rememberest thou the little business of the thieves in the dark, -down yonder at Umballa?' - -'Seeing they sought my life, I have not altogether forgotten. Why?' - -'Rememberest thou the Kashmir Serai?' - -'I will twist thy ears in a moment - Sahib.' - -'No need - Pathan. Only, the second fakir, whom the Sahibs beat -senseless, was the man who came to search thy bulkhead at Lahore. I -saw his face as they helped him on the engine. The very same man.' - -'Why didst thou not tell before?' - -'Oh, he will go to jail, and be safe for some years. There is no -need to tell more than is necessary at any one time. Besides, I did -not then need money for sweetmeats.' - -'Allah kerim!' said Mahbub Ah. 'Wilt thou some day sell my head for -a few sweetmeats if the fit takes thee?' - -Kim will remember till he dies that long, lazy journey from -Umballa, through Kalka and the Pinjore Gardens near by, up to -Simla. A sudden spate in the Gugger River swept down one horse -(the most valuable, be sure), and nearly drowned Kim among the -dancing boulders. Farther up the road the horses were stampeded by -a Government elephant, and being in high condition of grass food, -it cost a day and a half to get them together again. Then they met -Sikandar Khan coming down with a few unsaleable screws - remnants -of his string - and Mahbub, who has more of horse-coping in his -little fingernail than Sikandar Khan in all his tents, must needs -buy two of the worst, and that meant eight hours' laborious -diplomacy and untold tobacco. But it was all pure delight - the -wandering road, climbing, dipping, and sweeping about the growing -spurs; the flush of the morning laid along the distant snows; the -branched cacti, tier upon tier on the stony hillsides; the voices -of a thousand water-channels; the chatter of the monkeys; the -solemn deodars, climbing one after another with down-drooped -branches; the vista of the Plains rolled out far beneath them; the -incessant twanging of the tonga-horns and the wild rush of the led -horses when a tonga swung round a curve; the halts for prayers -(Mahbub was very religious in dry-washings and bellowings when time -did not press); the evening conferences by the halting-places, when -camels and bullocks chewed solemnly together and the stolid drivers -told the news of the Road - all these things lifted Kim's heart to -song within him. - -'But, when the singing and dancing is done,' said Mahbub Ali, -'comes the Colonel Sahib's, and that is not so sweet.' - -'A fair land - a most beautiful land is this of Hind - and the land -of the Five Rivers is fairer than all,' Kim half chanted. 'Into it -I will go again if Mahbub Ali or the Colonel lift hand or foot -against me. Once gone, who shall find me? Look, Hajji, is yonder -the city of Simla? Allah, what a city!' - -'My father's brother, and he was an old man when Mackerson Sahib's -well was new at Peshawur, could recall when there were but two -houses in it.' - -He led the horses below the main road into the lower Simla bazar - -the crowded rabbit-warren that climbs up from the valley to the -Town Hall at an angle of forty-five. A man who knows his way there -can defy all the police of India's summer capital, so cunningly -does veranda communicate with veranda, alley-way with alley-way, -and bolt-hole with bolt-hole. Here live those who minister to the -wants of the glad city - jhampanis who pull the pretty ladies' -'rickshaws by night and gamble till the dawn; grocers, oil-sellers, -curio-vendors, firewood-dealers, priests, pickpockets, and native -employees of the Government. Here are discussed by courtesans the -things which are supposed to be profoundest secrets of the India -Council; and here gather all the sub-sub-agents of half the Native -States. Here, too, Mahbub Ali rented a room, much more securely -locked than his bulkhead at Lahore, in the house of a Mohammedan -cattle-dealer. It was a place of miracles, too, for there went in -at twilight a Mohammedan horseboy, and there came out an hour later -a Eurasian lad - the Lucknow girl's dye was of the best - in badly- -fitting shop-clothes. - -'I have spoken with Creighton Sahib,' quoth Mahbub Ali, 'and a -second time has the Hand of Friendship averted the Whip of -Calamity. He says that thou hast altogether wasted sixty days upon -the Road, and it is too late, therefore, to send thee to any Hill- -school.' - -'I have said that my holidays are my own. I do not go to school -twice over. That is one part of my bond.' - -'The Colonel Sahib is not yet aware of that contract. Thou art to -lodge in Lurgan Sahib's house till it is time to go again to -Nucklao.' - -'I had sooner lodge with thee, Mahbub.' - -'Thou dost not know the honour. Lurgan Sahib himself asked for -thee. Thou wilt go up the hill and along the road atop, and there -thou must forget for a while that thou hast ever seen or spoken to -me, Mahbub Ali, who sells horses to Creighton Sahib, whom thou dost -not know. Remember this order.' - -Kim nodded. 'Good,' said he, 'and who is Lurgan Sahib? Nay' - he -caught Mahbub's sword-keen glance - 'indeed I have never heard his -name. Is he by chance - he lowered his voice - 'one of us?' - -'What talk is this of us, Sahib?' Mahbub Ali returned, in the tone -he used towards Europeans. 'I am a Pathan; thou art a Sahib and the -son of a Sahib. Lurgan Sahib has a shop among the European shops. -All Simla knows it. Ask there ... and, Friend of all the World, he -is one to be obeyed to the last wink of his eyelashes. Men say he -does magic, but that should not touch thee. Go up the hill and ask. -Here begins the Great Game.' - - - - - -Chapter 9 - - -S' doaks was son of Yelth the wise - -Chief of the Raven clan. -Itswoot the Bear had him in care -To make him a medicine-man. - -He was quick and quicker to learn - -Bold and bolder to dare: -He danced the dread Kloo-Kwallie Dance -To tickle Itswoot the Bear! - -Oregon Legend - - - -Kim flung himself whole-heartedly upon the next turn of the wheel. -He would be a Sahib again for a while. In that idea, so soon as he -had reached the broad road under Simla Town Hall, he cast about for -one to impress. A Hindu child, some ten years old, squatted under a -lamp-post. - -'Where is Mr Lurgan's house?' demanded Kim. - -'I do not understand English,' was the answer, and Kim shifted his -speech accordingly. - -'I will show.' - -Together they set off through the mysterious dusk, full of the -noises of a city below the hillside, and the breath of a cool wind -in deodar-crowned Jakko, shouldering the stars. The house-lights, -scattered on every level, made, as it were, a double firmament. -Some were fixed, others belonged to the 'rickshaws of the careless, -open-spoken English folk, going out to dinner. - -'It is here,' said Kim's guide, and halted in a veranda flush with -the main road. No door stayed them, but a curtain of beaded reeds -that split up the lamplight beyond. - -'He is come,' said the boy, in a voice little louder than a sigh, -and vanished. Kim felt sure that the boy had been posted to guide -him from the first, but, putting a bold face on it, parted the -curtain. A black-bearded man, with a green shade over his eyes, sat -at a table, and, one by one, with short, white hands, picked up -globules of light from a tray before him, threaded them on a -glancing silken string, and hummed to himself the while. Kim was -conscious that beyond the circle of light the room was full of -things that smelt like all the temples of all the East. A whiff of -musk, a puff of sandal-wood, and a breath of sickly jessamine-oil -caught his opened nostrils. - -'I am here,' said Kim at last, speaking in the vernacular: the -smells made him forget that he was to be a Sahib. - -'Seventy-nine, eighty, eighty-one,' the man counted to himself, -stringing pearl after pearl so quickly that Kim could scarcely -follow his fingers. He slid off the green shade and looked fixedly -at Kim for a full half-minute. The pupils of the eye dilated and -closed to pin-pricks, as if at will. There was a fakir by the -Taksali Gate who had just this gift and made money by it, -especially when cursing silly women. Kim stared with interest. His -disreputable friend could further twitch his ears, almost like a -goat, and Kim was disappointed that this new man could not imitate -him. - -'Do not be afraid,' said Lurgan Sahib suddenly. - -'Why should I fear?' - -'Thou wilt sleep here tonight, and stay with me till it is time to -go again to Nucklao. It is an order.' - -'It is an order,' Kim repeated. 'But where shall I sleep?' - -'Here, in this room.' Lurgan Sahib waved his hand towards the -darkness behind him. - -'So be it,' said Kim composedly. 'Now?' - -He nodded and held the lamp above his head. As the light swept -them, there leaped out from the walls a collection of Tibetan -devil-dance masks, hanging above the fiend-embroidered draperies of -those ghastly functions - horned masks, scowling masks, and masks -of idiotic terror. In a corner, a Japanese warrior, mailed and -plumed, menaced him with a halberd, and a score of lances and -khandas and kuttars gave back the unsteady gleam. But what -interested Kim more than all these things - he had seen devil-dance -masks at the Lahore Museum - was a glimpse of the soft-eyed Hindu -child who had left him in the doorway, sitting cross-legged under -the table of pearls with a little smile on his scarlet lips. - -'I think that Lurgan Sahib wishes to make me afraid. And I am sure -that that devil's brat below the table wishes to see me afraid. - -'This place,' he said aloud, 'is like a Wonder House. Where is my -bed?' - -Lurgan Sahib pointed to a native quilt in a corner by the loathsome -masks, picked up the lamp, and left the room black. - -'Was that Lurgan Sahib?' Kim asked as he cuddled down. No answer. -He could hear the Hindu boy breathing, however, and, guided by the -sound, crawled across the floor, and cuffed into the darkness, -crying: 'Give answer, devil! Is this the way to lie to a Sahib?' - -From the darkness he fancied he could hear the echo of a chuckle. -It could not be his soft-fleshed companion, because he was weeping. -So Kim lifted up his voice and called aloud: - -'Lurgan Sahib! O Lurgan Sahib! Is it an order that thy servant does -not speak to me?' - -'It is an order.' The voice came from behind him and he started. - -'Very good. But remember,' he muttered, as he resought the quilt, -'I will beat thee in the morning. I do not love Hindus.' - -That was no cheerful night; the room being overfull of voices and -music. Kim was waked twice by someone calling his name. The second -time he set out in search, and ended by bruising his nose against a -box that certainly spoke with a human tongue, but in no sort of -human accent. It seemed to end in a tin trumpet and to be joined by -wires to a smaller box on the floor - so far, at least, as he could -judge by touch. And the voice, very hard and whirring, came out of -the trumpet. Kim rubbed his nose and grew furious, thinking, as -usual, in Hindi. - -'This with a beggar from the bazar might be good, but - I am a -Sahib and the son of a Sahib and, which is twice as much more -beside, a student of Nucklao. Yess' (here he turned to English), -'a boy of St Xavier's. Damn Mr Lurgan's eyes! - It is some sort of -machinery like a sewing-machine. Oh, it is a great cheek of him - -we are not frightened that way at Lucknow - No!' Then in Hindi: -'But what does he gain? He is only a trader - I am in his -shop. But Creighton Sahib is a Colonel - and I think Creighton -Sahib gave orders that it should be done. How I will beat that -Hindu in the morning! What is this?' - -The trumpet-box was pouring out a string of the most elaborate -abuse that even Kim had ever heard, in a high uninterested voice, -that for a moment lifted the short hairs of his neck. When the vile -thing drew breath, Kim was reassured by the soft, sewing-machine- -like whirr. - -'Chup! [Be still)' he cried, and again he heard a chuckle that -decided him. 'Chup - or I break your head.' - -The box took no heed. Kim wrenched at the tin trumpet and something -lifted with a click. He had evidently raised a lid. If there were a -devil inside, now was its time, for - he sniffed -thus did the -sewing-machines of the bazar smell. He would clean that shaitan. He -slipped off his jacket, and plunged it into the box's mouth. -Something long and round bent under the pressure, there was a whirr -and the voice stopped - as voices must if you ram a thrice-doubled -coat on to the wax cylinder and into the works of an expensive -phonograph. Kim finished his slumbers with a serene mind. - -In the morning he was aware of Lurgan Sahib looking down on him. - -'Oah!' said Kim, firmly resolved to cling to his Sahib-dom. 'There -was a box in the night that gave me bad talk. So I stopped it. Was -it your box?' - -The man held out his hand. - -'Shake hands, O'Hara,' he said. 'Yes, it was my box. I keep such -things because my friends the Rajahs like them. That one is broken, -but it was cheap at the price. Yes, my friends, the Kings, are very -fond of toys - and so am I sometimes.' - -Kim looked him over out of the corners of his eyes. He was a Sahib -in that he wore Sahib's clothes; the accent of his Urdu, the -intonation of his English, showed that he was anything but a Sahib. -He seemed to understand what moved in Kim's mind ere the boy opened -his mouth, and he took no pains to explain himself as did Father -Victor or the Lucknow masters. Sweetest of all - he treated Kim as -an equal on the Asiatic side. - -'I am sorry you cannot beat my boy this morning. He says he will -kill you with a knife or poison. He is jealous, so I have put him -in the corner and I shall not speak to him today. He has just tried -to kill me. You must help me with the breakfast. He is almost too -jealous to trust, just now.' - -Now a genuine imported Sahib from England would have made a great -to-do over this tale. Lurgan Sahib stated it as simply as Mahbub -Ali was used to record his little affairs in the North. - -The back veranda of the shop was built out over the sheer hillside, -and they looked down into their neighbours' chimney-pots, as is the -custom of Simla. But even more than the purely Persian meal cooked -by Lurgan Sahib with his own hands, the shop fascinated Kim. The -Lahore Museum was larger, but here were more wonders - ghost- -daggers and prayer-wheels from Tibet; turquoise and raw amber -necklaces; green jade bangles; curiously packed incense-sticks in -jars crusted over with raw garnets; the devil-masks of overnight -and a wall full of peacock-blue draperies; gilt figures of Buddha, -and little portable lacquer altars; Russian samovars with -turquoises on the lid; egg-shell china sets in quaint octagonal -cane boxes; yellow ivory crucifixes - from Japan of all places in -the world, so Lurgan Sahib said; carpets in dusty bales, smelling -atrociously, pushed back behind torn and rotten screens of -geometrical work; Persian water-jugs for the hands after meals; -dull copper incense-burners neither Chinese nor Persian, with -friezes of fantastic devils running round them; tarnished silver -belts that knotted like raw hide; hairpins of jade, ivory, and -plasma; arms of all sorts and kinds, and a thousand other oddments -were cased, or piled, or merely thrown into the room, leaving a -clear space only round the rickety deal table, where Lurgan Sahib -worked. - -'Those things are nothing,' said his host, following Kim's glance. -'I buy them because they are pretty, and sometimes I sell - if I -like the buyer's look. My work is on the table - some of it.' - -It blazed in the morning light - all red and blue and green -flashes, picked out with the vicious blue-white spurt of a diamond -here and there. Kim opened his eyes. - -'Oh, they are quite well, those stones. It will not hurt them to -take the sun. Besides, they are cheap. But with sick stones it is -very different.' He piled Kim's plate anew. 'There is no one but me -can doctor a sick pearl and re-blue turquoises. I grant you opals - -any fool can cure an opal - but for a sick pearl there is only me. -Suppose I were to die! Then there would be no one ... Oh no! You -cannot do anything with jewels. It will be quite enough if you -understand a little about the Turquoise - some day.' - -He moved to the end of the veranda to refill the heavy, porous clay -water-jug from the filter. - -'Do you want drink?' - -Kim nodded. Lurgan Sahib, fifteen feet off, laid one hand on the -jar. Next instant, it stood at Kim's elbow, full to within half an -inch of the brim - the white cloth only showing, by a small -wrinkle, where it had slid into place. - -'Wah!' said Kim in most utter amazement. 'That is magic.' Lurgan -Sahib's smile showed that the compliment had gone home. - -'Throw it back.' - -'It will break.' - -'I say, throw it back.' - -Kim pitched it at random. It fell short and crashed into fifty -pieces, while the water dripped through the rough veranda boarding. - -'I said it would break.' - -'All one. Look at it. Look at the largest piece.' - -That lay with a sparkle of water in its curve, as it were a star on -the floor. Kim looked intently. Lurgan Sahib laid one hand gently -on the nape of his neck, stroked it twice or thrice, and whispered: -'Look! It shall come to life again, piece by piece. First the big -piece shall join itself to two others on the right and the left - -on the right and the left. Look!' - -To save his life, Kim could not have turned his head. The light -touch held him as in a vice, and his blood tingled pleasantly -through him. There was one large piece of the jar where there had -been three, and above them the shadowy outline of the entire -vessel. He could see the veranda through it, but it was thickening -and darkening with each beat of his pulse. Yet the jar - how slowly -the thoughts came! - the jar had been smashed before his eyes. -Another wave of prickling fire raced down his neck, as Lurgan Sahib -moved his hand. - -'Look! It is coming into shape,' said Lurgan Sahib. - -So far Kim had been thinking in Hindi, but a tremor came on him, -and with an effort like that of a swimmer before sharks, who hurls -himself half out of the water, his mind leaped up from a darkness -that was swallowing it and took refuge in - the multiplication- -table in English! - -'Look! It is coming into shape,' whispered Lurgan Sahib. - -The jar had been smashed - yess, smashed - not the native word, he -would not think of that - but smashed - into fifty pieces, and -twice three was six, and thrice three was nine, and four times -three was twelve. He clung desperately to the repetition. The -shadow-outline of the jar cleared like a mist after rubbing eyes. -There were the broken shards; there was the spilt water drying in -the sun, and through the cracks of the veranda showed, all ribbed, -the white house-wall below - and thrice twelve was thirty-six! - -'Look! Is it coming into shape?' asked Lurgan Sahib. - -'But it is smashed - smashed,' he gasped - Lurgan Sahib had been -muttering softly for the last half-minute. Kim wrenched his head -aside. 'Look! Dekho! It is there as it was there.' - -'It is there as it was there,' said Lurgan, watching Kim closely -while the boy rubbed his neck. 'But you are the first of many who -has ever seen it so.' He wiped his broad forehead. - -'Was that more magic?' Kim asked suspiciously. The tingle had gone -from his veins; he felt unusually wide awake. - -'No, that was not magic. It was only to see if there was - a flaw -in a jewel. Sometimes very fine jewels will fly all to pieces if a -man holds them in his hand, and knows the proper way. That is why -one must be careful before one sets them. Tell me, did you see the -shape of the pot?' - -'For a little time. It began to grow like a flower from the -ground.' - -'And then what did you do? I mean, how did you think?' - -'Oah! I knew it was broken, and so, I think, that was what I -thought - and it was broken.' - -'Hm! Has anyone ever done that same sort of magic to you before?' - -'If it was,' said Kim 'do you think I should let it again? I should -run away.' - -'And now you are not afraid - eh?' - -'Not now.' - -Lurgan Sahib looked at him more closely than ever. 'I shall ask -Mahbub Ali - not now, but some day later,' he muttered. 'I am -pleased with you - yes; and I am pleased with you - no. You are the -first that ever saved himself. I wish I knew what it was that ... -But you are right. You should not tell that - not even to me.' - -He turned into the dusky gloom of the shop, and sat down at the -table, rubbing his hands softly. A small, husky sob came from -behind a pile of carpets. It was the Hindu child obediently facing -towards the wall. His thin shoulders worked with grief. - -'Ah! He is jealous, so jealous. I wonder if he will try to poison -me again in my breakfast, and make me cook it twice. - -'Kubbee - kubbee nahin [Never - never. No!]', came the broken -answer. - -'And whether he will kill this other boy?' - - -'Kubbee - kubbee nahin.' - -'What do you think he will do?' He turned suddenly on Kim. - -'Oah! I do not know. Let him go, perhaps. Why did he want to poison -you?' - -'Because he is so fond of me. Suppose you were fond of someone, and -you saw someone come, and the man you were fond of was more pleased -with him than he was with you, what would you do?' - -Kim thought. Lurgan repeated the sentence slowly in the vernacular. -'I should not poison that man,' said Kim reflectively, 'but I -should beat that boy - if that boy was fond of my man. But first, I -would ask that boy if it were true.' - -'Ah! He thinks everyone must be fond of me.' - -'Then I think he is a fool.' - -'Hearest thou?' said Lurgan Sahib to the shaking shoulders. 'The -Sahib's son thinks thou art a little fool. Come out, and next time -thy heart is troubled, do not try white arsenic quite so openly. -Surely the Devil Dasim was lord of our table-cloth that day! It -might have made me ill, child, and then a stranger would have -guarded the jewels. Come!' - -The child, heavy-eyed with much weeping, crept out from behind the -bale and flung himself passionately at Lurgan Sahib's feet, with an -extravagance of remorse that impressed even Kim. - -'I will look into the ink-pools - I will faithfully guard the -jewels! Oh, my Father and my Mother, send him away!' He indicated -Kim with a backward jerk of his bare heel. - -'Not yet - not yet. In a little while he will go away again. But -now he is at school - at a new madrissah - and thou shalt be his -teacher. Play the Play of the Jewels against him. I will keep -tally.' - -The child dried his tears at once, and dashed to the back of the -shop, whence he returned with a copper tray. - -'Give me!' he said to Lurgan Sahib. 'Let them come from thy hand, -for he may say that I knew them before.' - -'Gently - gently,' the man replied, and from a drawer under the -table dealt a half-handful of clattering trifles into the tray. - -'Now,' said the child, waving an old newspaper. 'Look on them as -long as thou wilt, stranger. Count and, if need be, handle. One -look is enough for me.' He turned his back proudly. - -'But what is the game?' - -'When thou hast counted and handled and art sure that thou canst -remember them all, I cover them with this paper, and thou must tell -over the tally to Lurgan Sahib. I will write mine.' - -'Oah!' The instinct of competition waked in his breast. He bent -over the tray. There were but fifteen stones on it. 'That is easy,' -he said after a minute. The child slipped the paper over the -winking jewels and scribbled in a native account-book. - -'There are under that paper five blue stones - one big, one -smaller, and three small,' said Kim, all in haste. 'There are four -green stones, and one with a hole in it; there is one yellow stone -that I can see through, and one like a pipe-stem. There are two red -stones, and - and - I made the count fifteen, but two I have -forgotten. No! Give me time. One was of ivory, little and brownish; -and - and - give me time...' - -'One - two' - Lurgan Sahib counted him out up to ten. Kim shook his -head. - -'Hear my count!' the child burst in, trilling with laughter. -'First, are two flawed sapphires - one of two ruttees and one of -four as I should judge. The four-ruttee sapphire is chipped at the -edge. There is one Turkestan turquoise, plain with black veins, and -there are two inscribed - one with a Name of God in gilt, and the -other being cracked across, for it came out of an old ring, I -cannot read. We have now all five blue stones. Four flawed emeralds -there are, but one is drilled in two places, and one is a little -carven-' - -'Their weights?' said Lurgan Sahib impassively. - -'Three - five - five - and four ruttees as I judge it. There is one -piece of old greenish pipe amber, and a cut topaz from Europe. -There is one ruby of Burma, of two ruttees, without a flaw, and -there is a balas-ruby, flawed, of two ruttees. There is a carved -ivory from China representing a rat sucking an egg; and there is -last - ah ha! - a ball of crystal as big as a bean set on a gold -leaf.' - -He clapped his hands at the close. - -'He is thy master,' said Lurgan Sahib, smiling. - -'Huh! He knew the names of the stones,' said Kim, flushing. 'Try -again! With common things such as he and I both know.' - -They heaped the tray again with odds and ends gathered from the -shop, and even the kitchen, and every time the child won, till Kim -marvelled. - -'Bind my eyes - let me feel once with my fingers, and even then I -will leave thee opened-eyed behind,' he challenged. - -Kim stamped with vexation when the lad made his boast good. - -'If it were men - or horses,' he said, 'I could do better. This -playing with tweezers and knives and scissors is too little.' - -'Learn first - teach later,' said Lurgan Sahib. 'Is he thy master?' - -'Truly. But how is it done?' - -'By doing it many times over till it is done perfectly - for it is -worth doing.' - -The Hindu boy, in highest feather, actually patted Kim on the back. - -'Do not despair,' he said. 'I myself will teach thee.' - -'And I will see that thou art well taught,' said Lurgan Sahib, -still speaking in the vernacular, 'for except my boy here - it was -foolish of him to buy so much white arsenic when, if he had asked, -I could have given it - except my boy here I have not in a long -time met with one better worth teaching. And there are ten days -more ere thou canst return to Lucknao where they teach nothing - at -the long price. We shall, I think, be friends.' - -They were a most mad ten days, but Kim enjoyed himself too much to -reflect on their craziness. In the morning they played the Jewel -Game - sometimes with veritable stones, sometimes with piles of -swords and daggers, sometimes with photo-graphs of natives. Through -the afternoons he and the Hindu boy would mount guard in the shop, -sitting dumb behind a carpet-bale or a screen and watching Mr -Lurgan's many and very curious visitors. There were small Rajahs, -escorts coughing in the veranda, who came to buy curiosities - such -as phonographs and mechanical toys. There were ladies in search of -necklaces, and men, it seemed to Kim - but his mind may have been -vitiated by early training - in search of the ladies; natives from -independent and feudatory Courts whose ostensible business was the -repair of broken necklaces - rivers of light poured out upon the -table - but whose true end seemed to be to raise money for angry -Maharanees or young Rajahs. There were Babus to whom Lurgan Sahib -talked with austerity and authority, but at the end of each -interview he gave them money in coined silver and currency notes. -There were occasional gatherings of long-coated theatrical natives -who discussed metaphysics in English and Bengali, to Mr Lurgan's -great edification. He was always interested in religions. At the -end of the day, Kim and the Hindu boy - whose name varied at -Lurgan's pleasure - were expected to give a detailed account of all -that they had seen and heard - their view of each man's character, -as shown in his face, talk, and manner, and their notions of his -real errand. After dinner, Lurgan Sahib's fancy turned more to what -might be called dressing-up, in which game he took a most informing -interest. He could paint faces to a marvel; with a brush-dab here -and a line there changing them past recognition. The shop was full -of all manner of dresses and turbans, and Kim was apparelled -variously as a young Mohammedan of good family, an oilman, and once -- which was a joyous evening - as the son of an Oudh landholder in -the fullest of full dress. Lurgan Sahib had a hawk's eye to detect -the least flaw in the make-up; and lying on a worn teak-wood couch, -would explain by the half-hour together how such and such a caste -talked, or walked, or coughed, or spat, or sneezed, and, since -'hows' matter little in this world, the 'why' of everything. The -Hindu child played this game clumsily. That little mind, keen as an -icicle where tally of jewels was concerned, could not temper itself -to enter another's soul; but a demon in Kim woke up and sang with -joy as he put on the changing dresses, and changed speech and -gesture therewith. - -Carried away by enthusiasm, he volunteered to show Lurgan Sahib one -evening how the disciples of a certain caste of fakir, old Lahore -acquaintances, begged doles by the roadside; and what sort of -language he would use to an Englishman, to a Punjabi farmer going -to a fair, and to a woman without a veil. Lurgan Sahib laughed -immensely, and begged Kim to stay as he was, immobile for half an -hour - cross-legged, ash-smeared, and wild-eyed, in the back room. -At the end of that time entered a hulking, obese Babu whose -stockinged legs shook with fat, and Kim opened on him with a shower -of wayside chaff. Lurgan Sahib - this annoyed Kim - watched the -Babu and not the play. - -'I think,' said the Babu heavily, lighting a cigarette, 'I am of -opeenion that it is most extraordinary and effeecient performance. -Except that you had told me I should have opined that- that- that -you were pulling my legs. How soon can he become approximately -effeecient chain-man? Because then I shall indent for him.' - -'That is what he must learn at Lucknow.' - -'Then order him to be jolly-dam'-quick. Good-night, Lurgan.' The -Babu swung out with the gait of a bogged cow. - -When they were telling over the day's list of visitors, Lurgan -Sahib asked Kim who he thought the man might be. - -'God knows!' said Kim cheerily. The tone might almost have deceived -Mahbub Ali, but it failed entirely with the healer of sick pearls. - -'That is true. God, He knows; but I wish to know what you think.' - -Kim glanced sideways at his companion, whose eye had a way of -compelling truth. - -'I - I think he will want me when I come from the school, but' - -confidentially, as Lurgan Sahib nodded approval - 'I do not -understand how he can wear many dresses and talk many tongues.' - -'Thou wilt understand many things later. He is a writer of tales -for a certain Colonel. His honour is great only in Simla, and it is -noticeable that he has no name, but only a number and a letter - -that is a custom among us.' - -'And is there a price upon his head too - as upon Mah - all the -others?' - -'Not yet; but if a boy rose up who is now sitting here and went - -look, the door is open! - as far as a certain house with a red- -painted veranda, behind that which was the old theatre in the Lower -Bazar, and whispered through the shutters: "Hurree Chunder -Mookerjee bore the bad news of last month", that boy might take -away a belt full of rupees.' - -'How many?' said Kim promptly. - -'Five hundred - a thousand - as many as he might ask for.' - -'Good. And for how long might such a boy live after the news was -told?' He smiled merrily at Lurgan's Sahib's very beard. - -'Ah! That is to be well thought of. Perhaps if he were very clever, -he might live out the day - but not the night. By no means the -night.' - -'Then what is the Babu's pay if so much is put upon his head?' - -'Eighty - perhaps a hundred - perhaps a hundred and fifty rupees; -but the pay is the least part of the work. From time to time, -God causes men to be born - and thou art one of them - who have a -lust to go abroad at the risk of their lives and discover news - -today it may be of far-off things, tomorrow of some hidden mountain, -and the next day of some near-by men who have done a foolishness -against the State. These souls are very few; and of these few, not -more than ten are of the best. Among these ten I count the Babu, -and that is curious. How great, therefore, and desirable must be a -business that brazens the heart of a Bengali!' - -'True. But the days go slowly for me. I am yet a boy, and it is only -within two months I learned to write Angrezi. Even now I cannot -read it well. And there are yet years and years and long years -before I can be even a chain-man.' - -'Have patience, Friend of all the World' - Kim started at the title. -'Would I had a few of the years that so irk thee. I have proved thee -in several small ways. This will not be forgotten when I make my -report to the Colonel Sahib.' Then, changing suddenly into English -with a deep laugh: - -'By Jove! O'Hara, I think there is a great deal in you; but you must -not become proud and you must not talk. You must go back to Lucknow -and be a good little boy and mind your book, as the English say, and -perhaps, next holidays if you care, you can come back to me!' Kim's -face fell. 'Oh, I mean if you like. I know where you want to go.' - -Four days later a seat was booked for Kim and his small trunk at the -rear of a Kalka tonga. His companion was the whale-like Babu, who, -with a fringed shawl wrapped round his head, and his fat openwork- -stockinged left leg tucked under him, shivered and grunted in the -morning chill. - -'How comes it that this man is one of us?' thought Kim considering -the jelly back as they jolted down the road; and the reflection -threw him into most pleasant day-dreams. Lurgan Sahib had given him -five rupees - a splendid sum - as well as the assurance of his -protection if he worked. Unlike Mahbub, Lurgan Sahib had spoken most -explicitly of the reward that would follow obedience, and Kim was -content. If only, like the Babu, he could enjoy the dignity of a -letter and a number - and a price upon his head! Some day he would -be all that and more. Some day he might be almost as great as Mahbub -Ali! The housetops of his search should be half India; he would -follow Kings and Ministers, as in the old days he had followed -vakils and lawyers' touts across Lahore city for Mahbub Ali's sake. -Meantime, there was the present, and not at all unpleasant, fact of -St Xavier's immediately before him. There would be new boys to -condescend to, and there would be tales of holiday adventures to -hear. Young Martin, son of the tea-planter at Manipur, had boasted -that he would go to war, with a rifle, against the head-hunters. - -That might be, but it was certain young Martin had not been blown -half across the forecourt of a Patiala palace by an explosion of -fireworks; nor had he... Kim fell to telling himself the story of -his own adventures through the last three months. He could paralyse -St Xavier's - even the biggest boys who shaved - with the recital, -were that permitted. But it was, of course, out of the question. -There would be a price upon his head in good time, as Lurgan Sahib -had assured him; and if he talked foolishly now, not only would that -price never be set, but Colonel Creighton would cast him off - and -he would be left to the wrath of Lurgan Sahib and Mahbub Ali - for -the short space of life that would remain to him. - -'So I should lose Delhi for the sake of a fish,' was his proverbial -philosophy. It behoved him to forget his holidays (there would -always remain the fun of inventing imaginary adventures) and, as -Lurgan Sahib had said, to work. Of all the boys hurrying back to St -Xavier's, from Sukkur in the sands to Galle beneath the palms, none -was so filled with virtue as Kimball O'Hara, jiggeting down to -Umballa behind Hurree Chunder Mookerjee, whose name on the books of -one section of the Ethnological Survey was R.17. - -And if additional spur were needed, the Babu supplied it. After a -huge meal at Kalka, he spoke uninterruptedly. Was Kim going to -school? Then he, an M A of Calcutta University, would explain the -advantages of education. There were marks to be gained by due -attention to Latin and Wordsworth's Excursion (all this was Greek to -Kim). French, too was vital, and the best was to be picked up in -Chandernagore a few miles from Calcutta. Also a man might go far, as -he himself had done, by strict attention to plays called Lear and -Julius Caesar, both much in demand by examiners. Lear was not so -full of historical allusions as Julius Caesar; the book cost four -annas, but could be bought second-hand in Bow Bazar for two. Still -more important than Wordsworth, or the eminent authors, Burke and -Hare, was the art and science of mensuration. A boy who had passed -his examination in these branches - for which, by the way, there -were no cram-books - could, by merely marching over a country with a -compass and a level and a straight eye, carry away a picture of that -country which might be sold for large sums in coined silver. But as -it was occasionally inexpedient to carry about measuring-chains a -boy would do well to know the precise length of his own foot-pace, -so that when he was deprived of what Hurree Chunder called -adventitious aids' he might still tread his distances. To keep count -of thousands of paces, Hurree Chunder's experience had shown him -nothing more valuable than a rosary of eighty-one or a hundred and -eight beads, for 'it was divisible and sub-divisible into many -multiples and sub-multiples'. Through the volleying drifts of -English, Kim caught the general trend of the talk, and it interested -him very much. Here was a new craft that a man could tuck away in -his head and by the look of the large wide world unfolding itself -before him, it seemed that the more a man knew the better for him. - -Said the Babu when he had talked for an hour and a half 'I hope some -day to enjoy your offeecial acquaintance. Ad interim, if I may be -pardoned that expression, I shall give you this betel-box, which is -highly valuable article and cost me two rupees only four years ago.' -It was a cheap, heart-shaped brass thing with three compartments for -carrying the eternal betel-nut, lime and pan-leaf; but it was filled -with little tabloid-bottles. - -'That is reward of merit for your -performance in character of that holy man. You see, you are so young -you think you will last for ever and not take care of your body. It -is great nuisance to go sick in the middle of business. I am fond of -drugs myself, and they are handy to cure poor people too. These are -good Departmental drugs - quinine and so on. I give it you for -souvenir. Now good-bye. I have urgent private business here by the -roadside.' - -He slipped out noiselessly as a cat, on the Umballa road, hailed a -passing cart and jingled away, while Kim, tongue-tied, twiddled the -brass betel-box in his hands. - -The record of a boy's education interests few save his parents, and, -as you know, Kim was an orphan. It is written in the books of St -Xavier's in Partibus that a report of Kim's progress was forwarded -at the end of each term to Colonel Creighton and to Father Victor, -from whose hands duly came the money for his schooling. It is -further recorded in the same books that he showed a great aptitude -for mathematical studies as well as map-making, and carried away a -prize (The Life of Lord Lawrence, tree-calf, two vols., nine rupees, -eight annas) for proficiency therein; and the same term played in St -Xavier's eleven against the Alighur Mohammedan College, his age -being fourteen years and ten months. He was also re-vaccinated (from -which we may assume that there had been another epidemic of smallpox -at Lucknow) about the same time. Pencil notes on the edge of an old -muster-roll record that he was punished several times for -'conversing with improper persons', and it seems that he was once -sentenced to heavy pains for 'absenting himself for a day in the -company of a street beggar'. That was when he got over the gate and -pleaded with the lama through a whole day down the banks of the -Gumti to accompany him on the Road next holidays - for one month - -for a little week; and the lama set his face as a flint against it, -averring that the time had not yet come. Kim's business, said the -old man as they ate cakes together, was to get all the wisdom of the -Sahibs and then he would see. The Hand of Friendship must in some -way have averted the Whip of Calamity, for six weeks later Kim seems -to have passed an examination in elementary surveying 'with great -credit', his age being fifteen years and eight months. From this -date the record is silent. His name does not appear in the year's -batch of those who entered for the subordinate Survey of India, but -against it stand the words 'removed on appointment.' - -Several times in those three years, cast up at the Temple of the -Tirthankars in Benares the lama, a little thinner and a shade -yellower, if that were possible, but gentle and untainted as ever. -Sometimes it was from the South that he came - from south of -Tuticorin, whence the wonderful fire-boats go to Ceylon where are -priests who know Pali; sometimes it was from the wet green West and -the thousand cotton-factory chimneys that ring Bombay; and once from -the North, where he had doubled back eight hundred miles to talk for -a day with the Keeper of the Images in the Wonder House. He would -stride to his cell in the cool, cut marble - the priests of the -Temple were good to the old man, - wash off the dust of travel, make -prayer, and depart for Lucknow, well accustomed now to the way of -the rail, in a third-class carriage. Returning, it was noticeable, -as his friend the Seeker pointed out to the head-priest, that he -ceased for a while to mourn the loss of his River, or to draw -wondrous pictures of the Wheel of Life, but preferred to talk of the -beauty and wisdom of a certain mysterious chela whom no man of the -Temple had ever seen. Yes, he had followed the traces of the Blessed -Feet throughout all India. (The Curator has still in his possession -a most marvellous account of his wanderings and meditations.) There -remained nothing more in life but to find the River of the Arrow. -Yet it was shown to him in dreams that it was a matter not to be -undertaken with any hope of success unless that seeker had with him -the one chela appointed to bring the event to a happy issue, and -versed in great wisdom - such wisdom as white-haired Keepers of -Images possess. For example (here came out the snuff-gourd, and the -kindly Jain priests made haste to be silent): - -'Long and long ago, when Devadatta was King of Benares - let all -listen to the Tataka! - an elephant was captured for a time by the -king's hunters and ere he broke free, beringed with a grievous -legiron. This he strove to remove with hate and frenzy in his heart, -and hurrying up and down the forests, besought his brother-elephants -to wrench it asunder. One by one, with their strong trunks, they -tried and failed. At the last they gave it as their opinion that the -ring was not to be broken by any bestial power. And in a thicket, -new-born, wet with moisture of birth, lay a day-old calf of the herd -whose mother had died. The fettered elephant, forgetting his own -agony, said: "If I do not help this suckling it will perish under -our feet." So he stood above the young thing, making his legs -buttresses against the uneasily moving herd; and he begged milk of a -virtuous cow, and the calf throve, and the ringed elephant was the -calf's guide and defence. Now the days of an elephant - let all -listen to the Tataka! - are thirty-five years to his full strength, -and through thirty-five Rains the ringed elephant befriended the -younger, and all the while the fetter ate into the flesh. - -'Then one day the young elephant saw the half-buried iron, and -turning to the elder said: "What is this?" "It is even my sorrow," -said he who had befriended him. Then that other put out his trunk -and in the twinkling of an eyelash abolished the ring, saying: "The -appointed time has come." So the virtuous elephant who had waited -temperately and done kind acts was relieved, at the appointed time, -by the very calf whom he had turned aside to cherish - let all -listen to the Tataka! for the Elephant was Ananda, and the Calf -that broke the ring was none other than The Lord Himself...' - -Then he would shake his head benignly, and over the ever-clicking -rosary point out how free that elephant-calf was from the sin of -pride. He was as humble as a chela who, seeing his master sitting in -the dust outside the Gates of Learning, over-leapt the gates (though -they were locked) and took his master to his heart in the presence -of the proud-stomached city. Rich would be the reward of such a -master and such a chela when the time came for them to seek freedom -together! - -So did the lama speak, coming and going across India as softly as a -bat. A sharp-tongued old woman in a house among the fruit-trees -behind Saharunpore honoured him as the woman honoured the prophet, -but his chamber was by no means upon the wall. In an apartment of -the forecourt overlooked by cooing doves he would sit, while she -laid aside her useless veil and chattered of spirits and fiends of -Kulu, of grandchildren unborn, and of the free-tongued brat who had -talked to her in the resting-place. Once, too, he strayed alone from -the Grand Trunk Road below Umballa to the very village whose priest -had tried to drug him; but the kind Heaven that guards lamas sent -him at twilight through the crops, absorbed and unsuspicious, to the -Rissaldar's door. Here was like to have been a grave -misunderstanding, for the old soldier asked him why the Friend of -the Stars had gone that way only six days before. - -'That may not be,' said the lama. 'He has gone back to his own -people.' - -'He sat in that corner telling a hundred merry tales five nights -ago,' his host insisted. 'True, he vanished somewhat suddenly in the -dawn after foolish talk with my granddaughter. He grows apace, but -he is the same Friend of the Stars as brought me true word of the -war. Have ye parted?' - -'Yes - and no,' the lama replied. 'We - we have not altogether -parted, but the time is not ripe that we should take the Road -together. He acquires wisdom in another place. We must wait.' - -'All one - but if it were not the boy how did he come to speak so -continually of thee?' - -'And what said he?' asked the lama eagerly. - -'Sweet words - an hundred thousand - that thou art his father and -mother and such all. Pity that he does not take the Qpeen's service. -He is fearless.' - -This news amazed the lama, who did not then know how religiously Kim -kept to the contract made with Mahbub Ali, and perforce ratified by -Colonel Creighton... - -'There is no holding the young pony from the game,' said the horse- -dealer when the Colonel pointed out that vagabonding over India in -holiday time was absurd. 'If permission be refused to go and come as -he chooses, he will make light of the refusal. Then who is to catch -him? Colonel Sahib, only once in a thousand years is a horse born so -well fitted for the game as this our colt. And we need men.' - - - - - -Chapter 10 - - -Your tiercel's too long at hack, Sire. He's no eyass -But a passage-hawk that footed ere we caught him, -Dangerously free o' the air. Faith! were he mine -(As mine's the glove he binds to for his tirings) -I'd fly him with a make-hawk. He's in yarak -Plumed to the very point - so manned, so weathered ... -Give him the firmament God made him for, -And what shall take the air of him? - -Gow's Watch - - - -Lurgan Sahib did not use as direct speech, but his advice tallied -with Mahbub's; and the upshot was good for Kim. He knew better now -than to leave Lucknow city in native garb, and if Mahbub were -anywhere within reach of a letter, it was to Mahbub's camp he -headed, and made his change under the Pathan's wary eye. Could -the little Survey paint-box that he used for map-tinting in term- -time have found a tongue to tell of holiday doings, he might have -been expelled. Once Mahbub and he went together as far as the -beautiful city of Bombay, with three truckloads of tram-horses, and -Mahbub nearly melted when Kim proposed a sail in a dhow across the -Indian Ocean to buy Gulf Arabs, which, he understood from a hanger- -on of the dealer Abdul Rahman, fetched better prices than mere -Kabulis. - -He dipped his hand into the dish with that great trader when Mahbub -and a few co-religionists were invited to a big Haj dinner. They -came back by way of Karachi by sea, when Kim took his first -experience of sea-sickness sitting on the fore-hatch of a coasting- -steamer, well persuaded he had been poisoned. The Babu's famous -drug-box proved useless, though Kim had restocked it at Bombay. -Mahbub had business at Quetta, and there Kim, as Mahbub admitted, -earned his keep, and perhaps a little over, by spending four curious -days as scullion in the house of a fat Commissariat sergeant, from -whose office-box, in an auspicious moment, he removed a little -vellum ledger which he copied out - it seemed to deal entirely with -cattle and camel sales - by moonlight, lying behind an outhouse, all -through one hot night. Then he returned the ledger to its place, -and, at Mahbub's word, left that service unpaid, rejoining him six -miles down the road, the clean copy in his bosom. - -'That soldier is a small fish,' Mahbub Ali explained, 'but in time -we shall catch the larger one. He only sells oxen at two prices - -one for himself and one for the Government - which I do not think is -a sin.' - -'Why could not I take away the little book and be done with it?' - -'Then he would have been frightened, and he would have told his -master. Then we should miss, perhaps, a great number of new rifles -which seek their way up from Quetta to the North. The Game is so -large that one sees but a little at a time.' - -'Oho!' said Kim, and held his tongue. That was in the monsoon -holidays, after he had taken the prize for mathematics. The -Christmas holidays he spent - deducting ten days for private -amusements - with Lurgan Sahib, where he sat for the most part in -front of a roaring wood-fire - Jakko road was four feet deep in snow -that year - and - the small Hindu had gone away to be married - -helped Lurgan to thread pearls. He made Kim learn whole chapters of -the Koran by heart, till he could deliver them with the very roll -and cadence of a mullah. Moreover, he told Kim the names and -properties of many native drugs, as well as the runes proper to -recite when you administer them. And in the evenings he wrote charms -on parchment - elaborate pentagrams crowned with the names of devils -- Murra, and Awan the Companion of Kings - all fantastically written -in the corners. More to the point, he advised Kim as to the care of -his own body, the cure of fever-fits, and simple remedies of the -Road. A week before it was time to go down, Colonel Creighton Sahib -- this was unfair - sent Kim a written examination paper that -concerned itself solely with rods and chains and links and angles. - -Next holidays he was out with Mahbub, and here, by the way, he -nearly died of thirst, plodding through the sand on a camel to the -mysterious city of Bikanir, where the wells are four hundred feet -deep, and lined throughout with camel-bone. It was not an amusing -trip from Kim's point of view, because - in defiance of the contract -- the Colonel ordered him to make a map of that wild, walled city; -and since Mohammedan horse-boys and pipe-tenders are not expected to -drag Survey-chains round the capital of an independent Native State, -Kim was forced to pace all his distances by means of a bead rosary. -He used the compass for bearings as occasion served - after dark -chiefly, when the camels had been fed - and by the help of his -little Survey paint-box of six colour-cakes and three brushes, he -achieved something not remotely unlike the city of Jeysulmir. Mahbub -laughed a great deal, and advised him to make up a written report as -well; and in the back of the big account-book that lay under the -flap of Mahbub's pet saddle Kim fell to work.. - -'It must hold everything that thou hast seen or touched or -considered. Write as though the Jung-i-Lat Sahib himself had come by -stealth with a vast army outsetting to war.' - -'How great an army?' - -'Oh, half a lakh of men.' - -'Folly! Remember how few and bad were the wells in the sand. Not a -thousand thirsty men could come near by here.' - -'Then write that down - also all the old breaches in the walls and -whence the firewood is cut - and what is the temper and disposition -of the King. I stay here till all my horses are sold. I will hire a -room by the gateway, and thou shalt be my accountant. There is a -good lock to the door.' - -The report in its unmistakable St Xavier's running script, and the -brown, yellow, and lake-daubed map, was on hand a few years ago (a -careless clerk filed it with the rough notes of E's second Seistan -survey), but by now the pencil characters must be almost illegible. -Kim translated it, sweating under the light of an oil-lamp, to -Mahbub, the second day of their return-journey. - -The Pathan rose and stooped over his dappled saddle-bags. - -'I knew it would be worthy a dress of honour, and so I made one -ready,' he said, smiling. 'Were I Amir of Afghanistan (and some day -we may see him), I would fill thy mouth with gold.' He laid the -garments formally at Kim's feet. There was a gold-embroidered -Peshawur turban-cap, rising to a cone, and a big turban-cloth ending -in a broad fringe of gold. There was a Delhi embroidered waistcoat -to slip over a milky white shirt, fastening to the right, ample and -flowing; green pyjamas with twisted silk waist-string; and that -nothing might be lacking, russia-leather slippers, smelling -divinely, with arrogantly curled tips. - -'Upon a Wednesday, and in the morning, to put on new clothes is -auspicious,' said Mahbub solemnly. 'But we must not forget the -wicked folk in the world. So!' - -He capped all the splendour, that was taking Kim's delighted breath -away, with a mother-of-pearl, nickel-plated, self-extracting .450 -revolver. - -'I had thought of a smaller bore, but reflected that this takes -Government bullets. A man can always come by those - especially -across the Border. Stand up and let me look.' He clapped Kim on the -shoulder. 'May you never be tired, Pathan! Oh, the hearts to be -broken! Oh, the eyes under the eyelashes, looking sideways!' - -Kim turned about, pointed his toes, stretched, and felt mechanically -for the moustache that was just beginning. Then he stooped towards -Mahbub's feet to make proper acknowledgment with fluttering, quick- -patting hands; his heart too full for words. Mahbub forestalled and -embraced him. - -'My son, said he, 'what need of words between us? But is not the -little gun a delight? All six cartridges come out at one twist. It -is borne in the bosom next the skin, which, as it were, keeps it -oiled. Never put it elsewhere, and please God, thou shalt some day -kill a man with it.' - -'Hai mai!' said Kim ruefully. 'If a Sahib kills a man he is hanged -in the jail.' - -'True: but one pace beyond the Border, men are wiser. Put it away; -but fill it first. Of what use is a gun unfed?' - - -'When I go back to the madrissah I must return it. They do not allow -little guns. Thou wilt keep it for me?' - - -'Son, I am wearied of that madrissah, where they take the best years -of a man to teach him what he can only learn upon the Road. The -folly of the Sahibs has neither top nor bottom. No matter. Maybe thy -written report shall save thee further bondage; and God He knows we -need men more and more in the Game.' - -They marched, jaw-bound against blowing sand, across the salt desert -to Jodhpur, where Mahbub and his handsome nephew Habib Ullah did -much trading; and then sorrowfully, in European clothes, which he -was fast outgrowing, Kim went second-class to St Xavier's. Three -weeks later, Colonel Creighton, pricing Tibetan ghost-daggers at -Lurgan's shop, faced Mahbub Ali openly mutinous. Lurgan Sahib -operated as support in reserve. - -'The pony is made - finished - mouthed and paced, Sahib! From now -on, day by day, he will lose his manners if he is kept at tricks. -Drop the rein on his back and let go,' said the horse-dealer. 'We -need him.' - -'But he is so young, Mahbub - not more than sixteen - is he?' - -'When I was fifteen, I had shot my man and begot my man, Sahib.' - -'You impenitent old heathen!' Creighton turned to Lurgan. The black -beard nodded assent to the wisdom of the Afghan's dyed scarlet. - -'I should have used him long ago,' said Lurgan. 'The younger the -better. That is why I always have my really valuable jewels watched -by a child. You sent him to me to try. I tried him in every way: he -is the only boy I could not make to see things.' - -'In the crystal - in the ink-pool?' demanded Mahbub. - -'No. Under my hand, as I told you. That has never happened before. -It means that he is strong enough - but you think it skittles, -Colonel Creighton - to make anyone do anything he wants. And that is -three years ago. I have taught him a good deal since, Colonel -Creighton. I think you waste him now.' - -'Hmm! Maybe you're right. But, as you know, there is no Survey work -for him at present.' - -'Let him out let him go,' Mahbub interrupted. 'Who expects any colt -to carry heavy weight at first? Let him run with the caravans - like -our white camel-colts - for luck. I would take him myself, but -' - -'There is a little business where he would be most useful - in the -South,' said Lurgan, with peculiar suavity, dropping his heavy blued -eyelids. - -'E.23 has that in hand,' said Creighton quickly. 'He must not go down -there. Besides, he knows no Turki.' - -'Only tell him the shape and the smell of the letters we want and he -will bring them back,' Lurgan insisted. - -'No. That is a man's job,' said Creighton. - -It was a wry-necked matter of unauthorized and incendiary -correspondence between a person who claimed to be the ultimate -authority in all matters of the Mohammedan religion throughout the -world, and a younger member of a royal house who had been brought to -book for kidnapping women within British territory. The Moslem -Archbishop had been emphatic and over-arrogant; the young prince was -merely sulky at the curtailment of his privileges, but there was no -need he should continue a correspondence which might some day -compromise him. One letter indeed had been procured, but the finder -was later found dead by the roadside in the habit of an Arab trader, -as E.23, taking up the work, duly reported. - -These facts, and a few others not to be published, made both Mahbub -and Creighton shake their heads. - -'Let him go out with his Red Lama,' said the horse-dealer with -visible effort. 'He is fond of the old man. He can learn his paces -by the rosary at least.' - -'I have had some dealings with the old man - by letter,' said -Colonel Creighton, smiling to himself. 'Whither goes he?' - -'Up and down the land, as he has these three years. He seeks a River -of Healing. God's curse upon all -' Mahbub checked himself. 'He beds -down at the Temple of the Tirthankars or at Buddh Gaya when he is in -from the Road. Then he goes to see the boy at the madrissah, as we -know for the boy was punished for it twice or thrice. He is quite -mad, but a peaceful man. I have met him. The Babu also has had -dealings with him. We have watched him for three years. Red Lamas -are not so common in Hind that one loses track.' - -'Babus are very curious,' said Lurgan meditatively. 'Do you know -what Hurree Babu really wants? He wants to be made a member of the -Royal Society by taking ethnological notes. I tell you, I tell him -about the lama everything which Mahbub and the boy have told me. -Hurree Babu goes down to Benares - at his own expense, I think.' - -'I don't,' said Creighton briefly. He had paid Hurree's travelling -expenses, out of a most lively curiosity to learn what the lama -might be. - -'And he applies to the lama for information on lamaism, and devil- -dances, and spells and charms, several times in these few years. -Holy Virgin! I could have told him all that yeears ago. I think -Hurree Babu is getting too old for the Road. He likes better to -collect manners and customs information. Yes, he wants to be an FRS. - -'Hurree thinks well of the boy, doesn't he?' - -'Oh, very indeed - we have had some pleasant evenings at my little -place - but I think it would be waste to throw him away with Hurree -on the Ethnological side.' - -'Not for a first experience. How does that strike you, Mahbub? Let -the boy run with the lama for six months. After that we can see. He -will get experience.' - -'He has it already, Sahib - as a fish controls the water he swims -in. But for every reason it will be well to loose him from the -school.' - -'Very good, then,' said Creighton, half to himself. 'He can go with -the lama, and if Hurree Babu cares to keep an eye on them so much -the better. He won't lead the boy into any danger as Mahbub would. -Curious - his wish to be an F R S. Very human, too. He is best on -the Ethnological side - Hurree.' - -No money and no preferment would have drawn Creighton from his work -on the Indian Survey, but deep in his heart also lay the ambition to -write 'F R S' after his name. Honours of a sort he knew could be -obtained by ingenuity and the help of friends, but, to the best of -his belief, nothing save work - papers representing a life of it - -took a man into the Society which he had bombarded for years with -monographs on strange Asiatic cults and unknown customs. Nine men -out of ten would flee from a Royal Society soiree in extremity of -boredom; but Creighton was the tenth, and at times his soul yearned -for the crowded rooms in easy London where silver-haired, bald- -headed gentlemen who know nothing of the Army move among -spectroscopic experiments, the lesser plants of the frozen tundras, -electric flight-measuring machines, and apparatus for slicing into -fractional millimetres the left eye of the female mosquito. By all -right and reason, it was the Royal Geographical that should have -appealed to him, but men are as chancy as children in their choice -of playthings. So Creighton smiled, and thought the better of Hurree -Babu, moved by like desire. - -He dropped the ghost-dagger and looked up at Mahbub. - -'How soon can we get the colt from the stable?' said the horse- -dealer, reading his eyes. - -'Hmm! If I withdraw him by order now - what will he do, think you? I -have never before assisted at the teaching of such an one.' - -'He will come to me,' said Mahbub promptly. 'Lurgan Sahib and I will -prepare him for the Road.' - -'So be it, then. For six months he shall run at his choice. But who -will be his sponsor?' - -Lurgan slightly inclined his head. 'He will not tell anything, if -that is what you are afraid of, Colonel Creighton.' - -'It's only a boy, after all.' - -'Ye-es; but first, he has nothing to tell; and secondly, he knows -what would happen. Also, he is very fond of Mahbub, and of me a -little.' - -'Will he draw pay?' demanded the practical horse-dealer. - -'Food and water allowance only. Twenty rupees a month.' - -One advantage of the Secret Service is that it has no worrying -audit. That Service is ludicrously starved, of course, but the funds -are administered by a few men who do not call for vouchers or -present itemized accounts. Mahbub's eyes lighted with almost a -Sikh's love of money. Even Lurgan's impassive face changed. He -considered the years to come when Kim would have been entered and -made to the Great Game that never ceases day and night, throughout -India. He foresaw honour and credit in the mouths of a chosen few, -coming to him from his pupil. Lurgan Sahib had made E.23 what E.23 was, -out of a bewildered, impertinent, lying, little North-West Province -man. - -But the joy of these masters was pale and smoky beside the joy of -Kim when St Xavier's Head called him aside, with word that Colonel -Creighton had sent for him. - -'I understand, O'Hara, that he has found you a place as an assistant -chain-man in the Canal Department: that comes of taking up -mathematics. It is great luck for you, for you are only sixteen; but -of course you understand that you do not become pukka [permanent] -till you have passed the autumn examination. So you must not think -you are going out into the world to enjoy yourself, or that your -fortune is made. There is a great deal of hard work before you. -Only, if you succeed in becoming pukka, you can rise, you know, to -four hundred and fifty a month.' Whereat the Principal gave him much -good advice as to his conduct, and his manners, and his morals; and -others, his elders, who had not been wafted into billets, talked as -only Anglo-Indian lads can, of favouritism and corruption. Indeed, -young Cazalet, whose father was a pensioner at Chunar, hinted very -broadly that Colonel Creighton's interest in Kim was directly -paternal; and Kim, instead of retaliating, did not even use -language. He was thinking of the immense fun to come, of Mahbub's -letter of the day before, all neatly written in English, making -appointment for that afternoon in a house the very name of which -would have crisped the Principal's hair with horror... - -Said Kim to Mahbub in Lucknow railway station that evening, above -the luggage-scales: 'I feared lest at the last, the roof would fall -upon me and cheat me. It is indeed all finished, O my father?' - -Mahbub snapped his fingers to show the utterness of that end, and -his eyes blazed like red coals. - -'Then where is the pistol that I may wear it?' - -'Softly! A half-year, to run without heel-ropes. I begged that much -from Colonel Creighton Sahib. At twenty rupees a month. Old Red Hat -knows that thou art coming.' - -'I will pay thee dustoorie [commission] on my pay for three months,' -said Kim gravely. 'Yea, two rupees a month. But first we must get -rid of these.' He plucked his thin linen trousers and dragged at his -collar. 'I have brought with me all that I need on the Road. My -trunk has gone up to Lurgan Sahib's.' - -'Who sends his salaams to thee - Sahib.' - -'Lurgan Sahib is a very clever man. But what dost thou do?' - -'I go North again, upon the Great Game. What else? Is thy mind still -set on following old Red Hat?' - -'Do not forget he made me that I am - though he did not know it. -Year by year, he sent the money that taught me.' - -'I would have done as much - had it struck my thick head,' Mahbub -growled. 'Come away. The lamps are lit now, and none will mark thee -in the bazar. We go to Huneefa's house.' - -On the way thither, Mahbub gave him much the same sort of advice as -his mother gave to Lemuel, and curiously enough, Mahbub was exact to -point out how Huneefa and her likes destroyed kings. - -'And I remember,' he quoted maliciously, 'one who said, "Trust a -snake before an harlot, and an harlot before a Pathan, Mahbub Ali." -Now, excepting as to Pathans, of whom I am one, all that is true. -Most true is it in the Great Game, for it is by means of women that -all plans come to ruin and we lie out in the dawning with our -throats cut. So it happened to such a one.' He gave the reddest -particulars. - -'Then why -?' Kim paused before a filthy staircase that climbed to -the warm darkness of an upper chamber, in the ward that is behind -Azim Ullah's tobacco-shop. Those who know it call it The Birdcage - -it is so full of whisperings and whistlings and chirrupings. - -The room, with its dirty cushions and half-smoked hookahs, smelt -abominably of stale tobacco. In one corner lay a huge and shapeless -woman clad in greenish gauzes, and decked, brow, nose, ear, neck, -wrist, arm, waist, and ankle with heavy native jewellery. When she -turned it was like the clashing of copper pots. A lean cat in the -balcony outside the window mewed hungrily. Kim checked, bewildered, -at the door-curtain. - -'Is that the new stuff, Mahbub?' said Huneefa lazily, scarce -troubling to remove the mouthpiece from her lips. 'O Buktanoos!' - -like most of her kind, she swore by the Djinns - 'O Buktanoos! He is -very good to look upon.' - -'That is part of the selling of the horse,' Mahbub explained to Kim, -who laughed. - -'I have heard that talk since my Sixth Day,' he replied, squatting -by the light. 'Whither does it lead?' - -'To protection. Tonight we change thy colour. This sleeping under -roofs has blanched thee like an almond. But Huneefa has the secret -of a colour that catches. No painting of a day or two. Also, we -fortify thee against the chances of the Road. That is my gift to -thee, my son. Take out all metals on thee and lay them here. Make -ready, Huneefa.' - -Kim dragged forth his compass, Survey paint-box, and the new-filled -medicine-box. They had all accompanied his travels, and boylike he -valued them immensely. - -The woman rose slowly and moved with her hands a little spread -before her. Then Kim saw that she was blind. 'No, no,' she muttered, -'the Pathan speaks truth - my colour does not go in a week or a -month, and those whom I protect are under strong guard.' - -'When one is far off and alone, it would not be well to grow -blotched and leprous of a sudden,' said Mahbub. 'When thou wast with -me I could oversee the matter. Besides, a Pathan is a fair-skin. -Strip to the waist now and look how thou art whitened.' Huneefa felt -her way back from an inner room. 'It is no matter, she cannot see.' -He took a pewter bowl from her ringed hand. - -The dye-stuff showed blue and gummy. Kim experimented on the back of -his wrist, with a dab of cotton-wool; but Huneefa heard him. - -'No, no,' she cried, 'the thing is not done thus, but with the -proper ceremonies. The colouring is the least part. I give thee the -full protection of the Road.' - -'Tadoo? [magic],'said Kim, with a half start. He did not like the -white, sightless eyes. Mahbub's hand on his neck bowed him to the -floor, nose within an inch of the boards. - -'Be still. No harm comes to thee, my son. I am thy sacrifice!' - -He could not see what the woman was about, but heard the dish-clash -of her jewellery for many minutes. A match lit up the darkness; he -caught the well-known purr and fizzle of grains of incense. Then the -room filled with smoke - heavy aromatic, and stupefying. Through -growing drowse he heard the names of devils - of Zulbazan, Son of -Eblis, who lives in bazars and paraos, making all the sudden lewd -wickedness of wayside halts; of Dulhan, invisible about mosques, -the dweller among the slippers of the faithful, who hinders folk -from their prayers; and Musboot, Lord of lies and panic. Huneefa, -now whispering in his ear, now talking as from an immense distance, -touched him with horrible soft fingers, but Mahbub's grip never -shifted from his neck till, relaxing with a sigh, the boy lost his -senses. - -'Allah! How he fought! We should never have done it but for the -drugs. That was his white blood, I take it,' said Mahbub testily. -'Go on with the dawut [invocation]. Give him full Protection.' - -'O Hearer! Thou that hearest with ears, be present. Listen, O -Hearer!' Huneefa moaned, her dead eyes turned to the west. The dark -room filled with moanings and snortings. - -From the outer balcony, a ponderous figure raised a round bullet -head and coughed nervously. - -'Do not interrupt this ventriloquial necromanciss, my friend,' it -said in English. 'I opine that it is very disturbing to you, but no -enlightened observer is jolly-well upset.' - -'..........I will lay a plot for their ruin! O Prophet, bear with -the unbelievers. Let them alone awhile!' Huneefa's face, turned to -the northward, worked horribly, and it was as though voices from the -ceiling answered her. - -Hurree Babu returned to his note-book, balanced on the window-sill, -but his hand shook. Huneefa, in some sort of drugged ecstasy, -wrenched herself to and fro as she sat cross-legged by Kim's still -head, and called upon devil after devil, in the ancient order of the -ritual, binding them to avoid the boy's every action. - -'With Him are the keys of the Secret Things! None knoweth them -besides Himself He knoweth that which is in the dry land and in the -sea!' Again broke out the unearthly whistling responses. - -'I - I apprehend it is not at all malignant in its operation?' said -the Babu, watching the throat-muscles quiver and jerk as Huneefa -spoke with tongues. 'It - it is not likely that she has killed the -boy? If so, I decline to be witness at the trial .....What was the -last hypothetical devil mentioned?' - -'Babuji,' said Mahbub in the vernacular. 'I have no regard for the -devils of Hind, but the Sons of Eblis are far otherwise, and whether -they be jumalee [well-affected] or jullalee [terrible) they love not -Kafirs.' - -'Then you think I had better go?' said Hurree Babu, half rising. -'They are, of course, dematerialized phenomena. Spencer says ' - -Huneefa's crisis passed, as these things must, in a paroxysm of -howling, with a touch of froth at the lips. She lay spent and -motionless beside Kim, and the crazy voices ceased. - -'Wah! That work is done. May the boy be better for it; and Huneefa -is surely a mistress of dawut. Help haul her aside, Babu. Do not be -afraid.' - -'How am I to fear the absolutely non-existent?' said Hurree Babu, -talking English to reassure himself. It is an awful thing still to -dread the magic that you contemptuously investigate -to collect -folk-lore for the Royal Society with a lively belief in all Powers -of Darkness. - -Mahbub chuckled. He had been out with Hurree on the Road ere now. -'Let us finish the colouring,' said he. 'The boy is well protected -if - if the Lords of the Air have ears to hear. I am a Sufi [free- -thinker), but when one can get blind-sides of a woman, a stallion, -or a devil, why go round to invite a kick? Set him upon the way, -Babu, and see that old Red Hat does not lead him beyond our reach. I -must get back to my horses.' - -'All raight,' said Hurree Babu. 'He is at present curious -spectacle.' - -About third cockcrow, Kim woke after a sleep of thousands of years. -Huneefa, in her corner, snored heavily, but Mahbub was gone. - -'I hope you were not frightened,' said an oily voice at his elbow. -'I superintended entire operation, which was most interesting from -ethnological point of view. It was high-class dawut.' - -'Huh!' said Kim, recognizing Hurree Babu, who smiled ingratiatingly. - -'And also I had honour to bring down from Lurgan your present -costume. I am not in the habit offeecially of carrying such gauds to -subordinates, but' - he giggled - 'your case is noted as exceptional -on the books. I hope Mr Lurgan will note my action.' - -Kim yawned and stretched himself. It was good to turn and twist -within loose clothes once again. - -'What is this?' He looked curiously at the heavy duffle-stuff loaded -with the scents of the far North. - -'Oho! That is inconspicuous dress of chela attached to service of -lamaistic lama. Complete in every particular,' said Hurree Babu, -rolling into the balcony to clean his teeth at a goglet. 'I am of -opeenion it is not your old gentleman's precise releegion, but -rather sub-variant of same. I have contributed rejected notes To -Whom It May Concern: Asiatic Quarterly Review on these subjects. Now -it is curious that the old gentleman himself is totally devoid of -releegiosity. He is not a dam' particular.' - -'Do you know him?' - -Hurree Babu held up his hand to show he was engaged in the -prescribed rites that accompany tooth-cleaning and such things among -decently bred Bengalis. Then he recited in English an Arya-Somaj -prayer of a theistical nature, and stuffed his mouth with pan and -betel. - -'Oah yes. I have met him several times at Benares, and also at Buddh -Gaya, to interrogate him on releegious points and devil-worship. He -is pure agnostic - same as me.' - -Huneefa stirred in her sleep, and Hurree Babu jumped nervously to -the copper incense-burner, all black and discoloured in morning- -light, rubbed a finger in the accumulated lamp-black, and drew it -diagonally across his face. - -'Who has died in thy house?' asked Kim in the vernacular. - -'None. But she may have the Evil Eye - that sorceress,' the Babu -replied. - -'What dost thou do now, then?' - -'I will set thee on thy way to Benares, if thou goest thither, and -tell thee what must be known by Us.' - -'I go. At what hour runs the te-rain?' He rose to his feet, looked -round the desolate chamber and at the yellow-wax face of Huneefa as -the low sun stole across the floor. 'Is there money to be paid that -witch?' - -'No. She has charmed thee against all devils and all dangers in the -name of her devils. It was Mahbub's desire.' In English: 'He is -highly obsolete, I think, to indulge in such supersteetion. Why, it -is all ventriloquy. Belly-speak - eh?' - -Kim snapped his fingers mechanically to avert whatever evil - -Mahbub, he knew, meditated none - might have crept in through -Huneefa's ministrations; and Hurree giggled once more. But as he -crossed the room he was careful not to step in Huneefa's blotched, -squat shadow on the boards. Witches -when their time is on them - -can lay hold of the heels of a man's soul if he does that. - -'Now you must well listen,' said the Babu when they were in the -fresh air. 'Part of these ceremonies which we witnessed they include -supply of effeecient amulet to those of our Department. If you feel -in your neck you will find one small silver amulet, verree cheap. -That is ours. Do you understand?' - -'Oah yes, hawa-dilli [a heart-lifter],' said Kim, feeling at his -neck. - -'Huneefa she makes them for two rupees twelve annas with - oh, all -sorts of exorcisms. They are quite common, except they are partially -black enamel, and there is a paper inside each one full of names of -local saints and such things. Thatt is Huneefa's look-out, you see? -Huneefa makes them onlee for us, but in case she does not, when we -get them we put in, before issue, one small piece of turquoise. Mr -Lurgan he gives them. There is no other source of supply; but it was -me invented all this. It is strictly unoffeecial of course, but -convenient for subordinates. Colonel Creighton he does not know. He -is European. The turquoise is wrapped in the paper ... Yes, that -is road to railway station ... Now suppose you go with the lama, -or with me, I hope, some day, or with Mahbub. Suppose we get into a -dam'-tight place. I am a fearful man - most fearful - but I tell you -I have been in dam'-tight places more than hairs on my head. You -say: "I am Son of the Charm." Verree good.' - -'I do not understand quite. We must not be heard talking English -here.' - -'That is all raight. I am only Babu showing off my English to you. -All we Babus talk English to show off;' said Hurree, flinging his -shoulder-cloth jauntily. 'As I was about to say, "Son of the Charm" -means that you may be member of the Sat Bhai - the Seven Brothers, -which is Hindi and Tantric. It is popularly supposed to be extinct -Society, but I have written notes to show it is still extant. You -see, it is all my invention. Verree good. Sat Bhai has many members, -and perhaps before they jolly-well-cut-your-throat they may give you -just a chance of life. That is useful, anyhow. And moreover, these -foolish natives - if they are not too excited - they always stop to -think before they kill a man who says he belongs to any speecific -organization. You see? You say then when you are in tight place, "I -am Son of the Charm", and you get - perhaps - ah -your second wind. -That is only in extreme instances, or to open negotiations with a -stranger. Can you quite see? Verree good. But suppose now, I, or any -one of the Department, come to you dressed quite different. You -would not know me at all unless I choose, I bet you. Some day I will -prove it. I come as Ladakhi trader - oh, anything - and I say to -you: "You want to buy precious stones?" You say: "Do I look like a -man who buys precious stones?" Then I say: "Even verree poor man can -buy a turquoise or tarkeean." ' - -'That is kichree - vegetable curry,' said Kim. - -'Of course it is. You say: "Let me see the tarkeean." Then I say: -"It was cooked by a woman, and perhaps it is bad for your caste." -Then you say: "There is no caste when men go to - look for -tarkeean." You stop a little between those words, "to - look". That -is thee whole secret. The little stop before the words.' - -Kim repeated the test-sentence. - -'That is all right. Then I will show you my turquoise if there is -time, and then you know who I am, and then we exchange views and -documents and those-all things. And so it is with any other man of -us. We talk sometimes about turquoises and sometimes about tarkeean, -but always with that little stop in the words. It is verree easy. -First, "Son of the Charm", if you are in a tight place. Perhaps that -may help you - perhaps not. Then what I have told you about the -tarkeean, if you want to transact offeecial business with a strange -man. Of course, at present, you have no offeecial business. You are -- ah ha! - supernumerary on probation. Quite unique specimen. If you -were Asiatic of birth you might be employed right off; but this -half-year of leave is to make you de~Englishized, you see? The lama -he expects you, because I have demi-offeecially informed him you -have passed all your examinations, and will soon obtain Government -appointment. Oh ho! You are on acting-allowance, you see: so if you -are called upon to help Sons of the Charm mind you jolly-well try. -Now I shall say good-bye, my dear fellow, and I hope you - ah - will -come out top-side all raight.' - -Hurree Babu stepped back a pace or two into the crowd at the -entrance of Lucknow station and -- was gone. Kim drew a deep breath -and hugged himself all over. The nickel-plated revolver he could -feel in the bosom of his sad-coloured robe, the amulet was on his -neck; begging-gourd, rosary, and ghost-dagger (Mr Lurgan had -forgotten nothing) were all to hand, with medicine, paint-box, and -compass, and in a worn old purse-belt embroidered with porcupine- -quill patterns lay a month's pay. Kings could be no richer. He -bought sweetmeats in a leaf-cup from a Hindu trader, and ate them -with glad rapture till a policeman ordered him off the steps. - - - - - -Chapter ll - - -Give the man who is not made -To his trade -Swords to fling and catch again, -Coins to ring and snatch again, -Men to harm and cure again, -Snakes to charm and lure again - -He'll be hurt by his own blade, -By his serpents disobeyed, -By his clumsiness bewrayed,' -By the people mocked to scorn - -So 'tis not with juggler born! -Pinch of dust or withered flower, -Chance-flung fruit or borrowed staff, -Serve his need and shore his power, -Bind the spell, or loose the laugh! -But a man who, etc. - -The Juggler's Song, op. 15 - - -Followed a sudden natural reaction. - -'Now am I alone - all alone,' he thought. 'In all India is no one so -alone as I! If I die today, who shall bring the news -and to whom? -If I live and God is good, there will be a price upon my head, for I -am a Son of the Charm - I, Kim.' - -A very few white people, but many Asiatics, can throw themselves -into a mazement as it were by repeating their own names over and -over again to themselves, letting the mind go free upon speculation -as to what is called personal identity. When one grows older, the -power, usually, departs, but while it lasts it may descend upon a man -at any moment. - -'Who is Kim - Kim - Kim?' - -He squatted in a corner of the clanging waiting-room, rapt from all -other thoughts; hands folded in lap, and pupils contracted to pin- -points. In a minute - in another half-second - he felt he would -arrive at the solution of the tremendous puzzle; but here, as always -happens, his mind dropped away from those heights with a rush of a -wounded bird, and passing his hand before his eyes, he shook his -head. - -A long-haired Hindu bairagi [holy man], who had just bought a -ticket, halted before him at that moment and stared intently. - -'I also have lost it,' he said sadly. 'It is one of the Gates to the -Way, but for me it has been shut many years.' - -'What is the talk?' said Kim, abashed. - -'Thou wast wondering there in thy spirit what manner of thing thy -soul might be. The seizure came of a sudden. I know. Who should know -but I? Whither goest thou?' - -'Toward Kashi [Benares].' - -'There are no Gods there. I have proved them. I go to Prayag -[Allahabad] for the fifth time - seeking the Road to Enlightenment. -Of what faith art thou?' - -'I too am a Seeker,' said Kim, using one of the lama's pet words. -'Though'- he forgot his Northern dress for the moment - 'though -Allah alone knoweth what I seek.' - -The old fellow slipped the bairagi's crutch under his armpit and sat -down on a patch of ruddy leopard's skin as Kim rose at the call for -the Benares train. - -'Go in hope, little brother,' he said. 'It is a long road to the -feet of the One; but thither do we all travel.' - -Kim did not feel so lonely after this, and ere he had sat out twenty -miles in the crowded compartment, was cheering his neighbours with a -string of most wonderful yarns about his own and his master's -magical gifts. - -Benares struck him as a peculiarly filthy city, though it was -pleasant to find how his cloth was respected. At least one-third of -the population prays eternally to some group or other of the many -million deities, and so reveres every sort of holy man. Kim was -guided to the Temple of the Tirthankars, about a mile outside the -city, near Sarnath, by a chance-met Punjabi farmer - a Kamboh from -Jullundur-way who had appealed in vain to every God of his homestead -to cure his small son, and was trying Benares as a last resort. - -'Thou art from the North?' he asked, shouldering through the press -of the narrow, stinking streets much like his own pet bull at home. - -'Ay, I know the Punjab. My mother was a pahareen, but my father came -from Amritzar - by Jandiala,' said Kim, oiling his ready tongue for -the needs of the Road. - -'Jandiala - Jullundur? Oho! Then we be neighbours in some sort, as -it were.' He nodded tenderly to the wailing child in his arms. 'Whom -dost thou serve?' - -'A most holy man at the Temple of the Tirthankers.' - -'They are all most holy and - most greedy,' said the Jat with -bitterness. 'I have walked the pillars and trodden the temples till -my feet are flayed, and the child is no whit better. And the mother -being sick too ... Hush, then, little one ... We changed his name -when the fever came. We put him into girl's clothes. There was -nothing we did not do, except - I said to his mother when she -bundled me off to Benares -she should have come with me - I said -Sakhi Sarwar Sultan would serve us best. We know His generosity, but -these down-country Gods are strangers.' - -The child turned on the cushion of the huge corded arms and looked -at Kim through heavy eyelids. - -'And was it all worthless?' Kim asked, with easy interest. - -'All worthless - all worthless,' said the child, lips cracking with -fever. - -'The Gods have given him a good mind, at least' said the father -proudly. 'To think he should have listened so cleverly. Yonder is -thy Temple. Now I am a poor man - many priests have dealt with me - -but my son is my son, and if a gift to thy master can cure him - I -am at my very wits' end.' - -Kim considered for a while, tingling with pride. Three years ago he -would have made prompt profit on the situation and gone his way -without a thought; but now, the very respect the Jat paid him proved -that he was a man. Moreover, he had tasted fever once or twice -already, and knew enough to recognize starvation when he saw it. - -'Call him forth and I will give him a bond on my best yoke, so that -the child is cured.' - -Kim halted at the carved outer door of the temple. A white-clad -Oswal banker from Ajmir, his sins of usury new wiped out, asked -him what he did. - -'I am chela to Teshoo Lama, an Holy One from Bhotiyal -within there. -He bade me come. I wait. Tell him.' - -'Do not forget the child,' cried the importunate Jat over his -shoulder, and then bellowed in Punjabi; 'O Holy One - O disciple of -the Holy One - O Gods above all the Worlds -behold affliction -sitting at the gate!' That cry is so common in Benares that the -passers never turned their heads. - -The Oswal, at peace with mankind, carried the message into the -darkness behind him, and the easy, uncounted Eastern minutes slid -by; for the lama was asleep in his cell, and no priest would wake -him. When the click of his rosary again broke the hush of the inner -court where the calm images of the Arhats stand, a novice whispered, -'Thy chela is here,' and the old man strode forth, forgetting the -end of that prayer. - -Hardly had the tall figure shown in the doorway than the Jat ran -before him, and, lifting up the child, cried: 'Look upon this, Holy -One; and if the Gods will, he lives - he lives!' - -He fumbled in his waist-belt and drew out a small silver coin. - -'What is now?' The lama's eyes turned to Kim. It was noticeable he -spoke far clearer Urdu than long ago, under ZamZammah; but -father would allow no private talk. - -'It is no more than a fever,' said Kim. 'The child is not well fed.' - -'He sickens at everything, and his mother is not here.' - -'If it be permitted, I may cure, Holy One.' - -'What! Have they made thee a healer? Wait here,' said the lama, and -he sat down by the Jat upon the lowest step of the temple, while -Kim, looking out of the corner of his eyes, slowly opened the little -betel-box. He had dreamed dreams at school of returning to the lama -as a Sahib - of chaffing the old man before he revealed himself - -boy's dreams all. There was more drama in this abstracted, brow- -puckered search through the tabloid-bottles, with a pause here and -there for thought and a muttered invocation between whiles. Quinine -he had in tablets, and dark brown meat-lozenges - beef most -probably, but that was not his business. The little thing would not -eat, but it sucked at a lozenge greedily, and said it liked the salt -taste. - -'Take then these six.' Kim handed them to the man. 'Praise the Gods, -and boil three in milk; other three in water. After he has drunk the -milk give him this' (it was the half of a quinine pill), 'and wrap -him warm. Give him the water of the other three, and the other half -of this white pill when he wakes. Meantime, here is another brown -medicine that he may suck at on the way home.' - -'Gods, what wisdom!' said the Kamboh, snatching. - -It was as much as Kim could remember of his own treatment in a bout -of autumn malaria - if you except the patter that he added to -impress the lama. - -'Now go! Come again in the morning.' - -'But the price - the price,' said the Jat, and threw back his sturdy -shoulders. 'My son is my son. Now that he will be whole again, how -shall I go back to his mother and say I took help by the wayside and -did not even give a bowl of curds in return?' - -'They are alike, these Jats,' said Kim softly. 'The Jat stood on his -dunghill and the King's elephants went by. "O driver," said he, -"what will you sell those little donkeys for?"' - -The Jat burst into a roar of laughter, stifled with apologies to the -lama. 'It is the saying of my own country the very talk of it. So -are we Jats all. I will come tomorrow with the child; and the -blessing of the Gods of the Homesteads - who are good little Gods - -be on you both ... Now, son, we grow strong again. Do not spit it -out, little Princeling! King of my Heart, do not spit it out, and we -shall be strong men, wrestlers and club-wielders, by morning.' - -He moved away, crooning and mumbling. The lama turned to Kim, and -all the loving old soul of him looked out through his narrow eyes. - -'To heal the sick is to acquire merit; but first one gets knowledge. -That was wisely done, O Friend of all the World.' - -'I was made wise by thee, Holy One,' said Kim, forgetting the little -play just ended; forgetting St Xavier's; forgetting his white blood; -forgetting even the Great Game as he stooped, Mohammedan-fashion, to -touch his master's feet in the dust of the Jain temple. 'My teaching -I owe to thee. I have eaten thy bread three years. My time is -finished. I am loosed from the schools. I come to thee.' - -'Herein is my reward. Enter! Enter! And is all well?' They passed to -the inner court, where the afternoon sun sloped golden across. -'Stand that I may see. So!' He peered critically. 'It is no longer a -child, but a man, ripened in wisdom, walking as a physician. I did -well - I did well when I gave thee up to the armed men on that black -night. Dost thou remember our first day under Zam-Zammah?' - -'Ay,' said Kim. 'Dost thou remember when I leapt off the carriage -the first day I went to -' - -'The Gates of Learning? Truly. And the day that we ate the cakes -together at the back of the river by Nucklao. Aha! Many times hast -thou begged for me, but that day I begged for thee.' - -'Good reason,' quoth Kim. 'I was then a scholar in the Gates of -Learning, and attired as a Sahib. Do not forget, Holy One,' he went -on playfully. 'I am still a Sahib - by thy favour.' - -'True. And a Sahib in most high esteem. Come to my cell, chela.' - -'How is that known to thee?' - -The lama smiled. 'First by means of letters from the kindly priest -whom we met in the camp of armed men; but he is now gone to his own -country, and I sent the money to his brother.' Colonel Creighton, -who had succeeded to the trusteeship when Father Victor went to -England with the Mavericks, was hardly the Chaplain's brother. 'But -I do not well understand Sahibs' letters. They must be interpreted -to me. I chose a surer way. Many times when I returned from my -Search to this Temple, which has always been a nest to me, there -came one seeking Enlightenment - a man from Leh - that had been, he -said, a Hindu, but wearied of all those Gods.' The lama pointed to -the Arhats. - -'A fat man?' said Kim, a twinkle in his eye. - -'Very fat; but I perceived in a little his mind was wholly given up -to useless things - such as devils and charms and the form and -fashion of our tea-drinkings in the monasteries, and by what road we -initiated the novices. A man abounding in questions; but he was a -friend of thine, chela. He told me that thou wast on the road to -much honour as a scribe. And I see thou art a physician.' - -'Yes, that am I - a scribe, when I am a Sahib, but it is set aside -when I come as thy disciple. I have accomplished the years appointed -for a Sahib.' - -'As it were a novice?' said the lama, nodding his head. 'Art thou -freed from the schools? I would not have thee unripe.' - -'I am all free. In due time I take service under the Government as a -scribe -' - -'Not as a warrior. That is well.' - -'But first I come to wander with thee. Therefore I am here. Who -begs for thee, these days?' he went on quickly. The ice was thin. - -'Very often I beg myself; but, as thou knowest, I am seldom here, -except when I come to look again at my disciple. From one end to -another of Hind have I travelled afoot and in the te-rain. A great -and a wonderful land! But here, when I put in, is as though I were -in my own Bhotiyal.' - -He looked round the little clean cell complacently. A low cushion -gave him a seat, on which he had disposed himself in the cross- -legged attitude of the Bodhisat emerging from meditation; a black -teak-wood table, not twenty inches high, set with copper tea-cups, -was before him. In one corner stood a tiny altar, also of heavily -carved teak, bearing a copper-gilt image of the seated Buddha and -fronted by a lamp, an incense-holder, and a pair of copper flower- -pots. - -'The Keeper of the Images in the Wonder House acquired merit by -giving me these a year since,' he said, following Kim's eye. 'When -one is far from one's own land such things carry remembrance; and we -must reverence the Lord for that He showed the Way. See!' He pointed -to a curiously-built mound of coloured rice crowned with a fantastic -metal ornament. 'When I was Abbot in my own place - before I came to -better knowledge I made that offering daily. It is the Sacrifice of -the Universe to the Lord. Thus do we of Bhotiyal offer all the world -daily to the Excellent Law. And I do it even now, though I know that -the Excellent One is beyond all pinchings and pattings.' He snuffed -from his gourd. - -'It is well done, Holy One,' Kim murmured, sinking at ease on the -cushions, very happy and rather tired. - -'And also,' the old man chuckled, 'I write pictures of the Wheel of -Life. Three days to a picture. I was busied on it - or it may be I -shut my eyes a little - when they brought word of thee. It is good -to have thee here: I will show thee my art - not for pride's sake, -but because thou must learn. The Sahibs have not all this world's -wisdom.' - -He drew from under the table a sheet of strangely scented yellow -Chinese paper, the brushes, and slab of Indian ink. In cleanest, -severest outline he had traced the Great Wheel with its six spokes, -whose centre is the conjoined Hog, Snake, and Dove (Ignorance, -Anger, and Lust), and whose compartments are all the Heavens and -Hells, and all the chances of human life. Men say that the Bodhisat -Himself first drew it with grains of rice upon dust, to teach His -disciples the cause of things. Many ages have crystallized it into a -most wonderful convention crowded with hundreds of little figures -whose every line carries a meaning. Few can translate the picture- -parable; there are not twenty in all the world who can draw it -surely without a copy: of those who can both draw and expound are -but three. - -'I have a little learned to draw,' said Kim. 'But this is a marvel -beyond marvels.' - -'I have written it for many years,' said the lama. 'Time was when I -could write it all between one lamp-lighting and the next. I will -teach thee the art - after due preparation; and I will show thee the -meaning of the Wheel.' - -'We take the Road, then?' - -'The Road and our Search. I was but waiting for thee. It was made -plain to me in a hundred dreams - notably one that came upon the -night of the day that the Gates of Learning first shut that without -thee I should never find my River. Again and again, as thou knowest, -I put this from me, fearing an illusion. Therefore I would not take -thee with me that day at Lucknow, when we ate the cakes. I would not -take thee till the. time was ripe and auspicious. From the Hills to -the Sea, from the Sea to the Hills have I gone, but it was vain. -Then I remembered the Tataka.' - -He told Kim the story of the elephant with the leg-iron, as he had -told it so often to the Jam priests. - -'Further testimony is not needed,' he ended serenely. 'Thou wast -sent for an aid. That aid removed, my Search came to naught. -Therefore we will go out again together, and our Search sure.' - -'Whither go we?' - -'What matters, Friend of all the World? The Search, I say, is sure. -If need be, the River will break from the ground before us. I -acquired merit when I sent thee to the Gates of Learning, and gave -thee the jewel that is Wisdom. Thou didst return, I saw even now, a -follower of Sakyamuni, the Physician, whose altars are many in -Bhotiyal. It is sufficient. We are together, and all things are as -they were - Friend of all the World - Friend of the Stars - my -chela!' - -Then they talked of matters secular; but it was noticeable that the -lama never demanded any details of life at St Xavier's, nor showed -the faintest curiosity as to the manners and customs of Sahibs. His -mind moved all in the past, and he revived every step of their -wonderful first journey together, rubbing his hands and chuckling, -till it pleased him to curl himself up into the sudden sleep of old -age. - -Kim watched the last dusty sunshine fade out of the court, and -played with his ghost-dagger and rosary. The clamour of Benares, -oldest of all earth's cities awake before the Gods, day and night, -beat round the walls as the sea's roar round a breakwater. Now and -again, a Jain priest crossed the court, with some small offering to -the images, and swept the path about him lest by chance he should -take the life of a living thing. A lamp twinkled, and there followed -the sound of a prayer. Kim watched the stars as they rose one after -another in the still, sticky dark, till he fell asleep at the foot -of the altar. That night he dreamed in Hindustani, with never an -English word... - -'Holy One, there is the child to whom we gave the medicine,' he -said, about three o'clock in the morning, when the lama, also waking -from dreams, would have fared forth on pilgrimage. 'The Jat will be -here at the light.' - -'I am well answered. In my haste I would have done a wrong.' He sat -down on the cushions and returned to his rosary. 'Surely old folk -are as children,' he said pathetically. 'They desire a matter - -behold, it must be done at once, or they fret and weep! Many times -when I was upon the Road I have been ready to stamp with my feet at -the hindrance of an ox-cart in the way, or a mere cloud of dust. -It was not so when I was a man - a long time ago. None the less it -is wrongful -' - -'But thou art indeed old, Holy One.' - -'The thing was done. A Cause was put out into the world, and, old or -young, sick or sound, knowing or unknowing, who can rein in the -effect of that Cause? Does the Wheel hang still if a child spin it - -or a drunkard? Chela, this is a great and a terrible world.' - -'I think it good,' Kim yawned. 'What is there to eat? I have not -eaten since yesterday even.' - -'I had forgotten thy need. Yonder is good Bhotiyal tea and cold -rice.' - -'We cannot walk far on such stuff.' Kim felt all the European's lust -for flesh-meat, which is not accessible in a Jain temple. Yet, -instead of going out at once with the begging-bowl, he stayed his -stomach on slabs of cold rice till the full dawn. It brought the -farmer, voluble, stuttering with gratitude. - -'In the night the fever broke and the sweat came,' he cried. 'Feel -here - his skin is fresh and new! He esteemed the salt lozenges, and -took milk with greed.' He drew the cloth from the child's face, and -it smiled sleepily at Kim. A little knot of Jain priests, silent -but all-observant, gathered by the temple door. They knew, and Kim -knew that they knew, how the old lama had met his disciple. Being -courteous folk, they had not obtruded themselves overnight by -presence, word, or gesture. Wherefore Kim repaid them as the sun -rose. - -'Thank the Gods of the Jains, brother,' he said, not knowing how -those Gods were named. 'The fever is indeed broken.' - -'Look! See!' The lama beamed in the background upon his hosts of -three years. 'Was there ever such a chela? He follows our Lord the -Healer.' - -Now the Jains officially recognize all the Gods of the Hindu creed, -as well as the Lingam and the Snake. They wear the Brahminical -thread; they adhere to every claim of Hindu caste-law. But, because -they knew and loved the lama, because he was an old man, because he -sought the Way, because he was their guest, and because he collogued -long of nights with the head-priest - as free-thinking a -metaphysician as ever split one hair into seventy - they murmured -assent. - -'Remember,' - Kim bent over the child -. 'this trouble may come -again.' - -'Not if thou hast the proper spell,' said the father. - -'But in a little while we go away.' - -'True,' said the lama to all the Jains. 'We go now together upon the -Search whereof I have often spoken. I waited till my chela was ripe. -Behold him! We go North. Never again shall I look upon this place of -my rest, O people of good will.' - -'But I am not a beggar.' The cultivator rose to his feet, clutching -the child. - -'Be still. Do not trouble the Holy One,' a priest cried. - -'Go,' Kim whispered. 'Meet us again under the big railway bridge, -and for the sake of all the Gods of our Punjab, bring food - curry, -pulse, cakes fried in fat, and sweetmeats. Specially sweetmeats. Be -swift!' - -The pallor of hunger suited Kim very well as he stood, tall and -slim, in his sand-coloured, sweeping robes, one hand on his rosary -and the other in the attitude of benediction, faithfully copied from -the lama. An English observer might have said that he looked rather -like the young saint of a stained-glass window, whereas he was but a -growing lad faint with emptiness. - -Long and formal were the farewells, thrice ended and thrice renewed. -The Seeker - he who had invited the lama to that haven from far- -away Tibet, a silver-faced, hairless ascetic -took no part in it, -but meditated, as always, alone among the images. The others were -very human; pressing small comforts upon the old man - a betel-box, -a fine new iron pencase, a food-bag, and such-like - warning him -against the dangers of the world without, and prophesying a happy -end to the Search. Meantime Kim, lonelier than ever, squatted on the -steps, and swore to himself in the language of St Xavier's. - -'But it is my own fault,' he concluded. 'With Mahbub, I ate Mahbub's -bread, or Lurgan Sahib's. At St Xavier's, three meals a day. Here I -must jolly-well look out for myself. Besides, I am not in good -training. How I could eat a plate of beef now! ... Is it finished, -Holy One?' - -The lama, both hands raised, intoned a final blessing in ornate -Chinese. 'I must lean on thy shoulder,' said he, as the temple gates -closed. 'We grow stiff, I think.' - -The weight of a six-foot man is not light to steady through miles of -crowded streets, and Kim, loaded down with bundles and packages for -the way, was glad to reach the shadow of the railway bridge. - -'Here we eat,' he said resolutely, as the Kamboh, blue-robed and -smiling, hove in sight, a basket in one hand and the child in the -other. - -'Fall to, Holy Ones!' he cried from fifty yards. (They were by the -shoal under the first bridge-span, out of sight of hungry priests.) -'Rice and good curry, cakes all warm and well scented with hing -[asafoetida], curds and sugar. King of my fields,' -this to the -small son - 'let us show these holy men that we Jats of Jullundur -can pay a service ... I had heard the Jains would eat nothing that -they had not cooked, but truly' - he looked away politely over the -broad river - 'where there is no eye there is no caste.' - -'And we,' said Kim, turning his back and heaping a leafplatter for -the lama, 'are beyond all castes.' - -They gorged themselves on the good food in silence. Nor till he had -licked the last of the sticky sweetstuff from his little finger did -Kim note that the Kamboh too was girt for travel. - -'If our roads lie together,' he said roughly, 'I go with thee. One -does not often find a worker of miracles, and the child is still -weak. But I am not altogether a reed.' He picked up his lathi - a -five-foot male-bamboo ringed with bands of polished iron - and -flourished it in the air. 'The Jats are called quarrel-some, but -that is not true. Except when we are crossed, we are like our own -buffaloes.' - -'So be it,' said Kim. 'A good stick is a good reason.' - -The lama gazed placidly up-stream, where in long, smudged -perspective the ceaseless columns of smoke go up from the burning- -ghats by the river. Now and again, despite all municipal -regulations, the fragment of a half-burned body bobbed by on the -full current. - -'But for thee,' said the Kamboh to Kim, drawing the child into his -hairy breast, 'I might today have gone thither - with this one. The -priests tell us that Benares is holy - which none doubt - and -desirable to die in. But I do not know their Gods, and they ask for -money; and when one has done one worship a shaved-head vows it is of -none effect except one do another. Wash here! Wash there! Pour, -drink, lave, and scatter flowers - but always pay the priests. No, -the Punjab for me, and the soil of the Jullundur-doab for the best -soil in it.' - -'I have said many times - in the Temple, I think - that if need be, -the River will open at our feet. We will therefore go North,' said -the lama, rising. 'I remember a pleasant place, set about with -fruit-trees, where one can walk in meditation - and the air is -cooler there. It comes from the Hills and the snow of the Hills.' - -'What is the name?' said Kim. - -'How should I know? Didst thou not - no, that was after the Army -rose out of the earth and took thee away. I abode there in -meditation in a room against the dovecot - except when she talked -eternally.' - -'Oho! the woman from Kulu. That is by Saharunpore.' Kim laughed. - -'How does the spirit move thy master? Does he go afoot, for the sake -of past sins?' the Jat demanded cautiously. 'It is a far cry to -Delhi.' - -'No,' said Kim. 'I will beg a tikkut for the te-rain.' One does not -own to the possession of money in India. - -'Then, in the name of the Gods, let us take the fire-carriage. My -son is best in his mother's arms. The Government has brought on us -many taxes, but it gives us one good thing - the te-rain that joins -friends and unites the anxious. A wonderful matter is the te-rain.' - -They all piled into it a couple of hours later, and slept through -the heat of the day. The Kamboh plied Kim with ten thousand -questions as to the lama's walk and work in life, and received some -curious answers. Kim was content to be where he was, to look out -upon the flat North-Western landscape, and to talk to the -changing mob of fellow-passengers. Even today, tickets and ticket- -clipping are dark oppression to Indian rustics. They do not -understand why, when they have paid for a magic piece of paper, -strangers should punch great pieces out of the charm. So, long and -furious are the debates between travellers and Eurasian ticket- -collectors. Kim assisted at two or three with grave advice, meant to -darken counsel and to show off his wisdom before the lama and the -admiring Kamboh. But at Somna Road the Fates sent him a matter to -think upon. There tumbled into the compartment, as the train was -moving off, a mean, lean little person - a Mahratta, so far as Kim -could judge by the cock of the tight turban. His face was cut, his -muslin upper-garment was badly torn, and one leg was bandaged. He -told them that a country-cart had upset and nearly slain him: he -was going to Delhi, where his son lived. Kim watched him closely. -If, as he asserted, he had been rolled over and over on the earth, -there should have been signs of gravel-rash on the skin. But all his -injuries seemed clean cuts, and a mere fall from a cart could not -cast a man into such extremity of terror. As, with shaking fingers, -he knotted up the torn cloth about his neck he laid bare an amulet -of the kind called a keeper-up of the heart. Now, amulets are common -enough, but they are not generally strung on square-plaited copper -wire, and still fewer amulets bear black enamel on silver. There -were none except the Kamboh and the lama in the compartment, which, -luckily, was of an old type with solid ends. Kim made as to scratch -in his bosom, and thereby lifted his own amulet. The Mahratta's face -changed altogether at the sight, and he disposed the amulet fairly on -his breast. - -'Yes,' he went on to the Kamboh, 'I was in haste, and the cart, -driven by a bastard, bound its wheel in a water-cut, and besides the -harm done to me there was lost a full dish of tarkeean. I was not a -Son of the Charm [a lucky man] that day.' - -'That was a great loss,' said the Kamboh, withdrawing interest. His -experience of Benares had made him suspicious. - -'Who cooked it?' said Kim. - -'A woman.' The Mahratta raised his eyes. - -'But all women can cook tarkeean,' said the Kamboh. 'It is a good -curry, as I know.' - -'Oh yes, it is a good curry,' said the Mahratta. - -'And cheap,' said Kim. 'But what about caste?' - -'Oh, there is no caste where men go to - look for tarkeean,' the -Mahratta replied, in the prescribed cadence. 'Of whose service art -thou?' - -'Of the service of this Holy One.' Kim pointed to the happy, drowsy -lama, who woke with a jerk at the well-loved word. - -'Ah, he was sent from Heaven to aid me. He is called the Friend of -all the World. He is also called the Friend of the Stars. He walks -as a physician - his time being ripe. Great is his wisdom.' - -'And a Son of the Charm,' said Kim under his breath, as the Kamboh -made haste to prepare a pipe lest the Mahratta should beg. - -'And who is that?' the Mahratta asked, glancing sideways nervously. - -'One whose child I - we have cured, who lies under great debt to us. -Sit by the window, man from Jullundur. Here is a sick one.' - -'Humph! I have no desire to mix with chance-met wastrels. My ears -are not long. I am not a woman wishing to overhear secrets.' The Jat -slid himself heavily into a far corner. - -'Art thou anything of a healer? I am ten leagues deep in calamity,' -cried the Mahratta, picking up the cue. - -'This man is cut and bruised all over. I go about to cure him,' Kim -retorted. 'None interfered between thy babe and me.' - -'I am rebuked,' said the Kamboh meekly. 'I am thy debtor for the -life of my son. Thou art a miracle-worker - I know it.' - -'Show me the cuts.' Kim bent over the Mahratta's neck, his heart -nearly choking him; for this was the Great Game with a vengeance. -'Now, tell thy tale swiftly, brother, while I say a charm.' - -'I come from the South, where my work lay. One of us they slew by -the roadside. Hast thou heard?' Kim shook his head. He, of course, -knew nothing of E's predecessor, slain down South in the habit of an -Arab trader. 'Having found a certain letter which I was sent to -seek, I came away. I escaped from the city and ran to Mhow. So sure -was I that none knew, I did not change my face. At Mhow a woman -brought charge against me of theft of jewellery in that city which I -had left. Then I saw the cry was out against me. I ran from Mhow by -night, bribing the police, who had been bribed to hand me over -without question to my enemies in the South. Then I lay in old -Chitor city a week, a penitent in a temple, but I could not get rid -of the letter which was my charge. I buried it under the Queen's -Stone, at Chitor, in the place known to us all.' - -Kim did not know, but not for worlds would he have broken the -thread. - -'At Chitor, look you, I was all in Kings' country; for Kotah to the -east is beyond the Queen's law, and east again lie Jaipur and -Gwalior. Neither love spies, and there is no justice. I was hunted -like a wet jackal; but I broke through at Bandakui, where I heard -there was a charge against me of murder in the city I had left - of -the murder of a boy. They have both the corpse and the witnesses -waiting.' - -'But cannot the Government protect?' - -'We of the Game are beyond protection. If we die, we die. Our names -are blotted from the book. That is all. At Bandakui, where lives one -of Us, I thought to slip the scent by changing my face, and so made -me a Mahratta. Then I came to Agra, and would have turned back to -Chitor to recover the letter. So sure I was I had slipped them. -Therefore I did not send a tar [telegram] to any one saying where -the letter lay. I wished the credit of it all.' - -Kim nodded. He understood that feeling well. - -'But at Agra, walking in the streets, a man cried a debt against me, -and approaching with many witnesses, would hale me to the courts -then and there. Oh, they are clever in the South! He recognized me -as his agent for cotton. May he burn in Hell for it!' - -'And wast thou?' - -'O fool! I was the man they sought for the matter of the letter! I -ran into the Fleshers' Ward and came out by the House of the Jew, -who feared a riot and pushed me forth. I came afoot to Somna Road - -I had only money for my tikkut to Delhi - and there, while I lay in -a ditch with a fever, one sprang out of the bushes and beat me and -cut me and searched me from head to foot. Within earshot of the te- -rain it was!' - -'Why did he not slay thee out of hand?' - -'They are not so foolish. If I am taken in Delhi at the instance of -lawyers, upon a proven charge of murder, my body is handed over to -the State that desires it. I go back guarded, and then - I die -slowly for an example to the rest of Us. The South is not my -country. I run in circles - like a goat with one eye. I have not -eaten for two days. I am marked' - he touched the filthy bandage on -his leg - 'so that they will know me at Delhi.' - -'Thou art safe in the te-rain, at least.' - -'Live a year at the Great Game and tell me that again! The wires -will be out against me at Delhi, describing every tear and rag upon -me. Twenty - a hundred, if need be - will have seen me slay that -boy. And thou art useless!' - -Kim knew enough of native methods of attack not to doubt that the -case would be deadly complete - even to the corpse. The Mahratta -twitched his fingers with pain from time to time. The Kamboh in his -corner glared sullenly; the lama was busy over his beads; and Kim, -fumbling doctor-fashion at the man's neck, thought out his plan -between invocations. - -'Hast thou a charm to change my shape? Else I am dead. Five - ten -minutes alone, if I had not been so pressed, and I might -' - -'Is he cured yet, miracle-worker?' said the Kamboh jealously. 'Thou -hast chanted long enough.' - -'Nay. There is no cure for his hurts, as I see, except he sit for -three days in the habit of a bairagi.' This is a common penance, -often imposed on a fat trader by his spiritual teacher. - -'One priest always goes about to make another priest,' was the -retort. Like most grossly superstitious folk, the Kamboh could not -keep his tongue from deriding his Church. - -'Will thy son be a priest, then? It is time he took more of my -quinine.' - -'We Jats are all buffaloes,' said the Kamboh, softening anew. - -Kim rubbed a finger-tip of bitterness on the child's trusting little -lips. 'I have asked for nothing,' he said sternly to the father, -'except food. Dost thou grudge me that? I go to heal another man. -Have I thy leave - Prince?' - -Up flew the man's huge paws in supplication. 'Nay - nay. Do not mock -me thus.' - -'It pleases me to cure this sick one. Thou shalt acquire merit by -aiding. What colour ash is there in thy pipe-bowl? White. That is -auspicious. Was there raw turmeric among thy foodstuffs?' - -'I - I -' - -'Open thy bundle!' - -It was the usual collection of small oddments: bits of cloth, quack -medicines, cheap fairings, a clothful of atta - greyish, rough- -ground native flour - twists of down-country tobacco, tawdry pipe- -stems, and a packet of curry-stuff, all wrapped in. a quilt. Kim -turned it over with the air of a wise warlock, muttering a -Mohammedan invocation. - -'This is wisdom I learned from the Sahibs,' he whispered to the -lama; and here, when one thinks of his training at Lurgan's, he -spoke no more than the truth. 'There is a great evil in this man's -fortune, as shown by the Stars, which - which troubles him. Shall I -take it away?' - -'Friend of the Stars, thou hast done well in all things. Let it be -at thy pleasure. Is it another healing?' - -'Quick! Be quick!' gasped the Mahratta. 'The train may stop.' - -'A healing against the shadow of death,' said Kim, mixing the -Kamboh's flour with the mingled charcoal and tobacco ash in the red- -earth bowl of the pipe. E, without a word, slipped off his turban -and shook down his long black hair. - - -'That is my food - priest,' the jat growled. - -'A buffalo in the temple! Hast thou dared to look even thus far?' -said Kim. 'I must do mysteries before fools; but have a care for -thine eyes. Is there a film before them already? I save the babe, -and for return thou - oh, shameless!' The man flinched at the direct -gaze, for Kim was wholly in earnest. - -'Shall I curse thee, or shall I -' He picked up the outer cloth of -the bundle and threw it over the bowed head. 'Dare so much as to -think a wish to see, and - and - even I cannot save thee. Sit! Be dumb!' - -'I am blind - dumb. Forbear to curse! Co - come, child; we will -play a game of hiding. Do not, for my sake, look from under the -cloth.' - -'I see hope,' said E23. 'What is thy scheme?' - -'This comes next,' said Kim, plucking the thin body-shirt. E23 -hesitated, with all a North-West man's dislike of baring his body. - -'What is caste to a cut throat?' said Kim, rending it to the waist. -'We must make thee a yellow Saddhu all over. Strip - strip -swiftly, and shake thy hair over thine eyes while I scatter the ash. -Now, a caste-mark on thy forehead.' He drew from his bosom the -little Survey paint-box and a cake of crimson lake. - -'Art thou only a beginner?' said E23, labouring literally for the -dear life, as he slid out of his body-wrappings and stood clear in -the loin-cloth while Kim splashed in a noble caste-mark on the ash- -smeared brow. - -'But two days entered to the Game, brother,' Kim replied. 'Smear -more ash on the bosom.' - -'Hast thou met - a physician of sick pearls?' He switched out his -long, tight-rolled turban-cloth and, with swiftest hands, rolled it -over and under about his loins into the intricate devices of a -Saddhu's cincture. - -'Hah! Dost thou know his touch, then? He was my teacher for a -while. We must bar thy legs. Ash cures wounds. Smear it again.' - -'I was his pride once, but thou art almost better. The Gods are -kind to us! Give me that.' - -It was a tin box of opium pills among the rubbish of the Jat's -bundle. E23 gulped down a half handful. 'They are good against -hunger, fear, and chill. And they make the eyes red too,' he -explained. 'Now I shall have heart to play the Game. We lack only -a Saddhu's tongs. What of the old clothes?' - -Kim rolled them small, and stuffed them into the slack folds of his -tunic. With a yellow-ochre paint cake he smeared the legs and the -breast, great streaks against the background of flour, ash, and -turmeric. - -'The blood on them is enough to hang thee, brother.' - -'Maybe; but no need to throw them out of the window ... It is -finished.' His voice thrilled with a boy's pure delight in the Game. -'Turn and look, O Jat!' - -'The Gods protect us,' said the hooded Kamboh, emerging like a -buffalo from the reeds. 'But - whither went the Mahratta? What hast -thou done?' - -Kim had been trained by Lurgan Sahib; E23, by virtue of his -business, was no bad actor. In place of the tremulous, shrinking -trader there lolled against the corner an all but naked, ash- -smeared, ochre-barred, dusty-haired Saddhu, his swollen eyes - opium -takes quick effect on an empty stomach - luminous with insolence and -bestial lust, his legs crossed under him, Kim's brown rosary round -his neck, and a scant yard of worn, flowered chintz on his -shoulders. The child buried his face in his amazed father's arms. - -'Look up, Princeling! We travel with warlocks, but they will not -hurt thee. Oh, do not cry ... What is the sense of curing a child -one day and killing him with fright the next?' - -'The child will be fortunate all his life. He has seen a great -healing. When I was a child I made clay men and horses.' - -'I have made them too. Sir Banas, he comes in the night and makes -them all alive at the back of our kitchen-midden,' piped the child. - -'And so thou art not frightened at anything. Eh, Prince?' - -'I was frightened because my father was frightened. I felt his arms -shake.' - -'Oh, chicken-man!' said Kim, and even the abashed Jat laughed. 'I -have done a healing on this poor trader. He must forsake his gains -and his account-books, and sit by the wayside three nights to -overcome the malignity of his enemies. The Stars are against him.' - -'The fewer money-lenders the better, say I; but, Saddhu or no -Saddhu, he should pay for my stuff on his shoulders.' - -'So? But that is thy child on thy shoulder - given over to the -burning-ghat not two days ago. There remains one thing more. I did -this charm in thy presence because need was great. I changed his -shape and his soul. None the less, if, by any chance, O man from -Jullundur, thou rememberest what thou hast seen, either among the -elders sitting under the village tree, or in thine own house, or in -company of thy priest when he blesses thy cattle, a murrain will -come among the buffaloes, and a fire in thy thatch, and rats in the -corn-bins, and the curse of our Gods upon thy fields that they may -be barren before thy feet and after thy ploughshare.' -This was part -of an old curse picked up from a fakir by the Taksali Gate in the -days of Kim's innocence. It lost nothing by repetition. - -'Cease, Holy One! In mercy, cease!' cried the Jat. 'Do not curse -the household. I saw nothing! I heard nothing! I am thy cow!' and -he made to grab at Kim's bare foot beating rhythmically on the -carriage floor. 'But since thou hast been permitted to aid me in the -matter of a pinch of flour and a little opium and such trifles as I -have honoured by using in my art, so will the Gods return a -blessing,' and he gave it at length, to the man's immense relief. It -was one that he had learned from Lurgan Sahib. - -The lama stared through his spectacles as he had not stared at the -business of disguisement. 'Friend of the Stars,' he said at last, -'thou hast acquired great wisdom. Beware that it do not give birth -to pride. No man having the Law before his eyes speaks hastily of -any matter which he has seen or encountered.' - -'No - no - no, indeed,' cried the farmer, fearful lest the master -should be minded to improve on the pupil. E23, with relaxed mouth, -gave himself up to the opium that is meat, tobacco, and medicine to -the spent Asiatic. - -So, in a silence of awe and great miscomprehension, they slid into -Delhi about lamp-lighting time. - - - - - -Chapter 12 - - -Who hath desired the Sea - the sight of salt-water unbounded? -The heave and the halt and the hurl and the crash of the comber -wind-hounded? -The sleek-barrelled swell before storm - grey, foamless, enormous, -and growing? -Stark calm on the lap of the Line - or the crazy-eyed hurricane -blowing? -His Sea in no showing the same - his Sea and the same 'neath all -showing - -His Sea that his being fulfils? -So and no otherwise - so and no otherwise hill-men desire their -Hills! - -The Sea and the Hills. - - - -'I have found my heart again,' said E23, under cover of the -platform's tumult. 'Hunger and fear make men dazed, or I might have -thought of this escape before. I was right. They come to hunt for -me. Thou hast saved my head.' - -A group of yellow-trousered Punjab policemen, headed by a hot and -perspiring young Englishman, parted the crowd about the carriages. -Behind them, inconspicuous as a cat, ambled a small fat person who -looked like a lawyer's tout. - -'See the young Sahib reading from a paper. My description is in his -hand,' said E23. 'Thev go carriage by carriage, like fisher-folk -netting a pool.' - -When the procession reached their compartment, E23 was counting his -beads with a steady jerk of the wrist; while Kim jeered at him for -being so drugged as to have lost the ringed fire-tongs which are the -Saddhu's distinguishing mark. The lama, deep in meditation, stared -straight before him; and the farmer, glancing furtively, gathered up -his belongings. - -'Nothing here but a parcel of holy-bolies,' said the Englishman -aloud, and passed on amid a ripple of uneasiness; for native police -mean extortion to the native all India over. - -'The trouble now,' whispered E23, 'lies in sending a wire as to the -place where I hid that letter I was sent to find. I cannot go to the -tar-office in this guise.' - -'Is it not enough I have saved thy neck?' - -'Not if the work be left unfinished. Did never the healer of sick -pearls tell thee so? Comes another Sahib! Ah!' - -This was a tallish, sallowish District Superintendent of Police - -belt, helmet, polished spurs and all - strutting and twirling his -dark moustache. - -'What fools are these Police Sahibs!' said Kim genially. - -E23 glanced up under his eyelids. 'It is well said,' he muttered in -a changed voice. 'I go to drink water. Keep my place.' - -He blundered out almost into the Englishman's arms, and was bad- -worded in clumsy Urdu. - -'Tum mut? You drunk? You mustn't bang about as though Delhi -station belonged to you, my friend.' - -E23, not moving a muscle of his countenance, answered with a stream -of the filthiest abuse, at which Kim naturally rejoiced. It reminded -him of the drummer-boys and the barrack-sweepers at Umballa in the -terrible time of his first schooling. - -'My good fool,' the Englishman drawled. 'Nickle-jao! Go back to -your carriage.' - -Step by step, withdrawing deferentially and dropping his voice, the -yellow Saddhu clomb back to the carriage, cursing the D.S.P. to -remotest posterity, by - here Kim almost jumped - by the curse of -the Queen's Stone, by the writing under the Queen's Stone, and by an -assortment of Gods "with wholly, new names. - -'I don't know what you're saying,' - the Englishman flushed angrily -- 'but it's some piece of blasted impertinence. Come out of that!' - -E23, affecting to misunderstand, gravely produced his ticket, which -the Englishman wrenched angrily from his hand. - -'Oh, zoolum! What oppression!' growled the Jat from his corner. -'All for the sake of a jest too.' He had been grinning at the -freedom of the Saddhu's tongue. 'Thy charms do not work well today, -Holy One!' - -The Saddhu followed the policeman, fawning and supplicating. The -ruck of passengers, busy, with their babies and their bundles, had -not noticed the affair. Kim slipped out behind him; for it flashed -through his head that he had heard this angry, stupid Sahib -discoursing loud personalities to an old lady near Umballa three -years ago. - -'It is well', the Saddhu whispered, jammed in the calling, -shouting, bewildered press - a Persian greyhound between his feet -and a cageful of yelling hawks under charge of a Rajput falconer in -the small of his back. 'He has gone now to send word of the letter -which I hid. They told me he was in Peshawur. I might have known -that he is like the crocodile - always at the other ford. He has -saved me from present calamity, but I owe my life to thee.' - -'Is he also one of Us?' Kim ducked under a Mewar camel-driver's -greasy armpit and cannoned off a covey of jabbering Sikh matrons. - -'Not less than the greatest. We are both fortunate! I will make -report to him of what thou hast done. I am safe under his -protection.' - -He bored through the edge of the crowd besieging the carriages, and -squatted by the bench near the telegraph-office. - -'Return, or they take thy place! Have no fear for the work, brother -- or my life. Thou hast given me breathing-space, and Strickland -Sahib has pulled me to land. We may work together at the Game yet. -Farewell!' - -Kim hurried to his carriage: elated, bewildered, but a little -nettled in that he had no key to the secrets about him. - -'I am only a beginner at the Game, that is sure. I could not have -leaped into safety as did the Saddhu. He knew it was darkest under -the lamp. I could not have thought to tell news under pretence of -cursing ... and how clever was the Sahib! No matter, I saved the -life of one ... Where is the Kamboh gone, Holy One?' he whispered, -as he took his seat in the now crowded compartment. - -'A fear gripped him,' the lama replied, with a touch of tender -malice. 'He saw thee change the Mahratta to a Saddhu in the -twinkling of an eye, as a protection against evil. That shook him. -Then he saw the Saddhu fall sheer into the hands of the polis - all -the effect of thy art. Then he gathered up his son and fled; for he -said that thou didst change a quiet trader into an impudent bandier -of words with the Sahibs, and he feared a like fate. Where is the -Saddhu?' - -'With the polis,' said Kim ... 'Yet I saved the Kamboh's child.' - -The lama snuffed blandly. - -'Ah, chela, see how thou art overtaken! Thou didst cure the -Kamboh's child solely to acquire merit. But thou didst put a spell -on the Mahratta with prideful workings - I watched thee - and with -sidelong glances to bewilder an old old man and a foolish farmer: -whence calamity and suspicion.' - -Kim controlled himself with an effort beyond his years. Not more -than any other youngster did he like to eat dirt or to be misjudged, -but he saw himself in a cleft stick. The train rolled out of Delhi -into the night. - -'It is true,' he murmured. 'Where I have offended thee I have done -wrong.' - -'It is more, chela. Thou hast loosed an Act upon the world, and as -a stone thrown into a pool so spread the consequences thou canst not -tell how far.' - -This ignorance was well both for Kim's vanity and for the lama's -peace of mind, when we think that there was then being handed in at -Simla a code-wire reporting the arrival of E23 at Delhi, and, more -important, the whereabouts of a letter he had been commissioned to - -abstract. Incidentally, an over-zealous policeman had arrested, on -charge of murder done in a far southern State, a horribly indignant -Ajmir cotton-broker, who was explaining himself to a Mr Strickland -on Delhi platform, while E23 was paddling through byways into the -locked heart of Delhi city. In two hours several telegrams had -reached the angry minister of a southern State reporting that all -trace of a somewhat bruised Mahratta had been lost; and by the time -the leisurely train halted at Saharunpore the last ripple of the -stone Kim had helped to heave was lapping against the steps of a -mosque in far-away Roum - where it disturbed a pious man at prayers. - -The lama made his in ample form near the dewy bougainvillea-trellis -near the platform, cheered by the clear sunshine and the presence of -his disciple. 'We will put these things behind us,' he said, -indicating the brazen engine and the gleaming track. 'The jolting of -the te-rain - though a wonderful thing - has turned my bones to -water. We will use clean air henceforward.' - -'Let us go to the Kulu woman's house' said Kim, and stepped forth -cheerily under the bundles. Early morning Saharunpore-way is clean -and well scented. He thought of the other mornings at St Xavier's, -and it topped his already thrice-heaped contentment. - -'Where is this new haste born from? Wise men do not run about like -chickens in the sun. We have come hundreds upon hundreds of koss -already, and, till now, I have scarcely been alone with thee an -instant. How canst thou receive instruction all jostled of crowds? -How can I, whelmed by a flux of talk, meditate upon the Way?' - -'Her tongue grows no shorter with the years, then?' the disciple -smiled. - -'Nor her desire for charms. I remember once when I spoke of the -Wheel of Life' - the lama fumbled in his bosom for his latest copy - -'she was only curious about the devils that besiege children. She -shall acquire merit by entertaining us - in a little while - at an -after-occasion - softly, softly. Now we will wander loose-foot, -waiting upon the Chain of Things. The Search is sure.' - -So they travelled very easily across and among the broad bloomful -fruit-gardens - by way of Aminabad, Sahaigunge, Akrola of the Ford, -and little Phulesa - the line of the Siwaliks always to the north, -and behind them again the snows. After long, sweet sleep under the -dry stars came the lordly, leisurely passage through a waking -village - begging-bowl held forth in silence, but eyes roving in -defiance of the Law from sky's edge to sky's edge. Then would Kim -return soft-footed through the soft dust to his master under the -shadow of a mango-tree or the thinner shade of a white Doon siris, -to eat and drink at ease. At mid-day, after talk and a little -wayfaring, they slept; meeting the world refreshed when the air was -cooler. Night found them adventuring into new territory - some -chosen village spied three hours before across the fat land, and -much discussed upon the road. - -There they told their tale - a new one each evening so far as Kim -was concerned - and there were they made welcome, either by priest -or headman, after the custom of the kindly East. - -When the shadows shortened and the lama leaned more heavily upon -Kim, there was always the Wheel of Life to draw forth, to hold flat -under wiped stones, and with a long straw to expound cycle by cycle. -Here sat the Gods on high - and they were dreams of dreams. Here was -our Heaven and the world of the demi-Gods - horsemen fighting among -the hills. Here were the agonies done upon the beasts, souls -ascending or descending the ladder and therefore not to be -interfered with. Here were the Hells, hot and cold, and the abodes -of tormented ghosts. Let the chela study the troubles that come from -over-eating - bloated stomach and burning bowels. Obediently, then, -with bowed head and brown finger alert to follow the pointer, did -the chela study; but when they came to the Human World, busy and -profitless, that is just above the Hells, his mind was distracted; -for by the roadside trundled the very Wheel itself, eating, -drinking, trading, marrying, and quarrelling - all warmly alive. -Often the lama made the living pictures the matter of his text, -bidding Kim - too ready - note how the flesh takes a thousand -shapes, desirable or detestable as men reckon, but in truth of no -account either way; and how the stupid spirit, bond-slave to the -Hog, the Dove, and the Serpent - lusting after betel-nut, a new yoke -of oxen, women, or the favour of kings - is bound to follow the body -through all the Heavens and all the Hells, and strictly round again. -Sometimes a woman or a poor man, watching the ritual - it was -nothing less - when the great yellow chart was unfolded, would throw -a few flowers or a handful of cowries upon its edge. It sufficed -these humble ones that they had met a Holy One who might be moved to -remember them in his prayers. - -'Cure them if they are sick,' said the lama, when Kim's sporting -instincts woke. 'Cure them if they have fever, but by no means work -charms. Remember what befell the Mahratta.' - -'Then all Doing is evil?' Kim replied, lying out under a big tree at -the fork of the Doon road, watching the little ants run over his -hand. - -'To abstain from action is well - except to acquire merit.' - -'At the Gates of Learning we were taught that to abstain from action -was unbefitting a Sahib. And I am a Sahib.' - -'Friend of all the World,' - the lama looked directly at Kim - 'I am -an old man - pleased with shows as are children. To those who -follow the Way there is neither black nor white, Hind nor Bhotiyal. -We be all souls seeking escape. No matter what thy wisdom learned -among Sahibs, when we come to my River thou wilt be freed from all -illusion - at my side. Hai! My bones ache for that River, as they -ached in the te-rain; but my spirit sits above my bones, waiting. -The Search is sure!' - -'I am answered. Is it permitted to ask a question?' - -The lama inclined his stately head. - -'I ate thy bread for three years - as thou knowest. Holy One, -whence came -?' - -'There is much wealth, as men count it, in Bhotiyal,' the lama -returned with composure. 'In my own place I have the illusion of -honour. I ask for that I need. I am not concerned with the account. -That is for my monastery. Ai! The black high seats in the -monastery, and novices all in order!' - -And he told stories, tracing with a finger in the dust, of the -immense and sumptuous ritual of avalanche-guarded cathedrals; of -processions and devil-dances; of the changing of monks and nuns into -swine; of holy cities fifteen thousand feet in the air; of intrigue -between monastery and monastery; of voices among the hills, and of -that mysterious mirage that dances on dry snow. He spoke even of -Lhassa and of the Dalai Lama, whom he had seen and adored. - -Each long, perfect day rose behind Kim for a barrier to cut him off -from his race and his mother-tongue. He slipped back to thinking -and dreaming in the vernacular, and mechanically followed the lama's -ceremonial observances at eating, drinking, and the like. The old -man's mind turned more and more to his monastery as his eyes turned -to the steadfast snows. His River troubled him nothing. Now and -again, indeed, he would gaze long and long at a tuft or a twig, -expecting, he said, the earth to cleave and deliver its blessing; -but he was content to be with his disciple, at ease in the temperate -wind that comes down from the Doon. This was not Ceylon, nor Buddh -Gaya, nor Bombay, nor some grass-tangled ruins that he seemed to -have stumbled upon two years ago. He spoke of those places as a -scholar removed from vanity, as a Seeker walking in humility, as an -old man, wise and temperate, illumining knowledge with brilliant -insight. Bit by bit, disconnectedly, each tale called up by some -wayside thing, he spoke of all his wanderings up and down Hind; till -Kim, who had loved him without reason, now loved him for fifty good -reasons. So they enjoyed themselves in high felicity, abstaining, -as the Rule demands, from evil words, covetous desires; not over- -eating, not lying on high beds, nor wearing rich clothes. Their -stomachs told them the time, and the people brought them their food, -as the saying is. They were lords of the villages of Aminabad, -Sahaigunge, Akrola of the Ford, and little Phulesa, where Kim gave -the soulless woman a blessing. - -But news travels fast in India, and too soon shuffled across the -crop-land, bearing a basket of fruits with a box of Kabul grapes and -gilt oranges, a white-whiskered servitor - a lean, dry Oorya - -begging them to bring the honour of their presence to his mistress, -distressed in her mind that the lama had neglected her so long. - -'Now do I remember' - the lama spoke as though it were a wholly new -proposition. 'She is virtuous, but an inordinate talker.' - -Kim was sitting on the edge of a cow's manger, telling stories to a -village smith's children. - -'She will only ask for another son for her daughter. I have not -forgotten her,' he said. 'Let her acquire merit. Send word that we -will come.' - -They covered eleven miles through the fields in two days, and were -overwhelmed with attentions at the end; for the old lady held a fine -tradition of hospitality, to which she forced her son-in-law, who -was under the thumb of his women-folk and bought peace by borrowing -of the money-lender. Age had not weakened her tongue or her memory, -and from a discreetly barred upper window, in the hearing of not -less than a dozen servants, she paid Kim compliments that would have -flung European audiences into unclean dismay. - -'But thou art still the shameless beggar-brat of the parao,' she -shrilled. 'I have not forgotten thee. Wash ye and eat. The father of -my daughter's son is gone away awhile. So we poor women are dumb and -useless.' - -For proof, she harangued the entire household unsparingly till food -and drink were brought; and in the evening - the smoke-scented -evening, copper-dun and turquoise across the fields - it pleased her -to order her palanquin to be set down in the untidy forecourt by -smoky torchlight; and there, behind not too closely drawn curtains, -she gossiped. - -'Had the Holy One come alone, I should have received him otherwise; -but with this rogue, who can be too careful?' - -'Maharanee,' said Kim, choosing as always the amplest title, 'is it -my fault that none other than a Sahib - a polis-Sahib - called the -Maharanee whose face he -' -'Chutt! That was on the pilgrimage. -When we travel - thou knowest the proverb.' - -'Called the Maharanee a Breaker of Hearts and a Dispenser of -Delights?' - -'To remember that! It was true. So he did. That was in the time of -the bloom of my beauty.' She chuckled like a contented parrot above -the sugar lump. 'Now tell me of thy goings and comings - as much as -may be without shame. How many maids, and whose wives, hang upon -thine eyelashes? Ye hail from Benares? I would have gone there again -this year, but my daughter - we have only two sons. Phaii! Such is -the effect of these low plains. Now in Kulu men are elephants. But I -would ask thy Holy One - stand aside, rogue - a charm against most -lamentable windy colics that in mango-time overtake my daughter's -eldest. Two years back he gave me a powerful spell.' - -'Oh, Holy One!' said Kim, bubbling with mirth at the lama's rueful -face. - -'It is true. I gave her one against wind.' - -'Teeth - teeth - teeth, ' snapped the old woman. - -"'Cure them if they are sick,"' Kim quoted relishingly, "'but by no -means work charms. Remember what befell the Mahratta."' - -'That was two Rains ago; she wearied me with her continual -importunity.' The lama groaned as the Unjust Judge had groaned -before him. 'Thus it comes - take note, my chela - that even those -who would follow the Way are thrust aside by idle women. Three days -through, when the child was sick, she talked to me.' - -'Arre! and to whom else should I talk? The boy's mother knew -nothing, and the father - in the nights of the cold weather it was - -"Pray to the Gods," said he, forsooth, and turning over, snored!' - -'I gave her the charm. What is an old man to do?' - -"'To abstain from action is well - except to acquire merit."' - -'Ah chela, if thou desertest me, I am all alone.' - -'He found his milk-teeth easily at any rate,' said the old lady. -'But all priests are alike.' - -Kim coughed severely. Being young, he did not approve of her -flippancy. 'To importune the wise out of season is to invite -calamity.' - -'There is a talking mynah' - the thrust came back with the -well-remembered snap of the jewelled fore-finger - 'over the stables -which has picked up the very tone of the family priest. Maybe I -forget honour to my guests, but if ye had seen him double his fists -into his belly, which was like a half-grown gourd, and cry: "Here is -the pain!" ye would forgive. I am half minded to take the hakim's -medicine. He sells it cheap, and certainly it makes him fat as -Shiv's own bull. He does not deny remedies, but I doubted for the -child because of the in-auspicious colour of the bottles.' - -The lama, under cover of the monologue, had faded out into the -darkness towards the room prepared. - -'Thou hast angered him, belike,' said Kim. - -'Not he. He is wearied, and I forgot, being a grandmother. (None -but a grandmother should ever oversee a child. Mothers are only fit -for bearing.) Tomorrow, when he sees how my daughter's son is grown, -he will write the charm. Then, too, he can judge of the new hakim's -drugs.' - -'Who is the hakim, Maharanee?' - -'A wanderer, as thou art, but a most sober Bengali from Dacca - a -master of medicine. He relieved me of an oppression after meat by -means of a small pill that wrought like a devil unchained. He -travels about now, vending preparations of great value. He has even -papers, printed in Angrezi, telling what things he has done for -weak-backed men and slack women. He has been here four days; but -hearing ye were coming (hakims and priests are snake and tiger the -world over) he has, as I take it, gone to cover.' - -While she drew breath after this volley, the ancient servant, -sitting unrebuked on the edge of the torchlight, muttered: 'This -house is a cattle-pound, as it were, for all charlatans and - -priests. Let the boy stop eating mangoes ... but who can argue with -a grandmother?' He raised his voice respectfully: 'Sahiba, the hakim -sleeps after his meat. He is in the quarters behind the dovecote.' - -Kim bristled like an expectant terrier. To outface and down-talk a -Calcutta-taught Bengali, a voluble Dacca drug-vendor, would be a -good game. It was not seemly that the lama, and incidentally -himself, should be thrown aside for such an one. He knew those -curious bastard English advertisements at the backs of native -newspapers. St Xavier's boys sometimes brought them in by stealth to -snigger over among their mates; for the language of the grateful -patient recounting his symptoms is most simple and revealing. The -Oorya, not unanxious to play off one parasite against the other, -slunk away towards the dovecote. - -'Yes,' said Kim, with measured scorn. 'Their stock-in-trade is a -little coloured water and a very great shamelessness. Their prey are -broken-down kings and overfed Bengalis. Their profit is in children -- who are not born.' The old lady chuckled. 'Do not be envious. -Charms are better, eh? I never gainsaid it. See that thy Holy One -writes me a good amulet by the morning.' - -'None but the ignorant deny' - a thick, heavy voice boomed through -the darkness, as a figure came to rest squatting - 'None but the -ignorant deny the value of charms. None but the ignorant deny the -value of medicines.' - -'A rat found a piece of turmeric. Said he: "I will open a grocer's -shop,"' Kim retorted. - -Battle was fairly joined now, and they heard the old lady stiffen to -attention. - -'The priest's son knows the names of his nurse and three Gods. Says -he: "Hear me, or I will curse you by the three million Great Ones."' -Decidedly this invisible had an arrow or two in his quiver. He went -on: 'I am but a teacher of the alphabet. I have learned all the -wisdom of the Sahibs.' - -'The Sahibs never grow old. They dance and they play like children -when they are grandfathers. A strong-backed breed,' piped the voice -inside the palanquin. - -'I have, too, our drugs which loosen humours of the head in hot and -angry men. Sina well compounded when the moon stands in the proper -House; yellow earths I have - arplan from China that makes a man -renew his youth and astonish his household; saffron from Kashmir, -and the best salep of Kabul. Many people have died before -' - -'That I surely believe,' said Kim. - -'They knew the value of my drugs. I do not give my sick the mere -ink in which a charm is written, but hot and rending drugs which -descend and wrestle with the evil.' - -'Very mightily they do so,' sighed the old lady. - -The voice launched into an immense tale of misfortune and -bankruptcy, studded with plentiful petitions to the Government. 'But -for my fate, which overrules all, I had been now in Government -employ. I bear a degree from the great school at Calcutta - whither, -maybe, the son of this House shall go.' - -'He shall indeed. If our neighbour's brat can in a few years be -made an F A' (First Arts - she used the English word, of which she -had heard so often), 'how much more shall children clever as some -that I know bear away prizes at rich Calcutta.' - -'Never,' said the voice, 'have I seen such a child! Born in an -auspicious hour, and - but for that colic which, alas! turning into -black cholers, may carry him off like a pigeon - destined to many -years, he is enviable.' - -'Hai mai!' said the old lady. 'To praise children is inauspicious, -or I could listen to this talk. But the back of the house is -unguarded, and even in this soft air men think themselves to be men, -and women we know ... The child's father is away too, and I must be -chowkedar [watchman] in my old age. Up! Up! Take up the palanquin. -Let the hakim and the young priest settle between them whether -charms or medicine most avail. Ho! worthless people, fetch tobacco -for the guests, and - round the homestead go I!' - -The palanquin reeled off, followed by straggling torches and a horde -of dogs. Twenty villages knew the Sahiba - her failings, her tongue, -and her large charity. Twenty villages cheated her after immemorial -custom, but no man would have stolen or robbed within her -jurisdiction for any gift under heaven. None the less, she made -great parade of her formal inspections, the riot of which could be -heard half-way to Mussoorie. - -Kim relaxed, as one augur must when he meets another. The hakim, -still squatting, slid over his hookah with a friendly foot, and Kim -pulled at the good weed. The hangers-on expected grave professional -debate, and perhaps a little free doctoring. - -'To discuss medicine before the ignorant is of one piece with -teaching the peacock to sing,' said the hakim. - -'True courtesy,' Kim echoed, 'is very often inattention.' - -These, be it understood, were company-manners, designed to impress. - -'Hi! I have an ulcer on my leg,' cried a scullion. 'Look at it!' - -'Get hence! Remove!' said the hakim. 'Is it the habit of the place -to pester honoured guests? Ye crowd in like buffaloes.' - -'If the Sahiba knew -' Kim began. - -'Ai! Ai! Come away. They are meat for our mistress. When her young -Shaitan's colics are cured perhaps we poor people may be suffered to --' - -'The mistress fed thy wife when thou wast in jail for breaking the -money-lender's head. Who speaks against her?' The old servitor -curled his white moustaches savagely in the young moonlight. 'I am -responsible for the honour of this house. Go!' and he drove the -underlings before him. - -Said the hakim, hardly more than shaping the words with his lips: -'How do you do, Mister O'Hara? I am jolly glad to see you again.' - -Kim's hand clenched about the pipe-stem. Anywhere on the open road, -perhaps, he would not have been astonished; but here, in this quiet -backwater of life, he was not prepared for Hurree Babu. It annoyed -him, too, that he had been hoodwinked. - -'Ah ha! I told you at Lucknow - resurgam - I shall rise again and -you shall not know me. How much did you bet - eh?' - -He chewed leisurely upon a few cardamom seeds, but he breathed -uneasily. - -'But why come here, Babuji?' - -'Ah! Thatt is the question, as Shakespeare hath it. I come to -congratulate you on your extraordinary effeecient performance at -Delhi. Oah! I tell you we are all proud of you. It was verree -neat and handy. Our mutual friend, he is old friend of mine. He has -been in some dam'-tight places. Now he will be in some more. He -told me; I tell Mr Lurgan; and he is pleased you graduate so nicely. -All the Department is pleased.' - -For the first time in his life, Kim thrilled to the clean pride (it -can be a deadly pitfall, none the less) of Departmental praise - -ensnaring praise from an equal of work appreciated by -fellow-workers. Earth has nothing on the same plane to compare with it. -But, cried the Oriental in him, Babus do not travel far to retail -compliments. - -'Tell thy tale, Babu,' he said authoritatively. - -'Oah, it is nothing. Onlee I was at Simla when the wire came in -about what our mutual friend said he had hidden, and old Creighton -' He looked to see how Kim -would take this piece of audacity. - -'The Colonel Sahib,' the boy from St Xavier's corrected. 'Of -course. He found me at a loose string, and I had to go down to -Chitor to find that beastly letter. I do not like the South - too -much railway travel; but I drew good travelling allowance. Ha! Ha! I -meet our mutual at Delhi on the way back. He lies quiett just now, -and says Saddhu-disguise suits him to the ground. Well, there I -hear what you have done so well, so quickly, upon the instantaneous -spur of the moment. I tell our mutual you take the bally bun, by -Jove! It was splendid. I come to tell you so.' - -'Umm!' - -The frogs were busy in the ditches, and the moon slid to her -setting. Some happy servant had gone out to commune with the night -and to beat upon a drum. Kim's next sentence was in the vernacular. - -'How didst thou follow us?' - -'Oah. Thatt was nothing. I know from our mutual friend you go to -Saharunpore. So I come on. Red Lamas are not inconspicuous persons. -I buy myself my drug-box, and I am very good doctor really. I go to -Akrola of the Ford, and hear all about you, and I talk here and talk -there. All the common people know what you do. I knew when the -hospitable old lady sent the dooli. They have great recollections of -the old lama's visits here. I know old ladies cannot keep their -hands from medicines. So I am a doctor, and - you hear my talk? I -think it is verree good. My word, Mister O'Hara, they know about -you and the lama for fifty miles - the common people. So I come. Do -you mind?' - -'Babuji,' said Kim, looking up at the broad, grinning face, 'I am a -Sahib.' - -'My dear Mister O'Hara -' - -'And I hope to play the Great Game.' - -'You are subordinate to me departmentally at present.' - -'Then why talk like an ape in a tree? Men do not come after one from -Simla and change their dress, for the sake of a few sweet words. I -am not a child. Talk Hindi and let us get to the yolk of the egg. -Thou art here - speaking not one word of truth in ten. Why art thou -here? Give a straight answer.' - -'That is so verree disconcerting of the Europeans, Mister O'Hara. -You should know a heap better at your time of life.' - -'But I want to know,' said Kim, laughing. 'If it is the Game, I may -help. How can I do anything if you bukh [babble] all round the -shop?' - -Hurree Babu reached for the pipe, and sucked it till it gurgled -again. - -'Now I will speak vernacular. You sit tight, Mister O'Hara ... It -concerns the pedigree of a white stallion.' - -'Still? That was finished long ago.' - -'When everyone is dead the Great Game is finished. Not before. -Listen to me till the end. There were Five Kings who prepared a -sudden war three years ago, when thou wast given the stallion's -pedigree by Mahbub Ali. Upon them, because of that news, and ere -they were ready, fell our Army.' - -'Ay - eight thousand men with guns. I remember that night.' - -'But the war was not pushed. That is the Government custom. The -troops were recalled because the Government believed the Five Kings -were cowed; and it is not cheap to feed men among the high Passes. -Hilas and Bunar - Rajahs with guns - undertook for a price to guard -the Passes against all coming from the North. They protested both -fear and friendship.' He broke off with a giggle into English: 'Of -course, I tell you this unoffeecially to elucidate political -situation, Mister O'Hara. Offeecially, I am debarred from -criticizing any action of superiors. Now I go on. - This pleased the -Government, anxious to avoid expense, and a bond was made for so -many rupees a month that Hilas and Bunar should guard the Passes as -soon as the State's troops were withdrawn. At that time - it was -after we two met - I, who had been selling tea in Leh, became a -clerk of accounts in the Army. When the troops were withdrawn, I -was left behind to pay the coolies who made new roads in the Hills. -This road-making was part of the bond between Bunar, Hilas, and the -Government.' - -'So? And then?' - -'I tell you, it was jolly-beastly cold up there too, after summer,' -said Hurree Babu confidentially. 'I was afraid these Bunar men would -cut my throat every night for thee pay-chest. My native sepoy-guard, -they laughed at me! By Jove! I was such a fearful man. Nevar mind -thatt. I go on colloquially ... I send word many times that these -two Kings were sold to the North; and Mahbub Ali, who was yet -farther North, amply confirmed it. Nothing was done. Only my feet -were frozen, and a toe dropped off. I sent word that the roads for -which I was paying money to the diggers were being made for the feet -of strangers and enemies.' - -'For?' - -'For the Russians. The thing was an open jest among the coolies. -Then I was called down to tell what I knew by speech of tongue. -Mahbub came South too. See the end! Over the Passes this year after -snow-melting' - he shivered afresh - 'come two strangers under cover -of shooting wild goats. They bear guns, but they bear also chains -and levels and compasses.' - -'Oho! The thing gets clearer.' - -'They are well received by Hilas and Bunar. They make great -promises; they speak as the mouthpiece of a Kaisar with gifts. Up -the valleys, down the valleys go they, saying, "Here is a place to -build a breastwork; here can ye pitch a fort. Here can ye hold the -road against an army" - the very roads for which I paid out the -rupees monthly. The Government knows, but does nothing. The three -other Kings, who were not paid for guarding the Passes, tell them by -runner of the bad faith of Bunar and Hilas. When all the evil is -done, look you - when these two strangers with the levels and the -compasses make the Five Kings to believe that a great army will -sweep the Passes tomorrow or the next day - Hill-people are all -fools - comes the order to me, Hurree Babu, "Go North and see what -those strangers do." I say to Creighton Sahib, "This is not a -lawsuit, that we go about to collect evidence."' Hurree returned to -his English with a jerk: "'By Jove," I said, "why the dooce do you -not issue demi-offeecial orders to some brave man to poison them, -for an example? It is, if you permit the observation, most -reprehensible laxity on your part." And Colonel Creighton, he -laughed at me! It is all your beastly English pride. You think no -one dare conspire! That is all tommy-rott.' - -Kim smoked slowly, revolving the business, so far as he understood -it, in his quick mind. - -'Then thou goest forth to follow the strangers?' - -'No. To meet them. They are coming in to Simla to send down their -horns and heads to be dressed at Calcutta. They are exclusively -sporting gentlemen, and they are allowed special faceelities by the -Government. Of course, we always do that. It is our British pride.' - -'Then what is to fear from them?' - -'By Jove, they are not black people. I can do all sorts of things -with black people, of course. They are Russians, and highly -unscrupulous people. I - I do not want to consort with them without -a witness.' - -'Will they kill thee?' - -'Oah, thatt is nothing. I am good enough Herbert Spencerian, I -trust, to meet little thing like death, which is all in my fate, you -know. But - but they may beat me.' - -'Why?' - -Hurree Babu snapped his fingers with irritation. 'Of course I shall -affeeliate myself to their camp in supernumerary capacity as perhaps -interpreter, or person mentally impotent and hungree, or some such -thing. And then I must pick up what I can, I suppose. That is as -easy for me as playing Mister Doctor to the old lady. Onlee - onlee -- you see, Mister O'Hara, I am unfortunately Asiatic, which is -serious detriment in some respects. And all-so I am Bengali - a -fearful man.' - -'God made the Hare and the Bengali. What shame?' said Kim, quoting -the proverb. - -'It was process of Evolution, I think, from Primal Necessity, but -the fact remains in all the cui bono. I am, oh, awfully fearful! - I -remember once they wanted to cut off my head on the road to Lhassa. -(No, I have never reached to Lhassa.) I sat down and cried, Mister -O'Hara, anticipating Chinese tortures. I do not suppose these two -gentlemen will torture me, but I like to provide for possible -contingency with European assistance in emergency.' He coughed and -spat out the cardamoms. 'It is purely unoffeecial indent, to which -you can say "No, Babu". If you have no pressing engagement with your -old man - perhaps you might divert him; perhaps I can seduce his -fancies - I should like you to keep in Departmental touch with me -till I find those sporting coves. I have great opeenion of you -since I met my friend at Delhi. And also I will embody your name in -my offeecial report when matter is finally adjudicated. It will be -a great feather in your cap. That is why I come really.' - -'Humph! The end of the tale, I think, is true; but what of the -fore-part?' - -'About the Five Kings? Oah! there is ever so much truth in it. A -lots more than you would suppose,' said Hurree earnestly. 'You come -- eh? I go from here straight into the Doon. It is verree verdant -and painted meads. I shall go to Mussoorie to good old Munsoorie -Pahar, as the gentlemen and ladies say. Then by Rampur into Chini. -That is the only way they can come. I do not like waiting in the -cold, but we must wait for them. I want to walk with them to Simla. -You see, one Russian is a Frenchman, and I know my French pretty -well. I have friends in Chandernagore.' - -'He would certainly rejoice to see the Hills again,' said Kim -meditatively. 'All his speech these ten days past has been of little -else. If we go together -' - -'Oah! We can be quite strangers on the road, if your lama prefers. I -shall just be four or five miles ahead. There is no hurry for Hurree -- that is an Europe pun, ha! ha! - and you come after. There is -plenty of time; they will plot and survey and map, of course. I -shall go tomorrow, and you the next day, if you choose. Eh? You go -think on it till morning. By Jove, it is near morning now.' He -yawned ponderously, and with never a civil word lumbered off to his -sleeping-place. But Kim slept little, and his thoughts ran in -Hindustani: - -'Well is the Game called great! I was four days a scullion at -Quetta, waiting on the wife of the man whose book I stole. And that -was part of the Great Game! From the South - God knows how far - -came up the Mahratta, playing the Great Game in fear of his life. -Now I shall go far and far into the North playing the Great Game. -Truly, it runs like a shuttle throughout all Hind. And my share and -my joy' - he smiled to the darkness- 'I owe to the lama here. Also to -Mahbub Ali - also to Creighton Sahib, but chiefly to the Holy One. -He is right - a great and a wonderful world - and I am Kim - Kim - -Kim - alone - one person - in the middle of it all. But I will see -these strangers with their levels and chains ...' - -'What was the upshot of last night's babble?' said the lama, after -his orisons - -'There came a strolling seller of drugs - a hanger-on of the -Sahiba's. Him I abolished by arguments and prayers, proving that -our charms are worthier than his coloured waters.' - -'Alas, my charms! Is the virtuous woman still bent upon a new one?' - -'Very strictly.' - -'Then it must be written, or she will deafen me with her clamour.' -He fumbled at his pencase. - -'In the Plains,' said Kim, 'are always too many people. In the -Hills, as I understand, there are fewer.' - -'Oh! the Hills, and the snows upon the Hills.' The lami tore off a -tiny square of paper fit to go in an amulet. 'But what dost thou -know of the Hills?' - -'They are very close.' Kim thrust open the door and looked at the -long, peaceful line of the Himalayas flushed in morning-gold. -'Except in the dress of a Sahib, I have never set foot among them.' - -The lama snuffed the wind wistfully. - -'If we go North,' - Kim put the question to the waking sunrise - -'would not much mid-day heat be avoided by walking among the lower -hills at least? ... Is the charm made, Holy One?' - -'I have written the names of seven silly devils - not one of whom is -worth a grain of dust in the eye. Thus do foolish women drag us -from the Way!' - -Hurree Babu came out from behind the dovecote washing his teeth with -ostentatious ritual. Full-fleshed, heavy-haunched, bull-necked, and -deep-voiced, he did not look like 'a fearful man'. Kim signed -almost imperceptibly that matters were in good train, and when the -morning toilet was over, Hurree Babu, in flowery speech, came to do -honour to the lama. They ate, of course, apart, and afterwards the -old lady, more or less veiled behind a window, returned to the vital -business of green-mango colics in the young. The lama's knowledge of -medicine was, of course, sympathetic only. He believed that the -dung of a black horse, mixed with sulphur, and carried in a snake- -skin, was a sound remedy for cholera; but the symbolism interested -him far more than the science. Hurree Babu deferred to these views -with enchanting politeness, so that the lama called him a courteous -physician. Hurree Babu replied that he was no more than an inexpert -dabbler in the mysteries; but at least - he thanked the Gods -therefore - he knew when he sat in the presence of a master. He -himself had been taught by the Sahibs, who do not consider expense, -in the lordly halls of Calcutta; but, as he was ever first to -acknowledge, there lay a wisdom behind earthly wisdom - the high and -lonely lore of meditation. Kim looked on with envy. The Hurree Babu -of his knowledge - oily, effusive, and nervous - was gone; gone, -too, was the brazen drug-vendor of overnight. There remained - -polished, polite, attentive - a sober, learned son of experience and -adversity, gathering wisdom from the lama's lips. The old lady -confided to Kim that these rare levels were beyond her. She liked -charms with plenty of ink that one could wash off in water, swallow, -and be done with. Else what was the use of the Gods? She liked men -and women, and she spoke of them - of kinglets she had known in the -past; of her own youth and beauty; of the depredations of leopards -and the eccentricities of love Asiatic; of the incidence of -taxation, rack-renting, funeral ceremonies, her son-in-law (this by -allusion, easy to be followed), the care of the young, and the age's -lack of decency. And Kim, as interested in the life of this world as -she soon to leave it, squatted with his feet under the hem of his -robe, drinking all in, while the lama demolished one after another -every theory of body-curing put forward by Hurree Babu. - -At noon the Babu strapped up his brass-bound drug-box, took his -patent-leather shoes of ceremony in one hand, a gay blue-and-white -umbrella in the other, and set off northwards to the Doon, where, he -said, he was in demand among the lesser kings of those parts. - -'We will go in the cool of the evening, chela,' said the lama. 'That -doctor, learned in physic and courtesy, affirms that the people -among these lower hills are devout, generous, and much in need of a -teacher. In a very short time - so says the hakim - we come to cool -air and the smell of pines.' - -'Ye go to the Hills? And by Kulu road? Oh, thrice happy!' shrilled -the old lady. 'But that I am a little pressed with the care of the -homestead I would take palanquin ... but that would be shameless, -and my reputation would be cracked. Ho! Ho! I know the road - every -march of the road I know. Ye will find charity throughout - it is -not denied to the well-looking. I will give orders for provision. A -servant to set you forth upon your journey? No ... Then I will at -least cook ye good food.' - -'What a woman is the Sahiba!' said the white-bearded Oorya, when a -tumult rose by the kitchen quarters. 'She has never forgotten a -friend: she has never forgotten an enemy in all her years. And her -cookery - wah!' He rubbed his slim stomach. - -There were cakes, there were sweetmeats, there was cold fowl stewed -to rags with rice and prunes - enough to burden Kim like a mule. - -'I am old and useless,' she said. 'None now love me - and none -respect - but there are few to compare with me when I call on the -Gods and squat to my cooking-pots. Come again, O people of good -will. Holy One and disciple, come again. The room is always -prepared; the welcome is always ready ... See the women do not -follow thy chela too openly. I know the women of Kulu. Take heed, -chela, lest he run away when he smells his Hills again ... Hai! Do -not tilt the rice-bag upside down ... Bless the household, Holy One, -and forgive thy servant her stupidities.' - -She wiped her red old eyes on a corner of her veil, and clucked -throatily. - -'Women talk,' said the lama at last, 'but that is a woman's -infirmity. I gave her a charm. She is upon the Wheel and wholly -given over to the shows of this life, but none the less, chela, she -is virtuous, kindly, hospitable - of a whole and zealous heart. Who -shall say she does not acquire merit?' - -'Not I, Holy One,' said Kim, reslinging the bountiful provision on -his shoulders. 'In my mind - behind my eyes - I have tried to -picture such an one altogether freed from the Wheel - desiring -nothing, causing nothing - a nun, as it were.' - -'And, O imp?' The lama almost laughed aloud. - -'I cannot make the picture.' - -'Nor I. But there are many, many millions of lives before her. She -will get wisdom a little, it may be, in each one.' - -'And will she forget how to make stews with saffron upon that road?' - -'Thy mind is set on things unworthy. But she has skill. I am -refreshed all over. When we reach the lower hills I shall be yet -stronger. The hakim spoke truly to me this morn when he said a -breath from the snows blows away twenty years from the life of a -man. We will go up into the Hills - the high hills - up to the -sound of snow-waters and the sound of the trees - for a little -while. The hakim said that at any time we may return to the Plains, -for we do no more than skirt the pleasant places. The hakim is full -of learning; but he is in no way proud. I spoke to him - when thou -wast talking to the Sahiba - of a certain dizziness that lays hold -upon the back of my neck in the night, and he said it rose from -excessive heat - to be cured by cool air. Upon consideration, I -marvelled that I had not thought of such a simple remedy.' - -'Didst thou tell him of thy Search?' said Kim, a little jealously. -He preferred to sway the lama by his own speech - not through the -wiles of Hurree Babu. - -'Assuredly. I told him of my dream, and of the manner by which I had -acquired merit by causing thee to be taught wisdom.' - -'Thou didst not say I was a Sahib?' - -'What need? I have told thee many times we be but two souls seeking -escape. He said - and he is just herein - that the River of Healing -will break forth even as I dreamed - at my feet, if need be. Having -found the Way, seest thou, that shall free me from the Wheel, need I -trouble to find a way about the mere fields of earth - which are -illusion? That were senseless. I have my dreams, night upon night -repeated; I have Jataka; and I have thee, Friend of all the World. -It was written in thy horoscope that a Red Bull on a green field - I -have not forgotten - should bring thee to honour. Who but I saw that -prophecy accomplished? Indeed, I was the instrument. Thou shalt find -me my River, being in return the instrument. The Search is sure!' - -He set his ivory-yellow face, serene and untroubled, towards the -beckoning Hills; his shadow shouldering far before him in the dust. - - - - - -Chapter 13 - - -Who hath desired the Sea - the immense and contemptuous surges? -The shudder, the stumble, the swerve ere the star-stabbing bowsprit -merges - -The orderly clouds of the Trades and the ridged roaring -sapphire thereunder - -Unheralded cliff-lurking flaws and the head-sails' low-volleying -thunder? -His Sea in no wonder the same - his Sea and the same in each wonder -- -His Sea that his being fulfils? -So and no otherwise - so and no otherwise hill-men desire their -hills! - -The Sea and the Hills. - - - -'Who goes to the hills goes to his mother.' - -They had crossed the Siwaliks and the half-tropical Doon, left -Mussoorie behind them, and headed north along the narrow hill-roads. -Day after day they struck deeper into the huddled mountains, and day -after day Kim watched the lama return to a man's strength. Among the -terraces of the Doon he had leaned on the boy's shoulder, ready to -profit by wayside halts. Under the great ramp to Mussoorie he drew -himself together as an old hunter faces a well-remembered bank, and -where he should have sunk exhausted swung his long draperies about -him, drew a deep double-lungful of the diamond air, and walked as -only a hillman can. Kim, plains-bred and plains-fed, sweated and -panted astonished. 'This is my country,' said the lama. 'Beside -Such-zen, this is flatter than a rice-field'; and with steady, -driving strokes from the loins he strode upwards. But it was on the -steep downhill marches, three thousand feet in three hours, that he -went utterly away from Kim, whose back ached with holding back, and -whose big toe was nigh cut off by his grass sandal-string. Through -the speckled shadow of the great deodar-forests; through oak -feathered and plumed with ferns; birch, ilex, rhododendron, and -pine, out on to the bare hillsides' slippery sunburnt grass, and -back into the woodlands' coolth again, till oak gave way to bamboo -and palm of the valley, the lama swung untiring. - -Glancing back in the twilight at the huge ridges behind him and the -faint, thin line of the road whereby they had come, he would lay -out, with a hillman's generous breadth of vision, fresh marches for -the morrow; or, halting in the neck of some uplifted pass that gave -on Spiti and Kulu, would stretch out his hands yearningly towards -the high snows of the horizon. In the dawns they flared windy-red -above stark blue, as Kedar- nath and Badrinath - kings of that -wilderness - took the first sunlight. All day long they lay like -molten silver under the sun, and at evening put on their jewels -again. At first they breathed temperately upon the travellers, winds -good to meet when one crawled over some gigantic hog's-back; but in -a few days, at a height of nine or ten thousand feet, those breezes -bit; and Kim kindly allowed a village of hillmen to acquire merit by -giving him a rough blanket-coat. The lama was mildly surprised that -anyone should object to the knife-edged breezes which had cut the -years off his shoulders. - -'These are but the lower hills, chela. There is no cold till we come -to the true Hills.' - -'Air and water are good, and the people are devout enough, but the -food is very bad,' Kim growled; 'and we walk as though we were mad - -or English. It freezes at night, too.' - -'A little, maybe; but only enough to make old bones rejoice in the -sun. We must not always delight in soft beds and rich food.' - -'We might at least keep to the road.' - -Kim had all a plainsman's affection for the well-trodden track, not -six feet wide, that snaked among the mountains; but the lama, being -Tibetan, could not refrain from short cuts over spurs and the rims -of gravel-strewn slopes. As he explained to his limping disciple, a -man bred among mountains can prophesy the course of a mountain-road, -and though low-lying clouds might be a hindrance to a short-cutting -stranger, they made no earthly difference to a thoughtful man. Thus, -after long hours of what would be reckoned very fair mountaineering -in civilized countries, they would pant over a saddle-back, sidle -past a few landslips, and drop through forest at an angle of forty- -five onto the road again. Along their track lay the villages of the -hillfolk - mud and earth huts, timbers now and then rudely carved -with an axe - clinging like swallows' nests against the steeps, -huddled on tiny flats half-way down a three-thousand-foot glissade; -jammed into a corner between cliffs that funnelled and focused every -wandering blast; or, for the sake of summer pasture, cowering down -on a neck that in winter would be ten feet deep in snow. And the -people - the sallow, greasy, duffle-clad people, with short bare -legs and faces almost Esquimaux - would flock out and adore. The -Plains - kindly and gentle - had treated the lama as a holy man -among holy men. But the Hills worshipped him as one in the -confidence of all their devils. Theirs was an almost obliterated -Buddhism, overlaid with a nature-worship fantastic as their own -landscapes, elaborate as the terracing of their tiny fields; but -they recognized the big hat, the clicking rosary, and the rare -Chinese texts for great authority; and they respected the man -beneath the hat. - -'We saw thee come down over the black Breasts of Eua,' said a Betah -who gave them cheese, sour milk, and stone-hard bread one evening. -'We do not use that often - except when calving cows stray in -summer. There is a sudden wind among those stones that casts men -down on the stillest day. But what should such folk care for the -Devil of Eua!' - -Then did Kim, aching in every fibre, dizzy with looking down, -footsore with cramping desperate toes into inadequate crannies, take -joy in the day's march - such joy as a boy of St Xavier's who had -won the quarter-mile on the flat might take in the praises of his -friends. The hills sweated the ghi and sugar suet off his bones; -the dry air, taken sobbingly at the head of cruel passes, firmed and -built out his upper ribs; and the tilted levels put new hard muscles -into calf and thigh. - -They meditated often on the Wheel of Life - the more so since, as -the lama said, they were freed from its visible temptations. Except -the grey eagle and an occasional far-seen bear grubbing and rooting -on the hillside; a vision of a furious painted leopard met at dawn -in a still valley devouring a goat; and now and again a bright- -coloured bird, they were alone with the winds and the grass singing -under the wind. The women of the smoky huts over whose roofs the -two walked as they descended the mountains, were unlovely and -unclean, wives of many husbands, and afflicted with goitre. The men -were woodcutters when they were not farmers - meek, and of an -incredible simplicity. But that suitable discourse might not fail, -Fate sent them, overtaking and overtaken upon the road, the -courteous Dacca physician, who paid for his food in ointments good -for goitre and counsels that restore peace between men and women. He -seemed to know these hills as well as he knew the hill dialects, and -gave the lama the lie of the land towards Ladakh and Tibet. He said -they could return to the Plains at any moment. Meantime, for such as -loved mountains, yonder road might amuse. This was not all revealed -in a breath, but at evening encounters on the stone threshing- -floors, when, patients disposed of, the doctor would smoke and the -lama snuff, while Kim watched the wee cows grazing on the housetops, -or threw his soul after his eyes across the deep blue gulfs between -range and range. And there were talks apart in the dark woods, when -the doctor would seek herbs, and Kim, as budding physician, must -accompany him. - -'You see, Mister O'Hara, I do not know what the deuce-an' all I -shall do when I find our sporting friends; but if you will kindly -keep within sight of my umbrella, which is fine fixed point for -cadastral survey, I shall feel much better.' - -Kim looked out across the jungle of peaks. 'This is not my country, -hakim. Easier, I think, to find one louse in a bear-skin.' - -'Oah, thatt is my strong points. There is no hurry for Hurree. They -were at Leh not so long ago. They said they had come down from the -Karakorum with their heads and horns and all. I am onlee afraid they -will have sent back all their letters and compromising things from -Leh into Russian territoree. Of course they will walk away as far to -the East as possible - just to show that they were never among the -Western States. You do not know the Hills?' He scratched with a twig -on the earth. 'Look! They should have come in by Srinagar or -Abbottabad. Thatt is their short road - down the river by Bunji and -Astor. But they have made mischief in the West. So' - he drew a -furrow from left to right - 'they march and they march away East to -Leh (ah! it is cold there), and down the Indus to Hanle (I know that -road), and then down, you see, to Bushahr and Chini valley. That is -ascertained by process of elimination, and also by asking questions -from people that I cure so well. Our friends have been a long time -playing about and producing impressions. So they are well known from -far off. You will see me catch them somewhere in Chini valley. -Please keep your eye on the umbrella.' - -It nodded like a wind-blown harebell down the valleys and round the -mountain sides, and in due time the lama and Kim, who steered by -compass, would overhaul it, vending ointments and powders at -eventide. 'We came by such and such a way!' The lama would throw a -careless finger backward at the ridges, and the umbrella would -expend itself in compliments. - -They crossed a snowy pass in cold moonlight, when the lama, mildly -chaffing Kim, went through up to his knees, like a Bactrian camel - -the snow-bred, shag-haired sort that came into the Kashmir Serai. -They dipped across beds of light snow and snow-powdered shale, where -they took refuge from a gale in a camp of Tibetans hurrying down -tiny sheep, each laden with a bag of borax. They came out upon -grassy shoulders still snow-speckled, and through forest, to grass -anew. For all their marchings, Kedarnath and Badrinath were not -impressed; and it was only after days of travel that Kim, uplifted -upon some insignificant ten-thousand-foot hummock, could see that a -shoulder-knot or horn of the two great lords had - ever so slightly -- changed outline. - -At last they entered a world within a world - a valley of leagues -where the high hills were fashioned of a mere rubble and refuse from -off the knees of the mountains. Here one day's march carried them no -farther, it seemed, than a dreamer's clogged pace bears him in a -nightmare. They skirted a shoulder painfully for hours, and, -behold, it was but an outlying boss in an outlying buttress of the -main pile! A rounded meadow revealed itself, when they had reached -it, for a vast tableland running far into the valley. Three days -later, it was a dim fold in the earth to southward. - -'Surely the Gods live here!' said Kim, beaten down by the silence -and the appalling sweep and dispersal of the cloud-shadows after -rain. 'This is no place for men!' - -'Long and long ago,' said the lama, as to himself, 'it was asked of -the Lord whether the world were everlasting. On this the Excellent -One returned no answer ... When I was in Ceylon, a wise Seeker -confirmed that from the gospel which is written in Pali. Certainly, -since we know the way to Freedom, the question were unprofitable, -but - look, and know illusion, chela! These - are the true Hills! -They are like my hills by Suchzen. Never were such hills!' - -Above them, still enormously above them, earth towered away towards -the snow-line, where from east to west across hundreds of miles, -ruled as with a ruler, the last of the bold birches stopped. Above -that, in scarps and blocks upheaved, the rocks strove to fight their -heads above the white smother. Above these again, changeless since -the world's beginning, but changing to every mood of sun and cloud, -lay out the eternal snow. They could see blots and blurs on its face -where storm and wandering wullie-wa got up to dance. Below them, as -they stood, the forest slid away in a sheet of blue-green for mile -upon mile; below the forest was a village in its sprinkle of -terraced fields and steep grazing-grounds. Below the village they -knew, though a thunderstorm worried and growled there for the -moment, a pitch of twelve or fifteen hundred feet gave to the moist -valley where the streams gather that are the mothers of young -Sutluj. - -As usual, the lama had led Kim by cow-track and by-road, far from -the main route along which Hurree Babu, that 'fearful man', had -bucketed three days before through a storm to which nine Englishmen -out of ten would have given full right of way. Hurree was no game- -shot - the snick of a trigger made him change colour - but, as he -himself would have said, he was 'fairly effeecient stalker', and he -had raked the huge valley with a pair of cheap binoculars to some -purpose. Moreover, the white of worn canvas tents against green -carries far. Hurree Babu had seen all he wanted to see when he sat -on the threshing-floor of Ziglaur, twenty miles away as the eagle -flies, and forty by road - that is to say, two small dots which one -day were just below the snow-line, and the next had moved downward -perhaps six inches on the hillside. Once cleaned out and set to the -work, his fat bare legs could cover a surprising amount of ground, -and this was the reason why, while Kim and the lama lay in a leaky -hut at Ziglaur till the storm should be over-past, an oily, wet, but -always smiling Bengali, talking the best of English with the vilest -of phrases, was ingratiating himself with two sodden and rather -rheumatic foreigners. He had arrived, revolving many wild schemes, -on the heels of a thunderstorm which had split a pine over against -their camp, and so convinced a dozen or two forcibly impressed -baggage-coolies the day was inauspicious for farther travel that -with one accord they had thrown down their loads and jibbed. They -were subjects of a Hill Rajah who farmed out their services, as is -the custom, for his private gain; and, to add to their personal -distresses, the strange Sahibs had already threatened them with -rifles. The most of them knew rifles and Sahibs of old: they were -trackers and shikarris of the Northern valleys, keen after bear and -wild goat; but they had never been thus treated in their lives. So -the forest took them to her bosom, and, for all oaths and clamour, -refused to restore. There was no need to feign madness or - the Babu -had thought of another means of securing a welcome. He wrung out his -wet clothes, slipped on his patent-leather shoes, opened the blue- -and-white umbrella, and with mincing gait and a heart beating -against his tonsils appeared as 'agent for His Royal Highness, the -Rajah of Rampur, gentlemen. What can I do for you, please?' - -The gentlemen were delighted. One was visibly French, the other -Russian, but they spoke English not much inferior to the Babu's. -They begged his kind offices. Their native servants had gone sick at -Leh. They had hurried on because they were anxious to bring the -spoils of the chase to Simla ere the skins grew moth-eaten. They -bore a general letter of introduction (the Babu salaamed to it -orientally) to all Government officials. No, they had not met any -other shooting-parties en route. They did for themselves. They had -plenty of supplies. They only wished to push on as soon as might be. -At this he waylaid a cowering hillman among the trees, and after -three minutes' talk and a little silver (one cannot be economical -upon State service, though Hurree's heart bled at the waste) the -eleven coolies and the three hangers-on reappeared. At least the -Babu would be a witness to their oppression. - -'My royal master, he will be much annoyed, but these people are -onlee common people and grossly ignorant. If your honours will -kindly overlook unfortunate affair, I shall be much pleased. In a -little while rain will stop and we can then proceed. You have been -shooting, eh? That is fine performance!' - -He skipped nimbly from one kilta to the next, making pretence to -adjust each conical basket. The Englishman is not, as a rule, -familiar with the Asiatic, but he would not strike across the wrist -a kindly Babu who had accidentally upset a kilta with a red oilskin -top. On the other hand, he would not press drink upon a Babu were -he never so friendly, nor would he invite him to meat. The -strangers did all these things, and asked many questions - about -women mostly - to which Hurree returned gay and unstudied answers. -They gave him a glass of whitish fluid like to gin, and then more; -and in a little time his gravity departed from him. He became -thickly treasonous, and spoke in terms of sweeping indecency of a -Government which had forced upon him a white man's education and -neglected to supply him with a white man's salary. He babbled tales -of oppression and wrong till the tears ran down his cheeks for the -miseries of his land. Then he staggered off, singing love-songs of -Lower Bengal, and collapsed upon a wet tree-trunk. Never was so -unfortunate a product of English rule in India more unhappily thrust -upon aliens. - -'They are all just of that pattern,' said one sportsman to the other -in French. 'When we get into India proper thou wilt see. I should -like to visit his Rajah. One might speak the good word there. It is -possible that he has heard of us and wishes to signify his good- -will.' - -'We have not time. We must get into Simla as soon as may be,' his -companion replied. 'For my own part, I wish our reports had been -sent back from Hilas, or even Leh.' - -'The English post is better and safer. Remember we are given all -facilities - and Name of God! - they give them to us too! Is it -unbelievable stupidity?' - -'It is pride - pride that deserves and will receive punishment.' - -'Yes! To fight a fellow-Continental in our game is something. There -is a risk attached, but these people - bah! It is too easy.' - -'Pride - all pride, my friend.' - -'Now what the deuce is good of Chandernagore being so close to -Calcutta and all,' said Hurree, snoring open-mouthed on the sodden -moss, 'if I cannot understand their French? They talk so -particularly fast! It would have been much better to cut their -beastly throats.' - -When he presented himself again he was racked with a headache - -penitent, and volubly afraid that in his drunkenness he might have -been indiscreet. He loved the British Government - it was the source -of all prosperity and honour, and his master at Rampur held the very -same opinion. Upon this the men began to deride him and to quote -past words, till step by step, with deprecating smirks, oily grins, -and leers of infinite cunning, the poor Babu was beaten out of his -defences and forced to speak - truth. When Lurgan was told the tale -later, he mourned aloud that he could not have been in the place of -the stubborn, inattentive coolies, who with grass mats over their -heads and the raindrops puddling in their footprints, waited on the -weather. All the Sahibs of their acquaintance - rough-clad men -joyously returning year after year to their chosen gullies - had -servants and cooks and orderlies, very often hillmen. These Sahibs -travelled without any retinue. Therefore they were poor Sahibs, and -ignorant; for no Sahib in his senses would follow a Bengali's -advice. But the Bengali, appearing from somewhere, had given them -money, and could make shift with their dialect. Used to -comprehensive ill-treatment from their own colour, they suspected a -trap somewhere, and stood by to run if occasion offered. - -Then through the new-washed air, steaming with delicious earth- -smells, the Babu led the way down the slopes - walking ahead of the -coolies in pride; walking behind the foreigners in humility. His -thoughts were many and various. The least of them would have -interested his companions beyond words. But he was an agreeable -guide, ever keen to point out the beauties of his royal master's -domain. He peopled the hills with anything thev had a mind to slay - -thar, ibex, or markhor, and bear by Elisha's allowance. He -discoursed of botany and ethnology with unimpeachable inaccuracy, -and his store of local legends - he had been a trusted agent of the -State for fifteen years, remember - was inexhaustible. - -'Decidedly this fellow is an original,' said the taller of the two -foreigners. 'He is like the nightmare of a Viennese courier.' - -'He represents in little India in transition - the monstrous -hybridism of East and West,' the Russian replied. 'It is we who can -deal with Orientals.' - -'He has lost his own country and has not acquired any other. But he -has a most complete hatred of his conquerors. Listen. He confided to -me last night,' said the other. - -Under the striped umbrella Hurree Babu was straining ear and brain -to follow the quick-poured French, and keeping both eyes on a kilta -full of maps and documents - an extra-large one with a double red -oil-skin cover. He did not wish to steal anything. He only desired -to know what to steal, and, incidentally, how to get away when he -had stolen it. He thanked all the Gods of Hindustan, and Herbert -Spencer, that there remained some valuables to steal. - -On the second day the road rose steeply to a grass spur above the -forest; and it was here, about sunset, that they came across an aged -lama - but they called him a bonze - sitting cross-legged above a -mysterious chart held down by stones, which he was explaining to a -young man, evidently a neophyte, of singular, though unwashen, -beauty. The striped umbrella had been sighted half a march away, and -Kim had suggested a halt till it came up to them. - -'Ha!' said Hurree Babu, resourceful as Puss-in-Boots. 'That is -eminent local holy man. Probably subject of my royal master.' - -'What is he doing? It is very curious.' - -'He is expounding holy picture - all hand-worked.' - -The two men stood bareheaded in the wash of the afternoon sunlight -low across the gold-coloured grass. The sullen coolies, glad of the -check, halted and slid down their loads. - -'Look!' said the Frenchman. 'It is like a picture for the birth of a -religion - the first teacher and the first disciple. Is he a -Buddhist?' - -'Of some debased kind,' the other answered. 'There are no true -Buddhists among the Hills. But look at the folds of the drapery. -Look at his eyes - how insolent! Why does this make one feel that we -are so young a people?' The speaker struck passionately at a tall -weed. 'We have nowhere left our mark yet. Nowhere! That, do you -understand, is what disquiets me.' He scowled at the placid face, -and the monumental calm of the pose. - -'Have patience. We shall make your mark together - we and you young -people. Meantime, draw his picture.' - -The Babu advanced loftily; his back out of all keeping with his -deferential speech, or his wink towards Kim. - -'Holy One, these be Sahibs. My medicines cured one of a flux, and I -go into Simla to oversee his recovery. They wish to see thy picture --' - -'To heal the sick is always good. This is the Wheel of Life,' said -the lama, 'the same I showed thee in the hut at Ziglaur when the -rain fell.' - -'And to hear thee expound it.' - -The lama's eyes lighted at the prospect of new listeners. 'To -expound the Most Excellent Way is good. Have they any knowledge of -Hindi, such as had the Keeper of Images?' - -'A little, maybe.' - -Hereat, simply as a child engrossed with a new game, the lama threw -back his head and began the full-throated invocation of the Doctor -of Divinity ere he opens the full doctrine. The strangers leaned on -their alpenstocks and listened. Kim, squatting humbly, watched the -red sunlight on their faces, and the blend and parting of their long -shadows. They wore un-English leggings and curious girt-in belts -that reminded him hazily of the pictures in a book in St Xavier's -library "The Adventures of a Young Naturalist in Mexico" was its -name. Yes, they looked very like the wonderful M. Sumichrast of that -tale, and very unlike the 'highly unscrupulous folk' of Hurree -Babu's imagining. The coolies, earth-coloured and mute, crouched -reverently some twenty or thirty yards away, and the Babu, the slack -of his thin gear snapping like a marking-flag in the chill breeze, -stood by with an air of happy proprietorship. - -'These are the men,' Hurree whispered, as the ritual went on and the -two whites followed the grass-blade sweeping from Hell to Heaven and -back again. 'All their books are in the large kilta with the reddish -top - books and reports and maps - and I have seen a King's letter -that either Hilas or Bunar has written. They guard it most -carefully. They have sent nothing back from Hilas or Leh. That is -sure.' - -'Who is with them?' - -'Only the beegar-coolies. They have no servants. They are so close -they cook their own food.' - -'But what am I to do?' - -'Wait and see. Only if any chance comes to me thou wilt know where -to seek for the papers.' - -'This were better in Mahbub Ali's hands than a Bengali's,' said Kim -scornfully. - -'There are more ways of getting to a sweetheart than butting down a -wall.' - -'See here the Hell appointed for avarice and greed. Flanked upon the -one side by Desire and on the other by Weariness.' The lama warmed -to his work, and one of the strangers sketched him in the quick- -fading light. - -'That is enough,' the man said at last brusquely. 'I cannot -understand him, but I want that picture. He is a better artist than -I. Ask him if he will sell it.' - -'He says "No, sar,"' the Babu replied. The lama, of course, would no -more have parted with his chart to a casual wayfarer than an -archbishop would pawn the holy vessels of his cathedral. All Tibet -is full of cheap reproductions of the Wheel; but the lama was an -artist, as well as a wealthy Abbot in his own place. - -'Perhaps in three days, or four, or ten, if I perceive that the -Sahib is a Seeker and of good understanding, I may myself draw him -another. But this was used for the initiation of a novice. Tell him -so, hakim.' - -'He wishes it now - for money.' - -The lama shook his head slowly and began to fold up the Wheel. The -Russian, on his side, saw no more than an unclean old man haggling -over a dirty piece of paper. He drew out a handful of rupees, and -snatched half-jestingly at the chart, which tore in the lama's grip. -A low murmur of horror went up from the coolies - some of whom were -Spiti men and, by their lights, good Buddhists. The lama rose at the -insult; his hand went to the heavy iron pencase that is the priest's -weapon, and the Babu danced in agony. - -'Now you see - you see why I wanted witnesses. They are highly -unscrupulous people. Oh, sar! sar! You must not hit holyman!' - -'Chela! He has defiled the Written Word!' - -It was too late. Before Kim could ward him off, the Russian struck -the old man full on the face. Next instant he was rolling over and -over downhill with Kim at his throat. The blow had waked every -unknown Irish devil in the boy's blood, and the sudden fall of his -enemy did the rest. The lama dropped to his knees, half-stunned; the -coolies under their loads fled up the hill as fast as plainsmen run -aross the level. They had seen sacrilege unspeakable, and it behoved -them to get away before the Gods and devils of the hills took -vengeance. The Frenchman ran towards the lama, fumbling at his -revolver with some notion of making him a hostage for his companion. -A shower of cutting stones - hillmen are very straight shots - drove -him away, and a coolie from Ao-chung snatched the lama into the -stampede. All came about as swiftly as the sudden mountain-darkness. - -'They have taken the baggage and all the guns,' yelled the -Frenchman, firing blindly into the twilight. - -'All right, sar! All right! Don't shoot. I go to rescue,' and -Hurree, pounding down the slope, cast himself bodily upon the -delighted and astonished Kim, who was banging his breathless foe's -head against a boulder. - -'Go back to the coolies,' whispered the Babu in his ear. 'They have -the baggage. The papers are in the kilta with the red top, but look -through all. Take their papers, and specially the murasla [King's -letter]. Go! The other man comes!' - -Kim tore uphill. A revolver-bullet rang on a rock by his side, and -he cowered partridge-wise. - -'If you shoot,' shouted Hurree, 'they will descend and annihilate -us. I have rescued the gentleman, sar. This is particularly -dangerous.' - -'By Jove!' Kim was thinking hard in English. 'This is dam'-tight -place, but I think it is self-defence.' He felt in his bosom for -Mahbub's gift, and uncertainly - save for a few practice shots in -the Bikanir desert, he had never used the little gun -pulled the -trigger. - -'What did I say, sar!' The Babu seemed to be in tears. 'Come down -here and assist to resuscitate. We are all up a tree, I tell you.' - -The shots ceased. There was a sound of stumbling feet, and Kim -hurried upward through the gloom, swearing like a cat - or a -country-bred. - -'Did they wound thee, chela?' called the lama above him. - -'No. And thou?' He dived into a clump of stunted firs. - -'Unhurt. Come away. We go with these folk to Shamlegh-under-the- -Snow.' - -'But not before we have done justice,' a voice cried. 'I have got -the Sahibs' guns - all four. Let us go down.' - -'He struck the Holy One - we saw it! Our cattle will be barren - our -wives will cease to bear! The snows will slide upon us as we go home -... Atop of all other oppression too!' - -The little fir-clump filled with clamouring coolies - panic- -stricken, and in their terror capable of anything. The man from -Ao-chung clicked the breech-bolt of his gun impatiently, and made as -to go downhill. - -'Wait a little, Holy One; they cannot go far. Wait till I return,' -said he. - -'It is this person who has suffered wrong,' said the lama, his hand -over his brow. - -'For that very reason,' was the reply. - -'If this person overlooks it, your hands are clean. Moreover, ye -acquire merit by obedience.' - -'Wait, and we will all go to Shamlegh together,' the man insisted. - -For a moment, for just so long as it needs to stuff a cartridge into -a breech-loader, the lama hesitated. Then he rose to his feet, and -laid a finger on the man's shoulder. - -'Hast thou heard? I say there shall be no killing - I who was Abbot -of Such-zen. Is it any lust of thine to be re-born as a rat,or a -snake under the eaves - a worm in the belly of the most mean beast? -Is it thy wish to -' - -The man from Ao-chung fell to his knees, for the voice boomed like a -Tibetan devil-gong. - -'Ai! ai!' cried the Spiti men. 'Do not curse us - do not curse him. -It was but his zeal, Holy One! ... Put down the rifle, fool!' - -'Anger on anger! Evil on evil! There will be no killing. Let the -priest-beaters go in bondage to their own acts. Just and sure is the -Wheel, swerving not a hair! They will be born many times - in -torment.' His head drooped, and he leaned heavily on Kim's shoulder. - -'I have come near to great evil, chela,' he whispered in that dead -hush under the pines. 'I was tempted to loose the bullet; and truly, -in Tibet there would have been a heavy and a slow death for them ... -He struck me across the face ... upon the flesh ...' He slid to the -ground, breathing heavily, and Kim could hear the over-driven heart -bump and check. - -'Have they hurt him to the death?' said the Ao-chung man, while the -others stood mute. - -Kim knelt over the body in deadly fear. 'Nay,' he cried -passionately, 'this is only a weakness.' Then he remembered that he -was a white man, with a white man's camp-fittings at his service. -'Open the kiltas! The Sahibs may have a medicine.' - -'Oho! Then I know it,' said the Ao-chung man with a laugh. 'Not for -five years was I Yankling Sahib's shikarri without knowing that -medicine. I too have tasted it. Behold!' - -He drew from his breast a bottle of cheap whisky - such as is sold -to explorers at Leh - and cleverly forced a little between the -lama's teeth. - -'So I did when Yankling Sahib twisted his foot beyond Astor. Aha! I -have already looked into their baskets - but we will make fair -division at Shamlegh. Give him a little more. It is good medicine. -Feel! His heart goes better now. Lay his head down and rub a little -on the chest. If he had waited quietly while I accounted for the -Sahibs this would never have come. But perhaps the Sahibs may chase -us here. Then it would not be wrong to shoot them with their own -guns, heh?' - -'One is paid, I think, already,' said Kim between his teeth. 'I -kicked him in the groin as we went downhill. Would I had killed -him!' - -'It is well to be brave when one does not live in Rampur,' said one -whose hut lay within a few miles of the Rajah's rickety palace. 'If -we get a bad name among the Sahibs, none will employ us as shikarris -any more.' - -'Oh, but these are not Angrezi Sahibs - not merry-minded men like -Fostum Sahib or Yankling Sahib. They are foreigners - they cannot -speak Angrezi as do Sahibs.' - -Here the lama coughed and sat up, groping for the rosary. - -'There shall be no killing,' he murmured. 'Just is the Wheel! Evil -on evil -' - -'Nay, Holy One. We are all here.' The Ao-chung man timidly patted -his feet. 'Except by thy order, no one shall be slain. Rest awhile. -We will make a little camp here, and later, as the moon rises, we go -to Shamlegh-under-the-Snow.' - -'After a blow,' said a Spiti man sententiously, 'it is best to -sleep.' - -'There is, as it were, a dizziness at the back of my neck, and a -pinching in it. Let me lay my head on thy lap, chela. I am an old -man, but not free from passion ... We must think of the Cause of -Things.' - -'Give him a blanket. We dare not light a fire lest the Sahibs see.' - -'Better get away to Shamlegh. None will follow us to Shamlegh.' - -This was the nervous Rampur man. - -'I have been Fostum Sahib's shikarri, and I am Yankling Sahib's -shikarri. I should have been with Yankling Sahib now but for this -cursed beegar [the corvee]. Let two men watch below with the guns -lest the Sahibs do more foolishness. I shall not leave this Holy -One.' - -They sat down a little apart from the lama, and, after listening -awhile, passed round a water-pipe whose receiver was an old Day and -Martin blacking-bottle. The glow of the red charcoal as it went from -hand to hand lit up the narrow, blinking eyes, the high Chinese -cheek-bones, and the bull-throats that melted away into the dark -duffle folds round the shoulders. They looked like kobolds from some -magic mine - gnomes of the hills in conclave. And while they talked, -the voices of the snow-waters round them diminished one by one as -the night-frost choked and clogged the runnels. - -'How he stood up against us!' said a Spiti man admiring. 'I remember -an old ibex, out Ladakh-way, that Dupont Sahib missed on a shoulder- -shot, seven seasons back, standing up just like him. Dupont Sahib -was a good shikarri.' - -'Not as good as Yankling Sahib.' The Ao-chung man took a pull at the -whisky-bottle and passed it over. 'Now hear me - unless any other -man thinks he knows more.' - -The challenge was not taken up. - -'We go to Shamlegh when the moon rises. There we will fairly divide -the baggage between us. I am content with this new little rifle and -all its cartridges.' - -'Are the bears only bad on thy holding? said a mate, sucking at the -pipe. - -'No; but musk-pods are worth six rupees apiece now, and thy women -can have the canvas of the tents and some of the cooking-gear. We -will do all that at Shamlegh before dawn. Then we all go our ways, -remembering that we have never seen or taken service with these -Sahibs, who may, indeed, say that we have stolen their baggage.' - -'That is well for thee, but what will our Rajah say?' - -'Who is to tell him? Those Sahibs, who cannot speak our talk, or -the Babu, who for his own ends gave us money? Will he lead an army -against us? What evidence will remain? That we do not need we shall -throw on Shamlegh-midden, where no man has yet set foot.' - -'Who is at Shamlegh this summer?' The place was only a grazing centre -of three or four huts.' - -'The Woman of Shamlegh. She has no love for Sahibs, as we know. The -others can be pleased with little presents; and here is enough for -us all.' He patted the fat sides of the nearest basket. - -'But - but -' - -'I have said they are not true Sahibs. All their skins and heads -were bought in the bazar at Leh. I know the marks. I showed them to -ye last march.' - -'True. They were all bought skins and heads. Some had even the moth -in them.' - -That was a shrewd argument, and the Ao-chung man knew his fellows. - -'If the worst comes to the worst, I shall tell Yankling Sahib, who -is a man of a merry mind, and he will laugh. We are not doing any -wrong to any Sahibs whom we know. They are priest-beaters. They -frightened us. We fled! Who knows where we dropped the baggage? Do -ye think Yankling Sahib will permit down-country police to wander -all over the hills, disturbing his game? It is a far cry from Simla -to Chini, and farther from Shamlegh to Shamlegh-midden.' - -'So be it, but I carry the big kilta. The basket with the red top -that the Sahibs pack themselves every morning.' - -'Thus it is proved,' said the Shamlegh man adroitly, 'that they are -Sahibs of no account. Who ever heard of Fostum Sahib, or Yankling -Sahib, or even the little Peel Sahib that sits up of nights to shoot -serow - I say, who, ever heard of these Sahibs coming into the hills -without a down-country cook, and a bearer, and - and all manner of -well-paid, high-handed and oppressive folk in their tail? How can -they make trouble? What of the kilta?' - -'Nothing, but that it is full of the Written Word - books and papers -in which they wrote, and strange instruments, as of worship.' - -'Shamlegh-midden will take them all.' - -'True! But how if we insult the Sahibs' Gods thereby! I do not like -to handle the Written Word in that fashion. And their brass idols -are beyond my comprehension. It is no plunder for simple hill-folk.' - -'The old man still sleeps. Hst! We will ask his chela.' The Ao-chung -man refreshed himself, and swelled with pride of leadership. - -'We have here,' he whispered, 'a kilta whose nature we do not know.' - -'But I do,' said Kim cautiously. The lama drew breath in natural, -easy sleep, and Kim had been thinking of Hurree's last words. As a -player of the Great Game, he was disposed just then to reverence the -Babu. 'It is a kilta with a red top full of very wonderful things, -not to be handled by fools.' - -'I said it; I said it,' cried the bearer of that burden. 'Thinkest -thou it will betray us?' - -'Not if it be given to me. I can draw out its magic. Otherwise it -will do great harm.' - -'A priest always takes his share.' Whisky was demoralizing the Ao- -chung man. - -'It is no matter to me.' Kim answered, with the craft of his mother- -country. 'Share it among you, and see what comes!' - -'Not I. I was only jesting. Give the order. There is more than -enough for us all. We go our way from Shamlegh in the dawn.' - -They arranged and re-arranged their artless little plans for another -hour, while Kim shivered with cold and pride. The humour of the -situation tickled the Irish and the Oriental in his soul. Here were -the emissaries of the dread Power of the North, very possibly as -great in their own land as Mahbub or Colonel Creighton, suddenly -smitten helpless. One of them, he privately knew, would be lame for -a time. They had made promises to Kings. Tonight they lay out -somewhere below him, chartless, foodless, tentless, gunless - except -for Hurree Babu, guideless. And this collapse of their Great Game -(Kim wondered to whom they would report it), this panicky bolt into -the night, had come about through no craft of Hurree's or -contrivance of Kim's, but simply, beautifully, and inevitably as the -capture of Mahbub's fakir-friends by the zealous young policeman at -Umballa. - -'They are there - with nothing; and, by Jove, it is cold! I am here -with all their things. Oh, they will be angry! I am sorry for Hurree -Babu.' - -Kim might have saved his pity, for though at that moment the Bengali -suffered acutely in the flesh, his soul was puffed and lofty. A mile -down the hill, on the edge of the pine-forest, two half-frozen men - -one powerfully sick at intervals - were varying mutual -recriminations with the most poignant abuse of the Babu, who seemed -distraught with terror. They demanded a plan of action. He -explained that they were very lucky to be alive; that their coolies, -if not then stalking them, had passed beyond recall; that the Rajah, -his master, was ninety miles away, and, so far from lending them -money and a retinue for the Simla journey, would surely cast them -into prison if he heard that they had hit a priest. He enlarged on -this sin and its consequences till they bade him change the subject. -Their one hope, said he, was unostentatious flight from village to -village till they reached civilization; and, for the hundredth time -dissolved in tears, he demanded of the high stars why the Sahibs -'had beaten holy man'. - -Ten steps would have taken Hurree into the creaking gloom utterly -beyond their reach - to the shelter and food of the nearest village, -where glib-tongued doctors were scarce. But he preferred to endure -cold, belly-pinch, bad words, and occasional blows in the company of -his honoured employers. Crouched against a tree-trunk, he sniffed -dolefully. - -'And have you thought,' said the uninjured man hotly, 'what sort of -spectacle we shall present wandering through these hills among these -aborigines?' - -Hurree Babu had thought of little else for some hours, but the -remark was not to his address. - -'We cannot wander! I can hardly walk,' groaned Kim's victim. - -'Perhaps the holy man will be merciful in loving-kindness, sar, -otherwise -' - -'I promise myself a peculiar pleasure in emptying my revolver into -that young bonze when next we meet,' was the unchristian answer. - -'Revolvers! Vengeance! Bonzes!' Hurree crouched lower. The war was -breaking out afresh. 'Have you no consideration for our loss? The -baggage! The baggage!' He could hear the speaker literally dancing -on the grass. 'Everything we bore! Everything we have secured! Our -gains! Eight months' work! Do you know what that means? "Decidedly -it is we who can deal with Orientals!" Oh, you have done well.' - -They fell to it in several tongues, and Hurree smiled. Kim was with -the kiltas, and in the kiltas lay eight months of good diplomacy. -There was no means of communicating with the boy, but he could be -trusted. For the rest, Hurree could so stage-manage the journey -through the hills that Hilas, Bunar, and four hundred miles of hill- -roads should tell the tale for a generation. Men who cannot control -their own coolies are little respected in the Hills, and the hillman -has a very keen sense of humour. - -'If I had done it myself,' thought Hurree, 'it would not have been -better; and, by Jove, now I think of it, of course I arranged it -myself. How quick I have been! Just when I ran downhill I thought -it! Thee outrage was accidental, but onlee me could have worked it - -ah - for all it was dam'-well worth. Consider the moral effect upon -these ignorant peoples! No treaties - no papers - no written -documents at all - and me to interpret for them. How I shall laugh -with the Colonel! I wish I had their papers also: but you cannot -occupy two places in space simultaneously. Thatt is axiomatic.' - - - - - -Chapter 14 - - -My brother kneels (so saith Kabir) -To stone and brass in heathen wise, -But in my brother's voice I hear -My own unanswered agonies. -His God is as his Fates assign - -His prayer is all the world's - and mine. - -The Prayer. - - -At moonrise the cautious coolies got under way. The lama, refreshed -by his sleep and the spirit, needed no more than Kim's shoulder to -bear him along - a silent, swift-striding man. They held the shale- -sprinkled grass for an hour, swept round the shoulder of an immortal -cliff, and climbed into a new country entirely blocked off from all -sight of Chini valley. A huge pasture-ground ran up fan-shaped to -the living snow. At its base was perhaps half an acre of flat land, -on which stood a few soil and timber huts. Behind them - for, hill- -fashion, they were perched on the edge of all things - the ground -fell sheer two thousand feet to Shamlegh-midden, where never yet man -has set foot. - -The men made no motion to divide the plunder till they had seen the -lama bedded down in the best room of the place, with Kim shampooing -his feet, Mohammedan-fashion. - -'We will send food, ' said the Ao-chung man, 'and the red-topped -kilta. By dawn there will be none to give evidence, one way or the -other. If anything is not needed in the kilta - see here!' - -He pointed through the window - opening into space that was filled -with moonlight reflected from the snow - and threw out an empty -whisky-bottle. - -'No need to listen for the fall. This is the world's end,' he said, -and went out. The lama looked forth, a hand on either sill, with -eyes that shone like yellow opals. From the enormous pit before him -white peaks lifted themselves yearning to the moonlight. The rest -was as the darkness of interstellar space. - -'These,' he said slowly, 'are indeed my Hills. Thus should a man -abide, perched above the world, separated from delights, considering -vast matters.' - -'Yes; if he has a chela to prepare tea for him, and to fold a -blanket for his head, and to chase out calving cows.' - -A smoky lamp burned in a niche, but the full moonlight beat it down; -and by the mixed light, stooping above the food-bag and cups, Kim -moved like a tall ghost. - -'Ai! But now I have let the blood cool, my head still beats and -drums, and there is a cord round the back of my neck.' - -'No wonder. It was a strong blow. May he who dealt it -' - -'But for my own passions there would have been no evil.' - -'What evil? Thou hast saved the Sahibs from the death they deserved -a hundred times.' - -'The lesson is not well learnt, chela.' The lama came to rest on a -folded blanket, as Kim went forward with his evening routine. 'The -blow was but a shadow upon a shadow. Evil in itself - my legs weary -apace these latter days! - it met evil in me: anger, rage, and a lust -to return evil. These wrought in my blood, woke tumult in my -stomach, and dazzled my ears.' Here he drank scalding black-tea -ceremonially, taking the hot cup from Kim's hand. 'Had I been -passionless, the evil blow would have done only bodily evil - a -scar, or a bruise - which is illusion. But my mind was not -abstracted, for rushed in straightway a lust to let the Spiti men -kill. In fighting that lust, my soul was torn and wrenched beyond a -thousand blows. Not till I had repeated the Blessings' (he meant the -Buddhist Beatitudes) 'did I achieve calm. But the evil planted in -me by that moment's carelessness works out to its end. Just is the -Wheel, swerving not a hair! Learn the lesson, chela.' - -'It is too high for me,' Kim muttered. 'I am still all shaken. I am -glad I hurt the man.' - -'I felt that, sleeping upon thy knees, in the wood below. It -disquieted me in my dreams - the evil in thy soul working through to -mine. Yet on the other hand' - he loosed his rosary - 'I have -acquired merit by saving two lives - the lives of those that wronged -me. Now I must see into the Cause of Things. The boat of my soul -staggers.' - -'Sleep, and be strong. That is wisest.' - -'I meditate. There is a need greater than thou knowest.' - -Till the dawn, hour after hour, as the moonlight paled on the high -peaks, and that which had been belted blackness on the sides of the -far hills showed as tender green forest, the lama stared fixedly at -the wall. From time to time he groaned. Outside the barred door, -where discomfited kine came to ask for their old stable, Shamlegh -and the coolies gave itself up to plunder and riotous living. The -Ao-chung man was their leader, and once they had opened the Sahibs' -tinned foods and found that they were very good they dared not turn -back. Shamlegh kitchen-midden took the dunnage. - -When Kim, after a night of bad dreams, stole forth to brush his -teeth in the morning chill, a fair-coloured woman with turquoise- -studded headgear drew him aside. - -'The others have gone. They left thee this kilta as the promise was. -I do not love Sahibs, but thou wilt make us a charm in return for -it. We do not wish little Shamlegh to get a bad name on account of -the - accident. I am the Woman of Shamlegh.' She looked him over -with bold, bright eyes, unlike the usual furtive glance of -hillwomen. - -'Assuredly. But it must be done in secret.' - -She raised the heavy kilta like a toy and slung it into her own hut. - -'Out and bar the door! Let none come near till it is finished,' -said Kim. - -'But afterwards - we may talk?' - -Kim tilted the kilta on the floor - a cascade of Survey-instruments, -books, diaries, letters, maps, and queerly scented native -correspondence. At the very bottom was an embroidered bag covering a -sealed, gilded, and illuminated document such as one King sends to -another. Kim caught his breath with delight, and reviewed the -situation from a Sahib's point of view. - -'The books I do not want. Besides, they are logarithms - Survey, I -suppose.' He laid them aside. 'The letters I do not understand, but -Colonel Creighton will. They must all be kept. The maps - they draw -better maps than me - of course. All the native letters - oho! - and -particularly the murasla.' He sniffed the embroidered bag. 'That -must be from Hilas or Bunar, and Hurree Babu spoke truth. By Jove! -It is a fine haul. I wish Hurree could know ... The rest must go -out of the window.' He fingered a superb prismatic compass and the -shiny top of a theodolite. But after all, a Sahib cannot very well -steal, and the things might be inconvenient evidence later. He -sorted out every scrap of manuscript, every map, and the native -letters. They made one softish slab. The three locked ferril-backed -books, with five worn pocket-books, he put aside. - -'The letters and the murasla I must carry inside my coat and under -my belt, and the hand-written books I must put into the food-bag. It -will be very heavy. No. I do not think there is anything more. If -there is, the coolies have thrown it down the khud, so thatt is all -right. Now you go too.' He repacked the kilta with all he meant to -lose, and hove it up on to the windowsill. A thousand feet below lay -a long, lazy, round-shouldered bank of mist, as yet untouched by the -morning sun. A thousand feet below that was a hundred-year-old pine- -forest. He could see the green tops looking like a bed of moss when -a wind-eddy thinned the cloud. - -'No! I don't think any one will go after you!' - -The wheeling basket vomited its contents as it dropped. The -theodolite hit a jutting cliff-ledge and exploded like a shell; the -books, inkstands, paint-boxes, compasses, and rulers showed for a -few seconds like a swarm of bees. Then they vanished; and, though -Kim, hanging half out of the window, strained his young ears, never -a sound came up from the gulf. - -'Five hundred - a thousand rupees could not buy them,' he thought -sorrowfully. 'It was verree wasteful, but I have all their other -stuff - everything they did - I hope. Now how the deuce am I to tell -Hurree Babu, and whatt the deuce am I to do? And my old man is sick. -I must tie up the letters in oilskin. That is something to do first -- else they will get all sweated ... And I am all alone!' He bound -them into a neat packet, swedging down the stiff, sticky oilskin at -the comers, for his roving life had made him as methodical as an old -hunter in matters of the road. Then with double care he packed away -the books at the bottom of the food-bag. - -The woman rapped at the door. - -'But thou hast made no charm,' she said, looking about. - -'There is no need.' Kim had completely overlooked the necessity for -a little patter-talk. The woman laughed at his confusion -irreverently. - -'None - for thee. Thou canst cast a spell by the mere winking of an -eye. But think of us poor people when thou art gone. They were all -too drunk last night to hear a woman. Thou art not drunk?' - -'I am a priest.' Kim had recovered himself, and, the woman being -aught but unlovely, thought best to stand on his office. - -'I warned them that the Sahibs will be angry and will make an -inquisition and a report to the Rajah. There is also the Babu with -them. Clerks have long tongues.' - -'Is that all thy trouble?' The plan rose fully formed in Kim's mind, -and he smiled ravishingly. - -'Not all,' quoth the woman, putting out a hard brown hand all -covered with turquoises set in silver. - -'I can finish that in a breath,' he went on quickly. 'The Babu is -the very hakim (thou hast heard of him?) who was wandering among the -hills by Ziglaur. I know him.' - -'He will tell for the sake of a reward. Sahibs cannot distinguish -one hillman from another, but Babus have eyes for men - and women.' - -'Carry a word to him from me.' - -'There is nothing I would not do for thee.' - -He accepted the compliment calmly, as men must in lands where women -make the love, tore a leaf from a note-book, and with a patent -indelible pencil wrote in gross Shikast - the script that bad little -boys use when they write dirt on walls: 'I have everything that they -have written: their pictures of the country, and many letters. -Especially the murasla. Tell me what to do. I am at Shamlegh-under- -the-Snow. The old man is sick.' - -"Take this to him. It will altogether shut his mouth. He cannot have -gone far.' - -'Indeed no. They are still in the forest across the spur. Our -children went to watch them when the light came, and have cried the -news as they moved.' - -Kim looked his astonishment; but from the edge of the sheep-pasture -floated a shrill, kite-like trill. A child tending cattle had picked -it up from a brother or sister on the far side of the slope that -commanded Chini valley. - -'My husbands are also out there gathering wood.' She drew a handful -of walnuts from her bosom, split one neatly, and began to eat. Kim -affected blank ignorance. - -'Dost thou not know the meaning of the walnut -- priest?' she said -coyly, and handed him the half-shells. - -'Well thought of.' He slipped the piece of paper between them -quickly. 'Hast thou a little wax to close them on this letter?' - -The woman sighed aloud, and Kim relented. - -'There is no payment till service has been rendered. Carry this to -the Babu, and say it was sent by the Son of the Charm.' - -'Ai! Truly! Truly! By a magician - who is like a Sahib.' - -'Nay, a Son of the Charm: and ask if there be any answer.' - -'But if he offer a rudeness? I - I am afraid.' - -Kim laughed. 'He is, I have no doubt, very tired and very hungry. -The Hills make cold bedfellows. Hai, my' - it was on the tip of his -tongue to say Mother, but he turned it to Sister - 'thou art a wise -and witty woman. By this time all the villages know what has -befallen the Sahibs - eh?' - -'True. News was at Ziglaur by midnight, and by tomorrow should be at -Kotgarh. The villages are both afraid and angry.' - -'No need. Tell the villages to feed the Sahibs and pass them on, in -peace. We must get them quietly away from our valleys. To steal is -one thing - to kill another. The Babu will understand, and there -will be no after-complaints. Be swift. I must tend my master when he -wakes.' - -'So be it. After service - thou hast said? - comes the reward. I am -the Woman of Shamlegh, and I hold from the Rajah. I am no common -bearer of babes. Shamlegh is thine: hoof and horn and hide, milk and -butter. Take or leave.' - -She turned resolutely uphill, her silver necklaces clicking on her -broad breast, to meet the morning sun fifteen hundred feet above -them. This time Kim thought in the vernacular as he waxed down the -oilskin edges of the packets. - -'How can a man follow the Way or the Great Game when he is so - always -pestered by women? There was that girl at Akrola of the Ford; and -there was the scullion's wife behind the dovecot - not counting the -others - and now comes this one! When I was a child it was well -enough, but now I am a man and they will not regard me as a man. -Walnuts, indeed! Ho! ho! It is almonds in the Plains!' - -He went out to levy on the village - not with a begging-bowl, which -might do for down-country, but in the manner of a prince. Shamlegh's -summer population is only three families - four women and eight or -nine men. They were all full of tinned meats and mixed drinks, from -ammoniated quinine to white vodka, for they had taken their full -share in the overnight loot. The neat Continental tents had been cut -up and shared long ago, and there were patent aluminium saucepans -abroad. - -But they considered the lama's presence a perfect safeguard against -all consequences, and impenitently brought Kim of their best - even -to a drink of chang - the barley-beer that comes from Ladakh-way. -Then they thawed out in the sun, and sat with their legs hanging -over infinite abysses, chattering, laughing, and smoking. They -judged India and its Government solely from their experience of -wandering Sahibs who had employed them or their friends as -shikarris. Kim heard tales of shots missed upon ibex, serow, or -markhor, by Sahibs twenty years in their graves - every detail -lighted from behind like twigs on tree-tops seen against lightning. -They told him of their little diseases, and, more important, the -diseases of their tiny, sure-footed cattle; of trips as far as -Kotgarh, where the strange missionaries live, and beyond even to -marvellous Simla, where the streets are paved with silver, and -anyone, look you, can get service with the Sahibs, who ride about in -two-wheeled carts and spend money with a spade. Presently, grave -and aloof, walking very heavily, the lama joined himself to the -chatter under the eaves, and they gave him great room. The thin air -refreshed him, and he sat on the edge of precipices with the best of -them, and, when talk languished, flung pebbles into the void. Thirty -miles away, as the eagle flies, lay the next range, seamed and -channelled and pitted with little patches of brush - forests, each a -day's dark march. Behind the village, Shamlegh hill itself cut off -all view to southward. It was like sitting in a swallow's nest -under the eaves of the roof of the world. - -From time to time the lama stretched out his hand, and with a little -low-voiced prompting would point out the road to Spiti and north -across the Parungla. - -'Beyond, where the hills lie thickest, lies De-ch'en' (he meant -Han-le'), 'the great Monastery. s'Tag-stan-ras-ch'en built it, and of -him there runs this tale.' Whereupon he told it: a fantastic piled -narrative of bewitchment and miracles that set Shamlegh a-gasping. -Turning west a little, he steered for the green hills of Kulu, and -sought Kailung under the glaciers. 'For thither came I in the old, -old days. From Leh I came, over the Baralachi.' - -'Yes, yes; we know it,' said the far-faring people of Shamlegh. - -'And I slept two nights with the priests of Kailung. These are the -Hills of my delight! Shadows blessed above all other shadows! There -my eyes opened on this world; there my eyes were opened to this -world; there I found Enlightenment; and there I girt my loins for my -Search. Out of the Hills I came - the high Hills and the strong -winds. Oh, just is the Wheel!' He blessed them in detail - the great -glaciers, the naked rocks, the piled moraines and tumbled shale; dry -upland, hidden salt-lake, age-old timber and fruitful water-shot -valley one after the other, as a dying man blesses his folk; and Kim -marvelled at his passion. - -'Yes - yes. There is no place like our Hills,' said the people of -Shamlegh. And they fell to wondering how a man could live in the hot -terrible Plains where the cattle run as big as elephants, unfit to -plough on a hillside; where village touches village, they had heard, -for a hundred miles; where folk went about stealing in gangs, and -what the robbers spared the Police carried utterly away. - -So the still forenoon wore through, and at the end of it Kim's -messenger dropped from the steep pasture as unbreathed as when she -had set out. - -'I sent a word to the hakim,' Kim explained, while she made -reverence. - -'He joined himself to the idolaters? Nay, I remember he did a -healing upon one of them. He has acquired merit, though the healed -employed his strength for evil. Just is the Wheel! What of the -hakim?' - -'I feared that thou hadst been bruised and - and I knew he was -wise.' Kim took the waxed walnut-shell and read in English on the -back of his note: Your favour received. Cannot get away from present -company at present, but shall take them into Simla. After which, -hope to rejoin you. Inexpedient to follow angry gentlemen. Return by -same road you came, and will overtake. Highly gratified about -correspondence due to my forethought. 'He says, Holy One, that he -will escape from the idolaters, and will return to us. Shall we wait -awhile at Shamlegh, then?' - -The lama looked long and lovingly upon the hills and shook his head. - -'That may not be, chela. From my bones outward I do desire it, but -it is forbidden. I have seen the Cause of Things.' - -'Why? When the Hills give thee back thy strength day by day? -Remember we were weak and fainting down below there in the Doon.' - -'I became strong to do evil and to forget. A brawler and a -swashbuckler upon the hillsides was I.' Kim bit back a smile. 'Just -and perfect is the Wheel, swerving not a hair. When I was a man - a -long time ago - I did pilgrimage to Guru Ch'wan among the poplars' -(he pointed Bhotanwards), 'where they keep the Sacred Horse.' - -'Quiet, be quiet!' said Shamlegh, all arow. 'He speaks of -Jam-lin-nin-k'or, the Horse That Can Go Round The World In a Day.' - -'I speak to my chela only,' said the lama, in gentle reproof, and -they scattered like frost on south eaves of a morning. 'I did not -seek truth in those days, but the talk of doctrine. All illusion! I -drank the beer and ate the bread of Guru Ch'wan. Next day one said: -"We go out to fight Sangor Gutok down the valley to discover" (mark -again how Lust is tied to Anger!) "which Abbot shall bear rule in -the valley and take the profit of the prayers they print at Sangor -Gutok." I went, and we fought a day.' - -'But how, Holy One?' - -'With our long pencases as I could have shown ... I say, we -fought under the poplars, both Abbots and all the monks, and one -laid open my forehead to the bone. See!' He tilted back his cap and -showed a puckered silvery scar. 'Just and perfect is the Wheel! -Yesterday the scar itched, and after fifty years I recalled how it -was dealt and the face of him who dealt it; dwelling a little in -illusion. Followed that which thou didst see - strife and stupidity. -Just is the Wheel! The idolater's blow fell upon the scar. Then I -was shaken in my soul: my soul was darkened, and the boat of my soul -rocked upon the waters of illusion. Not till I came to Shamlegh -could I meditate upon the Cause of Things, or trace the running -grass-roots of Evil. I strove all the long night.' - -'But, Holy One, thou art innocent of all evil. May I be thy -sacrifice!' - -Kim was genuinely distressed at the old man's sorrow, and Mahbub -Ali's phrase slipped out unawares. - -'In the dawn,' the lama went on more gravely, ready rosary clicking -between the slow sentences, 'came enlightenment. It is here ... I am -an old man ... hill-bred, hill-fed, never to sit down among my -Hills. Three years I travelled through Hind, but - can earth be -stronger than Mother Earth? My stupid body yearned to the Hills and -the snows of the Hills, from below there. I said, and it is true, -my Search is sure. So, at the Kulu woman's house I turned hillward, -over-persuaded by myself. There is no blame to the hakim. He - -following Desire - foretold that the Hills would make me strong. -They strengthened me to do evil, to forget my Search. I delighted in -life and the lust of life. I desired strong slopes to climb. I cast -about to find them. I measured the strength of my body, which is -evil, against the high Hills, I made a mock of thee when thy breath -came short under Jamnotri. I jested when thou wouldst not face the -snow of the pass.' - -'But what harm? I was afraid. It was just. I am not a hillman; and I -loved thee for thy new strength.' - -'More than once I remember' - he rested his cheek dolefully on his -hand - 'I sought thy praise and the hakim's for the mere strength of -my legs. Thus evil followed evil till the cup was full. Just is the -Wheel! All Hind for three years did me all honour. From the Fountain -of Wisdom in the Wonder House to' - he smiled - 'a little child -playing by a big gun - the world prepared my road. And why?' - -'Because we loved thee. It is only the fever of the blow. I myself -am still sick and shaken.' - -'No! It was because I was upon the Way - tuned as are si-nen -[cymbals] to the purpose of the Law. I departed from that ordinance. -The tune was broken: followed the punishment. In my own Hills, on -the edge of my own country, in the very place of my evil desire, -comes the buffet - here!' (He touched his brow.) 'As a novice is -beaten when he misplaces the cups, so am I beaten, who was Abbot of -Such-zen. No word, look you, but a blow, chela.' - -'But the Sahibs did not know thee, Holy One?' - -'We were well matched. Ignorance and Lust met Ignorance and Lust -upon the road, and they begat Anger. The blow was a sign to me, who -am no better than a strayed yak, that my place is not here. Who can -read the Cause of an act is halfway to Freedom! "Back to the path," -says the Blow. "The Hills are not for thee. Thou canst not choose -Freedom and go in bondage to the delight of life."' - -'Would we had never met that cursed Russian!' - -'Our Lord Himself cannot make the Wheel swing backward. And for my -merit that I had acquired I gain yet another sign.' He put his hand -in his bosom, and drew forth the Wheel of Life. 'Look! I considered -this after I had meditated. There remains untorn by the idolater no -more than the breadth of my fingernail.' - -'I see.' - -'So much, then, is the span of my life in this body. I have served -the Wheel all my days. Now the Wheel serves me. But for the merit I -have acquired in guiding thee upon the Way, there would have been -added to me yet another life ere I had found my River. Is it plain, -chela?' - -Kim stared at the brutally disfigured chart. From left to right -diagonally the rent ran - from the Eleventh House where Desire gives -birth to the Child (as it is drawn by Tibetans) - across the human -and animal worlds, to the Fifth House - the empty House of the -Senses. The logic was unanswerable. - -'Before our Lord won Enlightenment' - the lama folded all away with -reverence - 'He was tempted. I too have been tempted, but it is -finished. The Arrow fell in the Plains - not in the Hills. -Therefore, what make we here?' - -'Shall we at least wait for the hakim?' - -'I know how long I shall live in this body. What can a hakim do?' - -'But thou art all sick and shaken. Thou canst not walk.' - -'How can I be sick if I see Freedom?' He rose unsteadily to his -feet. - -'Then I must get food from the village. Oh, the weary Road!' Kim -felt that he too needed rest. - -'That is lawful. Let us eat and go. The Arrow fell in the Plains ... -but I yielded to Desire. Make ready, chela.' - -Kim turned to the woman with the turquoise headgear who had been -idly pitching pebbles over the cliff. She smiled very kindly. - -'I found him like a strayed buffalo in a cornfield - the Babu; -snorting and sneezing with cold. He was so hungry that he forgot his -dignity and gave me sweet words. The Sahibs have nothing.' She flung -out an empty palm. 'One is very sick about the stomach. Thy work?' - -Kim nodded, with a bright eye. - -'I spoke to the Bengali first - and to the people of a near-by -village after. The Sahibs will be given food as they need it - nor -will the people ask money. The plunder is already distributed. The -Babu makes lying speeches to the Sahibs. Why does he not leave -them?' - -'Out of the greatness of his heart.' - -"Was never a Bengali yet had one bigger than a dried walnut. But it -is no matter ... Now as to walnuts. After service comes reward. I -have said the village is thine.' - -'It is my loss,' Kim began. 'Even now I had planned desirable things -in my heart which' - there is no need to go through the compliments -proper to these occasions. He sighed deeply ... 'But my master, -led by a vision -' - -'Huh! What can old eyes see except a full begging-bowl?' - -'- turns from this village to the Plains again.' - -'Bid him stay.' - -Kim shook his head. 'I know my Holy One, and his rage if he be -crossed,' he replied impressively. 'His curses shake the Hills.' - -'Pity they did not save him from a broken head! I heard that thou -wast the tiger-hearted one who smote the Sahib. Let him dream a -little longer. Stay!' - -'Hillwoman,' said Kim, with austerity that could not harden the -outlines of his young oval face, 'these matters are too high for -thee.' - -'The Gods be good to us! Since when have men and women been other -than men and women?' - -'A priest is a priest. He says he will go upon this hour. I am his -chela, and I go with him. We need food for the Road. He is an -honoured guest in all the villages, but' - he broke into a pure -boy's grin - 'the food here is good. Give me some.' - -'What if I do not give it thee? I am the woman of this village.' - -'Then I curse thee - a little - not greatly, but enough to -remember.' He could not help smiling. - -'Thou hast cursed me already by the down-dropped eyelash and the -uplifted chin. Curses? What should I care for mere words?' She -clenched her hands upon her bosom ... 'But I would not have thee -to go in anger, thinking hardly of me - a gatherer of cow-dung and -grass at Shamlegh, but still a woman of substance.' - -'I think nothing,' said Kim, 'but that I am grieved to go, for I am -very weary; and that we need food. Here is the bag.' - -The woman snatched it angrily. 'I was foolish,' said she. 'Who is -thy woman in the Plains? Fair or black? I was fair once. Laughest -thou? Once, long ago, if thou canst believe, a Sahib looked on me -with favour. Once, long ago, I wore European clothes at the Mission-house -yonder.' She pointed towards Kotgarh. 'Once, long ago. I was -Ker-lis-ti-an and spoke English - as the Sahibs speak it. Yes. My -Sahib said he would return and wed me - yes, wed me. He went away - -I had nursed him when he was sick - but he never returned. Then I -saw that the Gods of the Kerlistians lied, and I went back to my own -people ... I have never set eyes on a Sahib since. (Do not laugh -at me. The fit is past, little priestling.) Thy face and thy walk -and thy fashion of speech put me in mind of my Sahib, though thou -art only a wandering mendicant to whom I give a dole. Curse me? Thou -canst neither curse nor bless!' She set her hands on her hips and -laughed bitterly. 'Thy Gods are lies; thy works are lies; thy words -are lies. There are no Gods under all the Heavens. I know it ... But -for awhile I thought it was my Sahib come back, and he was my God. -Yes, once I made music on a pianno in the Mission-house at Kotgarh. -Now I give alms to priests who are heatthen.' She wound up with the -English word, and tied the mouth of the brimming bag. - -'I wait for thee, chela,' said the lama, leaning against the door- -post. - -The woman swept the tall figure with her eyes. 'He walk! He cannot -cover half a mile. Whither would old bones go?' - -At this Kim, already perplexed by the lama's collapse and foreseeing -the weight of the bag, fairly lost his temper. - -'What is it to thee, woman of ill-omen, where he goes?' - -'Nothing - but something to thee, priest with a Sahib's face. Wilt -thou carry him on thy shoulders?' - -'I go to the Plains. None must hinder my return. I have wrestled -with my soul till I am strengthless. The stupid body is spent, and -we are far from the Plains.' - -'Behold!' she said simply, and drew aside to let Kim see his own -utter helplessness. 'Curse me. Maybe it will give him strength. Make -a charm! Call on thy great God. Thou art a priest.' She turned away. - -The lama had squatted limply, still holding by the door-post. One -cannot strike down an old man that he recovers again like a boy in -the night. Weakness bowed him to the earth, but his eyes that hung -on Kim were alive and imploring. - -'It is all well,' said Kim. 'It is the thin air that weakens thee. -In a little while we go! It is the mountain-sickness. I too am a -little sick at stomach,' - and he knelt and comforted with such -poor words as came first to his lips. Then the woman returned, more -erect than ever. - -'Thy Gods useless, heh? Try mine. I am the Woman of Shamlegh.' She -hailed hoarsely, and there came out of a cow-pen her two husbands -and three others with a dooli, the rude native litter of the Hills, -that they use for carrying the sick and for visits of state. 'These -cattle' - she did not condescend to look at them - 'are thine for so -long as thou shalt need.' - -'But we will not go Simla-way. We will not go near the Sahibs,' -cried the first husband. - -'They will not run away as the others did, nor will they steal -baggage. Two I know for weaklings. Stand to the rear-pole, Sonoo and -Taree.' They obeyed swiftly. 'Lower now, and lift in that holy man. -I will see to the village and your virtuous wives till ye return.' - -'When will that be?' - -'Ask the priests. Do not pester me. Lay the food-bag at the foot, it -balances better so.' - -'Oh, Holy One, thy Hills are kinder than our Plains!' cried Kim, -relieved, as the lama tottered to the litter. 'It is a very king's -bed - a place of honour and ease. And we owe it to -' - -'A woman of ill-omen. I need thy blessings as much as I do thy -curses. It is my order and none of thine. Lift and away! Here! Hast -thou money for the road?' - -She beckoned Kim to her hut, and stooped above a battered English -cash-box under her cot. - -'I do not need anything,' said Kim, angered where he should have -been grateful. 'I am already rudely loaded with favours.' - -She looked up with a curious smile and laid a hand on his shoulder. -'At least, thank me. I am foul-faced and a hillwoman, but, as thy -talk goes, I have acquired merit. Shall I show thee how the Sahibs -render thanks?' and her hard eyes softened. - -'I am but a wandering priest,' said Kim, his eyes lighting in -answer. 'Thou needest neither my blessings nor my curses.' - -'Nay. But for one little moment - thou canst overtake the dooli in -ten strides - if thou wast a Sahib, shall I show thee what thou -wouldst do?' - -'How if I guess, though?' said Kim, and putting his arm round her -waist, he kissed her on the cheek, adding in English: 'Thank you -verree much, my dear.' - -Kissing is practically unknown among Asiatics, which may have been -the reason that she leaned back with wide-open eyes and a face of -panic. - -'Next time,' Kim went on, 'you must not be so sure of your heatthen -priests. Now I say good-bye.' He held out his hand English-fashion. -She took it mechanically. 'Good-bye, my dear.' - -'Good-bye, and - and' - she was remembering her English words one by -one -'you will come back again? Good-bye, and - thee God bless you.' - -Half an hour later, as the creaking litter jolted up the hill path -that leads south-easterly from Shamlegh, Kim saw a tiny figure at -the hut door waving a white rag. - -'She has acquired merit beyond all others,' said the lama. 'For to -set a man upon the way to Freedom is half as great as though she had -herself found it.' - -'Umm,' said Kim thoughtfully, considering the past. 'It may be that -I have acquired merit also ... At least she did not treat me like a -child.' He hitched the front of his robe, where lay the slab of -documents and maps, re-stowed the precious food-bag at the lama's -feet, laid his hand on the litter's edge, and buckled down to the -slow pace of the grunting husbands. - -'These also acquire merit,' said the lama after three miles. - -'More than that, they shall be paid in silver,' quoth Kim. The Woman -of Shamlegh had given it to him; and it was only fair, he argued, -that her men should earn it back again. - - - - - -Chapter 15 - - -I'd not give room for an Emperor - -I'd hold my road for a King. -To the Triple Crown I'd not bow down - -But this is a different thing! -I'll not fight with the Powers of Air - -Sentry, pass him through! -Drawbridge let fall - He's the Lord of us all - -The Dreamer whose dream came true! - -The Siege of the Fairies. - - -Two hundred miles north of Chini, on the blue shale of Ladakh, lies -Yankling Sahib, the merry-minded man, spy-glassing wrathfully across -the ridges for some sign of his pet tracker - a man from Ao-chung. -But that renegade, with a new Mannlicher rifle and two hundred -cartridges, is elsewhere, shooting musk-deer for the market, and -Yankling Sahib will learn next season how very ill he has been. - -Up the valleys of Bushahr - the far-beholding eagles of the -Himalayas swerve at his new blue-and-white gored umbrella - hurries -a Bengali, once fat and well-looking, now lean and weather-worn. He -has received the thanks of two foreigners of distinction, piloted -not unskilfully to Mashobra tunnel, which leads to the great and gay -capital of India. It was not his fault that, blanketed by wet mists, -he conveyed them past the telegraph-station and European colony of -Kotgarh. It was not his fault, but that of the Gods, of whom he -discoursed so engagingly, that he led them into the borders of -Nahan, where the Rahah of that State mistook them for deserting -British soldiery. Hurree Babu explained the greatness and glory, in -their own country, of his companions, till the drowsy kinglet -smiled. He explained it to everyone who asked - many times - aloud - -variously. He begged food, arranged accommodation, proved a skilful -leech for an injury of the groin - such a blow as one may receive -rolling down a rock-covered hillside in the dark - and in all things -indispensable. The reason of his friendliness did him credit. With -millions of fellow-serfs, he had learned to look upon Russia as the -great deliverer from the North. He was a fearful man. He had been -afraid that he could not save his illustrious employers from the -anger of an excited peasantry. He himself would just as lief hit a -holy man as not, but ... He was deeply grateful and sincerely -rejoiced that he had done his 'little possible' towards bringing -their venture to - barring the lost baggage - a successful issue, he -had forgotten the blows; denied that any blows had been dealt that -unseemly first night under the pines. He asked neither pension nor -retaining fee, but, if they deemed him worthy, would they write him -a testimonial? It might be useful to him later, if others, their -friends, came over the Passes. He begged them to remember him in -their future greatnesses, for he 'opined subtly' that he, even he, -Mohendro Lal Dutt, MA of Calcutta, had 'done the State some -service'. - -They gave him a certificate praising his courtesy, helpfulness, and -unerring skill as a guide. He put it in his waist-belt and sobbed -with emotion; they had endured so many dangers together. He led them -at high noon along crowded Simla Mall to the Alliance Bank of Simla, -where they wished to establish their identity. Thence he vanished -like a dawn-cloud on Jakko. - -Behold him, too fine-drawn to sweat, too pressed to vaunt the drugs -in his little brass-bound box, ascending Shamlegh slope, a just man -made perfect. Watch him, all Babudom laid aside, smoking at noon on -a cot, while a woman with turquoise-studded headgear points south- -easterly across the bare grass. Litters, she says, do not travel as -fast as single men, but his birds should now be in the Plains. The -holy man would not stay though Lispeth pressed him. The Babu groans -heavily, girds up his huge loins, and is off again. He does not care -to travel after dusk; but his days' marches - there is none to enter -them in a book - would astonish folk who mock at his race. Kindly -villagers, remembering the Dacca drug-vendor of two months ago, give -him shelter against evil spirits of the wood. He dreams of Bengali -Gods, University text-books of education, and the Royal Society, -London, England. Next dawn the bobbing blue-and-white umbrella goes -forward. - -On the edge of the Doon, Mussoorie well behind them and the Plains -spread out in golden dust before, rests a worn litter in which - all -the Hills know it - lies a sick lama who seeks a River for his -healing. Villages have almost come to blows over the honour of -bearing it, for not only has the lama given them blessings, but his -disciple good money - full one-third Sahibs' prices. Twelve miles a -day has the dooli travelled, as the greasy, rubbed pole-ends show, -and by roads that few Sahibs use. Over the Nilang Pass in storm when -the driven snow-dust filled every fold of the impassive lama's -drapery; between the black horns of Raieng where they heard the -whistle of the wild goats through the clouds; pitching and strained -on the shale below; hard-held between shoulder and clenched jaw when -they rounded the hideous curves of the Cut Road under Bhagirati; -swinging and creaking to the steady jog-trot of the descent into the -Valley of the Waters; pressed along the steamy levels of that locked -valley; up, up and out again, to meet the roaring gusts off -Kedarnath; set down of mid-days in the dun gloom of kindly oak- -forests; passed from village to village in dawn-chill, when even -devotees may be forgiven for swearing at impatient holy men; or by -torchlight, when the least fearful think of ghosts - the dooli has -reached her last stage. The little hill-folk sweat in the modified -heat of the lower Siwaliks, and gather round the priests for their -blessing and their wage. - -'Ye have acquired merit,' says the lama. 'Merit greater than your -knowing. And ye will return to the Hills,' he sighs. - -'Surely. The high Hills as soon as may be.' The bearer rubs his -shoulder, drinks water, spits it out again, and readjusts his grass -sandal. Kim - his face is drawn and tired - pays very small silver -from his belt, heaves out the food-bag, crams an oilskin packet - -they are holy writings - into his bosom, and helps the lama to his -feet. The peace has come again into the old man's eyes, and he does -not look for the hills to fall down and crush him as he did that -terrible night when they were delayed by the flooded river. - -The men pick up the dooli and swing out of sight between the scrub -clumps. - -The lama raises a hand toward the rampart of the Himalayas. 'Not -with you, O blessed among all hills, fell the Arrow of Our Lord! And -never shall I breathe your airs again!' - -'But thou art ten times the stronger man in this good air,' says -Kim, for to his wearied soul appeal the well-cropped, kindly Plains. -'Here, or hereabouts, fell the Arrow, yes. We will go very softly, -perhaps, a koss a day, for the Search is sure. But the bag weighs -heavy.' - -'Ay, our Search is sure. I have come out of great temptation.' - -It was never more than a couple of miles a day now, and Kim's -shoulders bore all the weight of it - the burden of an old man, the -burden of the heavy food-bag with the locked books, the load of the -writings on his heart, and the details of the daily routine. He -begged in the dawn, set blankets for the lama's meditation, held the -weary head on his lap through the noonday heats, fanning away the -flies till his wrists ached, begged again in the evenings, and -rubbed the lama's feet, who rewarded him with promise of Freedom - -today, tomorrow, or, at furthest, the next day. - -'Never was such a chela. I doubt at times whether Ananda more -faithfully nursed Our Lord. And thou art a Sahib? When I was a man - -a long time ago - I forgot that. Now I look upon thee often, and -every time I remember that thou art a Sahib. It is strange.' - -'Thou hast said there is neither black nor white. Why plague me with -this talk, Holy One? Let me rub the other foot. It vexes me. I am -not a Sahib. I am thy chela, and my head is heavy on my shoulders.' - -'Patience a little! We reach Freedom together. Then thou and I, upon -the far bank of the River, will look back upon our lives as in the -Hills we saw our days' marches laid out behind us. Perhaps I was once -a Sahib.' - -"Was never a Sahib like thee, I swear it.' - -'I am certain the Keeper of the Images in the Wonder House was in -past life a very wise Abbot. But even his spectacles do not make my -eyes see. There fall shadows when I would look steadily. No matter - -we know the tricks of the poor stupid carcass - shadow changing to -another shadow. I am bound by the illusion of Time and Space. How -far came we today in the flesh?' - -'Perhaps half a koss.' (Three quarters of a mile, and it was a -weary march.) - -'Half a koss. Ha! I went ten thousand thousand in the spirit. How, -we are all lapped and swathed and swaddled in these senseless -things.' He looked at his thin blue-veined hand that found the beads -so heavy. 'Chela, hast thou never a wish to leave me?' - -Kim thought of the oilskin packet and the books in the food-bag. If -someone duly authorized would only take delivery of them the Great -Game might play itself for aught he then cared. He was tired and hot -in his head, and a cough that came from the stomach worried him. - -'No.' he said almost sternly. 'I am not a dog or a snake to bite -when I have learned to love.' - -'Thou art too tender towards me.' - -'Not that either. I have moved in one matter without consulting -thee. I have sent a message to the Kulu woman by that woman who gave -us the goat's milk this morn, saying that thou wast a little feeble -and wouldst need a litter. I beat myself in my mind that I did not -do it when we entered the Doon. We stay in this place till the -litter returns.' - -'I am content. She is a woman with a heart of gold, as thou sayest, -but a talker - something of a talker.' - -'She will not weary thee. I have looked to that also. Holy One, my -heart is very heavy for my many carelessnesses towards thee.' An -hysterical catch rose in his throat. 'I have walked thee too far: I -have not picked good food always for thee; I have not considered the -heat; I have talked to people on the road and left thee alone ... I -have - I have ... Hai mai! But I love thee ... and it is all too -late ... I was a child ... Oh, why was I not a man? ...' -Overborne by strain, fatigue, and the weight beyond his years, Kim -broke down and sobbed at the lama's feet. - -'What a to-do is here!' said the old man gently. 'Thou hast never -stepped a hair's breadth from the Way of Obedience. Neglect me? -Child, I have lived on thy strength as an old tree lives on the lime -of a new wall. Day by day, since Shamlegh down, I have stolen -strength from thee. Therefore, not through any sin of thine, art -thou weakened. It is the Body - the silly, stupid Body - that speaks -now. Not the assured Soul. Be comforted! Know at least the devils -that thou fightest. They are earth-born - children of illusion. We -will go to the woman from Kulu. She shall acquire merit in housing -us, and specially in tending me. Thou shalt run free till strength -returns. I had forgotten the stupid Body. If there be any blame, I -bear it. But we are too close to the Gates of Deliverance to weigh -blame. I could praise thee, but what need? In a little - in a very -little - we shall sit beyond all needs.' - -And so he petted and comforted Kim with wise saws and grave texts on -that little-understood beast, our Body, who, being but a delusion, -insists on posing as the Soul, to the darkening of the Way, and the -immense multiplication of unnecessary devils. - -'Hai! hai! Let us talk of the woman from Kulu. Think you she will -ask another charm for her grandsons? When I was a young man, a very -long time ago, I was plagued with these vapours - and some others - -and I went to an Abbot - a very holy man and a seeker after truth, -though then I knew it not. Sit up and listen, child of my soul! My -tale was told. Said he to me, "Chela, know this. There are many lies -in the world, and not a few liars, but there are no liars like our -bodies, except it be the sensations of our bodies." Considering this -I was comforted, and of his great favour he suffered me to drink tea -In his presence. Suffer me now to drink tea, for I am thirsty.' - -With a laugh across his tears, Kim kissed the lama's feet, and set -about the tea-making. - -'Thou leanest on me in the body, Holy One, but I lean on thee for -some other things. Dost know it?' - -'I have guessed maybe,' and the lama's eyes twinkled. 'We must -change that.' - -So, when with scufflings and scrapings and a hot air of importance, -paddled up nothing less than the Sahiba's pet palanquin sent twenty -miles, with that same grizzled old Oorya servant in charge, and when -they reached the disorderly order of the long white rambling house -behind Saharunpore, the lama took his own measures. - -Said the Sahiba cheerily from an upper window, after compliments: -'What is the good of an old woman's advice to an old man? I told -thee - I told thee, Holy One, to keep an eye upon the chela. How -didst thou do it? Never answer me! I know. He has been running among -the women. Look at his eyes - hollow and sunk - and the Betraying -Line from the nose down! He has been sifted out! Fie! Fie! And a -priest, too!' - -Kim looked up, over-weary to smile, shaking his head in denial. - -'Do not jest,' said the lama. 'That time is done. We are here upon -great matters. A sickness of soul took me in the Hills, and him a -sickness of the body. Since then I have lived upon his strength - -eating him.' - -'Children together - young and old,' she sniffed, but forbore to -make any new jokes. 'May this present hospitality restore ye! Hold -awhile and I will come to gossip of the high good Hills.' - -At evening time - her son-in-law was returned, so she did not need -to go on inspection round the farm - she won to the meat of the -matter, explained low-voicedly by the lama. The two old heads nodded -wisely together. Kim had reeled to a room with a cot in it, and was -dozing soddenly. The lama had forbidden him to set blankets or get -food. - -'I know - I know. Who but I?' she cackled. 'We who go down to the -burning-ghats clutch at the hands of those coming up from the River -of Life with full water-jars - yes, brimming water-jars. I did the -boy wrong. He lent thee his strength? It is true that the old eat -the young daily. Stands now we must restore him.' - -'Thou hast many times acquired merit -' - -'My merit. What is it? Old bag of bones making curries for men -who do not ask "Who cooked this?" Now if it were stored up for my -grandson -' - -'He that had the belly-pain?' - -'To think the Holy One remembers that! I must tell his mother. It is -most singular honour! "He that had the belly-pain" - straightway the -Holy One remembered. She will be proud.' - -'My chela is to me as is a son to the unenlightened.' - -'Say grandson, rather. Mothers have not the wisdom of our years. If -a child cries they say the heavens are falling. Now a grandmother is -far enough separated from the pain of bearing and the pleasure of -giving the breast to consider whether a cry is wickedness pure or -the wind. And since thou speakest once again of wind, when last the -Holy One was here, maybe I offended in pressing for charms.' - -'Sister,' said the lama, using that form of address a Buddhist monk -may sometimes employ towards a nun, 'if charms comfort thee -' - -'They are better than ten thousand doctors.' - -'I say, if they comfort thee, I who was Abbot of Such-zen, will make -as many as thou mayest desire. I have never seen thy face -' - -'That even the monkeys who steal our loquats count for again. Hee! -hee!' - -'But as he who sleeps there said,' - he nodded at the shut door of -the guest-chamber across the forecourt - 'thou hast a heart of gold -... And he is in the spirit my very "grandson" to me' - -'Good! I am the Holy One's cow.' This was pure Hinduism, but the -lama never heeded. 'I am old. I have borne sons in the body. Oh, -once I could please men! Now I can cure them.' He heard her armlets -tinkle as though she bared arms for action. 'I will take over the -boy and dose him, and stuff him, and make him all whole. Hai! hai! -We old people know something yet.' - -Wherefore when Kim, aching in every bone, opened his eyes, and would -go to the cook-house to get his master's food, he found strong -coercion about him, and a veiled old figure at the door, flanked by -the grizzled manservant, who told him very precisely the things that -he was on no account to do. - -'Thou must have? Thou shalt have nothing. What? A locked box in -which to keep holy books? Oh, that is another matter. Heavens -forbid I should come between a priest and his prayers! It shall be -brought, and thou shalt keep the key.' - -They pushed the coffer under his cot, and Kim shut away Mahbub's -pistol, the oilskin packet of letters, and the locked books and -diaries, with a groan of relief. For some absurd reason their weight -on his shoulders was nothing to their weight on his poor mind. His -neck ached under it of nights. - -'Thine is a sickness uncommon in youth these days: since young folk -have given up tending their betters. The remedy is sleep, and -certain drugs,' said the Sahiba; and he was glad to give himself up -to the blankness that half menaced and half soothed him. - -She brewed drinks, in some mysterious Asiatic equivalent to the -still-room - drenches that smelt pestilently and tasted worse. She -stood over Kim till they went down, and inquired exhaustively after -they had come up. She laid a taboo upon the forecourt, and enforced -it by means of an armed man. It is true he was seventy odd, that his -scabbarded sword ceased at the hilt; but he represented the -authority of the Sahiba, and loaded wains, chattering servants, -calves, dogs, hens, and the like, fetched a wide compass by those -parts. Best of all, when the body was cleared, she cut out from the -mass of poor relations that crowded the back of the buildings - -house-hold dogs, we name them - a cousin's widow, skilled in what -Europeans, who know nothing about it, call massage. And the two of -them, laying him east and west, that the mysterious earth-currents -which thrill the clay of our bodies might help and not hinder, took -him to pieces all one long afternoon - bone by bone, muscle by -muscle, ligament by ligament, and lastly, nerve by nerve. Kneaded to -irresponsible pulp, half hypnotized by the perpetual flick and -readjustment of the uneasy chudders that veiled their eyes, Kim slid -ten thousand miles into slumber - thirty-six hours of it - sleep -that soaked like rain after drought. - -Then she fed him, and the house spun to her clamour. She caused -fowls to be slain; she sent for vegetables, and the sober, slow- -thinking gardener, nigh as old as she, sweated for it; she took -spices, and milk, and onion, with little fish from the brooks - anon -limes for sherbets, fat quails from the pits, then chicken-livers -upon a skewer, with sliced ginger between. - -'I have seen something of this world,' she said over the crowded -trays, 'and there are but two sorts of women in it -those who take -the strength out of a man and those who put it back. Once I was that -one, and now I am this. Nay - do not play the priestling with me. -Mine was but a jest. If it does not hold good now, it will when thou -takest the road again. Cousin,' - this to the poor relation, never -wearied of extolling her patroness's charity - 'he is getting a bloom -on the skin of a new-curried horse. Our work is like polishing -jewels to be thrown to a dance-girl - eh?' - -Kim sat up and smiled. The terrible weakness had dropped from him -like an old shoe. His tongue itched for free speech again, and but a -week back the lightest word clogged it like ashes. The pain in his -neck (he must have caught it from the lama) had gone with the heavy -dengue-aches and the evil taste in the mouth. The two old women, a -little, but not much, more careful about their veils now, clucked as -merrily as the hens that had entered pecking through the open door. - -'Where is my Holy One?' he demanded. - -'Hear him! Thy Holy One is well,' she snapped viciously. 'Though -that is none of his merit., Knew I a charm to make him wise, I'd -sell my jewels and buy it. To refuse good food that I cooked myself -- and go roving into the fields for two nights on an empty belly - -and to tumble into a brook at the end of it - call you that -holiness? Then, when he has nearly broken what thou hast left of my -heart with anxiety, he tells me that he has acquired merit. Oh, how -like are all men! No, that was not it - he tells me that he is freed -from all sin. I could have told him that before he wetted himself -all over. He is well now - this happened a week ago - but burn me -such holiness! A babe of three would do better. Do not fret thyself -for the Holy One. He keeps both eyes on thee when he is not wading -our brooks.' - -'I do not remember to have seen him. I remember that the days and -nights passed like bars of white and black, opening and shutting. I -was not sick: I was but tired." - -'A lethargy that comes by right some few score years later. But it is -done now.' - -'Maharanee,' Kim began, but led by the look in her eye, changed it -to the title of plain love - 'Mother, I owe my life to thee. How -shall I make thanks? Ten thousand blessings upon thy house and -' - -'The house be unblessed!' (It is impossible to give exactly the old -lady's word.) 'Thank the Gods as a priest if thou wilt, but thank -me, if thou carest, as a son. Heavens above! Have I shifted thee and -lifted thee and slapped and twisted thy ten toes to find texts flung -at my head? Somewhere a mother must have borne thee to break her -heart. What used thou to her - son?' - -'I had no mother, my mother,' said Kim. 'She died, they tell me, -when I was young.' - -'Hai mai! Then none can say I have robbed her of any right if - when -thou takest the road again and this house is but one of a thousand -used for shelter and forgotten, after an easy-flung blessing. No -matter. I need no blessings, but - but -' She stamped her foot at -the poor relation. 'Take up the trays to the house. What is the good -of stale food in the room, O woman of ill-omen?' - -'I ha - have borne a son in my time too, but he died,' whimpered the -bowed sister-figure behind the chudder. 'Thou knowest he died! I -only waited for the order to take away the tray.' - -'It is I that am the woman of ill-omen,' cried the old lady -penitently. 'We that go down to the chattris [the big umbrellas -above the burning-ghats where the priests take their last dues] -clutch hard at the bearers of the chattis [water-jars - young folk -full of the pride of life, she meant; but the pun is clumsy]. When -one cannot dance in the festival one must e'en look out of the -window, and grandmothering takes all a woman's time. Thy master -gives me all the charms I now desire for my daughter's eldest, by -reason - is it? - that he is wholly free from sin. The hakim is -brought very low these days. He goes about poisoning my servants for -lack of their betters.' - -'What hakim, mother?' - -'That very Dacca man who gave me the pill which rent me in three -pieces. He cast up like a strayed camel a week ago, vowing that he -and thou had been blood-brothers together up Kulu-way, and feigning -great anxiety for thy health. He was very thin and hungry, so I gave -orders to have him stuffed too - him and his anxiety!' - -'I would see him if he is here.' - -'He eats five times a day, and lances boils for my hinds to save -himself from an apoplexy. He is so full of anxiety for thy health -that he sticks to the cook-house door and stays himself with scraps. -He will keep. We shall never get rid of him.' - -'Send him here, mother' - the twinkle returned to Kim's eye for a -flash - 'and I will try.' - -'I'll send him, but to chase him off is an ill turn. At least he had -the sense to fish the Holy One out of the brook; thus, as the Holy -One did not say, acquiring merit.' - -'He is a very wise hakim. Send him, mother.' - -'Priest praising priest? A miracle! If he is any friend of thine (ye -squabbled at your last meeting) I'll hale him here with horse-ropes -and - and give him a caste-dinner afterwards, my son ... Get up and -see the world! This lying abed is the mother of seventy devils ... -my son! my son!' - -She trotted forth to raise a typhoon off the cook-house, and almost -on her shadow rolled in the Babu, robed as to the shoulders like a -Roman emperor, jowled like Titus, bare-headed, with new patent- -leather shoes, in highest condition of fat, exuding joy and -salutations. - -'By Jove, Mister O'Hara, but I are jolly-glad to see you. I will -kindly shut the door. It is a pity you are sick. Are you very sick?' - -'The papers - the papers from the kilta. The maps and the murasla!' -He held out the key impatiently; for the present need on his soul -was to get rid of the loot. - -'You are quite right. That is correct Departmental view to take. You -have got everything?' - -'All that was handwritten in the kilta I took. The rest I threw down -the hill.' He could hear the key's grate in the lock, the sticky -pull of the slow-rending oilskin, and a quick shuffling of papers. -He had been annoyed out of all reason by the knowledge that they lay -below him through the sick idle days - a burden incommunicable. For -that reason the blood tingled through his body, when Hurree, -skipping elephantinely, shook hands again. - -'This is fine! This is finest! Mister O'Hara! you have - ha! ha! -swiped the whole bag of tricks - locks, stocks, and barrels. They -told me it was eight months' work gone up the spouts! By Jove, how -they beat me! ... Look, here is the letter from Hilas!' He intoned a -line or two of Court Persian, which is the language of authorized -and unauthorized diplomacy. 'Mister Rajah Sahib has just about put -his foot in the holes. He will have to explain offeecially how the -deuce-an'-all he is writing love-letters to the Czar. And they are -very clever maps ... and there is three or four Prime Ministers of -these parts implicated by the correspondence. By Gad, sar! The -British Government will change the succession in Hilas and Bunar, -and nominate new heirs to the throne. "Trea-son most base" ... but -you do not understand? Eh?' - -'Are they in thy hands?' said Kim. It was all he cared for. - -'Just you jolly-well bet yourself they are.' He stowed the entire -trove about his body, as only Orientals can. 'They are going up to -the office, too. The old lady thinks I am permanent fixture here, -but I shall go away with these straight off - immediately. Mr Lurgan -will be proud man. You are offeecially subordinate to me, but I -shall embody your name in my verbal report. It is a pity we are not -allowed written reports. We Bengalis excel in thee exact science.' -He tossed back the key and showed the box empty. - -'Good. That is good. I was very tired. My Holy One was sick, too. -And did he fall into -' - -'Oah yess. I am his good friend, I tell you. He was behaving very -strange when I came down after you, and I thought perhaps he might -have the papers. I followed him on his meditations, and to discuss -ethnological points also. You see, I am verree small person here -nowadays, in comparison with all his charms. By Jove, O'Hara, do you -know, he is afflicted with infirmity of fits. Yess, I tell you. -Cataleptic, too, if not also epileptic. I found him in such a state -under a tree in articulo mortem, and he jumped up and walked into a -brook and he was nearly drowned but for me. I pulled him out.' - -'Because I was not there!' said Kim. 'He might have died.' - -'Yes, he might have died, but he is dry now, and asserts he has -undergone transfiguration.' The Babu tapped his forehead knowingly. -'I took notes of his statements for Royal Society - in posse. You -must make haste and be quite well and come back to Simla, and I will -tell you all my tale at Lurgan's. It was splendid. The bottoms of -their trousers were quite torn, and old Nahan Rajah, he thought they -were European soldiers deserting.' - -'Oh, the Russians? How long were they with thee?' - -'One was a Frenchman. Oh, days and days and days! Now all the hill- -people believe all Russians are all beggars. By Jove! they had not -one dam'-thing that I did not get them. And I told the common people -- oah, such tales and anecdotes! - I will tell you at old Lurgan's -when you come up. We will have - ah - a night out! It is feather in -both our caps! Yess, and they gave me a certificate. That is -creaming joke. You should have seen them at the Alliance Bank -identifying themselves! And thank Almighty God you got their papers -so well! You do not laugh verree much, but you shall laugh when you -are well. Now I will go straight to the railway and get out. You -shall have all sorts of credits for your game. When do you come -along? We are very proud of you though you gave us great frights. -And especially Mahbub.' - -'Ay, Mahbub. And where is he?' - -'Selling horses in this vi-cinity, of course.' - -'Here! Why? Speak slowly. There is a thickness in my head still.' - -The Babu looked shyly down his nose. 'Well, you see, I am fearful -man, and I do not like responsibility. You were sick, you see, and I -did not know where deuce-an'-all the papers were, and if so, how -many. So when I had come down here I slipped in private wire to -Mahbub - he was at Meerut for races - and I tell him how case -stands. He comes up with his men and he consorts with the lama, and -then he calls me a fool, and is very rude -' - -'But wherefore - wherefore?' - -'That is what I ask. I only suggest that if anyone steals the papers -I should like some good strong, brave men to rob them back again. -You see, they are vitally important, and Mahbub Ali he did not know -where you were.' - -'Mahbub Ali to rob the Sahiba's house? Thou art mad, Babu,' said -Kim with indignation. - -'I wanted the papers. Suppose she had stole them? It was only -practical suggestion, I think. You are not pleased, eh?' - -A native proverb - unquotable - showed the blackness of Kim's -disapproval. - -'Well,' - Hurree shrugged his shoulders - 'there is no accounting -for thee taste. Mahbub was angry too. He has sold horses all about -here, and he says old lady is pukka [thorough] old lady and would -not condescend to such ungentlemanly things. I do not care. I have -got the papers, and I was very glad of moral support from Mahbub. I -tell you, I am fearful man, but, somehow or other, the more fearful -I am the more dam'-tight places I get into. So I was glad you came -with me to Chini, and I am glad Mahbub was close by. The old lady -she is sometimes very rude to me and my beautiful pills.' - -'Allah be merciful!' said Kim on his elbow, rejoicing. 'What a beast -of wonder is a Babu! And that man walked alone - if he did walk - -with robbed and angry foreigners!' - -'Oah, thatt was nothing, after they had done beating me; but if I -lost the papers it was pretty-jolly serious. Mahbub he nearly beat -me too, and he went and consorted with the lama no end. I shall -stick to ethnological investigations henceforwards. Now good-bye, -Mister O'Hara. I can catch 4.25 p.m. to Umballa if I am quick. It -will be good times when we all tell thee tale up at Mr Lurgan's. I -shall report you offeecially better. Good-bye, my dear fallow, and -when next you are under thee emotions please do not use the -Mohammedan terms with the Tibetan dress.' - -He shook hands twice - a Babu to his boot-heels - and opened the -door. With the fall of the sunlight upon his still triumphant face -he returned to the humble Dacca quack. - -'He robbed them,' thought Kim, forgetting his own share in the game. -'He tricked them. He lied to them like a Bengali. They give him a -chit [a testimonial]. He makes them a mock at the risk of his life - -I never would have gone down to them after the pistol-shots - and -then he says he is a fearful man ... And he is a fearful man. I must -get into the world again.' - -At first his legs bent like bad pipe-stems, and the flood and rush -of the sunlit air dazzled him. He squatted by the white wall, the -mind rummaging among the incidents of the long dooli journey, the -lama's weaknesses, and, now that the stimulus of talk was removed, -his own self-pity, of which, like the sick, he had great store. The -unnerved brain edged away from all the outside, as a raw horse, once -rowelled, sidles from the spur. It was enough, amply enough, that -the spoil of the kilta was away - off his hands - out of his -possession. He tried to think of the lama - to wonder why he had -tumbled into a brook - but the bigness of the world, seen between -the forecourt gates, swept linked thought aside. Then he looked upon -the trees and the broad fields, with the thatched huts hidden among -crops - looked with strange eyes unable to take up the size and -proportion and use of things - stared for a still half-hour. All -that while he felt, though he could not put it into words, that his -soul was out of gear with its surroundings - a cog-wheel -unconnected with any machinery, just like the idle cog-wheel of a -cheap Beheea sugar-crusher laid by in a corner. The breezes fanned -over him, the parrots shrieked at him, the noises of the populated -house behind - squabbles, orders, and reproofs - hit on dead ears. - -'I am Kim. I am Kim. And what is Kim?' His soul repeated it again -and again. - -He did not want to cry - had never felt less like crying in his life -- but of a sudden easy, stupid tears trickled down his nose, and -with an almost audible click he felt the wheels of his being lock up -anew on the world without. Things that rode meaningless on the -eyeball an instant before slid into proper proportion. Roads were -meant to be walked upon, houses to be lived in, cattle to be driven, -fields to be tilled, and men and women to be talked to. They were -all real and true - solidly planted upon the feet - perfectly -comprehensible - clay of his clay, neither more nor less. He shook -himself like a dog with a flea in his ear, and rambled out of the -gate. Said the Sahiba, to whom watchful eyes reported this move: -'Let him go. I have done my share. Mother Earth must do the rest. -When the Holy One comes back from meditation, tell him.' - -There stood an empty bullock-cart on a little knoll half a mile -away, with a young banyan tree behind - a look-out, as it were, -above some new-ploughed levels; and his eyelids, bathed in soft air, -grew heavy as he neared it. The ground was good clean dust - no new -herbage that, living, is half-way to death already, but the hopeful -dust that holds the seeds of all life. He felt it between his toes, -patted it with his palms, and joint by joint, sighing luxuriously, -laid him down full length along in the shadow of the wooden-pinned -cart. And Mother Earth was as faithful as the Sahiba. She breathed -through him to restore the poise he had lost lying so long on a cot -cut off from her good currents. His head lay powerless upon her -breast, and his opened hands surrendered to her strength. The many- -rooted tree above him, and even the dead manhandled wood beside, -knew what he sought, as he himself did not know. Hour upon hour he -lay deeper than sleep. - -Towards evening, when the dust of returning kine made all the -horizons smoke, came the lama and Mahbub Ali, both afoot, walking -cautiously, for the house had told them where he had gone. - -'Allah! What a fool's trick to play in open country!' muttered the -horse-dealer. 'He could be shot a hundred times - but this is not -the Border.' - -'And,' said the lama, repeating a many-times-told tale, 'never was -such a chela. Temperate, kindly, wise, of ungrudging disposition, a -merry heart upon the road, never forgetting, learned, truthful, -courteous. Great is his reward!' - -'I know the boy - as I have said.' - -'And he was all those things?' - -'Some of them - but I have not yet found a Red Hat's charm for -making him overly truthful. He has certainly been well nursed.' - -'The Sahiba is a heart of gold,' said the lama earnestly. 'She looks -upon him as her son.' - -'Hmph! Half Hind seems that way disposed. I only wished to see that -the boy had come to no harm and was a free agent. As thou knowest, -he and I were old friends in the first days of your pilgrimage -together.' - -'That is a bond between us.' The lama sat down. 'We are at the end -of the pilgrimage.' - -'No thanks to thee thine was not cut off for good and all a week -back. I heard what the Sahiba said to thee when we bore thee up on -the cot.' Mahbub laughed, and tugged his newly dyed beard. - -'I was meditating upon other matters that tide. It was the hakim -from Dacca broke my meditations.' - -'Otherwise' - this was in Pushtu for decency's sake - 'thou wouldst -have ended thy meditations upon the sultry side of Hell - being an -unbeliever and an idolater for all thy child's simplicity. But now, -Red Hat, what is to be done?' - -'This very night,' - the words came slowly, vibrating with triumph - -'this very night he will be as free as I am from all taint of sin - -assured as I am, when he quits this body, of Freedom from the Wheel -of Things. I have a sign' - he laid his hand above the torn chart in -his bosom - 'that my time is short; but I shall have safeguarded him -throughout the years. Remember, I have reached Knowledge, as I told -thee only three nights back.' - -'It must be true, as the Tirah priest said when I stole his cousin's -wife, that I am a Sufi [a free-thinker]; for here I sit,' said -Mahbub to himself, 'drinking in blasphemy unthinkable ... I remember -the tale. On that, then, he goes to Fannatu l'Adn [the Gardens of -Eden]. But how? Wilt thou slay him or drown him in that wonderful -river from which the Babu dragged thee?' - -'I was dragged from no river,' said the lama simply. 'Thou hast -forgotten what befell. I found it by Knowledge.' - -'Oh, ay. True,' stammered Mahbub, divided between high indignation -and enormous mirth. 'I had forgotten the exact run of what happened. -Thou didst find it knowingly.' - -'And to say that I would take life is - not a sin, but a madness -simple. My chela aided me to the River. It is his right to be -cleansed from sin - with me.' - -'Ay, he needs cleansing. But afterwards, old man - afterwards?' - -'What matter under all the Heavens? He is sure of Nibban - -enlightened - as I am.' - -'Well said. I had a fear he might mount Mohammed's Horse and fly -away.' - -'Nay - he must go forth as a teacher.' - -'Aha! Now I see! That is the right gait for the colt. Certainly he -must go forth as a teacher. He is somewhat urgently needed as a -scribe by the State, for instance.' - -'To that end he was prepared. I acquired merit in that I gave alms -for his sake. A good deed does not die. He aided me in my Search. I -aided him in his. Just is the Wheel, O horse-seller from the North. -Let him be a teacher; let him be a scribe - what matter? He will -have attained Freedom at the end. The rest is illusion.' - -'What matter? When I must have him with me beyond Balkh in six -months! I come up with ten lame horses and three strong-backed men - -thanks to that chicken of a Babu - to break a sick boy by force out -of an old trot's house. It seems that I stand by while a young Sahib -is hoisted into Allah knows what of an idolater's Heaven by means of -old Red Hat. And I am reckoned something of a player of the Game -myself! But the madman is fond of the boy; and I must be very -reasonably mad too.' - -'What is the prayer?' said the lama, as the rough Pushtu rumbled -into the red beard. - -'No matter at all; but now I understand that the boy, sure of -Paradise, can yet enter Government service, my mind is easier. I -must get to my horses. It grows dark. Do not wake him. I have no -wish to hear him call thee master.' - -'But he is my disciple. What else?' - -'He has told me.' Mahbub choked down his touch of spleen and rose -laughing. 'I am not altogether of thy faith, Red Hat - if so small a -matter concern thee.' - -'It is nothing,' said the lama. - -'I thought not. Therefore it will not move thee, sinless, new- -washed and three parts drowned to boot, when I call thee a good man -- a very good man. We have talked together some four or five -evenings now, and for all I am a horse-coper I can still, as the -saying is, see holiness beyond the legs of a horse. Yea, can see, -too, how our Friend of all the World put his hand in thine at the -first. Use him well, and suffer him to return to the world as a -teacher, when thou hast - bathed his legs, if that be the proper -medicine for the colt.' - -'Why not follow the Way thyself, and so accompany the boy?' - -Mahbub stared stupefied at the magnificent insolence of the demand, -which across the Border he would have paid with more than a blow. -Then the humour of it touched his worldly soul. - -'Softly - softly - one foot at a time, as the lame gelding went over -the Umballa jumps. I may come to Paradise later - I have workings -that way - great motions - and I owe them to thy simplicity. Thou -hast never lied?' - -'What need?' - -'O Allah, hear him! "What need" in this Thy world! Nor ever harmed a -man?' - -'Once - with a pencase - before I was wise.' - -'So? I think the better of thee. Thy teachings are good. Thou hast -turned one man that I know from the path of strife.' He laughed -immensely. 'He came here open-minded to commit a dacoity [a -house-robbery with violence]. Yes, to cut, rob, kill, and carry off what -he desired.' - -'A great foolishness!' - -'Oh! black shame too. So he thought after he had seen thee - and a -few others, male and female. So he abandoned it; and now he goes to -beat a big fat Babu man.' - -'I do not understand.' - -'Allah forbid it! Some men are strong in knowledge, Red Hat. Thy -strength is stronger still. Keep it - I think thou wilt. If the boy -be not a good servant, pull his ears off.' - -With a hitch of his broad Bokhariot belt the Pathan swaggered off -into the gloaming, and the lama came down from his clouds so far as -to look at the broad back. - -'That person lacks courtesy, and is deceived by the shadow of -appearances. But he spoke well of my chela, who now enters upon his -reward. Let me make the prayer! ... Wake, O fortunate above all born -of women. Wake! It is found!' - -Kim came up from those deep wells, and the lama attended his yawning -pleasure; duly snapping fingers to head off evil spirits. - -'I have slept a hundred years. Where -? Holy One, hast thou been -here long? I went out to look for thee, but' - he laughed drowsily - -'I slept by the way. I am all well now. Hast thou eaten? Let us go -to the house. It is many days since I tended thee. And the Sahiba -fed thee well? Who shampooed thy legs? What of the weaknesses - the -belly and the neck, and the beating in the ears?' - -'Gone - all gone. Dost thou not know?' - -'I know nothing, but that I have not seen thee in a monkey's age. -Know what?' - -'Strange the knowledge did not reach out to thee, when all my -thoughts were theeward.' - -'I cannot see the face, but the voice is like a gong. Has the Sahiba -made a young man of thee by her cookery?' - -He peered at the cross-legged figure, outlined jet-black against the -lemon-coloured drift of light. So does the stone Bodhisat sit who -looks down upon the patent self-registering turnstiles of the Lahore -Museum. - -The lama held his peace. Except for the click of the rosary and a -faint clop-clop of Mahbub's retreating feet, the soft, smoky silence -of evening in India wrapped them close. - -'Hear me! I bring news.' - -'But let us -' - -Out shot the long yellow hand compelling silence. Kim tucked his -feet under his robe-edge obediently. - -'Hear me! I bring news! The Search is finished. Comes now the Reward -... Thus. When we were among the Hills, I lived on thy strength till -the young branch bowed and nigh broke. When we came out of the -Hills, I was troubled for thee and for other matters which I held in -my heart. The boat of my soul lacked direction; I could not see into -the Cause of Things. So I gave thee over to the virtuous woman -altogether. I took no food. I drank no water. Still I saw not the -Way. They pressed food upon me and cried at my shut door. So I -removed myself to a hollow under a tree. I took no food. I took no -water. I sat in meditation two days and two nights, abstracting my -mind; inbreathing and outbreathing in the required manner ... Upon -the second night - so great was my reward - the wise Soul loosed -itself from the silly Body and went free. This I have never before -attained, though I have stood on the threshold of it. Consider, for -it is a marvel!' - -'A marvel indeed. Two days and two nights without food! Where was -the Sahiba?' said Kim under his breath. - -'Yea, my Soul went free, and, wheeling like an eagle, saw indeed -that there was no Teshoo Lama nor any other soul. As a drop draws to -water, so my Soul drew near to the Great Soul which is beyond all -things. At that point, exalted in contemplation, I saw all Hind, -from Ceylon in the sea to the Hills, and my own Painted Rocks at -Such-zen; I saw every camp and village, to the least, where we have -ever rested. I saw them at one time and in one place; for they were -within the Soul. By this I knew the Soul had passed beyond the -illusion of Time and Space and of Things. By this I knew that I was -free. I saw thee lying in thy cot, and I saw thee falling downhill -under the idolater - at one time, in one place, in my Soul, which, -as I say, had touched the Great Soul. Also I saw the stupid body of -Teshoo Lama lying down, and the hakim from Dacca kneeled beside, -shouting in its ear. Then my Soul was all alone, and I saw nothing, -for I was all things, having reached the Great Soul. And I meditated -a thousand thousand years, passionless, well aware of the Causes of -all Things. Then a voice cried: "What shall come to the boy if thou -art dead?" and I was shaken back and forth in myself with pity for -thee; and I said: "I will return to my chela, lest he miss the Way." -Upon this my Soul, which is the Soul of Teshoo Lama, withdrew itself -from the Great Soul with strivings and yearnings and retchings and -agonies not to be told. As the egg from the fish, as the fish from -the water, as the water from the cloud, as the cloud from the thick -air, so put forth, so leaped out, so drew away, so fumed up the Soul -of Teshoo Lama from the Great Soul. Then a voice cried: "The River! -Take heed to the River!" and I looked down upon all the world, which -was as I had seen it before - one in time, one in place - and I saw -plainly the River of the Arrow at my feet. At that hour my Soul was -hampered by some evil or other whereof I was not wholly cleansed, -and it lay upon my arms and coiled round my waist; but I put it -aside, and I cast forth as an eagle in my flight for the very place -of the River. I pushed aside world upon world for thy sake. I saw -the River below me - the River of the Arrow - and, descending, the -waters of it closed over me; and behold I was again in the body of -Teshoo Lama, but free from sin, and the hakim from Decca bore up my -head in the waters of the River. It is here! It is behind the mango- -tope here - even here!' - -'Allah kerim! Oh, well that the Babu was by! Wast thou very wet?' - -'Why should I regard? I remember the hakim was concerned for the -body of Teshoo Lama. He haled it out of the holy water in his hands, -and there came afterwards thy horse-seller from the North with a cot -and men, and they put the body on the cot and bore it up to the -Sahiba's house.' - -'What said the Sahiba?' - -'I was meditating in that body, and did not hear. So thus the Search -is ended. For the merit that I have acquired, the River of the Arrow -is here. It broke forth at our feet, as I have said. I have found -it. Son of my Soul, I have wrenched my Soul back from the Threshold -of Freedom to free thee from all sin - as I am free, and sinless! -Just is the Wheel! Certain is our deliverance! Come!' - -He crossed his hands on his lap and smiled, as a man may who has won -salvation for himself and his beloved. - - -End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of Kim, by Rudyard Kipling - diff --git a/old/kimrk12.zip b/old/kimrk12.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 584f846..0000000 --- a/old/kimrk12.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/kimrk12h.htm b/old/kimrk12h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index 0244353..0000000 --- a/old/kimrk12h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,20362 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> -<html> -<head> -<title>Kim</title> -<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content= -"text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> -</head> - - -<body> - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Kim, by Rudyard Kipling -#10 in our series by Rudyard Kipling - -Copyright laws are changing all over the world. 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You can also find out about how to make a -donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. - - -**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** - -**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** - -*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** - - -Title: Kim - -Author: Rudyard Kipling - - -Release Date: June, 2000 [EBook #2226] -[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] -[This file was first posted on December 27, 2001] -[This file was last updated on February 18, 2003] - -Edition: 12 - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: Latin-1 - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KIM *** - - - - -This file produced by: -</pre> - -<p> - Prof. Patricia C. Franks, Chairperson<br> - Business Information Technology Department<br> - Karyl Basmajian, BIT Student<br> - Nancy K. Smith, BIT Student<br> - Broome Community College<br> - Front Street<br> - Binghamton, NY 13902<br> - franks_p@mail.sunybroome.edu</p> - -<p></p> - -<h1>Kim</h1> - -<h3>by Rudyard Kipling</h3> - -<h2><br> - Chapter I</h2> - -<p><br> - O ye who tread the Narrow Way<br> - By Tophet-flare to judgment Day,<br> - Be gentle when 'the heathen' pray<br> - To Buddha at Kamakura!</p> - -<p>Buddha at Kamakura.</p> - -<p>He sat, in defiance of municipal orders, astride the gun -Zam<br> - Zammah on her brick platform opposite the old Ajaib-Gher -<br> - the Wonder House, as the natives call the Lahore Museum.<br> - Who hold Zam-Zammah, that 'fire-breathing dragon', hold the<br> - Punjab, for the great green-bronze piece is always first of -the<br> - conqueror's loot.</p> - -<p>There was some justification for Kim - he had kicked Lala<br> - Dinanath's boy off the trunnions - since the English held -the<br> - Punjab and Kim was English. Though he was burned black as -any<br> - native; though he spoke the vernacular by preference, and -his<br> - mother-tongue in a clipped uncertain sing-song; though he<br> - consorted on terms of perfect equality with the small boys of -the<br> - bazar; Kim was white - a poor white of the very poorest. The<br> - half-caste woman who looked after him (she smoked opium, and<br> - pretended to keep a second-hand furniture shop by the square<br> - where the cheap cabs wait) told the missionaries that she -was<br> - Kim's mother's sister; but his mother had been nursemaid in -a<br> - Colonel's family and had married Kimball O'Hara, a young -colour-<br> - sergeant of the Mavericks, an Irish regiment. He afterwards -took<br> - a post on the Sind, Punjab, and Delhi Railway, and his -Regiment<br> - went home without him. The wife died of cholera in -Ferozepore,<br> - and O'Hara fell to drink and loafing up and down the line -with<br> - the keen-eyed three-year-old baby. Societies and chaplains,<br> - anxious for the child, tried to catch him, but O'Hara -drifted<br> - away, till he came across the woman who took opium and -learned<br> - the taste from her, and died as poor whites die in India. -His<br> - estate at death consisted of three papers - one he called his -'ne<br> - varietur' because those words were written below his -signature<br> - thereon, and another his 'clearance-certificate'. The third -was<br> - Kim's birth-certificate. Those things, he was used to say, in -his<br> - glorious opium-hours, would yet make little Kimball a man. On -no<br> - account was Kim to part with them, for they belonged to a -great<br> - piece of magic - such magic as men practised over yonder -behind<br> - the Museum, in the big blue-and-white Jadoo-Gher - the Magic<br> - House, as we name the Masonic Lodge. It would, he said, all -come<br> - right some day, and Kim's horn would be exalted between pillars --<br> - monstrous pillars - of beauty and strength. The Colonel -himself,<br> - riding on a horse, at the head of the finest Regiment in the<br> - world, would attend to Kim - little Kim that should have -been<br> - better off than his father. Nine hundred first-class devils,<br> - whose God was a Red Bull on a green field, would attend to -Kim,<br> - if they had not forgotten O'Hara - poor O'Hara that was -gang-<br> - foreman on the Ferozepore line. Then he would weep bitterly -in<br> - the broken rush chair on the veranda. So it came about after -his<br> - death that the woman sewed parchment, paper, and birth-<br> - certificate into a leather amulet-case which she strung -round<br> - Kim's neck.</p> - -<p><br> - 'And some day,' she said, confusedly remembering O'Hara's<br> - prophecies, 'there will come for you a great Red Bull on a -green<br> - field, and the Colonel riding on his tall horse, yes, and'<br> - dropping into English - 'nine hundred devils.'</p> - -<p>'Ah,' said Kim, 'I shall remember. A Red Bull and a Colonel on -a<br> - horse will come, but first, my father said, will come the two -men<br> - making ready the ground for these matters. That is how my -father<br> - said they always did; and it is always so when men work -magic.'</p> - -<p>If the woman had sent Kim up to the local Jadoo-Gher with -those<br> - papers, he would, of course, have been taken over by the<br> - Provincial Lodge, and sent to the Masonic Orphanage in the -Hills;<br> - but what she had heard of magic she distrusted. Kim, too, -held<br> - views of his own. As he reached the years of indiscretion, -he<br> - learned to avoid missionaries and white men of serious aspect -who<br> - asked who he was, and what he did. For Kim did nothing with -an<br> - immense success. True, he knew the wonderful walled city of<br> - Lahore from the Delhi Gate to the outer Fort Ditch; was hand -in<br> - glove with men who led lives stranger than anything Haroun -al<br> - Raschid dreamed of; and he lived in a life wild as that of -the<br> - Arabian Nights, but missionaries and secretaries of -charitable<br> - societies could not see the beauty of it. His nickname -through<br> - the wards was 'Little Friend of all the World'; and very -often,<br> - being lithe and inconspicuous, he executed commissions by -night<br> - on the crowded housetops for sleek and shiny young men of<br> - fashion. It was intrigue, - of course he knew that much, as -he<br> - had known all evil since he could speak, - but what he loved -was<br> - the game for its own sake - the stealthy prowl through the -dark<br> - gullies and lanes, the crawl up a waterpipe, the sights and<br> - sounds of the women's world on the flat roofs, and the -headlong<br> - flight from housetop to housetop under cover of the hot -dark.<br> - Then there were holy men, ash-smeared fakirs by their brick<br> - shrines under the trees at the riverside, with whom he was -quite<br> - familiar - greeting them as they returned from -begging-tours,<br> - and, when no one was by, eating from the same dish. The woman -who<br> - looked after him insisted with tears that he should wear -European<br> - clothes - trousers, a shirt and a battered hat. Kim found it<br> - easier to slip into Hindu or Mohammedan garb when engaged on<br> - certain businesses. One of the young men of fashion - he who -was<br> - found dead at the bottom of a well on the night of the -earthquake<br> - had once given him a complete suit of Hindu kit, the costume<br> - of a lowcaste street boy, and Kim stored it in a secret -place<br> - under some baulks in Nila Ram's timber-yard, beyond the -Punjab<br> - High Court, where the fragrant deodar logs lie seasoning -after<br> - they have driven down the Ravi. When there was business or -frolic<br> - afoot, Kim would use his properties, returning at dawn to -the<br> - veranda, all tired out from shouting at the heels of a -marriage<br> - procession, or yelling at a Hindu festival. Sometimes there -was<br> - food in the house, more often there was not, and then Kim -went<br> - out again to eat with his native friends.</p> - -<p>As he drummed his heels against Zam-Zammah he turned now -and<br> - again from his king-of-the-castle game with little Chota Lal -and<br> - Abdullah the sweetmeat-seller's son, to make a rude remark to -the<br> - native policeman on guard over rows of shoes at the Museum -door.<br> - The big Punjabi grinned tolerantly: he knew Kim of old. So -did<br> - the water-carrier, sluicing water on the dry road from his -goat-<br> - skin bag. So did Jawahir Singh, the Museum carpenter, bent -over<br> - new packing-cases. So did everybody in sight except the -peasants<br> - from the country, hurrying up to the Wonder House to view -the<br> - things that men made in their own province and elsewhere. -The<br> - Museum was given up to Indian arts and manufactures, and -anybody<br> - who sought wisdom could ask the Curator to explain.</p> - -<p>'Off ! Off ! Let me up!' cried Abdullah, climbing up -ZamZammah's<br> - wheel.</p> - -<p>'Thy father was a pastry-cook, Thy mother stole the ghi" -sang<br> - Kim. 'All Mussalmans fell off Zam-Zammah long ago!'</p> - -<p>'Let me up!' shrilled little Chota Lal in his -gilt-embroidered<br> - cap. His father was worth perhaps half a million sterling, -but<br> - India is the only democratic land in the world.</p> - -<p>'The Hindus fell off Zam-Zammah too. The Mussalmans pushed -them<br> - off. Thy father was a pastry-cook -'</p> - -<p>He stopped; for there shuffled round the corner, from the -roaring<br> - Motee Bazar, such a man as Kim, who thought he knew all -castes,<br> - had never seen. He was nearly six feet high, dressed in fold -upon<br> - fold of dingy stuff like horse-blanketing, and not one fold of -it<br> - could Kim refer to any known trade or profession. At his -belt<br> - hung a long open-work iron pencase and a wooden rosary such -as<br> - holy men wear. On his head was a gigantic sort of -tam-o'-shanter.<br> - His face was yellow and wrinkled, like that of Fook Shing, -the<br> - Chinese bootmaker in the bazar. His eyes turned up at the -corners<br> - and looked like little slits of onyx.</p> - -<p>'Who is that?' said Kim to his companions.</p> - -<p>'Perhaps it is a man,' said Abdullah, finger in mouth, -staring.</p> - -<p>'Without doubt.' returned Kim; 'but he is no man of India that -I<br> - have ever seen.'</p> - -<p>'A priest, perhaps,' said Chota Lal, spying the rosary. 'See! -He<br> - goes into the Wonder House!'</p> - -<p>'Nay, nay,' said the policeman, shaking his head. 'I do -not<br> - understand your talk.' The constable spoke Punjabi. 'O Friend -of<br> - all the World, what does he say?'</p> - -<p>'Send him hither,' said Kim, dropping from Zam-Zammah,<br> - flourishing his bare heels. 'He is a foreigner, and thou art -a<br> - buffalo.'</p> - -<p>The man turned helplessly and drifted towards the boys. He -was<br> - old, and his woollen gaberdine still reeked of the stinking<br> - artemisia of the mountain passes.</p> - -<p>'O Children, what is that big house?' he said in very fair -Urdu.</p> - -<p>'The Ajaib-Gher, the Wonder House!' Kim gave him no title - -such<br> - as Lala or Mian. He could not divine the man's creed.</p> - -<p>'Ah! The Wonder House! Can any enter?'</p> - -<p>'It is written above the door - all can enter.'</p> - -<p>'Without payment?'</p> - -<p>'I go in and out. I am no banker,' laughed Kim.</p> - -<p>'Alas! I am an old man. I did not know.' Then, fingering -his<br> - rosary, he half turned to the Museum.</p> - -<p>'What is your caste? Where is your house? Have you come far?' -Kim<br> - asked.</p> - -<p>'I came by Kulu - from beyond the Kailas - but what know -you?<br> - >From the Hills where' - he sighed - 'the air and water are -fresh<br> - and cool.'</p> - -<p>'Aha! Khitai [a Chinaman],' said Abdullah proudly. Fook Shing -had<br> - once chased him out of his shop for spitting at the joss -above<br> - the boots.</p> - -<p>'Pahari [a hillman],' said little Chota Lal.</p> - -<p>'Aye, child - a hillman from hills thou'lt never see. Didst -hear<br> - of Bhotiyal [Tibet]? I am no Khitai, but a Bhotiya -[Tibetan],<br> - since you must know - a lama - or, say, a guru in your -tongue.'</p> - -<p>'A guru from Tibet,' said Kim. 'I have not seen such a man. -They<br> - be Hindus in Tibet, then?'</p> - -<p>'We be followers of the Middle Way, living in peace in our<br> - lamasseries, and I go to see the Four Holy Places before I -die.<br> - Now do you, who are children, know as much as I do who am -old.'<br> - He smiled benignantly on the boys.</p> - -<p>'Hast thou eaten?'</p> - -<p>He fumbled in his bosom and drew forth a worn, wooden -begging-<br> - bowl. The boys nodded. All priests of their acquaintance -begged.</p> - -<p>'I do not wish to eat yet.' He turned his head like an. -old<br> - tortoise in the sunlight. 'Is it true that there are many -images<br> - in the Wonder House of Lahore?' He repeated the last words as -one<br> - making sure of an address.</p> - -<p>'That is true,' said Abdullah. 'It is full of heathen buts. -Thou<br> - also art an idolater.'</p> - -<p>'Never mind him,' said. Kim. 'That is the Government's house -and<br> - there is no idolatry in it, but only a Sahib with a white -beard.<br> - Come with me and I will show.'</p> - -<p>'Strange priests eat boys,' whispered Chota Lal.</p> - -<p>'And he is a stranger and a but-parast [idolater],' said<br> - Abdullah, the Mohammedan.</p> - -<p>Kim laughed. 'He is new. Run to your mothers' laps, and be -safe.<br> - Come!'</p> - -<p>Kim clicked round the self-registering turnstile; the old -man<br> - followed and halted amazed. In the entrance-hall stood the -larger<br> - figures of the Greco-Buddhist sculptures done, savants know -how<br> - long since, by forgotten workmen whose hands were feeling, -and<br> - not unskilfully, for the mysteriously transmitted Grecian -touch.<br> - There were hundreds of pieces, friezes of figures in relief,<br> - fragments of statues and slabs crowded with figures that had<br> - encrusted the brick walls of the Buddhist stupas and viharas -of<br> - the North Country and now, dug up and labelled, made the pride -of<br> - the Museum. In open-mouthed wonder the lama turned to this -and<br> - that, and finally checked in rapt attention before a large -alto-<br> - relief representing a coronation or apotheosis of the Lord<br> - Buddha. The Master was represented seated on a lotus the -petals<br> - of which were so deeply undercut as to show almost detached.<br> - Round Him was an adoring hierarchy of kings, elders, and -old-time<br> - Buddhas. Below were lotus-covered waters with fishes and -water-<br> - birds. Two butterfly-winged dewas held a wreath over His -head;<br> - above them another pair supported an umbrella surmounted by -the<br> - jewelled headdress of the Bodhisat.</p> - -<p>'The Lord! The Lord! It is Sakya Muni himself,' the lama -half<br> - sobbed; and under his breath began the wonderful Buddhist<br> - invocation:</p> - -<p><br> - To Him the Way, the Law, apart, Whom Maya held beneath her -heart,<br> - Ananda's Lord, the Bodhisat.</p> - -<p>'And He is here! The Most Excellent Law is here also. My<br> - pilgrimage is well begun. And what work! What work!'</p> - -<p>'Yonder is the Sahib.' said Kim, and dodged sideways among -the<br> - cases of the arts and manufacturers wing. A white-bearded<br> - Englishman was looking at the lama, who gravely turned and<br> - saluted him and after some fumbling drew forth a note-book and -a<br> - scrap of paper.</p> - -<p>'Yes, that is my name,' smiling at the clumsy, childish -print.</p> - -<p>'One of us who had made pilgrimage to the Holy Places - he is -now<br> - Abbot of the Lung-Cho Monastery - gave it me,' stammered the<br> - lama. 'He spoke of these.' His lean hand moved tremulously -round.</p> - -<p>'Welcome, then, O lama from Tibet. Here be the images, and I -am<br> - here' - he glanced at the lama's face - 'to gather -knowledge.<br> - Come to my office awhile.' The old man was trembling with<br> - excitement.</p> - -<p>The office was but a little wooden cubicle partitioned off -from<br> - the sculpture-lined gallery. Kim laid himself down, his ear<br> - against a crack in the heat-split cedar door, and, following -his<br> - instinct, stretched out to listen and watch.</p> - -<p>Most of the talk was altogether above his head. The lama,<br> - haltingly at first, spoke to the Curator of his own -lamassery,<br> - the Such-zen, opposite the Painted Rocks, four months' march<br> - away. The Curator brought out a huge book of photos and -showed<br> - him that very place, perched on its crag, overlooking the<br> - gigantic valley of many-hued strata.</p> - -<p>'Ay, ay!' The lama mounted a pair of horn-rimmed spectacles -of<br> - Chinese work. 'Here is the little door through which we -bring<br> - wood before winter. And thou - the English know of these -things?<br> - He who is now Abbot of Lung-Cho told me, but I did not -believe.<br> - The Lord - the Excellent One - He has honour here too? And -His<br> - life is known?'</p> - -<p>'It is all carven upon the stones. Come and see, if thou -art<br> - rested.'</p> - -<p>Out shuffled the lama to the main hall, and, the Curator -beside<br> - him, went through the collection with the reverence of a -devotee<br> - and the appreciative instinct of a craftsman.</p> - -<p>Incident by incident in the beautiful story he identified on -the<br> - blurred stone, puzzled here and there by the unfamiliar -Greek<br> - convention, but delighted as a child at each new trove. Where -the<br> - sequence failed, as in the Annunciation, the Curator supplied -it<br> - from his mound of books - French and German, with photographs -and<br> - reproductions.</p> - -<p>Here was the devout Asita, the pendant of Simeon in the -Christian<br> - story, holding the Holy Child on his knee while mother and -father<br> - listened; and here were incidents in the legend of the -cousin<br> - Devadatta. Here was the wicked woman who accused the Master -of<br> - impurity, all confounded; here was the teaching in the -Deer-park;<br> - the miracle that stunned the fire-worshippers; here was the<br> - Bodhisat in royal state as a prince; the miraculous birth; -the<br> - death at Kusinagara, where the weak disciple fainted; while -there<br> - were almost countless repetitions of the meditation under -the<br> - Bodhi tree; and the adoration of the alms-bowl was everywhere. -In<br> - a few minutes the Curator saw that his guest was no mere -bead-<br> - telling mendicant, but a scholar of parts. And they went at -it<br> - all over again, the lama taking snuff, wiping his spectacles, -and<br> - talking at railway speed in a bewildering mixture of Urdu -and<br> - Tibetan. He had heard of the travels of the Chinese pilgrims, -Fu-<br> - Hiouen and Hwen-Tsiang, and was anxious to know if there was -any<br> - translation of their record. He drew in his breath as he -turned<br> - helplessly over the pages of Beal and Stanislas Julien. "Tis -all<br> - here. A treasure locked.' Then he composed himself reverently -to<br> - listen to fragments hastily rendered into Urdu. For the -first<br> - time he heard of the labours of European scholars, who by -the<br> - help of these and a hundred other documents have identified -the<br> - Holy Places of Buddhism. Then he was shown a mighty map, -spotted<br> - and traced with yellow. The brown finger followed the -Curator's<br> - pencil from point to point. Here was Kapilavastu, here the -Middle<br> - Kingdom, and here Mahabodhi, the Mecca of Buddhism; and here -was<br> - Kusinagara, sad place of the Holy One's death. The old man -bowed<br> - his head over the sheets in silence for a while, and the -Curator<br> - lit another pipe. Kim had fallen asleep. When he waked, the -talk,<br> - still in spate, was more within his comprehension.</p> - -<p>'And thus it was, O Fountain of Wisdom, that I decided to go -to<br> - the Holy Places which His foot had trod - to the Birthplace, -even<br> - to Kapila; then to Mahabodhi, which is Buddh Gaya - to the<br> - Monastery - to the Deer-park -to the place of His death.'</p> - -<p>The lama lowered his voice. 'And I come here alone. For five --<br> - seven - eighteen - forty years it was in my mind that the Old -Law<br> - was not well followed; being overlaid, as thou knowest, with<br> - devildom, charms, and idolatry. Even as the child outside -said<br> - but now. Ay, even as the child said, with but-parasti.'</p> - -<p>'So it comes with all faiths.'</p> - -<p>'Thinkest thou? The books of my lamassery I read, and they -were<br> - dried pith; and the later ritual with which we of the -Reformed<br> - Law have cumbered ourselves - that, too, had no worth to -these<br> - old eyes. Even the followers of the Excellent One are at feud -on<br> - feud with one another. It is all illusion. Ay, maya, -illusion.<br> - But I have another desire' - the seamed yellow face drew -within<br> - three inches of the Curator, and the long forefinger-nail -tapped<br> - on the table. 'Your scholars, by these books, have followed -the<br> - Blessed Feet in all their wanderings; but there are things -which<br> - they have not sought out. I know nothing - nothing do I know --<br> - but I go to free myself from the Wheel of Things by a broad -and<br> - open road.' He smiled with most simple triumph. 'As a pilgrim -to<br> - the Holy Places I acquire merit. But there is more. Listen to -a<br> - true thing. When our gracious Lord, being as yet a youth, -sought<br> - a mate, men said, in His father's Court, that He was too -tender<br> - for marriage. Thou knobbiest?'</p> - -<p>The Curator nodded, wondering what would come next.<br> - 'So they made the triple trial of strength against all -comers.<br> - And at the test of the Bow, our Lord first breaking that -which<br> - they gave Him, called for such a bow as none might bend. -Thou<br> - knowest?'</p> - -<p>'It is written. I have read.'</p> - -<p>'And, overshooting all other marks, the arrow passed far and -far<br> - beyond sight. At the last it fell; and, where it touched -earth,<br> - there broke out a stream which presently became a River, -whose<br> - nature, by our Lord's beneficence, and that merit He acquired -ere<br> - He freed himself, is that whoso bathes in it washes away all<br> - taint and speckle of sin.'</p> - -<p>'So it is written,' said the Curator sadly.</p> - -<p>The lama drew a long breath. "Where is that River? Fountain -of<br> - Wisdom, where fell the arrow?"</p> - -<p>'Alas', my brother, I do not know,' said the Curator.</p> - -<p>'Nay, if it please thee to forget - the one thing only that -thou<br> - hast not told me. Surely thou must know? See, I am an old man! -I<br> - ask with my head between thy feet, O Fountain of Wisdom. We -know<br> - He drew the bow! We know the arrow fell! We know the stream<br> - gushed! Where, then, is the River? My dream told me to find -it.<br> - So I came. I am here. But where is the River?'</p> - -<p>'If I knew, think you I would not cry it aloud?'</p> - -<p>'By it one attains freedom from the Wheel of Things,' the -lama<br> - went on, unheeding. 'The River of the Arrow! Think again! -Some<br> - little stream, maybe - dried in the heats? But the Holy One -would<br> - never so cheat an old man.'</p> - -<p>'I do not know. I do not know.'</p> - -<p>The lama brought his thousand-wrinkled face once more a<br> - handsbreadth from the Englishman's. 'I see thou dost not -know.<br> - Not being of the Law, the matter is hid from thee.'</p> - -<p>'Ay - hidden - hidden.'</p> - -<p>'We are both bound, thou and I, my brother. But I' - he rose -with<br> - a sweep of the soft thick drapery - 'I go to cut myself -free.<br> - Come also!'</p> - -<p>'I am bound,' said the Curator. 'But whither goest thou?'</p> - -<p>'First to Kashi [Benares]: where else? There I shall meet one -of<br> - the pure faith in a Jain temple of that city. He also is a -Seeker<br> - in secret, and from him haply I may learn. Maybe he will go -with<br> - me to Buddh Gaya. Thence north and west to Kapilavastu, and -there<br> - will I seek for the River. Nay, I will seek everywhere as I go --<br> - for the place is not known where the arrow fell.'</p> - -<p>'And how wilt thou go? It is a far cry to Delhi, and farther -to<br> - Benares.'</p> - -<p>'By road and the trains. From Pathankot, having left the -Hills, I<br> - came hither in a te-rain. It goes swiftly. At first I was -amazed<br> - to see those tall poles by the side of the road snatching up -and<br> - snatching up their threads,' - he illustrated the stoop and -whirl<br> - of a telegraph-pole flashing past the train. 'But later, I -was<br> - cramped and desired to walk, as I am used.'</p> - -<p>'And thou art sure of thy road?' said the Curator.</p> - -<p>'Oh. for that one but asks a question and pays money, and -the<br> - appointed persons despatch all to the appointed place. That -much<br> - I knew in my lamassery from sure report,' said the lama -proudly.</p> - -<p>'And when dost thou go?' The Curator smiled at the mixture -of<br> - old-world piety and modern progress that is the note of -India<br> - today.</p> - -<p>'As soon as may be. I follow the places of His life till I -come<br> - to the River of the Arrow. There is, moreover, a written paper -of<br> - the hours of the trains that go south.'</p> - -<p>'And for food?' Lamas, as a rule, have good store of money<br> - somewhere about them, but the Curator wished to make sure.</p> - -<p>'For the journey, I take up the Master's begging-bowl. Yes. -Even<br> - as He went so go I, forsaking the ease of my monastery. There -was<br> - with me when I left the hills a chela [disciple] who begged -for<br> - me as the Rule demands, but halting in Kulu awhile a fever -took<br> - him and he died. I have now no chela, but I will take the -alms-<br> - bowl and thus enable the charitable to acquire merit.' He -nodded<br> - his head valiantly. Learned doctors of a lamassery do not -beg,<br> - but the lama was an enthusiast in this quest.</p> - -<p>'Be it so,' said the Curator, smiling. 'Suffer me now to -acquire<br> - merit. We be craftsmen together, thou and I. Here is a new -book<br> - of white English paper: here be sharpened pencils two and three --<br> - thick and thin, all good for a scribe. Now lend me thy -spectacles.'</p> - -<p>The Curator looked through them. They were heavily scratched, -but<br> - the power was almost exactly that of his own pair, which he -slid<br> - into the lama's hand, saying: 'Try these.'</p> - -<p>'A feather! A very feather upon the face? The old man turned -his<br> - head delightedly and wrinkled up his nose. 'How scarcely do -I<br> - feel them! How clearly do I see!</p> - -<p>'They be, bilaur - crystal - and will never scratch. May -they<br> - help thee to thy River, for they are thine.'</p> - -<p>'I will take them and the pencils and the white note-book,' -said<br> - the lama, 'as a sign of friendship between priest and priest --<br> - and now -' He fumbled at his belt, detached the open-work -iron<br> - pincers, and laid it on the Curator's table. 'That is for a<br> - memory between thee and me - my pencase. It is something old --<br> - even as I am.'</p> - -<p>It was a piece of ancient design, Chinese, of an iron that is -not<br> - smelted these days; and the collector's heart in the -Curator's<br> - bosom had gone out to it from the first. For no persuasion -would<br> - the lama resume his gift.</p> - -<p>'When I return, having found the River, I will bring thee -a<br> - written picture of the Padma Samthora such as I used to make -on<br> - silk at the lamassery. Yes - and of the Wheel of Life,' he<br> - chuckled, 'for we be craftsmen together, thou and I.'</p> - -<p>The Curator would have detained him: they are few in the -world<br> - who still have the secret of the conventional brush-pen -Buddhist<br> - pictures which are, as it were, half written and half drawn. -But<br> - the lama strode out, head high in air, and pausing an -instant<br> - before the great statue of a Bodhisat in meditation, brushed<br> - through the turnstiles.</p> - -<p>Kim followed like a shadow. What he had overheard excited -him<br> - wildly. This man was entirely new to all his experience, and -he<br> - meant to investigate further, precisely as he would have<br> - investigated a new building or a strange festival in Lahore -city.<br> - The lama was his trove, and he purposed to take possession. -Kim's<br> - mother had been Irish too.</p> - -<p>The old man halted by Zam-Zammah and looked round till his -eye<br> - fell on Kim. The inspiration of his pilgrimage had left him -for<br> - awhile, and he felt old, forlorn, and very empty.</p> - -<p>'Do not sit under that gun,' said the policeman loftily.</p> - -<br> -'Huh! Owl!' was Kim's retort on the lama's behalf 'Sit under that -<br> -gun if it please thee. When didst thou steal the milkwoman's <br> -slippers, Dunnoo?' - -<p>That was an utterly unfounded charge sprung on the spur of -the<br> - moment, but it silenced Dunnoo, who knew that Kim's clear -yell<br> - could call up legions of bad bazar boys if need arose.</p> - -<p>'And whom didst thou worship within?' said Kim affably, -squatting<br> - in the shade beside the lama.</p> - -<p>'I worshipped none, child. I bowed before the Excellent -Law.'</p> - -<p>Kim accepted this new God without emotion. He knew already a -few<br> - score.</p> - -<p>'And what dost thou do?'</p> - -<p>'I beg. I remember now it is long since I have eaten or -drunk.<br> - What is the custom of charity in this town? In silence, as we -do<br> - of Tibet, or speaking aloud?'</p> - -<p>'Those who beg in silence starve in silence,' said Kim, -quoting a<br> - native proverb. The lama tried to rise, but sank back again,<br> - sighing for his disciple, dead in far-away Kulu. Kim watched -head<br> - to one side, considering and interested.</p> - -<p>'Give me the bowl. I know the people of this city - all who -are<br> - charitable. Give, and I will bring it back filled.'</p> - -<p>Simply as a child the old man handed him the bowl.<br> - [start here]<br> - 'Rest, thou. I know the people.'</p> - -<p>He trotted off to the open shop of a kunjri, a low-caste<br> - vegetable-seller, which lay opposite the belt-tramway line -down<br> - the Motee Bazar. She knew Kim of old.</p> - -<p>'Oho, hast thou turned yogi with thy begging-bowl?' she -cried.</p> - -<p>'Nay.' said Kim proudly. 'There is a new priest in the city a -man<br> - such as I have never seen.'</p> - -<p>'Old priest - young tiger,' said the woman angrily. 'I am -tired<br> - of new priests! They settle on our wares like flies. Is the<br> - father of my son a well of charity to give to all who ask?'</p> - -<p>'No,' said Kim. 'Thy man is rather yagi [bad-tempered] than -yogi<br> - [a holy man]. But this priest is new. The Sahib in the -Wonder<br> - House has talked to him like a brother. O my mother, fill me -this<br> - bowl. He waits.'</p> - -<p>'That bowl indeed! That cow-bellied basket! Thou hast as -much<br> - grace as the holy bull of Shiv. He has taken the best of a -basket<br> - of onions already, this morn; and forsooth, I must fill thy -bowl.<br> - He comes here again.'</p> - -<p>The huge, mouse-coloured Brahmini bull of the ward was<br> - shouldering his way through the many-coloured crowd, a -stolen<br> - plantain hanging out of his mouth. He headed straight for -the<br> - shop, well knowing his privileges as a sacred beast, lowered -his<br> - head, and puffed heavily along the line of baskets ere making -his<br> - choice. Up flew Kim's hard little heel and caught him on his<br> - moist blue nose. He snorted indignantly, and walked away -across<br> - the tram-rails, his hump quivering with rage.</p> - -<p>'See! I have saved more than the bowl will cost thrice over. -Now,<br> - mother, a little rice and some dried fish atop - yes, and -some<br> - vegetable curry.'</p> - -<p>A growl came out of the back of the shop, where a man lay.</p> - -<p>'He drove away the bull,' said the woman in an undertone. 'It -is<br> - good to give to the poor.' She took the bowl and returned it -full<br> - of hot rice.</p> - -<p>'But my yogi is not a cow,' said Kim gravely, making a hole -with<br> - his fingers in the top of the mound. 'A little curry is good, -and<br> - a fried cake, and a morsel of conserve would please him, I<br> - think.'</p> - -<p>'It is a hole as big as thy head,' said the woman fretfully. -But<br> - she filled it, none the less, with good, steaming vegetable<br> - curry, clapped a fried cake atop, and a morsel of clarified<br> - butter on the cake, dabbed a lump of sour tamarind conserve -at<br> - the side; and Kim looked at the load lovingly.</p> - -<p>'That is good. When I am in the bazar the bull shall not come -to<br> - this house. He is a bold beggar-man.'</p> - -<p>'And thou?' laughed the woman. 'But speak well of bulls. -Hast<br> - thou not told me that some day a Red Bull will come out of a<br> - field to help thee? Now hold all straight and ask for the -holy<br> - man's blessing upon me. Perhaps, too, he knows a cure for my<br> - daughter's -sore eyes. Ask. him that also, O thou Little -Friend<br> - of all the World.'</p> - -<p>But Kim had danced off ere the end of the sentence, -dodging<br> - pariah dogs and hungry acquaintances.</p> - -<p>'Thus do we beg who know the way of it,' said he proudly to -the<br> - lama, who opened his eyes at the contents of the bowl. 'Eat -now<br> - and - I will eat with thee. Ohe, bhisti!' he called to the -water-<br> - carrier, sluicing the crotons by the Museum. 'Give water here. -We<br> - men are thirsty.'</p> - -<p>'We men!' said the bhisti, laughing. 'Is one skinful enough -for<br> - such a pair? Drink, then, in the name of the Compassionate.'</p> - -<p>He loosed a thin stream into Kim's hands, who drank -nativefasion;<br> - but the lama must needs pull out a cup from his -inexhaustible<br> - upper draperies and drink ceremonially.</p> - -<p>'Pardesi [a foreigner],' Kim explained, as the old man -delivered<br> - in an unknown tongue what was evidently a blessing.</p> - -<p>They ate together in great content, clearing the -beggingbowl.<br> - Then the lama took snuff from a portentous wooden -snuff-gourd,<br> - fingered his rosary awhile, and so dropped into the easy sleep -of<br> - age, as the shadow of Zam-Zammah grew long.</p> - -<p>Kim loafed over to the nearest tobacco-seller, a rather -lively<br> - young Mohammedan woman, and begged a rank cigar of the brand -that<br> - they sell to students of the Punjab University who copy -English<br> - customs. Then he smoked and thought, knees to chin, under -the<br> - belly of the gun, and the outcome of his thoughts was a -sudden<br> - and stealthy departure in the direction of Nila Ram's -timber-<br> - yard.</p> - -<p>The lama did not wake till the evening life of the city had -begun<br> - with lamp-lighting and the return of white-robed clerks and<br> - subordinates from the Government offices. He stared dizzily -in<br> - all directions, but none looked at him save a Hindu urchin in -a<br> - dirty turban and Isabella-coloured clothes. Suddenly he bowed -his<br> - head on his knees and wailed.</p> - -<p>'What is this?' said the boy, standing before him. 'Hast -thou<br> - been robbed?'</p> - -<p>'It is my new chela [disciple] that is gone away from me, and -I<br> - know not where he is.'</p> - -<p>'And what like of man was thy disciple?'</p> - -<p>'It was a boy who came to me in place of him who died, on -account<br> - of the merit which I had gained when I bowed before the Law<br> - within there.' He pointed towards the Museum. 'He came upon me -to<br> - show me a road which I had lost. He led me into the Wonder -House,<br> - and by his talk emboldened me to speak to the Keeper of the<br> - Images, so that I was cheered and made strong. And when I -was<br> - faint with hunger he begged for me, as would a chela for his<br> - teacher. Suddenly was he sent. Suddenly has he gone away. It -was<br> - in my mind to have taught him the Law upon the road to -Benares.'</p> - -<p>Kim stood amazed at this, because he had overheard the talk -in<br> - the Museum, and knew that the old man was speaking the -truth,<br> - which is a thing a native on the road seldom presents to a<br> - stranger.</p> - -<p>'But I see now that he was but sent for a purpose. By this I -know<br> - that I shall find a certain River for which I seek.'</p> - -<p>'The River of the Arrow?' said Kim, with a superior smile.</p> - -<p>'Is this yet another Sending?' cried the lama. 'To none have -I<br> - spoken of my search, save to the Priest of the Images. Who -art<br> - thou?'</p> - -<p>'Thy chela,' said Kim simply, sitting on his heels. 'I have -never<br> - seen anyone like to thee in all this my life. I go with thee -to<br> - Benares. And, too, I think that so old a man as thou, -speaking<br> - the truth to chance-met people at dusk, is in great need of -a<br> - disciple.'</p> - -<p>'But the River - the River of the Arrow?'</p> - -<p>'Oh, that I heard when thou wast speaking to the- Englishman. -I<br> - lay against the door.'</p> - -<p>The lama sighed. 'I thought thou hadst been a guide -permitted.<br> - Such things fall sometimes - but I am not worthy. Thou dost -not,<br> - then, know the River?'</p> - -<p>'Not U Kim laughed uneasily. 'I go to look for - for a bull -a<br> - Red. Bull on a green field who shall help me.' Boylike, if -an<br> - acquaintance had a scheme, Kim was quite ready with one of -his<br> - own; and,</p> - -<p>boylike, he had really thought for as much as twenty minutes -at a<br> - time of his father's prophecy.</p> - -<p>'To what, child?' said the lama.</p> - -<p>'God knows, but so my father told me'. I heard thy talk in -the<br> - Wonder House of all those new strange places in the Hills, and -if<br> - one so old and so little - so used to truth-telling - may go -out<br> - for the small matter of a river, it seemed to me that I too -must<br> - go a-travelling. If it is our fate to find those things we -shall<br> - find them - thou, thy River; and I, my Bull, and the Strong<br> - Pillars and some other matters that I forget.'</p> - -<p>'It is not pillars but a Wheel from which I would be free,' -said<br> - the lama.</p> - -<p>'That is all one. Perhaps they will make me a king,' said -Kim,<br> - serenely prepared for anything.</p> - -<p>'I will teach thee other and better desires upon the road,' -the<br> - lama replied in the voice of authority. 'Let us go to -Benares.'</p> - -<p>'Not by night. Thieves are abroad. Wait till the day.'</p> - -<p>'But there is no place to sleep.' The old man was used to -the<br> - order of his monastery, and though he slept on the ground, as -the<br> - Rule decrees, preferred a decency in these things.</p> - -<p>'We shall get good lodging at the Kashmir Serai,' said -Kim,<br> - laughing at his perplexity. 'I have a friend there. Come!'</p> - -<p>The hot and crowded bazars blazed with light as they made -their<br> - way through the press of all the races in Upper India, and -the<br> - lama mooned through it like a man in a dream. It was his -first<br> - experience of a large manufacturing city, and the crowded -tram-<br> - car with its continually squealing brakes frightened him. -Half<br> - pushed, half towed, he arrived at the high gate of the -Kashmir<br> - Serai: that huge open square over against the railway -station,<br> - surrounded with arched cloisters, where the camel and horse<br> - caravans put up on their return from Central Asia. Here were -all<br> - manner of Northern folk, tending tethered ponies and -kneeling<br> - camels; loading and unloading bales and bundles; drawing -water<br> - for the evening meal at the creaking well-windlasses; piling<br> - grass before the shrieking, wild-eyed stallions; cuffing the<br> - surly caravan dogs; paying off camel-drivers; taking on new<br> - grooms; swearing, shouting, arguing, and chaffering in the -packed<br> - square. The cloisters, reached by three or four masonry -steps,<br> - made a haven of refuge around this turbulent sea. Most of -them<br> - were rented to traders, as we rent the arches of a viaduct; -the<br> - space between pillar and pillar being bricked or boarded off -into<br> - rooms, which were guarded by heavy wooden doors and cumbrous<br> - native padlocks. Locked doors showed that the owner was away, -and<br> - a few rude - sometimes very rude - chalk or paint scratches -told<br> - where he had gone. Thus: 'Lutuf Ullah is gone to Kurdistan.'<br> - Below, in coarse verse: 'O Allah, who sufferest lice to live -on<br> - the coat of a Kabuli, why hast thou allowed this louse Lutuf -to<br> - live so long?'</p> - -<br> -Kim, fending the lama between excited men and excited beasts, -<br> -sidled along the cloisters to the far end, nearest the -railway -<br> -station, where Mahbub Ali, the horse-trader, lived when he came -<br> -in from that mysterious land beyond the Passes of the North. - -<p>Kim had had many dealings with Mahbub in his little life,<br> - especially between his tenth and his thirteenth year - and -the<br> - big burly Afghan, his beard dyed scarlet with lime (for he -was<br> - elderly and did not wish his grey hairs to show), knew the -boy's<br> - value as a gossip. Sometimes he would tell Kim to watch a man -who<br> - had nothing whatever to do with horses: to follow him for -one<br> - whole day and report every soul with whom he talked. Kim -would<br> - deliver himself of his tale at evening, and Mahbub would -listen<br> - without a word or gesture. It was intrigue of some kind, Kim<br> - knew; but its worth lay in saying nothing whatever to anyone<br> - except Mahbub, who gave him beautiful meals all hot from the<br> - cookshop at the head of the serai, and once as much as eight<br> - annas in money.</p> - -<p>'He is here,' said Kim, hitting a bad-tempered camel on the -nose.<br> - 'Ohe. Mahbub Ali!' He halted at a dark arch and slipped -behind<br> - the bewildered lama.</p> - -<p>The horse-trader, his deep, embroidered Bokhariot belt -unloosed,<br> - was lying on a pair of silk carpet saddle-bags, pulling lazily -at<br> - an immense silver hookah. He turned his head very slightly at -the<br> - cry; and seeing only the tall silent figure, chuckled in his<br> - deep. chest.</p> - -<p>'Allah! A lama! A Red Lama! It is far from Lahore to the -Passes.<br> - What dost thou do here?'</p> - -<p>The lama held out the begging-bowl mechanically.</p> - -<p>'God's curse on all unbelievers!' said Mahbub. 'I do not give -to<br> - a lousy Tibetan; but ask my Baltis over yonder behind the -camels.<br> - They may value your blessings. Oh, horseboys, here is a<br> - countryman of yours. See if he be hungry.'</p> - -<p>A shaven, crouching Balti, who had come down with the horses, -and<br> - who was nominally some sort of degraded Buddhist, fawned upon -the<br> - priest, and in thick gutturals besought the Holy One to sit -at<br> - the horseboys' fire.</p> - -<p>'Go!' said Kim, pushing him lightly, and the lama strode -away,<br> - leaving Kim at the edge of the cloister.</p> - -<p>'Go!' said Mahbub Ali, returning to his hookah. 'Little -Hindu,<br> - run away. God's curse on all unbelievers! Beg from those of -my<br> - tail who are of thy faith.'</p> - -<p>'Maharaj,' whined Kim, using the Hindu form of address, -and<br> - thoroughly enjoying the situation; 'my father is dead - my -mother<br> - is dead - my stomach is empty.'</p> - -<p>'Beg from my men among the horses, I say. There must be -some<br> - Hindus in my tall.'</p> - -<p>'Oh, Mahbub Ali, but am I a Hindu?' said Kim in English.</p> - -<p>The trader gave no sign of astonishment, but looked under -shaggy<br> - eyebrows.</p> - -<p>'Little Friend of all the World,' said he, 'what is this?'</p> - -<p>'Nothing. I am now that holy man's disciple; and we go a<br> - pilgrimage together - to Benares, he says. He is quite mad, and -I<br> - am tired of Lahore city. I wish new air and water.'</p> - -<p>'But for whom dost thou work? Why come to me?' The voice -was<br> - harsh with suspicion.</p> - -<p>'To whom else should I come? I have no money. It is not good -to<br> - go about without money. Thou wilt sell many horses to the<br> - officers. They are very fine horses, these new ones: I have -seen<br> - them. Give me a rupee, Mahbub Ali, and when I come to my wealth -I<br> - will give thee a bond and pay.'</p> - -<p>'Um!' said Mahbub Ali, thinking swiftly. 'Thou hast never -before<br> - lied to me. Call that lama - stand back in the dark.'</p> - -<p>'Oh, our tales will agree,' said Kim, laughing.</p> - -<p>'We go to Benares,' said the lama, as soon as he understood -the<br> - drift of Mahbub Ali's questions. 'The boy and I, I go to seek -for<br> - a certain River.'</p> - -<p>'Maybe - but the boy?'</p> - -<p>'He is my disciple. He was sent, I think, to guide me to -that<br> - River. Sitting under a. gun was I when he came suddenly. -Such<br> - things have befallen the fortunate to whom guidance was -allowed.<br> - But I remember now, he said he was of this world - a Hindu.'</p> - -<p>'And his name?'</p> - -<p>'That I did not ask. Is he not my disciple?'</p> - -<p>'His country - his race - his village? Mussalman - Sikh Hindu --<br> - Jain - low caste or high?'</p> - -<p>'Why should I ask? There is neither high nor low in the -Middle<br> - Way. If he is my chela - does - will - can anyone take him -from<br> - me? for, look you, without him I shall not find my River.' -He<br> - wagged his head solemnly.</p> - -<p>'None shall take him from thee. Go, sit among my Baltis,' -said<br> - Mahbub Ali, and the lama drifted off, soothed by the -promise.</p> - -<p>'Is he not quite mad?' said Kim, coming forward to the -light<br> - again. 'Why should I lie to thee, Hajji?'</p> - -<p>Mahbub puffed his hookah in silence. Then he began, almost<br> - whispering: 'Umballa is on the road to Benares - if indeed ye -two<br> - go there.'</p> - -<p>'Tck! Tck! I tell thee he does not know how to lie - as we -two<br> - know.'</p> - -<p>'And if thou wilt carry a message for me as far as Umballa, -I<br> - will give thee money. It concerns a horse - a white stallion<br> - which I have sold to an officer upon the last time I -returned<br> - from the Passes. But then - stand nearer and hold up hands -as<br> - begging -the pedigree of the white stallion was not fully<br> - established, and that officer, who is now at Umballa, bade -me<br> - make it clear.' (Mahbub here described the horse and the<br> - appearance of the officer.) 'So the message to that officer -will<br> - be: "The pedigree of the white stallion is fully established." -By<br> - this will he know that thou comest from me. He will then say<br> - "What proof hast thou?" and thou wilt answer: "Mahbub Ali -has<br> - given me the proof."'</p> - -<p>'And all for the sake of a white stallion,' said Kim, with -a<br> - giggle, his eyes aflame.</p> - -<p>'That pedigree I will give thee now - in my own fashion and -some<br> - hard words as well.' A shadow passed behind Kim, and a -feeding<br> - camel. Mahbub Ali raised his voice.</p> - -<p>'Allah! Art thou the only beggar in the city? Thy mother is -dead.<br> - Thy father is dead. So is it with all of them. Well, well - -'</p> - -<p>He turned as feeling on the floor beside him and tossed a flap -of<br> - soft, greasy Mussalman bread to the boy. 'Go and lie down -among<br> - my horseboys for tonight - thou and the lama. Tomorrow I may -give<br> - thee service.'</p> - -<p>Kim slunk away, his teeth in the bread, and, as he expected, -he<br> - found a small wad of folded tissue-paper wrapped in oilskin, -with<br> - three silver rupees - enormous largesse. He smiled and -thrust<br> - money and paper into his leather amulet-case. The lama,<br> - sumptuously fed by Mahbub's Baltis, was already asleep in a<br> - corner of one of the stalls. Kim lay down beside him and -laughed.<br> - He knew he had rendered a service to Mahbub Ali, and not for -one<br> - little minute did he believe the tale of the stallion's -pedigree.</p> - -<p>But Kim did not suspect that Mahbub Ali, known as one of the -best<br> - horse-dealers in the Punjab, a wealthy and enterprising -trader,<br> - whose caravans penetrated far and far into the Back of -Beyond,<br> - was registered in one of the locked books of the Indian -Survey<br> - Department as C25 IB. Twice or thrice yearly C25 would send in -a<br> - little story, baldly told but most interesting, and generally --<br> - it was checked by the statements of R17 and M4 - quite true. -It<br> - concerned all manner of out-of-the-way mountain -principalities,<br> - explorers of nationalities other than English, and the guntrade --<br> - was, in brief, a small portion of that vast mass of -'information<br> - received' on which the Indian Government acts. But, -recently,<br> - five confederated Kings, who had no business to confederate, -had<br> - been informed by a kindly Northern Power that there was a -leakage<br> - of news from their territories into British India. So those<br> - Kings' Prime Ministers were seriously annoyed and took -steps,<br> - after the Oriental fashion. They suspected, among many -others,<br> - the bullying, red-bearded horsedealer whose caravans -ploughed<br> - through their fastnesses belly-deep in snow. At least, his<br> - caravan that season had been ambushed and shot at twice on -the<br> - way down, when Mahbub's men accounted for three strange -ruffians<br> - who might, or might not, have been hired for the job. -Therefore<br> - Mahbub had avoided halting at the insalubrious city of -Peshawur,<br> - and had come through without stop to Lahore, where, knowing -his<br> - country-people, he anticipated curious developments.</p> - -<br> -And there was that on Mahbub Ali which he did not wish to keep an -<br> -hour longer than was necessary - a wad of closely folded -tissue-<br> -paper, wrapped in oilskin - an impersonal, unaddressed statement, -<br> -with five microscopic pin-holes in one corner, that most <br> -scandalously betrayed the five confederated Kings, the <br> -sympathetic Northern Power, a Hindu banker in Peshawur, a firm of -<br> -gun-makers in Belgium, and an important, semi-independent <br> -Mohammedan ruler to the south. This last was R17's work, which -<br> -Mahbub had picked up beyond the Dora Pass and was carrying in for -<br> -R17, who, owing to circumstances over which he had no control, -<br> -could not leave his post of observation. Dynamite was milky and -<br> -innocuous beside that report Of C25; and even an Oriental, with -<br> -an Oriental's views of the value of time, could see that the <br> -sooner it was in the proper hands the better. Mahbub had no <br> -particular desire to die by violence, because two or three family -<br> -blood-feuds across the Border hung unfinished on his hands, and -<br> -when these scores were cleared he intended to settle down as a -<br> -more or less virtuous citizen. He had never passed the serai gate -<br> -since his arrival two days ago, but had been ostentatious in <br> -sending telegrams to Bombay, where he banked some of his money; -<br> -to Delhi, where a sub-partner of his own clan was selling horses -<br> -to the agent of a Rajputana state; and to Umballa, where an <br> -Englishman was excitedly demanding the pedigree of a white <br> -stallion. The public letter-writer, who knew English, composed -<br> -excellent telegrams, such as: 'Creighton, Laurel Bank, Umballa. -<br> -Horse is Arabian as already advised. Sorrowful delayed pedigree -<br> -which am translating.' And later to the same address: 'Much <br> -sorrowful delay. Will forward pedigree.' To his sub-partner at -<br> -Delhi he wired: 'Lutuf Ullah. Have wired two thousand rupees your -<br> -credit Luchman Narain's bank-' This was entirely in the way of -<br> -trade, but every one of those telegrams was discussed and re-<br> -discussed, by parties who conceived themselves to be interested, -<br> -before they went over to the railway station in charge of a <br> -foolish Balti, who allowed all sorts of people to read them on -<br> -the road. - -<p>When, in Mahbub's own picturesque language, he had muddied -the<br> - wells of inquiry with the stick of precaution, Kim had dropped -on<br> - him, sent from Heaven; and, being as prompt as he was<br> - unscrupulous, Mahbub Ali used to taking all sorts of gusty<br> - chances, pressed him into service on the spot.</p> - -<p>A wandering lama with a low-caste boy-servant might attract -a<br> - moment's interest as they wandered about India, the land of<br> - pilgrims; but no one would suspect them or, what was more to -the<br> - point, rob.</p> - -<p>He called for a new light-ball to his hookah, and considered -the<br> - case. If the worst came to the worst, and the boy came to -harm,<br> - the paper would incriminate nobody. And he would go up to -Umballa<br> - leisurely and - at a certain risk of exciting fresh suspicion --<br> - repeat his tale by word of mouth to the people concerned.</p> - -<p>But R17's report was the kernel of the whole affair, and it -would<br> - be distinctly inconvenient if that failed to come to hand.<br> - However, God was great, and Mahbub Ali felt he had done all -he<br> - could for the time being. Kim was the one soul in the world -who<br> - had never told him a lie. That would have been a fatal blot -on<br> - Kim's character if Mahbub had not known that to others, for -his<br> - own ends or Mahbub's business, Kim could lie like an -Oriental.</p> - -<p>Then Mahbub Ali rolled across the serai to the Gate of the<br> - Harpies who paint their eyes and trap the stranger, and was -at<br> - some pains to call on the one girl who, he had reason to -believe,<br> - was a particular friend of a smooth-faced Kashmiri pundit who -had<br> - waylaid his simple Balti in the matter of the telegrams. It -was<br> - an utterly foolish thing to do; because they fell to -drinking<br> - perfumed brandy against the Law of the Prophet, and Mahbub -grew<br> - wonderfully drunk, and the gates of his mouth were loosened, -and<br> - he pursued the Flower of Delight with the feet of -intoxication<br> - till he fell flat among the cushions, where the Flower of<br> - Delight, aided by a smooth-faced Kashmiri pundit, searched -him<br> - from head to foot most thoroughly.</p> - -<p>About the same hour Kim heard soft feet in Mahbub's -deserted<br> - stall. The horse-trader, curiously enough, had left his door<br> - unlocked, and his men were busy celebrating their return to -India<br> - with a whole sheep of Mahbub's bounty. A sleek young -gentleman<br> - from Delhi, armed with a bunch of keys which the Flower had<br> - unshackled from the senseless one's belt, went through every<br> - single box, bundle, mat, and saddle-bag in Mahbub's -possession<br> - even more systematically than the Flower and the pundit were<br> - searching the owner.</p> - -<p>'And I think.' said the Flower scornfully an hour later, -one<br> - rounded elbow on the snoring carcass, 'that he is no more than -a<br> - pig of an Afghan horse-dealer, with no thought except women -and<br> - horses. Moreover, he may have sent it away by now - if ever -there<br> - were such a thing.'</p> - -<p>'Nay - in a matter touching Five Kings it would be next his -black<br> - heart,' said the pundit. 'Was there nothing?'</p> - -<p>The Delhi man laughed and resettled his turban as he entered. -'I<br> - searched between the soles of his slippers as the Flower -searched<br> - his clothes. This is not the man but another. I leave little<br> - unseen.'</p> - -<p>'They did not say he was the very man,' said the pundit<br> - thoughtfully. 'They said, "Look if he be the man, since our<br> - counsels are troubled."'</p> - -<p>'That North country is full of horse-dealers as an old coat -of<br> - lice. There is Sikandar Khan, Nur Ali Beg, and Farrukh Shah -all<br> - heads of kafilas [caravans] - who deal there,' said the -Flower.</p> - -<p>'They have not yet come in,' said the pundit. 'Thou must -ensnare<br> - them later.'</p> - -<p>Phew!' said the Flower with deep disgust, rolling Mahbub's -head<br> - from her lap. 'I earn my money. Farrukh Shah is a bear, Ali Beg -a<br> - swashbuckler, and old Sikandar Khan - yaie! Go! I sleep now. -This<br> - swine will not stir till dawn.'</p> - -<p>When Mahbub woke, the Flower talked to him severely on the sin -of<br> - drunkenness. Asiatics do not wink when they have outmanoeuvred -an<br> - enemy, but as Mahbub Ali cleared his throat, tightened his -belt,<br> - and staggered forth under the early morning stars, he came -very<br> - near to it.</p> - -<p>'What a colt's trick!' said he to himself 'As if every girl -in<br> - Peshawur did not use it! But 'twas prettily done. Now God He<br> - knows how many more there be upon the Road who have orders -to<br> - test me - perhaps with the knife. So it stands that the boy -must<br> - go to Umballa - and by rail -for the writing is something<br> - urgent. I abide here, following the Flower and drinking wine -as<br> - an Afghan coper should.'</p> - -<p>He halted at the stall next but one to his own. His men lay -there<br> - heavy with sleep. There was no sign of Kim or the lama.</p> - -<p>'Up! He stirred a sleeper. 'Whither went those who lay here -last<br> - even - the lama and the boy? Is aught missing?'</p> - -<p>'Nay,' grunted the man, 'the old madman rose at second -cockcrow<br> - saying he would go to Benares, and the young one led him -away.'</p> - -<p>'The curse of Allah on all unbelievers!' said Mahbub -heartily,<br> - and climbed into his own stall, growling in his beard.</p> - -<p>But it was Kim who had wakened the lama - Kim with one eye -laid<br> - against a knot-hole in the planking, who had seen the Delhi -man's<br> - search through the boxes. This was no common thief that -turned<br> - over letters, bills, and saddles - no mere burglar who ran a<br> - little knife sideways into the soles of Mahbub's slippers, -or<br> - picked the seams of the saddle-bags so deftly. At first Kim -had<br> - been minded to give the alarm - the long-drawn cho-or --choor!<br> - [thief! thief!] that sets the serai ablaze of nights; but he<br> - looked more carefully, and, hand on amulet, drew his own<br> - conclusions.</p> - -<p>'It must be the pedigree of that made-up horse-lie,' said -he,<br> - 'the thing that I carry to Umballa. Better that we go now. -Those<br> - who search bags with knives may presently search bellies -with<br> - knives. Surely there is a woman behind this. Hai! Hai! in a<br> - whisper to the light-sleeping old man. 'Come. It is time - -time<br> - to go to Benares.'</p> - -<p>The lama rose obediently, and they passed out of the serai -like<br> - shadows.</p> - -<p></p> - -<h2>Chapter 2</h2> - -<p><br> - And whoso will, from Pride released;<br> - Contemning neither creed nor priest,<br> - May feel the Soul of all the East.<br> - About him at Kamakura.</p> - -<p>Buddha at Kamakura.</p> - -<p><br> - They entered the fort-like railway station, black in the end -of<br> - night; the electrics sizzling over the goods-yard where they<br> - handle the heavy Northern grain-traffic.</p> - -<p>'This is the work of devils!' said the lama, recoiling from -the<br> - hollow echoing darkness, the glimmer of rails between the -masonry<br> - platforms, and the maze of girders above. He stood in a -gigantic<br> - stone hall paved, it seemed, with the sheeted dead -third-class<br> - passengers who had taken their tickets overnight and were<br> - sleeping in the waiting-rooms. All hours of the twenty-four -are<br> - alike to Orientals, and their passenger traffic is regulated<br> - accordingly.</p> - -<p>'This is where the fire-carriages come. One stands behind -that<br> - hole' -Kim pointed to the ticket-office - 'who will give thee -a<br> - paper to take thee to Umballa.'</p> - -<p>'But we go to Benares,' he replied petulantly.</p> - -<p>'All one. Benares then. Quick: she comes!'</p> - -<p>'Take thou the purse.'</p> - -<p>The lama, not so well used to trains as he had pretended, -started<br> - as the 3.25a.m. south-bound roared in. The sleepers sprang -to<br> - life, and the station filled with clamour and shoutings, cries -of<br> - water and sweetmeat vendors, shouts of native policemen, and<br> - shrill yells of women gathering up their baskets, their -families,<br> - and their husbands.</p> - -<p>'It is the train - only the te-rain. It will not come -here.<br> - Wait!' Amazed at the lama's immense- simplicity (he had -handed<br> - him a small bag full of rupees), Kim asked and paid for a -ticket<br> - to Umballa. A sleepy clerk grunted and flung out a ticket to -the<br> - next station, just six miles distant.</p> - -<p>'Nay,' said Kim, scanning it with a grin. 'This may serve -for<br> - farmers, but I live in the city of Lahore. It was cleverly -done,<br> - Babu. Now give the ticket to Umballa.'</p> - -<p>The Babu scowled and dealt the proper ticket.</p> - -<p>'Now another to Amritzar,' said Kim, who had no notion of<br> - spending Mahbub Ali's money on anything so crude as a paid -ride<br> - to Umballa. 'The price is so much. The small money in return -is<br> - just so much. I know the ways of the te-rain ... Never did -yogi<br> - need chela as thou dost,' he went on merrily to the -bewildered<br> - lama. 'They would have flung thee out at Mian Mir but for -me.<br> - This way! Come!' He returned the money, keeping only one anna -in<br> - each rupee of the price of the Umballa ticket as his commission --<br> - the immemorial commission of Asia.</p> - -<p>The lama jibbed at the open door of a crowded third-class<br> - carriage. 'Were it not better to walk?' said he weakly.</p> - -<p>A burly Sikh artisan thrust forth his bearded head. 'Is he<br> - afraid? Do not be afraid. I remember the time when I was -afraid<br> - of the te-rain. Enter! This thing is the work of the -Government.'</p> - -<p>'I do not fear,' said the lama. 'Have ye room within for -two?'</p> - -<p>'There is no room even for a mouse,' shrilled the wife of a -well-<br> - to-do cultivator - a Hindu Jat from the rich Jullundur, -district.<br> - Our night trains are not as well looked after as the day -ones,<br> - where the sexes are very strictly kept to separate -carriages.</p> - -<p>'Oh, mother of my son, we can make space,' said the -blueturbaned<br> - husband. 'Pick up the child. It is a holy man, see'st thou?'</p> - -<p>'And my lap full of seventy times seven bundles! Why not bid -him<br> - sit on my knee, Shameless? But men are ever thus!' She -looked<br> - round for approval. An Amritzar courtesan near the window -sniffed<br> - behind her head drapery.</p> - -<p>'Enter! Enter!' cried a fat Hindu money-lender, his folded<br> - account-book in a cloth under his arm. With an oily smirk: 'It -is<br> - well to be kind to the poor.'</p> - -<p>'Ay, at seven per cent a month with a mortgage on the -unborn<br> - calf,' said a young Dogra, soldier going south on leave; and -they<br> - all laughed.</p> - -<p>'Will it travel to Benares?' said the lama.</p> - -<p>'Assuredly. Else why should we come? Enter, or we are -left,'<br> - cried Kim.</p> - -<p>'See!' shrilled the Amritzar girl. 'He has never entered a -train.<br> - Oh, see!'</p> - -<p>'Nay, help,' said the cultivator, putting out a large brown -hand<br> - and hauling him in. 'Thus is it done, father.'</p> - -<p>'But - but - I sit on the floor. It is against the Rule to sit -on<br> - a bench,' said the lama. 'Moreover, it cramps me.'</p> - -<p>'I say,' began the money-lender, pursing his lips, 'that there -is<br> - not one rule of right living which these te-rains do not cause -as<br> - to break. We sit, for example, side by side with all castes -and<br> - peoples.'</p> - -<p>'Yea, and with most outrageously shameless ones,' said the -wife,<br> - scowling at the Amritzar girl making eyes at the young -sepoy.</p> - -<p>'I said we might have gone by cart along the road,' said -the<br> - husband, 'and thus have saved some money.'</p> - -<p>'Yes - and spent twice over what we saved on food by the -way.<br> - That was talked out ten thousand times.'</p> - -<p>'Ay, by ten thousand tongues,' grunted he.</p> - -<p>'The Gods help us poor women if we may not speak. Oho! He is -of<br> - that sort which may not look at or reply to a woman.' For -the<br> - lama, constrained by his Rule, took not the faintest notice -of<br> - her. 'And his disciple is like him?'</p> - -<p>'Nay, mother,' said Kim most promptly. 'Not when the woman -is<br> - well-looking and above all charitable to the hungry.'</p> - -<p>'A beggar's answer,' said the Sikh, laughing. 'Thou hast -brought<br> - it on thyself, sister!' Kim's hands were crooked in -supplication.</p> - -<p>'And whither goest thou?' said the woman, handing him the half -of<br> - a cake from a greasy package.</p> - -<p>'Even to Benares.'</p> - -<p>'Jugglers belike?' the young soldier suggested. 'Have ye -any<br> - tricks to pass the time? Why does not that yellow man -answer?'</p> - -<p><br> - 'Because,' said Kim stoutly, 'he is holy, and thinks upon -matters<br> - hidden from thee.'</p> - -<p>'That may be well. We of the Ludhiana Sikhs' - he rolled it -out<br> - sonorously -'do not trouble our heads with doctrine. We -fight.'</p> - -<p>'My sister's brother's son is naik (corporal] in that -regiment,'<br> - said the Sikh craftsman quietly. 'There are also some Dogra<br> - companies there.' The soldier glared, for a Dogra is of -other<br> - caste than a Sikh, and the banker tittered.</p> - -<p></p> - -<p><br> - 'They are all one to me, ' said the Amritzar girl.</p> - -<p>'That we believe,' snorted the cultivator's wife -malignantly.</p> - -<p>'Nay, but all who serve the Sirkar with weapons in their -hands<br> - are, as it were, one brotherhood. There is one brotherhood of -the<br> - caste, but beyond that again' - she looked round timidly --'the<br> - bond of the Pulton - the Regiment -eh?'</p> - -<p>'My brother is in a Jat regiment,' said the cultivator. -'Dogras<br> - be good men.'</p> - -<p>'Thy Sikhs at least were of that opinion,' said the soldier, -with<br> - a scowl at the placid old man in the corner. 'Thy Sikhs -thought<br> - so when our two companies came to help them at the Pirzai -Kotal<br> - in the face of eight Afridi standards on the ridge not three<br> - months gone.'</p> - -<p>He told the story of a Border action in which the Dogra -companies<br> - of the Ludhiana Sikhs had acquitted themselves well. The -Amritzar<br> - girl smiled; for she knew the talc was to win her approval.</p> - -<p>'Alas!' said the cultivator's wife at the end. 'So their -villages<br> - were burnt and their little children made homeless?'</p> - -<p>'They had marked our dead. They paid a great payment after we -of<br> - the Sikhs had schooled them. So it was. Is this Amritzar?'</p> - -<p>'Ay, and here they cut our tickets,' said the banker, fumbling -at<br> - his belt.</p> - -<p>The lamps were paling in the dawn when the half-caste guard -came<br> - round. Ticket-collecting is a slow business in the East, -where<br> - people secrete their tickets in all sorts of curious places. -Kim<br> - produced his and was told to get out.</p> - -<p>'But I go to Umballa,' he protested. 'I go with this holy -man.'</p> - -<p>'Thou canst go to Jehannum for aught I care. This ticket is -only</p> - -<p>Kim burst into a flood of tears, protesting that the lama was -his<br> - father and his mother, that he was the prop of the lama's<br> - declining years, and that the lama would die without his -care.<br> - All the carriage bade the guard be merciful - the banker was<br> - specially eloquent here - but the guard hauled Kim on to the<br> - platform. The lama blinked - he could not overtake the -situation<br> - and Kim lifted up his voice and wept outside the carriage<br> - window.</p> - -<p>'I am very poor. My father is dead - my mother is dead. O<br> - charitable ones, if I am left here, who shall tend that old -man?'</p> - -<p>'What - what is this?' the lama repeated. 'He must go to -Benares.<br> - He must come with me. He is my chela. If there is money to -be<br> - paid -'</p> - -<p>'Oh, be silent,' whispered Kim; 'are we Rajahs to throw away -good<br> - silver when the world is so charitable?'</p> - -<p>The Amritzar girl stepped out with her bundles, and it was on -her<br> - that Kim kept his watchful eye. Ladies of that persuasion, -he<br> - knew, were generous.</p> - -<p>'A ticket - a little tikkut to Umballa - O Breaker of -Hearts!'<br> - She laughed. 'Hast thou no charity?'</p> - -<p>'Does the holy man come from the North'</p> - -<p>'From far and far in the North he comes,' cried Kim. 'From -among<br> - the hills.'</p> - -<p>'There is snow among the pine-trees in the North - in the -hills<br> - there is snow. My mother was from Kulu. Get thee a ticket. -Ask<br> - him for a blessing.'</p> - -<p>'Ten thousand blessings,' shrilled Kim. 'O Holy One, a woman -has<br> - given us in charity so that I can come with thee - a woman with -a<br> - golden heart. I run for the tikkut.'</p> - -<p>The girl looked up at the lama, who had mechanically followed -Kim<br> - to the platform. He bowed his head that he might not see her, -and<br> - muttered in Tibetan as she passed on with the crowd.</p> - -<p>'Light come - light go,' said the cultivator's wife -viciously.</p> - -<p>'She has acquired merit,' returned the lama. 'Beyond doubt it -was<br> - a nun.'</p> - -<p>'There be ten thousand such nuns in Amritzar alone. -Return,</p> - -<p>old man, or the te-rain may depart without thee,' cried -the<br> - banker.</p> - -<p>'Not only was it sufficient for the ticket, but for a little -food<br> - also, ' said Kim, leaping to his place. 'Now eat, Holy One. -Look.<br> - Day comes!'</p> - -<p>Golden, rose, saffron, and pink, the morning mists smoked -away<br> - across the flat green levels. All the rich Punjab lay out in -the<br> - splendour of the keen sun. The lama flinched a little as the<br> - telegraph-posts swung by.</p> - -<p>'Great is the speed of the te-rain,' said the banker, with -a<br> - patronizing grin. 'We have gone farther since Lahore than -thou<br> - couldst walk in two days: at even, we shall enter Umballa.'</p> - -<p>'And that is still far from Benares,' said the lama -wearily,<br> - mumbling over the cakes that Kim offered. They all unloosed -their<br> - bundles and made their morning meal. Then the banker, the<br> - cultivator, and the soldier prepared their pipes and wrapped -the<br> - compartment in choking, acrid smoke, spitting and coughing -and<br> - enjoying themselves. The Sikh and the cultivator's wife -chewed<br> - pan; the lama took snuff and told his beads, while Kim, -cross-<br> - legged, smiled over the comfort of a full stomach.</p> - -<p>'What rivers have ye by Benares?' said the lama of a sudden -to<br> - the carriage at large.</p> - -<p>'We have Gunga,' returned the banker, when the little titter -had<br> - subsided.</p> - -<p>'What others?'</p> - -<p>'What other than Gunga?'</p> - -<p>'Nay, but in my mind was the thought of a certain River of<br> - healing.'</p> - -<p>'That is Gunga. Who bathes in her is made clean and goes to -the<br> - Gods. Thrice have I made pilgrimage to Gunga.' He looked -round<br> - proudly.</p> - -<p>'There was need,' said the young sepoy drily, and the -travellers'<br> - laugh turned against the banker.</p> - -<p>'Clean - to return again to the Gods,' the lama muttered. 'And -to<br> - go forth on the round of lives anew - still tied to the -Wheel.'<br> - He shook his head testily. 'But maybe there is a mistake. -Who,<br> - then, made Gunga in the beginning?'</p> - -<p>'The Gods. Of what known faith art thou?' the banker said,<br> - appalled.</p> - -<p>'I follow the Law - the Most Excellent Law. So it was the -Gods<br> - that made Gunga. What like of Gods were they?'</p> - -<p>The carriage looked at him in amazement. It was -inconceivable<br> - that anyone should be ignorant of Gunga.</p> - -<p>'What - what is thy God?' said the money-lender at last.</p> - -<p>'Hear!' said the lama, shifting the rosary to his hand. -'Hear:<br> - for I speak of Him now! O people of Hind, listen!'</p> - -<p>He began in Urdu the tale of the Lord Buddha, but, borne by -his<br> - own thoughts, slid into Tibetan and long-droned texts from a<br> - Chinese book of the Buddha's life. The gentle, tolerant folk<br> - looked on reverently. All India is full of holy men -stammering<br> - gospels in strange tongues; shaken and consumed in the fires -of<br> - their own zeal; dreamers, babblers, and visionaries: as it -has<br> - been from the beginning and will continue to the end.</p> - -<p>'Um!' said the soldier of the Ludhiana Sikhs. 'There was a<br> - Mohammedan regiment lay next to us at the Pirzai Kotal, and -a<br> - priest of theirs - he was, as I remember, a naik - when the -fit<br> - was on him, spake prophecies. But the mad all are in God's<br> - keeping. His officers overlooked much in that man.'</p> - -<p>The lama fell back on Urdu, remembering that he was in a -strange<br> - land. 'Hear the tale of the Arrow which our Lord loosed from -the<br> - bow,' he said.</p> - -<p>This was much more to their taste, and they listened -curiously<br> - while he told it. 'Now, O people of Hind, I go to seek that<br> - River. Know ye aught that may guide me, for we be all men -and<br> - women in evil case.'</p> - -<p>'There is Gunga - and Gunga alone - who washes away sin.' ran -the<br> - murmur round the carriage.</p> - -<p>'Though past question we have good Gods Jullundur-way,' said -the<br> - cultivator's wife, looking out of the window. 'See how they -have<br> - blessed the crops.'</p> - -<p>'To search every river in the Punjab is no small matter,' -said<br> - her husband. 'For me, a stream that leaves good silt on my -land<br> - suffices, and I thank Bhumia, the God of the Home-stead.' He<br> - shrugged one knotted, bronzed shoulder.</p> - -<p>'Think you our Lord came so far North?' said the lama, turning -to<br> - Kim.</p> - -<p>'It may be,' Kim replied soothingly, as he spat red pan-juice -on<br> - the floor.</p> - -<p>'The last of the Great Ones,' said the Sikh with authority, -'was<br> - Sikander Julkarn [Alexander the Great]. He paved the streets -of<br> - Jullundur and built a great tank near Umballa. That pavement<br> - holds to this day; and the tank is there also. I never heard -of<br> - thy God.'</p> - -<p>'Let thy hair grow long and talk Punjabi,' said the young -soldier<br> - jestingly to Kim, quoting a Northern proverb. 'That is all -that<br> - makes a Sikh.' But he did not say this very loud.</p> - -<p>The lama sighed and shrank into himself, a dingy, shapeless -mass.<br> - In the pauses of their talk they could hear the low droning -_'Om<br> - mane pudme hum! Om mane pudme hum!' - and the thick click of -the<br> - wooden rosary beads.</p> - -<p>'It irks me,' he said at last. 'The speed and the clatter irk -me.<br> - Moreover, my chela, I think that maybe we have over-passed -that<br> - River.'</p> - -<p>'Peace, peace,' said Kim. 'Was not the River near Benares? We -are<br> - yet far from the place.'</p> - -<p>'But - if our Lord came North, it may be any one of these -little<br> - ones that we have run across.'</p> - -<p>'I do not know.'</p> - -<p>'But thou wast sent to me - wast thou sent to me? - for the -merit<br> - I had acquired over yonder at Such-zen. From beside the -cannon<br> - didst thou come - bearing two faces -and two garbs.'</p> - -<p>'Peace. One must not speak of these things here,' whispered -Kim.<br> - 'There was but one of me. Think again and thou wilt remember. -A<br> - boy - a Hindu boy - by the great green cannon.'</p> - -<p>'But was there not also an Englishman with a white beard -holy<br> - among images - who himself made more sure my assurance of -the<br> - River of the Arrow?'</p> - -<p>'He - we - went to the Ajaib-Gher in Lahore to pray before -the<br> - Gods there,' Kim explained to the openly listening company. -'And<br> - the Sahib of the Wonder House talked to him - yes, this is -truth<br> - as a brother. He is a very holy man, from far beyond the -Hills.<br> - Rest, thou. In time we come to Umballa.'</p> - -<p>'But my River - the River of my healing?'</p> - -<p>'And then, if it please thee, we will go hunting for that -River<br> - on foot. So that we miss nothing - not even a little rivulet in -a<br> - field-side.'</p> - -<p>'But thou hast a Search of thine own?' The lama - very -pleased<br> - that he remembered so well - sat bolt upright.</p> - -<p>'Ay,' said Kim, humouring him. The boy was entirely happy to -be<br> - out chewing pan and seeing new people in the great -good-tempered<br> - world.</p> - -<p>'It was a bull - a Red Bull that shall come and help thee -and<br> - carry thee - whither? I have forgotten. A Red Bull on a -green<br> - field, was it not?'</p> - -<p>'Nay, it will carry me nowhere,' said Kim. 'It is but a tale -I<br> - told thee.'</p> - -<p>'What is this?' The cultivator's wife leaned forward, her<br> - bracelets clinking on her arm. 'Do ye both dream dreams? A -Red<br> - Bull on a green field, that shall carry thee to the heavens -or<br> - what? Was it a vision? Did one make a prophecy? We have a -Red<br> - Bull in our village behind Jullundur city, and he grazes by<br> - choice in the very greenest of our fields!'</p> - -<p>'Give a woman an old wife's tale and a weaver-bird a leaf and -a<br> - thread', they will weave wonderful things,' said the Sikh. -'All<br> - holy men dream dreams, and by following holy men their -disciples<br> - attain that power.'</p> - -<p>'A Red Bull on a green field, was it?' the lama repeated. 'In -a<br> - former life it may be thou hast acquired merit, and the Bull -will<br> - come to reward thee.'</p> - -<p>'Nay - nay - it was but a tale one told to me - for a jest<br> - belike. But I will seek the Bull about Umballa, and thou -canst<br> - look for thy River and rest from the clatter of the train.'</p> - -<p>'It may be that the Bull knows - that he is sent to guide -us<br> - both.' said the lama, hopefully as a child. Then to the -company,<br> - indicating Kim: 'This one was sent to me but yesterday. He -is<br> - not, I think, of this world.'</p> - -<p>'Beggars aplenty have I met, and holy men to boot, but never -such<br> - a yogi nor such a disciple,' said the woman.</p> - -<p><br> - Her husband touched his forehead lightly with one finger<br> - and smiled. But the next time the lama would eat they took -care<br> - to give him of their best.</p> - -<p>And at last - tired, sleepy, and dusty - they reached -Umballa<br> - City Station.</p> - -<p>'We abide here upon a law-suit,' said the cultivator's wife -to<br> - Kim. 'We lodge with my man's cousin's younger brother. There -is<br> - room also in the courtyard for thy yogi and for thee. Will- -will<br> - he give me a blessing?'</p> - -<p>'O holy man! A woman with a heart of gold gives us lodging -for<br> - the night. It is a kindly land, this land of the South. See -how<br> - we have been helped since the dawn!'</p> - -<p>The lama bowed his head in benediction.</p> - -<p>'To fill my cousin's younger brother's house with wastrels -' -the<br> - husband began, as he shouldered his heavy bamboo staff.</p> - -<p>'Thy cousin's younger brother owes my father's cousin -something<br> - yet on his daughter's marriage-feast,' said the woman -crisply.<br> - 'Let him put their food to that account. The yogi will beg, -I<br> - doubt not.'</p> - -<p>'Ay, I beg for him,' said Kim, anxious only to get the lama -under<br> - shelter for the night, that he might seek Mahbub Ali's -Englishman<br> - and deliver himself of the white stallion's pedigree.</p> - -<p>'Now,' said he, when the lama had come to an anchor in the -inner<br> - courtyard of a decent Hindu house behind the cantonments, 'I -go<br> - away for a while - to - to buy us victual in the bazar. Do -not<br> - stray abroad till I return.'</p> - -<p>'Thou wilt return? Thou wilt surely return?' The old man -caught<br> - at his wrist. 'And thou wilt return in this very same shape? -Is<br> - it too late to look tonight for the River?'</p> - -<p>'Too late and too dark. Be comforted. Think how far thou art -on<br> - the road - an hundred miles from Lahore already.'</p> - -<p><br> - 'Yea - and farther from my monastery. Alas! It is a great -and<br> - terrible world.'</p> - -<p>Kim stole out and away, as unremarkable a figure as ever -carried<br> - his own and a few score thousand other folk's fate slung -round<br> - his neck. Mahbub Ali's directions left him little doubt of -the<br> - house in which his Englishman lived; and a groom, bringing a -dog-<br> - cart home from the Club, made him quite sure. It remained only -to<br> - identify his man, and Kim slipped through the garden hedge -and<br> - hid in a clump of plumed grass close to the veranda. The -house<br> - blazed with lights, and servants moved about tables dressed -with<br> - flowers, glass, and silver. Presently forth came an -Englishman,<br> - dressed in black and - white, humming a tune. It was too dark -to<br> - see his face, so Kim, beggar-wise, tried an old experiment.</p> - -<p>'Protector of the Poor!'</p> - -<p>The man backed towards the voice.</p> - -<p>'Mahbub Ali says -'</p> - -<p>'Hah! What says Mahbub Ali?' He made no attempt to look for -the<br> - speaker, and that showed Kim that he knew.</p> - -<p>'The pedigree of the white stallion is fully established.'</p> - -<p>'What proof is there?' The Englishman switched at the -rose-hedge<br> - in the side of the drive.</p> - -<p>'Mahbub Ali has given me this proof.' Kim flipped the wad -of<br> - folded paper into the air, and it fell in the path beside -the<br> - man, who put his foot on it as a gardener came round the -corner.<br> - When the servant passed he picked it up, dropped a rupee - -Kim<br> - could hear the clink - and strode into the house, never -turning<br> - round. Swiftly Kim took up the money; but for all his -training,<br> - he was Irish enough by birth to reckon silver the least part -of<br> - any game. What he desired was the visible effect of action; -so,<br> - instead of slinking away, he lay close in the grass and -wormed<br> - nearer to the house.</p> - -<p>He saw - Indian bungalows are open through and through the<br> - Englishman return to a small dressing-room, in a comer of -the<br> - veranda, that was half office, littered with papers and -despatch-<br> - boxes, and sit down to study Mahbub Ali's message. His face, -by<br> - the full ray of the kerosene lamp, changed and darkened, and -Kim,<br> - used as every beggar must be to watching countenances, took -good<br> - note.</p> - -<p>'Will! Will, dear!' called a woman's voice. 'You ought to be -in<br> - the drawing-room. They'll be here in a minute.'</p> - -<p>The man still read intently.</p> - -<p>'Will!' said the voice, five minutes later. 'He's come. I -can<br> - hear the troopers in the drive.'</p> - -<p>The man dashed out bareheaded as a big landau with four -native<br> - troopers behind it halted at the veranda, and a tall, black<br> - haired man, erect as an arrow, swung out, preceded by a -young<br> - officer who laughed pleasantly.</p> - -<p>Flat on his belly lay Kim, almost touching the high wheels. -His<br> - man and the black stranger exchanged two sentences.</p> - -<p>'Certainly, sir,' said the young officer promptly. -'Everything<br> - waits while a horse is concerned.'</p> - -<p>'We shan't be more than twenty minutes,' said Kim's man. 'You -can<br> - do the honours -keep 'em amused, and all that.'</p> - -<p>'Tell one of the troopers to wait,' said the tall man, and -they<br> - both passed into the dressing-room together as the landau -rolled<br> - away. Kim saw their heads bent over Mahbub Ali's message, -and<br> - heard the voices - one low and deferential, the other sharp -and<br> - decisive.</p> - -<p>'It isn't a question of weeks. It is a question of days - -hours<br> - almost,' said the elder. 'I'd been expecting it for some -time,<br> - but this' - he tapped Mahbub Ali's paper - 'clinches it. -Grogan's<br> - dining here to-night, isn't he?'</p> - -<p>'Yes, sir, and Macklin too.'</p> - -<p>'Very good. I'll speak to them myself. The matter will be<br> - referred to the Council, of course, but this is a case where -one<br> - is justified in assuming that we take action at once. Warn -the<br> - Pined and Peshawar brigades. It will disorganize all the -summer<br> - reliefs, but we can't help that. This comes of not smashing -them<br> - thoroughly the first time. Eight thousand should be enough.'</p> - -<p>'What about artillery, sir?'</p> - -<p>'I must consult Macklin.'</p> - -<p>'Then it means war?'</p> - -<p>'No. Punishment. When a man is bound by the action of his<br> - predecessor -'</p> - -<p>'But C25 may have lied.'</p> - -<p>'He bears out the other's information. Practically, they -showed<br> - their hand six months back. But Devenish would have it there -was<br> - a chance of peace. Of course they used it to make themselves<br> - stronger. Send off those telegrams at once - the new code, -not<br> - the old - mine and Wharton's. I don't think we need keep the<br> - ladies waiting any longer. We can settle the rest over the<br> - cigars. I thought it was coming. It's punishment - not war.'</p> - -<p>As the trooper cantered off, Kim crawled round to the back of -the<br> - house, where, going on his Lahore experiences, he judged -there<br> - would be food - and information. The kitchen was crowded -with<br> - excited scullions, one of whom kicked him.</p> - -<p>'Aie,' said Kim, feigning tears. 'I came only to wash dishes -in<br> - return for a bellyful.'</p> - -<p>'All Umballa is on the same errand. Get hence. They go in -now<br> - with the soup. Think you that we who serve Creighton Sahib -need<br> - strange scullions to help us through a big dinner?'</p> - -<p>'It is a very big dinner,' said Kim, looking at the -plates.</p> - -<p>'Small wonder. The guest of honour is none other than the -Jang-i-<br> - Lat Sahib [the Commander-in-Chief].'</p> - -<p>'Ho!' said Kim, with the correct guttural note of wonder. He -had<br> - learned what he wanted, and when the scullion turned he was -gone.</p> - -<p>'And all that trouble,' said he to himself, thinking as usual -in<br> - Hindustani, 'for a horse's pedigree! Mahbub Ali should have -come<br> - to me to learn a little lying. Every time before that I have<br> - borne a message it concerned a woman. Now it is men. Better. -The<br> - tall man said that they will loose a great army to punish -someone<br> - -somewhere - the news goes to Pindi and Peshawur. There are -also<br> - guns. Would I had crept nearer. It is big news!'</p> - -<p>He returned to find the cultivator's cousin's younger -brother<br> - discussing the family law-suit in all its bearings with the<br> - cultivator and his wife and a few friends, while the lama -dozed.<br> - After the evening meal some one passed him a water-pipe; and -Kim<br> - felt very much of a man as he pulled at the smooth -coconut-shell,<br> - his legs spread abroad in the moonlight, his tongue clicking -in<br> - remarks from time to time. His hosts were most polite; for -the<br> - cultivator's wife had told them of his vision of the Red -Bull,<br> - and of his probable descent from another world. Moreover, -the<br> - lama was a great and venerable curiosity.</p> - -<p><br> - The family priest, an old, tolerant Sarsut Brahmin, dropped -in<br> - later, and naturally started a theological argument to -impress<br> - the family. By creed, of course, they were all on their -priest's<br> - side, but the lama was the guest and the novelty. His gentle<br> - kindliness, and his impressive Chinese quotations, that -sounded<br> - like spells, delighted them hugely; and in this sympathetic,<br> - simple air, he expanded like the Bodhisat's own lotus, -speaking<br> - of his life in the great hills of Such-zen, before, as he -said,<br> - 'I rose up to seek enlightenment.'</p> - -<p>Then it came out that in those worldly days he had been a -master-<br> - hand at casting horoscopes and nativities; and the family -priest<br> - led him on to describe his methods; each giving the planets -names<br> - that the other could not understand, and pointing upwards as -the<br> - big stars sailed across the dark. The children of the house<br> - tugged unrebuked at his rosary; and he clean forgot the Rule<br> - which forbids looking at women as he talked of enduring -snows,<br> - landslips, blocked passes, the remote cliffs where men find<br> - sapphires and turquoise, and that wonderful upland road that<br> - leads at last into Great China itself.</p> - -<p>'How thinkest thou of this one?' said the cultivator aside to -the<br> - priest.</p> - -<p>'A holy man - a holy man indeed. His Gods are not the Gods, -but<br> - his feet are upon the Way,' was the answer. 'And his methods -of<br> - nativities, though that is beyond thee, are wise and sure.1</p> - -<p>'Tell me,' said Kim lazily, 'whether I find my Red Bull on -a<br> - green field, as was promised me.'</p> - -<p>'What knowledge hast thou of thy birth-hour?' the priest -asked,<br> - swelling with importance.</p> - -<p>'Between first and second cockcrow of the first night in -May.'</p> - -<p>'Of what year?'</p> - -<p>'I do not know; but upon the hour that I cried first fell -the<br> - great earthquake in Srinagar which is in Kashmir.' This Kim -had<br> - from the woman who took care of him, and she again from -Kimball<br> - O'Hara. The earthquake had been felt in India, and for long -stood<br> - a leading date in the Punjab.</p> - -<p>'Ai!' said a woman excitedly. This seemed to make Kim's<br> - supernatural origin more certain. "Was not such an one's -daughter<br> - born then -'</p> - -<p>'And her mother bore her husband four sons in four years -all<br> - likely boys,' cried the cultivator's wife, sitting outside -the<br> - circle in the shadow.</p> - -<p>'None reared in the knowledge,' said the family priest, -'forget<br> - how the planets stood in their Houses upon that night.' He -began<br> - to draw in the dust of the courtyard. 'At least thou hast -good<br> - claim to a half of the House of the Bull. How runs thy -prophecy?'</p> - -<p>'Upon a day,' said Kim, delighted at the sensation he was<br> - creating, 'I shall be made great by means of a Red Bull on a<br> - green field, but first there will enter two men making all -things<br> - ready.'</p> - -<p>'Yes: thus ever at the opening of a vision. A thick darkness -that<br> - clears slowly; anon one enters with a broom making ready the<br> - place. Then begins the Sight. Two men - thou sayest? Ay, ay. -The<br> - Sun, leaving the House of the Bull, enters that of the -Twins.<br> - Hence the two men of the prophecy. Let us now consider. Fetch -me<br> - a twig, little one.'</p> - -<p>He knitted his brows, scratched, smoothed out, and -scratched<br> - again in the dust mysterious signs - to the wonder of all -save<br> - the lama, who, with fine instinct, forbore to interfere.</p> - -<p>At the end of half an hour, he tossed the twig from him with -a<br> - grunt.</p> - -<p>'Hm! Thus say the stars. Within three days come the two men -to<br> - make all things ready. After them follows the Bull; but the -sign<br> - over against him is the sign of War and armed men.'</p> - -<p>'There was indeed a man of the Ludhiana Sikhs in the -carriage<br> - from Lahore,' said the cultivator's wife hopefully.</p> - -<p>'Tck! Armed men - many hundreds. What concern hast thou -with<br> - war?' said the priest to Kim. 'Thine is a red and an angry -sign<br> - of War to be loosed very soon.'</p> - -<p>'None - none.' said the lama earnestly. 'We seek only peace -and<br> - our River.'</p> - -<p>Kim smiled, remembering what he had overheard in the -dressing-<br> - room. Decidedly he was a favourite of the stars.</p> - -<p>The priest brushed his foot over the rude horoscope. 'More -than<br> - this I cannot see. In three days comes the Bull to thee, -boy.'</p> - -<p>'And my River, my River,' pleaded the lama. 'I had hoped his -Bull<br> - would lead us both to the River.'</p> - -<p>'Alas, for that wondrous River, my brother,' the priest -replied.<br> - 'Such things are not common.'</p> - -<p>Next morning, though they were pressed to stay, the lama -insisted<br> - on departure. They gave Kim a large bundle of good food and<br> - nearly three annas in copper money for the needs of the road, -and<br> - with many blessings watched the two go southward in the -dawn.</p> - -<p>'Pity it is that these and such as these could not be freed -from</p> - -<p>'Nay, then would only evil people be left on the earth, and -who<br> - would give us meat and shelter?' quoth Kim, stepping merrily<br> - under his burden.</p> - -<p>'Yonder is a small stream. Let us look,' said the lama, and -he<br> - led from the white road across the fields; walking into a -very<br> - hornets' nest of pariah dogs.</p> - -<p></p> - -<h2>Chapter 3</h2> - -<p><br> - Yea, voice of every Soul that clung<br> -To life that strove from rung to rung<br> - When Devadatta's rule was young,<br> - The warm wind brings Kamakura.</p> - -<p>Buddha at Kamakura.</p> - -<p><br> - Behind them an angry farmer brandished a bamboo pole. He was -a<br> - market-gardener, Arain by caste, growing vegetables and -flowers<br> - for Umballa city, and well Kim knew the breed.</p> - -<p><br> - 'Such an one,' said the lama, disregarding the dogs, 'is -impolite<br> - to strangers, intemperate of speech and uncharitable. Be -warned<br> - by his demeanour, my disciple.'</p> - -<p>'Ho, shameless beggars!' shouted the farmer. 'Begone! Get -hence!'</p> - -<p>'We go,' the lama returned, with quiet dignity. 'We go from -these<br> - unblessed fields.'</p> - -<p>'Ah,' said Kim, sucking in his breath. 'If the next crops -fail,<br> - thou canst only blame thine own tongue.'</p> - -<p>The man shuffled uneasily in his slippers. 'The land is full -of<br> - beggars,' he began, half apologetically.</p> - -<p>'And by what sign didst thou know that we would beg from thee, -O<br> - Mali?' said Kim tartly, using the name that a -market-gardener<br> - least likes. 'All we sought was to look at that river beyond -the<br> - field there.'</p> - -<p>'River, forsooth!' the man snorted. 'What city do ye hail -from<br> - not to know a canal-cut? It runs as straight as an arrow ' and -I<br> - pay for the water as though it were molten silver. There is -a<br> - branch of a river beyond. But if ye need water I can give that --<br> - and milk.'</p> - -<p>'Nay, we will go to the river,' said the lama, striding -out.</p> - -<p>'Milk and a meal.' the man stammered, as he looked at the -strange<br> - tall figure. 'I - I would not draw evil upon myself - or my<br> - crops. But beggars are so many in these hard days.'</p> - -<p>'Take notice.' The lama turned to Kim. 'He was led to -speak<br> - harshly by the Red Mist of anger. That clearing from his eyes, -he<br> - becomes courteous and of an affable heart. May his fields be<br> - blessed! Beware not to judge men too hastily, O farmer.'</p> - -<p>'I have met holy ones who would have cursed thee from -hearthstone<br> - to byre,' said Kim to the abashed man. 'Is he not wise and -holy?<br> - I am his disciple.'</p> - -<p>He cocked his nose in the air loftily and stepped across -the<br> - narrow field-borders with great dignity.</p> - -<p>'There is no pride,' said the lama, after a pause, 'there is -no<br> - pride among such as follow the Middle Way.'</p> - -<p>'But thou hast said he was low-caste and discourteous.'</p> - -<p>'Low-caste I did not say, for how can that be which is -not?<br> - Afterwards he amended his discourtesy, and I forgot the -offence.<br> - Moreover, he is as we are, bound upon the Wheel of Things; but -he<br> - does not tread the way of deliverance.' He halted at a -little<br> - runlet among the fields, and considered the hoof-pitted -bank.</p> - -<p>'Now, how wilt thou know thy River?' said Kim, squatting in -the<br> - shade of some tall sugar-cane.</p> - -<p>'When I find it, an enlightenment will surely be given. This, -I<br> - feel, is not the place. O littlest among the waters, if only -thou<br> - couldst tell me where runs my River! But be thou blessed to -make<br> - the fields bear!'</p> - -<p>'Look! Look!' Kim sprang to his side and dragged him back. -A<br> - yellow-and-brown streak glided from the purple rustling stems -to<br> - the bank, stretched its neck to the water, drank, and lay still --<br> - a big cobra with fixed, lidless eyes.</p> - -<p>'I have no stick - I have no stick,' said Kim. '1 will get me -one<br> - and break his back.'</p> - -<p>'Why? He is upon the Wheel as we are - a life ascending or<br> - descending - very far from deliverance. Great evil must the -soul<br> - have done that is cast into this shape.'</p> - -<p>'I hate all snakes,' said Kim. No native training can quench -the<br> - white man's horror of the Serpent.</p> - -<p>'Let him live out his life.' The coiled thing hissed and -half<br> - opened its hood. 'May thy release come soon, brother!' the -lama<br> - continued placidly. 'Hast thou knowledge, by chance, of my<br> - River?'</p> - -<p>'Never have I seen such a man as thou art,' Kim whispered,<br> - overwhelmed. 'Do the very snakes understand thy talk?'</p> - -<p>'Who knows?' He passed within a foot of the cobra's poised -head.<br> - It flattened itself among the dusty coils.</p> - -<p>'Come, thou!' he called over his shoulder.</p> - -<p>'Not I,' said Kim'. 'I go round.'</p> - -<p>'Come. He does no hurt.'</p> - -<p>Kim hesitated for a moment. The lama backed his order by -some<br> - droned Chinese quotation which Kim took for a charm. He -obeyed<br> - and bounded across the rivulet, and the snake, indeed, made -no<br> - sign.</p> - -<p>'Never have I seen such a man.' Kim wiped the sweat from -his<br> - forehead. 'And now, whither go we?'</p> - -<p>'That is for thee to say. I am old, and a stranger - far from -my<br> - own place. But that the rel-carriage fills my head with noises -of<br> - devil-drums I would go in it to Benares now ... Yet by so -going<br> - we may miss the River. Let us find another river.'</p> - -<p>Where the hard-worked soil gives three and even four crops a -year<br> - through patches of sugar-cane, tobacco, long white radishes,<br> - and nol-kol, all that day they strolled on, turning aside to<br> - every glimpse of water; rousing village dogs and sleeping<br> - villages at noonday; the lama replying to the volleyed -questions<br> - with an unswerving simplicity. They sought a River a River -of<br> - miraculous healing. Had any one knowledge of such a stream?<br> - Sometimes men laughed, but more often heard the story out to -the<br> - end and offered them a place in the shade, a drink of milk, and -a<br> - meal. The women were always kind, and the little children as<br> - children are the world over, alternately shy and -venturesome.<br> - Evening found them at rest under the village tree of a mud-<br> - walled, mud-roofed hamlet, talking to the headman as the -cattle<br> - came in from the grazing-grounds and the women prepared the -day's<br> - last meal. They had passed beyond the belt of market-gardens<br> - round hungry Umballa, and were among the mile-wide green of -the<br> - staple crops.</p> - -<p>He was a white-bearded and affable elder, used to -entertaining<br> - strangers. He dragged out a string bedstead for the lama, -set<br> - warm cooked food before him, prepared him a pipe, and, the<br> - evening ceremonies being finished in the village temple, sent -for<br> - the village priest.</p> - -<p>Kim told the older children tales of the size and beauty -of<br> - Lahore, of railway travel, and such-like city things, while -the<br> - men talked, slowly as their cattle chew the cud.</p> - -<p>'I cannot fathom it,' said the headman at last to the -priest.<br> - 'How readest thou this talk?' The lama, his tale told, was<br> - silently telling his beads.</p> - -<p>'He is a Seeker.' the priest answered. 'The land is full of -such.<br> - Remember him who came only last, month - the fakir with the<br> - tortoise?'</p> - -<p>'Ay, but that man had right and reason, for Krishna -Himself<br> - appeared in a vision promising him Paradise without the -burning-<br> - pyre if he journeyed to Prayag. This man seeks no God who is<br> - within my knowledge.'</p> - -<p>'Peace, he is old: he comes from far off, and he is mad,' -the<br> - smooth-shaven priest replied. 'Hear me.' He turned to the -lama.<br> - 'Three koss [six miles] to the westward runs the great road -to<br> - Calcutta.'</p> - -<p>'But I would go to Benares - to Benares.'</p> - -<p>'And to Benares also. It crosses all streams on this side -of<br> - Hind. Now my word to thee, Holy One, is rest here till -tomorrow.<br> - Then take the road' (it was the Grand Trunk Road he meant) -'and<br> - test each stream that it overpasses; for, as I understand, -the<br> - virtue of thy River lies neither in one pool nor place, but<br> - throughout its length. Then, if thy Gods will, be assured -that<br> - thou wilt come upon thy freedom.'</p> - -<p>'That is well said.' The lama was much impressed by the plan. -'We<br> - will begin tomorrow, and a blessing on thee for showing old -feet<br> - such a near road.' A deep, sing-song Chinese half-chant -closed<br> - the sentence. Even the priest was impressed, and the headman<br> - feared an evil spell: but none could look at the lama's -simple,<br> - eager face and doubt him long.</p> - -<p>'Seest thou my chela?' he said, diving into his snuff-gourd -with<br> - an important sniff. It was his duty to repay courtesy with<br> - courtesy.</p> - -<p>'I see - and hear.' The headman rolled his eye where Kim -was<br> - chatting to a girl in blue as she laid crackling thorns on a<br> - fire.</p> - -<p>'He also has a Search of his own. No river, but a Bull. Yea, -a<br> - Red Bull on a green field will some day raise him to honour. -He<br> - is, I think, not altogether of this world. He was sent of a<br> - sudden to aid me in this search, and his name is Friend of -all<br> - the World.'</p> - -<p>The priest smiled. 'Ho, there, Friend of all the World,' he -cried<br> - across the sharp-smelling smoke, 'what art thou?'</p> - -<p>'This Holy One's disciple,' said Kim.</p> - -<p>'He says thou are a but [a spirit].'</p> - -<p>'Can buts eat?' said Kim, with a twinkle. 'For I am -hungry.'</p> - -<p>'It is no jest,' cried the lama. 'A certain astrologer of that -city<br> - whose name I have forgotten -'</p> - -<p>'That is no more than the city of Umballa where we slept -last<br> - night,' Kim whispered to the priest.</p> - -<p>'Ay, Umballa was it? He cast a horoscope and declared that -my<br> - chela should find his desire within two days. But what said he -of<br> - the meaning of the stars, Friend of all the World?'</p> - -<p>Kim cleared his throat and looked around at the village<br> - greybeards.</p> - -<p>'The meaning of my Star is War,' he replied pompously.</p> - -<p>Somebody laughed at the little tattered figure strutting on -the<br> - brickwork plinth under the great tree. Where a native would -have<br> - lain down, Kim's white blood set him upon his feet.</p> - -<p>'Ay, War,' he answered.</p> - -<p>'That is a sure prophecy,' rumbled a deep voice. 'For there -is<br> - always war along the Border -as I know.'</p> - -<p>It was an old, withered man, who had served the Government in -the<br> - days of the Mutiny as a native officer in a newly raised -cavalry<br> - regiment. The Government had given him a good holding in the<br> - village, and though the demands of his sons, now -grey-bearded<br> - officers on their own account, had impoverished him, he was -still<br> - a person of consequence. English officials - Deputy -Commissioners<br> - even - turned aside from the main road to visit him, and on -those<br> - occasions he dressed himself in the uniform of ancient days, -and<br> - stood up like a ramrod.</p> - -<p>'But this shall be a great war - a war of eight thousand.' -Kim's<br> - voice shrilled across the quick-gathering crowd, astonishing<br> - himself.</p> - -<p>'Redcoats or our own regiments?' the old man snapped, as -though<br> - he were asking an equal. His tone made men respect Kim.</p> - -<p>'Redcoats,' said Kim at a venture. 'Redcoats and guns.'</p> - -<p>'But - but the astrologer said no word of this,' cried the -lama,<br> - snuffing prodigiously in his excitement.</p> - -<p>'But I know. The word has come to me, who am this Holy -One's<br> - disciple. There will rise a war - a war of eight thousand -redcoats.<br> - >From Pindi and Peshawur they will be drawn. This is<br> - sure.</p> - -<p>'The boy has heard bazar-talk,' said the priest.</p> - -<p>'But he was always by my side,' said the lama. 'How should he -know?<br> - I did not know.'</p> - -<p>'He will make a clever juggler when the old man is dead,' -muttered<br> - the priest to the headman. 'What new trick is this?'</p> - -<p>'A sign. Give me a sign,' thundered the old soldier suddenly. -'If<br> - there were war my sons would have told me.'</p> - -<p>'When all is ready, thy sons, doubt not, will be told. But it -is a<br> - long road from thy sons to the man in whose hands these -things<br> - lie.' Kim warmed to the game, for it reminded him of -experiences<br> - in the letter-carrying line, when, for the sake of a few pice, -he<br> - pretended to know more than he knew. But now he was playing -for<br> - larger things - the sheer excitement and the sense of power. -He<br> - drew a new breath and went on.</p> - -<p>'Old man, give me a sign. Do underlings order the goings of -eight<br> - thousand redcoats -with guns?'</p> - -<p>'No.' Still the old man answered as though Kim were an -equal.</p> - -<p>'Dost thou know who He is, then, that gives the order?'</p> - -<p>'I have seen Him.'</p> - -<p>'To know again?'</p> - -<p>'I have known Him since he was a lieutenant in the topkhana -(the<br> - Artillery].'</p> - -<p>'A tall man. A tall man with black hair, walking thus?' Kim -took<br> - a few paces in a stiff, wooden style.</p> - -<p>'Ay. But that anyone may have seen.' The crowd were -breathless-<br> - still through all this talk.</p> - -<p>'That is true,' said Kim. 'But I will say more. Look now. -First<br> - the great man walks thus. Then He thinks thus.' (Kim drew a<br> - forefinger over his forehead and downwards till it came to -rest<br> - by the angle of the jaw.) 'Anon He twitches his fingers -thus.<br> - Anon He thrusts his hat under his left armpit.' Kim -illustrated<br> - the motion and stood like a stork.</p> - -<p>The old man groaned, inarticulate with amazement; and the -crowd<br> - shivered.</p> - -<p>'So - so - so. But what does He when He is about to give an -order?'</p> - -<p>'He rubs the skin at the back of his neck - thus. Then falls -one<br> - finger on the table and He makes a small sniffing noise -through<br> - his nose. Then He speaks, saying: "Loose such and such a -regiment.<br> - Call out such guns."'</p> - -<p>The old man rose stiffly and saluted.</p> - -<p>'"For"' - Kim translated into the vernacular the clinching<br> - sentences he had heard in the dressing-room at Umballa - -'"For,"<br> - says He, "we should have done this long ago. It is not war - it -is<br> - a chastisement. Snff!"'</p> - -<p>'Enough. I believe. I have seen Him thus in the smoke of -battles.<br> - Seen and heard. It is He!'</p> - -<p>'I saw no smoke' - Kim's voice shifted to the rapt sing-song -of the<br> - wayside fortune-teller. 'I saw this in darkness. First came a -man<br> - to make things clear. Then came horsemen. Then came He. standing -in<br> - a ring of light. The rest followed as I have said. Old man, have -I<br> - spoken truth?'</p> - -<p>'It is He. Past all doubt it is He.'</p> - -<p>The crowd drew a long, quavering breath, staring alternately -at the<br> - old man, still at attention, and ragged Kim against the -purple<br> - twilight.</p> - -<p>'Said I not - said I not he was from the other world?' cried -the<br> - lama proudly. 'He is the Friend of all the World. He is the<br> - Friend of the Stars!'</p> - -<p>'At least it does not concern us,' a man cried. 'O thou -young<br> - soothsayer, if the gift abides with thee at all seasons, I have -a<br> - red-spotted cow. She may be sister to thy Bull for aught I know --<br> - '</p> - -<p>'Or I care,' said Kim. 'My Stars do not concern themselves -with thy<br> - cattle.'</p> - -<p>'Nay, but she is very sick,' a woman struck in. 'My man is -a<br> - buffalo, or he would have chosen his words better. Tell me if -she<br> - recover?'</p> - -<p>Had Kim been at all an ordinary boy, he would have carried on -the<br> - play; but one does not know Lahore city, and least of all -the<br> - fakirs by the Taksali Gate, for thirteen years without also -knowing<br> - human nature.</p> - -<p>The priest looked at him sideways, something bitterly - a dry -and<br> - blighting smile.</p> - -<p>'Is there no priest, then, in the village? I thought I had -seen a<br> - great one even now,' cried Kim.</p> - -<p>'Ay - but -' the woman began.</p> - -<p>'But thou and thy husband hoped to get the cow cured for a -handful<br> - of thanks.' The shot told: they were notoriously the -closest-fisted<br> - couple in the village. 'It is not well to cheat the temples. -Give a<br> - young calf to thine own priest, and, unless thy Gods are angry -past<br> - recall, she will give milk within a month.'</p> - -<p>'A master-beggar art thou,' purred the priest approvingly. -'Not the<br> - cunning of forty years could have done better. Surely thou -hast<br> - made the old man rich?'</p> - -<p>'A little flour, a little butter and a mouthful of cardamoms,' -Kim<br> - retorted, flushed with the praise, but still cautious -'Does -one<br> - grow rich on that? And, as thou canst see, he is mad. But it -serves<br> - me while I learn the road at least."</p> - -<p>He knew what the fakirs of the Taksali Gate were like when -they<br> - talked among themselves, and copied the very inflection of -their<br> - lewd disciples.</p> - -<p>'Is his Search, then, truth or a cloak to other ends? It may -be<br> - treasure.'</p> - -<p>'He is mad - many times mad. There is nothing else.'</p> - -<p>Here the old soldier bobbled up and asked if Kim would accept -his<br> - hospitality for the night. The priest recommended him to do so, -but<br> - insisted that the honour of entertaining the lama belonged to -the<br> - temple - at which the lama smiled guilelessly. Kim glanced from -one<br> - face to the other, and drew his own conclusions.</p> - -<p></p> - -<p><br> - 'Where is the money?' he whispered, beckoning the old man off -into<br> - the darkness.</p> - -<p>'In my bosom. Where else?'</p> - -<p>'Give it me. Quietly and swiftly give it me.'</p> - -<p>'But why? Here is no ticket to buy.'</p> - -<p>'Am I thy chela, or am I not? Do I not safeguard thy old feet -about<br> - the ways? Give me the money and at dawn I will return it.' -He<br> - slipped his hand above the lama's girdle and brought away -the<br> - purse.</p> - -<p>'Be it so - be it so.' The old man nodded his head. 'This is -a<br> - great and terrible world. I never knew there were so many men -alive<br> - in it.'</p> - -<p>Next morning the priest was in a very bad temper, but the lama -was<br> - quite happy; and Kim had enjoyed a most interesting evening -with<br> - the old man, who brought out his cavalry sabre and, balancing it -on<br> - his dry knees, told tales of the Mutiny and young captains -thirty<br> - years in their graves, till Kim dropped off to sleep.</p> - -<p>'Certainly the air of this country is good,' said the lama. -'I<br> - sleep lightly, as do all old men; but last night I slept -unwaking<br> - till broad day. Even now I am heavy.'</p> - -<p>'Drink a draught of hot milk,' said Kim, who had carried not a -few<br> - such remedies to opium-smokers of his acquaintance. 'It is time -to<br> - take the Road again.'</p> - -<p>'The long Road that overpasses all the rivers of Hind,' said -the<br> - lama gaily. 'Let us go. But how thinkest thou, chela, to -recompense<br> - these people, and especially the priest, for their great -kindness?<br> - Truly they are but-parast, but in other lives, maybe, they -will<br> - receive enlightenment. A rupee to the temple? The thing within -is<br> - no more than stone and red paint, but the heart of man we -must<br> - acknowledge when and where it is good.'</p> - -<p>'Holy One, hast thou ever taken the Road alone?' Kim looked -up<br> - sharply, like the Indian crows so busy about the fields.</p> - -<p>'Surely, child: from Kulu to Pathankot - from Kulu, where my -first<br> - chela died. When men were kind to us we made offerings, and all -men<br> - were well-disposed throughout all the Hills.'</p> - -<p>'It is otherwise in Hind,' said Kim drily. 'Their Gods are -many-<br> - armed and malignant. Let them alone.'</p> - -<p>'I would set thee on thy road for a little, Friend of all the -World<br> - thou and thy yellow man.' The old soldier ambled up the -village<br> - street, all shadowy in the dawn, on a punt, scissor-hocked -pony.<br> - 'Last night broke up the fountains of remembrance in my -so-dried<br> - heart, and it was as a blessing to me. Truly there is war abroad -in<br> - the air. I smell it. See! I have brought my sword.'</p> - -<p>He sat long-legged on the little beast, with the big sword at -his<br> - side -hand dropped on the pommel - staring fiercely over the -flat<br> - lands towards the North. 'Tell me again how He showed in thy<br> - vision. Come up and sit behind me. The beast will carry -two.'</p> - -<p>'I am this Holy One's disciple,' said Kim, as they cleared -the<br> - village-gate. The villagers seemed almost sorry to be rid of -them,<br> - but the priest's farewell was cold and distant. He had wasted -some<br> - opium on a man who carried no money.</p> - -<p>'That is well spoken. I am not much used to holy men, but -respect<br> - is always good. There is no respect in these days - not even -when<br> - a Commissioner Sahib comes to see me. But why should one -whose<br> - Star leads him to war follow a holy man?'</p> - -<p>'But he is a holy man,' said Kim earnestly. 'In truth, and in -talk<br> - and in act, holy. He is not like the others. I have never seen -such<br> - an one. We be not fortune-tellers, or jugglers, or beggars.'</p> - -<p>'Thou art not. That I can see. But I do not know that other. -He<br> - marches well, though.'</p> - -<p>The first freshness of the day carried the lama forward with -long,<br> - easy, camel-like strides. He was deep in meditation, -mechanically<br> - clicking his rosary.</p> - -<p>They followed the rutted and worn country road that wound -across<br> - the flat between the great dark-green mango-groves, the line of -the<br> - snowcapped Himalayas faint to the eastward. All India was at -work<br> - in the fields, to the creaking of well-wheels, the shouting -of<br> - ploughmen behind their cattle, and the clamour of the crows. -Even<br> - the pony felt the good influence and almost broke into a trot -as<br> - Kim laid a hand on the stirrup-leather.</p> - -<p>'It repents me that I did not give a rupee to the shrine,' -said the<br> - lama on the last bead of his eighty-one.</p> - -<p>The old soldier growled in his beard, so that the lama for -the<br> - first time was aware of him.</p> - -<p>'Seekest thou the River also?' said he, turning.</p> - -<p>'The day is new,' was the reply. 'What need of a river save -to<br> - water at before sundown? I come to show thee a short lane to -the<br> - Big Road.'</p> - -<p>'That is a courtesy to be remembered, O man of good will. But -why<br> - the sword?'</p> - -<p>The old soldier looked as abashed as a child interrupted in -his<br> - game of make-believe.</p> - -<p>'The sword,' he said, fumbling it. 'Oh, that was a fancy of -mine<br> - an old man's fancy. Truly the police orders are that no man -must<br> - bear weapons throughout Hind, but' - he cheered up and slapped -the<br> - hilt - 'all the constabeels hereabout know me.'</p> - -<p>'It is not a good fancy,' said the lama. 'What profit to kill -men?'</p> - -<p>'Very little - as I know; but if evil men were not now and -then<br> - slain it would not be a good world for weaponless dreamers. I -do<br> - not speak without knowledge who have seen the land from Delhi -south<br> - awash with blood.'</p> - -<p>'What madness was that, then?'</p> - -<p>'The Gods', who sent it for a plague, alone know. A madness -ate<br> - into all the Army, and they turned against their officers. -That<br> - was the first evil, but not past remedy if they had then held -their<br> - hands. But they chose to kill the Sahibs' wives and children. -Then<br> - came the Sahibs from over the sea and called them to most -strict<br> - account.'</p> - -<p>'Some such rumour, I believe, reached me once long ago. -They<br> - called it the Black Year, as I remember.'</p> - -<p>'What manner of life hast thou led, not to know The Year? A -rumour<br> - indeed! All earth knew, and trembled!'</p> - -<p>'Our earth never shook but once - upon the day that the -Excellent<br> - One received Enlightenment.'</p> - -<p>'Umph! I saw Delhi shake at least- and Delhi is the navel of -the<br> - world.'</p> - -<p>'So they turned against women and children? That was a bad -deed,<br> - for which the punishment cannot be avoided.'</p> - -<p>'Many strove to do so, but with very small profit. I was then -in<br> - a regiment of cavalry. It broke. Of six hundred and eighty -sabres<br> - stood fast to their salt - how many, think you? Three. Of whom -I<br> - was one.'</p> - -<p>'The greater merit.'</p> - -<p>'Merit! We did not consider it merit in those days. My people, -my<br> - friends, my brothers fell from me. They said: "The time of -the<br> - English is accomplished. Let each strike out a little holding -for<br> - himself." But I had talked with the men of Sobraon, of<br> - Chilianwallah, of Moodkee and Ferozeshah. I said: "Abide a -little<br> - and the wind turns. There is no blessing in this work." In -those<br> - days I rode seventy miles with an English Memsahib and her babe -on<br> - my saddle-bow. (Wow! That was a horse fit for a man!) I placed -them<br> - in safety, and back came I to my officer the one that was -not<br> - killed of our five. "Give me work," said I, "for I am an -outcast<br> - among my own kind, and my cousin's blood is wet on my sabre." -"Be<br> - content," said he. "There is great work forward. When this -madness<br> - is over there is a recompense."'</p> - -<p>'Ay, there is a recompense when the madness is over, surely?' -the<br> - lama muttered half to himself.</p> - -<p>'They did not hang medals in those days on all who by accident -had<br> - heard a gun fired. No! In nineteen pitched battles was I; in -six-<br> - and-forty skirmishes of horse; and in small affairs without -number.<br> - Nine wounds I bear; a medal and four clasps and the medal of -an<br> - Order, for my captains, who are now generals, remembered me -when<br> - the Kaisar-i-Hind had accomplished fifty years of her reign, -and<br> - all the land rejoiced. They said: "Give him the Order of -Berittish<br> - India." I carry it upon my neck now. I have also my jaghir<br> - [holding] from the hands of the State - a free gift to me and -mine.<br> - The men of the old days -they are now Commissioners - come -riding<br> - to me through the crops - high upon horses so that all the -village<br> - sees - and we talk out the old skirmishes, one dead man's -name<br> - leading to another.'</p> - -<p>'And after?' said the lama.</p> - -<p>'Oh, afterwards they go away, but not before my village has -seen.</p> - -<p>'And at the last what wilt thou do?'</p> - -<p>'At the last I shall die.'</p> - -<p>'And after?'</p> - -<p>'Let the Gods order it. I have never pestered Them with -prayers.<br> - I do not think They will pester me. Look you, I have noticed in -my<br> - long life that those who eternally break in upon Those Above -with<br> - complaints and reports and bellowings and weepings are -presently<br> - sent for in haste, as our Colonel used to send for -slack-jawed<br> - down-country men who talked too much. No, I have never wearied -the<br> - Gods. They will remember this, and give me a quiet place where -I<br> - can drive my lance in the shade, and wait to welcome my sons: -I<br> - have no less than three Rissaldar-majors all - in the -regiments.'</p> - -<p>'And they likewise, bound upon the Wheel, go forth from life -to<br> - life - from despair to despair,' said the lama below his -breath,<br> - 'hot, uneasy, snatching.'</p> - -<p>'Ay,' the old soldier chuckled. 'Three Rissaldar-majors in -three<br> - regiments. Gamblers a little, but so am I. They must be well<br> - mounted; and one cannot take the horses as in the old days one -took<br> - women. Well, well, my holding can pay for all. How thinkest -thou?<br> - It is a well-watered strip, but my men cheat me. I do not know -how<br> - to ask save at the lance's point. Ugh! I grow angry and I -curse<br> - them, and they feign penitence, but behind my back I know they -call<br> - me a toothless old ape.'</p> - -<p>'Hast thou never desired any other thing?'</p> - -<p>'Yes - yes - a thousand times! A straight back and a -close-clinging<br> - knee once more; a quick wrist and a keen eye; and the marrow -that<br> - makes a man. Oh, the old days - the good days of my -strength!'</p> - -<p>'That strength is weakness.'</p> - -<p>'It has turned so; but fifty years since I could have proved -it<br> - otherwise,' the old soldier retorted, driving his stirrup-edge -into<br> - the pony's lean flank.</p> - -<p>'But I know a River of great healing.'</p> - -<p>'I have drank Gunga-water to the edge of dropsy. All she gave -me<br> - was a flux, and no sort of strength.'</p> - -<p><br> - 'It is not Gunga. The River that I know washes from all taint -of<br> - sin. Ascending the far bank one is assured of Freedom. I do -not<br> - know thy life, but thy face is the face of the honourable -and<br> - courteous. Thou hast clung to thy Way, rendering fidelity when -it<br> - was hard to give, in that Black Year of which I now remember<br> - other tales. Enter now upon the Middle Way which is the path -to<br> - Freedom. Hear the Most Excellent Law, and do not follow -dreams.'</p> - -<p>'Speak, then, old man,' the soldier smiled, half saluting. 'We -be<br> - all babblers at our age.'</p> - -<p>The lama squatted under the shade of a mango, whose shadow -played<br> - checkerwise over his face; the soldier sat stiffly on the -pony;<br> - and Kim, making sure that there were no snakes, lay down in -the<br> - crotch of the twisted roots.</p> - -<p>There was a drowsy buzz of small life in hot sunshine, a -cooing<br> - of doves, and a sleepy drone of well-wheels across the -fields.<br> - Slowly and impressively the lama began. At the end of ten -minutes<br> - the old soldier slid from his pony, to hear better as he -said,<br> - and sat with the reins round his wrist. The lama's voice -faltered<br> - the periods lengthened. Kim was busy watching a grey -squirrel.<br> - When the little scolding bunch of fur, close pressed to the<br> - branch, disappeared, preacher and audience were fast asleep, -the<br> - old officer's strong-cut head pillowed on his arm, the -lama's<br> - thrown back against the tree-bole, where it showed like -yellow<br> - ivory. A naked child toddled up, stared, and, moved by some -quick<br> - impulse of reverence, made a solemn little obeisance before -the<br> - lama - only the child was so short and fat that it toppled -over<br> - sideways, and Kim laughed at the sprawling, chubby legs. The<br> - child, scared and indignant, yelled aloud.</p> - -<p>'Hai! Hai!' said the soldier, leaping to his feet. 'What is -it?<br> - What orders? ... It is ... a child! I dreamed it was an -alarm.<br> - Little one - little one - do not cry. Have I slept? That was<br> - discourteous indeed!'</p> - -<p>'I fear! I am afraid!' roared the child.</p> - -<p>'What is it to fear? Two old men and a boy? How wilt thou ever -make<br> - a soldier, Princeling?'</p> - -<p>The lama had waked too, but, taking no direct notice of the -child,<br> - clicked his rosary.</p> - -<p>'What is that?' said the child, stopping a yell midway. 'I -have<br> - never seen such things. Give them me.'</p> - -<p>'Aha.' said the lama, smiling, and trailing a loop of it on -the<br> - grass:</p> - -<p>This is a handful of cardamoms,<br> - This is a lump of ghi:<br> - This is millet and chillies and rice,<br> - A supper for thee and me!</p> - -<p>The child shrieked with joy, and snatched at the dark, -glancing<br> - beads.</p> - -<p>'Oho!' said the old soldier. 'Whence hadst thou that song, -despiser<br> - of this world?'</p> - -<p>'I learned it in Pathankot - sitting on a doorstep,' said the -lama<br> - shyly. 'It is good to be kind to babes.'</p> - -<p>'As I remember, before the sleep came on us, thou hadst told -me<br> - that marriage and bearing were darkeners of the true light,<br> - stumbling-blocks upon the Way. Do children drop from Heaven in -thy<br> - country? Is it the Way to sing them songs?'</p> - -<p>'No man is all perfect,' said the lama gravely, recoiling -the<br> - rosary. 'Run now to thy mother, little one.'</p> - -<p>'Hear him!' said the soldier to Kim. 'He is ashamed for that -he has<br> - made a child happy. There was a very good householder lost in -thee,<br> - my brother. Hai, child!' He threw it a pice. 'Sweetmeats are -always<br> - sweet.' And as the little figure capered away into the -sunshine:<br> - 'They grow up and become men. Holy One, I grieve that I slept -in<br> - the midst of thy preaching. Forgive me.'</p> - -<p>'We be two old men,' said the lama. 'The fault is mine. I -listened<br> - to thy talk of the world and its madness, and one fault led to -the<br> - next.'</p> - -<p>'Hear him! What harm do thy Gods suffer from play with a babe? -And<br> - that song was very well sung. Let us go on and I will sing thee -the<br> - song of Nikal Seyn before Delhi - the old song.'</p> - -<p>And they fared out from the gloom of the mango tope, the old -man's<br> - high, shrill voice ringing across the field, as wail by -long-drawn<br> - wail he unfolded the story of Nikal Seyn [Nicholson] - the -song<br> - that men sing in the Punjab to this day. Kim was delighted, and -the<br> - lama listened with deep interest.</p> - -<p>'Ahi! Nikal Seyn is dead - he died before Delhi! Lances of -the<br> - North, take vengeance for Nikal Seyn.' He quavered it out to -the<br> - end, marking the trills with the flat of his sword on the -pony's<br> - rump.</p> - -<p>'And now we come to the Big Road,' said he, after receiving -the<br> - compliments of Kim; for the lama was markedly silent. 'It is -long<br> - since I have ridden this way, but thy boy's talk stirred me. -See,<br> - Holy One - the Great Road which is the backbone of all Hind. -For<br> - the most part it is shaded, as here, with four lines of trees; -the<br> - middle road -all hard takes the quick traffic. In the days -before<br> - rail-carriages the Sahibs travelled up and down here in -hundreds.<br> - Now there are only country-carts and such like. Left and right -is<br> - the rougher road for the heavy carts - grain and cotton and -timber,<br> - fodder, lime and hides. A man goes in safety here for at every -few<br> - koss is a police-station. The police are thieves and -extortioners<br> - (I myself would patrol it with cavalry - young recruits under -a<br> - strong captain), but at least they do not suffer any rivals. -All<br> - castes and kinds of men move here.</p> - -<p>Look! Brahmins and chumars, bankers and tinkers, barbers -and<br> - bunnias, pilgrims -and potters - all the world going and coming. -It<br> - is to me as a river from which I am withdrawn like a log after -a<br> - flood.'</p> - -<p>And truly the Grand Trunk Road is a wonderful spectacle. It -runs<br> - straight, bearing without crowding India's traffic for -fifteen<br> - hundred miles - such a river of life as nowhere else exists -in<br> - the world. They looked at the green-arched, shade-flecked -length<br> - of it, the white breadth speckled with slow-pacing folk; and -the<br> - two-roomed police-station opposite.</p> - -<p>'Who bears arms against the law?' a constable called out<br> - laughingly, as he caught sight of the soldier's sword. 'Are -not<br> - the police enough to destroy evil-doers?'</p> - -<p>'It was because of the police I bought it,' was the answer. -'Does<br> - all go well in Hind?'</p> - -<p>'Rissaldar Sahib, all goes well.'</p> - -<p>'I am like an old tortoise, look you, who puts his head out -from<br> - the bank and draws it in again. Ay, this is the Road of -Hindustan.<br> - All men come by this way...'</p> - -<p>'Son of a swine, is the soft part of the road meant for thee -to<br> - scratch thy back upon? Father of all the daughters of shame -and<br> - husband of ten thousand virtueless ones, thy mother was -devoted<br> - to a devil, being led thereto by her mother. Thy aunts have -never<br> - had a nose for seven generations! Thy sister - What Owl's -folly<br> - told thee to draw thy carts across the road? A broken wheel? -Then<br> - take a broken head and put the two together at leisure!'</p> - -<p>The voice and a venomous whip-cracking came out of a pillar -of<br> - dust fifty yards away, where a cart had broken down. A thin, -high<br> - Kathiawar mare, with eyes and nostrils aflame, rocketed out -of<br> - the jam, snorting and wincing as her rider bent her across -the<br> - road in chase of a shouting man. He was tall and -grey-bearded,<br> - sitting the almost mad beast as a piece of her, and -scientifically<br> - lashing his victim between plunges.</p> - -<p>The old man's face lit with pride. 'My child!' said he -briefly, and<br> - strove to rein the pony's neck to a fitting arch.</p> - -<p>'Am I to be beaten before the police?' cried the carter. -'Justice!<br> - I will have Justice -'</p> - -<p>'Am I to be blocked by a shouting ape who upsets ten thousand -sacks<br> - under a young horse's nose? That is the way to ruin a mare.'</p> - -<p><br> - 'He speaks truth. He speaks truth. But she follows her man -close,'<br> - said the old man. The carter ran under the wheels of his cart -and<br> - thence threatened all sorts of vengeance.</p> - -<p>'They are strong men, thy sons,' said the policeman -serenely,<br> - picking his teeth.</p> - -<p>The horseman delivered one last vicious cut with his whip and -came<br> - on at a canter.</p> - -<p>'My father!' He reigned back ten yards and dismounted.</p> - -<p>The old man was off his pony in an instant, and they embraced -as do<br> - father and son in the East.</p> - -<p></p> - -<h2><br> - Chapter 4</h2> - -<p><br> - Good Luck, she is never a lady,<br> - But the cursedest quean alive,<br> - Tricksy, wincing, and jady -<br> - Kittle to lead or drive.<br> - Greet her - she's hailing a stranger!<br> - Meet her - she's busking to leave!<br> - Let her alone for a shrew to the bone<br> - And the hussy comes plucking your sleeve!<br> - Largesse! Largesse, O Fortune!<br> - Give or hold at your will.<br> - If I've no care for Fortune,<br> - Fortune must follow me still!</p> - -<p>The Wishing-Caps.</p> - -<p><br> - Then, lowering their voices, they spoke together. Kim came to -rest<br> - under a tree, but the lama tugged impatiently at his elbow.</p> - -<p>'Let us go on. The River is not here.'</p> - -<p>'Hai mai! Have we not walked enough for a little? Our River -will<br> - not run away. Patience, and he will give us a dole.'</p> - -<p>'This.' said the old soldier suddenly, 'is the Friend of the -Stars.<br> - He brought me the news yesterday. Having seen the very man -Himself,<br> - in a vision, giving orders for the war.'</p> - -<p>'Hm!' said his son, all deep in his broad chest. 'He came by -a<br> - bazar-rumour and made profit of it.'</p> - -<p><br> - His father laughed. 'At least he did not ride to me begging for -a<br> - new charger, and the Gods know how many rupees. Are thy -brothers'<br> - regiments also under orders?'</p> - -<p>'I do not know. I took leave and came swiftly to thee in case --'</p> - -<p>'In case they ran before thee to beg. O gamblers and -spendthrifts<br> - all! But thou hast never yet ridden in a charge. A good horse -is<br> - needed there, truly. A good follower and a good pony also for -the<br> - marching. Let us see - let us see.' He thrummed on the -pommel.</p> - -<p>'This is no place to cast accounts in, my father. Let us go to -thy<br> - house.'</p> - -<p>'At least pay the boy, then: I have no pice with me, and he -brought<br> - auspicious news. Ho! Friend of all the World, a war is toward -as<br> - thou hast said.'</p> - -<p>'Nay, as I know, the war,' returned Kim composedly.</p> - -<p>'Eh?' said the lama, fingering his beads, all eager for the -road.</p> - -<p>'My master does not trouble the Stars for hire. We brought the -news<br> - bear witness, we brought the news, and now we go.' Kim -half-crooked<br> - his hand at his side.</p> - -<p>The son tossed a silver coin through the sunlight, -grumbling<br> - something about beggars and jugglers. It was a four-anna piece, -and<br> - would feed them well for days. The lama, seeing the flash of -the<br> - metal, droned a blessing.</p> - -<p>'Go thy way, Friend of all the World,' piped the old -soldier,<br> - wheeling his scrawny mount. 'For once in all my days I have met -a<br> - true prophet - who was not in the Army.'</p> - -<p>Father and son swung round together: the old man sitting as -erect<br> - as the younger.</p> - -<p>A Punjabi constable in yellow linen trousers slouched across -the<br> - road. He had seen the money pass.</p> - -<p>'Halt!' he cried in impressive English. 'Know ye not that -there is<br> - a takkus of two annas a head, which is four annas, on those -who<br> - enter the Road from this side-road? It is the order of the -Sirkar,<br> - and the money is spent for the planting of trees and the<br> - beautification of the ways.'</p> - -<p>'And the bellies of the police,' said Kim, slipping out of -arm's<br> - reach. 'Consider for a while, man with a mud head. Think you -we<br> - came from the nearest pond like the frog, thy father-in-law? -Hast<br> - thou ever heard the name of thy brother?'</p> - -<p>'And who was he? Leave the boy alone,' cried a senior -constable,<br> - immensely delighted, as he squatted down to smoke his pipe in -the<br> - veranda.</p> - -<p>'He took a label from a bottle of belaitee-pani [soda-water], -and,<br> - affixing it to a bridge, collected taxes for a month from those -who<br> - passed, saying that it was the Sirkar's order. Then came an<br> - Englishman and broke his head. Ah, brother, I am a town-crow, -not a<br> - village-crow!'</p> - -<p>The policeman drew back abashed, and Kim hooted at him all -down the<br> - road.</p> - -<p>'Was there ever such a disciple as I?' he cried merrily to -the<br> - lama. 'All earth would have picked thy bones within ten mile -of<br> - Lahore city if I had not guarded thee.'</p> - -<p>'I consider in my own mind whether thou art a spirit, -sometimes, or<br> - sometimes an evil imp,' said the lama, smiling slowly.</p> - -<p>'I am thy chela.' Kim dropped into step at his side - that<br> - indescribable gait of the long-distance tramp all the world -over.</p> - -<p>'Now let us walk,' muttered the lama, and to the click of -his<br> - rosary they walked in silence mile upon mile. The lama as -usual,<br> - was deep in meditation, but Kim's bright eyes were open wide. -This<br> - broad, smiling river of life, he considered, was a vast -improvement<br> - on the cramped and crowded Lahore streets. There were new -people<br> - and new sights at every stride - castes he knew and castes -that<br> - were altogether out of his experience.</p> - -<p>They met a troop of long-haired, strong-scented Sansis with -baskets<br> - of lizards and other unclean food on their backs, their lean -dogs<br> - sniffing at their heels. These people kept their own side of -the<br> - road', moving at a quick, furtive jog-trot, and all other -castes<br> - gave them ample room; for the Sansi is deep pollution. Behind -them,<br> - walking wide and stiffly across the strong shadows, the memory -of<br> - his leg-irons still on him, strode one newly released from -the<br> - jail; his full stomach and shiny skin to prove that the -Government<br> - fed its prisoners better than most honest men could feed<br> - themselves. Kim knew that walk well, and made broad jest of it -as<br> - they passed. Then an Akali, a wild-eyed, wild-haired Sikh -devotee<br> - in the blue-checked clothes of his faith, with -polished-steel<br> - quoits glistening on the cone of his tall blue turban, -stalked<br> - past, returning from a visit to one of the independent Sikh -States,<br> - where he had been singing the ancient glories of the Khalsa -to<br> - College-trained princelings in top-boots and white-cord -breeches.<br> - Kim was careful not to irritate that man; for the Akali's temper -is<br> - short and his arm quick. Here and there they met or were -overtaken<br> - by the gaily dressed crowds of whole villages turning out to -some<br> - local fair; the women, with their babes on their hips, -walking<br> - behind the men, the older boys prancing on sticks of -sugar-cane,<br> - dragging rude brass models of locomotives such as they sell for -a<br> - halfpenny, or flashing the sun into the eyes of their betters -from<br> - cheap toy mirrors. One could see at a glance what each had -bought;<br> - and if there were any doubt it needed only to watch the -wives<br> - comparing, brown arm against brown arm, the newly purchased -dull<br> - glass bracelets that come from the North-West. These -merry-makers<br> - stepped slowly, calling one to the other and stopping to -haggle<br> - with sweetmeat-sellers, or to make a prayer before one of -the<br> - wayside shrines - sometimes Hindu, sometimes Mussalman - which -the<br> - low-caste of both creeds share with beautiful impartiality. A -solid<br> - line of blue, rising and falling like the back of a caterpillar -in<br> - haste, would swing up through the quivering dust and trot past -to a<br> - chorus of quick cackling. That was a gang of changars - the -women<br> - who have taken all the embankments of all the Northern -railways<br> - under their charge - a flat-footed, big-bosomed, -strong-limbed,<br> - blue-petticoated clan of earth-carriers, hurrying north on news -of<br> - a job, and wasting no time by the road. They belong to the -caste<br> - whose men do not count, and they walked with squared elbows,<br> - swinging hips, and heads on high, as suits women who carry -heavy<br> - weights. A little later a marriage procession would strike into -the<br> - Grand Trunk with music and shoutings, and a smell of marigold -and<br> - jasmine stronger even than the reek of the dust. One could see -the<br> - bride's litter, a blur of red and tinsel, staggering through -the<br> - haze, while the bridegroom's bewreathed pony turned aside to -snatch<br> - a mouthful from a passing fodder-cart. Then Kim would join -the<br> - Kentish-fire of good wishes and bad jokes, wishing the couple -a<br> - hundred sons and no daughters, as the saying is. Still more<br> - interesting and more to be shouted over it was when a -strolling<br> - juggler with some half-trained monkeys, or a panting, feeble -bear,<br> - or a woman who tied goats' horns to her feet, and with these -danced<br> - on a slack-rope, set the horses to shying and the women to -shrill,<br> - long-drawn quavers of amazement.</p> - -<p>The lama never raised his eyes. He did not note the -money-lender on<br> - his goose-rumped pony, hastening along to collect the cruel<br> - interest; or the long-shouting, deep-voiced little mob -still -in<br> - military formation - of native soldiers on leave, rejoicing to -be<br> - rid of their breeches and puttees, and saying the most -outrageous<br> - things to the most respectable women in sight. Even the seller -of<br> - Ganges-water he did not see, and Kim expected that he would -at<br> - least buy a bottle of that precious stuff. He looked steadily -at<br> - the ground, and strode as steadily hour after hour, his soul -busied<br> - elsewhere. But Kim was in the seventh heaven of joy. The Grand -Trunk<br> - at this point was built on an embankment to guard against<br> - winter floods from the foothills, so that one walked, as it -were, a<br> - little above the country, along a stately corridor, seeing -all<br> - India spread out to left and right. It was beautiful to behold -the<br> - many-yoked grain and cotton wagons crawling over the country -roads:<br> - one could hear their axles, complaining a mile away, coming -nearer,<br> - till with shouts and yells and bad words they climbed up the -steep<br> - incline and plunged on to the hard main road, carter -reviling<br> - carter. It was equally beautiful to watch the people, little -clumps<br> - of red and blue and pink and white and saffron, turning aside to -go<br> - to their own villages, dispersing and growing small by twos -and<br> - threes across the level plain. Kim felt these things, though -he<br> - could not give tongue to his feelings, and so contented -himself<br> - with buying peeled sugar-cane and spitting the pith -generously<br> - about his path. From time to time the lama took snuff, and at -last<br> - Kim could endure the silence no longer.</p> - -<p>'This is a good land - the land of the South!' said he. 'The -air is<br> - good; the water is good. Eh?'</p> - -<p>'And they are all bound upon the Wheel,' said the lama. 'Bound -from<br> - life after life. To none of these has the Way been shown.' He -shook<br> - himself back to this world.</p> - -<p>'And now we have walked a weary way,' said Kim. 'Surely we -shall<br> - soon come to a parao [a resting-place]. Shall we stay there? -Look,<br> - the sun is sloping.'</p> - -<p>'Who will receive us this evening?'</p> - -<p>'That is all one. This country is full of good folk. Besides' -he<br> - sunk his voice beneath a whisper - 'we have money.'</p> - -<p>The crowd thickened as they neared the resting-place which -marked<br> - the end of their day's journey. A line of stalls selling -very<br> - simple food and tobacco, a stack of firewood, a police-station, -a<br> - well, a horse-trough, a few trees, and, under them, some -trampled<br> - ground dotted with the black ashes of old fires, are all that -mark<br> - a parao on the Grand Trunk; if you except the beggars and the -crows<br> - - both hungry.</p> - -<p>By this time the sun was driving broad golden spokes through -the<br> - lower branches of the mango-trees; the parakeets and doves -were<br> - coming. home in their hundreds; the chattering, grey-backed -Seven<br> - Sisters, talking over the day's adventures, walked back and -forth<br> - in twos and threes almost under the feet of the travellers; -and<br> - shufflings and scufflings in the branches showed that the bats -were<br> - ready to go out on the night-picket. Swiftly the light -gathered<br> - itself together, painted for an instant the faces and the<br> - cartwheels and the bullocks' horns as red as blood. Then the -night<br> - fell, changing the touch of the air, drawing a low, even haze, -like<br> - a gossamer veil of blue, across the face of the country, and<br> - bringing out, keen and distinct, the smell of wood-smoke and -cattle<br> - and the good scent of wheaten cakes cooked on ashes. The -evening<br> - patrol hurried out of the police-station with important -coughings<br> - and reiterated orders; and a live charcoal ball in the cup of -a<br> - wayside carter's hookah glowed red while Kim's eye -mechanically<br> - watched the last flicker of the sun on the brass tweezers.</p> - -<p>The life of the parao was very like that of the Kashmir Serai -on a<br> - small scale. Kim dived into the happy Asiatic disorder which, -if<br> - you only allow time, will bring you everything that a simple -man<br> - needs.</p> - -<p>His wants were few, because, since the lama had no caste -scruples,<br> - cooked food from the nearest stall would serve; but, for -luxury's<br> - sake, Kim bought a handful of dung-cakes to build a fire. -All<br> - about, coming and going round the little flames, men cried for -oil,<br> - or grain, or sweetmeats, or tobacco, jostling one another -while<br> - they waited their turn at the well; and under the men's voices -you<br> - heard from halted, shuttered carts the high squeals and giggles -of<br> - women whose faces should not be seen in public.</p> - -<p>Nowadays, well-educated natives are of opinion that when -their<br> - womenfolk travel - and they visit a good deal - it is better -to<br> - take them quickly by rail in a properly screened compartment; -and<br> - that custom is spreading. But there are always those of the -old<br> - rock who hold by the use of their forefathers; and, above -all,<br> - there are always the old women - more conservative than the men --<br> - who toward the end of their days go on a pilgrimage. They, -being<br> - withered and undesirable, do not, under certain -circumstances,<br> - object to unveiling. After their long seclusion, during which -they<br> - have always been in business touch with a thousand outside<br> - interests, they love the bustle and stir of the open road, -the<br> - gatherings at the shrines, and the infinite possibilities of -gossip<br> - with like-minded dowagers. Very often it suits a -longsuffering<br> - family that a strong-tongued, iron-willed old lady should -disport<br> - herself about India in this fashion; for certainly pilgrimage -is<br> - grateful to the Gods. So all about India, in the most remote<br> - places, as in the most public, you find some knot of -grizzled<br> - servitors in nominal charge of an old lady who is more or -less<br> - curtained and hid away in a bullock-cart. Such men are staid -and<br> - discreet, and when a European or a high-caste native is near -will<br> - net their charge with most elaborate precautions; but in the<br> - ordinary haphazard chances of pilgrimage the precautions are -not<br> - taken. The old lady is, after all, intensely human, and lives -to<br> - look upon life.</p> - -<p>Kim marked down a gaily ornamented ruth or family -bullock-cart,<br> - with a broidered canopy of two domes, like a double-humped -camel,<br> - which had just been drawn into the par. Eight men made its -retinue,<br> - and two of the eight were armed with rusty sabres - sure signs -that<br> - they followed a person of distinction, for the common folk do -not<br> - bear arms. An increasing cackle of complaints, orders, and -jests,<br> - and what to a European would have been bad language, came -from<br> - behind the curtains. Here was evidently a woman used to -command.</p> - -<p>Kim looked over the retinue critically. Half of them were -thin-<br> - legged, grey-bearded Ooryas from down country. The other half -were<br> - duffle-clad, felt-hatted hillmen of the North; and that -mixture<br> - told its own tale, even if he had not overheard the -incessant<br> - sparring between the two divisions. The old lady was going south -on<br> - a visit - probably to a rich relative, most probably to a -son-in-<br> - law, who had sent up an escort as a mark of respect. The -hillmen<br> - would be of her own people - Kulu or Kangra folk. It was -quite<br> - clear that she was not taking her daughter down to be wedded, -or<br> - the curtains would have been laced home and the guard would -have<br> - allowed no one near the car. A merry and a high-spirited -dame,<br> - thought Kim, balancing the dung-cake in one hand, the cooked -food<br> - in the other, and piloting the lama with a nudging shoulder.<br> - Something might be made out of the meeting. The lama would give -him<br> - no help, but, as a conscientious chela, Kim was delighted to -beg<br> - for two.</p> - -<p>He built his fire as close to the cart as he dared, waiting -for one<br> - of the escort to order him away. The lama dropped wearily to -the<br> - ground, much as a heavy fruit-eating bat cowers, and returned -to<br> - his rosary.</p> - -<p>'Stand farther off, beggar!' The order was shouted in -broken<br> - Hindustani by one of the hillmen.</p> - -<p>'Huh! It is only a pahari [a hillman]', said Kim over his -shoulder.<br> - 'Since when have the hill-asses owned all Hindustan?'</p> - -<p>The retort was a swift and brilliant sketch of Kim's pedigree -for<br> - three generations.</p> - -<p>'Ah!' Kim's voice was sweeter than ever, as he broke the -dung-cake<br> - into fit pieces. 'In my country we call that the beginning of -love-talk.'</p> - -<p>A harsh, thin cackle behind the curtains put the hillman on -his<br> - mettle for a second shot.</p> - -<p>'Not so bad - not so bad,' said Kim with calm. 'But have a -care, my<br> - brother, lest we - we, I say - be minded to give a curse or so -in<br> - return. And our curses have the knack of biting home.'</p> - -<p>The Ooryas laughed; the hillman sprang forward threateningly. -The<br> - lama suddenly raised his head, bringing his huge tam-o'-shanter -hat<br> - into the full light of Kim's new-started fire.</p> - -<p>'What is it?' said he.</p> - -<p>The man halted as though struck to stone. 'I - I - am saved -from a<br> - great sin,' he stammered.</p> - -<p>'The foreigner has found him a priest at last,' whispered one -of<br> - the Ooryas.</p> - -<p>'Hai! Why is that beggar-brat not well beaten?' the old -woman<br> - cried.</p> - -<p>The hillman drew back to the cart and whispered something to -the<br> - curtain. There was dead silence, then a muttering.</p> - -<p>'This goes well,' thought Kim, pretending neither to see nor -hear.</p> - -<p>'When - when - he has eaten' - the hillman fawned on Kim - 'it -- it<br> - is requested that the Holy One will do the honour to talk to -one<br> - who would speak to him.'</p> - -<p>'After he has eaten he will sleep,' Kim returned loftily. He -could<br> - not quite see what new turn the game had taken, but stood -resolute<br> - to profit by it. 'Now I will get him his food.' The last -sentence,<br> - spoken loudly, ended with a sigh as of faintness.</p> - -<p>'I - I myself and the others of my people will look to that - -if it<br> - is permitted.'</p> - -<p>'It is permitted,' said Kim, more loftily than ever. 'Holy -One,<br> - these people will bring us food.'</p> - -<p>'The land is good. All the country of the South is good - a -great<br> - and a terrible world,' mumbled the lama drowsily.</p> - -<p>'Let him sleep,' said Kim, 'but look to it that we are well -fed<br> - when he wakes. He is a very holy man.'</p> - -<p>Again one of the Ooryas said something contemptuously.</p> - -<p>'He is not a fakir. He is not a down-country beggar,' Kim went -on<br> - severely, addressing the stars. 'He is the most holy of holy -men.<br> - He is above all castes. I am his chela.'</p> - -<p>'Come here!' said the flat thin voice behind the curtain; and -Kim<br> - came, conscious that eyes he could not see were staring at him. -One<br> - skinny brown finger heavy with rings lay on the edge of the -cart,<br> - and the talk went this way:</p> - -<p>"Who is that one?'</p> - -<p>'An exceedingly holy one. He comes from far off. He comes -from<br> - Tibet.'</p> - -<p>'Where in Tibet?'</p> - -<p>'From behind the snows - from a very far place. He knows the -stars;<br> - he makes horoscopes; he reads nativities. But he does not do -this<br> - for money. He does it for kindness and great charity. I am -his<br> - disciple. I am called also the Friend of the Stars.'</p> - -<p><br> - 'Thou art no hillman.'</p> - -<p>'Ask him. He will tell thee I was sent to him from the Stars -to<br> - show him an end to his pilgrimage.'</p> - -<p>'Humph! Consider, brat, that I am an old woman and not -altogether a<br> - fool. Lamas I know, and to these I give reverence, but thou art -no<br> - more a lawful chela than this my finger is the pole of this -wagon.<br> - Thou art a casteless Hindu - a bold and unblushing beggar,<br> - attached, belike, to the Holy One for the sake of gain.'</p> - -<p>'Do we not all work for gain?' Kim changed his tone promptly -to<br> - match that altered voice. 'I have heard' - this was a bow drawn -at<br> - a venture - 'I have heard -'</p> - -<p>'What hast thou heard?' she snapped, rapping with the -finger.</p> - -<p>'Nothing that I well remember, but some talk in the bazars, -which<br> - is doubtless a lie, that even Rajahs - small Hill Rajahs -'</p> - -<p>'But none the less of good Rajput blood.'</p> - -<p>'Assuredly of good blood. That these even sell the more comely -of<br> - their womenfolk for gain. Down south they sell them - to -zemindars<br> - and such-all of Oudh.'</p> - -<p>If there be one thing in the world that the small Hill Rajahs -deny<br> - it is just this charge; but it happens to be one thing that -the<br> - bazars believe, when they discuss the mysterious slave-traffics -of<br> - India. The old lady explained to Kim, in a tense, indignant<br> - whisper, precisely what manner and fashion of malignant liar -he<br> - was. Had Kim hinted this when she was a girl, he would have -been<br> - pommelled to death that same evening by an elephant. This -was<br> - perfectly true.</p> - -<p>'Ahai! I am only a beggar's brat, as the Eye of Beauty has -said,'<br> - he wailed in extravagant terror.</p> - -<p>'Eye of Beauty, forsooth! Who am I that thou shouldst -fling<br> - beggar-endearments at me?' And yet she laughed at the long-<br> - forgotten word. 'Forty years ago that might have been said, and -not<br> - without truth. Ay. thirty years ago. But it is the fault of -this<br> - gadding up and down Hind that a king's widow must jostle all -the<br> - scum of the land, and be made a mock by beggars.'</p> - -<p>'Great Queen,' said Kim promptly, for he heard her shaking -with<br> - indignation, 'I am even what the Great Queen says I am; but -none<br> - the less is my master holy. He has not yet heard the Great -Queen's<br> - order that -' I</p> - -<p>'Order? I order a Holy One - a Teacher of the Law - to come -and<br> - speak to a woman? Never!'</p> - -<p>'Pity my stupidity. I thought it was given as an order -'</p> - -<p>'It was not. It was a petition. Does this make all clear?'</p> - -<p>A silver coin clicked on the edge of the cart. Kim took it -and<br> - salaamed profoundly. The old lady recognized that, as the eyes -and<br> - the ears of the lama, he was to be propitiated.</p> - -<p>'I am but the Holy One's disciple. When he has eaten perhaps -he<br> - will come.'</p> - -<p>'Oh, villain and shameless rogue!' The jewelled forefinger -shook<br> - itself at him reprovingly; but he could hear the old lady's<br> - chuckle.</p> - -<p>'Nay, what is it?' he said, dropping into his most caressing -and<br> - confidential tone - the one, he well knew, that few could -resist.<br> - 'Is - is there any need of a son in thy family? Speak freely, -for<br> - we priests -' That last was a direct plagiarism from a fakir by -the<br> - Taksali Gate.</p> - -<p>'We priests! Thou art not yet old enough to -' She checked the -joke<br> - with another laugh. 'Believe me, now and again, we women, O -priest,<br> - think of other matters than sons. Moreover, my daughter has -borne<br> - her man-child.'</p> - -<p>'Two arrows in the quiver are better than one; and three are -better<br> - still.' Kim quoted the proverb with a meditative cough, -looking<br> - discreetly earthward.</p> - -<p>'True - oh, true. But perhaps that will come. Certainly those -down-<br> - country Brahmins are utterly useless. I sent gifts and monies -and<br> - gifts again to them, and they prophesied.'</p> - -<p>'Ah,' drawled Kim, with infinite contempt, 'they prophesied!' -A<br> - professional could have done no better.</p> - -<p>'And it was not till I remembered my own Gods that my prayers -were<br> - heard. I chose an auspicious hour, and - perhaps thy Holy One -has<br> - heard of the Abbot of the Lung-Cho lamassery. It was to him I -put<br> - the matter, and behold in the due time all came about as I -desired.<br> - The Brahmin in the house of the father of my daughter's son -has<br> - since said that it was through his prayers - which is a -little<br> - error that I will explain to him when we reach our journey's -end.<br> - And so afterwards I go to Buddh Gaya, to make shraddha for -the<br> - father of my children.'</p> - -<p>'Thither go we.'</p> - -<p>'Doubly auspicious,' chirruped the old lady. 'A second son -at<br> - least!'</p> - -<p>'O Friend of all the World!' The lama had waked, and, simply -as a<br> - child bewildered in a strange bed, called for Kim.</p> - -<p>'I come! I come, Holy One!' He dashed to the fire, where he -found<br> - the lama already surrounded by dishes of food, the hillmen -visibly<br> - adoring him and the Southerners looking sourly.</p> - -<p>'Go back! Withdraw!' Kim cried. 'Do we eat publicly like -dogs?'<br> - They finished the meal in silence, each turned a little from -the<br> - other, and Kim topped it with a native-made cigarette.</p> - -<p>'Have I not said an hundred times that the South is a good -land?<br> - Here is a virtuous and high-born widow of a Hill Rajah on<br> - pilgrimage, she says, to Buddha Gay. She it is sends us -those<br> - dishes; and when thou art well rested she would speak to -thee.'</p> - -<p>'Is this also thy work?' The lama dipped deep into his -snuff-gourd.</p> - -<p>'Who else watched over thee since our wonderful journey -began?'<br> - Kim's eyes danced in his head as he blew the rank smoke through -his<br> - nostrils and stretched him on the dusty ground. 'Have I failed -to<br> - oversee thy comforts, Holy One?'</p> - -<p>'A blessing on thee.' The lama inclined his solemn head. 'I -have<br> - known many men in my so long life, and disciples not a few. But -to<br> - none among men, if so be thou art woman-born, has my heart gone -out<br> - as it has to thee - thoughtful, wise, and courteous; but -something<br> - of a small imp.'</p> - -<p>'And I have never seen such a priest as thou.' Kim considered -the<br> - benevolent yellow face wrinkle by wrinkle. 'It is less than -three<br> - days since we took the road together, and it is as though it -were a<br> - hundred years.'</p> - -<p>'Perhaps in a former life it was permitted that I should -have<br> - rendered thee some service. Maybe' - he smiled -'I freed thee -from<br> - a trap; or, having caught thee on a hook in the days when I -was<br> - not enlightened, cast thee back into the river.'</p> - -<p>'Maybe,' said Kim quietly. He had heard this sort of -speculation<br> - again and again, from the mouths of many whom the English would -not<br> - consider imaginative. 'Now, as regards that</p> - -<p>women in the bullock-cart I think she needs a second son for -her<br> - daughter.'</p> - -<p>'That is no part of the Way,' sighed the lama. 'But at least -she is<br> - from the Hills. Ah, the Hills, and the snow of the Hills!'</p> - -<p>He rose and stalked to the cart. Kim would have given his ears -to<br> - come too, but the lama did not invite him; and the few words -he<br> - caught were in an unknown tongue, for they spoke some common -speech<br> - of the mountains. The woman seemed to ask questions which the -lama<br> - turned over in his mind before answering. Now and again he -heard<br> - the singsong cadence of a Chinese quotation. It was a -strange<br> - picture that Kim watched between drooped eyelids. The lama, -very<br> - straight and erect, the deep folds of his yellow clothing -slashed<br> - with black in the light of the parao fires precisely as a -knotted<br> - tree-trunk is slashed with the shadows of the low sun, addressed -a<br> - tinsel and lacquered ruth which burned like a many-coloured -jewel<br> - in the same uncertain light. The patterns on the gold-worked<br> - curtains ran up and down, melting and reforming as the folds -shook<br> - and quivered to the night wind; and when the talk grew more -earnest<br> - the jewelled forefinger snapped out little sparks of light -between<br> - the embroideries. Behind the cart was a wall of uncertain -darkness<br> - speckled with little flames and alive with half-caught forms -and<br> - faces and shadows. The voices of early evening had settled down -to<br> - one soothing hum whose deepest note was the steady chumping of -the<br> - bullocks above their chopped straw, and whose highest was -the<br> - tinkle of a Bengali dancing-girl's sitar. Most men had eaten -and<br> - pulled deep at their gurgling, grunting hookahs, which in -full<br> - blast sound like bull-frogs.</p> - -<p>At last the lama returned. A hillman walked behind him with -a<br> - wadded cotton-quilt and spread it carefully by the fire.</p> - -<p>'She deserves ten thousand grandchildren,' thought Kim. 'None -the<br> - less, but for me, those gifts would not have come.'</p> - -<p>'A virtuous woman - and a wise one.' The lama slackened off, -joint<br> - by joint, like a slow camel. 'The world is full of charity to -those<br> - who follow the Way.' He flung a fair half of the quilt over -Kim.<br> - 'And what said she?' Kim rolled up in his share of it.</p> - -<p>'She asked me many questions and propounded many problems - -the<br> - most of which were idle tales which she had heard from -devil-<br> - serving priests who pretend to follow the Way. Some I answered, -and<br> - some I said were foolish. Many wear the Robe, but few keep -the<br> - Way.'</p> - -<p>'True. That is true.' Kim used the thoughtful, conciliatory -tone of<br> - those who wish to draw confidences.</p> - -<p>'But by her lights she is most right-minded. She desires -greatly<br> - that we should go with her to Buddh Gaya; her road being ours, -as I<br> - understand, for many days' journey to the southward.'</p> - -<p>'And?'</p> - -<p>'Patience a little. To this I said that my Search came before -all<br> - things. She had heard many foolish legends, but this great truth -of<br> - my River she had never heard. Such are the priests of the -lower<br> - hills! She knew the Abbot of Lung-Cho, but she did not know of -my<br> - River - nor the tale of the Arrow.'</p> - -<p>'And?'</p> - -<p>'I spoke therefore of the Search, and of the Way, and of -matters<br> - that were profitable; she desiring only that I should accompany -her<br> - and make prayer for a second son.'</p> - -<p>'Aha! "We women" do not think of anything save children,' said -Kim<br> - sleepily.</p> - -<p>'Now, since our roads run together for a while, I do not see -that<br> - we in any way depart from our Search if so be we accompany her - -at<br> - least as far as - I have forgotten the name of the city.'</p> - -<p>'Ohe!' said Kim, turning and speaking in a sharp whisper to -one of<br> - the Ooryas a few yards away. 'Where is your master's house?'</p> - -<p>'A little behind Saharunpore, among the fruit gardens.' He -named<br> - the village.</p> - -<p>'That was the place,' said the lama. 'So far, at least, we can -go<br> - with her.'</p> - -<p>'Flies go to carrion,' said the Oorya, in an abstracted -voice.</p> - -<p>'For the sick cow a crow; for the sick man a Brahmin.' Kim -breathed<br> - the proverb impersonally to the shadow-tops of the trees -overhead.</p> - -<p>The Oorya grunted and held his peace.</p> - -<p>'So then we go with her, Holy One?'</p> - -<p>'Is there any reason against? I can still step aside and try -all<br> - the rivers that the road overpasses. She desires that I -should<br> - come. She very greatly desires it.'</p> - -<p>Kim stifled a laugh in the quilt. When once that imperious old -lady<br> - had recovered from her natural awe of a lama he thought it -probable<br> - that she would be worth listening to.</p> - -<p>He was nearly asleep when the lama suddenly quoted a proverb: -'The<br> - husbands of the talkative have a great reward hereafter.' Then -Kim<br> - heard him snuff thrice, and dozed off, still laughing.</p> - -<p>The diamond-bright dawn woke men and crows and bullocks -together.<br> - Kim sat up and yawned, shook himself, and thrilled with -delight.<br> - This was seeing the world in real truth; this was life as he -would<br> - have it - bustling and shouting, the buckling of belts, and -beating<br> - of bullocks and creaking of wheels, lighting of fires and -cooking<br> - of food, and new sights at every turn of the approving eye. -The<br> - morning mist swept off in a whorl of silver, the parrots shot -away<br> - to some distant river in shrieking green hosts: all the -well-wheels<br> - within ear-shot went to work. India was awake, and Kim was in -the<br> - middle of it, more awake and more excited than anyone, chewing -on a<br> - twig that he would presently use as a toothbrush; for he -borrowed<br> - right- and left-handedly from all the customs of the country -he<br> - knew and loved. There was no need to worry about food - no need -to<br> - spend a cowrie at the crowded stalls. He was the disciple of a -holy<br> - man annexed by a strong-willed old lady. All things would be<br> - prepared for them, and when they were respectfully invited so to -do<br> - they would sit and eat. For the rest - Kim giggled here as -he<br> - cleaned his teeth - his hostess would rather heighten the -enjoyment<br> - of the road. He inspected her bullocks critically, as they came -up<br> - grunting and blowing under the yokes. If they went too fast -it -was<br> - not likely - there would be a pleasant seat for himself along -the<br> - pole; the lama would sit beside the driver. The escort, of -course,<br> - would walk. The old lady, equally of course, would talk a -great<br> - deal, and by what he had heard that conversation would not -lack<br> - salt. She was already ordering, haranguing, rebuking, and, it -must<br> - be said, cursing her servants for delays.</p> - -<p>'Get her her pipe. In the name of the Gods, get her her pipe -and<br> - stop her ill-omened mouth,' cried an Oorya, tying up his -shapeless<br> - bundles of bedding. 'She and the parrots are alike. They screech -in<br> - the dawn.'</p> - -<p>'The lead-bullocks! Hai! Look to the lead-bullocks!' They -were<br> - backing and wheeling as a grain-cart's axle caught them by -the<br> - horns. "Son of an owl, where dost thou go?' This to the -grinning<br> - carter.</p> - -<p>'Ai! Yai! Yai! That within there is the Queen of Delhi going -to<br> - pray for a son,' the man called back over his high load. 'Room -for<br> - the Queen of Delhi and her Prime Minister the grey monkey -climbing<br> - up his own sword!' Another cart loaded with bark for a -down-country<br> - tannery followed close behind, and its driver added a few<br> - compliments as the ruth-bullocks backed and backed again.</p> - -<p>>From behind the shaking curtains came one volley of -invective. It<br> - did not last long, but in kind and quality, in blistering, -biting<br> - appropriateness, it was beyond anything that even Kim had heard. -He<br> - could see the carter's bare chest collapse with amazement, as -the<br> - man salaamed reverently to the voice, leaped from the pole, -and<br> - helped the escort haul their volcano on to the main road. Here -the<br> - voice told him truthfully what sort of wife he had wedded, and -what<br> - she was doing in his absence.</p> - -<p>'Oh, shabash!' murmured Kim, unable to contain himself, as the -man<br> - slunk away.</p> - -<p>'Well done, indeed? It is a shame and a scandal that a poor -woman<br> - may not go to make prayer to her Gods except she be jostled -and<br> - insulted by all the refuse of Hindustan - that she must eat -gali<br> - [abuse] as men eat ghi. But I have yet a wag left to my tongue - -a<br> - word or two well spoken that serves the occasion. And still am -I<br> - without my tobacco! Who is the one-eyed and luckless son of -shame<br> - that has not yet prepared my pipe?'</p> - -<p>It was hastily thrust in by a hillman, and a trickle of thick -smoke<br> - from each corner of the curtains showed that peace was -restored.</p> - -<p>If Kim had walked proudly the day before, disciple of a holy -man,<br> - today he paced with tenfold pride in the train of a -semi-royal<br> - procession, with a recognized place under the patronage of an -old<br> - lady of charming manners and infinite resource. The escort, -their<br> - heads tied up native-fashion, fell in on either side the -cart,<br> - shuffling enormous clouds of dust.</p> - -<p><br> - The lama and Kim walked a little to one side; Kim chewing his -stick<br> - of sugarcane, and making way for no one under the status of -a<br> - priest. They could hear the old lady's tongue clack as steadily -as<br> - a rice-husker. She bade the escort tell her what was going on -on<br> - the road; and so soon as they were clear of the parao she -flung<br> - back the curtains and peered out, her veil a third across her -face.<br> - Her men did not eye her directly when she addressed them, and -thus<br> - the proprieties were more or less observed.</p> - -<p>A dark, sallowish District Superintendent of Police, -faultlessly<br> - uniformed, an Englishman, trotted by on a tired horse, and, -seeing<br> - from her retinue what manner of person she was, chaffed her.</p> - -<p>'O mother,' he cried, 'do they do this in the zenanas? Suppose -an<br> - Englishman came by and saw that thou hats no nose?'</p> - -<p>'What?' she shrilled back. 'Thine own mother has no nose? Why -say<br> - so, then, on the open road?'</p> - -<p>It was a fair counter. The Englishman threw up his hand with -the<br> - gesture of a man hit at sword-play. She laughed and nodded.</p> - -<p>'Is this a face to tempt virtue aside?. She withdrew all her -veil<br> - and stared at him.</p> - -<p>It was by no means lovely, but as the man gathered up his -reins he<br> - called it a Moon of Paradise, a Disturber of Integrity, and a -few<br> - other fantastic epithets which doubled her up with mirth.</p> - -<p>'That is a nut-cut [rogue],' she said. 'All police-constables -are<br> - nut-cuts; but the police-wallahs are the worst. Hai, my son, -thou<br> - hast never learned all that since thou camest from Belait -[Europe].<br> - Who suckled thee?'</p> - -<p>'A pahareen - a hillwoman of Dalhousie, my mother. Keep thy -beauty<br> - under a shade - O Dispenser of Delights,' and he was gone.</p> - -<p>'These be the sort' - she took a fine judicial tone, and -stuffed<br> - her mouth with pan - 'These be the sort to oversee justice. -They<br> - know the land and the customs of the land, The others, all new -from<br> - Europe, suckled by white women and learning our tongues from -books,<br> - are worse than the pestilence. They do harm to Kings.' Then -she<br> - told a long, long tale to the world at large, of an ignorant -young<br> - policeman who had disturbed some small Hill Rajah, a- ninth -cousin<br> - of her own, in the matter of a trivial land-case, winding up -with a<br> - quotation from a work by no means devotional.</p> - -<p>Then her mood changed, and she bade one of the escort ask -whether<br> - the lama would walk alongside and discuss matters of religion. -So<br> - Kim dropped back into the dust and returned to his sugar-cane. -For<br> - an hour or more the lama's tam-o'shanter showed like a moon -through<br> - the haze; and, from all he heard, Kim gathered that the old -woman<br> - wept. One of the Ooryas half apologized for his rudeness -overnight,<br> - saying that he had never known his mistress of so bland a -temper,<br> - and he ascribed it to the presence of the strange priest.<br> - Personally, he believed in Brahmins, though, like all natives, -he<br> - was acutely aware of their cunning and their greed. Still, -when<br> - Brahmins but irritated with begging demands the mother of -his<br> - master's wife, and when she sent them away so angry that -they<br> - cursed the whole retinue (which was the real reason of the -second<br> - off-side bullock going lame, and of the pole breaking the -night<br> - before), he was prepared to accept any priest of any other<br> - denomination in or out of India. To this Kim assented with -wise<br> - nods, and bade the Oorya observe that the lama took no money, -and<br> - that the cost of his and Kim's food would be repaid a hundred -times<br> - in the good luck that would attend the caravan henceforward. -He<br> - also told stories of Lahore city, and sang a song or two which -made<br> - the escort laugh. As a town-mouse well acquainted with the -latest<br> - songs by the most fashionable composers - they are women for -the<br> - most part - Kim had a distinct advantage over men from a -little<br> - fruit-village behind Saharunpore, but he let that advantage -be<br> - inferred.</p> - -<p>At noon they turned aside to eat, and the meal was good, -plentiful,<br> - and well-served on plates of clean leaves, in decency, out of -drift<br> - of the dust. They gave the scraps to certain beggars, that -all<br> - requirements might be fulfilled, and sat down to a long, -luxurious<br> - smoke. The old lady had retreated behind her curtains, but -mixed<br> - most freely in the talk, her servants arguing with and<br> - contradicting her as servants do throughout the East. She -compared<br> - the cool and the pines of the Kangra and Kulu hills with the -dust<br> - and the mangoes of the South; she told a tale of some old -local<br> - Gods at the edge of her husband's territory; she roundly abused -the<br> - tobacco which she was then smoking, reviled all Brahmins, -and<br> - speculated without reserve on the coming of many grandsons.</p> - -<p></p> - -<h2>Chapter 5</h2> - -<p><br> - Here come I to my own again<br> - Fed, forgiven, and known again<br> - Claimed by bone of my bone again,<br> - And sib to flesh of my flesh!<br> - The fatted calf is dressed for me,<br> - But the husks have greater zest for me ...<br> - I think my pigs will be best for me,<br> - So I'm off to the styes afresh.</p> - -<p>The Prodigal Son.</p> - -<p><br> - Once more the lazy, string-tied, shuffling procession got -under<br> - way, and she slept till they reached the next halting-stage. It -was<br> - a very short march, and time lacked an hour to sundown, so Kim -cast<br> - about for means of amusement.</p> - -<p>'But why not sit and rest?' said one of the escort. 'Only -the<br> - devils and the English walk to and fro without reason.'</p> - -<p>'Never make friends with the Devil, a Monkey, or a Boy. No -man<br> - knows what they will do next,' said his fellow.</p> - -<p><br> - Kim turned a scornful back - he did not want to hear the old -story<br> - how the Devil played with the boys and repented of it and -walked<br> - idly across country.</p> - -<p>The lama strode after him. All that day, whenever they passed -a<br> - stream, he had turned aside to look at it, but in no case had -he<br> - received any warning that he had found his River. Insensibly, -too,<br> - the comfort of speaking to someone in a reasonable tongue,' and -of<br> - being properly considered and respected as her spiritual adviser -by<br> - a well-born woman, had weaned his thoughts a little from the<br> - Search. And further, he was prepared to spend serene years in -his<br> - quest; having nothing of the white manis impatience, but a -great<br> - faith.</p> - -<p>'Where goest thou?' he called after Kim.</p> - -<p>'Nowhither - it was a small march, and all this'- Kim waved -his<br> - hands abroad - 'is new to me.'</p> - -<p>'She is beyond question a wise and a discerning woman. But it -is<br> - hard to meditate when -'</p> - -<p>'All women are thus.' Kim spoke as might have Solomon.</p> - -<p>'Before the lamassery was a broad platform,' the lama -muttered,<br> - looping up the well-worn rosary, 'of stone. On that I have left -the<br> - marks of my feet - pacing to and fro with these.'</p> - -<p>He clicked the beads, and began the 'Om mane pudme hum's of -his<br> - devotion; grateful for the cool, the quiet, and the absence -of<br> - dust.</p> - -<p>One thing after another drew Kim's idle eye across the plain. -There<br> - was no purpose in his wanderings, except that the build of the -huts<br> - near by seemed new, and he wished to investigate.</p> - -<p>They came out on a broad tract of grazing-ground, brown and -purple<br> - in the afternoon light, with a heavy clump of mangoes in the<br> - centre. It struck Kim as curious that no shrine stood in so<br> - eligible a spot: the boy was observing as any priest for -these<br> - things. Far across the plain walked side by side four men, -made<br> - small by the distance. He looked intently under his curved -palms<br> - and caught the sheen of brass.</p> - -<p>'Soldiers. White soldiers!' said he. 'Let us see.'</p> - -<p>'It is always soldiers when thou and I go out alone together. -But I<br> - have never seen the white soldiers.'</p> - -<p>'They do no harm except when they are drunk. Keep behind -this<br> - tree.'</p> - -<p>They stepped behind the thick trunks in the cool dark of the -mango-<br> - tope. Two little figures halted; the other two came forward<br> - uncertainly. They were the advance-party of a regiment on -the<br> - march, sent out, as usual, to mark the camp. They bore -five-foot<br> - sticks with fluttering flags, and called to each other as -they<br> - spread over the flat earth.</p> - -<p>At last they entered the mango-grove, walking heavily.</p> - -<p>'It's here or hereabouts - officers' tents under the trees, I -take<br> - it, an' the rest of us can stay outside. Have they marked out -for<br> - the baggage-wagons behind?'</p> - -<p>They cried again to their comrades in the distance, and the -rough<br> - answer came back faint and mellowed.</p> - -<p>'Shove the flag in here, then,' said one.</p> - -<p>'What do they prepare?' said the lama, wonderstruck. 'This is -a<br> - great and terrible world. What is the device on the flag?'</p> - -<p>A soldier thrust a stave within a few feet of them, -grunted<br> - discontentedly, pulled it up again, conferred with his -companion,<br> - who looked up and down the shaded cave of greenery, and -returned<br> - it.</p> - -<p>Kim stared with all his eyes, his breath coming short and -sharp<br> - between his teeth. The soldiers stamped off into the -sunshine.</p> - -<p>'O Holy One!' he gasped. 'My horoscope! The drawing in the -dust by<br> - the priest at Umballa! Remember what he said. First come two --<br> - ferashes - to make all things ready - in a dark place, as it -is<br> - always at the beginning of a vision.'</p> - -<p>'But this is not vision,' said the lama. 'It is the -world's<br> - Illusion, and no more.'</p> - -<p>'And after them comes the Bull - the Red Bull on the green -field.<br> - Look! It is he!'</p> - -<p>He pointed to the flag that was snap snapping in the evening -breeze<br> - not ten feet away. It was no more than an ordinary camp -marking-<br> - flag; but the regiment, always punctilious in matters of -millinery,<br> - had charged it with the regimental device, the Red Bull, which -is<br> - the crest of the Mavericks - the great Red Bull on a background -of<br> - Irish green.</p> - -<p>'I see, and now I remember.' said the lama. 'Certainly it is -thy<br> - Bull. Certainly, also, the two men came to make all ready.'</p> - -<p>'They are soldiers - white soldiers. What said the priest? -"The<br> - sign over against the Bull is the sign of War and armed men." -Holy<br> - One, this thing touches my Search.'</p> - -<p>'True. It is true.' The lama stared fixedly at the device -that<br> - flamed like a ruby in the dusk. 'The priest at Umballa said -that<br> - thine was the sign of War.'</p> - -<p>'What is to do now?'</p> - -<p>'Wait. Let us wait.'</p> - -<p>'Even now the darkness clears" said Kim. It was only natural -that<br> - the descending sun should at last strike through the -tree-trunks,<br> - across the grove, filling it with mealy gold light for a few<br> - minutes; but to Kim it was the crown of the Umballa -Brahmin's<br> - prophecy.</p> - -<p>'Hark!' said the lama. 'One beats a drum - far off!'</p> - -<p>At first the sound, carrying diluted through the still -air,<br> - resembled the beating of an artery in the head. Soon a -sharpness<br> - was added.</p> - -<p>'Ah! The music,' Kim explained. He knew the sound of a -regimental<br> - band, but it amazed the lama.</p> - -<p>At the far end of the plain a heavy, dusty column crawled in -sight.<br> - Then the wind brought the tune:</p> - -<p>We crave your condescension<br> - To tell you what we know<br> - Of marching in the Mulligan Guards<br> - To Sligo Port below!</p> - -<p>Here broke in the shrill-tongued fifes:</p> - -<p>We shouldered arms,<br> - We marched - we marched away.<br> - >From Phoenix Park<br> - We marched to Dublin Bay.<br> - The drums and the fifes,<br> - Oh, sweetly they did play,<br> - As we marched - marched - marched - with the<br> - Mulligan Guards!</p> - -<p>It was the band of the Mavericks playing the regiment to camp; -for<br> - the men were route-marching with their baggage. The rippling -column<br> - swung into the level - carts behind it divided left and right, -ran<br> - about like an ant-hill, and ...</p> - -<p>'But this is sorcery!' said the lama.</p> - -<p>The plain dotted itself with tents that seemed to rise, all -spread,<br> - from the carts. Another rush of men invaded the grove, pitched -a<br> - huge tent in silence, ran up yet eight or nine more by the side -of<br> - it, unearthed cooking-pots, pans, and bundles, which were -taken<br> - possession of by a crowd of native servants; and behold the -mango-<br> - tope turned into an orderly town as they watched!</p> - -<p>'Let us go,' said the lama, sinking back afraid, as the -fires<br> - twinkled and white officers with jingling swords stalked into -the<br> - Mess-tent.</p> - -<p>'Stand back in the shadow. No one can see beyond the light of -a<br> - fire,' said Kim, his eyes still on the flag. He had never -before<br> - watched the routine of a seasoned regiment pitching camp in -thirty<br> - minutes.</p> - -<p>'Look! look! look!' clucked the lama. 'Yonder comes a priest.' -It<br> - was Bennett, the Church of England Chaplain of the regiment,<br> - limping in dusty black. One of his flock had made some rude -remarks<br> - about the Chaplain's mettle; and to abash him Bennett had -marched<br> - step by step with the men that day. The black dress, gold cross -on<br> - the watch-chain, the hairless face, and the soft, black -wideawake<br> - hat would have marked him as a holy man anywhere in all India. -He<br> - dropped into a camp-chair by the door of the Mess-tent and slid -off<br> - his boots. Three or four officers gathered round him, laughing -and<br> - joking over his exploit.</p> - -<p>'The talk of white men is wholly lacking in dignity,' said -the<br> - lama, who judged only by tone. 'But I considered the countenance -of<br> - that priest and I think he is learned. Is it likely that he -will<br> - understand our talk? I would talk to him of my Search.'</p> - -<p>'Never speak to a white man till he is fed,' said Kim, quoting -a<br> - well-known proverb. 'They will eat now, and - and I do not -think<br> - they are good to beg from. Let us go back to the -resting-place.<br> - After we have eaten we will come again. It certainly was a Red -Bull<br> - - my Red Bull.'</p> - -<p>They were both noticeably absent-minded when the old lady's -retinue<br> - set their meal before them; so none broke their reserve, for it -is<br> - not lucky to annoy guests.</p> - -<p>'Now,' said Kim, picking his teeth, 'we will return to that -place;<br> - but thou, O Holy One, must wait a little way off, because thy -feet<br> - are heavier than mine and I am anxious to see more of that -Red<br> - Bull.'</p> - -<p>'But how canst thou understand the talk? Walk slowly. The road -is<br> - dark,' the lama replied uneasily.</p> - -<p>Kim put the question aside. 'I marked a place near to the -trees,'<br> - said he, 'where thou canst sit till I call. Nay,' as the lama -made<br> - some sort of protest, 'remember this is my Search - the Search -for<br> - my Red Bull. The sign in the Stars was not for thee. I know -a<br> - little of the customs of white soldiers, and I always desire to -see<br> - some new things.'</p> - -<p>'What dost thou not know of this world?' The lama squatted<br> - obediently in a little hollow of the ground not a hundred -yards<br> - from the hump of the mango-trees dark against the -star-powdered<br> - sky.</p> - -<p>'Stay till I call.' Kim flitted into the dusk. He knew that in -all<br> - probability there would be sentries round the camp, and smiled -to<br> - himself as he heard the thick boots of one. A boy who can -dodge<br> - over the roofs of Lahore city on a moonlight night, using -every<br> - little patch and corner of darkness to discomfit his pursuer, -is<br> - not likely to be checked by a line of well-trained soldiers. -He<br> - paid them the compliment of crawling between a couple, and, -running<br> - and halting, crouching and dropping flat, worked his way toward -the<br> - lighted Mess-tent where, close pressed behind the mango-tree, -he<br> - waited till some chance word should give him a returnable -lead.</p> - -<p>The one thing now in his mind was further information as to -the Red<br> - Bull. For aught he knew, and Kim's limitations were as curious -and<br> - sudden as his expansions, the men, the nine hundred thorough -devils<br> - of his father's prophecy, might pray to the beast after dark, -as<br> - Hindus pray to the Holy Cow. That at least would be entirely -right<br> - and logical, and the padre with the gold cross would be -therefore<br> - the man to consult in the matter. On the other hand, -remembering<br> - sober-faced padres whom he had avoided in Lahore city, the -priest<br> - might be an inquisitive nuisance who would bid him learn. But -had<br> - it not been proven at Umballa that his sign in the high -heavens<br> - portended War and armed men? Was he not the Friend of the Stars -as<br> - well as of all the World, crammed to the teeth with dreadful<br> - secrets? Lastly - and firstly as the undercurrent of all his -quick<br> - thoughts -this adventure, though he did not know the English -word,<br> - was a stupendous lark - a delightful continuation of his old<br> - flights across the housetops, as well as the fulfilment of -sublime<br> - prophecy. He lay belly-flat and wriggled towards the -Mess-tent<br> - door, a hand on the amulet round his neck.</p> - -<p>It was as he suspected. The Sahibs prayed to their God; for in -the<br> - centre of the Mess-table - its sole ornament when they were on -the<br> - line of march - stood a golden bull fashioned from old-time loot -of<br> - the Summer Palace at Pekin - a red-gold bull with lowered -head,<br> - ramping upon a field of Irish green. To him the Sahibs held -out<br> - their glasses and cried aloud confusedly.</p> - -<p>Now the Reverend Arthur Bennett always left Mess after that -toast,<br> - and being rather tired by his march his movements were more -abrupt<br> - than usual. Kim, with slightly raised head, was still staring -at<br> - his totem on the table, when the Chaplain stepped on his -right<br> - shoulder-blade. Kim flinched under the leather, and, rolling<br> - sideways, brought down the Chaplain, who, ever a man of -action,<br> - caught him by the throat and nearly choked the life out of him. -Kim<br> - then kicked him desperately in the stomach. Mr Bennett gasped -and<br> - doubled up, but without relaxing his grip, rolled over again, -and<br> - silently hauled Kim to his own tent. The Mavericks were -incurable<br> - practical jokers; and it occurred to the Englishman that -silence<br> - was best till he had made complete inquiry.</p> - -<p>'Why, it's a boy!' he said, as he drew his prize under the -light of<br> - the tent-pole lantern, then shaking him severely cried: 'What -were<br> - you doing? You're a thief. Choor? Mallum?' His Hindustani was -very<br> - limited, and the ruffled and disgusted Kim intended to keep to -the<br> - character laid down for him. As he recovered his breath he -was<br> - inventing a beautifully plausible tale of his relations to -some<br> - scullion, and at the same time keeping a keen eye on and a -little<br> - under the Chaplain's left arm-pit. The chance came; he ducked -for<br> - the doorway, but a long arm shot out and clutched at his -neck,<br> - snapping the amulet-string and closing on the amulet.</p> - -<p>'Give it me. O, give it me. Is it lost? Give me the -papers.'</p> - -<p>The words were in English - the tinny, saw-cut English of -the<br> - native-bred, and the Chaplain jumped.</p> - -<p>'A scapular,' said he, opening his hand. 'No, some sort of -heathen<br> - charm. Why - why, do you speak English? Little boys who steal -are<br> - beaten. You know that?'</p> - -<p>'I do not - I did not steal.' Kim danced in agony like a -terrier at<br> - a lifted stick. 'Oh, give it me. It is my charm. Do not thieve -it<br> - from me.'</p> - -<p>The Chaplain took no heed, but, going to the tent door, -called<br> - aloud. A fattish, clean-shaven man appeared.</p> - -<p>'I want your advice, Father Victor,' said Bennett. 'I found -this<br> - boy in the dark outside the Mess-tent. Ordinarily, I should -have<br> - chastised him and let him go, because I believe him to be a -thief.<br> - But it seems he talks English, and he attaches some sort of -value<br> - to a charm round his neck. I thought perhaps you might help -me.'</p> - -<p>Between himself and the Roman Catholic Chaplain of the -Irish<br> - contingent lay, as Bennett believed, an unbridgeable gulf, but -it<br> - was noticeable that whenever the Church of England dealt with -a<br> - human problem she was very likely to call in the Church of -Rome.<br> - Bennett's official abhorrence of the Scarlet Woman and all her -ways<br> - was only equalled by his private respect for Father Victor.</p> - -<p>'A thief talking English, is it? Let's look at his charm. No, -it's<br> - not a scapular, Bennett.' He held out his hand.</p> - -<p>'But have we any right to open it? A sound whipping -'</p> - -<p>'I did not thieve,' protested Kim. 'You have hit me kicks all -over<br> - my body. Now give me my charm and I will go away.'</p> - -<p>'Not quite so fast. We'll look first,' said Father Victor,<br> - leisurely rolling out poor Kimball O'Hara's 'ne varietur'<br> - parchment, his clearance-certificate, and Kim's baptismal<br> - certificate. On this last O'Hara - with some confused idea that -he<br> - was doing wonders for his son - had scrawled scores of times: -'Look<br> - after the boy. Please look after the boy' - signing his name -and<br> - regimental number in full.</p> - -<p>'Powers of Darkness below!" said Father Victor, passing all -over to<br> - Mr Bennett. 'Do you know what these things are?'</p> - -<p>'Yes.' said Kim. 'They are mine, and I want to go away.'</p> - -<p>'I do not quite understand,' said Mr Bennett. 'He probably -brought<br> - them on purpose. It may be a begging trick of some kind.'</p> - -<p>'I never saw a beggar less anxious to stay with his company, -then.<br> - There's the makings of a gay mystery here. Ye believe in<br> - Providence, Bennett?'</p> - -<p>'I hope so.'</p> - -<p>'Well, I believe in miracles, so it comes to the same thing. -Powers<br> - of Darkness! Kimball O'Hara! And his son! But then he's a -native,<br> - and I saw Kimball married myself to Annie Shott. How long have -you<br> - had these things, boy?'</p> - -<p>'Ever since I was a little baby.'</p> - -<p>Father Victor stepped forward quickly and opened the front of -Kim's<br> - upper garment. 'You see, Bennett, he's not very black. What's -your<br> - name?'</p> - -<p>'Kim.'</p> - -<p>'Or Kimball?'</p> - -<p>'Perhaps. Will you let me go away?'</p> - -<p>'What else?'</p> - -<p>'They call me Kim Rishti ke. That is Kim of the Rishti.'</p> - -<p>'What is that - "Rishti"?'</p> - -<p>'Eye-rishti - that was the Regiment - my father's.'</p> - -<p>'Irish - oh, I see.'</p> - -<p>'Yess. That was how my father told me. My father, he has -lived.'</p> - -<p>'Has lived where?'</p> - -<p>'Has lived. Of course he is dead - gone-out.'</p> - -<p>'Oh! That's your abrupt way of putting it, is it?'</p> - -<p>Bennett interrupted. 'It is possible I have done the boy -an<br> - injustice. He is certainly white, though evidently neglected. I -am<br> - sure I must have bruised him. I do not think spirits -'</p> - -<p>'Get him a glass of sherry, then, and let him squat on the -cot.<br> - Now, Kim,' continued Father Victor, 'no one is going to hurt -you.<br> - Drink that down and tell us about yourself. The truth, if you've -no<br> - objection.'</p> - -<p>Kim coughed a little as he put down the empty glass, and<br> - considered. This seemed a time for caution and fancy. Small -boys<br> - who prowl about camps are generally turned out after a -whipping.<br> - But he had received no stripes; the amulet was evidently working -in<br> - his favour, and it looked as though the Umballa horoscope and -the<br> - few words that he could remember of his father's maunderings -fitted<br> - in most miraculously. Else why did the fat padre seem so -impressed,<br> - and why the glass of hot yellow drink from the lean one?</p> - -<p>'My father, he is dead in Lahore city since I was very little. -The<br> - woman, she kept kabarri shop near where the hire-carriages -are.'<br> - Kim began with a plunge, not quite sure how far the truth -would<br> - serve him.</p> - -<p>'Your mother?'</p> - -<p>'No!' - with a gesture of disgust. 'She went out when I was -born.<br> - My father, he got these papers from the Jadoo-Gher what do you -call<br> - that?' (Bennett nodded) 'because he was in good-standing. What -do<br> - you call that?' (again Bennett nodded). 'My father told me that. -He<br> - said, too, and also the Brahmin who made the drawing in the dust -at<br> - Umballa two days ago, he said, that I shall find a Red Bull on -a<br> - green field and that the Bull shall help me.'</p> - -<p>'A phenomenal little liar,' muttered Bennett.</p> - -<p>'Powers of Darkness below, what a country!' murmured Father -Victor.<br> - 'Go on, Kim.'</p> - -<p>'I did not thieve. Besides, I am just now disciple of a very -holy<br> - man. He is sitting outside. We saw two men come with flags, -making<br> - the place ready. That is always so in a dream, or on account of -a -<br> - a -prophecy. So I knew it was come true. I saw the Red Bull on -the<br> - green field, and my father he said: "Nine hundred pukka devils -and<br> - the Colonel riding on a horse will look after you when you find -the<br> - Red Bull!" I did not know what to do when I saw the Bull, but -I<br> - went away and I came again when it was dark. I wanted to see -the<br> - Bull again, and I saw the Bull again with the - the Sahibs -praying<br> - to it. I think the Bull shall help me. The holy man said so too. -He<br> - is sitting outside. Will you hurt him, if I call him a shout -now?<br> - He is very holy. He can witness to all the things I say, and -he<br> - knows I am not a thief.'</p> - -<p>'"Sahibs praying to a bull!" What in the world do you make -of<br> - that?' said Bennett. "'Disciple of a holy man!" Is the boy -mad?'</p> - -<p>'It's O'Hara's boy, sure enough. O'Hara's boy leagued with all -the<br> - Powers of Darkness. It's very much what his father would have -done<br> - if he was drunk. We'd better invite the holy man. He may -know<br> - something.'</p> - -<p>'He does not know anything,' said Kim. 'I will show you him if -you<br> - come. He is my master. Then afterwards we can go.'</p> - -<p><br> - 'Powers of Darkness!' was all that Father Victor could say, -as<br> - Bennett marched off, with a firm hand on Kim's shoulder.</p> - -<p>They found the lama where he had dropped.</p> - -<p>'The Search is at an end for me,' shouted Kim in the -vernacular. 'I<br> - have found the Bull, but God knows what comes next. They will -not<br> - hurt you. Come to the fat priest's tent with this thin man and -see<br> - the end. It is all new, and they cannot talk Hindi. They are -only<br> - uncurried donkeys.'</p> - -<p>'Then it is not well to make a jest of their ignorance,' the -lama<br> - returned. 'I am glad if thou art rejoiced, chela.'</p> - -<p>Dignified and unsuspicious, he strode into the little tent, -saluted<br> - the Churches as a Churchman, and sat down by the open -charcoal<br> - brazier. The yellow lining of the tent reflected in the -lamplight<br> - made his face red-gold.</p> - -<p>Bennett looked at him with the triple-ringed uninterest of -the<br> - creed that lumps nine-tenths of the world under the title of<br> - 'heathen'.</p> - -<p>'And what was the end of the Search? What gift has the Red -Bull<br> - brought?' The lama addressed himself to Kim.</p> - -<p>'He says, "What are you going to do?"' Bennett was staring -uneasily<br> - at Father Victor, and Kim, for his own ends, took upon himself -the<br> - office of interpreter.</p> - -<p>'I do not see what concern this fakir has with the boy, who -is<br> - probably his dupe or his confederate,' Bennett began. 'We -cannot<br> - allow an English boy - Assuming that he is the son of a Mason, -the<br> - sooner he goes to the Masonic Orphanage the better.'</p> - -<p>'Ah! That's your opinion as Secretary to the Regimental -Lodge,'<br> - said Father Victor; 'but we might as well tell the old man what -we<br> - are going to do. He doesn't look like a villain.'</p> - -<p>'My experience is that one can never fathom the Oriental mind. -Now,<br> - Kimball, I wish you to tell this man what I say word for -word.'</p> - -<p>Kim gathered the import of the next few sentences and began -thus:</p> - -<p>'Holy One, the thin fool who looks like a camel says that I am -the<br> - son of a Sahib.'</p> - -<p>'But how?'</p> - -<p>'Oh, it is true. I knew it since my birth, but he could only -find<br> - it out by rending the amulet from my neck and reading all -the<br> - papers. He thinks that once a Sahib is always a Sahib, and -between<br> - the two of them they purpose to keep me in this Regiment or to -send<br> - me to a madrissah [a school]. It has happened before. I have -always<br> - avoided it. The fat fool is of one mind and the camel-like one -of<br> - another. But that is no odds. I may spend one night here and<br> - perhaps the next. It has happened before. Then I will run away -and<br> - return to thee.'</p> - -<p>'But tell them that thou art my chela. Tell them how thou -didst<br> - come to me when I was faint and bewildered. Tell them of our<br> - Search, and they will surely let thee go now.'</p> - -<p>'I have already told them. They laugh, and they talk of -the<br> - police.'</p> - -<p>'What are you saying?' asked Mr Bennett.</p> - -<p>'Oah. He only says that if you do not let me go it will stop -him in<br> - his business - his ur-gent private af-fairs.' This last was -a<br> - reminiscence of some talk with a Eurasian clerk in the Canal<br> - Department, but it only drew a smile, which nettled him. 'And -if<br> - you did know what his business was you would not be in such -a<br> - beastly hurry to interfere.'</p> - -<p>'What is it then?' said Father Victor, not without feeling, as -he<br> - watched the lama's face.</p> - -<p>'There is a River in this country which he wishes to find so -verree<br> - much. It was put out by an Arrow which -'Kim tapped his foot<br> - impatiently as he translated in his own mind from the vernacular -to<br> - his clumsy English. 'Oah, it was made by our Lord God Buddha, -you<br> - know, and if you wash there you are washed away from all your -sins<br> - and made as white as cotton-wool.' (Kim had heard mission-talk -in<br> - his time.) 'I am his disciple, and we must find that River. It -is<br> - so verree valuable to us.'</p> - -<p>'Say that again,' said Bennett. Kim obeyed, with -amplifications.</p> - -<p>'But this is gross blasphemy!' cried the Church of -England.</p> - -<p>'Tck! Tck!' said Father Victor sympathetically. 'I'd give a -good<br> - deal to be able to talk the vernacular. A river that washes -away<br> - sin! And how long have you two been looking for it?'</p> - -<p>'Oh, many days. Now we wish to go away and look for it again. -It is<br> - not here, you see.'</p> - -<p>'I see,' said Father Victor gravely. 'But he can't go on in -that<br> - old man's company. It would be different, Kim, if you were not -a<br> - soldier's son. Tell him that the Regiment will take care of you -and<br> - make you as good a man as your - as good a man as can be. Tell -him<br> - that if he believes in miracles he must believe that -'</p> - -<p>'There is no need to play on his credulity,' Bennett -interrupted.</p> - -<p>'I'm doing no such thing. He must believe that the boy's -coming<br> - here -to his own Regiment - in search of his Red Bull is in -the<br> - nature of a miracle. Consider the chances against it, Bennett. -This<br> - one boy in all India, and our Regiment of all others on the line -o'<br> - march for him to meet with! It's predestined on the face of -it.<br> - Yes, tell him it's Kismet. Kismet, mallum? [Do you -understand?]'</p> - -<p>He turned towards the lama, to whom he might as well have -talked of<br> - Mesopotamia.</p> - -<p>'They say,' - the old man's eye lighted at Kim's speech 'they -say<br> - that the meaning of my horoscope is now accomplished, and -that<br> - being led back - though as thou knowest I went out of curiosity --<br> - to these people and their Red Bull I must needs go to a -madrissah<br> - and be turned into a Sahib. Now I make pretence of agreement, -for<br> - at the worst it will be but a few meals eaten away from thee. -Then<br> - I will slip away and follow down the road to Saharunpore.<br> - Therefore, Holy One, keep with that Kulu woman - on no -account<br> - stray far from her cart till I come again. Past question, my -sign<br> - is of War and of armed men. See how they have given me wine -to<br> - drink and set me upon a bed of honour! My father must have -been<br> - some great person. So if they raise me to honour among them, -good.<br> - If not, good again. However it goes, I will run back to thee -when I<br> - am tired. But stay with the Rajputni, or I shall miss thy feet -...<br> - Oah yess,' said the boy, 'I have told him everything you tell me -to<br> - say.'</p> - -<p>'And I cannot see any need why he should wait,' said -Bennett,<br> - feeling in his trouser-pocket. 'We can investigate the -details<br> - later - and I will give him a ru -'</p> - -<p>'Give him time. Maybe he's fond of the lad,' said Father -Victor,<br> - half arresting the clergyman's motion.</p> - -<p>The lama dragged forth his rosary and pulled his huge hat-brim -over<br> - his eyes.</p> - -<p>'What can he want now?'</p> - -<p>'He says' - Kim put up one hand. 'He says: Be quiett.' He -wants to<br> - speak to me by himself You see, you do not know one little word -of<br> - what he says, and I think if you talk he will perhaps give you -very<br> - bad curses. When he takes those beads like that, you see, he -always<br> - wants to be quiett.'</p> - -<p>The two Englishmen sat overwhelmed, but there was a look -in<br> - Bennett's eye that promised ill for Kim when he should be -relaxed<br> - to the religious arm.</p> - -<p>'A Sahib and the son of a Sahib -' The lama's voice was harsh -with<br> - pain. 'But no white man knows the land and the customs of the -land<br> - as thou knowest. How comes it this is true?'</p> - -<p>'What matter, Holy One? - but remember it is only for a night -or<br> - two. Remember, I can change swiftly. It will all be as it was -when<br> - I first spoke to thee under Zam-Zammah the great gun -'</p> - -<p>'As a boy in the dress of white men - when I first went to -the<br> - Wonder House. And a second time thou wast a Hindu. What shall -the<br> - third incarnation be?' He chuckled drearily. 'Ah, chela, thou -has<br> - done a wrong to an old man because my heart went out to -thee.'</p> - -<p>'And mine to thee. But how could I know that the Red Bull -would<br> - bring me to this business?'</p> - -<p>The lama covered his face afresh, and nervously rattled the -rosary.<br> - Kim squatted beside him and laid hold upon a fold of his -clothing.</p> - -<p>'Now it is understood that the boy is a Sahib?' he went on in -a<br> - muffled tone. 'Such a Sahib as was he who kept the images in -the<br> - Wonder House.' The lama's experience of white men was limited. -He<br> - seemed to be repeating a lesson. 'So then it is not seemly that -he<br> - should do other than as the Sahibs do. He must go back to his -own<br> - people.'</p> - -<p>'For a day and a night and a day,' Kim pleaded.</p> - -<p>'No, ye don't!' Father Victor saw Kim edging towards the door, -and<br> - interposed a strong leg.</p> - -<p>'I do not understand the customs of white men. The Priest of -the<br> - Images in the Wonder House in Lahore was more courteous than -the<br> - thin one here. This boy will be taken from me. They will make -a<br> - Sahib of my disciple? Woe to me! How shall I find my River? -Have<br> - they no disciples? Ask.'</p> - -<p>'He says he is very sorree that he cannot find the River now -any<br> - more. He says, Why have you no disciples, and stop bothering -him?<br> - He wants to be washed of his sins.'</p> - -<p>Neither Bennett nor Father Victor found any answer ready.</p> - -<p>Said Kim in English, distressed for the lama's agony: 'I think -if<br> - you will let me go now we will walk away quietly and not steal. -We<br> - will look for that River like before I was caught. I wish I did -not<br> - come here to find the Red Bull and all that sort of thing. I do -not<br> - want it.'</p> - -<p>'It's the very best day's work you ever did for yourself, -young<br> - man,' said Bennett.</p> - -<p>'Good heavens, I don't know how to console him,' said -Father<br> - Victor, watching the lama intently. 'He can't take the boy -away<br> - with him, and yet he's a good man - I'm sure he's a good -man.<br> - Bennett, if you give him that rupee he'll curse you root and<br> - branch!'</p> - -<p>They listened to each other's breathing - three - five -full<br> - minutes. Then the lama raised his head, and looked forth -across<br> - them into space and emptiness.</p> - -<p>'And I am a Follower of the Way,' he said bitterly. 'The sin -is<br> - mine and the punishment is mine. I made believe to myself for -now I<br> - see it was but make-belief - that thou wast sent to me to aid -in<br> - the Search. So my heart went out to thee for thy charity and -thy<br> - courtesy and the wisdom of thy little years. But those who -follow<br> - the Way must permit not the fire of any desire or attachment, -for<br> - that is all Illusion. As says . . .' He quoted an old, old -Chinese<br> - text, backed it with another, and reinforced these with a third. -'I<br> - stepped aside from the Way, my chela. It was no fault of thine. -I<br> - delighted in the sight of life, the new people upon the roads, -and<br> - in thy joy at seeing these things. I was pleased with thee -who<br> - should have considered my Search and my Search alone. Now I -am<br> - sorrowful because thou art taken away and my River is far from -me.<br> - It is the Law which I have broken!'</p> - -<p>'Powers of Darkness below!' said Father Victor, who, wise in -the<br> - confessional, heard the pain in every sentence.</p> - -<p>'I see now that the sign of the Red Bull was a sign for me as -well<br> - as for thee. All Desire is red - and evil. I will do penance -and<br> - find my River alone.'</p> - -<p>'At least go back to the Kulu woman,' said Kim, 'otherwise -thou<br> - wilt be lost upon the roads. She will feed thee till I run back -to<br> - thee.'</p> - -<p>The lama waved a hand to show that the matter was finally -settled<br> - in his mind.</p> - -<p>'Now,' - his tone altered as he turned to Kim, - 'what will -they do<br> - with thee? At least I may, acquiring merit, wipe out past -ill.'</p> - -<p>'Make me a Sahib - so they think. The day after tomorrow I -return.<br> - Do not grieve.'</p> - -<p>'Of what sort? Such an one as this or that man?' He pointed -to<br> - Father Victor. 'Such an one as those I saw this evening men -wearing<br> - swords and stamping heavily?'</p> - -<p>'Maybe.'</p> - -<p>'That is not well. These men follow desire and come to -emptiness.<br> - Thou must not be of their sort.'</p> - -<p>'The Umballa priest said that my Star was War,' Kim -interjected. 'I<br> - will ask these fools - but there is truly no need. I will run -away<br> - this night, for all I wanted to see the new things.'</p> - -<p>Kim put two or three questions in English to Father -Victor,<br> - translating the replies to the lama.</p> - -<p>Then: 'He says, "You take him from me and you cannot say what -you<br> - will make him." He says, "Tell me before I go, for it is not -a<br> - small thing to make a child."'</p> - -<p>'You will be sent to a school. Later on, we shall see. -Kimball, I<br> - suppose you'd like to be a soldier?'</p> - -<p>'Gorah-log [white-folk]. No-ah! No-ah!' Kim shook his head<br> - violently. There was nothing in his composition to which drill -and<br> - routine appealed. 'I will not be a soldier.'</p> - -<p>'You will be what you're told to be,' said Bennett; 'and you -should<br> - be grateful that we're going to help you.'</p> - -<p><br> - Kim smiled compassionately. If these men lay under the -delusion<br> - that he would do anything that he did not fancy, so much the<br> - better.</p> - -<p>Another long silence followed. Bennett fidgeted with -impatience,<br> - and suggested calling a sentry to evict the fakir.</p> - -<p>'Do they give or sell learning among the Sahibs? Ask them,' -said<br> - the lama, and Kim interpreted.</p> - -<p>'They say that money is paid to the teacher - but that money -the<br> - Regiment will give ... What need? It is only for a night.'</p> - -<p>'And - the more money is paid the better learning is given?' -The<br> - lama disregarded Kim's plans for an early flight. 'It is no -wrong<br> - to pay for learning. To help the ignorant to wisdom is always -a<br> - merit.' The rosary clicked furiously as an abacus. Then he -faced<br> - his oppressors.</p> - -<p>'Ask them for how much money do they give a wise and -suitable<br> - teaching? And in what city is that teaching given?'</p> - -<p>'Well,'said Father Victor in English, when Kim had -translated,<br> - 'that depends. The Regiment would pay for you all the time you -are<br> - at the Military Orphanage; or you might go on the Punjab -Masonic<br> - Orphanage's list (not that he or you 'ud understand what -that<br> - means); but the best schooling a boy can get in India is, of<br> - course, at St Xavier's in Partibus at Lucknow.' This took some -time<br> - to interpret, for Bennett wished to cut it short.</p> - -<p>'He wants to know how much?' said Kim placidly.</p> - -<p>'Two or three hundred rupees a year.' Father Victor was long -past<br> - any sense of amazement. Bennett, impatient, did not -understand.</p> - -<p>'He says: "Write that name and the money upon a paper and give -it<br> - him." And he says you must write your name below, because he -is<br> - going to write a letter in some days to you. He says you are a -good<br> - man. He says the other man is a tool. He is going away.'</p> - -<p>The lama rose suddenly. 'I follow my Search,' he cried, and -was<br> - gone.</p> - -<p>'He'll run slap into the sentries,' cried Father Victor, -jumping up<br> - as the lama stalked out; 'but I can't leave the boy.' Kim -made<br> - swift motion to follow, but checked himself. There was no sound -of<br> - challenge outside. The lama had disappeared.</p> - -<p>Kim settled himself composedly on the Chaplain's cot. At least -the<br> - lama had promised that he would stay with the Raiput woman -from<br> - Kulu, and the rest was of the smallest importance. It pleased -him<br> - that the two padres were so evidently excited. They talked long -in<br> - undertones, Father Victor urging some scheme on Mr Bennett, -who<br> - seemed incredulous. All this was very new and fascinating, but -Kim<br> - felt sleepy. They called men into the tent - one of them -certainly<br> - was the Colonel, as his father had prophesied - and they asked -him<br> - an infinity of questions, chiefly about the woman who looked -after<br> - him, all of which Kim answered truthfully. They did not seem -to<br> - think the woman a good guardian.</p> - -<p><br> - After all, this was the newest of his experiences. Sooner or -later,<br> - if he chose, he could escape into great, grey, formless -India,<br> - beyond tents and padres and colonels. Meantime, if the Sahibs -were<br> - to be impressed, he would do his best to impress them. He too -was a<br> - white man.</p> - -<p>After much talk that he could not comprehend, they handed him -over<br> - to a sergeant, who had strict instructions not to let him -escape.<br> - The Regiment would go on to Umballa, and Kim would be sent -up,<br> - partly at the expense of the Lodge and in part by subscription, -to<br> - a place called Sanawar.</p> - -<p>'It's miraculous past all whooping, Colonel,' said Father -Victor,<br> - when he had talked without a break for ten minutes. 'His -Buddhist<br> - friend has levanted after taking my name and address. I can't -quite<br> - make out whether he'll pay for the boy's education or whether he -is<br> - preparing some sort of witchcraft on his own account.' Then to -Kim:<br> - 'You'll live to be grateful to your friend the Red Bull yet. -We'll<br> - make a man of you at Sanawar - even at the price o' making you -a<br> - Protestant.'</p> - -<p>'Certainly - most certainly,' said Bennett.</p> - -<p>'But you will not go to Sanawar,' said Kim.</p> - -<p>'But we will go to Sanawar, little man. That's the order of -the<br> - Commander-in-Chief, who's a trifle more important than -O'Hara's<br> - son.'</p> - -<p>'You will not go to Sanawar. You will go to thee War.'</p> - -<p>There was a shout of laughter from the full tent.</p> - -<p>'When you know your own Regiment a trifle better you won't -confuse<br> - the line of march with line of battle, Kim. We hope to go to -"thee<br> - War" sometime.'</p> - -<p>'Oah, I know all thatt.' Kim drew his bow again at a venture. -If<br> - they were not going to the war, at least they did not know what -he<br> - knew of the talk in the veranda at Umballa.</p> - -<p>'I know you are not at thee war now; but I tell you that as -soon as<br> - you get to Umballa you will be sent to the war - the new war. It -is<br> - a war of eight thousand men, besides the guns.'</p> - -<p>'That's explicit. D'you add prophecy to your other gifts? Take -him<br> - along, sergeant. Take up a suit for him from the Drums, an' -take<br> - care he doesn't slip through your fingers. Who says the age -of<br> - miracles is gone by? I think I'll go to bed. My poor mind's<br> - weakening.'</p> - -<p>At the far end of the camp, silent as a wild animal, an hour -later<br> - sat Kim, newly washed all over, in a horrible stuff suit -that<br> - rasped his arms and legs.</p> - -<p>'A most amazin' young bird,' said the sergeant. 'He turns up -in<br> - charge of a yellow-headed buck-Brahmin priest, with his -father's<br> - Lodge certificates round his neck, talkin' God knows what all of -a<br> - red bull. The buck-Brahmin evaporates without explanations, an' -the<br> - bhoy sets cross-legged on the Chaplain's bed prophesyin' bloody -war<br> - to the men at large. Injia's a wild land for a God-fearin' -man.<br> - I'll just tie his leg to the tent-pole in case he'll go through -the<br> - roof What did ye say about the war?'</p> - -<p>'Eight thousand men, besides guns,' said Kim. 'Very soon you -will<br> - see.'</p> - -<p>'You're a consolin' little imp. Lie down between the Drums an' -go<br> - to bye-bye. Those two boys will watch your slumbers.'</p> - -<p></p> - -<h2>Chapter 6</h2> - -<p><br> - Now I remember comrades -<br> - Old playmates on new seas -<br> - Whenas we traded orpiment<br> - Among the savages.<br> - Ten thousand leagues to southward,<br> - And thirty years removed -<br> - They knew not noble Valdez,<br> - But me they knew and loved.</p> - -<p>Song of Diego Valdez.</p> - -<p><br> - Very early in the morning the white tents came down and -disappeared<br> - as the Mavericks took a side-road to Umballa. It did not skirt -the<br> - resting-place, and Kim, trudging beside a baggage-cart under -fire<br> - of comments from soldiers' wives, was not so confident as<br> - overnight. He discovered that he was closely watched - -Father<br> - Victor on the one side, and Mr Bennett on the other.</p> - -<p><br> - In the forenoon the column checked. A camel-orderly handed -the<br> - Colonel a letter. He read it, and spoke to a Major. Half a mile -in<br> - the rear, Kim heard a hoarse and joyful clamour rolling down on -him<br> - through the thick dust. Then someone beat him on the back, -crying:<br> - 'Tell us how ye knew, ye little limb of Satan? Father dear, see -if<br> - ye can make him tell.'</p> - -<p>A pony ranged alongside, and he was hauled on to the -priest's<br> - saddlebow.</p> - -<p>'Now, my son, your prophecy of last night has come true. Our -orders<br> - are to entrain at Umballa for the Front tomorrow.'</p> - -<p>'What is thatt?' said Kim, for 'front' and 'entrain' were -newish<br> - words to him.</p> - -<p>'We are going to "thee War," as you called it.'</p> - -<p>'Of course you are going to thee War. I said last night.'</p> - -<p>'Ye did; but, Powers o' Darkness, how did ye know?'</p> - -<p>Kim's eyes sparkled. He shut his lips, nodded his head, and -looked<br> - unspeakable things. The Chaplain moved on through the dust, -and<br> - privates, sergeants, and subalterns called one another's -attention<br> - to the boy. The Colonel, at the head of the column, stared at -him<br> - curiously. 'It was probably some bazar rumour.' he said; 'but -even<br> - then -' He referred to the paper in his hand. 'Hang it all, -the<br> - thing was only decided within the last forty-eight hours.'</p> - -<p>Are there many more like you in India?' said Father Victor, -'or are<br> - you by way o' being a lusus naturae?'</p> - -<p>'Now I have told you,' said the boy, 'will you let me go back -to my<br> - old man? If he has not stayed with that woman from Kulu, I -am<br> - afraid he will die.'</p> - -<p>'By what I saw of him he's as well able to take care of -himself as<br> - you. No. Ye've brought us luck, an' we're goin' to make a man -of<br> - you. I'll take ye back to your baggage-cart and ye'll come to -me<br> - this evening.'</p> - -<p>For the rest of the day Kim found himself an object of<br> - distinguished consideration among a few hundred white men. -The<br> - story of his appearance in camp, the discovery of his -parentage,<br> - and his prophecy, had lost nothing in the telling. A big, -shapeless<br> - white woman on a pile of bedding asked him mysteriously whether -he<br> - thought her husband would come back from the war. Kim -reflected<br> - gravely, and said that he would, and the woman gave him food. -In<br> - many respects, this big procession that played music at -intervals -<br> - this crowd that talked and laughed so easily - resembled a -festival<br> - in Lahore city. So far, there was no sign of hard work, and -he<br> - resolved to lend the spectacle his patronage. At evening there -came<br> - out to meet them bands of music, and played the Mavericks into -camp<br> - near Umballa railway station. That was an interesting night. Men -of<br> - other regiments came to visit the Mavericks. The Mavericks -went<br> - visiting on their own account. Their pickets hurried forth to -bring<br> - them back, met pickets of strange regiments on the same duty; -and,<br> - after a while, the bugles blew madly for more pickets with -officers<br> - to control the tumult. The Mavericks had a reputation for<br> - liveliness to live up to. But they fell in on the platform -next<br> - morning in perfect shape and condition; and Kim, left behind -with<br> - the sick, women, and boys, found himself shouting farewells<br> - excitedly as the trains drew away. Life as a Sahib was amusing -so<br> - far; but he touched it with a cautious hand. Then they marched -him<br> - back in charge of a drummer-boy to empty, lime-washed -barracks,<br> - whose floors were covered with rubbish and string and paper, -and<br> - whose ceilings gave back his lonely footfall. Native-fashion, -he<br> - curled himself up on a stripped cot and went to sleep. An angry -man<br> - stumped down the veranda, woke him up, and said he was a<br> - schoolmaster. This was enough for Kim, and he retired into -his<br> - shell. He could just puzzle out the various English Police -notices<br> - in Lahore city, because they affected his comfort; and among -the<br> - many guests of the woman who looked after him had been a -queer<br> - German who painted scenery for the Parsee travelling theatre. -He<br> - told Kim that he had been 'on the barricades in 'Forty-eight,' -and<br> - therefore - at least that was how it struck Kim - he would -teach<br> - the boy to write in return for food. Kim had been kicked as far -as<br> - single letters, but did not think well of them.</p> - -<p>'I do not know anything. Go away!' said Kim, scenting -evil.<br> - Hereupon the man caught him by the ear, dragged him to a room in -a<br> - far-off wing where a dozen drummer-boys were sitting on forms, -and<br> - told him to be still if he could do nothing else. This he -managed<br> - very successfully. The man explained something or other with -white<br> - lines or a black board for at least half an hour, and Kim -continued<br> - his interrupted nap. He much disapproved of the present aspect -of<br> - affairs, for this was the very school and discipline he had -spent<br> - two-thirds of his young life in avoiding. Suddenly a beautiful -idea<br> - occurred to him, and he wondered that he had not thought of -it<br> - before.</p> - -<p>The man dismissed them, and first to spring through the -veranda<br> - into the open sunshine was Kim.</p> - -<p>' 'Ere, you! 'Alt! Stop!' said a high voice at his heels. -'I've got<br> - to look after you. My orders are not to let you out of my -sight.<br> - Where are you goin'?'</p> - -<p>It was the drummer-boy who had been hanging round him all -the<br> - forenoon - a fat and freckled person of about fourteen, and -Kim<br> - loathed him from the soles of his boots to his cap-ribbons.</p> - -<p>'To the bazar - to get sweets - for you,' said Kim, after -thought.</p> - -<p>'Well, the bazar's out o' bounds. If we go there we'll get -a<br> - dressing-down. You come back.'</p> - -<p>'How near can we go?' Kim did not know what bounds meant, but -he<br> - wished to be polite - for the present.</p> - -<p>' 'Ow near? 'Ow far, you mean! We can go as far as that tree -down<br> - the road.'</p> - -<p>'Then I will go there.'</p> - -<p>'All right. I ain't goin'. It's too 'ot. I can watch you from -'ere.<br> - It's no good your runnin' away. If you did, they'd spot you by -your<br> - clothes. That's regimental stuff you're wearin'. There ain't -a<br> - picket in Umballa wouldn't 'ead you back quicker than you -started<br> - out.'</p> - -<p>This did not impress Kim as much as the knowledge that his -raiment<br> - would tire him out if he tried to run. He slouched to the tree -at<br> - the corner of a bare road leading towards the bazar, and eyed -the<br> - natives passing. Most of them were barrack-servants of the -lowest<br> - caste. Kim hailed a sweeper, who promptly retorted with a piece -of<br> - unnecessary insolence, in the natural belief that the European -boy<br> - could not follow it. The low, quick answer undeceived him. Kim -put<br> - his fettered soul into it, thankful for the late chance to -abuse<br> - somebody in the tongue he knew best. 'And now, go to the -nearest<br> - letter-writer in the bazar and tell him to come here. I would -write<br> - a letter.'</p> - -<p>'But - but what manner of white man's son art thou to need a -bazar<br> - letter-writer? Is there not a schoolmaster in the barracks?'</p> - -<p>'Ay; and Hell is full of the same sort. Do my order, you - you -Od!<br> - Thy mother was married under a basket! Servant of Lal Beg' -(Kim<br> - knew the God of the sweepers), 'run on my business or we will -talk<br> - again.'</p> - -<p>The sweeper shuffled off in haste. 'There is a white boy by -the<br> - barracks waiting under a tree who is not a white boy,' he -stammered<br> - to the first bazar letter-writer he came across. 'He needs -thee.'<br> - TO HERE</p> - -<p>'Will he pay?' said the spruce scribe, gathering up his -desk<br> - and pens and sealing-wax all in order.</p> - -<p>'I do not know. He is not like other boys. Go and see. It -is<br> - well worth.'</p> - -<p>Kim danced with impatience when the slim young Kayeth hove -in<br> - sight. As soon as his voice could carry he cursed him -volubly.</p> - -<p>'First I will take my pay,' the letter-writer said. 'Bad words -have<br> - made the price higher. But who art thou, dressed in that -fashion,<br> - to speak in this fashion?'</p> - -<p>'Aha! That is in the letter which thou shalt write. Never was -such<br> - a tale. But I am in no haste. Another writer will serve me. -Umballa<br> - city is as full of them as is Lahore.'</p> - -<p>'Four annas,' said the writer, sitting down and spreading his -cloth<br> - in the shade of a deserted barrack-wing.</p> - -<p>Mechanically Kim squatted beside him squatted as only the -natives<br> - can - in spite of the abominable clinging trousers.</p> - -<p>The writer regarded him sideways.</p> - -<p>'That is the price to ask of Sahibs,' said Kim. 'Now fix me a -true<br> - one.'</p> - -<p>'An anna and a half. How do I know, having written the letter, -that<br> - thou wilt not run away?'</p> - -<p>I must not go beyond this tree, and there is also the stamp to -be<br> - considered.'</p> - -<p>'I get no commission on the price of the stamp. Once more, -what<br> - manner of white boy art thou?'</p> - -<p>'That shall be said in the letter, which is to Mahbub Ali, -the<br> - horse-dealer in the Kashmir Serai, at Lahore. He is my -friend.'</p> - -<p>'Wonder on wonder!' murmured the letter-writer, dipping a reed -in<br> - the inkstand. 'To be written in Hindi?'</p> - -<p>'Assuredly. To Mahbub Ali then. Begin! I have come down with -the<br> - old man as far as Umballa in the train. At Umballa I carried -the<br> - news of the bay mare's pedigree.' After what he had seen in -the<br> - garden, he was not going to write of white stallions.</p> - -<p>'Slower a little. What has a bay mare to do . . . Is it Mahbub -Ali,<br> - the great dealer?'</p> - -<p>'Who else? I have been in his service. Take more ink. Again. -As the<br> - order was, so I did it. We then went on foot towards Benares, -but<br> - on the third day we found a certain regiment. Is that down?'</p> - -<p>'Ay, pulton,''' murmured the writer, all ears.</p> - -<p>'I went into their camp and was caught, and by means of the -charm<br> - about my neck, which thou kno west, it was established that I -was<br> - the son of some man in the regiment: according to the prophecy -of<br> - the Red Bull, which thou knowest was common talk of our bazar.' -Kim<br> - waited for this shaft to sink into the letter-writer's -heart,<br> - cleared his throat, and continued: 'A priest clothed me and gave -me<br> - a new name . . . One priest, however, was a fool. The clothes -are<br> - very heavy, but I am a Sahib and my heart is heavy too. They -send<br> - me to a school and beat me. I do not like the air and water -here.<br> - Come then and help me, Mahbub Ali, or send me some money, for -I<br> - have not sufficient to pay the writer who writes this.</p> - -<p>' "Who writes this." It is my own fault that I was tricked. -Thou<br> - art as clever as Husain Bux that forged the Treasury stamps -at<br> - Nucklao. But what a tale! What a tale! Is it true by any -chance?'</p> - -<p>'It does not profit to tell lies to Mahbub Ali. It is better -to<br> - help his friends by lending them a stamp. When the money comes -I<br> - will repay.'</p> - -<p>The writer grunted doubtfully, but took a stamp out of his -desk,<br> - sealed the letter, handed it over to Kim, and departed. -Mahbub<br> - Ali's was a name of power in Umballa.</p> - -<p>'That is the way to win a good account with the Gods,' Kim -shouted<br> - after him.</p> - -<p>'Pay me twice over when the money comes,' the man cried over -his<br> - shoulder.</p> - -<p>'What was you bukkin' to that nigger about?' said the -drummer-boy<br> - when Kim returned to the veranda. 'I was watch-in' you.'</p> - -<p>'I was only talkin' to him.'</p> - -<p>'You talk the same as a nigger, don't you?'</p> - -<p>'No-ah! No-ah! I onlee speak a little. What shall we do -now?'</p> - -<p>'The bugles'll go for dinner in arf a minute. My Gawd! I wish -I'd<br> - gone up to the Front with the Regiment. It's awful doin' -nothin'<br> - but school down 'ere. Don't you 'ate it?'</p> - -<p>'Oah yess!'</p> - -<p>I'd run away if I knew where to go to, but, as the men say, in -this<br> - bloomin' Injia you're only a prisoner at large. You can't -desert<br> - without bein' took back at once. I'm fair sick of it.'</p> - -<br> -'You have been in Be - England?' - -<p>'W'y, I only come out last troopin' season with my mother. I -should<br> - think I 'ave been in England. What a ignorant little beggar -you<br> - are! You was brought up in the gutter, wasn't you?'</p> - -<p>'Oah yess. Tell me something about England. My father he came -from<br> - there.'</p> - -<p>Though he would not say so, Kim of course disbelieved every -word<br> - the drummer-boy spoke about the Liverpool suburb which was -his<br> - England. It passed the heavy time till dinner - a most -unappetizing<br> - meal served to the boys and a few invalids in a corner of a<br> - barrack-room. But that he had written to Mahbub Ali, Kim would -have<br> - been almost depressed. The indifference of native crowds he -was<br> - used to; but this strong loneliness among white men preyed on -him.<br> - He was grateful when, in the course of the afternoon, a big -soldier<br> - took him over to Father Victor, who lived in another wing -across<br> - another dusty parade-ground. The priest was reading an -English<br> - letter written in purple ink. He looked at Kim more curiously -than<br> - ever.</p> - -<p>'An' how do you like it, my son, as far as you've gone? Not -much,<br> - eh? It must be hard - very hard on a wild animal. Listen now. -I've<br> - an amazin' epistle from your friend.'</p> - -<p>'Where is he? Is he well? Oah! If he knows to write me -letters, it<br> - is all right.'</p> - -<p>'You're fond of him then?'</p> - -<p>'Of course I am fond of him. He was fond of me.'</p> - -<p>'It seems so by the look of this. He can't write English, can -he?'</p> - -<p>'Oah no. Not that I know, but of course he found a -letter-writer<br> - who can write English verree well, and so he wrote. I do hope -you<br> - understand.'</p> - -<p>'That accounts for it. D'you know anything about his money<br> - affairs?' Kim's face showed that he did not.</p> - -<p>'How can I tell?'</p> - -<p>'That's what I'm askin'. Now listen if you can make head or -tail o'<br> - this. We'll skip the first part . . . It's written from -Jagadhir<br> - Road . . . "Sitting on wayside in grave meditation, trusting to -be<br> - favoured with your Honour's applause of present step, which<br> - recommend your Honour to execute for Almighty God's sake. -Education<br> - is greatest blessing if of best sorts. Otherwise no earthly -use."<br> - Faith, the old man's hit the bull's-eye that time! "If your -Honour<br> - condescending giving my boy best educations Xavier" (I -suppose<br> - that's St Xavier's in Partibus) "in terms of our conversation -dated<br> - in your tent 15th instant" (a business-like touch there!) -"then<br> - Almighty God blessing your Honour's succeedings to third an' -fourth<br> - generation and" - now listen! -"confide in your Honour's -humble<br> - servant for adequate remuneration per hoondi per annum three<br> - hundred rupees a year to one expensive education St Xavier,<br> - Lucknow, and allow small time to forward same per hoondi sent -to<br> - any part of India as your Honour shall address yourself This<br> - servant of your Honour has presently no place to lay crown of -his<br> - head, but going to Benares by train on account of persecution -of<br> - old woman talking so much and unanxious residing Saharunpore in -any<br> - domestic capacity." Now what in the world does that mean?'</p> - -<p>'She has asked him to be her puro - her clergyman - at -Saharunpore,<br> - I think. He would not do that on account of his River. She -did<br> - talk.'</p> - -<p>'It's clear to you, is it? It beats me altogether. "So going -to<br> - Benares, where will find address and forward rupees for boy who -is<br> - apple of eye, and for Almighty God's sake execute this -education,<br> - and your petitioner as in duty bound shall ever awfully -pray.<br> - Written by Sobrao Satai, Failed Entrance Allahabad University, -for<br> - Venerable Teshoo Lama the priest of Such-zen looking for a -River,<br> - address care of Tirthankars' Temple, Benares. P. M. -Please -note<br> - boy is apple of eye, and rupees shall be sent per hoondi -three<br> - hundred per annum. For God Almighty's sake." Now, is that -ravin'<br> - lunacy or a business proposition? I ask you, because I'm fairly -at<br> - my wits' end.'</p> - -<p>'He says he will give me three hundred rupees a year? So he -will<br> - give me them.'</p> - -<p>'Oh, that's the way you look at it, is it?'</p> - -<p>'Of course. If he says so!'</p> - -<p>The priest whistled; then he addressed Kim as an equal.'I -don't<br> - believe it; but we'll see. You were goin' off today to the<br> - Military Orphanage at Sanawar, where the Regiment would keep -you<br> - till you were old enough to enlist. Ye'd be brought up to -the<br> - Church of England. Bennett arranged for that. On the other hand, -if<br> - ye go to St Xavier's ye'll get a better education an - an can -have<br> - the religion. D'ye see my dilemma? Kim saw nothing save a -vision<br> - of the lama going south in a train with none to beg for him.</p> - -<p>'Like most people, I'm going to temporize. If your friend -sends the<br> - money from Benares - Powers of Darkness below, where's a -street-<br> - beggar to raise three hundred rupees? - ye'll go down to -Lucknow<br> - and I'll pay your fare, because I can't touch the -subscription-<br> - money if I intend, as I do, to make ye a Catholic. If he -doesn't,<br> - ye'll go to the Military Orphanage at the Regiment's expense. -I'll<br> - allow him three days' grace, though I don't believe it at all. -Even<br> - then, if he fails in his payments later on . . . but it's -beyond<br> - me. We can only walk one step at a time in this world, praise -God!<br> - An' they sent Bennett to the Front an' left me behind. -Bennett<br> - can't expect everything.'</p> - -<p>'Oah yess,' said Kim vaguely.</p> - -<p>The priest leaned forward. 'I'd give a month's pay to find -what's<br> - goin' on inside that little round head of yours.'</p> - -<p>'There is nothing,' said Kim, and scratched it. He was -wondering<br> - whether Mahbub Ali would send him as much as a whole rupee. Then -he<br> - could pay the letter-writer and write letters to the lama at<br> - Benares. Perhaps Mahbub Ali would visit him next time he came -south<br> - with horses. Surely he must know that Kim's delivery of the -letter<br> - to the officer at Umballa had caused the great war which the -men<br> - and boys had discussed so loudly over the barrack -dinner-tables.<br> - But if Mahbub Ali did not know this, it would be very unsafe -to<br> - tell him so. Mahbub Ali was hard upon boys who knew, or -thought<br> - they knew, too much.</p> - -<p>'Well, till I get further news' - Father Victor's voice -interrupted<br> - the reverie. 'Ye can run along now and play with the other -boys.<br> - They'll teach ye something - but I don't think ye'll like -it.'</p> - -<p>The day dragged to its weary end. When he wished to sleep he -was<br> - instructed how to fold up his clothes and set out his boots; -the<br> - other boys deriding. Bugles waked him in the dawn; the -schoolmaster<br> - caught him after breakfast, thrust a page of meaningless -characters<br> - under his nose, gave them senseless names and whacked him -without<br> - reason. Kim meditated poisoning him with opium borrowed from -a<br> - barrack-sweeper, but reflected that, as they all ate at one -table<br> - in public (this was peculiarly revolting to Kim, who preferred -to<br> - turn his back on the world at meals), the stroke might be drug -the<br> - lama the village where the old soldier lived. But far-seeing<br> - sentries at every exit headed back the little scarlet -figure.<br> - Trousers and jacket crippled body and mind alike dangerous. Then -he<br> - attempted running off to the village where the priest had tried -to,<br> - so he abandoned the project and fell back, Oriental-fashion, -on<br> - time and chance. Three days of torment passed in the big, -echoing<br> - white rooms. He walked out of affernoons under escort of the<br> - drummer-boy, and all he heard from his companions were the -few<br> - useless words which seemed to make two-thirds of the white -man's<br> - abuse. Kim knew and despised them all long ago. The boy -resented<br> - his silence and lack of interest by beating him, as was only<br> - natural. He did not care for any of the bazars which were in<br> - bounds. He styled all natives 'niggers'; yet servants and -sweepers<br> - called him abominable names to his face, and, misled by -their<br> - deferential attitude, he never understood. This somewhat -consoled<br> - Kim for the beatings.</p> - -<p>On the morning of the fourth day a judgement overtook that -drummer.<br> - They had gone out together towards Umballa racecourse. He -returned<br> - alone, weeping, with news that young O'Hara, to whom he had -been<br> - doing nothing in particular, had hailed a scarlet-bearded nigger -on<br> - horseback; that the nigger had then and there laid into him with -a<br> - peculiarly adhesive quirt, picked up young O'Hara, and borne -him<br> - off at full gallop. These tidings came to Father Victor, and -he<br> - drew down his long upper lip. He was already sufficiently -startled<br> - by a letter from the Temple of the Tirthankars at Benares,<br> - enclosing a native banker's note of hand for three hundred -rupees,<br> - and an amazing prayer to 'Almighty God'. The lama would have -been<br> - more annoyed than the priest had he known how the bazar -letter-<br> - writer had translated his phrase 'to acquire merit</p> - -<p>'Powers of Darkness below!' Father Victor fumbled with the -note.<br> - 'An' now he's off with another of his peep-o'-day friends. I -don't<br> - know whether it will be a greater relief to me to get him back -or<br> - to have him lost. He's beyond my comprehension. How the Divil --<br> - yes, he's the man I mean -can a street-beggar raise money to<br> - educate white boys?'</p> - -<p>Three miles off, on Umballa racecourse, Mahbub Ali, reining a -grey<br> - Kabuli stallion with Kim in front of him, was saying:</p> - -<p>'But, Little Friend of all the World, there is my honour -and<br> - reputation to be considered. All the officer-Sahibs in all -the<br> - regiments, and all Umballa, know Mahbub Ali. Men saw me pick -thee<br> - up and chastise that boy. We are seen now from far across -this<br> - plain. How can I take thee away, or account for thy disappearing -if<br> - I set thee down and let thee run off into the crops? They would -put<br> - me in jail. Be patient. Once a Sahib, always a Sahib. When thou -art<br> - a man - who knows? - thou wilt be grateful to Mahbub Ali.'</p> - -<p>'Take me beyond their sentries where I can change this red. -Give me<br> - money and I will go to Benares and be with my lama again. I do -not<br> - want to be a Sahib, and remember I did deliver that -message.'</p> - -<p>The stallion bounded wildly. Mahbub Ali had incautiously -driven<br> - home the sharp-edged stirrup. (He was not the new sort of -fluent<br> - horse-dealer who wears English boots and spurs.) Kim drew his -own<br> - conclusions from that betrayal.</p> - -<p>'That was a small matter. It lay on the straight road to -Benares. I<br> - and the Sahib have by this time forgotten it. I send so many<br> - letters and messages to men who ask questions about horses, -I<br> - cannot well remember one from the other. Was it some matter of -a<br> - bay mare that Peters Sahib wished the pedigree of?'</p> - -<p>Kim saw the trap at once. If he had said 'bay mare' Mahbub -would<br> - have known by his very readiness to fall in with the amendment -that<br> - the boy suspected something. Kim replied therefore:</p> - -<p>'Bay mare. No. I do not forget my messages thus. It was a -white<br> - stallion.'</p> - -<p>'Ay, so it was. A white Arab stallion. But thou didst write -"bay<br> - mare" to me.'</p> - -<p>'Who cares to tell truth to a letter-writer?' Kim answered, -feeling<br> - Mahbub's palm on his heart.</p> - -<p>'Hi! Mahbub, you old villain, pull up!' cried a voice, and -an<br> - Englishman raced alongside on a little polo-pony. 'I've been<br> - chasing you half over the country. That Kabuli of yours can go. -For<br> - sale, I suppose?'</p> - -<p>'I have some young stuff coming on made by Heaven for the -delicate<br> - and difficult polo-game. He has no equal. He - '</p> - -<p>'Plays polo and waits at table. Yes. We know all that. What -the<br> - deuce have you got there?'</p> - -<p>'A. boy,' said Mahbub gravely. 'He was being beaten by another -boy.<br> - His father was once a white soldier in the big war. The boy was -a<br> - child in Lahore city. He played with my horses when he was a -babe.<br> - Now I think they will make him a soldier. He has been newly -caught<br> - by his father's Regiment that went up to the war last week. But -I<br> - do not think he wants to be a soldier. I take him for a ride. -Tell<br> - me where thy barracks are and I will set thee there.'</p> - -<p>'Let me go. I can find the barracks alone.'</p> - -<p>'And if thou runnest away who will say it is not my -fault?'</p> - -<p>'He'll run back to his dinner. Where has he to run to?' -the<br> - Englishman asked.</p> - -<p>'He was born in the land. He has friends. He goes where he -chooses.<br> - He is a chabuk sawai [a sharp chap]. It needs only to change -his<br> - clothing, and in a twinkling he would be a low-caste Hindu -boy.'</p> - -<p>'The deuce he would!' The Englishman looked critically at the -boy<br> - as Mahbub headed towards the barracks. Kim ground his teeth. -Mahbub<br> - was mocking him, as faithless Afghans will; for he went on:</p> - -<p>'They will send him to a school and put heavy boots on his -feet and<br> - swaddle him in these clothes. Then he will forget all he -knows.<br> - Now, which of the barracks is thine?'</p> - -<p>Kim pointed - he could not speak - to Father Victor's wing, -all<br> - staring white near by.</p> - -<p>'Perhaps he will make a good soldier,' said Mahbub -reflectively.</p> - -<p>'He will make a good orderly at least. I sent him to deliver -a<br> - message once from Lahore. A message concerning the pedigree of -a<br> - white stallion.'</p> - -<p>Here was deadly insult on deadlier injury - and the Sahib to -whom<br> - he had so craftily given that war-waking letter heard it all. -Kim<br> - beheld Mahbub Ali frying in flame for his treachery, but for<br> - himself he saw one long grey vista of barracks, schools, and<br> - barracks again. He gazed imploringly at the clear-cut face in -which<br> - there was no glimmer of recognition; but even at this extremity -it<br> - never occurred to him to throw himself on the white man's mercy -or<br> - to denounce the Afghan. And Mahbub stared deliberately at -the<br> - Englishman, who stared as deliberately at Kim, quivering and<br> - tongue-tied.</p> - -<p>'My horse is well trained,' said the dealer. 'Others would -have<br> - kicked, Sahib.'</p> - -<p>'Ah,' said the Englishman at last, rubbing his pony's damp -withers<br> - with his whip-butt. 'Who makes the boy a soldier?'</p> - -<p>'He says the Regiment that found him, and especially the -Padre-<br> - sahib of that regiment.</p> - -<p>'There is the Padre!' Kim choked as bare-headed Father -Victor<br> - sailed down upon them from the veranda.</p> - -<p>'Powers O' Darkness below, O'Hara! How many more mixed friends -do<br> - you keep in Asia?' he cried, as Kim slid down and stood -helplessly<br> - before him.</p> - -<p>'Good morning, Padre,' the Englishman said cheerily. 'I know -you by<br> - reputation well enough. Meant to have come over and called -before<br> - this. I'm Creighton.'</p> - -<p>'Of the Ethnological Survey?' said Father Victor. The -Englishman<br> - nodded. 'Faith, I'm glad to meet ye then; an' I owe you some -thanks<br> - for bringing back the boy.'</p> - -<p>'No thanks to me, Padre. Besides, the boy wasn't going away. -You<br> - don't know old Mahbub Ali.' The horse-dealer sat impassive in -the<br> - sunlight. 'You will when you have been in the station a month. -He<br> - sells us all our crocks. That boy is rather a curiosity. Can -you<br> - tell me anything about him?'</p> - -<p>'Can I tell you?' puffed Father Victor. 'You'll be the one man -that<br> - could help me in my quandaries. Tell you! Powers o' Darkness, -I'm<br> - bursting to tell someone who knows something o' the native!'</p> - -<p>A groom came round the corner. Colonel Creighton raised his -voice,<br> - speaking in Urdu. 'Very good, Mahbub Ali, but what is the use -of<br> - telling me all those stories about the pony? Not one pice more -than<br> - three hundred and fifty rupees will I give.'</p> - -<p>'The Sahib is a little hot and angry after riding,' the -horse-<br> - dealer returned, with the leer of a privileged jester. -'Presently,<br> - he will see my horse's points more clearly. I will wait till he -has<br> - finished his talk with the Padre. I will wait under that -tree.'</p> - -<p>'Confound you!' The Colonel laughed. 'That comes of looking at -one<br> - of Mahbub's horses. He's a regular old leech, Padre. Wait, then, -if<br> - thou hast so much time to spare, Mahbub. Now I'm at your -service,<br> - Padre. Where is the boy? Oh, he's gone off to collogue with -Mahbub.<br> - Queer sort of boy. Might I ask you to send my mare round -under<br> - cover?'</p> - -<p>He dropped into a chair which commanded a clear view of Kim -and<br> - Mahbub Ali in conference beneath the tree. The Padre went -indoors<br> - for cheroots.</p> - -<p>Creighton heard Kim say bitterly: 'Trust a Brahmin before a -snake,<br> - and a snake before an harlot, and an harlot before a Pathan, -Mahbub<br> - Ali.'</p> - -<br> -'That is all one.' The great red beard wagged solemnly. 'Children -<br> -should not see a carpet on the loom till the pattern is made -plain. <br> -Believe me, Friend of all the World, I do thee great service. -They <br> -will not make a soldier of thee.' - -<p>'You crafty old sinner!' thought Creighton. 'But you're not -far<br> - wrong. That boy mustn't be wasted if he is as advertised.'</p> - -<p>'Excuse me half a minute,' cried the Padre from within, 'but -I'm<br> - gettin' the documents in the case.</p> - -<p>'If through me the favour of this bold and wise Colonel Sahib -comes<br> - to thee, and thou art raised to honour, what thanks wilt thou -give<br> - Mahbub Ali when thou art a man?'</p> - -<p>'Nay, nay! I begged thee to let me take the Road again, where -I<br> - should have been safe; and thou hast sold me back to the -English.<br> - What will they give thee for blood-money?'</p> - -<p>'A cheerful young demon!' The Colonel bit his cigar, and -turned<br> - politely to Father Victor.</p> - -<p>'What are the letters that the fat priest is waving before -the<br> - Colonel? Stand behind the stallion as though looking at my -bridle!'<br> - said Mahbub Ali.</p> - -<p>'A letter from my lama which he wrote from Jagadhir Road, -saying<br> - that he will pay three hundred rupees by the year for my<br> - schooling.'</p> - -<p>'Oho! Is old Red Hat of that sort? At which school?'</p> - -<p>'God knows. I think in Nucklao.'</p> - -<p>'Yes. There is a big school there for the sons of Sahibs - -and<br> - half-Sahibs. I have seen it when I sell horses there. So the -lama<br> - also loved the Friend of all the World?'</p> - -<p>'Ay; and he did not tell lies, or return me to captivity.'</p> - -<p>'Small wonder the Padre does not know how to unravel the -thread.<br> - How fast he talks to the Colonel Sahib!' Mahbub Ali chuckled. -'By<br> - Allah!' the keen eyes swept the veranda for an Instant - 'thy -lama<br> - has sent what to me looks like a note of hand. I have had some -few<br> - dealings in hoondis. The Colonel Sahib is looking at it.'</p> - -<p>'What good is all this to me?' said Kim wearily. 'Thou wilt -go<br> - away, and they will return me to those empty rooms where there -is<br> - no good place to sleep and where the boys beat me.'</p> - -<p>'I do not think that. Have patience, child. All Pathans are -not<br> - faithless - except in horseflesh.'</p> - -<p>Five - ten- fifteen minutes passed, Father Victor talking<br> - energetically or asking questions which the Colonel -answered.</p> - -<p>'Now I've told you everything that I know about the boy -from<br> - beginnin to end; and it's a blessed relief to me. Did ye ever -hear<br> - the like?'</p> - -<p>'At any rate, the old man has sent the money. Gobind Sahai's -notes<br> - of hand are good from here to China,' said the Colonel. 'The -more<br> - one knows about natives the less can one say what they will -or<br> - won't do.'</p> - -<p>'That's consolin' - from the head of the Ethnological Survey. -It's<br> - this mixture of Red Bulls and Rivers of Healing (poor heathen, -God<br> - help him!) an' notes of hand and Masonic certificates. Are you -a<br> - Mason, by any chance?'</p> - -<p>'By Jove, I am, now I come to think of it. That's an -additional<br> - reason,' said the Colonel absently.</p> - -<p>'I'm glad ye see a reason in it. But as I said, it's the -mixture<br> - o' things that's beyond me. An' his prophesyin' to our -Colonel,<br> - sitting on my bed with his little shimmy torn open showing -his<br> - white skin; an' the prophecy comin' true! They'll cure all -that<br> - nonsense at St Xavier's, eh?'</p> - -<p>'Sprinkle him with holy water' the Colonel laughed.</p> - -<p>'On my word, I fancy I ought to sometimes. But I'm hoping -he'll be<br> - brought up as a good Catholic. All that troubles me is -what'll<br> - happen if the old beggar-man -'</p> - -<p>'Lama, lama, my dear sir; and some of them are gentlemen in -their<br> - own country</p> - -<p>'The lama, then, fails to pay next year. He's a fine business -head<br> - to plan on the spur of the moment, but he's bound to die some -day.<br> - An' takin' a heathen's money to give a child a Christian -education<br> - -'</p> - -<p>'But he said explicitly what he wanted. As soon as he knew the -boy<br> - was white he seems to have made his arrangements accordingly. -I'd<br> - give a month's pay to hear how he explained it all at the<br> - Tirthankars' Temple at Benares. Look here, Padre, I don't -pretend<br> - to know much about natives, but if he says he'll pay, he'll pay --<br> - dead or alive. I mean, his heirs will assume the debt. My advice -to<br> - you is, send the boy down to Lucknow. If your Anglican -Chaplain<br> - thinks you've stolen a march on him -'</p> - -<p>Bad luck to Bennett! He was sent to the Front instead O' -me.<br> - Doughty certified me medically unfit. I'll excommunicate Doughty -if<br> - he comes back alive! Surely Bennett ought to be content with --,</p> - -<p>'Glory, leaving you the religion. Quite so! As a matter of -fact I<br> - don't think Bennett will mind. Put the blame on me. I - er -<br> - strongly recommend sending the boy to St Xavier's. He can go -down<br> - on pass as a soldier's orphan, so the railway fare will be -saved.<br> - You can buy him an outfit from the Regimental subscription. -The<br> - Lodge will be saved the expense of his education, and that will -put<br> - the Lodge in a good temper. It's perfectly easy. I've got to -go<br> - down to Lucknow next week. I'll look after the boy on the way --<br> - give him in charge of my servants, and so on.'</p> - -<p>'You're a good man.</p> - -<p>'Not in the least. Don't make that mistake. The lama has sent -us<br> - money for a definite end. We can't very well return it. We -shall<br> - have to do as he says. Well, that's settled, isn't it? Shall we -say<br> - that, Tuesday next, you'll hand him over to me at the night -train<br> - south? That's only three days. He can't do much harm in -three<br> - days.'</p> - -<p>'It's a weight off my mind, but - this thing here?' - he<br> - waved the note of hand - 'I don't know Gobind Sahai: or his -bank,<br> - which may be a hole in a wall.'</p> - -<p>'You've never been a subaltern in debt. I'll cash it if -you<br> - like, and send you the vouchers in proper order.'</p> - -<p>'But with all your own work too! It's askin' -'</p> - -<p>'It's not the least trouble indeed. You see, as an<br> - ethnologist, the thing's very interesting to me. I'd like to -make a<br> - note of it for some Government work that I'm doing. The<br> - transformation of a regimental badge like your Red Bull into a -sort<br> - of fetish that the boy follows is very interesting.'</p> - -<p>'But I can't thank you enough.'</p> - -<p>'There's one thing you can do. All we Ethnological men are -as<br> - jealous as jackdaws of one another's discoveries. They're of -no<br> - interest to anyone but ourselves, of course, but you know -what<br> - book-collectors are like. Well, don't say a word, directly -or<br> - indirectly, about the Asiatic side of the boy's character - -his<br> - adventures and his prophecy, and so on. I'll worm them out of -the<br> - boy later on and - you see?'</p> - -<p>'I do. Ye'll make a wonderful account of it. Never a word will -I<br> - say to anyone till I see it in print.'</p> - -<p>'Thank you. That goes straight to an ethnologist's heart. -Well, I<br> - must be getting back to my breakfast. Good Heavens! Old Mabbub -here<br> - still?' He raised his voice, and the horse-dealer came out -from<br> - under the shadow of the tree, 'Well, what is it?'</p> - -<p>'As regards that young horse,' said Mahbub, 'I say that when a -colt<br> - is born to be a polo-pony, closely following the ball -without<br> - teaching - when such a colt knows the game by divination - then -I<br> - say it is a great wrong to break that colt to a heavy cart, -Sahib!'</p> - -<p>'So say I also, Mahbub. The colt will be entered for polo -only.<br> - (These fellows think of nothing in the world but horses, -Padre.)<br> - I'll see you tomorrow, Mahbub, if you've anything likely for -sale.'</p> - -<p>The dealer saluted, horseman-fashion, with a sweep of the off -hand.<br> - 'Be patient a little, Friend of all the World,' he whispered -to<br> - the agonized Kim. 'Thy fortune is made. In a little while -thou<br> - goest to Nucklao, and - here is something to pay the -letter-writer.<br> - I shall see thee again, I think, many times,' and he cantered -off<br> - down the road.</p> - -<p>'Listen to me,' said the Colonel from the veranda, speaking in -the<br> - vernacular. 'In three days thou wilt go with me to Lucknow, -seeing<br> - and hearing new things all the while. Therefore sit still for -three<br> - days and do not run away. Thou wilt go to school at -Lucknow.'</p> - -<p>'Shall I meet my Holy One there?' Kim whimpered.</p> - -<p>'At least Lucknow is nearer to Benares than Umballa. It may be -thou<br> - wilt go under my protection. Mahbub Ali knows this, and he will -be<br> - angry if thou returnest to the Road now. Remember - much has -been<br> - told me which I do not forget.'</p> - -<p>'I will wait,' said Kim, 'but the boys will beat me.'</p> - -<p>Then the bugles blew for dinner.</p> - -<p></p> - -<h2>Chapter 7</h2> - -<p><br> - Unto whose use the pregnant suns are poised<br> - With idiot moons and stars retracing stars?<br> - Creep thou betweene - thy coming's all unnoised.<br> - Heaven hath her high, as Earth her baser, wars.<br> - Heir to these tumults, this affright, that fraye<br> - (By Adam's, fathers', own, sin bound alway);<br> - Peer up, draw out thy horoscope and say<br> - Which planet mends thy threadbare fate or mars?</p> - -<p>Sir John Christie.</p> - -<p>In the afternoon the red-faced schoolmaster told Kim that he -had<br> - been 'struck off the strength', which conveyed no meaning to -him<br> - till he was ordered to go away and play. Then he ran to the -bazar,<br> - and found the young letter-writer to whom he owed a stamp.</p> - -<p>'Now I pay,' said Kim royally, 'and now I need another letter -to be<br> - written.'</p> - -<p>'Mahbub Ali is in Umballa,' said the writer jauntily. He was, -by<br> - virtue of his office, a bureau of general misinformation.</p> - -<p><br> - 'This is not to Mahbub, but to a priest. Take thy pen and -write<br> - quickly. To Teshoo La ma, the Holy One from Bhotiyal seeking for -a<br> - River, who is now in the Temple ofihe Tirthankars at Benares. -Take<br> - more ink! In three days I am to go down to Nucklao to the school -at<br> - Nucklao. The name of the school is Xavier. I do not know where -that<br> - school is, but it is at Nucklao.'</p> - -<p>'But I know Nucklao,' the writer interrupted. 'I know the -school.'</p> - -<p>'Tell him where it is, and I give half an anna.'</p> - -<p>The reed pen scratched busily. 'He cannot mistake.' The man -lifted<br> - his head. 'Who watches us across the street?'</p> - -<p>Kim looked up hurriedly and saw Colonel Creighton in -tennis-<br> - flannels.</p> - -<p>'Oh, that is some Sahib who knows the fat priest in the -barracks.<br> - He is beckoning me.'</p> - -<p>'What dost thou?' said the Colonel, when Kim trotted up.</p> - -<p>'I - I am not running away. I send a letter to my Holy One -at<br> - Benares.'</p> - -<p>'I had not thought of that. Hast thou said that I take thee -to<br> - Lucknow?'</p> - -<p>'Nay, I have not. Read the letter, if there be a doubt.'</p> - -<p>'Then why hast thou left out my name in writing to that Holy -One?'<br> - The Colonel smiled a queer smile. Kim took his courage in -both<br> - hands.</p> - -<p>'It was said once to me that it is inexpedient to write the -names<br> - of strangers concerned in any matter, because by the naming -of<br> - names many good plans are brought to confusion.'</p> - -<p>'Thou hast been well taught,' the Colonel replied, and Kim -flushed.<br> - 'I have left my cheroot-case in the Padre's veranda. Bring it to -my<br> - house this even.'</p> - -<p>'Where is the house?' said Kim. His quick wit told him that he -was<br> - being tested in some fashion or another, and he stood on -guard.</p> - -<p>'Ask anyone in the big bazar.' The Colonel walked on.</p> - -<p>'He has forgotten his cheroot-case,' said Kim, returning. 'I -must<br> - bring it to him this evening. That is all my letter except, -thrice<br> - over, Come to me! Come to me! Come to me! Now I will pay for -a<br> - stamp and put it in the post. He rose to go, and as an -afterthought<br> - asked: 'Who is that angry-faced Sahib who lost the -cheroot-case?'</p> - -<p>'Oh, he is only Creighton Sahib - a very foolish Sahib, who is -a<br> - Colonel Sahib without a regiment.'</p> - -<p>'What is his business?'</p> - -<p>'God knows. He is always buying horses which he cannot ride, -and<br> - asking riddles about the works of God - such as plants and -stones<br> - and the customs of people. The dealers call him the father -of<br> - fools, because he is so easily cheated about a horse. Mahbub -Ali<br> - says he is madder than most other Sahibs.'</p> - -<p>'Oh!' said Kim, and departed. His training had given him some -small<br> - knowledge of character, and he argued that fools are not -given<br> - information which leads to calling out eight thousand men -besides<br> - guns. The Commander-in-Chief of all India does not talk, as Kim -had<br> - heard him talk, to fools. Nor would Mahbub Ali's tone have -changed,<br> - as it did every time he mentioned the Colonel's name, if the<br> - Colonel had been a fool. Consequently - and this set Kim to<br> - skipping - there was a mystery somewhere, and Mahbub Ali -probably<br> - spied for the Colonel much as Kim had spied for Mahbub. And, -like<br> - the horse-dealer, the Colonel evidently respected people who -did<br> - not show themselves to be too clever.</p> - -<p><br> - He rejoiced that he had not betrayed his knowledge of the -Colonel's<br> - house; and when, on his return to barracks, he discovered that -no<br> - cheroot-case had been left behind, he beamed with delight. Here -was<br> - a man after his own heart - a tortuous and indirect person -playing<br> - a hidden game. Well, if he could be a fool, so could Kim.</p> - -<p>He showed nothing of his mind when Father Victor, for three -long<br> - mornings, discoursed to him of an entirely new set of Gods -and<br> - Godlings - notably of a Goddess called Mary, who, he gathered, -was<br> - one with Bibi Miriam of Mahbub Ali's theology. He betrayed -no<br> - emotion when, after the lecture, Father Victor dragged him -from<br> - shop to shop buying articles of outfit, nor when envious -drummer-<br> - boys kicked him because he was going to a superior school did -he<br> - complain, but awaited the play of circumstances with an -interested<br> - soul. Father Victor, good man, took him to the station, put -him<br> - into an empty second-class next to Colonel Creighton's first, -and<br> - bade him farewell with genuine feeling.</p> - -<p>'They'll make a man o' you, O'Hara, at St Xavier's - a white -man,<br> - an', I hope, a good man. They know all about your comin', an' -the<br> - Colonel will see that ye're not lost or mislaid anywhere on -the<br> - road. I've given you a notion of religious matters, - at least -I<br> - hope so, - and you'll remember, when they ask you your -religion,<br> - that you're a Cath'lic. Better say Roman Cath'lic, tho' I'm -not<br> - fond of the word.'</p> - -<p>Kim lit a rank cigarette - he had been careful to buy a stock -in<br> - the bazar - and lay down to think. This solitary passage was -verv<br> - different from that joyful down-journey in the third-class with -the<br> - lama. 'Sahibs get little pleasure of travel,' he reflected.</p> - -<p>'Hai mai! I go from one place to another as it might be a -kickball.<br> - It is my Kismet. No man can escape his Kismet. But I am to pray -to<br> - Bibi Miriam, and I am a Sahib.' He looked at his boots -ruefully.<br> - 'No; I am Kim. This is the great world, and I am only Kim. Who -is<br> - Kim?' He considered his own identity, a thing he had never -done<br> - before, till his head swam. He was one insignificant person in -all<br> - this roaring whirl of India, going southward to he knew not -what<br> - fate.</p> - -<p>Presently the Colonel sent for him, and talked for a long -time. So<br> - far as Kim could gather, he was to be diligent and enter the -Survey<br> - of India as a chain-man. If he were very good, and passed -the<br> - proper examinations, he would be earning thirty rupees a month -at<br> - seventeen years old, and Colonel Creighton would see that he -found<br> - suitable employment.</p> - -<p>Kim pretended at first to understand perhaps one word in three -of<br> - this talk. Then the Colonel, seeing his mistake, turned to -fluent<br> - and picturesque Urdu and Kim was contented. No man could be a -fool<br> - who knew the language so intimately, who moved so gently and<br> - silently, and whose eyes were so different from the dull fat -eyes<br> - of other Sahibs.</p> - -<p>'Yes, and thou must learn how to make pictures of roads -and<br> - mountains and rivers to carry these pictures in thine eye till -a<br> - suitable time comes to set them upon paper. Perhaps some day, -when<br> - thou art a chain-man, I may say to thee when we are working<br> - together: "Go across those hills and see what lies beyond." -Then<br> - one will say: "There are bad people living in those hills who -will<br> - slay the chain-man if he be seen to look like a Sahib." What -then?'</p> - -<p>Kim thought. Would it be safe to return the Colonel's -lead?</p> - -<p>'I would tell what that other man had said.'</p> - -<p>'But if I answered: "I will give thee a hundred rupees for<br> - knowledge of what is behind those hills - for a picture of a -river<br> - and a little news of what the people say in the villages -there"?'</p> - -<p>'How can I tell? I am only a boy. Wait till I am a man.' -Then,<br> - seeing the Colonel's brow clouded, he went on: 'But I think -I<br> - should in a few days earn the hundred rupees.'</p> - -<p>'By what road?'</p> - -<p>Kim shook his head resolutely. 'If I said how I would earn -them,<br> - another man might hear and forestall me. It is not good to -sell<br> - knowledge for nothing.'</p> - -<p>'Tell now.' The Colonel held up a rupee. Kim's hand half -reached<br> - towards it, and dropped.</p> - -<p>'Nay, Sahib; nay. I know the price that will be paid for -the<br> - answer, but I do not know why the question is asked.'</p> - -<p>'Take it for a gift, then,' said Creighton, tossing it over. -'There<br> - is a good spirit in thee. Do not let it be blunted at St -Xavier's.<br> - There are many boys there who despise the black men.'</p> - -<p>'Their mothers were bazar-women,' said Kim. He knew well there -is<br> - no hatred like that of the half-caste for his -brother-in-law.</p> - -<p>'True; but thou art a Sahib and the son of a Sahib. Therefore, -do<br> - not at any time be led to contemn the black men. I have known -boys<br> - newly entered into the service of the Government who feigned not -to<br> - understand the talk or the customs of black men. Their pay was -cut<br> - for ignorance. There is no sin so great as ignorance. -Remember<br> - this.'</p> - -<p>Several times in the course of the long twenty-four hours' -run<br> - south did the Colonel send for Kim, always developing this -latter<br> - text.</p> - -<p>'We be all on one lead-rope, then,' said Kim at last, 'the -Colonel,<br> - Mahbub Ali, and I - when I become a chain-man. He will use me -as<br> - Mahbub Ali employed me, I think. That is good, if it allows me -to<br> - return to the Road again. This clothing grows no easier by -wear.'</p> - -<p>When they came to the crowded Lucknow station there was no -sign of<br> - the lama. He swallowed his disappointment, while the Colonel<br> - bundled him into a ticca-gharri with his neat belongings and<br> - despatched him alone to St Xavier's.</p> - -<p>'I do not say farewell, because we shall meet again,' he -cried.<br> - 'Again, and many times, if thou art one of good spirit. But -thou<br> - art not yet tried.'</p> - -<p>'Not when I brought thee' - Kim actually dared to use the tum -of<br> - equals - 'a white stallion's pedigree that night?'</p> - -<p>'Much is gained by forgetting, little brother,' said the -Colonel,<br> - with a look that pierced through Kim's shoulder-blades as he<br> - scuttled into the carriage.</p> - -<p>It took him nearly five minutes to recover. Then he sniffed -the new<br> - air appreciatively. 'A rich city,' he said. 'Richer than -Lahore.<br> - How good the bazars must be! Coachman, drive me a little -through<br> - the bazars here.'</p> - -<p>'My order is to take thee to the school.' The driver used -the<br> - 'thou', which is rudeness when applied to a white man. In -the<br> - clearest and most fluent vernacular Kim pointed out his -error,<br> - climbed on to the box-seat, and, perfect understanding -established,<br> - drove for a couple of hours up and down, estimating, comparing, -and<br> - enjoying. There is no city - except Bombay, the queen of all - -more<br> - beautiful in her garish style than Lucknow, whether you see -her<br> - from the bridge over the river, or from the top of the -Imambara<br> - looking down on the gilt umbrellas of the Chutter Munzil, and -the<br> - trees in which the town is bedded. Kings have adorned her -with<br> - fantastic buildings, endowed her with charities, crammed her -with<br> - pensioners, and drenched her with blood. She is the centre of -all<br> - idleness, intrigue, and luxury, and shares with Delhi the claim -to<br> - talk the only pure Urdu.</p> - -<p>'A fair city - a beautiful city.' The driver, as a Lucknow -man, was<br> - pleased with the compliment, and told Kim many astounding -things<br> - where an English guide would have talked of the Mutiny.</p> - -<p>'Now we will go to the school,' said Kim at last. The great -old<br> - school of St Xavier's in Partibus, block on block of low -white<br> - buildings, stands in vast grounds over against the Gumti River,' -at<br> - some distance from the city.</p> - -<p>'What like of folk are they within?' said Kim.</p> - -<p>'Young Sahibs - all devils. But to speak truth, and I drive -many of<br> - them to and fro from the railway station, I have never seen -one<br> - that had in him the making of a more perfect devil than thou - -this<br> - young Sahib whom I am now driving.'</p> - -<p>Naturally, for he was never trained to consider them in any -way<br> - improper, Kim had passed the time of day with one or two -frivolous<br> - ladies at upper windows in a certain street, and naturally, in -the<br> - exchange of compliments, had acquitted himself well. He was -about<br> - to acknowledge the driver's last insolence, when his eye - it -was<br> - growing dusk - caught a figure sitting by one of the white -plaster<br> - gate-pillars in the long sweep of wall.</p> - -<p>'Stop!' he cried. 'Stay here. I do not go to the school at -once.'</p> - -<p>'But what is to pay me for this coming and re-coming?' said -the<br> - driver petulantly. 'Is the boy mad? Last time it was a -dancing-<br> - girl. This time it is a priest.'</p> - -<p>Kim was in the road headlong, patting the dusty feet beneath -the<br> - dirty yellow robe.</p> - -<p>'I have waited here a day and a half,' the lama's level -voice<br> - began. 'Nay, I had a disciple with me. He that was my friend at -the<br> - Temple of the Tirthankars gave me a guide for this journey. I -came<br> - from Benares in the te-rain, when thy letter was given me. Yes, -I<br> - am well fed. I need nothing.'</p> - -<p>'But why didst thou not stay with the Kulu woman, O Holy One? -In<br> - what way didst thou get to Benares? My heart has been heavy -since<br> - we parted.'</p> - -<p>'The woman wearied me by constant flux of talk and requiring -charms<br> - for children. I separated myself from that company, permitting -her<br> - to acquire merit by gifts. She is at least a woman of open -hands,<br> - and I made a promise to return to her house if need arose. -Then,<br> - perceiving myself alone in this great and terrible world, I<br> - bethought me of the te-rain to Benares, where I knew one abode -in<br> - the Tirthankars' Temple who was a Seeker, even as I.'</p> - -<p>'Ah! Thy River,' said Kim. 'I had forgotten the River.'</p> - -<p>'So soon, my chela? I have never forgotten it. But when I had -left<br> - thee it seemed better that I should go to the Temple and -take<br> - counsel, for, look you, India is very large, and it may be -that<br> - wise men before us, some two or three, have left a record of -the<br> - place of our River. There is debate in the Temple of the<br> - Tirthankars on this matter; some saying one thing, and some<br> - another. They are courteous folk.'</p> - -<p>'So be it; but what dost thou do now?'</p> - -<p>'I acquire merit in that I help thee, my chela, to wisdom. -The<br> - priest of that body of men who serve the Red Bull wrote me that -all<br> - should be as I desired for thee. I sent the money to suffice -for<br> - one year, and then I came, as thou seest me, to watch for -thee<br> - going up into the Gates of Learning. A day and a half have I -waited<br> - not because I was led by any affection towards thee - that is -no<br> - part of the Way - but, as they said at the Tirthankars' -Temple,<br> - because, money having been paid for learning, it was right that -I<br> - should oversee the end of the matter. They resolved my doubts -most<br> - clearly. I had a fear that, perhaps, I came because I wished to -see<br> - thee - misguided by the Red Mist of affection. It is not so . . -.<br> - Moreover, I am troubled by a dream.'</p> - -<p>'But surely, Holy One, thou hast not forgotten the Road and -all<br> - that befell on it. Surely it was a little to see me that thou -didst<br> - come?'</p> - -<p>'The horses are cold, and it is past their feeding-time,' -whined<br> - the driver.</p> - -<p>'Go to Jehannum and abide there with thy reputationless aunt!' -Kim<br> - snarled over his shoulder. 'I am all alone in this land; I know -not<br> - where I go nor what shall befall me. My heart was in that letter -I<br> - sent thee. Except for Mahbub Ali, and he is a Pathan, I have -no<br> - friend save thee, Holy One. Do not altogether go away.'</p> - -<p>'I have considered that also,' the lama replied, in a -shaking<br> - voice. 'It is manifest that from time to time I shall acquire -merit<br> - if before that I have not found my River - by assuring -myself<br> - that thy feet are set on wisdom. What they will teach thee I -do<br> - not know, but the priest wrote me that no son of a Sahib in -all<br> - India will be better taught than thou. So from time to time,<br> - therefore, I will come again. Maybe thou wilt be such a Sahib as -he<br> - who gave me these spectacles' - the lama wiped them elaborately --<br> - 'in the Wonder House at Lahore. That is my hope, for he was -a<br> - Fountain of Wisdom - wiser than many abbots .... Again, maybe -thou<br> - wilt forget me and our meetings.'</p> - -<p>'If I eat thy bread,' cried Kim passionately, 'how shall I -ever<br> - forget thee?' 'No - no.' He put the boy aside. 'I must go back -to<br> - Benares. From time to time,now that I know the customs of -letter-<br> - writers in this land, I will send thee a letter, and from time -to<br> - time I will come and see thee.'</p> - -<p>'But whither shall I send my letters?' wailed Kim, clutching -at the<br> - robe, all forgetful that he was a Sahib.</p> - -<p>'To the Temple of the Tirthankars at Benares. That is the -place I<br> - have chosen till I find my River. Do not weep; for, look you, -all<br> - Desire is Illusion and a new binding upon the Wheel. Go up to -the<br> - Gates of Learning. Let me see thee go . .. Dost thou love me? -Then<br> - go, or my heart cracks .. . I will come again. Surely I will -come<br> - again.</p> - -<p>The lama watched the ticca-gharri rumble into the compound, -and<br> - strode off, snuffing between each long stride.</p> - -<p>'The Gates of Learning' shut with a clang.</p> - -<p>The country born and bred boy has his own manners and -customs,<br> - which do not resemble those of any other land; and his -teachers<br> - approach him by roads which an English master would not -understand.<br> - Therefore, you would scarcely be interested in Kim's experiences -as<br> - a St Xavier's boy among two or three hundred precocious -youths,<br> - most of whom had never seen the sea. He suffered the usual<br> - penalties for breaking out of bounds when there was cholera in -the<br> - city. This was before he had learned to write fair English, and -so<br> - was obliged to find a bazar letter-writer. He was, of -course,<br> - indicted for smoking and for the use of abuse more -full-flavoured<br> - than even St Xavier's had ever heard. He learned to wash -himself<br> - with the Levitical scrupulosity of the native-born, who in -his<br> - heart considers the Englishman rather dirty. He played the -usual<br> - tricks on the patient coolies pulling the punkahs in the -sleeping-<br> - rooms where the boys threshed through the hot nights telling -tales<br> - till the dawn; and quietly he measured himself against his -self-<br> - reliant mates.</p> - -<p>They were sons of subordinate officials in the Railway, -Telegraph,<br> - and Canal Services; of warrant-officers, sometimes retired -and<br> - sometimes acting as commanders-in-chief to a feudatory -Rajah's<br> - army; of captains of the Indian Marine Government -pensioners,<br> - planters, Presidency shopkeepers, and missionaries. A few -were<br> - cadets of the old Eurasian houses that have taken strong root -in<br> - Dhurrumtollah - Pereiras, De Souzas, and D'Silvas. Their -parents<br> - could well have educated them in England, but they loved the -school<br> - that had served their own youth, and generation followed -sallow-<br> - hued generation at St Xavier's. Their homes ranged from Howrah -of<br> - the railway people to abandoned cantonments like Monghyr and<br> - Chunar; lost tea-gardens Shillong-way; villages where their -fathers<br> - were large landholders in Oudh or the Deccan; Mission-stations -a<br> - week from the nearest railway line; seaports a thousand -miles<br> - south, facing the brazen Indian surf; and -cinchona-plantations<br> - south of all. The mere story of their adventures, which to -them<br> - were no adventures, on their road to and from school would -have<br> - crisped a Western boy's hair. They were used to jogging off -alone<br> - through a hundred miles of jungle, where there was always -the<br> - delightful chance of being delayed by tigers; but they would -no<br> - more have bathed in the English Channel in an English August -than<br> - their brothers across the world would have lain still while -a<br> - leopard snuffed at their palanquin. There were boys of fifteen -who<br> - had spent a day and a half on an islet in the middle of a -flooded<br> - river, taking charge, as by right, of a camp of frantic -pilgrims<br> - returning from a shrine. There were seniors who had -requisitioned a<br> - chance-met Rajah's elephant, in the name of St Francis Xavier, -when<br> - the Rains once blotted out the cart-track that led to their<br> - father's estate, and had all but lost the huge beast in a<br> - quicksand. There was a boy who, he said, and none doubted, -had<br> - helped his father to beat off with rifles from the veranda a -rush<br> - of Akas in the days when those head-hunters were bold -against<br> - lonely plantations.</p> - -<p><br> - And every tale was told in the even, passionless voice of -the<br> - native-born, mixed with quaint reflections, borrowed -unconsciously<br> - from native foster-mothers, and turns of speech that showed -they<br> - had been that instant translated from the vernacular. Kim -watched,<br> - listened, and approved. This was not insipid, single-word talk -of<br> - drummer-boys. It dealt with a life he knew and in part -understood.<br> - The atmosphere suited him, and he throve by inches. They gave -him a<br> - white drill suit as the weather warmed, and he rejoiced in the -new-<br> - found bodily comforts as he rejoiced to use his sharpened mind -over<br> - the tasks they set him. His quickness would have delighted -an<br> - English master; but at St Xavier's they know the first rush -of<br> - minds developed by sun and surroundings, as they know the -half-<br> - collapse that sets in at twenty-two or twenty-three.</p> - -<p>None the less he remembered to hold himself lowly. When tales -were<br> - told of hot nights, Kim did not sweep the board with his<br> - reminiscences; for St Xavier's looks down on boys who 'go -native<br> - all-together.' One must never forget that one is a Sahib, and -that<br> - some day, when examinations are passed, one will command -natives.<br> - Kim made a note of this, for he began to understand where<br> - examinations led.</p> - -<p>Then came the holidays from August to October - the long -holidays<br> - imposed by the heat and the Rains. Kim was informed that he -would<br> - go north to some station in the hills behind Umballa, where -Father<br> - Victor would arrange for him.</p> - -<p>'A barrack-school?' said Kim, who had asked many questions -and<br> - thought more.</p> - -<p>'Yes, I suppose so,' said the master. 'It will not do you any -harm<br> - to keep you out of mischief. You can go up with young De Castro -as<br> - far as Delhi.'</p> - -<p>Kim considered it in every possible light. He had been -diligent,<br> - even as the Colonel advised. A boy's holiday was his own -property -<br> - of so much the talk of his companions had advised him, - and -a<br> - barrack-school would be torment after St Xavier's. Moreover - -this<br> - was magic worth anything else - he could write. In three months -he<br> - had discovered how men can speak to each other without a -third<br> - party, at the cost of half an anna and a little knowledge. No -word<br> - had come from the lama, but there remained the Road. Kim -yearned<br> - for the caress of soft mud squishing up between the toes, as -his<br> - mouth watered for mutton stewed with butter and cabbages, for -rice<br> - speckled with strong scented cardamoms, for the -saffron-tinted<br> - rice, garlic and onions, and the forbidden greasy sweetmeats of -the<br> - bazars. They would feed him raw beef on a platter at the -barrack-<br> - school, and he must smoke by stealth. But again, he was a Sahib -and<br> - was at St Xavier's, and that pig Mahbub Ali ... No, he would -not<br> - test Mahbub's hospitality - and yet ... He thought</p> - -<p>it out alone in the dormitory, and came to the conclusion he -had<br> - been unjust to Mahbub.</p> - -<p>The school was empty; nearly all the masters had gone away; -Colonel<br> - Creighton 's railway pass lay in his hand, and Kim puffed -himself<br> - that he had not spent Colonel Creighton 's or Mahbub's money -in<br> - riotous living. He was still lord of two rupees seven annas. -His<br> - new bullock-trunk, marked 'K. O'H.', and bedding-roll lay in -the<br> - empty sleeping-room. 'Sahibs are always tied to their -baggage,'<br> - said Kim, nodding at them. 'You will stay here' He went out -into<br> - the warm rain, smiling sinfully, and sought a certain house -whose<br> - outside he had noted down some time before. . .</p> - -<p>'Arre'! Dost thou know what manner of women we be in this -quarter?<br> - Oh, shame!'</p> - -<p>'Was I born yesterday?' Kim squatted native-fashion on the -cushions<br> - of that upper room. 'A little dyestuff and three yards of cloth -to<br> - help out a jest. Is it much to ask?'</p> - -<p>'Who is she? Thou art full young, as Sahibs go, for this -devilry.'</p> - -<p>'Oh, she? She is the daughter of a certain schoolmaster of -a</p> - -<p>regiment in the cantonments. He has beaten me twice because -I</p> - -<p>went over their wall in these clothes. Now I would go as a</p> - -<p>gardener's boy. Old men are very jealous.'</p> - -<p>'That is true. Hold thy face still while I dab on the -juice.'</p> - -<p>'Not too black, Naikan. I would not appear to her as a -hubshi<br> - [nigger).'</p> - -<p>'Oh, love makes nought of these things. And how old is -she?'</p> - -<p>'Twelve years, I think,' said the shameless Kim. 'Spread it -also on<br> - the breast. It may be her father will tear my clothes off me, -and<br> - if I am piebald -' he laughed.</p> - -<p>The girl worked busily, dabbing a twist of cloth into a -little<br> - saucer of brown dye that holds longer than any walnut-juice.</p> - -<p>'Now send out and get me a cloth for the turban. Woe is me, my -head<br> - is all unshaved! And he will surely knock off my turban.'</p> - -<p>'I am not a barber, but I will make shift. Thou wast born to -be a<br> - breaker of hearts! All this disguise for one evening? Remember, -the<br> - stuff does not wash away.' She shook with laughter till her<br> - bracelets and anklets jingled. 'But who is to pay me for -this?<br> - Huneefa herself could not have given thee better stuff.'</p> - -<p>'Trust in the Gods, my sister,' said Kim gravely, screwing his -face<br> - round as the stain dried. 'Besides, hast thou ever helped to -paint<br> - a Sahib thus before?'</p> - -<p>'Never indeed. But a jest is not money.'</p> - -<p>'It is worth much more.'</p> - -<p>'Child, thou art beyond all dispute the most shameless son -of<br> - Shaitan that I have ever known to take up a poor girl's time -with<br> - this play, and then to say: "Is not the jest enough?" Thou wilt -go<br> - very far in this world.' She gave the dancing-girls' salutation -in<br> - mockery.</p> - -<p>'All one. Make haste and rough-cut my head.' Kim shifted from -foot<br> - to foot, his eyes ablaze with mirth as he thought of the fat -days<br> - before him. He gave the girl four annas, and ran down the stairs -in<br> - the likeness of a low-caste Hindu boy -perfect in every detail. -A<br> - cookshop was his next point of call, where he feasted in<br> - extravagance and greasy luxury.</p> - -<p>On Lucknow station platform he watched young De Castro, all -covered<br> - with prickly-heat, get into a second-class compartment. Kim<br> - patronized a third, and was the life and soul of it. He -explained<br> - to the company that he was assistant to a juggler who had left -him<br> - behind sick with fever, and that he would pick up his master -at<br> - Umballa. As the occupants of the carriage changed, he varied -this<br> - tale, or adorned it with all the shoots of a budding fancy, -the<br> - more rampant for being held off native speech so long. In all -India<br> - that night was no human being so joyful as Kim. At Umballa he -got<br> - out and headed eastward, plashing over the sodden fields to -the<br> - village where the old soldier lived.</p> - -<p>About this time Colonel Creighton at Simla was advised from -Lucknow<br> - by wire that young O'Hara had disappeared. Mahbub Ali was in -town<br> - selling horses, and to him the Colonel confided the affair -one<br> - morning cantering round Annandale racecourse.</p> - -<p>'Oh, that is nothing,' said the horse-dealer. 'Men are like -horses.<br> - At certain times they need salt, and if that salt is not in -the<br> - mangers they will lick it up from the earth. He has gone back -to<br> - the Road again for a while. The madrissak wearied him. I knew -it<br> - would. Another time, I will take him upon the Road myself. Do -not<br> - be troubled, Creighton Sahib. It is as though a polo-pony, -breaking<br> - loose, ran out to learn the game alone.'</p> - -<p>'Then he is not dead, think you?'</p> - -<p>'Fever might kill him. I do not fear for the boy otherwise. -A<br> - monkey does not fall among trees.'</p> - -<p>Next morning, on the same course, Mahbub's stallion ranged<br> - alongside the Colonel.</p> - -<p>'It is as I had thought,' said the horse-dealer. 'He has -come<br> - through Umballa at least, and there he has written a letter to -me,<br> - having learned in the bazar that I was here.'</p> - -<p>'Read,' said the Colonel, with a sigh of relief. It was absurd -that<br> - a man of his position should take an interest in a little -country-<br> - bred vagabond; but the Colonel remembered the conversation in -the<br> - train, and often in the past few months had caught himself -thinking<br> - of the queer, silent, self-possessed boy. His evasion, of -course,<br> - was the height of insolence, but it argued some resource and -nerve.</p> - -<p>Mahbub's eyes twinkled as he reined out into the centre of -the<br> - cramped little plain, where none could come near unseen.</p> - -<p>'"The Friend of the Stars, who is the Friend of all the -World-"'</p> - -<p>'What is this?'</p> - -<p>'A name we give him in Lahore city. "The Friend of all the -World<br> - takes leave to go to his own places. He will come back upon -the<br> - appointed day. Let the box and the bedding-roll be sent for; and -if<br> - there has been a fault, let the Hand of Friendship turn aside -the<br> - Whip of Calamity." There is yet a little more, but-'</p> - -<p>'No matter, read.'</p> - -<p>'"Certain things are not known to those who eat with forks. It -is<br> - better to eat with both hands for a while. Speak soft words -to<br> - those who do not understand this that the return may be<br> - propitious." Now the manner in which that was cast is, of -course,<br> - the work of the letter-writer, but see how wisely the boy -has<br> - devised the matter of it so that no hint is given except to -those<br> - who know!'</p> - -<p>'Is this the Hand of Friendship to avert the Whip of -Calamity?'<br> - laughed the Colonel.</p> - -<p>'See how wise is the boy. He would go back to the Road again, -as I<br> - said. Not knowing yet thy trade -'</p> - -<p>'I am not at all sure of that,' the Colonel muttered.</p> - -<p>'He turns to me to make a peace between you. Is he not wise? -He<br> - says he will return. He is but perfecting his knowledge. -Think,<br> - Sahib! He has been three months at the school. And he is not<br> - mouthed to that bit. For my part, I rejoice. The pony learns -the<br> - game.'</p> - -<p>'Ay, but another time he must not go alone.'</p> - -<p>'Why? He went alone before he came under the Colonel -Sahib's<br> - protection. When he comes to the Great Game he must go alone --<br> - alone, and at peril of his head. Then, if he spits, or sneezes, -or<br> - sits down other than as the people do whom he watches, he may -be<br> - slain. Why hinder him now? Remember how the Persians say: -The<br> - jackal that lives in the wilds of Mazanderan can only be caught -by<br> - the hounds of Mazanderan.'</p> - -<p>'True. It is true, Mahbub Ali. And if he comes to no harm, I -do not<br> - desire anything better. But it is great insolence on his -part.'</p> - -<p>'He does not tell me, even, whither he goes,' said Mahbub. 'He -is<br> - no fool. When his time is accomplished he will come to me. It -is<br> - time the healer of pearls took him in hand. He ripens too -quickly -<br> - as Sahibs reckon.'</p> - -<p>This prophecy was fulfilled to the letter a month later. -Mahbub had<br> - gone down to Umballa to bring up a fresh consignment of horses, -and<br> - Kim met him on the Kalka road at dusk riding alone, begged an -alms<br> - of him, was sworn at, and replied in English. There was -nobody<br> - within earshot to hear Mahbub's gasp of amazement.</p> - -<p>'Oho! And where hast thou been?' 'Up and down - down and -up.'</p> - -<p>'Come under a tree, out of the wet, and tell.' 'I stayed for -a<br> - while with an old man near Umballa; anon with a household of -my<br> - acquaintance in Umballa. With one of these I went as far as -Delhi<br> - to the southward. That is a wondrous city. Then I drove a -bullock<br> - for a teli [an oilman] coming north; but I heard of a great -feast<br> - forward in Patiala, and thither went I in the company of a<br> - firework-maker. It was a great feast' (Kim rubbed his stomach). -'I<br> - saw Rajahs, and elephants with gold and silver trappings; and -they<br> - lit all the fireworks at once, whereby eleven men were killed, -my<br> - fire-work-maker among them, and I was blown across a tent but -took<br> - no harm. Then I came back to the rel with a Sikh horseman, to -whom<br> - I was groom for my bread; and so here.'</p> - -<p>'Shabash!' said Mahbub Ali.</p> - -<p>'But what does the Colonel Sahib say? I do not wish to be -beaten.</p> - -<p>'The Hand of Friendship has averted the Whip of Calamity; -but<br> - another time, when thou takest the Road it will be with me. This -is<br> - too early.'</p> - -<p>'Late enough for me. I have learned to read and to write -English a<br> - little at the madrissah. I shall soon be altogether a -Sahib.'</p> - -<p>'Hear him!' laughed Mahbub, looking at the little drenched -figure<br> - dancing in the wet. 'Salaam - Sahib,' and he saluted -ironically.<br> - 'Well, art tired of the Road, or wilt thou come on to Umballa -with<br> - me and work back with the horses?'</p> - -<p>'I come with thee, Mahbub Ali.'</p> - -<p></p> - -<h2>Chapter 8</h2> - -<p><br> - Something I owe to the soil that grew -<br> - More to the life that fed -<br> - But most to Allah Who gave me two<br> - Separate sides to my head.</p> - -<p>I would go without shirts or shoes,<br> - Friends, tobacco or bread<br> - Sooner than for an instant lose<br> - Either side of my head.'</p> - -<p>The Two-Sided Man.</p> - -<p><br> - 'Then in God's name take blue for red,' said Mahbub, alluding -to<br> - the Hindu colour of Kim's disreputable turban.</p> - -<p>Kim countered with the old proverb, 'I will change my faith -and my<br> - bedding, but thou must pay for it.'</p> - -<p>The dealer laughed till he nearly fell from his horse. At a -shop on<br> - the outskirts of the city the change was made, and Kim stood -up,<br> - externally at least, a Mohammedan.</p> - -<p>Mahbub hired a room over against the railway station, sent for -a<br> - cooked meal of the finest with the almond-curd sweet-meats<br> - [balushai we call it] and fine-chopped Lucknow tobacco.</p> - -<p><br> - 'This is better than some other meat that I ate with the -Sikh,'<br> - said Kim, grinning as he squatted, 'and assuredly they give no -such<br> - victuals at my madrissah.'</p> - -<p>'I have a desire to hear of that same madrissah.' Mahbub -stuffed<br> - himself with great boluses of spiced mutton fried in fat -with<br> - cabbage and golden-brown onions. 'But tell me first, altogether -and<br> - truthfully, the manner of thy escape. For, O Friend of all -the<br> - World,' - he loosed his cracking belt - 'I do not think it -is<br> - often that a Sahib and the son of a Sahib runs away from -there.'</p> - -<p>'How should they? They do not know the land. It was nothing,' -said<br> - Kim, and began his tale. When he came to the disguisement and -the<br> - interview with the girl in the bazar, Mahbub Ali's gravity -went<br> - from him. He laughed aloud and beat his hand on his thigh.</p> - -<p>'Shabash! Shabash! Oh, well done, little one! What will the -healer<br> - of turquoises say to this? Now, slowly, let us hear what -befell<br> - afterwards - step by step, omitting nothing.'</p> - -<p>Step by step then, Kim told his adventures between coughs as -the<br> - full-flavoured tobacco caught his lungs.</p> - -<p>'I said,' growled Mahbub Ali to himself, 'I said it was the -pony<br> - breaking out to play polo. The fruit is ripe already -except -that<br> - he must learn his distances and his pacings, and his rods and -his<br> - compasses. Listen now. I have turned aside the Colonel's whip -from<br> - thy skin, and that is no small service.'</p> - -<p>'True.' Kim pulled serenely. 'That is true.'</p> - -<p>'But it is not to be thought that this running out and in is -any<br> - way good.'</p> - -<p>'It was my holiday, Hajji. I was a slave for many weeks. Why -should<br> - I not run away when the school was shut? Look, too, how I, -living<br> - upon my friends or working for my bread, as I did with the -Sikh,<br> - have saved the Colonel Sahib a great expense.'</p> - -<p>Mahbub's lips twitched under his well-pruned Mohammedan -moustache.</p> - -<p>'What are a few rupees' - the Pathan threw out his open -hand<br> - carelessly - 'to the Colonel Sahib? He spends them for a -purpose,<br> - not in any way for love of thee.'</p> - -<p>'That,' said Kim slowly, 'I knew a very long time ago.'</p> - -<p>'Who told?'</p> - -<p>'The Colonel Sahib himself. Not in those many words, but -plainly<br> - enough for one who is not altogether a mud-head. Yea, he told me -in<br> - the te-rain when we went down to Lucknow.'</p> - -<p>'Be it so. Then I will tell thee more, Friend of all the -World,<br> - though in the telling I lend thee my head.'</p> - -<p>'It was forfeit to me,' said Kim, with deep relish, 'in -Umballa,<br> - when thou didst pick me up on the horse after the drummer-boy -beat<br> - me.'</p> - -<p>'Speak a little plainer. All the world may tell lies save thou -and<br> - I. For equally is thy life forfeit to me if I chose to raise -my<br> - finger here.'</p> - -<p>'And this is known to me also,' said Kim, readjusting the -live<br> - charcoal-ball on the weed. 'It is a very sure tie between -us.<br> - Indeed, thy hold is surer even than mine; for who would miss a -boy<br> - beaten to death, or, it may be, thrown into a well by the -roadside?<br> - Most people here and in Simla and across the passes behind -the<br> - Hills would, on the other hand, say: "What has come to Mahbub -Ali?"<br> - if he were found dead among his horses. Surely, too, the -Colonel<br> - Sahib would make inquiries. But again,'- Kim's face puckered -with<br> - cunning, - 'he would not make overlong inquiry, lest people -should<br> - ask: "What has this Colonel Sahib to do with that -horse-dealer?"<br> - But I - if I lived -,</p> - -<p>'As thou wouldst surely die -,</p> - -<p>'Maybe; but I say, if I lived, I, and I alone, would know that -one<br> - had come by night, as a common thief perhaps, to Mahbub -Ali's<br> - bulkhead in the serai, and there had slain him, either before -or<br> - after that thief had made a full search into his saddlebags -and<br> - between the soles of his slippers. Is that news to tell to -the<br> - Colonel, or would he say to me - (I have not forgotten when he -sent<br> - me back for a cigar-case that he had not left behind him) - -"What<br> - is Mahbub Ali to me?"?'</p> - -<p>Up went a gout of heavy smoke. There was a long pause: then -Mahbub<br> - Ali spoke in admiration: 'And with these things on thy mind, -dost<br> - thou lie down and rise again among all the Sahibs' little sons -at<br> - the madrissah and meekly take instruction from thy -teachers?'</p> - -<p>'It is an order,' said Kim blandly. 'Who am I to dispute an -order?'</p> - -<p>'A most finished Son of Eblis,' said Mahbub Ali. 'But what is -this<br> - tale of the thief and the search?'</p> - -<p>'That which I saw,' said Kim, 'the night that my lama and I -lay<br> - next thy place in the Kashmir Seral. The door was left -unlocked,<br> - which I think is not thy custom, Mahbub. He came in as one -assured<br> - that thou wouldst not soon return. My eye was against a -knot-hole<br> - in the plank. He searched as it were for something - not a rug, -not<br> - stirrups, nor a bridle, nor brass pots- something little and -most<br> - carefully hid. Else why did he prick with an iron between the -soles<br> - of thy slippers?'</p> - -<p>'Ha!' Mahbub Ali smiled gently. 'And seeing these things, what -tale<br> - didst thou fashion to thyself, Well of the Truth?'</p> - -<p>'None. I put my hand upon my amulet, which lies always next to -my<br> - skin, and, remembering the pedigree of a white stallion that I -had<br> - bitten out of a piece of Mussalmani bread, I went away to -Umballa<br> - perceiving that a heavy trust was laid upon me. At that hour, -had I<br> - chosen, thy head was forfeit. It needed only to say to that man, -"I<br> - have here a paper concerning a horse which I cannot read." -And<br> - then?' Kim peered at Mahbub under his eyebrows.</p> - -<p>'Then thou wouldst have drunk water twice - perhaps -thrice,<br> - afterwards. I do not think more than thrice,' said Mahbub -simply.</p> - -<p>'It is true. I thought of that a little, but most I thought -that I<br> - loved thee, Mahbub. Therefore I went to Umballa, as thou -knowest,<br> - but (and this thou dost not know) I lay hid in the garden-grass -to<br> - see what Colonel Creighton Sahib might do upon reading the -white<br> - stallion's pedigree.'</p> - -<p>'And what did he?' for Kim had bitten off the -conversation.</p> - -<p>'Dost thou give news for love, or dost thou sell it?' Kim -asked.</p> - -<p>'I sell and - I buy.' Mahbub took a four-anna piece out of his -belt<br> - and held it up.</p> - -<p>'Eight!' said Kim, mechanically following the huckster -instinct of<br> - the East.</p> - -<p>Mahbub laughed, and put away the coin. It is too easy to deal -in<br> - that market, Friend of all the World. Tell me for love. Our -lives<br> - lie in each other's hand.'</p> - -<p>'Very good. I saw the Jang-i-Lat Sahib [the -Commander-in-Chief]<br> - come to a big dinner. I saw him in Creighton Sahib's office. I -saw<br> - the two read the white stallion's pedigree. I heard the very -orders<br> - given for the opening of a great war.'</p> - -<p>'Hah!' Mahbub nodded with deepest eyes afire. 'The game is -well<br> - played. That war is done now, and the evil, we hope, nipped -before<br> - the flower- thanks to me - and thee. What didst thou later?'</p> - -<p>'I made the news as it were a hook to catch me victual and -honour<br> - among the villagers in a village whose priest drugged my lama. -But<br> - I bore away the old man's purse, and the Brahmin found nothing. -So<br> - next morning he was angry. Ho! Ho! And I also used the news when -I<br> - fell into the hands of that white Regiment with their Bull!'</p> - -<p>'That was foolishness.' Mahbub scowled. 'News is not meant to -be<br> - thrown about like dung-cakes, but used sparingly - like -bhang.'</p> - -<p>'So I think now, and moreover, it did me no sort of good. But -that<br> - was very long ago,' he made as to brush it all away with a -thin<br> - brown hand - 'and since then, and especially in the nights -under<br> - the punkah at the madrissah, I have thought very greatly.'</p> - -<p>'Is it permitted to ask whither the Heaven-born's thought -might<br> - have led?' said Mahbub, with an elaborate sarcasm, smoothing -his<br> - scarlet beard.</p> - -<p>'It is permitted,' said Kim, and threw back the very tone. -'They<br> - say at Nucklao that no Sahib must tell a black man that he has -made<br> - a fault.'</p> - -<p>Mahbub's hand shot into his bosom, for to call a Pathan a -'black<br> - man' [kala admi] is a blood-insult. Then he remembered and -laughed.<br> - 'Speak, Sahib. Thy black man hears.'</p> - -<p>'But,' said Kim, 'I am not a Sahib, and I say I made a fault -to<br> - curse thee, Mahbub Ali, on that day at Umballa when I thought I -was<br> - betrayed by a Pathan. I was senseless; for I was but newly -caught,<br> - and I wished to kill that low-caste drummer-boy. I say now, -Hajji,<br> - that it was well done; and I see my road all clear before me to -a<br> - good service. I will stay in the madrissah till I am ripe.'</p> - -<p>'Well said. Especially are distances and numbers and the -manner of<br> - using compasses to be learned in that game. One waits in the -Hills<br> - above to show thee.'</p> - -<p>'I will learn their teaching upon a condition - that my time -is<br> - given to me without question when the madrissah is shut. Ask -that<br> - for me of the Colonel.'</p> - -<p>'But why not ask the Colonel in the Sahibs' tongue?'</p> - -<p>'The Colonel is the servant of the Government. He is sent -hither<br> - and yon at a word, and must consider his own advancement. (See -how<br> - much I have already learned at Nucklao!) Moreover, the Colonel -I<br> - know since three months only. I have known one Mahbub Ali for -six<br> - years. So! To the madrissah I will go. At the madrissah I -will<br> - learn. In the madrissah I will be a Sahib. But when the -madrissah<br> - is shut, then must I be free and go among my people. Otherwise -I<br> - die!'</p> - -<p>'And who are thy people, Friend of all the World?'</p> - -<p>'This great and beautiful land,' said Kim, waving his paw -round the<br> - little clay-walled room where the oil-lamp in its niche -burned<br> - heavily through the tobacco-smoke. 'And, further, I would see -my<br> - lama again. And, further, I need money.'</p> - -<p>'That is the need of everyone,' said Mahbub ruefully. 'I will -give<br> - thee eight annas, for much money is not picked out of -horses'<br> - hooves, and it must suffice for many days. As to all the rest, I -am<br> - well pleased, and no further talk is needed. Make haste to -learn,<br> - and in three years, or it may be less, thou wilt be an aid - -even<br> - to me.'</p> - -<p>'Have I been such a hindrance till now?' said Kim, with a -boy's<br> - giggle.</p> - -<p>'Do not give answers,' Mahbub grunted. 'Thou art my new -horse-boy.<br> - Go and bed among my men. They are near the north end of the<br> - station, with the horses.'</p> - -<p>'They will beat me to the south end of the station if I -come<br> - without authority.'</p> - -<p>Mahbub felt in his belt, wetted his thumb on a cake of Chinese -ink,<br> - and dabbed the impression on a piece of soft native paper. -From<br> - Balkh to Bombay men know that rough-ridged print with the old -scar<br> - running diagonally across it.</p> - -<p>'That is enough to show my headman. I come in the -morning.'</p> - -<p>'By which road?' said Kim.</p> - -<p>'By the road from the city. There is but one, and then we -return to<br> - Creighton Sahib. I have saved thee a beating.'</p> - -<p>'Allah! What is a beating when the very head is loose on -the<br> - shoulders?'</p> - -<p>Kim slid out quietly into the night, walked half round the -house,<br> - keeping close to the walls, and headed away from the station for -a<br> - mile or so. Then, fetching a wide compass, he worked back at<br> - leisure, for he needed time to invent a story if any of -Mahbub's<br> - retainers asked questions.</p> - -<p>They were camped on a piece of waste ground beside the -railway,<br> - and, being natives, had not, of course, unloaded the two trucks -in<br> - which Mahbub's animals stood among a consignment of -country-breds<br> - bought by the Bombay tram-company. The headman, a -broken-down,<br> - consumptive-looking Mohammedan, promptly challenged Kim, but -was<br> - pacified at sight of Mahbub's sign-manual.</p> - -<p>'The Hajji has of his favour given me service,' said Kim -testily.<br> - 'If this be doubted, wait till he comes in the morning. -Meantime, a<br> - place by the fire.'</p> - -<p>Followed the usual aimless babble that every low-caste native -must<br> - raise on every occasion. It died down, and Kim lay out behind -the<br> - little knot of Mahbub's followers, almost under the wheels of -a<br> - horse-truck, a borrowed blanket for covering. Now a bed -among<br> - brickbats and ballast-refuse on a damp night, between -overcrowded<br> - horses and unwashed Baltis, would not appeal to many white -boys;<br> - but Kim was utterly happy. Change of scene, service, and<br> - surroundings were the breath of his little nostrils, and -thinking<br> - of the neat white cots of St Xavier's all arow under the -punkah<br> - gave him joy as keen as the repetition of the -multiplication-table<br> - in English.</p> - -<p>'I am very old,' he thought sleepily. 'Every month I become a -year<br> - more old. I was very young, and a fool to boot, when I took<br> - Mahbub's message to Umballa. Even when I was with that white<br> - Regiment I was very young and small and had no wisdom. But now -I<br> - learn every day, and in three years the Colonel will take me out -of<br> - the madrissah and let me go upon the Road with Mahbub hunting -for<br> - horses' pedigrees, or maybe I shall go by myself; or maybe I -shall<br> - find the lama and go with him. Yes; that is best. To walk again -as<br> - a chela with my lama when he comes back to Benares.' The -thoughts<br> - came more slowly and disconnectedly. He was plunging into a<br> - beautiful dreamland when his ears caught a whisper, thin and -sharp,<br> - above the monotonous babble round the fire. It came from behind -the<br> - iron-skinned horse-truck.</p> - -<p>'He is not here, then?'</p> - -<p>'Where should he be but roystering in the city. Who looks for -a rat<br> - in a frog-pond? Come away. He is not our man.'</p> - -<p>'He must not go back beyond the Passes a second time. It is -the<br> - order.'</p> - -<p>'Hire some woman to drug him. It is a few rupees only, and -there is<br> - no evidence.'</p> - -<p>'Except the woman. It must be more certain; and remember the -price<br> - upon his head.'</p> - -<p>'Ay, but the police have a long arm, and we are far from -the<br> - Border. If it were in Peshawur, now!'</p> - -<p>'Yes - in Peshawur,' the second voice sneered. 'Peshawur, full -of<br> - his blood-kin - full of bolt-holes and women behind whose -clothes<br> - he will hide. Yes, Peshawur or Jehannum would suit us -equally<br> - well.'</p> - -<p>'Then what is the plan?'</p> - -<p>'O fool, have I not told it a hundred times? Wait till he -comes to<br> - lie down, and then one sure shot. The trucks are between us -and<br> - pursuit. We have but to run back over the lines and go our -way.<br> - They will not see whence the shot came. Wait here at least till -the<br> - dawn. What manner of fakir art thou, to shiver at a little<br> - watching?'</p> - -<p>'Oho!' thought Kim, behind close-shut eyes. 'Once again it -is<br> - Mahbub. Indeed a white stallion's pedigree is not a good thing -to<br> - peddle to Sahibs! Or maybe Mahbub has been selling other news. -Now<br> - what is to do, Kim? I know not where Mahbub houses, and if he -comes<br> - here before the dawn they will shoot him. That would be no -profit<br> - for thee, Kim. And this is not a matter for the police. That -would<br> - be no profit for Mahbub; and' - he giggled almost aloud - 'I do -not<br> - remember any lesson at Nucklao which will help me. Allah! Here -is<br> - Kim and yonder are they. First, then, Kim must wake and go away, -so<br> - that they shall not suspect. A bad dream wakes a man - thus --,</p> - -<p>He threw the blanket off his face, and raised himself suddenly -with<br> - the terrible, bubbling, meaningless yell of the Asiatic roused -by<br> - nightmare.</p> - -<p>'Urr-urr-urr-urr! Ya-la-la-la-la! Narain! The churel! The -churel!'</p> - -<p>A churel is the peculiarly malignant ghost of a woman who has -died<br> - in child-bed. She haunts lonely roads, her feet are turned<br> - backwards on the ankles, and she leads men to torment.</p> - -<p>Louder rose Kim's quavering howl, till at last he leaped to -his<br> - feet and staggered off sleepily, while the camp cursed him -for<br> - waking them. Some twenty yards farther up the line he lay -down<br> - again, taking care that the whisperers should hear his grunts -and<br> - groans as he recomposed himself. After a few minutes he -rolled<br> - towards the road and stole away into the thick darkness.</p> - -<p>He paddled along swiftly till he came to a culvert, and -dropped<br> - behind it, his chin on a level with the coping-stone. Here he -could<br> - command all the night-traffic, himself unseen.</p> - -<p>Two or three carts passed, jingling out to the suburbs; a -coughing<br> - policeman and a hurrying foot-passenger or two who sang to keep -off<br> - evil spirits. Then rapped the shod feet of a horse.</p> - -<p>'Ah! This is more like Mahbub,' thought Kim, as the beast -shied at<br> - the little head above the culvert.</p> - -<p>'Ohe', Mahbub Ali,' he whispered, 'have a care!'</p> - -<p>The horse was reined back almost on its haunches, and -forced<br> - towards the culvert.</p> - -<p>'Never again,' said Mahbub, 'will I take a shod horse for -night-<br> - work. They pick up all the bones and nails in the city.' He -stooped<br> - to lift its forefoot, and that brought his head within a foot -of<br> - Kim's. Down - keep down,' he muttered. 'The night is full of<br> - eyes.'</p> - -<p>'Two men wait thy coming behind the horse-trucks. They will -shoot<br> - thee at thy lying down, because there is a price on thy head. -I<br> - heard, sleeping near the horses.'</p> - -<p>'Didst thou see them? . .. Hold still, Sire of Devils!' -This<br> - furiously to the horse.</p> - -<p>'No.'</p> - -<p>'Was one dressed belike as a fakir?'</p> - -<p>'One said to the other, "What manner of fakir art thou, to -shiver<br> - at a little watching?"'</p> - -<p>'Good. Go back to the camp and lie down. I do not die -tonight.'</p> - -<p>Mahbub wheeled his horse and vanished. Kim tore back down the -ditch<br> - till he reached a point opposite his second resting-place, -slipped<br> - across the road like a weasel, and re-coiled himself in the<br> - blanket.</p> - -<p>'At least Mahbub knows,' he thought contentedly. 'And -certainly he<br> - spoke as one expecting it. I do not think those two men will -profit<br> - by tonight's watch.'</p> - -<p>An hour passed, and, with the best will in the world to keep -awake<br> - all night, he slept deeply. Now and again a night train -roared<br> - along the metals within twenty feet of him; but he had all -the<br> - Oriental's indifference to mere noise, and it did not even weave -a<br> - dream through his slumber.</p> - -<p>Mahbub was anything but asleep. It annoyed him vehemently -that<br> - people outside his tribe and unaffected by his casual amours -should<br> - pursue him for the life. His first and natural impulse was to -cross<br> - the line lower down, work up again, and, catching his -well-wishers<br> - from behind, summarily slay them. Here, he reflected with -sorrow,<br> - another branch of the Government, totally unconnected with -Colonel<br> - Creighton, might demand explanations which would be hard to -supply;<br> - and he knew that south of the Border a perfectly ridiculous fuss -is<br> - made about a corpse or so. He had not been troubled in this -way<br> - since he sent Kim to Umballa with the message, and hoped -that<br> - suspicion had been finally diverted.</p> - -<p><br> - Then a most brilliant notion struck him.</p> - -<p>'The English do eternally tell the truth,' he said, 'therefore -we<br> - of this country are eternally made foolish. By Allah, I will -tell<br> - the truth to an Englishman! Of what use is the Government police -if<br> - a poor Kabuli be robbed of his horses in their very trucks. This -is<br> - as bad as Peshawur! I should lay a complaint at the station. -Better<br> - still, some young Sahib on the Railway! They are zealous, and -if<br> - they catch thieves it is remembered to their honour.'</p> - -<p>He tied up his horse outside the station, and strode on to -the<br> - platform.</p> - -<p>'Hullo, Mahbub Ali' said a young Assistant District -Traffic<br> - Superintendent who was waiting to go down the line - a tall, -tow-<br> - haired, horsey youth in dingy white linen. 'What are you -doing<br> - here? Selling weeds - eh?'</p> - -<p>'No; I am not troubled for my horses. I come to look for -Lutuf<br> - Ullah. I have a truck-load up the line. Could anyone take them -out<br> - without the Railway's knowledge?'</p> - -<p>'Shouldn't think so, Mahbub. You can claim against us if they -do.'</p> - -<p>'I have seen two men crouching under the wheels of one of -the<br> - trucks nearly all night. Fakirs do not steal horses, so I gave -them<br> - no more thought. I would find Lutuf Ullah, my partner.'</p> - -<p>'The deuce you did? And you didn't bother your head about it? -'Pon<br> - my word, it's just almost as well that I met you. What were -they<br> - like, eh?'</p> - -<p>'They were only fakirs. They will no more than take a little -grain,<br> - perhaps, from one of the trucks. There are many up the line. -The<br> - State will never miss the dole. I came here seeking for my -partner,<br> - Lutuf Ullah</p> - -<p>'Never mind your partner. Where are your horse-trucks?'</p> - -<p>'A little to this side of the farthest place where they make -lamps<br> - for the trains.'</p> - -<p>'The signal-box! Yes.'</p> - -<p>'And upon the rail nearest to the road upon the right-hand -side -<br> - looking up the line thus. But as regards Lutuf Ullah - a tall -man<br> - with a broken nose, and a Persian greyhound Aie!'</p> - -<p>The boy had hurried off to wake up a young and -enthusiastic<br> - policeman; for, as he said, the Railway had suffered much -from<br> - depredations in the goods-yard. Mahbub Ali chuckled in his -dyed<br> - beard.</p> - -<p>'They will walk in their boots, making a noise, and then they -will<br> - wonder why there are no fakirs. They are very clever -boys--Barton<br> - Sahib and Young Sahib.'</p> - -<p>He waited idly for a few minutes, expecting to see them hurry -up<br> - the line girt for action. A light engine slid through the -station,<br> - and he caught a glimpse of young.Barton in the cab.</p> - -<p>'I did that child an injustice. He is not altogether a fool,' -said<br> - Mahbub Ali. 'To take a fire-carriage for a thief is a new -game!'</p> - -<p>When Mahbub Ali came to his camp in the dawn, no one thought -it<br> - worth while to tell him any news of the night. No one, at -least,<br> - but one small horseboy, newly advanced to the great man's -service,<br> - whom Mahbub called to his tiny tent to assist in some -packing.</p> - -<p>'It is all known to me,' whispered Kim, bending above -saddlebags.<br> - 'Two Sahibs came up on a te-train. I was running to and fro in -the<br> - dark on this side of the trucks as the te-train moved up and -down<br> - slowly. They fell upon two men sitting under this truck - -Hajji,<br> - what shall I do with this lump of tobacco? Wrap it in paper and -put<br> - it under the salt-bag? Yes - and struck them down. But one -man<br> - struck at a Sahib with a fakir's buck's horn' (Kim meant the<br> - conjoined black-buck horns, which are a fakir's sole -temporal<br> - weapon) - 'the blood came. So the other Sahib, first smiting -his<br> - own man senseless, smote the stabber with a short gun which -had<br> - rolled from the first man's hand. They all raged as though -mad<br> - together.'</p> - -<p>Mahbub smiled with heavenly resignation. 'No! That is not so -much<br> - dewanee [madness, or a case for the civil court - the word can -be<br> - punned upon both ways] as nizamut [a criminal case]. A gun, -sayest<br> - thou? Ten good years in jail.'</p> - -<p>'Then they both lay still, but I think they were nearly dead -when<br> - they were put on the te-train. Their heads moved thus. And there -is<br> - much blood on the line. Come and see?'</p> - -<p>'I have seen blood before. Jail is the sure place - and -assuredly<br> - they will give false names, and assuredly no man will find them -for<br> - a long time. They were unfriends of mine. Thy fate and mine seem -on<br> - one string. What a tale for the healer of pearls! Now swiftly -with<br> - the saddle-bags and the cooking-platter. We will take out -the<br> - horses and away to Simla.'</p> - -<p>Swiftly - as Orientals understand speed - with long -explanations,<br> - with abuse and windy talk, carelessly, amid a hundred checks -for<br> - little things forgotten, the untidy camp broke up and led the -half-<br> - dozen stiff and fretful horses along the Kalka road in the fresh -of<br> - the rain-swept dawn. Kim, regarded as Mahbub Ali's favourite by -all<br> - who wished to stand well with the Pathan, was not called upon -to<br> - work. They strolled on by the easiest of stages, halting every -few<br> - hours at a wayside shelter. Very many Sahibs travel along the -Kalka<br> - road; and, as Mahbub Ali says, every young Sahib must needs -esteem<br> - himself a judge of a horse, and, though he be over head in debt -to<br> - the money-lender, must make as if to buy. That was the reason -that<br> - Sahib after Sahib, rolling along in a stage-carriage, would -stop<br> - and open talk. Some would even descend from their vehicles and -feel<br> - the horses' legs; asking inane questions, or, through sheer<br> - ignorance of the vernacular, grossly insulting the -imperturbable<br> - trader.</p> - -<p>'When first I dealt with Sahibs, and that was when Colonel -Soady<br> - Sahib was Governor of Fort Abazai and flooded the -Commissioner's<br> - camping-ground for spite,' Mahbub confided to Kim as the boy -filled<br> - his pipe under a tree, 'I did not know how greatly they were -fools,<br> - and this made me wroth. As thus -, and he told Kim a tale of -an<br> - expression, misused in all innocence, that doubled Kim up -with<br> - mirth. 'Now I see, however,' - he exhaled smoke slowly - 'that -it<br> - is with them as with all men - in certain matters they are -wise,<br> - and in others most foolish. Very foolish it is to use the -wrong<br> - word to a stranger; for though the heart may be clean of -offence,<br> - how is the stranger to know that? He is more like to search -truth<br> - with a dagger.'</p> - -<p>'True. True talk,' said Kim solemnly. 'Fools speak of a cat -when a<br> - woman is brought to bed, for instance. I have heard them.'</p> - -<p>'Therefore, in one situate as thou art, it particularly -behoves<br> - thee to remember this with both kinds of faces. Among Sahibs, -never<br> - forgetting thou art a Sahib; among the folk of Hind, always<br> - remembering thou art -' He paused, with a puzzled smile.</p> - -<p>'What am I? Mussalman, Hindu, Jain, or Buddhist? That is a -hard<br> - knot.'</p> - -<p>'Thou art beyond question an unbeliever, and therefore thou -wilt be<br> - damned. So says my Law - or I think it does. But thou art also -my<br> - Little Friend of all the World, and I love thee. So says my -heart.<br> - This matter of creeds is like horseflesh. The wise man knows -horses<br> - are good - that there is a profit to be made from all; and -for<br> - myself- but that I am a good Sunni and hate the men of Tirah - -I<br> - could believe the same of all the Faiths. Now manifestly a<br> - Kathiawar mare taken from the sands of her birthplace and -removed<br> - to the west of Bengal founders - nor is even a Balkh stallion -(and<br> - there are no better horses than those of Balkh, were they not -so<br> - heavy in the shoulder) of any account in the great Northern -deserts<br> - beside the snow-camels I have seen. Therefore I say in my heart -the<br> - Faiths are like the horses. Each has merit in its own -country.'</p> - -<p>'But my lama said altogether a different thing.'</p> - -<p>'Oh, he is an old dreamer of dreams from Bhotiyal. My heart is -a<br> - little angry, Friend of all the World, that thou shouldst see -such<br> - worth in a man so little known.'</p> - -<p>'It is true, Hajji; but that worth do I see, and to him my -heart is<br> - drawn.'</p> - -<p>'And his to thine, I hear. Hearts are like horses. They come -and<br> - they go against bit or spur. Shout Gul Sher Khan yonder to drive -in<br> - that bay stallion's pickets more firmly. We do not want a -horse-<br> - fight at every resting-stage, and the dun and the black will -be<br> - locked in a little . . . Now hear me. Is it necessary to the<br> - comfort of thy heart to see that lama?'</p> - -<p>'It is one part of my bond,' said Kim. 'If I do not see him, -and if<br> - he is taken from me, I will go out of that madrissah in -Nucklao<br> - and, and - once gone, who is to find me again?'</p> - -<p>'It is true. Never was colt held on a lighter heel-rope than -thou.'<br> - Mahbub nodded his head.</p> - -<p>'Do not be afraid.' Kim spoke as though he could have -evanished on<br> - the moment. 'My lama has said that he will come to see me at -the<br> - madrissah -,</p> - -<p>'A beggar and his bowl in the presence of those young Sa --'</p> - -<p>'Not all!' Kim cut in with a snort. 'Their eyes are blued and -their<br> - nails are blackened with low-caste blood, many of them. Sons -of<br> - mehteranees - brothers-in-law to the bhungi [sweeper].'</p> - -<p>We need not follow the rest of the pedigree; but Kim made -his<br> - little point clearly and without heat, chewing a piece of -sugar-<br> - cane the while.</p> - -<p>'Friend of all the World,' said Mahbub, pushing over the pipe -for<br> - the boy to clean, 'I have met many men, women, and boys, and not -a<br> - few Sahibs. I have never in all my days met such an imp as -thou<br> - art.'</p> - -<p>'And why? When I always tell thee the truth.'</p> - -<p>'Perhaps the very reason, for this is a world of danger to -honest<br> - men.' Mahbub Ali hauled himself off the ground, girt in his -belt,<br> - and went over to the horses.</p> - -<p>'Or sell it?'</p> - -<p>There was that in the tone that made Mahbub halt and turn. -'What<br> - new devilry?'</p> - -<p>'Eight annas, and I will tell,' said Kim, grinning. 'It -touches thy<br> - peace.'</p> - -<p>'O Shaitan!' Mahbub gave the money.</p> - -<p>'Rememberest thou the little business of the thieves in the -dark,<br> - down yonder at Umballa?'</p> - -<p>'Seeing they sought my life, I have not altogether forgotten. -Why?'</p> - -<p>'Rememberest thou the Kashmir Serai?'</p> - -<p>'I will twist thy ears in a moment - Sahib.'</p> - -<p>'No need - Pathan. Only, the second fakir, whom the Sahibs -beat<br> - senseless, was the man who came to search thy bulkhead at -Lahore. I<br> - saw his face as they helped him on the engine. The very same -man.'</p> - -<p>'Why didst thou not tell before?'</p> - -<p>'Oh, he will go to jail, and be safe for some years. There is -no<br> - need to tell more than is necessary at any one time. Besides, I -did<br> - not then need money for sweetmeats.'</p> - -<p>'Allah kerim!' said Mahbub Ah. 'Wilt thou some day sell my -head for<br> - a few sweetmeats if the fit takes thee?'</p> - -<p>Kim will remember till he dies that long, lazy journey -from<br> - Umballa, through Kalka and the Pinjore Gardens near by, up -to<br> - Simla. A sudden spate in the Gugger River swept down one -horse<br> - (the most valuable, be sure), and nearly drowned Kim among -the<br> - dancing boulders. Farther up the road the horses were stampeded -by<br> - a Government elephant, and being in high condition of grass -food,<br> - it cost a day and a half to get them together again. Then they -met<br> - Sikandar Khan coming down with a few unsaleable screws - -remnants<br> - of his string -and Mahbub, who has more of horse-coping in -his<br> - little fingernail than Sikandar Khan in all his tents, must -needs<br> - buy two of the worst, and that meant eight hours' laborious<br> - diplomacy and untold tobacco. But it was all pure delight - -the<br> - wandering road, climbing, dipping, and sweeping about the -growing<br> - spurs; the flush of the morning laid along the distant snows; -the<br> - branched cacti, tier upon tier on the stony hillsides; the -voices<br> - of a thousand water-channels; the chatter of the monkeys; -the<br> - solemn deodars, climbing one after another with down-drooped<br> - branches; the vista of the Plains rolled out far beneath them; -the<br> - incessant twanging of the tonga-horns and the wild rush of the -led<br> - horses when a tonga swung round a curve; the halts for -prayers<br> - (Mahbub was very religious in dry-washings and bellowings when -time<br> - did not press); the evening conferences by the halting-places, -when<br> - camels and bullocks chewed solemnly together and the stolid -drivers<br> - told the news of the Road - all these things lifted Kim's heart -to<br> - song within him.</p> - -<p>'But, when the singing and dancing is done,' said Mahbub -Ali,<br> - 'comes the Colonel Sahib's, and that is not so sweet.'</p> - -<p>'A fair land - a most beautiful land is this of Hind - and the -land<br> - of the Five Rivers is fairer than all,' Kim half chanted. 'Into -it<br> - I will go again if Mahbub Ali or the Colonel lift hand or -foot<br> - against me. Once gone, who shall find me? Look, Hajji, is -yonder<br> - the city of Simla? Allah, what a city!'</p> - -<p>'My father's brother, and he was an old man when Mackerson -Sahib's<br> - well was new at Peshawur, could recall when there were but -two<br> - houses in it.</p> - -<p>He led the horses below the main road into the lower Simla -bazar -<br> - the crowded rabbit-warren that climbs up from the valley to -the<br> - Town Hall at an angle of forty-five. A man who knows his way -there<br> - can defy all the police of India's summer capital, so -cunningly<br> - does veranda communicate with veranda, alley-way with -alley-way,<br> - and bolt-hole with bolt-hole. Here live those who minister to -the<br> - wants of the glad city - jhampanis who pull the pretty -ladies'<br> - 'rickshaws by night and gamble till the dawn; grocers, -oil-sellers,<br> - curio-vendors, firewood-dealers, priests, pickpockets, and -native<br> - employees of the Government. Here are discussed by courtesans -the<br> - things which are supposed to be profoundest secrets of the -India<br> - Council; and here gather all the sub-sub-agents of half the -Native<br> - States. Here, too, Mahbub Ali rented a room, much more -securely<br> - locked than his bulkhead at Lahore, in the house of a -Mohammedan<br> - cattle-dealer. It was a place of miracles, too, for there went -in<br> - at twilight a Mohammedan horseboy, and there came out an hour -later<br> - a Eurasian lad - the Lucknow girl's dye was of the best - in -badly-<br> - fitting shop-clothes.</p> - -<p>'I have spoken with Creighton Sahib,' quoth Mahbub Ali, and -a<br> - second time has the Hand of Friendship averted the Whip of<br> - Calamity. He says that thou hast altogether wasted sixty days -upon<br> - the Road, and it is too late, therefore, to send thee to any -Hill-<br> - school.'</p> - -<p>'I have said that my holidays are my own. I do not go to -school<br> - twice over. That is one part of my bond.'</p> - -<p>'The Colonel Sahib is not yet aware of that contract. Thou art -to<br> - lodge in Lurgan Sahib's house till it is time to go again to<br> - Nucklao.'</p> - -<p>'I had sooner lodge with thee, Mahbub.'</p> - -<p>'Thou dost not know the honour. Lurgan Sahib himself asked -for<br> - thee. Thou wilt go up the hill and along the road atop, and -there<br> - thou must forget for a while that thou hast ever seen or spoken -to<br> - me, Mahbub Ali, who sells horses to Creighton Sahib, whom thou -dost<br> - not know. Remember this order.'</p> - -<p>Kim nodded. 'Good,' said he, 'and who is Lurgan Sahib? Nay' - -he<br> - caught Mahbub's sword-keen glance - 'indeed I have never heard -his<br> - name. Is he by chance - he lowered his voice -'one of us?'</p> - -<p>'What talk is this of us, Sahib?' Mahbub Ali returned, in the -tone<br> - he used towards Europeans. 'I am a Pathan; thou art a Sahib and -the<br> - son of a Sahib. Lurgan Sahib has a shop among the European -shops.<br> - All Simla knows it. Ask there ... and, Friend of all the World, -he<br> - is one to be obeyed to the last wink of his eyelashes. Men say -he<br> - does magic, but that should not touch thee. Go up the hill and -ask.<br> - Here begins the Great Game.'</p> - -<p></p> - -<h2>Chapter 9</h2> - -<p><br> - S' doaks was son of Yelth the wise -<br> - Chief of the Raven clan.<br> - Itswoot the Bear had him in care<br> - To make him a medicine-man.</p> - -<p>He was quick and quicker to learn -<br> - Bold and bolder to dare:<br> - He danced the dread Kloo-Kwallie Dance<br> - To tickle Itswoot the Bear!</p> - -<p>Oregon Legend</p> - -<p>Kim flung himself whole-heartedly upon the next turn of the -wheel.<br> - He would be a Sahib again for a while. In that idea, so soon as -he<br> - had reached the broad road under Simla Town Hall, he cast about -for<br> - one to impress. A Hindu child, some ten years old, squatted -under a<br> - lamp-post.</p> - -<p>Where is Mr Lurgan's house?' demanded Kim.</p> - -<p><br> - 'I do not understand English,' was the answer, and Kim shifted -his<br> - speech accordingly.</p> - -<p>'I will show.'</p> - -<p>Together they set off through the mysterious dusk, full of -the<br> - noises of a city below the hillside, and the breath of a cool -wind<br> - in deodar-crowned Jakko, shouldering the stars. The -house-lights,<br> - scattered on every level, made, as it were, a double -firmament.<br> - Some were fixed, others belonged to the 'rickshaws of the -careless,<br> - open-spoken English folk, going out to dinner.</p> - -<p>'It is here,' said Kim's guide, and halted in a veranda flush -with<br> - the main road. No door stayed them, but a curtain of beaded -reeds<br> - that split up the lamplight beyond.</p> - -<p>'He is come,' said the boy, in a voice little louder than a -sigh,<br> - and vanished. Kim felt sure that the boy had been posted to -guide<br> - him from the first, but, putting a bold face on it, parted -the<br> - curtain. A black-bearded man, with a green shade over his eyes, -sat<br> - at a table, and, one by one, with short, white hands, picked -up<br> - globules of light from a tray before him, threaded them on a<br> - glancing silken string, and hummed to himself the while. Kim -was<br> - conscious that beyond the circle of light the room was full -of<br> - things that smelt like all the temples of all the East. A whiff -of<br> - musk, a puff of sandal-wood, and a breath of sickly -jessamine-oil<br> - caught his opened nostrils.</p> - -<p>'I am here,' said Kim at last, speaking in the vernacular: -the<br> - smells made him forget that he was to be a Sahib</p> - -<p>'Seventy-nine, eighty, eighty-one,' the man counted to -himself,<br> - stringing pearl after pearl so quickly that Kim could -scarcely<br> - follow his fingers. He slid off the green shade and looked -fixedly<br> - at Kim for a full half-minute. The pupils of the eye dilated -and<br> - closed to pin-pricks, as if at will. There was a fakir by -the<br> - Taksali Gate who had just this gift and made money by it,<br> - especially when cursing silly women. Kim stared with interest. -His<br> - disreputable friend could further twitch his ears, almost like -a<br> - goat, and Kim was disappointed that this new man could not -imitate<br> - him.</p> - -<p>'Do not be afraid,' said Lurgan Sahib suddenly.</p> - -<p>'Why should I fear?'</p> - -<p>'Thou wilt sleep here tonight, and stay with me till it is -time to<br> - go again to Nucklao. It is an order.'</p> - -<p>'It is an order,' Kim repeated. 'But where shall I sleep?'</p> - -<p>'Here, in this room.' Lurgan Sahib waved his hand towards -the<br> - darkness behind him.</p> - -<p>'So be it,' said Kim composedly. 'Now?'</p> - -<p>He nodded and held the lamp above his head. As the light -swept<br> - them, there leaped out from the walls a collection of -Tibetan<br> - devil-dance masks, hanging above the fiend-embroidered draperies -of<br> - those ghastly functions - horned masks, scowling masks, and -masks<br> - of idiotic terror. In a corner, a Japanese warrior, mailed -and<br> - plumed, menaced him with a halberd, and a score of lances -and<br> - khandas and kuttars gave back the unsteady gleam. But what<br> - interested Kim more than all these things - he had seen -devil-dance<br> - masks at the Lahore Museum - was a glimpse of the soft-eyed -Hindu<br> - child who had left him in the doorway, sitting cross-legged -under<br> - the table of pearls with a little smile on his scarlet lips.</p> - -<p>'I think that Lurgan Sahib wishes to make me afraid. And I am -sure<br> - that that devil's brat below the table wishes to see me -afraid.<br> - This place,' he said aloud, 'is like a Wonder House. Where is -my<br> - bed?'</p> - -<p>Lurgan Sahib pointed to a native quilt in a corner by the -loathsome<br> - masks, picked up the lamp, and left the room black.</p> - -<p>'Was that Lurgan Sahib?' Kim asked as he cuddled down. No -answer.<br> - He could hear the Hindu boy breathing, however, and, guided by -the<br> - sound, crawled across the floor, and cuffed into the -darkness,<br> - crying: 'Give answer, devil! Is this the way to lie to a -Sahib?'</p> - -<p>>From the darkness he fancied he could hear the echo of a -chuckle.<br> - It could not be his soft-fleshed companion, because he was -weeping.<br> - So Kim lifted up his voice and called aloud:</p> - -<p>'Lurgan Sahib! O Lurgan Sahib! Is it an order that thy servant -does<br> - not speak to me?'</p> - -<p>'It is an order.' The voice came from behind him and he -started.</p> - -<p>'Very good. But remember,' he muttered, as he resought the -quilt,<br> - 'I will beat thee in the morning. I do not love Hindus.'</p> - -<p><br> - That was no cheerful night; the room being overfull of voices -and<br> - music. Kim was waked twice by someone calling his name. The -second<br> - time he set out in search, and ended by bruising his nose -against a<br> - box that certainly spoke with a human tongue, but in no sort -of<br> - human accent. It seemed to end in a tin trumpet and to be joined -by<br> - wires to a smaller box on the floor - so far, at least, as he -could<br> - judge by touch. And the voice, very hard and whirring, came out -of<br> - the trumpet. Kim rubbed his nose and grew furious, thinking, -as<br> - usual, in Hindi.</p> - -<p>'This with a beggar from the bazar might be good, but - I am -a<br> - Sahib and the son of a Sahib and, whichis twice as much more<br> - beside, a student of Nucklao. Yess' (here he turned to -English),<br> - 'a boy of St Xavier's. Damn Mr Lurgan's eyes! - It is some sort -of<br> - machinery like a sewing-machine. Oh, it is a great cheek of him --<br> - we are not frightened that way at Lucknow - No!' Then in -Hindi:<br> - 'But what does he gain? He is only a trader - I am in his<br> - shop. But Creighton Sahib is a Colonel - and I think -Creighton<br> - Sahib gave orders that it should be done. How I will beat -that<br> - Hindu in the morning! What is this?'</p> - -<p>The trumpet-box was pouring out a string of the most -elaborate<br> - abuse that even Kim had ever heard, in a high uninterested -voice,<br> - that for a moment lifted the short hairs of his neck. When the -vile<br> - thing drew breath, Kim was reassured by the soft, -sewing-machine-<br> - like whirr.</p> - -<p>'Chup! [Be still)' he cried, and again he heard a chuckle -that<br> - decided him. 'Chup - or I break your head.'</p> - -<p>The box took no heed. Kim wrenched at the tin trumpet and -something<br> - lifted with a click. He had evidently raised a lid. If there -were a<br> - devil inside, now was its time, for - he sniffed -thus did -the<br> - sewing-machines of the bazar smell. He would clean that shaitan. -He<br> - slipped off his jacket, and plunged it into the box's mouth.<br> - Something long and round bent under the pressure, there was a -whirr<br> - and the voice stopped - as voices must if you ram a -thrice-doubled<br> - coat on to the wax cylinder and into the works of an -expensive<br> - phonograph. Kim finished his slumbers with a serene mind.</p> - -<p>In the morning he was aware of Lurgan Sahib looking down on -him.</p> - -<p>'Oah!' said Kim, firmly resolved to cling to his Sahib-dom. -'There<br> - was a box in the night that gave me bad talk. So I stopped it. -Was<br> - it your box?'</p> - -<p>The man held out his hand.</p> - -<p>'Shake hands, O'Hara,' he said. 'Yes, it was my box. I keep -such<br> - things because my friends the Rajahs like them. That one is -broken,<br> - but it was cheap at the price. Yes, my friends, the Kings, are -very<br> - fond of toys - and so am I sometimes.'</p> - -<p>Kim looked him over out of the corners of his eyes. He was a -Sahib<br> - in that he wore Sahib's clothes; the accent of his Urdu, the<br> - intonation of his English, showed that he was anything but a -Sahib.<br> - He seemed to understand what moved in Kim's mind ere the boy -opened<br> - his mouth, and he took no pains to explain himself as did -Father<br> - Victor or the Lucknow masters. Sweetest of all - he treated Kim -as<br> - an equal on the Asiatic side.</p> - -<p>'I am sorry you cannot beat my boy this morning. He says he -will<br> - kill you with a knife or poison. He is jealous, so I have put -him<br> - in the corner and I shall not speak to him today. He has just -tried<br> - to kill me. You must help me with the breakfast. He is almost -too<br> - jealous to trust, just now.'</p> - -<p>Now a genuine imported Sahib from England would have made a -great<br> - to-do over this tale. Lurgan Sahib stated it as simply as -Mahbub<br> - Ali was used to record his little affairs in the North.</p> - -<p>The back veranda of the shop was built out over the sheer -hillside,<br> - and they looked down into their neighbours' chimney-pots, as is -the<br> - custom of Simla. But even more than the purely Persian meal -cooked<br> - by Lurgan Sahib with his own hands, the shop fascinated Kim. -The<br> - Lahore Museum was larger, but here were more wonders - -ghost-<br> - daggers and prayer-wheels from Tibet; turquoise and raw -amber<br> - necklaces; green jade bangles; curiously packed incense-sticks -in<br> - jars crusted over with raw garnets; the devil-masks of -overnight<br> - and a wall full of peacock-blue draperies; gilt figures of -Buddha,<br> - and little portable lacquer altars; Russian samovars with<br> - turquoises on the lid; egg-shell china sets in quaint -octagonal<br> - cane boxes; yellow ivory crucifixes - from Japan of all places -in<br> - the world, so Lurgan Sahib said; carpets in dusty bales, -smelling<br> - atrociously, pushed back behind torn and rotten screens of<br> - geometrical work; Persian water-jugs for the hands after -meals;<br> - dull copper incense-burners neither Chinese nor Persian, -with<br> - friezes of fantastic devils running round them; tarnished -silver<br> - belts that knotted like raw hide; hairpins of jade, ivory, -and<br> - plasma; arms of all sorts and kinds, and a thousand other -oddments<br> - were cased, or piled, or merely thrown into the room, leaving -a<br> - clear space only round the rickety deal table, where Lurgan -Sahib<br> - worked.</p> - -<p>'Those things are nothing,' said his host, following Kim's -glance.<br> - 'I buy them because they are pretty, and sometimes I sell - if -I<br> - like the buyer's look. My work is on the table - some of -it.'</p> - -<p>It blazed in the morning light - all red and blue and -green<br> - flashes, picked out with the vicious blue-white spurt of a -diamond<br> - here and there. Kim opened his eyes.</p> - -<p>'Oh, they are quite well, those stones. It will not hurt them -to<br> - take the sun. Besides, they are cheap. But with sick stones it -is<br> - very different.' He piled Kim's plate anew. 'There is no one but -me<br> - can doctor a sick pearl and re-blue turquoises. I grant you -opals -<br> - any fool can cure an opal - but for a sick pearl there is only -me.<br> - Suppose I were to die! Then there would be no one ... Oh no! -You<br> - cannot do anything with jewels. It will be quite enough if -you<br> - understand a little about the Turquoise - some day.'</p> - -<p>He moved to the end of the veranda to refill the heavy, porous -clay<br> - water-jug from the filter.</p> - -<p>'Do you want drink?'</p> - -<p>Kim nodded. Lurgan Sahib, fifteen feet off, laid one hand on -the<br> - jar. Next instant, it stood at Kim's elbow, full to within half -an<br> - inch of the brim - the white cloth only showing, by a small<br> - wrinkle, where it had slid into place.</p> - -<p>'Wah!' said Kim in most utter amazement. 'That is magic.' -Lurgan<br> - Sahib's smile showed that the compliment had gone home.</p> - -<p>'Throw it back.'</p> - -<p>'It will break.'</p> - -<p>'I say, throw it back.'</p> - -<p>Kim pitched it at random. It fell short and crashed into -fifty<br> - pieces, while the water dripped through the rough veranda -boarding.</p> - -<p>'I said it would break.'</p> - -<p>'All one. Look at it. Look at the largest piece.'</p> - -<p>That lay with a sparkle of water in its curve, as it were a -star on<br> - the floor. Kim looked intently. Lurgan Sahib laid one hand -gently<br> - on the nape of his neck, stroked it twice or thrice, and -whispered:<br> - 'Look! It shall come to life again, piece by piece. First the -big<br> - piece shall join itself to two others on the right and the left --<br> - on the right and the left. Look!'</p> - -<p>To save his life, Kim could not have turned his head. The -light<br> - touch held him as in a vice, and his blood tingled -pleasantly<br> - through him. There was one large piece of the jar where there -had<br> - been three, and above them the shadowy outline of the entire<br> - vessel. He could see the veranda through it, but it was -thickening<br> - and darkening with each beat of his pulse. Yet the jar - how -slowly<br> - the thoughts came! - the jar had been smashed before his -eyes.<br> - Another wave of prickling fire raced down his neck, as Lurgan -Sahib<br> - moved his hand.</p> - -<p>'Look! It is coming into shape,' said Lurgan Sahib.</p> - -<p>So far Kim had been thinking in Hindi, but a tremor came on -him,<br> - and with an effort like that of a swimmer before sharks, who -hurls<br> - himself half out of the water, his mind leaped up from a -darkness<br> - that was swallowing it and took refuge in - the -multiplication-<br> - table in English!</p> - -<p>'Look! It is coming into shape,' whispered Lurgan Sahib.</p> - -<p>The jar had been smashed - yess, smashed - not the native -word, he<br> - would not think of that - but smashed - into fifty pieces, -and<br> - twice three was six, and thrice three was nine, and four -times<br> - three was twelve. He clung desperately to the repetition. -The<br> - shadow-outline of the jar cleared like a mist after rubbing -eyes.<br> - There were the broken shards; there was the spilt water drying -in<br> - the sun, and through the cracks of the veranda showed, all -ribbed,<br> - the white house-wall below - and thrice twelve was -thirty-six!</p> - -<p>'Look! Is it coming into shape?' asked Lurgan Sahib.</p> - -<p>'But it is smashed - smashed,' he gasped - Lurgan Sahib had -been<br> - muttering softly for the last half-minute. Kim wrenched his -head<br> - aside. 'Look! Dekho! It is there as it was there.'</p> - -<p>'It is there as it was there,' said Lurgan, watching Kim -closely<br> - while the boy rubbed his neck. 'But you are the first of many -who<br> - has ever seen it so.' He wiped his broad forehead.</p> - -<p>'Was that more magic?' Kim asked suspiciously. The tingle had -gone<br> - from his veins; he felt unusually wide awake.</p> - -<p>'No, that was not magic. It was only to see if there was - a -flaw<br> - in a jewel. Sometimes very fine jewels will fly all to pieces if -a<br> - man holds them in his hand, and knows the proper way. That is -why<br> - one must be careful before one sets them. Tell me, did you see -the<br> - shape of the pot?'</p> - -<p>'For a little time. It began to grow like a flower from -the<br> - ground.'</p> - -<p>'And then what did you do? I mean, how did you think?'</p> - -<p>'Oah! I knew it was broken, and so, I think, that was what -I<br> - thought - and it was broken.'</p> - -<p>'Hm! Has anyone ever done that same sort of magic to you -before?'</p> - -<p>'If it was,' said Kim 'do you think I should let it again? I -should<br> - run away.'</p> - -<p>'And now you are not afraid - eh?'</p> - -<p>'Not now.'</p> - -<p>Lurgan Sahib looked at him more closely than ever. 'I shall -ask<br> - Mahbub Ali - not now, but some day later,' he muttered. 'I -am<br> - pleased with you - yes; and I am pleased with you - no. You are -the<br> - first that ever saved himself. I wish I knew what it was that -...<br> - But you are right. You should not tell that - not even to -me.'</p> - -<p>He turned into the dusky gloom of the shop, and sat down at -the<br> - table, rubbing his hands softly. A small, husky sob came -from<br> - behind a pile of carpets. It was the Hindu child obediently -facing<br> - towards the wall. His thin shoulders worked with grief.</p> - -<p>'Ah! He is jealous, so jealous. I wonder if he will try to -poison<br> - me again in my breakfast, and make me cook it twice.</p> - -<p>'Kubbee - kubbee nahin [Never - never. No!]', came the -broken<br> - answer.</p> - -<p>'And whether he will kill this other boy?'</p> - -<p><br> - 'Kubbee - kubbee nahin.'</p> - -<p>'What do you think he will do?' He turned suddenly on Kim.</p> - -<p>'Oah! I do not know. Let him go, perhaps. Why did he want to -poison<br> - you?'</p> - -<p>'Because he is so fond of me. Suppose you were fond of -someone, and<br> - you saw someone come, and the man you were fond of was more -pleased<br> - with him than he was with you, what would you do?'</p> - -<p>Kim thought. Lurgan repeated the sentence slowly in the -vernacular.<br> - 'I should not poison that man,' said Kim reflectively, 'but -I<br> - should beat that boy - if that boy was fond of my man. But -first, I<br> - would ask that boy if it were true.'</p> - -<p>'Ah! He thinks everyone must be fond of me.'</p> - -<p>'Then I think he is a fool.'</p> - -<p>'Hearest thou?' said Lurgan Sahib to the shaking shoulders. -'The<br> - Sahib's son thinks thou art a little fool. Come out, and next -time<br> - thy heart is troubled, do not try white arsenic quite so -openly.<br> - Surely the Devil Dasim was lord of our table-cloth that day! -It<br> - might have made me ill, child, and then a stranger would -have<br> - guarded the jewels. Come!'</p> - -<p>The child, heavy-eyed with much weeping, crept out from behind -the<br> - bale and flung himself passionately at Lurgan Sahib's feet, with -an<br> - extravagance of remorse that impressed even Kim.</p> - -<p>'I will look into the ink-pools - I will faithfully guard -the<br> - jewels! Oh, my Father and my Mother, send him away!' He -indicated<br> - Kim with a backward jerk of his bare heel.</p> - -<p>'Not yet - not yet. In a little while he will go away again. -But<br> - now he is at school - at a new madrissah - and thou shalt be -his<br> - teacher. Play the Play of the Jewels against him. I will -keep<br> - tally.'</p> - -<p>The child dried his tears at once, and dashed to the back of -the<br> - shop, whence he returned with a copper tray.</p> - -<p>'Give me!' he said to Lurgan Sahib. 'Let them come from thy -hand,<br> - for he may say that I knew them before.'</p> - -<p>'Gently - gently,' the man replied, and from a drawer under -the<br> - table dealt a half-handful of clattering trifles into the -tray.</p> - -<p>'Now,' said the child, waving an old newspaper. 'Look on them -as<br> - long as thou wilt, stranger. Count and, if need be, handle. -One<br> - look is enough for me.' He turned his back proudly.</p> - -<p>'But what is the game?'</p> - -<p>'When thou hast counted and handled and art sure that thou -canst<br> - remember them all, I cover them with this paper, and thou must -tell<br> - over the tally to Lurgan Sahib. I will write mine.'</p> - -<p>'Oah!' The instinct of competition waked in his breast. He -bent<br> - over the tray. There were but fifteen stones on it. 'That is -easy,'<br> - he said after a minute. The child slipped the paper over the<br> - winking jewels and scribbled in a native account-book.</p> - -<p><br> - 'There are under that paper five blue stones - one big, one<br> - smaller, and three small,' said Kim, all in haste. 'There are -four<br> - green stones, and one with a hole in it; there is one yellow -stone<br> - that I can see through, and one like a pipe-stem. There are two -red<br> - stones, and - and - I made the count fifteen, but two I have<br> - forgotten. No! Give me time. One was of ivory, little and -brownish;<br> - and - and - give me time...'</p> - -<p>'One - two' - Lurgan Sahib counted him out up to ten. Kim -shook his<br> - head.</p> - -<p>'Hear my count!' the child burst in, trilling with -laughter.<br> - 'First, are two flawed sapphires - one of two ruttees and one -of<br> - four as I should judge. The four-ruttee sapphire is chipped at -the<br> - edge. There is one Turkestan turquoise, plain with black veins, -and<br> - there are two inscribed - one with a Name of God in gilt, and -the<br> - other being cracked across, for it came out of an old ring, -I<br> - cannot read. We have now all five blue stones. Four flawed -emeralds<br> - there are, but one is drilled in two places, and one is a -little<br> - carven-'</p> - -<p>'Their weights?' said Lurgan Sahib impassively.</p> - -<p>'Three - five - five - and four ruttees as I judge it. There -is one<br> - piece of old greenish pipe amber, and a cut topaz from -Europe.<br> - There is one ruby of Burma, of two ruttees, without a flaw, -and<br> - there is a balas-ruby, flawed, of two ruttees. There is a -carved<br> - ivory from China representing a rat sucking an egg; and there -is<br> - last - ah ha! - a ball of crystal as big as a bean set on a -gold<br> - leaf.'</p> - -<p>He clapped his hands at the close.</p> - -<p>'He is thy master,' said Lurgan Sahib, smiling.</p> - -<p>'Huh! He knew the names of the stones,' said Kim, flushing. -'Try<br> - again! With common things such as he and I both know.'</p> - -<p>They heaped the tray again with odds and ends gathered from -the<br> - shop, and even the kitchen, and every time the child won, till -Kim<br> - marvelled.</p> - -<p>'Bind my eyes - let me feel once with my fingers, and even -then I<br> - will leave thee opened-eyed behind,' he challenged.</p> - -<p>Kim stamped with vexation when the lad made his boast -good.</p> - -<p>'If it were men - or horses,' he said, 'I could do better. -This<br> - playing with tweezers and knives and scissors is too -little.'</p> - -<p>'Learn first - teach later,' said Lurgan Sahib. 'Is he thy -master?'</p> - -<p>'Truly. But how is it done?'</p> - -<p>'By doing it many times over till it is done perfectly - for -it is<br> - worth doing.'</p> - -<p>The Hindu boy, in highest feather, actually patted Kim on the -back.</p> - -<p>'Do not despair,' he said. 'I myself will teach thee.'</p> - -<p>'And I will see that thou art well taught,' said Lurgan -Sahib,<br> - still speaking in the vernacular, 'for except my boy here - it -was<br> - foolish of him to buy so much white arsenic when, if he had -asked,<br> - I could have given it - except my boy here I have not in a -long<br> - time met with one better worth teaching. And there are ten -days<br> - more ere thou canst return to Lucknao where they teach nothing - -at<br> - the long price. We shall, I think, be friends.'</p> - -<p>They were a most mad ten days, but Kim enjoyed himself too -much to<br> - reflect on their craziness. In the morning they played the -Jewel<br> - Game - sometimes with veritable stones, sometimes with piles -of<br> - swords and daggers, sometimes with photo-graphs of natives. -Through<br> - the afternoons he and the Hindu boy would mount guard in the -shop,<br> - sitting dumb behind a carpet-bale or a screen and watching -Mr<br> - Lurgan's many and very curious visitors. There were small -Rajahs,<br> - escorts coughing in the veranda, who came to buy curiosities - -such<br> - as phonographs and mechanical toys. There were ladies in search -of<br> - necklaces, and men, it seemed to Kim - but his mind may have -been<br> - vitiated by early training - in search of the ladies; natives -from<br> - independent and feudatory Courts whose ostensible business was -the<br> - repair of broken necklaces - rivers of light poured out upon -the<br> - table - but whose true end seemed to be to raise money for -angry<br> - Maharanees or young Rajahs. There were Babus to whom Lurgan -Sahib<br> - talked with austerity and authority, but at the end of each<br> - interview he gave them money in coined silver and currency -notes.<br> - There were occasional gatherings of long-coated theatrical -natives<br> - who discussed metaphysics in English and Bengali, to Mr -Lurgan's<br> - great edification. He was always interested in religions. At -the<br> - end of the day, Kim and the Hindu boy - whose name varied at<br> - Lurgan's pleasure - were expected to give a detailed account of -all<br> - that they had seen and heard - their view of each man's -character,<br> - as shown in his face, talk, and manner, and their notions of -his<br> - real errand. After dinner, Lurgan Sahib's fancy turned more to -what<br> - might be called dressing-up, in which game he took a most -informing<br> - interest. He could paint faces to a marvel; with a brush-dab -here<br> - and a line there changing them past recognition. The shop was -full<br> - of all manner of dresses and turbans, and Kim was apparelled<br> - variously as a young Mohammedan of good family, an oilman, and -once<br> - - which was a joyous evening - as the son of an Oudh landholder -in<br> - the fullest of full dress. Lurgan Sahib had a hawk's eye to -detect<br> - the least flaw in the make-up; and lying on a worn teak-wood -couch,<br> - would explain by the half-hour together how such and such a -caste<br> - talked, or walked, or coughed, or spat, or sneezed, and, -since<br> - 'hows' matter little in this world, the 'why' of everything. -The<br> - Hindu child played this game clumsily. That little mind, keen as -an<br> - icicle where tally of jewels was concerned, could not temper -itself<br> - to enter another's soul; but a demon in Kim woke up and sang -with<br> - joy as he put on the changing dresses, and changed speech -and<br> - gesture therewith.</p> - -<p>Carried away by enthusiasm, he volunteered to show Lurgan -Sahib one<br> - evening how the disciples of a certain caste of fakir, old -Lahore<br> - acquaintances, begged doles by the roadside; and what sort -of<br> - language he would use to an Englishman, to a Punjabi farmer -going<br> - to a fair, and to a woman without a veil. Lurgan Sahib -laughed<br> - immensely, and begged Kim to stay as he was, immobile for half -an<br> - hour - cross-legged, ash-smeared, and wild-eyed, in the back -room.<br> - At the end of that time entered a hulking, obese Babu whose<br> - stockinged legs shook with fat, and Kim opened on him with a -shower<br> - of wayside chaff. Lurgan Sahib - this annoyed Kim - watched -the<br> - Babu and not the play.</p> - -<p>'I think,' said the Babu heavily, lighting a cigarette, 'I am -of<br> - opeenion that it is most extraordinary and effeecient -performance.<br> - Except that you had told me I should have opined that- that- -that<br> - you were pulling my legs. How soon can he become -approximately<br> - effeecient chain-man? Because then I shall indent for him.'</p> - -<p>'That is what he must learn at Lucknow.'</p> - -<p>'Then order him to be jolly-dam'-quick. Good-night, Lurgan.' -The<br> - Babu swung out with the gait of a bogged cow.</p> - -<p>When they were telling over the day's list of visitors, -Lurgan<br> - Sahib asked Kim who he thought the man might be.</p> - -<p>'God knows!' said Kim cheerily. The tone might almost have -deceived<br> - Mahbub Ali, but it failed entirely with the healer of sick -pearls.</p> - -<p>'That is true. God, He knows; but I wish to know what you -think.'</p> - -<p>Kim glanced sideways at his companion, whose eye had a way -of<br> - compelling truth.</p> - -<p>'I - I think he will want me when I come from the school, but' --<br> - confidentially, as Lurgan Sahib nodded approval - 'I do not<br> - understand how he can wear many dresses and talk many -tongues.'</p> - -<p>'Thou wilt understand many things later. He is a writer of -tales<br> - for a certain Colonel. His honour is great only in Simla, and it -is<br> - noticeable that he has no name, but only a number and a letter --<br> - that is a custom among us.'</p> - -<p>'And is there a price upon his head too - as upon Mah - all -the<br> - others?'</p> - -<p>'Not yet; but if a boy rose up who is now sitting here and -went -<br> - look, the door is open! - as far as a certain house with a -red-<br> - painted veranda, behind that which was the old theatre in the -Lower<br> - Bazar, and whispered through the shutters: "Hurree Chunder<br> - Mookerjee bore the bad news of last month", that boy might -take<br> - away a belt full of rupees.'</p> - -<p>'How many?' said Kim promptly.</p> - -<p>'Five hundred - a thousand - as many as he might ask for.'</p> - -<p>'Good. And for how long might such a boy live after the news -was<br> - told?' He smiled merrily at Lurgan's Sahib's very beard.</p> - -<p>'Ah! That is to be well thought of. Perhaps if he were very -clever,<br> - he might live out the day - but not the night. By no means -the<br> - night.'</p> - -<p>'Then what is the Babu's pay if so much is put upon his -head?'</p> - -<p>'Eighty - perhaps a hundred - perhaps a hundred and fifty -rupees;<br> - but the pay is the least he might be almost as great as Mahbub -Ali!<br> - The housetops of his search should be half India; he would -follow<br> - Kings and Ministers, as in the old days he had followed vakils -and<br> - lawyers' touts across Lahore city for Mahbub Ali's sake. -Meantime,<br> - there was the present, and not at all unpleasant, fact of St<br> - Xavier's immediately before him. There would be new boys to<br> - condescend to, and there would be tales of holiday adventures -to<br> - hear. Young Martin, son of the tea-planter at Manipur, had -boasted<br> - that he would go to war, with a rifle, against the -head-hunters.</p> - -<p>That might be, but it was certain young Martin had not been -blown<br> - half across the forecourt of a Patiala palace by an explosion -of<br> - fireworks; nor had he... Kim fell to telling himself the story -of<br> - his own adventures through the last three months. He could -paralyse<br> - St Xavier's - even the biggest boys who shaved - with the -recital,<br> - were that permitted. But it was, of course, out of the -question.<br> - There would be a price upon his head in good time, as Lurgan -Sahib<br> - had assured him; and if he talked foolishly now, not only would -that<br> - price never be set, but Colonel part of the work. From time to -time,<br> - God causes men to be born - and thou art one of them -who have -a<br> - lust to go abroad at the risk of their lives and discover news --<br> - today it may be of far-off things, tomorrow of some hidden -mountain,<br> - and the next day of some near-by men who have done a -foolishness<br> - against the State. These souls are very few; and of these few, -not<br> - more than ten are of the best. Among these ten I count the -Babu,<br> - and that is curious. How great, therefore, and desirable must be -a<br> - business that brazens the heart of a Bengali!'</p> - -<p>'True. But the days go slowly for me. I am yet a boy, and it -is only<br> - within two months I learned to write Angrezi. Even now I -cannot<br> - read it well. And there are yet years and years and long -years<br> - before I can be even a chain-man.'</p> - -<p>'Have patience, Friend of all the World' - Kim started at the -title.<br> - 'Would I had a few of the years that so irk thee. I have proved -thee<br> - in several small ways. This will not be forgotten when I make -my<br> - report to the Colonel Sahib.' Then, changing suddenly into -English<br> - with a deep laugh:</p> - -<p>'By Jove! O'Hara, I think there is a great deal in you; but -you must<br> - not become proud and you must not talk. You must go back to -Lucknow<br> - and be a good little boy and mind your book, as the English say, -and<br> - perhaps, next holidays if you care, you can come back to me!' -Kim's<br> - face fell. 'Oh, I mean if you like. I know where you want to -go.'</p> - -<p>Four days later a seat was booked for Kim and his small trunk -at the<br> - rear of a Kalka tonga. His companion was the whale-like Babu, -who,<br> - with a fringed shawl wrapped round his head, and his fat -openwork-<br> - stockinged left leg tucked under him, shivered and grunted in -the<br> - morning chill.</p> - -<p>'How comes it that this man is one of us?' thought Kim -considering<br> - the jelly back as they jolted down the road; and the -reflection<br> - threw him into most pleasant day-dreams. Lurgan Sahib had given -him<br> - five rupees - a splendid sum - as well as the assurance of -his<br> - protection if he worked. Unlike Mahbub, Lurgan Sahib had spoken -most<br> - explicitly of the reward that would follow obedience, and Kim -was<br> - content. If only, like the Babu, he could enjoy the dignity of -a<br> - letter and a number - and a price upon his head! Some day he -would<br> - be all that and more. Some day he might be almost as great as -Mahbub<br> - Ali! The housetops of his search should be half India; he -would<br> - follow Kings and Ministers, as in the old days he had -followed<br> - vakils and lawyers' touts across Lahore city for Mahbub Ali's -sake.<br> - Meantime, there was the present, and not at all unpleasant, fact -of<br> - St Xavier's immediately before him. There would be new boys -to<br> - condescend to, and there would be tales of holiday adventures -to<br> - hear. Young Martin, son of the tea-planter at Manipur, had -boasted<br> - that he would go to war, with a rifle, against the -head-hunters.</p> - -<p>That might be, but it was certain young Martin had not been -blown<br> - half across the forecourt of a Patiala palace by an explosion -of<br> - fireworks; nor had he... Kim fell to telling himself the story -of<br> - his own adventures through the last three months. He could -paralyse<br> - St Xavier's - even the biggest boys who shaved - with the -recital,<br> - were that permitted. But it was, of course, out of the -question.<br> - There would be a price upon his head in good time, as Lurgan -Sahib<br> - had assured him; and if he talked foolishly now, not only would -that<br> - price never be set, but Colonel Creighton would cast him off - -and<br> - he would be left to the wrath of Lurgan Sahib and Mahbub Ali - -for<br> - the short space of life that would remain to him.</p> - -<p>'So I should lose Delhi for the sake of a fish,' was his -proverbial<br> - philosophy. It behoved him to forget his holidays (there -would<br> - always remain the fun of inventing imaginary adventures) and, -as<br> - Lurgan Sahib had said, to work. Of all the boys hurrying back to -St<br> - Xavier's, from Sukkur in the sands to Galle beneath the palms, -none<br> - was so filled with virtue as Kimball O'Rara, jiggeting down -to<br> - Umballa behind Hurree Chunder Mookerjee, whose name on the books -of<br> - one section of the Ethnological Survey was R.</p> - -<p>And if additional spur were needed, the Babu supplied it. -After a<br> - huge meal at Kalka, he spoke uninterruptedly. Was Kim going -to<br> - school? Then he, an M A of Calcutta University, would explain -the<br> - advantages of education. There were marks to be gained by -due<br> - attention to Latin and Wordsworth's Excursion (all this was -Greek to<br> - Kim). French, too was vital, and the best was to be picked up -in<br> - Chandernagore a few miles from Calcutta. Also a man might go -far, as<br> - he himself had done, by strict attention to plays called Lear -and<br> - Julius Caesar, both much in demand by examiners. Lear was not -so<br> - full of historical allusions as Julius Caesar; the book cost -four<br> - annas, but could be bought second-hand in Bow Bazar for two. -Still<br> - more important than Wordsworth, or the eminent authors, Burke -and<br> - Hare, was the art and science of mensuration. A boy who had -passed<br> - his examination in these branches - for which, by the way, -there<br> - were no cram-books - could, by merely marching over a country -with a<br> - compass and a level and a straight eye, carry away a picture of -that<br> - country which might be sold for large sums in coined silver. But -as<br> - it was occasionally inexpedient to carry about measuring-chains -a<br> - boy would do well to know the precise length of his own -foot-pace,<br> - so that when he was deprived of what Hurree Chunder called<br> - adventitious aids' he might still tread his distances. To keep -count<br> - of thousands of paces, Hurree Chunder's experience had shown -him<br> - nothing more valuable than a rosary of eighty-one or a hundred -and<br> - eight beads, for 'it was divisible and sub-divisible into -many<br> - multiples and sub-multiples'. Through the volleying drifts -of<br> - English, Kim caught the general trend of the talk, and it -interested<br> - him very much. Here was a new craft that a man could tuck away -in<br> - his head and by the look of the large wide world unfolding -itself<br> - before him, it seemed that the more a man knew the better for -him.</p> - -<p><br> - Said the Babu when he had talked for an hour and a half 'I hope -some<br> - day to enjoy your offeecial acquaintance. Ad interim, if I may -be<br> - pardoned that expression, I shall give you this betel-box, which -is<br> - highly valuable article and cost me two rupees only four years -ago.'<br> - It was a cheap, heart-shaped brass thing with three compartments -for<br> - carrying the eternal betel-nut, lime and pan-leaf; but it was -filled<br> - with little tabloid-bottles. 'That is reward of merit for -your<br> - performance in character of that holy man. You see, you are so -young<br> - you think you will last for ever and not take care of your body. -It<br> - is great nuisance to go sick in the middle of business. I am -fond of<br> - drugs myself, and they are handy to cure poor people too. These -are<br> - good Departmental drugs - quinine and so on. I give it you -for<br> - souvenir. Now good-bye. I have urgent private business here by -the<br> - roadside.'</p> - -<p>He slipped out noiselessly as a cat, on the Umballa road, -hailed a<br> - passing cart and jingled away, while Kim, tongue-tied, twiddled -the<br> - brass betel-box in his hands.</p> - -<p>The record of a boy's education interests few save his -parents, and,<br> - as you know, Kim was an orphan. It is written in the books of -St<br> - Xavier's in Partibus that a report of Kim's progress was -forwarded<br> - at the end of each term to Colonel Creighton and to Father -Victor,<br> - from whose hands duly came the money for his schooling. It -is<br> - further recorded in the same books that he showed a great -aptitude<br> - for mathematical studies as well as map-making, and carried away -a<br> - prize (The Life of Lord Lawrence, tree-calf, two vols., nine -rupees,<br> - eight annas) for proficiency therein; and the same term played -in St<br> - Xavier's eleven against the Alighur Mohammedan College, his -age<br> - being fourteen years and ten months. He was also re-vaccinated -(from<br> - which we may assume that there had been another epidemic of -smallpox<br> - at Lucknow) about the same time. Pencil notes on the edge of an -old<br> - muster-roll record that he was punished several times for<br> - 'conversing with improper persons', and it seems that he was -once<br> - sentenced to heavy pains for 'absenting himself for a day in -the<br> - company of a street beggar'. That was when he got over the gate -and<br> - pleaded with the lama through a whole day down the banks of -the<br> - Gumti to accompany him on the Road next holidays - for one month --<br> - for a little week; and the lama set his face as a flint against -it,<br> - averring that the time had not yet come. Kim's business, said -the<br> - old man as they ate cakes together, was to get all the wisdom of -the<br> - Sahibs and then he would see. The Hand of Friendship must in -some<br> - way have averted the Whip of Calamity, for six weeks later Kim -seems<br> - to have passed an examination in elementary surveying 'with -great<br> - credit', his age being fifteen years and eight months. From -this<br> - date the record is silent. His name does not appear in the -year's<br> - batch of those who entered for the subordinate Survey of India, -but<br> - against it stand the words 'removed on appointment.</p> - -<p>Several times in those three years, cast up at the Temple of -the<br> - Tirthankars in Benares the lama, a little thinner and a -shade<br> - yellower, if that were possible, but gentle and untainted as -ever.<br> - Sometimes it was from the South that he came - from south of<br> - Tuticorin, whence the wonderful fire-boats go to Ceylon where -are<br> - priests who know Pali; sometimes it was from the wet green West -and<br> - the thousand cotton-factory chimneys that ring Bombay; and once -from<br> - the North, where he had doubled back eight hundred miles to talk -for<br> - a day with the Keeper of the Images in the Wonder House. He -would<br> - stride to his cell in the cool, cut marble - the priests of -the<br> - Temple were good to the old man, - wash off the dust of travel, -make<br> - prayer, and depart for Lucknow, well accustomed now to the way -of<br> - the rail, in a third-class carriage. Returning, it was -noticeable,<br> - as his friend the Seeker pointed out to the head-priest, that -he<br> - ceased for a while to mourn the loss of his River, or to -draw<br> - wondrous pictures of the Wheel of Life, but preferred to talk of -the<br> - beauty and wisdom of a certain mysterious chela whom no man of -the<br> - Temple had ever seen. Yes, he had followed the traces of the -Blessed<br> - Feet throughout all India. (The Curator has still in his -possession<br> - a most marvellous account of his wanderings and meditations.) -There<br> - remained nothing more in life but to find the River of the -Arrow.<br> - Yet it was shown to him in dreams that it was a matter not to -be<br> - undertaken with any hope of success unless that seeker had with -him<br> - the one chela appointed to bring the event to a happy issue, -and<br> - versed in great wisdom - such wisdom as white-haired Keepers -of<br> - Images possess. For example (here came out the snuff-gourd, and -the<br> - kindly Jain priests made haste to be silent):</p> - -<p>'Long and long ago, when Devadatta was King of Benares -let -all<br> - listen to theTataka! - an elephant was captured for a time by -the<br> - king's hunters and ere he broke free, beringed with a -grievous<br> - legiron. This he strove to remove with hate and frenzy in his -heart,<br> - and hurrying up and down the forests, besought his -brother-elephants<br> - to wrench it asunder. One by one, with their strong trunks, -they<br> - tried and failed. At the last they gave it as their opinion that -the<br> - ring was not to be broken by any bestial power. And in a -thicket,<br> - new-born, wet with moisture of birth, lay a day-old calf of the -herd<br> - whose mother had died. The fettered elephant, forgetting his -own<br> - agony, said: "If I do not help this suckling it will perish -under<br> - our feet." So he stood above the young thing, making his -legs<br> - buttresses against the uneasily moving herd; and he begged milk -of a<br> - virtuous cow, and the calf throve, and the ringed elephant was -the<br> - calf's guide and defence. Now the days of an elephant - let -all<br> - listen to the Tataka! - are thirty-five years to his full -strength,<br> - and through thirty-five Rains the ringed elephant befriended -the<br> - younger, and all the while the fetter ate into the flesh.</p> - -<p>'Then one day the young elephant saw the half-buried iron, -and<br> - turning to the elder said: "What is this?" "It is even my -sorrow,"<br> - said he who had befriended him. Then that other put out his -trunk<br> - and in the twinkling of an eyelash abolished the ring, saying: -"The<br> - appointed time has come." So the virtuous elephant who had -waited<br> - temperately and done kind acts was relieved, at the appointed -time,<br> - by the very calf whom he had turned aside to cherish - let -all<br> - listen to the Tataka! for the Elephant was Ananda, and the -Calf<br> - that broke the ring was none other than The Lord Himself...'</p> - -<p>Then he would shake his head benignly, and over the -ever-clicking<br> - rosary point out how free that elephant-calf was from the sin -of<br> - pride. He was as humble as a chela who, seeing his master -sitting in<br> - the dust outside the Gates of Learning, over-leapt the gates -(though<br> - they were locked) and took his master to his heart in the -presence<br> - of the proud-stomached city. Rich would be the reward of such -a<br> - master and such a chela when the time came for them to seek -freedom<br> - together!</p> - -<p>So did the lama speak, coming and going across India as softly -as a<br> - bat. A sharp-tongued old woman in a house among the -fruit-trees<br> - behind Saharunpore honoured him as the woman honoured the -prophet,<br> - but his chamber was by no means upon the wall. In an apartment -of<br> - the forecourt overlooked by cooing doves he would sit, while -she<br> - laid aside her useless veil and chattered of spirits and fiends -of<br> - Kulu, of grandchildren unborn, and of the free-tongued brat who -had<br> - talked to her in the resting-place. Once, too, he strayed alone -from<br> - the Grand Trunk Road below Umballa to the very village whose -priest<br> - had tried to drug him; but the kind Heaven that guards lamas -sent<br> - him at twilight through the crops, absorbed and unsuspicious, to -the<br> - Rissaldar's door. Here was like to have been a grave<br> - misunderstanding, for the old soldier asked him why the Friend -of<br> - the Stars had gone that way only six days before.</p> - -<p>'That may not be,' said the lama. 'He has gone back to his -own<br> - people.'</p> - -<p>'He sat in that corner telling a hundred merry tales five -nights<br> - ago,' his host insisted. 'True, he vanished somewhat suddenly in -the<br> - dawn after foolish talk with my granddaughter. He grows apace, -but<br> - he is the same Friend of the Stars as brought me true word of -the<br> - war. Have ye parted?'</p> - -<p>'Yes - and no,' the lama replied. 'We - we have not -altogether<br> - parted, but the time is not ripe that we should take the -Road<br> - together. He acquires wisdom in another place. We must -wait.'</p> - -<p>'All one - but if it were not the boy how did he come to speak -so<br> - continually of thee?'</p> - -<p>'And what said he?' asked the lama eagerly.</p> - -<p>'Sweet words - an hundred thousand - that thou art his father -and<br> - mother and such all. Pity that he does not take the Qpeen's -service.<br> - He is fearless.'</p> - -<p>This news amazed the lama, who did not then know how -religiously Kim<br> - kept to the contract made with Mahbub Ali, and perforce ratified -by<br> - Colonel Creighton...</p> - -<p>'There is no holding the young pony from the game,' said the -horse-<br> - dealer when the Colonel pointed out that vagabonding over India -in<br> - holiday time was absurd. 'If permission be refused to go and -come as<br> - he chooses, he will make light of the refusal. Then who is to -catch<br> - him? Colonel Sahib, only once in a thousand years is a horse -born so<br> - well fitted for the game as this our colt. And we need men.'</p> - -<p></p> - -<h2>Chapter 10</h2> - -<p><br> - Your tiercel's too long at hack, Sire. He's no eyass<br> - But a passage-hawk that footed ere we caught him,<br> - Dangerously free o' the air. Faith! were he mine<br> - (As mine's the glove he binds to for his tirings)<br> - I'd fly him with a make-hawk. He's in yarak<br> - Plumed to the very point - so manned, so weathered ...<br> - Give him the firmament God made him for,<br> - And what shall take the air of him?</p> - -<p>Gow's Watch</p> - -<p>Lurgan Sahib did not use as direct speech, but his advice -tallied<br> - with Mahbub's; and the upshot was good for Kim. He knew better -now<br> - than to leave Lucknow city in native garb, and if Mahbub -were<br> - anywhere within reach of a letter, it was to Mahbub's camp -he<br> - headed, and made his change under the Pathan's wary eye. -Could<br> - the little Survey paint-box that he used for map-tinting in -term-<br> - time have found a tongue to tell of holiday doings, he might -have<br> - been expelled. Once Mahbub and he went together as far as -the<br> - beautiful city of Bombay, with three truckloads of tram-horses, -and<br> - Mahbub nearly melted when Kim proposed a sail in a dhow across -the<br> - Indian Ocean to buy Gulf Arabs, which, he understood from a -hanger-<br> - on of the dealer Abdul Rahman, fetched better prices than -mere<br> - Kabulis.</p> - -<p></p> - -<p><br> - He dipped his hand into the dish with that great trader when -Mahbub<br> - and a few co-religionists were invited to a big Haj dinner. -They<br> - came back by way of Karachi by sea, when Kim took his first<br> - experience of sea-sickness sitting on the fore-hatch of a -coasting-<br> - steamer, well persuaded he had been poisoned. The Babu's -famous<br> - drug-box proved useless, though Kim had restocked it at -Bombay.<br> - Mahbub had business at Quetta, and there Kim, as Mahbub -admitted,<br> - earned his keep, and perhaps a little over, by spending four -curious<br> - days as scullion in the house of a fat Commissariat sergeant, -from<br> - whose office-box, in an auspicious moment, he removed a -little<br> - vellum ledger which he copied out - it seemed to deal entirely -with<br> - cattle and camel sales - by moonlight, lying behind an outhouse, -all<br> - through one hot night. Then he returned the ledger to its -place,<br> - and, at Mahbub's word, left that service unpaid, rejoining him -six<br> - miles down the road, the clean copy in his bosom.</p> - -<p>'That soldier is a small fish,' Mahbub Ali explained, 'but in -time<br> - we shall catch the larger one. He only sells oxen at two prices --<br> - one for himself and one for the Government which I do not think -is<br> - a sin.'</p> - -<p>'Why could not I take away the little book and be done with -it?'</p> - -<p>Then he would have been frightened, and he would have told -his<br> - master. Then we should miss, perhaps, a great number of new -rifles<br> - which seek their way up from Quetta to the North. The Game is -so<br> - large that one sees but a little at a time.'</p> - -<p>'Oho!' said Kim, and held his tongue. That was in the -monsoon<br> - holidays, after he had taken the prize for mathematics. The<br> - Christmas holidays he spent - deducting ten days for private<br> - amusements - with Lurgan Sahib, where he sat for the most part -in<br> - front of a roaring wood-fire - Jakko road was four feet deep in -snow<br> - that year - and - the small Hindu had gone away to be married --<br> - helped Lurgan to thread pearls. He made Kim learn whole chapters -of<br> - the Koran by heart, till he could deliver them with the very -roll<br> - and cadence of a mullah. Moreover, he told Kim the names and<br> - properties of many native drugs, as well as the runes proper -to<br> - recite when you administer them. And in the evenings he wrote -charms<br> - on parchment - elaborate pentagrams crowned with the names of -devils<br> - - Murra, and Awan the Companion of Kings - all fantastically -written<br> - in the corners. More to the point, he advised Kim as to the care -of<br> - his own body, the cure of fever-fits, and simple remedies of -the<br> - Road. A week before it was time to go down, Colonel Creighton -Sahib<br> - - this was unfair - sent Kim a written examination~paper -that<br> - concerned itself solely with rods and chains and links and -angles.</p> - -<p>Next holidays he was out with Mahbub, and here, by the way, -he<br> - nearly died of thirst, plodding through the sand on a camel to -the<br> - mysterious city of Bikanir, where the wells are four hundred -feet<br> - deep, and lined throughout with camel-bone. It was not an -amusing<br> - trip from Kim's point of view, because - in defiance of the -contract<br> - - the Colonel ordered him to make a map of that wild, walled -city;<br> - and since Mohammedan horse-boys and pipe-tenders are not -expected to<br> - drag Survey-chains round the capital of an independent Native -State,<br> - Kim was forced to pace all his distances by means of a bead -rosary.<br> - He used the compass for bearings as occasion served - after -dark<br> - chiefly, when the camels had been fed - and by the help of -his<br> - little Survey paint-box of six colour-cakes and three brushes, -he<br> - achieved something not remotely unlike the city of Jeysulmir. -Mahbub<br> - laughed a great deal, and advised him to make up a written -report as<br> - well; and in the back of the big account-book that lay under -the<br> - flap of Mahbub's pet saddle Kim fell to work..</p> - -<p>'It must hold everything that thou hast seen or touched or<br> - considered. Write as though the Jung-i-Lat Sahib himself had -come by<br> - stealth with a vast army outsetting to war.'</p> - -<p>'How great an army?'</p> - -<p>'Oh, half a lakh of men.'</p> - -<p>'Folly! Remember how few and bad were the wells in the sand. -Not a<br> - thousand thirsty men could come near by here.'</p> - -<p>'Then write that down - also all the old breaches in the walls -and<br> - whence the firewood is cut - and what is the temper and -disposition<br> - of the King. I stay here till all my horses are sold. I will -hire a<br> - room by the gateway, and thou shalt be my accountant. There is -a<br> - good lock to the door.'</p> - -<p>The report in its unmistakable St Xavier's running script, and -the<br> - brown, yellow, and lake-daubed map, was on hand a few years ago -(a<br> - careless clerk filed it with the rough notes of E's second -Seistan<br> - survey), but by now the pencil characters must be almost -illegible.<br> - Kim translated it, sweating under the light of an oil-lamp, -to<br> - Mahbub, the second day of their return-journey.</p> - -<p>The Pathan rose and stooped over his dappled saddle-bags.</p> - -<p>'I knew it would be worthy a dress of honour, and so I made -one<br> - ready,' he said, smiling. 'Were I Amir of Afghanistan (and some -day<br> - we may see him), I would fill thy mouth with gold.' He laid -the<br> - garments formally at Kim's feet. There was a -gold-embroidered<br> - Peshawur turban-cap, rising to a cone, and a big turban-cloth -ending<br> - in a broad fringe of gold. There was a Delhi embroidered -waistcoat<br> - to slip over a milky white shirt, fastening to the right, ample -and<br> - flowing; green pyjamas with twisted silk waist-string; and -that<br> - nothing might be lacking, russia-leather slippers, smelling<br> - divinely, with arrogantly curled tips.</p> - -<p>'Upon a Wednesday, and in the morning, to put on new clothes -is<br> - auspicious,' said Mahbub solemnly. 'But we must not forget -the<br> - wicked folk in the world. So!'</p> - -<p>He capped all the splendour, that was taking Kim's delighted -breath<br> - away, with a mother-of-pearl, nickel-plated, self-extracting -.450<br> - revolver.</p> - -<p>'I had thought of a smaller bore, but reflected that this -takes<br> - Government bullets. A man can always come by those - -especially<br> - across the Border. Stand up and let me look.' He clapped Kim on -the<br> - shoulder. 'May you never be tired, Pathan! Oh, the hearts to -be<br> - broken! Oh, the eyes under the eyelashes, looking sideways!'</p> - -<p>Kim turned about, pointed his toes, stretched, and felt -mechanically<br> - for the moustache that was just beginning. Then he stooped -towards<br> - Mahbub's feet to make proper acknowledgment with fluttering, -quick-<br> - patting hands; his heart too full for words. Mahbub forestalled -and<br> - embraced him.</p> - -<p>'My son, said he, 'what need of words between us? But is not -the<br> - little gun a delight? All six cartridges come out at one twist. -It<br> - is borne in the bosom next the skin, which, as it were, keeps -it<br> - oiled. Never put it elsewhere, and please God, thou shalt some -day<br> - kill a man with it.'</p> - -<p>'Hai mai!' said Kim ruefully. 'If a Sahib kills a man he is -hanged<br> - in the jail.'</p> - -<p>'True: but one pace beyond the Border, men are wiser. Put it -away;<br> - but fill it first. Of what use is a gun unfed?'</p> - -<p><br> - 'When I go back to the madrissah I must return it. They do not -allow<br> - little guns. Thou wilt keep it for me?'</p> - -<p><br> - 'Son, I am wearied of that madrissah, where they take the best -years<br> - of a man to teach him what he can only learn upon the Road. -The<br> - folly of the Sahibs has neither top nor bottom. No matter. Maybe -thy<br> - written report shall save thee further bondage; and God He knows -we<br> - need men more and more in the Game.'</p> - -<p>They marched, jaw-bound against blowing sand, across the salt -desert<br> - to Jodhpur, where Mahbub and his handsome nephew Habib Ullah -did<br> - much trading; and then sorrowfully, in European clothes, which -he<br> - was fast outgrowing, Kim went second-class to St Xavier's. -Three<br> - weeks later, Colonel Creighton, pricing Tibetan ghost-daggers -at<br> - Lurgan's shop, faced Mahbub Ali openly mutinous. Lurgan -Sahib<br> - operated as support in reserve.</p> - -<p>'The pony is made - finished - mouthed and paced, Sahib! From -now<br> - on, day by day, he will lose his manners if he is kept at -tricks.<br> - Drop the rein on his back and let go,' said the horse-dealer. -'We<br> - need him.'</p> - -<p>'But he is so young, Mahbub - not more than sixteen - is -he?'</p> - -<p>'When I was fifteen, I had shot my man and begot my man, -Sahib.'</p> - -<p>'You impenitent old heathen!' Creighton turned to Lurgan. The -black<br> - beard nodded assent to the wisdom of the Afghan's dyed -scarlet.</p> - -<p>'I should have used him long ago,' said Lurgan. 'The younger -the<br> - better. That is why I always have my really valuable jewels -watched<br> - by a child. You sent him to me to try. I tried him in every way: -he<br> - is the only boy I could not make to see things.'</p> - -<p>'In the crystal - in the ink-pool?' demanded Mahbub.</p> - -<p>'No. Under my hand, as I told you. That has never happened -before.<br> - It means that he is strong enough - but you think it -skittles,<br> - Colonel Creighton - to make anyone do anything he wants. And -that is<br> - three years ago. I have taught him a good deal since, -Colonel<br> - Creighton. I think you waste him now.'</p> - -<p>'Hmm! Maybe you're right. But, as you know, there is no Survey -work<br> - for him at present.'</p> - -<p>'Let him out let him go,' Mahbub interrupted. 'Who expects any -colt<br> - to carry heavy weight at first? Let him run with the caravans - -like<br> - our white camel-colts - for luck. I would take him myself, but --,</p> - -<p>'There is a little business where he would be most useful - in -the<br> - South,' said Lurgan, with peculiar suavity, dropping his heavy -blued<br> - eyelids.</p> - -<p>'E has that in hand,' said Creighton quickly. 'He must not go -down<br> - there. Besides, he knows no Turki.'</p> - -<p>'Only tell him the shape and the smell of the letters we want -and he<br> - will bring them back,' Lurgan insisted.</p> - -<p>'No. That is a man's job,' said Creighton.</p> - -<p>It was a wry-necked matter of unauthorized and incendiary<br> - correspondence between a person who claimed to be the -ultimate<br> - authority in all matters of the Mohammedan religion throughout -the<br> - world, and a younger member of a royal house who had been -brought to<br> - book for kidnapping women within British territory. The -Moslem<br> - Archbishop had been emphatic and over-arrogant; the young prince -was<br> - merely sulky at the curtailment of his privileges, but there was -no<br> - need he should continue a correspondence which might some -day<br> - compromise him. One letter indeed had been procured, but the -finder<br> - was later found dead by the roadside in the habit of an Arab -trader,<br> - as E, taking up the work, duly reported.</p> - -<p>These facts, and a few others not to be published, made both -Mahbub<br> - and Creighton shake their heads.</p> - -<p>'Let him go out with his Red Lama,' said the horse-dealer -with<br> - visible effort. 'He is fond of the old man. He can learn his -paces<br> - by the rosary at least.'</p> - -<p>'I have had some dealings with the old man - by letter,' -said<br> - Colonel Creighton, smiling to himself. 'Whither goes he?'</p> - -<p>'Up and down the land, as he has these three years. He seeks a -River<br> - of Healing. God's curse upon all -' Mahbub checked himself. 'He -beds<br> - down at the Temple of the Tirthankars or at Buddh Gaya when he -is in<br> - from the Road. Then he goes to see the boy at the madrissah, as -we<br> - know for the boy was punished for it twice or thrice. He is -quite<br> - mad, but a peaceful man. I have met him. The Babu also has -had<br> - dealings with him. We have watched him for three years. Red -Lamas<br> - are not so common in Hind that one loses track.'</p> - -<p>'Babus are very curious,' said Lurgan meditatively. 'Do you -know<br> - what Hurree Babu really wants? He wants to be made a member of -the<br> - Royal Society by taking ethnological notes. I tell you, I tell -him<br> - about the lama everything which Mahbub and the boy have told -me.<br> - Hurree Babu goes down to Benares - at his own expense, I -think.'</p> - -<p>'I don't,' said Creighton briefly. He had paid Hurree's -travelling<br> - expenses, out of a most lively curiosity to learn what the -lama<br> - might be.</p> - -<p>'And he applies to the lama for information on lamaism, and -devil-<br> - dances, and spells and charms, several times in these few -years.<br> - Holy Virgin! I could have told him all that yeears ago. I -think<br> - Hurree Babu is getting too old for the Road. He likes better -to<br> - collect manners and customs information. Yes, he wants to be an -FRS.</p> - -<p>'Hurree thinks well of the boy, doesn't he?'</p> - -<p>'Oh, very indeed - we have had some pleasant evenings at my -little<br> - place - but I think it would be waste to throw him away with -Hurree<br> - on the Ethnological side.'</p> - -<p>'Not for a first experience. How does that strike you, Mahbub? -Let<br> - the boy run with the lama for six months. After that we can see. -He<br> - will get experience.'</p> - -<p>'He has it already, Sahib - as a fish controls the water he -swims<br> - in. But for every reason it will be well to loose him from -the<br> - school.'</p> - -<p>'Very good, then,' said Creighton, half to himself. 'He can go -with<br> - the lama, and if Hurree Babu cares to keep an eye on them so -much<br> - the better. He won't lead the boy into any danger as Mahbub -would.<br> - Curious - his wish to be an F R S. Very human, too. He is best -on<br> - the Ethnological side - Hurree.'</p> - -<p>No money and no preferment would have drawn Creighton from his -work<br> - on the Indian Survey, but deep in his heart also lay the -ambition to<br> - write 'F R S' after his name. Honours of a sort he knew could -be<br> - obtained by ingenuity and the help of friends, but, to the best -of<br> - his belief, nothing save work -papers representing a life of it --<br> - took a man into the Society which he had bombarded for years -with<br> - monographs on strange Asiatic cults and unknown customs. Nine -men<br> - out of ten would flee from a Royal Society soiree in extremity -of<br> - boredom; but Creighton was the tenth, and at times his soul -yearned<br> - for the crowded rooms in easy London where silver-haired, -bald-<br> - headed gentlemen who know nothing of the Army move among<br> - spectroscopic experiments, the lesser plants of the frozen -tundras,<br> - electric flight-measuring machines, and apparatus for slicing -into<br> - fractional millimetres the left eye of the female mosquito. By -all<br> - right and reason, it was the Royal Geographical that should -have<br> - appealed to him, but men are as chancy as children in their -choice<br> - of playthings. So Creighton smiled, and thought the better of -Hurree<br> - Babu, moved by like desire.</p> - -<p>He dropped the ghost-dagger and looked up at Mahbub.</p> - -<p>'How soon can we get the colt from the stable?' said the -horse-<br> - dealer, reading his eyes.</p> - -<p>'Hmm! If I withdraw him by order now - what will he do, think -you? I<br> - have never before assisted at the teaching of such an one.'</p> - -<p>'He will come to me,' said Mahbub promptly. 'Lurgan Sahib and -I will<br> - prepare him for the Road.'</p> - -<p>'So be it, then. For six months he shall run at his choice. -But who<br> - will be his sponsor?'</p> - -<p>Lurgan slightly inclined his head. 'He will not tell anything, -if<br> - that is what you are afraid of, Colonel Creighton.'</p> - -<p>'It's only a boy, after all.'</p> - -<p>'Ye-es; but first, he has nothing to tell; and secondly, he -knows<br> - what would happen. Also, he is very fond of Mahbub, and of me -a<br> - little.'</p> - -<p>'Will he draw pay?' demanded the practical horse-dealer.</p> - -<p>'Food and water allowance only. Twenty rupees a month.'</p> - -<p>One advantage of the Secret Service is that it has no -worrying<br> - audit. That Service is ludicrously starved, of course, but the -funds<br> - are administered by a few men who do not call for vouchers -or<br> - present itemized accounts. Mahbub's eyes lighted with almost -a<br> - Sikh's love of money. Even Lurgan's impassive face changed. -He<br> - considered the years to come when Kim would have been entered -and<br> - made to the Great Game that never ceases day and night, -throughout<br> - India. He foresaw honour and credit in the mouths of a chosen -few,<br> - coming to him from his pupil. Lurgan Sahib had made E what E -was,<br> - out of a bewildered, impertinent, lying, little North-West -Province<br> - man.</p> - -<p>But the joy of these masters was pale and smoky beside the joy -of<br> - Kim when St Xavier's Head called him aside, with word that -Colonel<br> - Creighton had sent for him.</p> - -<p>'I understand, O'Hara, that he has found you a place as an -assistant<br> - chain-man in the Canal Department: that comes of taking up<br> - mathematics. It is great luck for you, for you are only sixteen; -but<br> - of course you understand that you do not become pukka -[permanent]<br> - till you have passed the autumn examination. So you must not -think<br> - you are going out into the world to enjoy yourself, or that -your<br> - fortune is made. There is a great deal of hard work before -you.<br> - Only, if you succeed in becoming pukka, you can rise, you know, -to<br> - four hundred and fifty a month.' Whereat the Principal gave him -much<br> - good advice as to his conduct, and his manners, and his morals; -and<br> - others, his elders, who had not been wafted into billets, talked -as<br> - only Anglo-Indian lads can, of favouritism and corruption. -Indeed,<br> - young Cazalet, whose father was a pensioner at Chunar, hinted -very<br> - broadly that Colonel Creighton's interest in Kim was -directly<br> - paternal; and Kim, instead of retaliating, did not even use<br> - language. He was thinking of the immense fun to come, of -Mahbub's<br> - letter of the day before, all neatly written in English, -making<br> - appointment for that afternoon in a house the very name of -which<br> - would have crisped the Principal's hair with horror...</p> - -<p>Said Kim to Mahbub in Lucknow railway station that evening, -above<br> - the luggage-scales: 'I feared lest at the last, the roof would -fall<br> - upon me and cheat me. It is indeed all finished, O my -father?'</p> - -<p>Mahbub snapped his fingers to show the utterness of that end, -and<br> - his eyes blazed like red coals.</p> - -<p>'Then where is the pistol that I may wear it?'</p> - -<p>'Softly! A half-year, to run without heel-ropes. I begged that -much<br> - from Colonel Creighton Sahib. At twenty rupees a month. Old Red -Hat<br> - knows that thou art coming.'</p> - -<p>'I will pay thee dustoorie [commission] on my pay for three -months,'<br> - said Kim gravely. 'Yea, two rupees a month. But first we must -get<br> - rid of these.' He plucked his thin linen trousers and dragged at -his<br> - collar. 'I have brought with me all that I need on the Road. -My<br> - trunk has gone up to Lurgan Sahib's.'</p> - -<p>'Who sends his salaams to thee - Sahib.'</p> - -<p>'Lurgan Sahib is a very clever man. But what dost thou -do?'</p> - -<p>'I go North again, upon the Great Game. What else? Is thy mind -still<br> - set on following old Red Hat?'</p> - -<p>'Do not forget he made me that I am - though he did not know -it.<br> - Year by year, he sent the money that taught me.'</p> - -<p>'I would have done as much - had it struck my thick head,' -Mahbub<br> - growled. 'Come away. The lamps are lit now, and none will mark -thee<br> - in the bazar. We go to Huneefa's house.'</p> - -<p>On the way thither, Mahbub gave him much the same sort of -advice as<br> - his mother gave to Lemuel, and curiously enough, Mahbub was -exact to<br> - point out how Huneefa and her likes destroyed kings.</p> - -<p>'And I remember,' he quoted maliciously, 'one who said, "Trust -a<br> - snake before an harlot, and an harlot before a Pathan, Mahbub -Ali."<br> - Now, excepting as to Pathans, of whom I am one, all that is -true.<br> - Most true is it in the Great Game, for it is by means of women -that<br> - all plans come to ruin and we lie out in the dawning with -our<br> - throats cut. So it happened to such a one.' He gave the -reddest<br> - particulars.</p> - -<p>'Then why -?' Kim paused before a filthy staircase that -climbed to<br> - the warm darkness of an upper chamber, in the ward that is -behind<br> - Azim Ullah's tobacco-shop. Those who know it call it The -Birdcage -<br> - it is so full of whisperings and whistlings and chirrupings.</p> - -<p>The room, with its dirty cushions and half-smoked hookahs, -smelt<br> - abominably of stale tobacco. In one corner lay a huge and -shapeless<br> - woman clad in greenish gauzes, and decked, brow, nose, ear, -neck,<br> - wrist, arm, waist, and ankle with heavy native jewellery. When -she<br> - turned it was like the clashing of copper pots. A lean cat in -the<br> - balcony outside the window mewed hungrily. Kim checked, -bewildered,<br> - at the door-curtain.</p> - -<p>'Is that the new stuff, Mahbub?' said Huneefa lazily, -scarce<br> - troubling to remove the mouthpiece from her lips. 'O Buktanoos!' --<br> - like most of her kind, she swore by the Djinns - 'O Buktanoos! -He is<br> - very good to look upon.'</p> - -<p><br> - 'That is part of the selling of the horse,' Mahbub explained to -Kim,<br> - who laughed.</p> - -<p>'I have heard that talk since my Sixth Day,' he replied, -squatting<br> - by the light. 'Whither does it lead?'</p> - -<p>'To protection. Tonight we change thy colour. This sleeping -under<br> - roofs has blanched thee like an almond. But Huneefa has the -secret<br> - of a colour that catches. No painting of a day or two. Also, -we<br> - fortify thee against the chances of the Road. That is my gift -to<br> - thee, my son. Take out all metals on thee and lay them here. -Make<br> - ready, Huneefa.'</p> - -<p>Kim dragged forth his compass, Survey paint-box, and the -new-filled<br> - medicine-box. They had all accompanied his travels, and boylike -he<br> - valued them immensely.</p> - -<p>The woman rose slowly and moved with her hands a little -spread<br> - before her. Then Kim saw that she was blind. 'No, no,' she -muttered,<br> - 'the Pathan speaks truth - my colour does not go in a week or -a<br> - month, and those whom I protect are under strong guard.'</p> - -<p>'When one is far off and alone, it would not be well to -grow<br> - blotched and leprous of a sudden,' said Mahbub. 'When thou wast -with<br> - me I could oversee the matter. Besides, a Pathan is a -fair-skin.<br> - Strip to the waist now and look how thou art whitened.' Huneefa -felt<br> - her way back from an inner room. 'It is no matter, she cannot -see.'<br> - He took a pewter bowl from her ringed hand.</p> - -<p>The dye-stuff showed blue and gummy. Kim experimented on the -back of<br> - his wrist, with a dab of cotton-wool; but Huneefa heard him.</p> - -<p>'No, no,' she cried, 'the thing is not done thus, but with -the<br> - proper ceremonies. The colouring is the least part. I give thee -the<br> - full protection of the Road.'</p> - -<p>'Tadoo? [magic],'said Kim, with a half start. He did not like -the<br> - white, sightless eyes. Mahbub's hand on his neck bowed him to -the<br> - floor, nose within an inch of the boards.</p> - -<p>'Be still. No harm comes to thee, my son. I am thy -sacrifice!'</p> - -<p>He could not see what the woman was about, but heard the -dish-clash<br> - of her jewellery for many minutes. A match lit up the darkness; -he<br> - caught the well-known purr and fizzle of grains of incense. Then -the<br> - room filled with smoke - heavy aromatic, and stupefying. -Through<br> - growing drowse he heard the names of devils - of Zulbazan, Son -of<br> - Eblis, who lives in bazars and paraos, making all the sudden -lewd<br> - wickedness of wayside halts; of Dulhan, invisible about -mosques,<br> - the dweller among the slippers of the faithful, who hinders -folk<br> - from their prayers; and Musboot, Lord of lies and panic. -Huneefa,<br> - now whispering in his ear, now talking as from an immense -distance,<br> - touched him with horrible soft fingers, but Mahbub's grip -never<br> - shifted from his neck till, relaxing with a sigh, the boy lost -his<br> - senses.</p> - -<p>'Allah! How he fought! We should never have done it but for -the<br> - drugs. That was his white blood, I take it,' said Mahbub -testily.<br> - 'Go on with the dawut [invocation]. Give him full -Protection.'</p> - -<p>'O Hearer! Thou that hearest with ears, be present. Listen, -O<br> - Hearer!' Huneefa moaned, her dead eyes turned to the west. The -dark<br> - room filled with moanings and snortings.</p> - -<p>>From the outer balcony, a ponderous figure raised a round -bullet<br> - head and coughed nervously.</p> - -<p>'Do not interrupt this ventriloquial necromanciss, my friend,' -it<br> - said in English. 'I opine that it is very disturbing to you, but -no<br> - enlightened observer is jolly-well upset.'</p> - -<p>'..........I will lay a plot for their ruin! O Prophet, bear -with<br> - the unbelievers. Let them alone awhile!' Huneefa's face, turned -to<br> - the northward, worked horribly, and it was as though voices from -the<br> - ceiling answered her.</p> - -<p>Hurree Babu returned to his note-book, balanced on the -window-sill,<br> - but his hand shook. Huneefa, in some sort of drugged -ecstasy,<br> - wrenched herself to and fro as she sat cross-legged by Kim's -still<br> - head, and called upon devil after devil, in the ancient order of -the<br> - ritual, binding them to avoid the boy's every action.</p> - -<p>'With Him are the keys of the Secret Things! None knoweth -them<br> - besides Himself He knoweth that which is in the dry land and in -the<br> - sea!' Again broke out the unearthly whistling responses.</p> - -<p>'I - I apprehend it is not at all malignant in its operation?' -said<br> - the Babu, watching the throat-muscles quiver and jerk as -Huneefa<br> - spoke with tongues. 'It - it is not likely that she has killed -the<br> - boy? If so, I decline to be witness at the trial .....What was -the<br> - last hypothetical devil mentioned?'</p> - -<p>'Babuji,' said Mahbub in the vernacular. 'I have no regard for -the<br> - devils of Hind, but the Sons of Eblis are far otherwise, and -whether<br> - they be jumalee [well-affected] or jullalee [terrible) they love -not<br> - Kafirs.'</p> - -<p>'Then you think I had better go?' said Hurree Babu, half -rising.<br> - 'They are, of course, dematerialized phenomena. Spencer says -'</p> - -<p>Huneefa's crisis passed, as these things must, in a paroxysm -of<br> - howling, with a touch of froth at the lips. She lay spent -and<br> - motionless beside Kim, and the crazy voices ceased.</p> - -<p>'Wah! That work is done. May the boy be better for it; and -Huneefa<br> - is surely a mistress of dawut. Help haul her aside, Babu. Do not -be<br> - afraid.'</p> - -<p>'How am I to fear the absolutely non-existent?' said Hurree -Babu,<br> - talking English to reassure himself. It is an awful thing still -to<br> - dread the magic that you contemptuously investigate -to -collect<br> - folk-lore for the Royal Society with a lively belief in all -Powers<br> - of Darkness.</p> - -<p>Mahbub chuckled. He had been out with Hurree on the Road ere -now.<br> - 'Let us finish the colouring,' said he. 'The boy is well -protected<br> - if - if the Lords of the Air have ears to hear. I am a Sufi -[free-<br> - thinker), but when one can get blind-sides of a woman, a -stallion,<br> - or a devil, why go round to invite a kick? Set him upon the -way,<br> - Babu, and see that old Red Hat does not lead him beyond our -reach. I<br> - must get back to my horses.'</p> - -<p>'All raight,' said Hurree Babu. 'He is at present curious<br> - spectacle.'</p> - -<p>About third cockcrow, Kim woke after a sleep of thousands of -years.<br> - Huneefa, in her corner, snored heavily, but Mahbub was gone.</p> - -<p>'I hope you were not frightened,' said an oily voice at his -elbow.<br> - 'I superintended entire operation, which was most interesting -from<br> - ethnological point of view. It was high-class dawut.'</p> - -<p>'Huh!' said Kim, recognizing Hurree Babu, who smiled -ingratiatingly.</p> - -<p>'And also I had honour to bring down from Lurgan your -present<br> - costume. I am not in the habit offeecially of carrying such -gauds to<br> - subordinates, but' - he giggled - 'your case is noted as -exceptional<br> - on the books. I hope Mr Lurgan will note my action.'</p> - -<p>Kim yawned and stretched himself. It was good to turn and -twist<br> - within loose clothes once again.</p> - -<p>'What is this?' He looked curiously at the heavy duffle-stuff -loaded<br> - with the scents of the far North.</p> - -<p>'Oho! That is inconspicuous dress of chela attached to service -of<br> - lamaistic lama. Complete in every particular,' said Hurree -Babu,<br> - rolling into the balcony to clean his teeth at a goglet. 'I am -of<br> - opeenion it is not your old gentleman's precise releegion, -but<br> - rather sub-variant of same. I have contributed rejected notes -To<br> - Whom It May Concern: Asiatic Quarterly Review on these subjects. -Now<br> - it is curious that the old gentleman himself is totally devoid -of<br> - releegiosity. He is not a dam' particular.'</p> - -<p>'Do you know him?'</p> - -<p>Hurree Babu held up his hand to show he was engaged in the<br> - prescribed rites that accompany tooth-cleaning and such things -among<br> - decently bred Bengalis. Then he recited in English an -Arya-Somaj<br> - prayer of a theistical nature, and stuffed his mouth with pan -and<br> - betel.</p> - -<p>'Oah yes. I have met him several times at Benares, and also at -Buddh<br> - Gaya, to interrogate him on releegious points and devil-worship. -He<br> - is pure agnostic - same as me.'</p> - -<p>Huneefa stirred in her sleep, and Hurree Babu jumped nervously -to<br> - the copper incense-burner, all black and discoloured in -morning-<br> - light, rubbed a finger in the accumulated lamp-black, and drew -it<br> - diagonally across his face.</p> - -<p>'Who has died in thy house?' asked Kim in the vernacular.</p> - -<p>'None. But she may have the Evil Eye - that sorceress,' the -Babu<br> - replied.</p> - -<p>'What dost thou do now, then?'</p> - -<p>'I will set thee on thy way to Benares, if thou goest thither, -and<br> - tell thee what must be known by Us.'</p> - -<p>'I go. At what hour runs the te-rain?' He rose to his feet, -looked<br> - round the desolate chamber and at the yellow-wax face of Huneefa -as<br> - the low sun stole across the floor. 'Is there money to be paid -that<br> - witch?'</p> - -<p>'No. She has charmed thee against all devils and all dangers -in the<br> - name of her devils. It was Mahbub's desire.' In English: 'He -is<br> - highly obsolete, I think, to indulge in such supersteetion. Why, -it<br> - is all ventriloquy. Belly-speak - eh?'</p> - -<p>Kim snapped his fingers mechanically to avert whatever evil --<br> - Mahbub, he knew, meditated none - might have crept in -through<br> - Huneefa's ministrations; and Hurree giggled once more. But as -he<br> - crossed the room he was careful not to step in Huneefa's -blotched,<br> - squat shadow on the boards. Witches -when their time is on them --<br> - can lay hold of the heels of a man's soul if he does that.</p> - -<p>'Now you must well listen,' said the Babu when they were in -the<br> - fresh air. 'Part of these ceremonies which we witnessed they -include<br> - supply of effeecient amulet to those of our Department. If you -feel<br> - in your neck you will find one small silver amulet, verree -cheap.<br> - That is ours. Do you understand?'</p> - -<p>'Oah yes, hawa-dilli [a heart-lifter],' said Kim, feeling at -his<br> - neck.</p> - -<p>'Huneefa she makes them for two rupees twelve annas with - oh, -all<br> - sorts of exorcisms. They are quite common, except they are -partially<br> - black enamel, and there is a paper inside each one full of names -of<br> - local saints and such things. Thatt is Huneefa's look-out, you -see?<br> - Huneefa makes them onlee for us, but in case she does not, when -we<br> - get them we put in, before issue, one small piece of turquoise. -Mr<br> - Lurgan he gives them. There is no other source of supply; but it -was<br> - me invented all this. It is strictly unoffeecial of course, -but<br> - convenient for subordinates. Colonel Creighton he does not know. -He<br> - is European. The turquoise is wrapped in the paper . . . Yes, -that<br> - is road to railway station . . . Now suppose you go with the -lama,<br> - or with me, I hope, some day, or with Mahbub. Suppose we get -into a<br> - dam'-tight place. I am a fearful man - most fearful - but I tell -you<br> - I have been in dam'-tight places more than hairs on my head. -You<br> - say: "I am Son of the Charm." Verree good.'</p> - -<p>'I do not understand quite. We must not be heard talking -English<br> - here.'</p> - -<p>'That is all raight. I am only Babu showing off my English to -you.<br> - All we Babus talk English to show off;' said Hurree, flinging -his<br> - shoulder-cloth jauntily. 'As I was about to say, "Son of the -Charm"<br> - means that you may be member of the Sat Bhai - the Seven -Brothers,<br> - which is Hindi and Tantric. It is popularly supposed to be -extinct<br> - Society, but I have written notes to show it is still extant. -You<br> - see, it is all my invention. Verree good. Sat Bhai has many -members,<br> - and perhaps before they jolly-well-cut-your-throat they may give -you<br> - just a chance of life. That is useful, anyhow. And moreover, -these<br> - foolish natives - if they are not too excited - they always stop -to<br> - think before they kill a man who says he belongs to any -speecific<br> - organization. You see? You say then when you are in tight place, -"I<br> - am Son of the Charm", and you get - perhaps - ah -your second -wind.<br> - That is only in extreme instances, or to open negotiations with -a<br> - stranger. Can you quite see? Verree good. But suppose now, I, or -any<br> - one of the Department, come to you dressed quite different. -You<br> - would not know me at all unless I choose, I bet you. Some day I -will<br> - prove it. I come as Ladakhi trader - oh, anything - and I say -to<br> - you: "You want to buy precious stones?" You say: "Do I look like -a<br> - man who buys precious stones?" Then I say: "Even verree poor man -can<br> - buy a turquoise or tarkeean." '</p> - -<p>'That is kichree - vegetable curry,' said Kim.</p> - -<p>'Of course it is. You say: "Let me see the tarkeean." Then I -say:<br> - "It was cooked by a woman, and perhaps it is bad for your -caste."<br> - Then you say: "There is no caste when men go to - look for<br> - tarkeean." You stop a little between those words, "to - look". -That<br> - is thee whole secret. The little stop before the words.'</p> - -<p>Kim repeated the test-sentence.</p> - -<p>'That is all right. Then I will show you my turquoise if there -is<br> - time, and then you know who I am, and then we exchange views -and<br> - documents and those-all things. And so it is with any other man -of<br> - us. We talk sometimes about turquoises and sometimes about -tarkeean,<br> - but always with that little stop in the words. It is verree -easy.<br> - First, "Son of the Charm", if you are in a tight place. Perhaps -that<br> - may help you - perhaps not. Then what I have told you about -the<br> - tarkeean, if you want to transact offeecial business with a -strange<br> - man. Of course, at present, you have no offeecial business. You -are<br> - - ah ha! - supernumerary on probation. Quite unique specimen. If -you<br> - were Asiatic of birth you might be employed right off; but -this<br> - half-year of leave is to make you de~Englishized, you see? The -lama<br> - he expects you, because I have demi-offeecially informed him -you<br> - have passed all your examinations, and will soon obtain -Government<br> - appointment. Oh ho! You are on acting-allowance, you see: so if -you<br> - are called upon to help Sons of the Charm mind you jolly-well -try.<br> - Now I shall say good-bye, my dear fellow, and I hope you - ah - -will<br> - come out top-side all raight.'</p> - -<p>Hurree Babu stepped back a pace or two into the crowd at -the<br> - entrance of Lucknow station and -- was gone. Kim drew a deep -breath<br> - and hugged himself all over. The nickel-plated revolver he -could<br> - feel in the bosom of his sad-coloured robe, the amulet was on -his<br> - neck; begging-gourd, rosary, and ghost-dagger (Mr Lurgan had<br> - forgotten nothing) were all to hand, with medicine, paint-box, -and<br> - compass, and in a worn old purse-belt embroidered with -porcupine-<br> - quill patterns lay a month's pay. Kings could be no richer. -He<br> - bought sweetmeats in a leaf-cup from a Hindu trader, and ate -them<br> - with glad rapture till a policeman ordered him off the -steps.</p> - -<p></p> - -<h2>Chapter ll</h2> - -<p><br> - Give the man who is not made<br> - To his trade<br> - Swords to fling and catch again,<br> - Coins to ring and snatch again,<br> - Men to harm and cure again,<br> - Snakes to charm and lure again -<br> - He'll be hurt by his own blade,<br> - By his serpents disobeyed,<br> - By his clumsiness bewrayed,'<br> - By the people mocked to scorn -<br> - So 'tis not with juggler born!<br> - Pinch of dust or withered flower,<br> - Chance-flung fruit or borrowed staff,<br> - Serve his need and shore his power,<br> - Bind the spell, or loose the laugh!<br> - But a man who, etc.</p> - -<p>The Juggler's Song, op. 15</p> - -<p><br> - Followed a sudden natural reaction.</p> - -<p>'Now am I alone all alone,' he thought. 'In all India is no -one so<br> - alone as I! If I die today, who shall bring the news -and to -whom?<br> - If I live and God is good, there will be a price upon my head, -for I<br> - am a Son of the Charm - I, Kim.'</p> - -<p>A very few white people, but many Asiatics, can throw -themselves<br> - into a mazement as it were by repeating their own names over -and<br> - over again to themselves, letting the mind go free upon -speculation<br> - as to what is called personal identity. When one grows older, -the<br> - power, usually, departs, but while it lasts it may descend upon -a man<br> - at any moment.</p> - -<p><br> - 'Who is Kim - Kim - Kim?'</p> - -<p>He squatted in a corner of the clanging waiting-room, rapt -from all<br> - other thoughts; hands folded in lap, and pupils contracted to -pin-<br> - points. In a minute - in another half-second - he felt he -would<br> - arrive at the solution of the tremendous puzzle; but here, as -always<br> - happens, his mind dropped away from those heights with a rush of -a<br> - wounded bird, and passing his hand before his eyes, he shook -his<br> - head.</p> - -<p>A long-haired Hindu bairagi [holy man], who had just bought -a<br> - ticket, halted before him at that moment and stared -intently.</p> - -<p>'I also have lost it,' he said sadly. 'It is one of the Gates -to the<br> - Way, but for me it has been shut many years.'</p> - -<p>'What is the talk?' said Kim, abashed.</p> - -<p>'Thou wast wondering there in thy spirit what manner of thing -thy<br> - soul might be. The seizure came of a sudden. I know. Who should -know<br> - but I? Whither goest thou?'</p> - -<p>'Toward Kashi [Benares].'</p> - -<p>'There are no Gods there. I have proved them. I go to -Prayag<br> - [Allahabad] for the fifth time - seeking the Road to -Enlightenment.<br> - Of what faith art thou?'</p> - -<p>'I too am a Seeker,' said Kim, using one of the lama's pet -words.<br> - 'Though'- he forgot his Northern dress for the moment - -'though<br> - Allah alone knoweth what I seek.'</p> - -<p>The old fellow slipped the bairagi's crutch under his armpit -and sat<br> - down on a patch of ruddy leopard's skin as Kim rose at the call -for<br> - the Benares train.</p> - -<p>'Go in hope, little brother,' he said. 'It is a long road to -the<br> - feet of the One; but thither do we all travel.'</p> - -<p>Kim did not feel so lonely after this, and ere he had sat out -twenty<br> - miles in the crowded compartment, was cheering his neighbours -with a<br> - string of most wonderful yarns about his own and his -master's<br> - magical gifts.</p> - -<p>Benares struck him as a peculiarly filthy city, though it -was<br> - pleasant to find how his cloth was respected. At least one-third -of<br> - the population prays eternally to some group or other of the -many<br> - million deities, and so reveres every sort of holy man. Kim -was<br> - guided to the Temple of the Tirthankars, about a mile outside -the<br> - city, near Sarnath, by a chance-met Punjabi farmer - a Kamboh -from<br> - Jullundur-way who had appealed in vain to every God of his -homestead<br> - to cure his small son, and was trying Benares as a last -resort.</p> - -<p>'Thou art from the North?' he asked, shouldering through the -press<br> - of the narrow, stinking streets much like his own pet bull at -home.</p> - -<p>'Ay, I know the Punjab. My mother was a pahareen, but my -father came<br> - from Amritzar - by Jandiala,' said Kim, oiling his ready tongue -for<br> - the needs of the Road.</p> - -<p>'Jandiala - Jullundur? Oho! Then we be neighbours in some -sort, as<br> - it were.' He nodded tenderly to the wailing child in his arms. -'Whom<br> - dost thou serve?'</p> - -<p>'A most holy man at the Temple of the Tirthankers.'</p> - -<p>'They are all most holy and - most greedy,' said the Jat -with<br> - bitterness. 'I have walked the pillars and trodden the temples -till<br> - my feet are flayed, and the child is no whit better. And the -mother<br> - being sick too ... Hush, then, little one ... We changed his -name<br> - when the fever came. We put him into girl's clothes. There -was<br> - nothing we did not do, except - I said to his mother when -she<br> - bundled me off to Benares -she should have come with me - I -said<br> - Sakhi Sarwar Sultan would serve us best. We know His generosity, -but<br> - these down-country Gods are strangers.'</p> - -<p>The child turned on the cushion of the huge corded arms and -looked<br> - at Kim through heavy eyelids.</p> - -<p>'And was it all worthless?' Kim asked, with easy interest.</p> - -<p>'All worthless - all worthless,' said the child, lips cracking -with<br> - fever.</p> - -<p>'The Gods have given him a good mind, at least' said the -father<br> - proudly. 'To think he should have listened so cleverly. Yonder -is<br> - thy Temple. Now I am a poor man - many priests have dealt with -me -<br> - but my son is my son, and if a gift to thy master can cure him - -I<br> - am at my very wits' end.'</p> - -<p>Kim considered for a while, tingling with pride. Three years -ago he<br> - would have made prompt profit on the situation and gone his -way<br> - without a thought; but now, the very respect the Jat paid him -proved<br> - that he was a man. Moreover, he had tasted fever once or -twice<br> - already, and knew enough to recognize starvation when he saw -it.</p> - -<p>'Call him forth and I will give him a bond on my best yoke, so -that<br> - the child is cured.'</p> - -<p>Kim halted at the carved outer door of the temple. A -white-clad<br> - Oswal banker from Ajmir, his sins of usury new wiped out, -asked<br> - him what he did.</p> - -<p>'I am chela to Teshoo Lama, an Holy One from Bhotiyal -within -there.<br> - He bade me come. I wait. Tell him.'</p> - -<p>'Do not forget the child,' cried the importunate Jat over -his<br> - shoulder, and then bellowed in Punjabi; 'O Holy One - O disciple -of<br> - the Holy One - O Gods above all the Worlds -behold -affliction<br> - sitting at the gate!' That cry is so common in Benares that -the<br> - passers never turned their heads.</p> - -<p>The Oswal, at peace with mankind, carried the message into -the<br> - darkness behind him, and the easy, uncounted Eastern minutes -slid<br> - by; for the lama was asleep in his cell, and no priest would -wake<br> - him. When the click of his rosary again broke the hush of the -inner<br> - court where the calm images of the Arhats stand, a novice -whispered,<br> - 'Thy chela is here,' and the old man strode forth, forgetting -the<br> - end of that prayer.</p> - -<p>Hardly had the tall figure shown in the doorway than the Jat -ran<br> - before him, and, lifting up the child, cried: 'Look upon this, -Holy<br> - One; and if the Gods will, he lives - he lives!'</p> - -<p>He fumbled in his waist-belt and drew out a small silver -coin.</p> - -<p>'What is now?' The lama's eyes turned to Kim. It was -noticeable he<br> - spoke far clearer Urdu than long ago, under ZamZammah; but<br> - father would allow no private talk.</p> - -<p>'It is no more than a fever,' said Kim. 'The child is not well -fed.'</p> - -<p>'He sickens at everything, and his mother is not here.'</p> - -<p>'If it be permitted, I may cure, Holy One.'</p> - -<p>'What! Have they made thee a healer? Wait here,' said the -lama, and<br> - he sat down by the Jat upon the lowest step of the temple, -while<br> - Kim, looking out of the corner of his eyes, slowly opened the -little<br> - betel-box. He had dreamed dreams at school of returning to the -lama<br> - as a Sahib - of chaffing the old man before he revealed himself --<br> - boy's dreams all. There was more drama in this abstracted, -brow-<br> - puckered search through the tabloid-bottles, with a pause here -and<br> - there for thought and a muttered invocation between whiles. -Quinine<br> - he had in tablets, and dark brown meat-lozenges - beef most<br> - probably, but that was not his business. The little thing would -not<br> - eat, but it sucked at a lozenge greedily, and said it liked the -salt<br> - taste.</p> - -<p>'Take then these six.' Kim handed them to the man. 'Praise the -Gods,<br> - and boil three in milk; other three in water. After he has drunk -the<br> - milk give him this' (it was the half of a quinine pill), 'and -wrap<br> - him warm. Give him the water of the other three, and the other -half<br> - of this white pill when he wakes. Meantime, here is another -brown<br> - medicine that he may suck at on the way home.'</p> - -<p>'Gods, what wisdom!' said the Kamboh, snatching.</p> - -<p>It was as much as Kim could remember of his own treatment in a -bout<br> - of autumn malaria - if you except the patter that he added -to<br> - impress the lama.</p> - -<p>'Now go! Come again in the morning.'</p> - -<p>'But the price - the price,' said the Jat, and threw back his -sturdy<br> - shoulders. 'My son is my son. Now that he will be whole again, -how<br> - shall I go back to his mother and say I took help by the wayside -and<br> - did not even give a bowl of curds in return?'</p> - -<p>'They are alike, these Jats,' said Kim softly. 'The Jat stood -on his<br> - dunghill and the King's elephants went by. "O driver," said -he,<br> - "what will you sell those little donkeys for?"'</p> - -<p>The Jat burst into a roar of laughter, stifled with apologies -to the<br> - lama. 'It is the saying of my own country the very talk of it. -So<br> - are we Jats all. I will come tomorrow with the child; and -the<br> - blessing of the Gods of the Homesteads - who are good little -Gods -<br> - be on you both ... Now, son, we grow strong again. Do not spit -it<br> - out, little Princeling! King of my Heart, do not spit it out, -and we<br> - shall be strong men, wrestlers and club-wielders, by -morning.'</p> - -<p>He moved away, crooning and mumbling. The lama turned to Kim, -and<br> - all the loving old soul of him looked out through his narrow -eyes.</p> - -<p>'To heal the sick is to acquire merit; but first one gets -knowledge.<br> - That was wisely done, O Friend of all the World.'</p> - -<p>'I was made wise by thee, Holy One,' said Kim, forgetting the -little<br> - play just ended; forgetting St Xavier's; forgetting his white -blood;<br> - forgetting even the Great Game as he stooped, -Mohammedan-fashion, to<br> - touch his master's feet in the dust of the Jain temple. 'My -teaching<br> - I owe to thee. I have eaten thy bread three years. My time -is<br> - finished. I am loosed from the schools. I come to thee.'</p> - -<p>'Herein is my reward. Enter! Enter! And is all well?' They -passed to<br> - the inner court, where the afternoon sun sloped golden -across.<br> - 'Stand that I may see. So!' He peered critically. 'It is no -longer a<br> - child, but a man, ripened in wisdom, walking as a physician. I -did<br> - well - I did well when I gave thee up to the armed men on that -black<br> - night. Dost thou remember our first day under Zam-Zammah?'</p> - -<p>'Ay,' said Kim. 'Dost thou remember when I leapt off the -carriage<br> - the first day I went to -'</p> - -<p>'The Gates of Learning? Truly. And the day that we ate the -cakes<br> - together at the back of the river by Nucklao. Aha! Many times -hast<br> - thou begged for me, but that day I begged for thee.'</p> - -<p>'Good reason,' quoth Kim. 'I was then a scholar in the Gates -of<br> - Learning, and attired as a Sahib. Do not forget, Holy One,' he -went<br> - on playfully. 'I am still a Sahib - by thy favour.'</p> - -<p>'True. And a Sahib in most high esteem. Come to my cell, -chela.'</p> - -<p>'How is that known to thee?'</p> - -<p>The lama smiled. 'First by means of letters from the kindly -priest<br> - whom we met in the camp of armed men; but he is now gone to his -own<br> - country, and I sent the money to his brother.' Colonel -Creighton,<br> - who had succeeded to the trusteeship when Father Victor went -to<br> - England with the Mavericks, was hardly the Chaplain's brother. -'But<br> - I do not well understand Sahibs' letters. They must be -interpreted<br> - to me. I chose a surer way. Many times when I returned from -my<br> - Search to this Temple, which has always been a nest to me, -there<br> - came one seeking Enlightenment - a man from Leh - that had been, -he<br> - said, a Hindu, but wearied of all those Gods.' The lama pointed -to<br> - the Arhats.</p> - -<p><br> - 'A fat man?' said Kim, a twinkle in his eye.</p> - -<p>'Very fat; but I perceived in a little his mind was wholly -given up<br> - to useless things - such as devils and charms and the form -and<br> - fashion of our tea-drinkings in the monasteries, and by what -road we<br> - initiated the novices. A man abounding in questions; but he was -a<br> - friend of thine, chela. He told me that thou wast on the road -to<br> - much honour as a scribe. And I see thou art a physician.'</p> - -<p>'Yes, that am I - a scribe, when I am a Sahib, but it is set -aside<br> - when I come as thy disciple. I have accomplished the years -appointed<br> - for a Sahib.'</p> - -<p>'As it were a novice?' said the lama, nodding his head. 'Art -thou<br> - freed from the schools? I would not have thee unripe.'</p> - -<p>'I am all free. In due time I take service under the -Government as a<br> - scribe -'</p> - -<p>'Not as a warrior. That is well.'</p> - -<p>'But first I come to wander with thee. Therefore I am here. -Who<br> - begs for thee, these days?' he went on quickly. The ice was -thin.</p> - -<p>'Very often I beg myself; but, as thou knowest, I am seldom -here,<br> - except when I come to look again at my disciple. From one end -to<br> - another of Hind have I travelled afoot and in the te-rain. A -great<br> - and a wonderful land! But here, when I put in, is as though I -were<br> - in mv own Bhotiyal.'</p> - -<p>He looked round the little clean cell complacently. A low -cushion<br> - gave him a seat, on which he had disposed himself in the -cross-<br> - legged attitude of the Bodhisat emerging from meditation; a -black<br> - teak-wood table, not twenty inches high, set with copper -tea-cups,<br> - was before him. In one corner stood a tiny altar, also of -heavily<br> - carved teak, bearing a copper-gilt image of the seated Buddha -and<br> - fronted by a lamp, an incense-holder, and a pair of copper -flower-<br> - pots.</p> - -<p>'The Keeper of the Images in the Wonder House acquired merit -by<br> - giving me these a year since,' he said, following Kim's eye. -'When<br> - one is far from one's own land such things carry remembrance; -and we<br> - must reverence the Lord for that He showed the Way. See!' He -pointed<br> - to a curiously-built mound of coloured rice crowned with a -fantastic<br> - metal ornament. 'When I was Abbot in my own place - before I -came to<br> - better knowledge I made that offering daily. It is the Sacrifice -of<br> - the Universe to the Lord. Thus do we of Bhotiyal offer all the -world<br> - daily to the Excellent Law. And I do it even now, though I know -that<br> - the Excellent One is beyond all pinchings and pattings.' He -snuffed<br> - from his gourd.</p> - -<p>'It is well done, Holy One,' Kim murmured, sinking at ease on -the<br> - cushions, very happy and rather tired.</p> - -<p>'And also,' the old man chuckled, 'I write pictures of the -Wheel of<br> - Life. Three days to a picture. I was busied on it - or it may be -I<br> - shut my eyes a little - when they brought word of thee. It is -good<br> - to have thee here: I will show thee my art - not for pride's -sake,<br> - but because thou must learn. The Sahibs have not all this -world's<br> - wisdom.'</p> - -<p>He drew from under the table a sheet of strangely scented -yellow<br> - Chinese paper, the brushes, and slab of Indian ink. In -cleanest,<br> - severest outline he had traced the Great Wheel with its six -spokes,<br> - whose centre is the conjoined Hog, Snake, and Dove -(Ignorance,<br> - Anger, and Lust), and whose compartments are all the Heavens -and<br> - Hells, and all the chances of human life. Men say that the -Bodhisat<br> - Himself first drew it with grains of rice upon dust, to teach -His<br> - disciples the cause of things. Many ages have crystallized it -into a<br> - most wonderful convention crowded with hundreds of little -figures<br> - whose every line carries a meaning. Few can translate the -picture-<br> - parable; there are not twenty in all the world who can draw -it<br> - surely without a copy: of those who can both draw and expound -are<br> - but three.</p> - -<p>'I have a little learned to draw,' said Kim. 'But this is a -marvel<br> - beyond marvels.'</p> - -<p>'I have written it for many years,' said the lama. 'Time was -when I<br> - could write it all between one lamp-lighting and the next. I -will<br> - teach thee the art - after due preparation; and I will show thee -the<br> - meaning of the Wheel.'</p> - -<p>'We take the Road, then?'</p> - -<p>'The Road and our Search. I was but waiting for thee. It was -made<br> - plain to me in a hundred dreams - notably one that came upon -the<br> - night of the day that the Gates of Learning first shut that -without<br> - thee I should never find my River. Again and again, as thou -knowest,<br> - I put this from me, fearing an illusion. Therefore I would not -take<br> - thee with me that day at Lucknow, when we ate the cakes. I would -not<br> - take thee till the. time was ripe and auspicious. From the Hills -to<br> - the Sea, from the Sea to the Hills have I gone, but it was -vain.<br> - Then I remembered the Tataka.'</p> - -<p>He told Kim the story of the elephant with the leg-iron, as he -had<br> - told it so often to the Jam priests.</p> - -<p>'Further testimony is not needed,' he ended serenely. 'Thou -wast<br> - sent for an aid. That aid removed, my Search came to naught.<br> - Therefore we will go out again together, and our Search -sure.'</p> - -<p>'Whither go we?'</p> - -<p>'What matters, Friend of all the World? The Search, I say, is -sure.<br> - If need be, the River will break from the ground before us. -I<br> - acquired merit when I sent thee to the Gates of Learning, and -gave<br> - thee the jewel that is Wisdom. Thou didst return, I saw even -now, a<br> - follower of Sakyamuni, the Physician, whose altars are many -in<br> - Bhotiyal. It is sufficient. We are together, and all things are -as<br> - they were - Friend of all the World -Friend of the Stars - -my<br> - chela!'</p> - -<p>Then they talked of matters secular; but it was noticeable -that the<br> - lama never demanded any details of life at St Xavier's, nor -showed<br> - the faintest curiosity as to the manners and customs of Sahibs. -His<br> - mind moved all in the past, and he revived every step of -their<br> - wonderful first journey together, rubbing his hands and -chuckling,<br> - till it pleased him to curl himself up into the sudden sleep of -old<br> - age.</p> - -<p>Kim watched the last dusty sunshine fade out of the court, -and<br> - played with his ghost-dagger and rosary. The clamour of -Benares,<br> - oldest of all earth's cities awake before the Gods, day and -night,<br> - beat round the walls as the sea's roar round a breakwater. Now -and<br> - again, a Jain priest crossed the court, with some small offering -to<br> - the images, and swept the path about him lest by chance he -should<br> - take the life of a living thing. A lamp twinkled, and there -followed<br> - the sound of a prayer. Kim watched the stars as they rose one -after<br> - another in the still, sticky dark, till he fell asleep at the -foot<br> - of the altar. That night he dreamed in Hindustani, with never -an<br> - English word...</p> - -<p>'Holy One, there is the child to whom we gave the medicine,' -he<br> - said, about three o'clock in the morning, when the lama, also -waking<br> - from dreams, would have fared forth on pilgrimage. 'The Jat will -be<br> - here at the light.'</p> - -<p>'I am well answered. In my haste I would have done a wrong.' -He sat<br> - down on the cushions and returned to his rosary. 'Surely old -folk<br> - are as children,' he said pathetically. 'They desire a matter --<br> - behold, it must be done at once, or they fret and weep! Many -times<br> - when I was upon the Road I have been ready to stamp with my feet -at<br> - the hindrance of an ox-cart in the way, or a mere cloud of -dust.<br> - It was not so when I was a man - a long time ago. None the less -it<br> - is wrongful -'</p> - -<p>'But thou art indeed old, Holy One.'</p> - -<p>'The thing was done. A Cause was put out into the world, and, -old or<br> - young, sick or sound, knowing or unknowing, who can rein in -the<br> - effect of that Cause? Does the Wheel hang still if a child spin -it -<br> - or a drunkard? Chela, this is a great and a terrible world.'</p> - -<p>'I think it good,' Kim yawned. 'What is there to eat? I have -not<br> - eaten since yesterday even.'</p> - -<p>'I had forgotten thy need. Yonder is good Bhotiyal tea and -cold<br> - rice.'</p> - -<p>'We cannot walk far on such stuff.' Kim felt all the -European's lust<br> - for flesh-meat, which is not accessible in a Jain temple. -Yet,<br> - instead of going out at once with the begging-bowl, he stayed -his<br> - stomach on slabs of cold rice till the full dawn. It brought -the<br> - farmer, voluble, stuttering with gratitude.</p> - -<p>'In the night the fever broke and the sweat came, he cried. -'Feel<br> - here - his skin is fresh and new! He esteemed the salt lozenges, -and<br> - took milk with greed.' He drew the cloth from the child's face, -and<br> - it smiled sleepily at Kim. A little knot of Jain priests, -silent<br> - but all-observant, gathered by the temple door. They knew, and -Kim<br> - knew that they knew, how the old lama had met his disciple. -Being<br> - courteous folk, they had not obtruded themselves overnight -by<br> - presence, word, or gesture. Wherefore Kim repaid them as the -sun<br> - rose.</p> - -<p>'Thank the Gods of the Jains, brother,' he said, not knowing -how<br> - those Gods were named. 'The fever is indeed broken.'</p> - -<p>'Look! See!' The lama beamed in the background upon his hosts -of<br> - three years. 'Was there ever such a chela? He follows our Lord -the<br> - Healer.'</p> - -<p>Now the Jains officially recognize all the Gods of the Hindu -creed,<br> - as well as the Lingam and the Snake. They wear the -Brahminical<br> - thread; they adhere to every claim of Hindu caste-law. But, -because<br> - they knew and loved the lama, because he was an old man, because -he<br> - sought the Way, because he was their guest, and because he -collogued<br> - long of nights with the head-priest - as free-thinking a<br> - metaphysician as ever split one hair into seventy - they -murmured<br> - assent.</p> - -<p>'Remember,' - Kim bent over the child -. 'this trouble may -come<br> - again.</p> - -<p>'Not if thou hast the proper spell,' said the father.</p> - -<p>'But in a little while we go away.'</p> - -<p>'True,' said the lama to all the Jains. 'We go now together -upon the<br> - Search whereof I have often spoken. I waited till my chela was -ripe.<br> - Behold him! We go North. Never again shall I look upon this -place of<br> - my rest, O people of good will.'</p> - -<p>'But I am not a beggar.' The cultivator rose to his feet, -clutching<br> - the child.</p> - -<p>'Be still. Do not trouble the Holy One,' a priest cried.</p> - -<p>'Go,' Kim whispered. 'Meet us again under the big railway -bridge,<br> - and for the sake of all the Gods of our Punjab, bring food - -curry,<br> - pulse, cakes fried in fat, and sweetmeats. Specially sweetmeats. -Be<br> - swift!'</p> - -<p>The pallor of hunger suited Kim very well as he stood, tall -and<br> - slim, in his sand-coloured, sweeping robes, one hand on his -rosary<br> - and the other in the attitude of benediction, faithfully copied -from<br> - the lama. An English observer might have said that he looked -rather<br> - like the young saint of a stained-glass window, whereas he was -but a<br> - growing lad faint with emptiness.</p> - -<p>Long and formal were the farewells, thrice ended and thrice -renewed.<br> - The Seeker - he who had invited the lama to that haven from -far-<br> - away Tibet, a silver-faced, hairless ascetic -took no part in -it,<br> - but meditated, as always, alone among the images. The others -were<br> - very human; pressing small comforts upon the old man - a -betel-box,<br> - a fine new iron pencase, a food-bag, and such-like - warning -him<br> - against the dangers of the world without, and prophesying a -happy<br> - end to the Search. Meantime Kim, lonelier than ever, squatted on -the<br> - steps, and swore to himself in the language of St Xavier's.</p> - -<p>'But it is my own fault,' he concluded. 'With Mahbub, I ate -Mahbub's<br> - bread, or Lurgan Sahib's. At St Xavier's, three meals a day. -Here I<br> - must jolly-well look out for myself. Besides, I am not in -good<br> - training. How I could eat a plate of beef now! ... Is it -finished,<br> - Holy One?'</p> - -<p>The lama, both hands raised, intoned a final blessing in -ornate<br> - Chinese. 'I must lean on thy shoulder,' said he, as the temple -gates<br> - closed. 'We grow stiff, I think.'</p> - -<p>The weight of a six-foot man is not light to steady through -miles of<br> - crowded streets, and Kim, loaded down with bundles and packages -for<br> - the way, was glad to reach the shadow of the railway bridge.</p> - -<p>'Here we eat,' he said resolutely, as the Kamboh, blue-robed -and<br> - smiling, hove in sight, a basket in one hand and the child in -the<br> - other.</p> - -<p>'Fall to, Holy Ones!' he cried from fifty yards. (They were by -the<br> - shoal under the first bridge-span, out of sight of hungry -priests.)<br> - 'Rice and good curry, cakes all warm and well scented with -king<br> - [asafoetida), curds and sugar. King of my fields,' -this to -the<br> - small son - 'let us show these holy men that we Jats of -Jullundur<br> - can pay a service . . . I had heard the Jams would eat nothing -that<br> - they had not cooked, but truly' - he looked away politely over -the<br> - broad river - 'where there is no eye there is no caste.'</p> - -<p>'And we,' said Kim, turning his back and heaping a leafplatter -for<br> - the lama, 'are beyond all castes.'</p> - -<p><br> - They gorged themselves on the good food in silence. Nor till he -had<br> - licked the last of the sticky sweetstuff from his little finger -did<br> - Kim note that the Kamboh too was girt for travel.</p> - -<p>'If our roads lie together,' he said roughly, 'I go with thee. -One<br> - does not often find a worker of miracles, and the child is -still<br> - weak. But I am not altogether a reed.' He picked up his lathi - -a<br> - five-foot male-bamboo ringed with bands of polished iron - -and<br> - flourished it in the air. 'The Jats are called quarrel-some, -but<br> - that is not true. Except when we are crossed, we are like our -own<br> - buffaloes.'</p> - -<p>'So be it,' said Kim. 'A good stick is a good reason.'</p> - -<p>The lama gazed placidly up-stream, where in long, smudged<br> - perspective the ceaseless columns of smoke go up from the -burning-<br> - ghats by the river. Now and again, despite all municipal<br> - regulations, the fragment of a half-burned body bobbed by on -the<br> - full current.</p> - -<p>'But for thee,' said the Kamboh to Kim, drawing the child into -his<br> - hairy breast, 'I might today have gone thither - with this one. -The<br> - priests tell us that Benares is holy - which none doubt - -and<br> - desirable to die in. But I do not know their Gods, and they ask -for<br> - money; and when one has done one worship a shaved-head vows it -is of<br> - none effect except one do another. Wash here! Wash there! -Pour,<br> - drink, lave, and scatter flowers -but always pay the priests. -No,<br> - the Punjab for me, and the soil of the Jullundur-doab for the -best<br> - soil in it.</p> - -<p>'I have said many times - in the Temple, I think - that if -need be,<br> - the River will open at our feet. We will therefore go North,' -said<br> - the lama, rising. 'I remember a pleasant place, set about -with<br> - fruit-trees, where one can walk in meditation - and the air -is<br> - cooler there. It comes from the Hills and the snow of the -Hills.'</p> - -<p>'What is the name?' said Kim.</p> - -<p>'How should I know? Didst thou not - no, that was after the -Army<br> - rose out of the earth and took thee away. I abode there in<br> - meditation in a room against the dovecot - except when she -talked<br> - eternally.'</p> - -<p>'Oho! the woman from Kulu. That is by Saharunpore.' Kim -laughed.</p> - -<p>'How does the spirit move thy master? Does he go afoot, for -the sake<br> - of past sins?' the Jat demanded cautiously. 'It is a far cry -to<br> - Delhi.'</p> - -<p>'No,' said Kim. 'I will beg a tikkut for the te-rain.' One -does not<br> - own to the possession of money in India.</p> - -<p>'Then, in the name of the Gods, let us take the fire-carriage. -My<br> - son is best in his mother's arms. The Government has brought on -us<br> - many taxes, but it gives us one good thing - the te-rain that -joins<br> - friends and unites the anxious. A wonderful matter is the -te-rain.'</p> - -<p>They all piled into it a couple of hours later, and slept -through<br> - the heat of the day. The Kamboh plied Kim with ten thousand<br> - questions as to the lama's walk and work in life, and received -some<br> - curious answers. Kim was content to be where he was, to look -out<br> - upon the flat North-Western landscape, and to talk to the<br> - changing mob of fellow-passengers. Even today, tickets and -ticket-<br> - clipping are dark oppression to Indian rustics. They do not<br> - understand why, when they have paid for a magic piece of -paper,<br> - strangers should punch great pieces out of the charm. So, long -and<br> - furious are the debates between travellers and Eurasian -ticket-<br> - collectors. Kim assisted at two or three with grave advice, -meant to<br> - darken counsel and to show off his wisdom before the lama and -the<br> - admiring Kamboh. But at Somna Road the Fates sent him a matter -to<br> - think upon. There tumbled into the compartment, as the train -was<br> - moving off, a mean, lean little person - a Mahratta, so far as -Kim<br> - could judge by the cock of the tight turban. His face was cut, -his<br> - muslin upper-garment was badly torn, and one leg was bandaged. -He<br> - told them that a country-cart had upset and nearlv slain him: -he<br> - was going to Delhi, where his son lived. Kim watched him -closely.<br> - If, as he asserted, he had been rolled over and over on the -earth,<br> - there should have been signs of gravel-rash on the skin. But all -his<br> - injuries seemed clean cuts, and a mere fall from a cart could -not<br> - cast a man into such extremity of terror. As, with shaking -fingers,<br> - he knotted up the torn cloth about his neck he laid bare an -amulet<br> - of the kind called a keeper-up of the heart. Now, amulets are -common<br> - enough, but they are not generally strung on square-plaited -copper<br> - wire, and still fewer amulets bear black enamel on silver. -There<br> - were none except the Kamboh and the lama in the compartment, -which,<br> - luckily, was of an old type with solid ends. Kim made as to -scratch<br> - in his bosom, and thereby lifted his own amulet. The Mahratta's -face<br> - changed altogether at the sight, and he disposed the amulet -fairly on<br> - his breast.</p> - -<p>'Yes,' he went on to the Kamboh, 'I was in haste, and the -cart,<br> - driven by a bastard, bound its wheel in a water-cut, and besides -the<br> - harm done to me there was lost a full dish of tarkeean. I was -not a<br> - Son of the Charm [a lucky man] that day.'</p> - -<p>'That was a great loss,' said the Kamboh, withdrawing -interest. His<br> - experience of Benares had made him suspicious.</p> - -<p>'Who cooked it?' said Kim.</p> - -<p>'A woman.' The Mahratta raised his eyes.</p> - -<p>'But all women can cook tarkeean,' said the Kamboh. 'It is a -good<br> - curry, as I know.'</p> - -<p>'Oh yes, it is a good curry,' said the Mahratta.</p> - -<p>'And cheap,' said Kim. 'But what about caste?'</p> - -<p>'Oh, there is no caste where men go to - look for tarkeean,' -the<br> - Mahratta replied, in the prescribed cadence. 'Of whose service -art<br> - thou?'</p> - -<p>'Of the service of this Holy One.' Kim pointed to the happy, -drowsy<br> - lama, who woke with a jerk at the well-loved word.</p> - -<p>'Ah, he was sent from Heaven to aid me. He is called the -Friend of<br> - all the World. He is also called the Friend of the Stars. He -walks<br> - as a physician - his time being ripe. Great is his wisdom.'</p> - -<p>'And a Son of the Charm,' said Kim under his breath, as the -Kamboh<br> - made haste to prepare a pipe lest the Mahratta should beg.</p> - -<p>'And who is that?' the Mahratta asked, glancing sideways -nervously.</p> - -<p>'One whose child I - we have cured, who lies under great debt -to us.<br> - Sit by the window, man from Jullundur. Here is a sick one.'</p> - -<p>'Humph! I have no desire to mix with chance-met wastrels. My -ears<br> - are not long. I am not a woman wishing to overhear secrets.' The -Jat<br> - slid himself heavily into a far corner.</p> - -<p>'Art thou anything of a healer? I am ten leagues deep in -calamity,'<br> - cried the Mahratta, picking up the cue.</p> - -<p>'This man is cut and bruised all over. I go about to cure -him,' Kim<br> - retorted. 'None interfered between thy babe and me.'</p> - -<p>'I am rebuked,' said the Kamboh meekly. 'I am thy debtor for -the<br> - life of my son. Thou art a miracle-worker - I know it.'</p> - -<p>'Show me the cuts.' Kim bent over the Mahratta's neck, his -heart<br> - nearly choking him; for this was the Great Game with a -vengeance.<br> - 'Now, tell thy tale swiftly, brother, while I say a charm.'</p> - -<p>'I come from the South, where my work lay. One of us they slew -by<br> - the roadside. Hast thou heard?' Kim shook his head. He, of -course,<br> - knew nothing of E's predecessor, slain down South in the habit -of an<br> - Arab trader. 'Having found a certain letter which I was sent -to<br> - seek, I came away. I escaped from the city and ran to Mhow. So -sure<br> - was I that none knew, I did not change my face. At Mhow a -woman<br> - brought charge against me of theft of jewellery in that city -which I<br> - had left. Then I saw the cry was out against me. I ran from Mhow -by<br> - night, bribing the police, who had been bribed to hand me -over<br> - without question to my enemies in the South. Then I lay in -old<br> - Chitor city a week, a penitent in a temple, but I could not get -rid<br> - of the letter which was my charge. I buried it under the -Queen's<br> - Stone, at Chitor, in the place known to us all.'</p> - -<p>Kim did not know, but not for worlds would he have broken -the<br> - thread.</p> - -<p>'At Chitor, look you, I was all in Kings' country; for Kotah -to the<br> - east is beyond the Queen's law, and east again lie Jaipur -and<br> - Gwalior. Neither love spies, and there is no justice. I was -hunted<br> - like a wet jackal; but I broke through at Bandakui, where I -heard<br> - there was a charge against me of murder in the city I had left - -of<br> - the murder of a boy. They have both the corpse and the -witnesses<br> - waiting.'</p> - -<p>'But cannot the Government protect?'</p> - -<p>'We of the Game are beyond protection. If we die, we die. Our -names<br> - are blotted from the book. That is all. At Bandakui, where lives -one<br> - of Us, I thought to slip the scent by changing my face, and so -made<br> - me a Mahratta. Then I came to Agra, and would have turned back -to<br> - Chitor to recover the letter. So sure I was I had slipped -them.<br> - Therefore I did not send a tar [telegram] to any one saying -where<br> - the letter lay. I wished the credit of it all.'</p> - -<p>Kim nodded. He understood that feeling well.</p> - -<p>'But at Agra, walking in the streets, a man cried a debt -against me,<br> - and approaching with many witnesses, would hale me to the -courts<br> - then and there. Oh, they are clever in the South! He recognized -me<br> - as his agent for cotton. May he burn in Hell for it!'</p> - -<p>'And wast thou?'</p> - -<p>'O fool! I was the man they sought for the matter of the -letter! I<br> - ran into the Fleshers' Ward and came out by the House of the -Jew,<br> - who feared a riot and pushed me forth. I came afoot to Somna -Road -<br> - I had only money for my tikkut to Delhi - and there, while I lay -in<br> - a ditch with a fever, one sprang out of the bushes and beat me -and<br> - cut me and searched me from head to foot. Within earshot of the -te-<br> - rain it was!'</p> - -<p>'Why did he not slay thee out of hand?'</p> - -<p>'They are not so foolish. If I am taken in Delhi at the -instance of<br> - lawyers, upon a proven charge of murder, my body is handed over -to<br> - the State that desires it. I go back guarded, and then - I -die<br> - slowly for an example to the rest of Us. The South is not my<br> - country. I run in circles - like a goat with one eye. I have -not<br> - eaten for two days. I am marked' - he touched the filthy bandage -on<br> - his leg - 'so that they will know me at Delhi.'</p> - -<p>'Thou art safe in the te-rain, at least.'</p> - -<p>'Live a year at the Great Game and tell me that again! The -wires<br> - will be out against me at Delhi, describing every tear and rag -upon<br> - me. Twenty - a hundred, if need be - will have seen me slay -that<br> - boy. And thou art useless!'</p> - -<p>Kim knew enough of native methods of attack not to doubt that -the<br> - case would be deadly complete - even to the corpse. The -Mahratta<br> - twitched his fingers with pain from time to time. The Kamboh in -his<br> - corner glared sullenly; the lama was busy over his beads; and -Kim,<br> - fumbling doctor-fashion at the man's neck, thought out his -plan<br> - between invocations.</p> - -<p>'Hast thou a charm to change my shape? Else I am dead. Five - -ten<br> - minutes alone, if I had not been so pressed, and I might -'</p> - -<p>'Is he cured yet, miracle-worker?' said the Kamboh jealously. -'Thou<br> - hast chanted long enough.'</p> - -<p>'Nay. There is no cure for his hurts, as I see, except he sit -for<br> - three days in the habit of a bairagi.' This is a common -penance,<br> - often imposed on a fat trader by his spiritual teacher.</p> - -<p>'One priest always goes about to make another priest,' was -the<br> - retort. Like most grossly superstitious folk, the Kamboh could -not<br> - keep his tongue from deriding his Church.</p> - -<p>'Will thy son be a priest, then? It is time he took more of -my<br> - quinine.'</p> - -<p>'We Jats are all buffaloes,' said the Kamboh, softening -anew.</p> - -<p>Kim rubbed a finger-tip of bitterness on the child's trusting -little<br> - lips. 'I have asked for nothing,' he said sternly to the -father,<br> - 'except food. Dost thou grudge me that? I go to heal another -man.<br> - Have I thy leave - Prince?'</p> - -<p>Up flew the man's huge paws in supplication. 'Nay - nay. Do -not mock<br> - me thus.'</p> - -<p>'It pleases me to cure this sick one. Thou shalt acquire merit -by<br> - aiding. What colour ash is there in thy pipe-bowl? White. That -is<br> - auspicious. Was there raw turmeric among thy foodstuffs?'</p> - -<p>'I - I -'</p> - -<p>'Open thy bundle!'</p> - -<p>It was the usual collection of small oddments: bits of cloth, -quack<br> - medicines, cheap fairings, a clothful of atta - greyish, -rough-<br> - ground native flour - twists of down-country tobacco, tawdry -pipe-<br> - stems, and a packet of curry-stuff, all wrapped in. a quilt. -Kim<br> - turned it over with the air of a wise warlock, muttering a<br> - Mohammedan invocation.</p> - -<p>'This is wisdom I learned from the Sahibs,' he whispered to -the<br> - lama; and here, when one thinks of his training at Lurgan's, -he<br> - spoke no more than the truth. 'There is a great evil in this -man's<br> - fortune, as shown by the Stars, which - which troubles him. -Shall I<br> - take it away?'</p> - -<p>'Friend of the Stars, thou hast done well in all things. Let -it be<br> - at thy pleasure. Is it another healing?'</p> - -<p>'Quick! Be quick!' gasped the Mahratta. 'The train may -stop.'</p> - -<p>'A healing against the shadow of death,' said Kim, mixing -the<br> - Kamboh's flour with the mingled charcoal and tobacco ash in the -red-<br> - earth bowl of the pipe. E, without a word, slipped off his -turban<br> - and shook down his long black hair.</p> - -<p><br> - 'That is my food - priest,' the jat growled.</p> - -<p>'A buffalo in the temple! Hast thou dared to look even thus -far?'<br> - said Kim. 'I must do mysteries before fools; but have a care -for<br> - thine eyes. Is there a film before them already? I save the -babe,<br> - and for return thou - oh, shameless!' The man flinched at the -direct<br> - gaze, for Kim was wholly in earnest.</p> - -<p>'Shall I curse thee, or shall I -' He picked up the outer -cloth of<br> - the bundle and threw it over the bowed head. 'Dare so much as -to<br> - think a wish to see, and - and - even I cannot save thee. -Sit!</p> - -<p>Be dumb!'</p> - -<p>'I am blind - dumb. Forbear to curse! Co - come, child; we -will<br> - play a game of hiding. Do not, for my sake, look from under -the<br> - cloth.'</p> - -<p>'I see hope,' said E23. 'What is thy scheme?'</p> - -<p>'This comes next,' said Kim, plucking the thin body-shirt. -E23<br> - hesitated, with all a North-West man's dislike of baring his -body.</p> - -<p>'What is caste to a cut throat?' said Kim, rending it to the -waist.<br> - 'We must make thee a yellow Saddhu all over. Strip - strip<br> - swiftly, and shake thy hair over thine eyes while I scatter the -ash.<br> - Now, a caste-mark on thy forehead.' He drew from his bosom -the<br> - little Survey paint-box and a cake of crimson lake.</p> - -<p>'Art thou only a beginner?' said E23, labouring literally for -the<br> - dear life, as he slid out of his body-wrappings and stood clear -in<br> - the loin-cloth while Kim splashed in a noble caste-mark on the -ash-<br> - smeared brow.</p> - -<p>'But two days entered to the Game, brother,' Kim replied. -'Smear<br> - more ash on the bosom.'</p> - -<p>'Hast thou met - a physician of sick pearls?' He switched out -his<br> - long, tight-rolled turban-cloth and, with swiftest hands, rolled -it<br> - over and under about his loins into the intricate devices of -a<br> - Saddhu's cincture.</p> - -<p>'Hah! Dost thou know his touch, then? He was my teacher for -a<br> - while. We must bar thy legs. Ash cures wounds. Smear it -again.'</p> - -<p>'I was his pride once, but thou art almost better. The Gods -are<br> - kind to us! Give me that.'</p> - -<p>It was a tin box of opium pills among the rubbish of the -Jat's<br> - bundle. E23 gulped down a half handful. 'They are good -against<br> - hunger, fear, and chill. And they make the eyes red too,' he<br> - explained. 'Now I shall have heart to play the Game. We lack -only<br> - a Saddhu's tongs. What of the old clothes?'</p> - -<p>Kim rolled them small, and stuffed them into the slack folds -of his<br> - tunic. With a yellow-ochre paint cake he smeared the legs and -the<br> - breast, great streaks against the background of flour, ash, -and<br> - turmeric.</p> - -<p>'The blood on them is enough to hang thee, brother.'</p> - -<p>'Maybe; but no need to throw them out of the window ... It -is<br> - finished.' His voice thrilled with a boy's pure delight in the -Game.<br> - 'Turn and look, O jat!'</p> - -<p>'The Gods protect us,' said the hooded Kamboh, emerging like -a<br> - buffalo from the reeds. 'But - whither went the Mahratta? What -hast<br> - thou done?'</p> - -<p>Kim had been trained by Lurgan Sahib; E23, by virtue of -his<br> - business, was no bad actor. In place of the tremulous, -shrinking<br> - trader there lolled against the corner an all but naked, -ash-<br> - smeared, ochre-barred, dusty-haired Saddhu, his swollen eyes - -opium<br> - takes quick effect on an empty stomach - luminous with insolence -and<br> - bestial lust, his legs crossed under him, Kim's brown rosary -round<br> - his neck, and a scant yard of worn, flowered chintz on his<br> - shoulders. The child buried his face in his amazed father's -arms.</p> - -<p>'Look up, Princeling! We travel with warlocks, but they will -not<br> - hurt thee. Oh, do not cry ... What is the sense of curing a -child<br> - one day and killing him with fright the next?'</p> - -<p>'The child will be fortunate all his life. He has seen a -great<br> - healing. When I was a child I made clay men and horses.'</p> - -<p>'I have made them too. Sir Banas, he comes in the night and -makes<br> - them all alive at the back of our kitchen-midden,' piped the -child.</p> - -<p>'And so thou art not frightened at anything. Eh, Prince?'</p> - -<p>'I was frightened because my father was frightened. I felt his -arms<br> - shake.'</p> - -<p>'Oh, chicken-man!' said Kim, and even the abashed Jat laughed. -'I<br> - have done a healing on this poor trader. He must forsake his -gains<br> - and his account-books, and sit by the wayside three nights -to<br> - overcome the malignity of his enemies. The Stars are against -him.'</p> - -<p>'The fewer money-lenders the better, say I; but, Saddhu or -no<br> - Saddhu, he should pay for my stuff on his shoulders.'</p> - -<p>'So? But that is thy child on thy shoulder - given over to -the<br> - burning-ghat not two days ago. There remains one thing more. I -did<br> - this charm in thy presence because need was great.I changed -his<br> - shape and his soul. None the less, if, by any chance, O man -from<br> - Jullundur, thou rememberest what thou hast seen, either among -the<br> - elders sitting under the village tree, or in thine own house, or -in<br> - company of thy priest when he blesses thy cattle, a murrain -will<br> - come among the buffaloes, and a fire in thy thatch, and rats in -the<br> - corn-bins, and the curse of our Gods upon thy fields that they -may<br> - be barren before thy feet and after thy ploughshare.' This was -part<br> - of an old curse picked up from a fakir by the Taksali Gate in -the<br> - days of Kim's innocence. It lost nothing by repetition.</p> - -<p>'Cease, Holy One! In mercy, cease!' cried the Jat. 'Do not -curse<br> - the household. I saw nothing! I heard nothing! I am thy cow!' -and<br> - he made to grab at Kim's bare foot beating rhythmically on -the<br> - carriage floor. 'But since thou hast been permitted to aid me in -the<br> - matter of a pinch of flour and a little opium and such trifles -as I<br> - have honoured by using in my art, so will the Gods return a<br> - blessing,' and he gave it at length, to the man's immense -relief. It<br> - was one that he had learned from Lurgan Sahib.</p> - -<p><br> - The lama stared through his spectacles as he had not stared at -the<br> - business of disguisement. 'Friend of the Stars,' he said at -last,<br> - 'thou hast acquired great wisdom. Beware that it do not give -birth<br> - to pride. No man having the Law before his eyes speaks hastily -of<br> - any matter which he has seen or encountered.'</p> - -<p>'No - no - no, indeed,' cried the farmer, fearful lest the -master<br> - should be minded to improve on the pupil. E23, with relaxed -mouth,<br> - gave himself up to the opium that is meat, tobacco, and medicine -to<br> - the spent Asiatic.</p> - -<p>So, in a silence of awe and great miscomprehension, they slid -into<br> - Delhi about lamp-lighting time.</p> - -<p></p> - -<h2>Chapter 12</h2> - -<p><br> - Who hath desired the Sea - the sight of salt-water -unbounded?<br> - The heave and the halt and the hurl and the crash of the -comber<br> - wind-hounded?<br> - The sleek-barrelled swell before storm - grey, foamless, -enormous,<br> - and growing?<br> - Stark calm on the lap of the Line - or the crazy-eyed -hurricane<br> - blowing?<br> - His Sea in no showing the same - his Sea and the same 'neath -all<br> - showing -<br> - His Sea that his being fulfils?<br> - So and no otherwise - so and no otherwise hill-men desire -their<br> - Hills!</p> - -<p>The Sea and the Hills.</p> - -<p>'I have found my heart again,' said E23, under cover of -the<br> - platform's tumult. 'Hunger and fear make men dazed, or I might -have<br> - thought of this escape before. I was right. They come to hunt -for<br> - me. Thou hast saved my head.'</p> - -<p>A group of yellow-trousered Punjab policemen, headed by a hot -and<br> - perspiring young Englishman, parted the crowd about the -carriages.<br> - Behind them, inconspicuous as a cat, ambled a small fat person -who<br> - looked like a lawyer's tout.</p> - -<p><br> - 'See the young Sahib reading from a paper. My description is in -his<br> - hand,' said E23. 'Thev go carriage by carriage, like -fisher-folk<br> - netting a pool.'</p> - -<p>When the procession reached their compartment, E23 was -counting his<br> - beads with a steady jerk of the wrist; while Kim jeered at him -for<br> - being so drugged as to have lost the ringed fire-tongs which are -the<br> - Saddhu's distinguishing mark. The lama, deep in meditation, -stared<br> - straight before him; and the farmer, glancing furtively, -gathered up<br> - his belongings.</p> - -<p>'Nothing here but a parcel of holy-bolies,' said the -Englishman<br> - aloud, and passed on amid a ripple of uneasiness; for native -police<br> - mean extortion to the native all India over.</p> - -<p>'The trouble now, ' whispered E23, 'lies in sending a wire as -to the<br> - place where I hid that letter I was sent to find. I cannot go to -the<br> - tar-office in this guise.'</p> - -<p>'Is it not enough I have saved thy neck?'</p> - -<p>'Not if the work be left unfinished. Did never the healer of -sick<br> - pearls tell thee so? Comes another Sahib! Ah!'</p> - -<p>This was a tallish, sallowish District Superintendent of -Police -<br> - belt, helmet, polished spurs and all - strutting and twirling -his<br> - dark moustache.</p> - -<p>'What fools are these Police Sahibs!' said Kim genially.</p> - -<p>E23 glanced up under his eyelids. 'It is well said,' he -muttered in<br> - a changed voice. 'I go to drink water. Keep my place.'</p> - -<p>He blundered out almost into the Englishman's arms, and was -bad-<br> - worded in clumsy Urdu.</p> - -<p>'Tum mut? You drunk? You mustn't bang about as though -Delhi<br> - station belonged to you, my friend.'</p> - -<p>E23, not moving a muscle of his countenance, answered with a -stream<br> - of the filthiest abuse, at which Kim naturally rejoiced. It -reminded<br> - him of the drummer-boys and the barrack- sweepers at Umballa in -the<br> - terrible time of his first schooling.</p> - -<p>'My good fool,' the Englishman drawled. 'Nickle-jao! Go back -to<br> - your carriage.'</p> - -<p>Step by step, withdrawing deferentially and dropping his -voice, the<br> - yellow Saddhu clomb back to the carriage, cursing the D.S.P. -to<br> - remotest posterity, by - here Kim almost jumped - by the curse -of<br> - the Queen's Stone, by the writing under the Queen's Stone, and -by an<br> - assortment of Gods "with wholly, new names.</p> - -<p>'I don't know what you're saving,' - the Englishman flushed -angrily<br> - - 'but it's some piece of blasted impertinence. Come out of -that!'</p> - -<p>E23, affecting to misunderstand, gravely produced his ticket, -which<br> - the Englishman wrenched angrily from his hand.</p> - -<p>'Oh, zoolum! What oppression!' growled the Jat from his -corner.<br> - 'All for the sake of a jest too.' He had been grinning at -the<br> - freedom of the Saddhu's tongue. 'Thy charms do not work well -today,<br> - Holy One!'</p> - -<p>The Saddhu followed the policeman, fawning and supplicating. -The<br> - ruck of passengers, busy, with their babies andtheir bundles, -had<br> - not noticed the affair. Kim slipped outbehind him; for it -flashed<br> - through his head that he had heardthis angry, stupid Sahib<br> - discoursing loud personalities to an oldlady near Umballa -three<br> - years ago.</p> - -<p>'It is well', the Saddhu whispered, jammed in the calling,<br> - shouting, bewildered press - a Persian greyhound between his -feet<br> - and a cageful of yelling hawks under charge of a Rajput falconer -in<br> - the small of his back. 'He has gone now to send word of the -letter<br> - which I hid. Thev told me he was in Peshawur. I might have -known<br> - that he is like the crocodile - always at the other ford. He -has<br> - saved me from present calamity, but I owe my life to thee.'</p> - -<p>'Is he also one of Us?' Kim ducked under a Mewar -camel-driver's<br> - greasy armpit and cannoned off a covey of jabbering Sikh -matrons.</p> - -<p>'Not less than the greatest. We are both fortunate! I will -make<br> - report to him of what thou hast done. I am safe under his<br> - protection.'</p> - -<p>He bored through the edge of the crowd besieging the -carriages, and<br> - squatted by the bench near the telegraph-office.</p> - -<p>'Return, or they take thy place! Have no fear for the work, -brother<br> - - or my life. Thou hast given me breathing-space, and -Strickland<br> - Sahib has pulled me to land. We may work together at the Game -yet.<br> - Farewell!'</p> - -<p>Kim hurried to his carriage: elated, bewildered, but a -little<br> - nettled in that he had no key to the secrets about him.</p> - -<p>'I am only a beginner at the Game, that is sure. I could not -have<br> - leaped into safety as did the Saddhu. He knew it was darkest -under<br> - the lamp. I could not have thought to tell news under pretence -of<br> - cursing ... and how clever was the Sahib! No matter, I savcd -the<br> - life of one ... Where is the Kamboh gone, Holy One?' he -whispered,<br> - as he took his seat in the now crowded compartment.</p> - -<p>'A fear gripped him,' the lama replied, with a touch of -tender<br> - malice. 'He saw thee change the Mahratta to a Saddhu in the<br> - twinkling of an eye, as a protection against evil. That shook -him.<br> - Then he saw the Saddhu fall sheer into the hands of the polis - -all<br> - the effect of thy art. Then he gathered up his son and fled; for -he<br> - said that thou didst change a quiet trader into an impudent -bandier<br> - of words with the Sahibs, and he feared a like fate. Where is -the<br> - Saddhu?'</p> - -<p>'With the polis,' said Kim . . . 'Yet I saved the Kamboh's -child.'</p> - -<p>The lama snuffed blandly.</p> - -<p>'Ah, chela, see how thou art overtaken! Thou didst cure -the<br> - Kamboh's child solely to acquire merit. But thou didst put a -spell<br> - on the Mahratta with prideful workings - I watched thee - and -with<br> - sidelong glances to bewilder an old old man and a foolish -farmer:<br> - whence calamity and suspicion.'</p> - -<p>Kim controlled himself with an effort beyond his years. Not -more<br> - than any other youngster did he like to eat dirt or to be -misjudged,<br> - but he saw himself in a cleft stick. The train rolled out of -Delhi<br> - into the night.</p> - -<p>'It is true,' he murmured. 'Where I have offended thee I have -done<br> - wrong.'</p> - -<p>'It is more, chela. Thou hast loosed an Act upon the world, -and as<br> - a stone thrown into a pool so spread the consequences thou canst -not<br> - tell how far.'</p> - -<p>This ignorance was well both for Kim's vanity and for the -lama's<br> - peace of mind, when we think that there was then being handed in -at<br> - Simla a code-wire reporting the arrival of E23 at Delhi, and, -more<br> - important, the whereabouts of a letter he had been commissioned -to -<br> - abstract. Incidentally, an over-zealous policeman had arrested, -on<br> - charge of murder done in a far southern State, a horribly -indignant<br> - Ajmir cotton-broker, who was explaining himself to a Mr -Strickland<br> - on Delhi platform, while E23 was paddling through byways into -the<br> - locked heart of Delhi city. In two hours several telegrams -had<br> - reached the angry minister of a southern State reporting that -all<br> - trace of a somewhat bruised Mahratta had been lost; and by the -time<br> - the leisurely train halted at Saharunpore the last ripple of -the<br> - store Kim had helped to heave was lapping against the steps of -a<br> - mosque in far-away Roum - where it disturbed a pious man at -prayers.</p> - -<p>The lama made his in ample form near the dewy -bougainvillea-trellis<br> - near the platform, cheered by the clear sunshine and the -presence of<br> - his disciple. 'We will put these things behind us,' he said,<br> - indicating the brazen engine and the gleaming track. 'The -jolting of<br> - the te-rain - though a wonderful thing - has turned my bones -to<br> - water. We will use clean air henceforward.'</p> - -<p>'Let us go to the Kulu woman's house' said Kim, and stepped -forth<br> - cheerily under the bundles. Early morning Saharunpore-way is -clean<br> - and well scented. He thought of the other mornings at St -Xavier's,<br> - and it topped his already thrice-heaped contentment.</p> - -<p>'Where is this new haste born from? Wise men do not run about -like<br> - chickens in the sun. We have come hundreds upon hundreds of -koss<br> - already, and, till now, I have scarcely been alone with thee -an<br> - instant. How canst thou receive instruction all jostled of -crowds?<br> - How can I, whelmed by a flux of talk, meditate upon the -Way?'</p> - -<p>'Her tongue grows no shorter with the years, then?' the -disciple<br> - smiled.</p> - -<p>'Nor her desire for charms. I remember once when I spoke of -the<br> - Wheel of Life' - the lama fumbled in his bosom for his latest -copy -<br> - 'she was only curious about the devils that besiege children. -She<br> - shall acquire merit by entertaining us - in a little while - at -an<br> - after-occasion - softly, softly. Now we will wander -loose-foot,<br> - waiting upon the Chain of Things. The Search is sure.'</p> - -<p>So they travelled very easily across and among the broad -bloomful<br> - fruit-gardens - by way of Aminabad, Sahaigunge, Akrola of the -Ford,<br> - and little Phulesa - the line of the Siwaliks always to the -north,<br> - and behind them again the snows. After long, sweet sleep under -the<br> - dry stars came the lordly, leisurely passage through a -waking<br> - village - begging-bowl held forth in silence, but eyes roving -in<br> - defiance of the Law from sky's edge to sky's edge. Then would -Kim<br> - return soft-footed through the soft dust to his master under -the<br> - shadow of a mango-tree or the thinner shade of a white Doon -siris,<br> - to eat and drink at ease. At mid-day, after talk and a -little<br> - wayfaring, they slept; meeting the world refreshed when the air -was<br> - cooler. Night found them adventuring into new territory - -some<br> - chosen village spied three hours before across the fat land, -and<br> - much discussed upon the road.</p> - -<p>There they told their tale - a new one each evening so far as -Kim<br> - was concerned - and there were they made welcome, either by -priest<br> - or headman, after the custom of the kindly East.</p> - -<p>When the shadows shortened and the lama leaned more heavily -upon<br> - Kim, there was always the Wheel of Life to draw forth, to hold -flat<br> - under wiped stones, and with a long straw to expound cycle by -cycle.<br> - Here sat the Gods on high - and they were dreams of dreams. Here -was<br> - our Heaven and the world of the demi-Gods - horsemen fighting -among<br> - the hills. Here were the agonies done upon the beasts, souls<br> - ascending or descending the ladder and therefore not to be<br> - interfered with. Here were the Hells, hot and cold, and the -abodes<br> - of tormented ghosts. Let the chela study the troubles that come -from<br> - over-eating - bloated stomach and burning bowels. Obediently, -then,<br> - with bowed head and brown finger alert to follow the pointer, -did<br> - the chela study; but when they came to the Human World, busy -and<br> - profitless, that is just above the Hells, his mind was -distracted;<br> - for by the roadside trundled the very Wheel itself, eating,<br> - drinking, trading, marrying, and quarrelling - all warmly -alive.<br> - Often the lama made the living pictures the matter of his -text,<br> - bidding Kim - too ready - note how the flesh takes a -thousand<br> - shapes, desirable or detestable as men reckon, but in truth of -no<br> - account either way; and how the stupid spirit, bond-slave to -the<br> - Hog, the Dove, and the Serpent - lusting after betel-nut, a new -yoke<br> - of oxen, women, or the favour of kings - is bound to follow the -body<br> - through all the Heavens and all the Hells, and strictly round -again.<br> - Sometimes a woman or a poor man, watching the ritual - it -was<br> - nothing less - when the great yellow chart was unfolded, would -throw<br> - a few flowers or a handful of cowries upon its edge. It -sufficed<br> - these humble ones that they had met a Holy One who might be -moved to<br> - remember them in his prayers.</p> - -<p>'Cure them if they are sick,' said the lama, when Kim's -sporting<br> - instincts woke. 'Cure them if they have fever, but by no means -work<br> - charms. Remember what befell the Mahratta.'</p> - -<p>'Then all Doing is evil?' Kim replied, lying out under a big -tree at<br> - the fork of the Doon road, watching the little ants run over -his<br> - hand.</p> - -<p>'To abstain from action is well - except to acquire -merit.'</p> - -<p>'At the Gates of Learning we were taught that to abstain from -action<br> - was unbefitting a Sahib. And I am a Sahib.'</p> - -<p>'Friend of all the World,' - the lama looked directly at Kim - -'I am<br> - an old man - pleased with shows as are children. To those -who<br> - follow the Way there is neither black nor white, Hind nor -Bhotiyal.<br> - We be all souls seeking escape. No matter what thy wisdom -learned<br> - among Sahibs, when we come to my River thou wilt be freed from -all<br> - illusion - at my side. Hai! My bones ache for that River, as -they<br> - ached in the te-rain; but my spirit sits above my bones, -waiting.<br> - The Search is sure!'</p> - -<p>'I am answered. Is it permitted to ask a question?'</p> - -<p>The lama inclined his stately head.</p> - -<p>'I ate thy bread for three years - as thou knowest. Holy -One,<br> - whence came -?'</p> - -<p>'There is much wealth, as men count it, in Bhotiyal,' the -lama<br> - returned with composure. 'In my own place I have the illusion -of<br> - honour. I ask for that I need. I am not concerned with the -account.<br> - That is for my monastery. Ai! The black high seats in the<br> - monastery, and novices all in order!'</p> - -<p>And he told stories, tracing with a finger in the dust, of -the<br> - immense and sumptuous ritual of avalanche-guarded cathedrals; -of<br> - processions and devil-dances; of the changing of monks and nuns -into<br> - swine; of holy cities fifteen thousand feet in the air; of -intrigue<br> - between monastery and monastery; of voices among the hills, and -of<br> - that mysterious mirage that dances on dry snow. He spoke even -of<br> - Lhassa and of the Dalai Lama, whom he had seen and adored.</p> - -<p>Each long, perfect day rose behind Kim for a barrier to cut -him off<br> - from his race and his mother-tongue. He slipped back to -thinking<br> - and dreaming in the vernacular, and mechanically followed the -lama's<br> - ceremonial observances at eating, drinking, and the like. The -old<br> - man's mind turned more and more to his monastery as his eyes -turned<br> - to the steadfast snows. His River troubled him nothing. Now -and<br> - again, indeed, he would gaze long and long at a tuft or a -twig,<br> - expecting, he said, the earth to cleave and deliver its -blessing;<br> - but he was content to be with his disciple, at ease in the -temperate<br> - wind that comes down from the Doon. This was not Ceylon, nor -Buddh<br> - Gaya, nor Bombay, nor some grass-tangled ruins that he seemed -to<br> - have stumbled upon two years ago. He spoke of those places as -a<br> - scholar removed from vanity, as a Seeker walking in humility, as -an<br> - old man, wise and temperate, illumining knowledge with -brilliant<br> - insight. Bit by bit, disconnectedly, each tale called up by -some<br> - wayside thing, he spoke of all his wanderings up and down Hind; -till<br> - Kim, who had loved him without reason, now loved him for fifty -good<br> - reasons. So they enjoyed themselves in high felicity, -abstaining,<br> - as the Rule demands, from evil words, covetous desires; not -over-<br> - eating, not lying on high beds, nor wearing rich clothes. -Their<br> - stomachs told them the time, and the people brought them their -food,<br> - as the saying is. They were lords of the villages of -Aminabad,<br> - Sahaigunge, Akrola of the Ford, and little Phulesa, where Kim -gave<br> - the soulless woman a blessing.</p> - -<p>But news travels fast in India, and too soon shuffled across -the<br> - crop-land, bearing a basket of fruits with a box of Kabul grapes -and<br> - gilt oranges, a white-whiskered servitor - a lean, dry Oorya --<br> - begging them to bring the honour of their presence to his -mistress,<br> - distressed in her mind that the lama had neglected her so -long.</p> - -<p>'Now do I remember' - the lama spoke as though it were a -wholly new<br> - proposition. 'She is virtuous, but an inordinate talker.'</p> - -<p>Kim was sitting on the edge of a cow's manger, telling stories -to a<br> - village smith's children.</p> - -<p>'She will only ask for another son for her daughter. I have -not<br> - forgotten her,' he said. 'Let her acquire merit. Send word that -we<br> - will come.'</p> - -<p>They covered eleven miles through the fields in two days, and -were<br> - overwhelmed with attentions at the end; for the old lady held a -fine<br> - tradition of hospitality, to which she forced her son-in-law, -who<br> - was under the thumb of his women-folk and bought peace by -borrowing<br> - of the money-lender. Age had not weakened her tongue or her -memory,<br> - and from a discreetly barred upper window, in the hearing of -not<br> - less than a dozen servants, she paid Kim compliments that would -have<br> - flung European audiences into unclean dismay.</p> - -<p>'But thou art still the shameless beggar-brat of the parao,' -she<br> - shrilled. 'I have not forgotten thee. Wash ye and eat. The -father of<br> - my daughter's son is gone away awhile. So we poor women are dumb -and<br> - useless.'</p> - -<p>For proof, she harangued the entire household unsparingly till -food<br> - and drink were brought; and in the evening - the -smoke-scented<br> - evening, copper-dun and turquoise across the fields - it pleased -her<br> - to order her palanquin to be set down in the untidy forecourt -by<br> - smoky torchlight; and there, behind not too closely drawn -curtains,<br> - she gossiped.</p> - -<p>'Had the Holy One come alone, I should have received him -otherwise;<br> - but with this rogue, who can be too careful?'</p> - -<p>'Maharanee,' said Kim, choosing as always the amplest title, -'is it<br> - my fault that none other than a Sahib - a polis-Sahib - called -the<br> - Maharanee whose face he -' 'Chutt! That was on the -pilgrimage.<br> - When we travel - thou knowest the proverb.'</p> - -<p>'Called the Maharanee a Breaker of Hearts and a Dispenser -of<br> - Delights?'</p> - -<p>'To remember that! It was true. So he did. That was in the -time of<br> - the bloom of my beauty.' She chuckled like a contented parrot -above<br> - the sugar lump. 'Now tell me of thy goings and comings - as much -as<br> - may be without shame. How many maids, and whose wives, hang -upon<br> - thine eyelashes? Ye hail from Benares? I would have gone there -again<br> - this year, but my daughter - we have only two sons. Phaii! Such -is<br> - the effect of these low plains. Now in Kulu men are elephants. -But I<br> - would ask thy Holy One - stand aside, rogue - a charm against -most<br> - lamentable windy colics that in mango-time overtake my -daughter's<br> - eldest. Two years back he gave me a powerful spell.'</p> - -<p>'Oh, Holy One!' said Kim, bubbling with mirth at the lama's -rueful<br> - face.</p> - -<p>'It is true. I gave her one against wind.'</p> - -<p>'Teeth - teeth - teeth, ' snapped the old woman.</p> - -<p>"'Cure them if they are sick,"' Kim quoted relishingly, "'but -by no<br> - means work charms. Remember what befell the Mahratta."'</p> - -<p>'That was two Rains ago; she wearied me with her continual<br> - importunity.' The lama groaned as the Unjust judge had -groaned<br> - before him. 'Thus it comes - take note, my chela - that even -those<br> - who would follow the Way are thrust aside by idle women. Three -days<br> - through, when the child was sick, she talked to me.'</p> - -<p>'Arre! 1 6and to whom else should I talk? The boy's mother -knew<br> - nothing, and the father - in the nights of the cold weather it -was -<br> - "Pray to the Gods," said he, forsooth, and turning over, -snored!'</p> - -<p>'I gave her the charm. What is an old man to do?'</p> - -<p>"'To abstain from action is well - except to acquire -merit."'</p> - -<p>'Ah chela, if thou desertest me, I am all alone.'</p> - -<p>'He found his milk-teeth easily at any rate,' said the old -lady.<br> - 'But all priests are alike.'</p> - -<p>Kim coughed severely. Being young, he did not approve of -her<br> - flippancy. 'To importune the wise out of season is to invite<br> - calamitv.'</p> - -<p>'There is a talking mynah' - the thrust came back with the -well-<br> - remembered snap of the jewelled fore-finger - 'over the -stables<br> - which has picked up the very tone of the family priest. Maybe -I<br> - forget honour to my guests, but if ye had seen him double his -fists<br> - into his belly, which was like a half-grown gourd, and cry: -"Here is<br> - the pain!" ye would forgive. I am half minded to take the -hakim's<br> - medicine. He sells it cheap, and certainly it makes him fat -as<br> - Shiv's own bull. He does not deny remedies, but I doubted for -the<br> - child because of the in-auspicious colour of the bottles.'</p> - -<p>The lama, under cover of the monologue, had faded out into -the<br> - darkness towards the room prepared.</p> - -<br> -'Thou hast angered him, belike,' said Kim. - -<p>'Not he. He is wearied, and I forgot, being a grandmother. -(None<br> - but a grandmother should ever oversee a child. Mothers are only -fit<br> - for bearing.) Tomorrow, when he sees how my daughter's son is -grown,<br> - he will write the charm. Then, too, he can judge of the new -hakim's<br> - drugs.'</p> - -<p>'Who is the hakim, Maharanee?'</p> - -<p>'A wanderer, as thou art, but a most sober Bengali from Dacca -- a<br> - master of medicine. He relieved me of an oppression after meat -by<br> - means of a small pill that wrought like a devil unchained. -He<br> - travels about now, vending preparations of great value. He has -even<br> - papers, printed in Angrezi, telling what things he has done -for<br> - weak-backed men and slack women. He has been here four days; -but<br> - hearing ye were coming (hakims and priests are snake and tiger -the<br> - world over) he has, as I take it, gone to cover.'</p> - -<p>While she drew breath after this volley, the ancient -servant,<br> - sitting unrebuked on the edge of the torchlight, muttered: -'This<br> - house is a cattle-pound, as it were, for all charlatans and --<br> - priests. Let the boy stop eating mangoes ... but who can argue -with<br> - a grandmother?' He raised his voice respectfully: 'Sahiba, the -hakim<br> - sleeps after his meat. He is in the quarters behind the -dovecote'</p> - -<p>Kim bristled like an expectant terrier. To outface and down- -talk a<br> - Calcutta-taught Bengali, a voluble Dacca drug-vendor, would be -a<br> - good game. It was not seemly that the lama, and incidentally<br> - himself, should be thrown aside for such an one. He knew -those<br> - curious bastard English advertisements at the backs of -native<br> - newspapers. St Xavier's boys sometimes brought them in by -stealth to<br> - snigger over among their mates; for the language of the -grateful<br> - patient recounting his symptoms is most simple and revealing. -The<br> - Oorya, not unanxious to play off one parasite against the -other,<br> - slunk away towards the dovecote</p> - -<p>'Yes,' said Kim, with measured scorn. 'Their stock-in-trade is -a<br> - little coloured water and a very great shamelessness. Their prey -are<br> - broken-down kings and overfed Bengalis. Their profit is in -children<br> - - who are not born.' The old lady chuckled. 'Do not be -envious.<br> - Charms are better, eh? I never gainsaid it. See that thy Holy -One<br> - writes me a good amulet by the morning.'</p> - -<p>'None but the ignorant deny' - a thick, heavy voice boomed -through<br> - the darkness, as a figure came to rest squatting - 'None but -the<br> - ignorant deny the value of charms. None but the ignorant deny -the<br> - value of medicines.'</p> - -<p>'A rat found a piece of turmeric. Said he: "I will open a -grocer's<br> - shop,"' Kim retorted.</p> - -<p>Battle was fairly joined now, and they heard the old lady -stiffen to<br> - attention.</p> - -<p>'The priest's son knows the names of his nurse and three Gods. -Says<br> - he: "Hear me, or I will curse you by the three million Great -Ones."'<br> - Decidedly this invisible had an arrow or two in his quiver. He -went<br> - on: 'I am but a teacher of the alphabet. I have learned all -the<br> - wisdom of the Sahibs.'</p> - -<p>'The Sahibs never grow old. They dance and they play like -children<br> - when they are grandfathers. A strong-backed breed,' piped the -voice<br> - inside the palanquin.</p> - -<p>'I have, too, our drugs which loosen humours of the head in -hot and<br> - angry men. Sina well compounded when the moon stands in the -proper<br> - House; yellow earths I have - arplan from China that makes a -man<br> - renew his youth and astonish his household; saffron from -Kashmir,<br> - and the best salep of Kabul. Many people have died before -'</p> - -<p>'That I surely believe,' said Kim.</p> - -<p>'They knew the value of my drugs. I do not give my sick the -mere<br> - ink in which a charm is written, but hot and rending drugs -which<br> - descend and wrestle with the evil.'</p> - -<p>'Very mightily they do so,' sighed the old lady.</p> - -<p>The voice launched into an immense tale of misfortune and<br> - bankruptcy, studded with plentiful petitions to the Government. -'But<br> - for my fate, which overrules all, I had been now in -Government<br> - employ. I bear a degree from the great school at Calcutta - -whither,<br> - maybe, the son of this House shall go.'</p> - -<p>'He shall indeed. If our neighbour's brat can in a few years -be<br> - made an F A' (First Arts - she used the English word, of which -she<br> - had heard so often), 'how much more shall children clever as -some<br> - that I know bear away prizes at rich Calcutta.'</p> - -<p>'Never,' said the voice, 'have I seen such a child! Born in -an<br> - auspicious hour, and - but for that colic which, alas! turning -into<br> - black cholers, may carry him off like a pigeon - destined to -many<br> - years, he is enviable.'</p> - -<p>'Hai mai!' said the old lady. 'To praise children is -inauspicious,<br> - or I could listen to this talk. But the back of the house is<br> - unguarded, and even in this soft air men think themselves to be -men,<br> - and women we know ... The child's father is away too, and I must -be<br> - chowkedar [watchman] in my old age. Up! Up! Take up the -palanquin.<br> - Let the hakim and the young priest settle between them -whether<br> - charms or medicine most avail. Ho! worthless people, fetch -tobacco<br> - for the guests, and - round the homestead go I!'</p> - -<p>The palanquin reeled off, followed by straggling torches and a -horde<br> - of dogs. Twenty villages knew the Sahiba - her failings, her -tongue,<br> - and her large charity. Twenty villages cheated her after -immemorial<br> - custom, but no man would have stolen or robbed within her<br> - jurisdiction for any gift under heaven. None the less, she -made<br> - great parade of her formal inspections, the riot of which could -be<br> - heard half-way to Mussoorie.</p> - -<p>Kim relaxed, as one augur must when he meets another. The -hakim,<br> - still squatting, slid over his hookah with a friendly foot, and -Kim<br> - pulled at the good weed. The hangers-on expected grave -professional<br> - debate, and perhaps a little free doctoring.</p> - -<p>'To discuss medicine before the ignorant is of one piece -with<br> - teaching the peacock to sing,' said the hakim.</p> - -<p>'True courtesy,' Kim echoed, 'is very often inattention.'</p> - -<p>These, be it understood, were company-manners, designed to -impress.</p> - -<p>'Hi! I have an ulcer on my leg,' cried a scullion. 'Look at -it!'</p> - -<p>'Get hence! Remove!' said the hakim. 'Is it the habit of the -place<br> - to pester honoured guests? Ye crowd in like buffaloes.'</p> - -<p>'If the Sahiba knew -' Kim began.</p> - -<p>'Ai! Ai! Come away. They are meat for our mistress. When her -young<br> - Shaitan's colics are cured perhaps we poor people may be -suffered to<br> - -'</p> - -<p>'The mistress fed thy wife when thou wast in jail for breaking -the<br> - money-lender's head. Who speaks against her?' The old -servitor<br> - curled his white moustaches savagely in the young moonlight. 'I -am<br> - responsible for the honour of this house. Go!' and he drove -the<br> - underlings before him.</p> - -<p>Said the hakim, hardly more than shaping the words with his -lips:<br> - 'How do you do, Mister O'Hara? I am jolly glad to see you -again.'</p> - -<p>Kim's hand clenched about the pipe-stem. Anywhere on the open -road,<br> - perhaps, he would not have been astonished; but here, in this -quiet<br> - backwater of life, he was not prepared for Hurree Babu. It -annoyed<br> - him, too, that he had been hoodwinked.</p> - -<p>'Ah ha! I told you at Lucknow - resurgam - I shall rise again -and<br> - you shall not know me. How much did you bet - eh?'</p> - -<p>He chewed leisurely upon a few cardamom seeds, but he -breathed<br> - uneasily.</p> - -<p>'But why come here, Babuji?'</p> - -<p>'Ah! Thatt is the question, as Shakespeare hath it. I come -to<br> - congratulate you on your extraordinary effeecient performance -at<br> - Delhi. Oah! I tell you we are all proud of you. It was -verree<br> - neat and handy. Our mutual friend, he is old friend of mine. He -has<br> - been in some dam'-tight places. Now he will be in some more. -He<br> - told me; I tell Mr Lurgan; and he is pleased you graduate so -nicely.<br> - All the Department is pleased.'</p> - -<p>For the first time in his life, Kim thrilled to the clean -pride (it<br> - can be a deadly pitfall, none the less) of Departmental praise --<br> - ensnaring praise from an equal of work appreciated by -fellow-<br> - workers. Earth has nothing on the same plane to compare with -it.<br> - But, cried the Oriental in him, Babus do not travel far to -retail<br> - compliments.</p> - -<p>'Tell thy tale, Babu,' he said authoritatively.</p> - -<p>'Oah, it is nothing. Onlee I was at Simla when the wire came -in<br> - about what our mutual friend said he had hidden, and old -Creighton -<br> - ' He looked to see how Kim would take this piece of -audacity.</p> - -<p>'The Colonel Sahib,' the boy from St Xavier's corrected. -'Of<br> - course. He found me at a loose string, and I had to go down -to<br> - Chitor to find that beastly letter. I do not like the South - -too<br> - much railway travel; but I drew good travelling allowance. Ha! -Ha! I<br> - meet our mutual at Delhi on the way back. He lies quiett just -now,<br> - and says Saddhu-disguise suits him to the ground. Well, there -I<br> - hear what you have done so well, so quickly, upon the -instantaneous<br> - spur of the moment. I tell our mutual you take the bally bun, -by<br> - Jove! It was splendid. I come to tell you so.'</p> - -<p>'Umm!'</p> - -<p>The frogs were busy in the ditches, and the moon slid to -her<br> - setting. Some happy servant had gone out to commune with the -night<br> - and to beat upon a drum. Kim's next sentence was in the -vernacular.</p> - -<p>'How didst thou follow us?'</p> - -<p>'Oah. Thatt was nothing. I know from our mutual friend you go -to<br> - Saharunpore. So I come on. Red Lamas are not inconspicuous -persons.<br> - I buy myself my drug-box, and I am very good doctor really. I go -to<br> - Akrola of the Ford, and hear all about you, and I talk here and -talk<br> - there. All the common people know what you do. I knew when -the<br> - hospitable old lady sent the dooli. They have great -recollections of<br> - the old lama's visits here. I know old ladies cannot keep -their<br> - hands from medicines. So I am a doctor, and - you hear my talk? -I<br> - think it is verree good. My word, Mister O'Hara, they know -about<br> - you and the lama for fifty miles - the common people. So I come. -Do<br> - you mind?'</p> - -<p>'Babuji,' said Kim, looking up at the broad, grinning face, 'I -am a<br> - Sahib.'</p> - -<p>'My dear Mister O'Hara</p> - -<p>'And I hope to play the Great Game.'</p> - -<p>'You are subordinate to me departmentally at present.'</p> - -<p>'Then why talk like an ape in a tree? Men do not come after -one from<br> - Simla and change their dress, for the sake of a few sweet words. -I<br> - am not a child. Talk Hindi and let us get to the yolk of the -egg.<br> - Thou art here - speaking not one word of truth in ten. Why art -thou<br> - here? Give a straight answer.'</p> - -<p>'That is so verree disconcerting of the Europeans, Mister -O'Hara.<br> - you should know a heap better at your time of life.'</p> - -<p>'But I want to know,' said Kim, laughing. 'If it is the Game, -I may<br> - help. How can I do anything if you bukh [babble] all round -the<br> - shop?'</p> - -<p>Hurree Babu reached for the pipe, and sucked it till it -guggled<br> - again.</p> - -<p>'Now I will speak vernacular. You sit tight, Mister O'Hara . . -. It<br> - concerns the pedigree of a white stallion.'</p> - -<p>'Still? That was finished long ago.'</p> - -<p>'When everyone is dead the Great Game is finished. Not -before.<br> - Listen to me till the end. There were Five Kings who prepared -a<br> - sudden war three years ago, when thou wast given the -stallion's<br> - pedigree by Mahbub Ali. Upon them, because of that news, and -ere<br> - they were ready, fell our Army.'</p> - -<p>'Ay - eight thousand men with guns. I remember that -night.'</p> - -<p>'But the war was not pushed. That is the Government custom. -The<br> - troops were recalled because the Government believed the Five -Kings<br> - were cowed; and it is not cheap to feed men among the high -Passes.<br> - HilaS and Bunar - Rajahs with guns - undertook for a price to -guard<br> - the Passes against all coming from the North. They protested -both<br> - fear and friendship.' He broke off with a giggle into English: -"Of<br> - course, I tell you this unoffeecialiv to elucidate political<br> - situation, Mister O'Hara. Offeecially, I am debarred from<br> - criticizing any action of superiors. Now I go on. - This pleased -the<br> - Government, anxious to avoid expense, and a bond was made for -so<br> - many rupees a month that Hilas and Bunar should guard the Passes -as<br> - soon as the State's troops were withdrawn. At that time - it -was<br> - after we two met - I, who had been selling tea in Leh, became -a<br> - clerk of accounts in the Army. When the troops were withdrawn, -I<br> - was left behind to pay the coolies who made new roads in the -Hills.<br> - This road-making was part of the bond between Bunar, Hilas, and -the<br> - Government.'</p> - -<p>'So? And then?'</p> - -<p>'I tell you, it was jolly-beastly cold up there too, after -summer,'<br> - said Hurree Babu confidentially. 'I was afraid these Bunar men -would<br> - cut my throat every night for thee pay-chest. My native -sepoy-guard,<br> - they laughed at me! By Jove! I was such a fearful man. Nevar -mind<br> - thatt. I go on colloquially ... I send word many times that -these<br> - two Kings were sold to the North; and Mahbub Ali, who was -yet<br> - farther North, amply confirmed it. Nothing was done. Only my -feet<br> - were frozen, and a toe dropped off. I sent word that the roads -for<br> - which I was paying money to the diggers were being made for the -feet<br> - of strangers and enemies.'</p> - -<br> -'For?' - -<p>'For the Russians. The thing was an open jest among the -coolies.<br> - Then I was called down to tell what I knew by speech of -tongue.<br> - Mahbub came South too. See the end! Over the Passes this year -after<br> - snow-melting' - he shivered afresh - come two strangers under -cover<br> - of shooting wild goats. They bear guns, but they bear also -chains<br> - and levels and compasses.'</p> - -<p>'Oho! The thing gets clearer.'</p> - -<p>'They are well received by Hilas and Bunar. They make -great<br> - promises; they speak as the mouthpiece of a Kaisar with gifts. -Up<br> - the valleys, down the valleys go they, saying, "Here is a place -to<br> - build a breastwork; here can ye pitch a fort. Here can ye hold -the<br> - road against an army" - the very roads for which I paid out -the<br> - rupees monthly. The Government knows', but does nothing. The -three<br> - other Kings, who were not paid for guarding the Passes, tell -them by<br> - runner of the bad faith of Bunar and Hilas. When all the evil -is<br> - done, look you - when these two strangers with the levels and -the<br> - compasses make the Five Kings to believe that a great army -will<br> - sweep the Passes tomorrow or the next day - Hill-people are -all<br> - fools - comes the order to me, Hurree Babu, "Go North and see -what<br> - those strangers do." I say to Creighton Sahib, "This is not -a<br> - lawsuit, that we go about to collect evidence."'Hurree returned -to<br> - his English with a jerk: "'By Jove," I said, "why the dooce do -you<br> - not issue demi-offeecial orders to some brave man to poison -them,<br> - for an example? It is, if you permit the observation, most<br> - reprehensible laxity on your part." And Colonel Creighton, -he<br> - laughed at me! It is all your beastly English pride. You think -no<br> - one dare conspire! That is all tommy-rott.'</p> - -<p>Kim smoked slowly, revolving the business, so far as he -understood<br> - it, in his quick mind.</p> - -<p>'Then thou goest forth to follow the strangers?'</p> - -<p>'No. To meet them. They are coming in to Simla to send down -their<br> - horns and heads to be dressed at Calcutta. They are -exclusively<br> - sporting gentlemen, and they are allowed special faceelities by -the<br> - Government. Of course, we always do that. It is our British -pride.'</p> - -<p>'Then what is to fear from them?'</p> - -<p>'By Jove, they are not black people. I can do all sorts of -things<br> - with black people, of course. They are Russians, and highly<br> - unscrupulous people. I - I do not want to consort with them -without<br> - a witness.'</p> - -<p>'Will they kill thee?'</p> - -<p>'Oah, thatt is nothing. I am good enough Herbert Spencerian, -I<br> - trust, to meet little thing like death, which is all in my fate, -you<br> - know. But - but they may beat me.'</p> - -<p>'Why?'</p> - -<p>Hurree Babu snapped his fingers with irritation. 'Of course I -shall<br> - affeeliate myself to their camp in supernumerary capacity as -perhaps<br> - interpreter, or person mentally impotent and hungree, or some -such<br> - thing. And then I must pick up what I can, I suppose. That is -as<br> - easy for me as playing Mister Doctor to the old lady. Onlee - -onlee<br> - - you see, Mister O'Hara, I am unfortunately Asiatic, which -is<br> - serious detriment in some respects. And all-so I am Bengali - -a<br> - fearful man.'</p> - -<p>'God made the Hare and the Bengali. What shame?' said Kim, -quoting<br> - the proverb.</p> - -<p>'It was process of Evolution, I think, from Primal Necessity, -but<br> - the fact remains in all the cui bono. I am, oh, awfully fearful! -- I<br> - remember once they wanted to cut off my head on the road to -Lhassa.<br> - (No, I have never reached to Lhassa.) I sat down and cried, -Mister<br> - O'Hara, anticipating Chinese tortures. I do not suppose these -two<br> - gentlemen will torture me, but I like to provide for -possible<br> - contingency with European assistance in emergency.' He coughed -and<br> - spat out the cardamoms. 'It is purely unoffeecial indent, to -which<br> - you can say "No, Babu". If you have no pressing engagement with -your<br> - old man - perhaps you might divert him; perhaps I can seduce -his<br> - fancies - I should like you to keep in Departmental touch with -me<br> - till I find those sporting coves. I have great opeenion of -you<br> - since I met my friend at Delhi. And also I will embody your name -in<br> - my offeecial report when matter is finally adjudicated. It will -be<br> - a great feather in your cap. That is why I come really.</p> - -<p>'Humph! The end of the tale, I think, is true; but what of -the<br> - fore-part?'</p> - -<p>'About the Five Kings? Oah! there is ever so much truth in it. -A<br> - lots more than you would suppose,' said Hurree earnestly. 'You -come<br> - - eh? I go from here straight into the Doon. It is verree -verdant<br> - and painted meads. I shall go to Mussoorie to good old -Munsoorie<br> - Pahar, as the gentlemen and ladies say. Then by Rampur into -Chini.<br> - That is the only way they can come. I do not like waiting in -the<br> - cold, but we must wait for them. I want to walk with them to -Simla.<br> - You see, one Russian is a Frenchman, and I know my French -pretty<br> - well. I have friends in Chandernagore.'</p> - -<p>'He would certainly rejoice to see the Hills again,' said -Kim<br> - meditatively. 'All his speech these ten days past has been of -little<br> - else. If we go together -'</p> - -<p>'Oah! We can be quite strangers on the road, if your lama -prefers. I<br> - shall just be four or five miles ahead. There is no hurry for -Hurree<br> - - that is an Europe pun, ha! ha! - and you come after. There -is<br> - plenty of time; they will plot and survey and map, of course. -I<br> - shall go tomorrow, and you the next day, if you choose. Eh? You -go<br> - think on it till morning. By Jove, it is near morning now.' -He<br> - yawned ponderously, and with never a civil word lumbered off to -his<br> - sleeping-place. But Kim slept little, and his thoughts ran -in<br> - Hindustani:</p> - -<p>'Well is the Game called great! I was four days a scullion -at<br> - Quetta, waiting on the wife of the man whose book I stole. And -that<br> - was part of the Great Game! From the South - God knows how far --<br> - came up the Mahratta, playing the Great Game in fear of his -life.<br> - Now I shall go far and far into the North playing the Great -Game.<br> - Truly, it runs like a shuttle throughout all Hind. And my share -and<br> - my joy' - he smiled to the darkness-'I owe to the lama here. -Also to<br> - Mahbub Ali - also to Creighton Sahib, but chiefly to the Holy -One.<br> - He is right - a great and a wonderful world - and I am Kim - Kim --<br> - Kim - alone - one person - in the middle of it all. But I will -see<br> - these strangers with their levels and chains . . .'</p> - -<p>'What was the upshot of last night's babble?' said the lama, -after<br> - his orisons</p> - -<p>'There came a strolling seller of drugs - a hanger-on of -the<br> - Sahiba's. Him I abolished by arguments and prayers, proving -that<br> - our charms are worthier than his coloured waters.'</p> - -<p>'Alas, my charms! Is the virtuous woman still bent upon a new -one?'</p> - -<p>'Very strictly.'</p> - -<p>'Then it must be written, or she will deafen me with her -clamour.'<br> - He fumbled at his pencase.</p> - -<p>'In the Plains,' said Kim, 'are always too many people. In -the<br> - Hills, as I understand, there are fewer.'</p> - -<p>'Oh! the Hills, and the snows upon the Hills.' The lami tore -off a<br> - tiny square of paper fit to go in an amulet. 'But what dost -thou<br> - know of the Hills?'</p> - -<p>'They are very close.' Kim thrust open the door and looked at -the<br> - long, peaceful line of the Himalayas flushed in morning- -gold.<br> - 'Except in the dress of a Sahib, I have never set foot among -them.'</p> - -<p>The lama snuffed the wind wistfully.</p> - -<p>'If we go North,' - Kim put the question to the waking sunrise --<br> - 'would not much mid-day heat be avoided by walking among the -lower<br> - hills at least? ... Is the charm made, Holy One?'</p> - -<p>'I have written the names of seven silly devils - not one of -whom is<br> - worth a grain of dust in the eye. Thus do foolish women drag -us<br> - from the Way!'</p> - -<p>Hurree Babu came out from behind the dovecote washing his -teeth with<br> - ostentatious ritual. Full-fleshed, heavy-haunched, bull-necked, -and<br> - deep-voiced, he did not look like 'a fearful man'. Kim -signed<br> - almost imperceptibly that matters were in good train, and when -the<br> - morning toilet was over, Hurree Babu, in flowery speech, came to -do<br> - honour to the lama. They ate, of course, apart, and afterwards -the<br> - old lady, more or less veiled behind a window, returned to the -vital<br> - business of green-mango colics in the young. The lama's -knowledge of<br> - medicine "was, of course, sympathetic only. He believed that -the<br> - dung of a black horse, mixed with sulphur, and carried in a -snake-<br> - skin, was a sound remedy for cholera; but the symbolism -interested<br> - him far more than the science. Hurree Babu deferred to these -views<br> - with enchanting politeness, so that the lama called him a -courteous<br> - physician. Hurree Babu replied that he was no more than an -inexpert<br> - dabbler in the mysteries; but at least - he thanked the Gods<br> - therefore - he knew when he sat in the presence of a master. -He<br> - himself had been taught by the Sahibs, who do not consider -expense,<br> - in the lordly halls of Calcutta; but, as he was ever first -to<br> - acknowledge, there lay a wisdom behind earthly wisdom - the high -and<br> - lonely lore of meditation. Kim looked on with envy. The Hurree -Babu<br> - of his knowledge - oily, effusive, and nervous - was gone; -gone,<br> - too, was the brazen drug-vendor of overnight. There remained --<br> - polished, polite, attentive - a sober, learned son of experience -and<br> - adversity, gathering wisdom from the lama's lips. The old -lady<br> - confided to Kim that these rare levels were beyond her. She -liked<br> - charms with plenty of ink that one could wash off in water, -swallow,<br> - and be done with. Else what was the use of the Gods? She liked -men<br> - and women, and she spoke of them - of kinglets she had known in -the<br> - past; of her own youth and beauty; of the depredations of -leopards<br> - and the eccentricities of love Asiatic; of the incidence of<br> - taxation, rack-renting, funeral ceremonies, her son-in-law (this -by<br> - allusion, easy to be followed), the care of the young, and the -age's<br> - lack of decency. And Kim, as interested in the life of this -world as<br> - she soon to leave it, squatted with his feet under the hem of -his<br> - robe, drinking all in, while the lama demolished one after -another<br> - every theory of body-curing put forward by Hurree Babu.</p> - -<p>At noon the Babu strapped up his brass-bound drug-box, took -his<br> - patent-leather shoes of ceremony in one hand, a gay -blue-and-white<br> - umbrella in the other, and set off northwards to the Doon, -where, he<br> - said, he was in demand among the lesser kings of those -parts.</p> - -<p>'We will go in the cool of the evening, chela,' said the lama. -'That<br> - doctor, learned in physic and courtesy, affirms that the -people<br> - among these lower hills are devout, generous, and much in need -of a<br> - teacher. In a very short time - so says the hakim - we come to -cool<br> - air and the smell of pines.'</p> - -<p>'Ye go to the Hills? And by Kulu road? Oh, thrice happy!' -shrilled<br> - the old lady. 'But that I am a little pressed with the care of -the<br> - homestead I would take palanquin ... but that would be -shameless,<br> - and my reputation would be cracked. Ho! Ho! I know the road - -every<br> - march of the road I know. Ye will find charity throughout - it -is<br> - not denied to the well-looking. I will give orders for -provision. A<br> - servant to set you forth upon your journey? No ... Then I will -at<br> - least cook ye good food.'</p> - -<p>'What a woman is the Sahiba!' said the white-bearded Oorya, -when a<br> - tumult rose by the kitchen quarters. 'She has never forgotten -a<br> - friend: she has never forgotten an enemy in all her years. And -her<br> - cookery - wah!' He rubbed his slim stomach.</p> - -<p>There were cakes, there were sweetmeats, there was cold fowl -stewed<br> - to rags with rice and prunes - enough to burden Kim like a -mule.</p> - -<p>'I am old and useless,' she said. 'None now love me - and -none<br> - respect - but there are few to compare with me when I call on -the<br> - Gods and squat to my cooking-pots. Come again, O people of -good<br> - will. Holy One and disciple, come again. The room is always<br> - prepared; the welcome is always ready ... See the women do -not<br> - follow thy chela too openly. I know the women of Kulu. Take -heed,<br> - chela, lest he run away when he smells his Hills again ... Hai! -Do<br> - not tilt the rice-bag upside down ... Bless the household, Holy -One,<br> - and forgive thy servant her stupidities.'</p> - -<p>She wiped her red old eyes on a corner of her veil, and -clucked<br> - throatily.</p> - -<p>'Women talk,' said the lama at last, 'but that is a -woman's<br> - infirmity. I gave her a charm. She is upon the Wheel and -wholly<br> - given over to the shows of this life, but none the less, chela, -she<br> - is virtuous, kindly, hospitable - of a whole and zealous heart. -Who<br> - shall say she does not acquire merit?'</p> - -<p>'Not I, Holy One,' said Kim, reslinging the bountiful -provision on<br> - his shoulders. 'In my mind - behind my eyes - I have tried -to<br> - picture such an one altogether freed from the Wheel - -desiring<br> - nothing, causing nothing - a nun, as it were'</p> - -<p>'And, O imp?' The lama almost laughed aloud.</p> - -<p>'I cannot make the picture.'</p> - -<p>'Nor I. But there are many, many millions of lives before her. -She<br> - will get wisdom a little, it may be, in each one.'</p> - -<p>'And will she forget how to make stews with saffron upon that -road?'</p> - -<p>'Thy mind is set on things unworthy. But she has skill. I -am<br> - refreshed all over. When we reach the lower hills I shall be -yet<br> - stronger. The hakim spoke truly to me this morn when he said -a<br> - breath from the snows blows away twenty years from the life of -a<br> - man. We will go up into the Hills - the high hills - up to -the<br> - sound of snow-waters and the sound of the trees - for a -little<br> - while. The hakim said that at any time we may return to the -Plains,<br> - for we do no more than skirt the pleasant places. The hakim is -full<br> - of learning; but he is in no way proud. I spoke to him - when -thou<br> - wast talking to the Sahiba - of a certain dizziness that lays -hold<br> - upon the back of my neck in the night, and he said it rose -from<br> - excessive heat - to be cured by cool air. Upon consideration, -I<br> - marvelled that I had not thought of such a simple remedy.'</p> - -<p>'Didst thou tell him of thy Search?' said Kim, a little -jealously.<br> - He preferred to sway the lama by his own speech - not through -the<br> - wiles of Hurree Babu.</p> - -<p>'Assuredly. I told him of my dream, and of the manner by which -I had<br> - acquired merit by causing thee to be taught wisdom.'</p> - -<p>'Thou didst not say I was a Sahib?'</p> - -<p>'What need? I have told thee many times we be but two souls -seeking<br> - escape. He said - and he is just herein - that the River of -Healing<br> - will break forth even as I dreamed - at my feet, if need be. -Having<br> - found the Way, seest thou, that shall free me from the Wheel, -need I<br> - trouble to find a way about the mere fields of earth - which -are<br> - illusion? That were senseless. I have my dreams, night upon -night<br> - repeated; I have Fataka; and I have thee, Friend of all the -World.<br> - It was written in thy horoscope that a Red Bull on a green field -- I<br> - have not forgotten - should bring thee to honour. Who but I saw -that<br> - prophecy accomplished? Indeed, I was the instrument. Thou shalt -find<br> - me my River, being in return the instrument. The Search is -sure!'</p> - -<p>He set his ivory-yellow face, serene and untroubled, towards -the<br> - beckoning Hills; his shadow shouldering far before him in the -dust.</p> - -<p></p> - -<h2>Chapter 13</h2> - -<p><br> - Who hath desired the Sea - the immense and contemptuous -surges?<br> - The shudder, the stumble, the swerve ere the star-stabbing -bowsprit<br> - merges -<br> - The orderly clouds of the Trades and the ridged roaring<br> - sapphire thereunder -<br> - Unheralded cliff-lurking flaws and the head-sails' -low-volleying<br> - thunder?<br> - His Sea in no wonder the same - his Sea and the same in each -wonder<br> - -<br> - His Sea that his being fulfils?<br> - So and no otherwise - so and no otherwise hill-men desire -their<br> - hills!</p> - -<p>The Sea and the Hills.</p> - -<p>'Who goes to the hills goes to his mother.'</p> - -<p>They had crossed the Siwaliks and the half-tropical Doon, -left<br> - Mussoorie behind them, and headed north along the narrow -hill-roads.<br> - Day after day they struck deeper into the huddled mountains, and -day<br> - after day Kim watched the lama return to a man's strength. Among -the<br> - terraces of the Doon he had leaned on the boy's shoulder, ready -to<br> - profit by wayside halts. Under the great ramp to Mussoorie he -drew<br> - himself together as an old hunter faces a well-remembered bank, -and<br> - where he should have sunk exhausted swung his long draperies -about<br> - him, drew a deep double-lungful of the diamond air, and walked -as<br> - only a hillman can. Kim, plains-bred and plains-fed, sweated -and<br> - panted astonished. 'This is my country,' said the lama. -'Beside<br> - Such-zen, this is flatter than a rice-field'; and with -steady,<br> - driving strokes from the loins he strode upwards. But it was on -the<br> - steep downhill marches, three thousand feet in three hours, that -he<br> - went utterly away from Kim, whose back ached with holding back, -and<br> - whose big toe was nigh cut off by his grass sandal-string. -Through<br> - the speckled shadow of the great deodar-forests; through oak<br> - feathered and plumed with ferns; birch, ilex, rhododendron, -and<br> - pine, out on to the bare hillsides' slippery sunburnt grass, -and<br> - back into the woodlands' coolth again, till oak gave way to -bamboo<br> - and palm of the valley, the lama swung untiring.</p> - -<p><br> - Glancing back in the twilight at the huge ridges behind him and -the<br> - faint, thin line of the road whereby they had come, he would -lay<br> - out, with a hillman's generous breadth of vision, fresh marches -for<br> - the morrow; or, halting in the neck of some uplifted pass that -gave<br> - on Spiti and Kulu, would stretch out his hands yearningly -towards<br> - the high snows of the horizon. In the dawns they flared -windy-red<br> - above stark blue, as Kedar- nath and Badrinath - kings of -that<br> - wilderness - took the first sunlight. All day long they lay -like<br> - molten silver under the sun, and at evening put on their -jewels<br> - again. At first they breathed temperately upon the travellers, -winds<br> - good to meet when one crawled over some gigantic hog's-back; but -in<br> - a few days, at a height of nine or ten thousand feet, those -breezes<br> - bit; and Kim kindly allowed a village of hillmen to acquire -merit by<br> - giving him a rough blanket-coat. The lama was mildly surprised -that<br> - anyone should object to the knife-edged breezes which had cut -the<br> - years off his shoulders.</p> - -<p>'These are but the lower hills, chela. There is no cold till -we come<br> - to the true Hills.'</p> - -<p>'Air and water are good, and the people are devout enough, but -the<br> - food is very bad,' Kim growled; 'and we walk as though we were -mad -<br> - or English. It freezes at night, too.'</p> - -<p>'A little, maybe; but only enough to make old bones rejoice in -the<br> - sun. We must not always delight in soft beds and rich food.'</p> - -<p>'We might at least keep to the road.'</p> - -<p>Kim had all a plainsman's affection for the well-trodden -track, not<br> - six feet wide, that snaked among the mountains; but the lama, -being<br> - Tibetan, could not refrain from short cuts over spurs and the -rims<br> - of gravel-strewn slopes. As he explained to his limping -disciple, a<br> - man bred among mountains can prophesy the course of a -mountain-road,<br> - and though low-lying clouds might be a hindrance to a -short-cutting<br> - stranger, they made no earthly difference to a thoughtful man. -Thus,<br> - after long hours of what would be reckoned very fair -mountaineering<br> - in civilized countries, they would pant over a saddle-back, -sidle<br> - past a few landslips, and drop through forest at an angle of -forty-<br> - five onto the road again. Along their track lay the villages of -the<br> - hillfolk - mud and earth huts, timbers now and then rudely -carved<br> - with an axe - clinging like swallows' nests against the -steeps,<br> - huddled on tiny flats half-way down a three-thousand-foot -glissade;<br> - jammed into a corner between cliffs that funnelled and focused -every<br> - wandering blast; or, for the sake of summer pasture, cowering -down<br> - on a neck that in winter would be ten feet deep in snow. And -the<br> - people - the sallow, greasy, duffle- clad people, with short -bare<br> - legs and faces almost Esquimaux - would flock out and adore. -The<br> - Plains - kindly and gentle - had treated the lama as a holy -man<br> - among holy men. But the Hills worshipped him as one in the<br> - confidence of all their devils. Theirs was an almost -obliterated<br> - Buddhism, overlaid with a nature-worship fantastic as their -own<br> - landscapes, elaborate as the terracing of their tiny fields; -but<br> - they recognized the big hat, the clicking rosary, and the -rare<br> - Chinese texts for great authority; and they respected the -man<br> - beneath the hat.</p> - -<p>'We saw thee come down over the black Breasts of Eua,' said a -Betah<br> - who gave them cheese, sour milk, and stone-hard bread one -evening.<br> - 'We do not use that often - except when calving cows stray -in<br> - summer. There is a sudden wind among those stones that casts -men<br> - down on the stillest day. But what should such folk care for -the<br> - Devil of Eua!'</p> - -<p>Then did Kim, aching in every fibre, dizzy with looking -down,<br> - footsore with cramping desperate toes into inadequate crannies, -take<br> - joy in the day's march - such joy as a boy of St Xavier's who -had<br> - won the quarter-mile on the flat might take in the praises of -his<br> - friends. The hills sweated the ghi and sugar suet off his -bones;<br> - the dry air, taken sobbingly at the head of cruel passes, firmed -and<br> - built out his upper ribs; and the tilted levels put new hard -muscles<br> - into calf and thigh.</p> - -<p>They meditated often on the Wheel of Life - the more so since, -as<br> - the lama said, they were freed from its visible temptations. -Except<br> - the grey eagle and an occasional far-seen bear grubbing and -rooting<br> - on the hillside; a vision of a furious painted leopard met at -dawn<br> - in a still valley devouring a goat; and now and again a -bright-<br> - coloured bird, they were alone with the winds and the grass -singing<br> - under the wind. The women of the smoky huts over whose roofs -the<br> - two walked as they descended the mountains, were unlovely -and<br> - unclean, wives of many husbands, and afflicted with goitre. The -men<br> - were woodcutters when they were not farmers - meek, and of -an<br> - incredible simplicity. But that suitable discourse might not -fail,<br> - Fate sent them, overtaking and overtaken upon the road, the<br> - courteous Dacca physician, who paid for his food in ointments -good<br> - for goitre and counsels that restore peace between men and -women. He<br> - seemed to know these hills as well as he knew the hill dialects, -and<br> - gave the lama the lie of the land towards Ladakh and Tibet. He -said<br> - they could return to the Plains at any moment. Meantime, for -such as<br> - loved mountains, yonder road might amuse. This was not all -revealed<br> - in a breath, but at evening encounters on the stone -threshing-<br> - floors, when, patients disposed of, the doctor would smoke and -the<br> - lama snuff, while Kim watched the wee cows grazing on the -housetops,<br> - or threw his soul after his eyes across the deep blue gulfs -between<br> - range and range. And there were talks apart in the dark woods, -when<br> - the doctor would seek herbs, and Kim, as budding physician, -must<br> - accompany him.</p> - -<p>'You see, Mister O'Hara, I do not know what the deuce-an'- all -I<br> - shall do when I find our sporting friends; but if you will -kindly<br> - keep within sight of my umbrella, which is fine fixed point -for<br> - cadastral survey, I shall feel much better.'</p> - -<p>Kim looked out across the jungle of peaks. 'This is not my -country,<br> - hakim. Easier, I think, to find one louse in a bear-skin.'</p> - -<p>'Oah, thatt is my strong points. There is no hurry for Hurree. -They<br> - were at Leh not so long ago. They said they had come down from -the<br> - Karakorum with their heads and horns and all. I am onlee afraid -they<br> - will have sent back all their letters and compromising things -from<br> - Leh into Russian territoree. Of course they will walk away as -far to<br> - the East as possible - just to show that they were never among -the<br> - Western States. You do not know the Hills?' He scratched with a -twig<br> - on the earth. 'Look! They should have come in by Srinagar or<br> - Abbottabad. Thatt is their short road - down the river by Bunji -and<br> - Astor. But they have made mischief in the West. So' - he drew -a<br> - furrow from left to right - 'they march and they march away East -to<br> - Leh (ah! it is cold there), and down the Indus to Hanle (I know -that<br> - road), and then down, you see, to Bushahr and Chini valley. That -is<br> - ascertained by process of elimination, and also by asking -questions<br> - from people that I cure so well. Our friends have been a long -time<br> - playing about and producing impressions. So they are well known -from<br> - far off. You will see me catch them somewhere in Chini -valley.<br> - Please keep your eye on the umbrella.'</p> - -<p>It nodded like a wind-blown harebell down the valleys and -round the<br> - mountain sides, and in due time the lama and Kim, who steered -by<br> - compass, would overhaul it, vending ointments and powders at<br> - eventide. 'We came by such and such a way!' The lama would throw -a<br> - careless finger backward at the ridges, and the umbrella -would<br> - expend itself in compliments.</p> - -<p>They crossed a snowy pass in cold moonlight, when the lama, -mildly<br> - chaffing Kim, went through up to his knees, like a Bactrian -camel -<br> - the snow-bred, shag-haired sort that came into the Kashmir -Serai.<br> - They dipped across beds of light snow and snow-powdered shale, -where<br> - they took refuge from a gale in a camp of Tibetans hurrying -down<br> - tiny sheep, each laden with a bag of borax. They came out -upon<br> - grassy shoulders still snow-speckled, and through forest, to -grass<br> - anew. For all their marchings, Kedarnath and Badrinath were -not<br> - impressed; and it was only after days of travel that Kim, -uplifted<br> - upon some insignificant ten-thousand-foot hummock, could see -that a<br> - shoulder-knot or horn of the two great lords had - ever so -slightly<br> - - changed outline.</p> - -<p>At last they entered a world within a world - a valley of -leagues<br> - where the high hills were fashioned of a mere rubble and refuse -from<br> - off the knees of the mountains. Here one day's march carried -them no<br> - farther, it seemed, than a dreamer's clogged pace bears him in -a<br> - nightmare. They skirted a shoulder painfully for hours, and,<br> - behold, it was but an outlying boss in an outlying buttress of -the<br> - main pile! A rounded meadow revealed itself, when they had -reached<br> - it, for a vast tableland running far into the valley. Three -days<br> - later, it was a dim fold in the earth to southward.</p> - -<p>'Surely the Gods live here!' said Kim, beaten down by the -silence<br> - and the appalling sweep and dispersal of the cloud-shadows -after<br> - rain. 'This is no place for men!'</p> - -<p>'Long and long ago,' said the lama, as to himself, 'it was -asked of<br> - the Lord whether the world were everlasting. o this the -Excellent<br> - One returned no answer ... When I was in Ceylon, a wise -Seeker<br> - confirmed that from the gospel which is written in Pali. -Certainly,<br> - since we know the way to Freedom, the question were -unprofitable,<br> - but - look, and know illusion, chela! These- are the true -Hills!<br> - They are like my hills by Suchzen. Never were such hills!'</p> - -<p>Above them, still enormously above them, earth towered away -towards<br> - the snow-line, where from east to west across hundreds of -miles,<br> - ruled as with a ruler, the last of the bold birches stopped. -Above<br> - that, in scarps and blocks upheaved, the rocks strove to fight -their<br> - heads above the white smother. Above these again, changeless -since<br> - the world's beginning, but changing to every mood of sun and -cloud,<br> - lay out the eternal snow. They could see blots and blurs on its -face<br> - where storm and wandering wullie-wa got up to dance. Below them, -as<br> - they stood, the forest slid away in a sheet of blue-green for -mile<br> - upon mile; below the forest was a village in its sprinkle of<br> - terraced fields and steep grazing-grounds. Below the village -they<br> - knew, though a thunderstorm worried and growled there for -the<br> - moment, a pitch of twelve or fifteen hundred feet gave to the -moist<br> - valley where the streams gather that are the mothers of -young<br> - Sutluj.</p> - -<p>As usual, the lama had led Kim by cow-track and by-road, far -from<br> - the main route along which Hurree Babu, that 'fearful man', -had<br> - bucketed three days before through a storm to which nine -Englishmen<br> - out of ten would have given full right of way. Hurree was no -game-<br> - shot - the snick of a trigger made him change colour - but, as -he<br> - himself would have said, he was 'fairly effeecient stalker', and -he<br> - had raked the huge valley with a pair of cheap binoculars to -some<br> - purpose. Moreover, the white of worn canvas tents against -green<br> - carries far. Hurree Babu had seen all he wanted to see when he -sat<br> - on the threshing-floor of Ziglaur, twenty miles away as the -eagle<br> - flies, and forty by road - that is to say, two small dots which -one<br> - day were just below the snow-line, and the next had moved -downward<br> - perhaps six inches on the hillside. Once cleaned out and set to -the<br> - work, his fat bare legs could cover a surprising amount of -ground,<br> - and this was the reason why, while Kim and the lama lay in a -leaky<br> - hut at Ziglaur till the storm should be over-past, an oily, wet, -but<br> - always smiling Bengali, talking the best of English with the -vilest<br> - of phrases, was ingratiating himself with two sodden and -rather<br> - rheumatic foreigners. He had arrived, revolving many wild -schemes,<br> - on the heels of a thunderstorm which had split a pine over -against<br> - their camp, and so convinced a dozen or two forcibly -impressed<br> - baggage-coolies the day was inauspicious for farther travel -that<br> - with one accord they had thrown down their loads and jibbed. -They<br> - were subjects of a Hill Rajah who farmed out their services, as -is<br> - the custom, for his private gain; and, to add to their -personal<br> - distresses, the strange Sahibs had already threatened them -with<br> - rifles. The most of them knew rifles and Sahibs of old: they -were<br> - trackers and shikarris of the Northern valleys, keen after bear -and<br> - wild goat; but they had never been thus treated in their lives. -So<br> - the forest took them to her bosom, and, for all oaths and -clamour,<br> - refused to restore. There was no need to feign madness or - the -Babu<br> - had thought of another means of securing a welcome. He wrung out -his<br> - wet clothes, slipped on his patent-leather shoes, opened the -blue-<br> - and-white umbrella, and with mincing gait and a heart -beating<br> - against his tonsils appeared as 'agent for His Royal Highness, -the<br> - Rajah of Rampur, gentlemen. What can I do for you, please?'</p> - -<p>The gentlemen were delighted. One was visibly French, the -other<br> - Russian, but they spoke English not much inferior to the -Babu's.<br> - They begged his kind offices. Their native servants had gone -sick at<br> - Leh. They had hurried on because they were anxious to bring -the<br> - spoils of the chase to Simla ere the skins grew moth-eaten. -They<br> - bore a general letter of introduction (the Babu salaamed to -it<br> - orientally) to all Government officials. No, they had not met -any<br> - other shooting-parties en route. They did for themselves. They -had<br> - plenty of supplies. They only wished to push on as soon as might -be.<br> - At this he waylaid a cowering hillman among the trees, and -after<br> - three minutes' talk and a little silver (one cannot be -economical<br> - upon State service, though Hurree's heart bled at the waste) -the<br> - eleven coolies and the three hangers-on reappeared. At least -the<br> - Babu would be a witness to their oppression.</p> - -<p>'My royal master, he will be much annoyed, but these people -are<br> - onlee common people and grossly ignorant. If your honours -will<br> - kindly overlook unfortunate affair, I shall be much pleased. In -a<br> - little while rain will stop and we can then proceed. You have -been<br> - shooting, eh? That is fine performance!'</p> - -<p>He skipped nimbly from one kilta to the next, making pretence -to<br> - adjust each conical basket. The Englishman is not, as a -rule,<br> - familiar with the Asiatic, but he would not strike across the -wrist<br> - a kindly Babu who had accidentally upset a kilta with a red -oilskin<br> - top. On the other hand, he would not press drink upon a Babu -were<br> - he never so friendly, nor would he invite him to meat. The<br> - strangers did all these things, and asked many questions - -about<br> - women mostly - to which Hurree returned gay and unstudied -answers.<br> - They gave him a glass of whitish fluid like to gin, and then -more;<br> - and in a little time his gravity departed from him. He -became<br> - thickly treasonous, and spoke in terms of sweeping indecency of -a<br> - Government which had forced upon him a white man's education -and<br> - neglected to supply him with a white man's salary. He babbled -tales<br> - of oppression and wrong till the tears ran down his cheeks for -the<br> - miseries of his land. Then he staggered off, singing love-songs -of<br> - Lower Bengal, and collapsed upon a wet tree-trunk. Never was -so<br> - unfortunate a product of English rule in India more unhappily -thrust<br> - upon aliens.</p> - -<br> -'They are all just of that pattern,' said one sportsman to the -other <br> -in French. 'When we get into India proper thou wilt see. I should -<br> -like to visit his Rajah. One might speak the good word there. It -is <br> -possible that he has heard of us and wishes to signify his -good-<br> -will.' - -<p>'We have not time. We must get into Simla as soon as may be,' -his<br> - companion replied. 'For my own part, I wish our reports had -been<br> - sent back from Hilas, or even Leh.'</p> - -<p>'The English post is better and safer. Remember we are given -all<br> - facilities - and Name of God! - they give them to us too! Is -it<br> - unbelievable stupidity?'</p> - -<p>'It is pride - pride that deserves and will receive -punishment.'</p> - -<p>'Yes! To fight a fellow-Continental in our game is something. -There<br> - is a risk attached, but these people - bah! It is too easy.'</p> - -<p>'Pride - all pride, my friend.'</p> - -<p>'Now what the deuce is good of Chandernagore being so close -to<br> - Calcutta and all,' said Hurree, snoring open-mouthed on the -sodden<br> - moss, 'if I cannot understand their French? They talk so<br> - particularly fast! It would have been much better to cut -their<br> - beastly throats.'</p> - -<p>When he presented himself again he was racked with a headache --<br> - penitent, and volubly afraid that in his drunkenness he might -have<br> - been indiscreet. He loved the British Government - it was the -source<br> - of all prosperity and honour, and his master at Rampur held the -very<br> - same opinion. Upon this the men began to deride him and to -quote<br> - past words, till step by step, with deprecating smirks, oily -grins,<br> - and leers of infinite cunning, the poor Babu was beaten out of -his<br> - defences and forced to speak - truth. When Lurgan was told the -tale<br> - later, he mourned aloud that he could not have been in the place -of<br> - the stubborn, inattentive coolies, who with grass mats over -their<br> - heads and the raindrops puddling in their footprints, waited on -the<br> - wea- ther. All the Sahibs of their acquaintance - rough-clad -men<br> - joyously returning year after year to their chosen gullies - -had<br> - servants and cooks and orderlies, very often hillmen. These -Sahibs<br> - travelled without any retinue. Therefore they were poor Sahibs, -and<br> - ignorant; for no Sahib in his senses would follow a -Bengali's<br> - advice. But the Bengali, appearing from somewhere, had given -them<br> - money, and could make shift with their dialect. Used to<br> - comprehensive ill-treatment from their own colour, they -suspected a<br> - trap somewhere, and stood by to run if occasion offered.</p> - -<p>Then through the new-washed air, steaming with delicious -earth-<br> - smells, the Babu led the way down the slopes - walking ahead of -the<br> - coolies in pride; walking behind the foreigners in humility. -His<br> - thoughts were many and various. The least of them would have<br> - interested his companions beyond words. But he was an -agreeable<br> - guide, ever keen to point out the beauties of his royal -master's<br> - domain. He peopled the hills with anything thev had a mind to -slay -<br> - thar, ibex, or markhor, and bear by Elisha's allowance. He<br> - discoursed of botany and ethnology with unimpeachable -inaccuracy,<br> - and his store of local legends - he had been a trusted agent of -the<br> - State for fifteen years, remember - was inexhaustible.</p> - -<p>'Decidedly this fellow is an original,' said the taller of the -two<br> - foreigners. 'He is like the nightmare of a Viennese -courier.'</p> - -<p>'He represents in little India in transition - the -monstrous<br> - hybridism of East and West,' the Russian replied. 'It is we who -can<br> - deal with Orientals.'</p> - -<p>'He has lost his own country and has not acquired any other. -But he<br> - has a most complete hatred of his conquerors. Listen. He -confided to<br> - me last night,' said the other.</p> - -<p>Under the striped umbrella Hurree Babu was straining ear and -brain<br> - to follow the quick-poured French, and keeping both eyes on a -kilta<br> - full of maps and documents - an extra-large one with a double -red<br> - oil-skin cover. He did not wish to steal anything. He only -desired<br> - to know what to steal, and, incidentally, how to get away when -he<br> - had stolen it. He thanked all the Gods of Hindustan, and -Herbert<br> - Spencer, that there remained some valuables to steal.</p> - -<p>On the second dav the road rose steeply to a grass spur above -the<br> - forest; and it was here, about sunset, that they came across an -aged<br> - lama - but they called him a bonze - sitting cross-legged above -a<br> - mysterious chart held down by stones, which he was explaining to -a<br> - young man, evidently a neophyte, of singular, though -unwashen,<br> - beauty. The striped umbrella had been sighted half a march away, -and<br> - Kim had suggested a halt till it came up to them.</p> - -<p>'Ha!' said Hurree Babu, resourceful as Puss-in-Boots. 'That -is<br> - eminent local holy man. Probably subject of my royal -master.'</p> - -<p>'What is he doing? It is very curious.'</p> - -<p>'He is expounding holy picture - all hand-worked.'</p> - -<p>The two men stood bareheaded in the wash of the afternoon -sunlight<br> - low across the gold-coloured grass. The sullen coolies, glad of -the<br> - check, halted and slid down their loads.</p> - -<p>'Look!' said the Frenchman. 'It is like a picture for the -birth of a<br> - religion - the first teacher and the first disciple. Is he a<br> - Buddhist?'</p> - -<p>'Of some debased kind,' the other answered. 'There are no -true<br> - Buddhists among the Hills. But look at the folds of the -drapery.<br> - Look at his eyes - how insolent! Why does this make one feel -that we<br> - are so young a people?' The speaker struck passionately at a -tall<br> - weed. 'We have nowhere left our mark yet. Nowhere! That, do -you<br> - understand, is what disquiets me.' He scowled at the placid -face,<br> - and the monumental calm of the pose.</p> - -<p>'Have patience. We shall make your mark together - we and you -young<br> - people. Meantime, draw his picture.'</p> - -<p>The Babu advanced loftily; his back out of all keeping with -his<br> - deferential speech, or his wink towards Kim.</p> - -<p>'Holy One, these be Sahibs. My medicines cured one of a flux, -and I<br> - go into Simla to oversee his recovery. They wish to see thy -picture<br> - -'</p> - -<p>'To heal the sick is always good. This is the Wheel of Life,' -said<br> - the lama, 'the same I showed thee in the hut at Ziglaur when -the<br> - rain fell.'</p> - -<p>'And to hear thee expound it.'</p> - -<p>The lama's eyes lighted at the prospect of new listeners. -'To<br> - expound the Most Excellent Way is good. Have they any knowledge -of<br> - Hindi, such as had the Keeper of Images?'</p> - -<p>'A little, maybe.'</p> - -<p>Hereat, simply as a child engrossed with a new game, the lama -threw<br> - back his head and began the full-throated invocation of the -Doctor<br> - of Divinity ere he opens the full doctrine. The strangers leaned -on<br> - their alpenstocks and listened. Kim, squatting humbly, watched -the<br> - red sunlight on their faces, and the blend and parting of their -long<br> - shadows. They wore un-English leggings and curious girt-in -belts<br> - that reminded him hazily of the pictures in a book in St -Xavier's<br> - library "The Adventures of a Young Naturalist in Mexico" was -its<br> - name. Yes, they looked very like the wonderful M. Sumichrast of -that<br> - tale, and very unlike the 'highly unscrupulous folk' of -Hurree<br> - Babu's imagining. The coolies, earth-coloured and mute, -crouched<br> - reverently some twenty or thirty yards away, and the Babu, the -slack<br> - of his thin gear snapping like a marking-flag in the chill -breeze,<br> - stood by with an air of happy proprietorship.</p> - -<p>'These are the men,' Hurree whispered, as the ritual went on -and the<br> - two whites followed the grass-blade sweeping from Hell to Heaven -and<br> - back again. 'All their books are in the large kilta with the -reddish<br> - top - books and reports and maps - and I have seen a King's -letter<br> - that either Hilas or Bunar has written. They guard it most<br> - carefully. They have sent nothing back from Hilas or Leh. That -is<br> - sure.'</p> - -<p>'Who is with them?'</p> - -<p>'Only the beegar-coolies. They have no servants. They are so -close<br> - they cook their own food.'</p> - -<p>'But what am I to do?'</p> - -<p>'Wait and see. Only if any chance comes to me thou wilt know -where<br> - to seek for the papers.'</p> - -<p>'This were better in Mahbub Ali's hands than a Bengali's,' -said Kim<br> - scornfully.</p> - -<p>'There are more ways of getting to a sweetheart than butting -down a<br> - wall.'</p> - -<p>'See here the Hell appointed for avarice and greed. Flanked -upon the<br> - one side by Desire and on the other by Weariness.' The lama -warmed<br> - to his work, and one of the strangers sketched him in the -quick-<br> - fading light.</p> - -<p>'That is enough,' the man said at last brusquely. 'I -cannot<br> - understand him, but I want that picture. He is a better artist -than<br> - I. Ask him if he will sell it.'</p> - -<p>'He says "No, sar,"' the Babu replied. The lama, of course, -would no<br> - more have parted with his chart to a casual wayfarer than an<br> - archbishop would pawn the holy vessels of his cathedral. All -Tibet<br> - is full of cheap reproductions of the Wheel; but the lama was -an<br> - artist, as well as a wealthy Abbot in his own place.</p> - -<p>'Perhaps in three days, or four, or ten, if I perceive that -the<br> - Sahib is a Seeker and of good understanding, I may myself draw -him<br> - another. But this was used for the initiation of a novice. Tell -him<br> - so, hakim.'</p> - -<p>'He wishes it now - for money.'</p> - -<p>The lama shook his head slowly and began to fold up the Wheel. -The<br> - Russian, on his side, saw no more than an unclean old man -haggling<br> - over a dirty piece of paper. He drew out a handful of rupees, -and<br> - snatched half-jestingly at the chart,which tore in the lama's -grip.<br> - A low murmur of horror went up from the coolies - some of whom -were<br> - Spiti men and, by their lights, good Buddhists. The lama rose at -the<br> - insult; his hand went to the heavy iron pencase that is the -priest's<br> - weapon,and the Babu danced in agony.</p> - -<p>'Now you see - you see why I wanted witnesses. They are -highly<br> - unscrupulous people. Oh, sar! sar! You must not hit -holyman!'</p> - -<p>'Chela! He has defiled the Written Word!'</p> - -<p>It was too late. Before Kim could ward him off, the Russian -struck<br> - the old man full on the face. Next instant he was rolling over -and<br> - over downhill with Kim at his throat. The blow had waked -every<br> - unknown Irish devil in the boy's blood, and the sudden fall of -his<br> - enemy did the rest. The lama dropped to his knees, half-stunned; -the<br> - coolies under their loads fled up the hill as fast as plainsmen -run<br> - aross the level. They had seen sacrilege unspeakable, and it -behoved<br> - them to get away before the Gods and devils of the hills -took<br> - vengeance. The Frenchman ran towards the lama, fumbling at -his<br> - revolver with some notion of making him a hostage for his -companion.<br> - A shower of cutting stones - hillmen are very straight shots - -drove<br> - him away, and a coolie from Ao-chung snatched the lama into -the<br> - stampede. All came about as swiftly as the sudden -mountain-darkness.</p> - -<p>'They have taken the baggage and all the guns,' yelled the<br> - Frenchman, firing blindly into the twilight.</p> - -<p>'All right, sar! All right! Don't shoot. I go to rescue,' -and<br> - Hurree, pounding down the slope, cast himself bodily upon -the<br> - delighted and astonished Kim, who was banging his breathless -foe's<br> - head against a boulder.</p> - -<p>'Go back to the coolies,' whispered the Babu in his ear. 'They -have<br> - the baggage. The papers are in the kilta with the red top, but -look<br> - through all. Take their papers, and specially the murasla -[King's<br> - letter]. Go! The other man comes!'</p> - -<p>Kim tore uphill. A revolver-bullet rang on a rock by his side, -and<br> - he cowered partridge-wise.</p> - -<p>'If you shoot,' shouted Hurree, 'they will descend and -annihilate<br> - us. I have rescued the gentleman, sar. This is particularly<br> - dangerous.'</p> - -<p>'By Jove!' Kim was thinking hard in English. 'This is -dam'-tight<br> - place, but I think it is self-defence.' He felt in his bosom -for<br> - Mahbub's gift, and uncertainly - save for a few practice shots -in<br> - the Bikanir desert, he had never used the little gun -pulled -the<br> - trigger.</p> - -<p>'What did I say, sar!' The Babu seemed to be in tears. 'Come -down<br> - here and assist to resuscitate. We are all up a tree, I tell -you.'</p> - -<p>The shots ceased. There was a sound of stumbling feet, and -Kim<br> - hurried upward through the gloom, swearing like a cat - or a<br> - country-bred.</p> - -<p>'Did they wound thee, chela?' called the lama above him.</p> - -<p>'No. And thou?' He dived into a clump of stunted firs.</p> - -<p>'Unhurt. Come away. We go with these folk to -Shamlegh-under-the-<br> - Snow.'</p> - -<p>'But not before we have done justice,' a voice cried. 'I have -got<br> - the Sahibs' guns - all four. Let us go down.'</p> - -<p>'He struck the Holy One - we saw it! Our cattle will be -barren- our<br> - wives will cease to bear! The snows will slide upon us as we go -home<br> - ... Atop of all other oppression too!'</p> - -<p>The little fir-clump filled with clamouring coolies - -panic-<br> - stricken, and in their terror capable of anything. The man -from<br> - Ao-chung clicked the breech-bolt of his gun impatiently, and -made as<br> - to go downhill.</p> - -<p>'Wait a little, Holy One; they cannot go far. Wait till I -return,'<br> - said he.</p> - -<p>'It is this person who has suffered wrong,' said the lama, his -hand<br> - over his brow.</p> - -<p>'For that very reason,' was the reply.</p> - -<p>'If this person overlooks it, your hands are clean. Moreover, -ye<br> - acquire merit by obedience.'</p> - -<p>'Wait, and we will all go to Shamlegh together,' the man -insisted.</p> - -<p>For a moment, for just so long as it needs to stuff a -cartridge into<br> - a breech-loader, the lama hesitated. Then he rose to his feet, -and<br> - laid a finger on the man's shoulder.</p> - -<p>'Hast thou heard? I say there shall be no killing - I who was -Abbot<br> - of Such-zen. Is it any lust of thine to be re-born as a rat,or -a<br> - snake under the eaves - a worm in the belly of the most mean -beast?<br> - Is it thy wish to -'</p> - -<p>The man from Ao-chung fell to his knees, for the voice boomed -like a<br> - Tibetan devil-gong.</p> - -<p>'Ai! ai!' cried the Spiti men.'Do not curse us - do not curse -him.<br> - It was but his zeal, Holy One! . . . Put down the rifle, -fool!'</p> - -<p>'Anger on anger! Evil on evil! There will be no killing. Let -the<br> - priest-beaters go in bondage to their own acts. Just and sure is -the<br> - Wheel, swerving not a hair! They will be born many times - -in<br> - torment.' His head drooped, and he leaned heavily on Kim's -shoulder.</p> - -<p>'I have come near to great evil, chela,' he whispered in that -dead<br> - hush under the pines. 'I was tempted to loose the bullet; and -truly,<br> - in Tibet there would have been a heavy and a slow death for them -...<br> - He struck me across the face ... upon the flesh ...' He slid to -the<br> - ground, breathing heavily, and Kim could hear the over-driven -heart<br> - bump and check.</p> - -<p>'Have they hurt him to the death?' said the Ao-chung man, -while the<br> - others stood mute.</p> - -<p>Kim knelt over the body in deadly fear. 'Nay,' he cried<br> - passionately, 'this is only a weakness.' Then he remembered that -he<br> - was a white man, with a white man's camp-fittings at his -service.<br> - 'Open the kiltas! The Sahibs may have a medicine.'</p> - -<p>'Oho! Then I know it,' said the Ao-chung man with a laugh. -'Not for<br> - five years was I Yankling Sahib's shikarri without knowing -that<br> - medicine. I too have tasted it. Behold!'</p> - -<p>He drew from his breast a bottle of cheap whisky - such as is -sold<br> - to explorers at Leh - and cleverly forced a little between -the<br> - lama's teeth.</p> - -<p>'So I did when Yankling Sahib twisted his foot beyond Astor. -Aha! I<br> - have already looked into their baskets - but we will make -fair<br> - division at Shamlegh. Give him a little more. It is good -medicine.<br> - Feel! His heart goes better now. Lay his head down and rub a -little<br> - on the chest. If he had waited quietly while I accounted for -the<br> - Sahibs this would never have come. But perhaps the Sahibs may -chase<br> - us here. Then it would not be wrong to shoot them with their -own<br> - guns, heh?'</p> - -<br> -'One is paid, I think, already,' said Kim between his teeth. 'I -<br> -kicked him in the groin as we went downhill. Would I had killed -<br> -him!' - -<p>'It is well to be brave when one does not live in Rampur,' -said one<br> - whose hut lay within a few miles of the Rajah's rickety palace. -'If<br> - we get a bad name among the Sahibs, none will employ us as -shikarris<br> - any more.'</p> - -<p>'Oh, but these are not Angrezi Sahibs - not merry-minded men -like<br> - Fostum Sahib or Yankling Sahib. They are foreigners - they -cannot<br> - speak Angrezi as do Sahibs.'</p> - -<p>Here the lama coughed and sat up, groping for the rosary.</p> - -<p>'There shall be no killing,' he murmured. 'Just is the Wheel! -Evil<br> - on evil -'</p> - -<p>'Nay, Holy One. We are all here.' The Ao-chung man timidly -patted<br> - his feet. 'Except by thy order, no one shall be slain. Rest -awhile.<br> - We will make a little camp here, and later, as the moon rises, -we go<br> - to Shamlegh-under-the-Snow.'</p> - -<p>'After a blow, ' said a Spiti man sententiously, 'it is best -to<br> - sleep.'</p> - -<p>'There is, as it were, a dizziness at the back of my neck, and -a<br> - pinching in it. Let me lay my head on thy lap, chela. I am an -old<br> - man, but not free from passion . . . We must think of the Cause -of<br> - Things.'</p> - -<p>'Give him a blanket. We dare not light a fire lest the Sahibs -see.'</p> - -<p>'Better get away to Shamlegh. None will follow us to -Shamlegh.'</p> - -<p>This was the nervous Rampur man.</p> - -<p>'I have been Fostum Sahib's shikarri, and I am Yankling -Sahib's<br> - shikarri. I should have been with Yankling Sahib now but for -this<br> - cursed beegar [the corvee]. Let two men watch below with the -guns<br> - lest the Sahibs do more foolishness. I shall not leave this -Holy<br> - One.'</p> - -<p>They sat down a little apart from the lama, and, after -listening<br> - awhile, passed round a water-pipe whose receiver was an old Day -and<br> - Martin blacking-bottle. The glow of the red charcoal as it went -from<br> - hand to hand lit up the narrow, blinking eyes, the high -Chinese<br> - cheek-bones, and the bull-throats that melted away into the -dark<br> - duffle folds round the shoulders. They looked like kobolds from -some<br> - magic mine - gnomes of the hills in conclave. And while they -talked,<br> - the voices of the snow-waters round them diminished one by one -as<br> - the night- frost choked and clogged the runnels.'</p> - -<p>'How he stood up against us!' said a Spiti man admiring. 'I -remember<br> - an old ibex, out Ladakh-way, that Dupont Sahib missed on a -shoulder-<br> - shot, seven seasons back, standing up just like him. Dupont -Sahib<br> - was a good shikarri.'</p> - -<p>'Not as good as Yankling Sahib.' The Ao-chung man took a pull -at the<br> - whisky-bottle and passed it over. 'Now hear me - unless any -other<br> - man thinks he knows more.'</p> - -<p>The challenge was not taken up.</p> - -<p>'We go to Shamlegh when the moon rises. There we will fairly -divide<br> - the baggage between us. I am content with this new little rifle -and<br> - all its cartridges.'</p> - -<p>'Are the bears only bad on thy holding? said a mate, sucking -at the<br> - pipe.</p> - -<p>'No; but musk-pods are worth six rupees apiece now, and thy -women<br> - can have the canvas of the tents and some of the cooking-gear. -We<br> - will do all that at Shamlegh before dawn. Then we all go our -ways,<br> - remembering that we have never seen or taken service with -these<br> - Sahibs, who may, indeed, say that we have stolen their -baggage.'</p> - -<p>'That is well for thee, but what will our Rajah say?'</p> - -<p>'Who is to tell him? Those Sahibs, who cannot speak our talk, -or<br> - the Babu, who for his own ends gave us money? Will he lead an -army<br> - against us? What evidence will remain? That we do not need we -shall<br> - throw on Shamlegh-midden, where no man has yet set foot.'</p> - -<p>'Who is at Shamlegh this summer?' The place was only a grazing -centre<br> - of three or four huts.</p> - -<p>'The Woman of Shamlegh. She has no love for Sahibs, as we -know. The<br> - others can be pleased with little presents; and here is enough -for<br> - us all.' He patted the fat sides of the nearest basket.</p> - -<p>'But - but -'</p> - -<p>'I have said they are not true Sahibs. All their skins and -heads<br> - were bought in the bazar at Leh. I know the marks. I showed them -to<br> - ye last march.'</p> - -<p>'True. They were all bought skins and heads. Some had even the -moth<br> - in them.'</p> - -<p>That was a shrewd argument, and the Ao-chung man knew his -fellows.</p> - -<p>'If the worst comes to the worst, I shall tell Yankling Sahib, -who<br> - is a man of a merry mind, and he will laugh. We are not doing -any<br> - wrong to any Sahibs whom we know. They are priest-beaters. -They<br> - frightened us. We fled! Who knows where we dropped the baggage? -Do<br> - ye think Yankling Sahib will permit down-country police to -wander<br> - all over the hills, disturbing his game? It is a far cry from -Simla<br> - to Chini, and farther from Shamlegh to Shamlegh-midden.'</p> - -<p>'So be it, but I carry the big kilta. The basket with the red -top<br> - that the Sahibs pack themselves every morning.'</p> - -<p>'Thus it is proved,' said the Shamlegh man adroitly, 'that -they are<br> - Sahibs of no account. Who ever heard of Fostum Sahib, or -Yankling<br> - Sahib, or even the little Peel Sahib that sits up of nights to -shoot<br> - serow - I say, who, ever heard of these Sahibs coming into the -hills<br> - without a down-country cook, and a bearer, and - and all manner -of<br> - well-paid, high-handed and oppressive folk in their tail? How -can<br> - they make trouble? What of the kilta?'</p> - -<p>'Nothing, but that it is full of the Written Word - books and -papers<br> - in which they wrote, and strange instruments, as of -worship.'</p> - -<p>'Shamlegh-midden will take them all.'</p> - -<p>'True! But how if we insult the Sahibs' Gods thereby! I do not -like<br> - to handle the Written Word in that fashion. And their brass -idols<br> - are beyond my comprehension. It is no plunder for simple -hill-folk.'</p> - -<p>'The old man still sleeps. Hst! We will ask his chela.' The -Ao-chung<br> - man refreshed himself, and swelled with pride of leadership.</p> - -<p>'We have here,' he whispered, 'a kilta whose nature we do not -know.'</p> - -<p>'But I do,' said Kim cautiously. The lama drew breath in -natural,<br> - easy sleep, and Kim had been thinking of Hurree's last words. As -a<br> - player of the Great Game, he was disposed just then to reverence -the<br> - Babu. 'It is a kilta with a red top full of very wonderful -things,<br> - not to be handled by fools.'</p> - -<p>'I said it; I said it,' cried the bearer of that burden. -'Thinkest<br> - thou it will betray us?'</p> - -<p>'Not if it be given to me. I can draw out its magic. Otherwise -it<br> - will do great harm.'</p> - -<p>'A priest always takes his share.' Whisky was demoralizing the -Ao-<br> - chung man.</p> - -<p>'It is no matter to me.' Kim answered, with the craft of his -mother-<br> - country. 'Share it among you, and see what comes!'</p> - -<p>'Not I. I was only jesting. Give the order. There is more -than<br> - enough for us all. We go our way from Shamlegh in the dawn.'</p> - -<p>They arranged and re-arranged their artless little plans for -another<br> - hour, while Kim shivered with cold and pride. The humour of -the<br> - situation tickled the Irish and the Oriental in his soul. Here -were<br> - the emissaries of the dread Power of the North, very possibly -as<br> - great in their own land as Mahbub or Colonel Creighton, -suddenly<br> - smitten helpless. One of them, he privately knew, would be lame -for<br> - a time. They had made promises to Kings. Tonight they lay -out<br> - somewhere below him, chartless, foodless, tentless, gunless - -except<br> - for Hurree Babu, guideless. And this collapse of their Great -Game<br> - (Kim wondered to whom they would report it), this panicky bolt -into<br> - the night, had come about through no craft of Hurree's or<br> - contrivance of Kim's, but simply, beautifully, and inevitably as -the<br> - capture of Mahbub's fakir-friends by the zealous young policeman -at<br> - Umballa.</p> - -<p>'They are there - with nothing; and, by Jove, it is cold! I am -here<br> - with all their things. Oh, they will be angry! I am sorry for -Hurree<br> - Babu.'</p> - -<p>Kim might have saved his pity, for though at that moment the -Bengali<br> - suffered acutely in the flesh, his soul was puffed and lofty. A -mile<br> - down the hill, on the edge of the pine-forest, two half-frozen -men -<br> - one powerfully sick at intervals - were varying mutual<br> - recriminations with the most poignant abuse of the Babu, who -seemed<br> - distraught with terror. They demanded a plan of action. He<br> - explained that they were very lucky to be alive; that their -coolies,<br> - if not then stalking them, had passed beyond recall; that the -Rajah,<br> - his master, was ninety miles away, and, so far from lending -them<br> - money and a retinue for the Simla journey, would surely cast -them<br> - into prison if he heard that they had hit a priest. He enlarged -on<br> - this sin and its consequences till they bade him change the -subject.<br> - Their one hope, said he, was unostentatious flight from village -to<br> - village till they reached civilization; and, for the hundredth -time<br> - dissolved in tears, he demanded of the high stars why the -Sahibs<br> - 'had beaten holy man'.</p> - -<p>Ten steps would have taken Hurree into the creaking gloom -utterly<br> - beyond their reach - to the shelter and food of the nearest -village,<br> - where glib-tongued doctors were scarce. But he preferred to -endure<br> - cold, belly-pinch, bad words, and occasional blows in the -company of<br> - his honoured employers. Crouched against a tree-trunk, he -sniffed<br> - dolefully.</p> - -<p>'And have you thought,' said the uninjured man hotly, 'what -sort of<br> - spectacle we shall present wandering through these hills among -these<br> - aborigines?'</p> - -<p>Hurree Babu had thought of little else for some hours, but -the<br> - remark was not to his address.</p> - -<p>'We cannot wander! I can hardly walk,' groaned Kim's -victim.</p> - -<p>'Perhaps the holy man will be merciful in loving-kindness, -sar,<br> - otherwise -'</p> - -<p>'I promise myself a peculiar pleasure in emptying my revolver -into<br> - that young bonze when next we meet,' was the unchristian -answer.</p> - -<p>'Revolvers! Vengeance! Bonzes!' Hurree crouched lower. The war -was<br> - breaking out afresh. 'Have you no consideration for our loss? -The<br> - baggage! The baggage!' He could hear the speaker literally -dancing<br> - on the grass. 'Everything we bore! Everything we have secured! -Our<br> - gains! Eight months' work! Do you know what that means? -"Decidedly<br> - it is we who can deal with Orientals!" Oh, you have done -well.'</p> - -<p>They fell to it in several tongues, and Hurree smiled. Kim was -with<br> - the kiltas, and in the kiltas lay eight months of good -diplomacy.<br> - There was no means of communicating with the boy, but he could -be<br> - trusted. For the rest, Hurree could so stage-manage the -journey<br> - through the hills that Hilas, Bunar, and four hundred miles of -hill-<br> - roads should tell the tale for a generation. Men who cannot -control<br> - their own coolies are little respected in the Hills, and the -hillman<br> - has a very keen sense of humour.</p> - -<p>'If I had done it myself,' thought Hurree, 'it would not have -been<br> - better; and, by Jove, now I think of it, of course I arranged -it<br> - myself. How quick I have been! Just when I ran downhill I -thought<br> - it! Thee outrage was accidental, but onlee me could have worked -it -<br> - ah - for all it was dam'-well worth. Consider the moral effect -upon<br> - these ignorant peoples! No treaties - no papers - no written<br> - documents at all - and me to interpret for them. How I shall -laugh<br> - with the Colonel! I wish I had their papers also: but you -cannot<br> - occupy two places in space simultaneously. Thatt is -axiomatic.'</p> - -<p></p> - -<h2>Chapter 14</h2> - -<p><br> - My brother kneels (so saith Kabir)<br> - To stone and brass in heathen wise,<br> - But in my brother's voice I hear<br> - My own unanswered agonies.<br> - His God is as his Fates assign -<br> - His prayer is all the world's - and mine.</p> - -<p>The Prayer.</p> - -<p><br> - At moonrise the cautious coolies got under way. The lama, -refreshed<br> - by his sleep and the spirit, needed no more than Kim's shoulder -to<br> - bear him along - a silent, swift-striding man. They held the -shale-<br> - sprinkled grass for an hour, swept round the shoulder of an -immortal<br> - cliff, and climbed into a new country entirely blocked off from -all<br> - sight of Chini valley. A huge pasture-ground ran up fan-shaped -to<br> - the living snow. At its base was perhaps half an acre of flat -land,<br> - on which stood a few soil and timber huts. Behind them - for, -hill-<br> - fashion, they were perched on the edge of all things - the -ground<br> - fell sheer two thousand feet to Shamlegh-midden, where never yet -man<br> - has set foot.</p> - -<p><br> - The men made no motion to divide the plunder till they had seen -the<br> - lama bedded down in the best room of the place, with Kim -shampooing<br> - his feet, Mohammedan-fashion.</p> - -<p>'We will send food, ' said the Ao-chung man, 'and the red- -topped<br> - kilta. By dawn there will be none to give evidence, one way or -the<br> - other. If anything is not needed in the kilta - see here!'</p> - -<p>He pointed through the window - opening into space that was -filled<br> - with moonlight reflected from the snow - and threw out an -empty<br> - whisky-bottle.</p> - -<p>'No need to listen for the fall. This is the world's end,' he -said,<br> - and went out. The lama looked forth, a hand on either sill, -with<br> - eyes that shone like yellow opals. From the enormous pit before -him<br> - white peaks lifted themselves yearning to the moonlight. The -rest<br> - was as the darkness of interstellar space.</p> - -<p>'These,' he said slowly, 'are indeed my Hills. Thus should a -man<br> - abide, perched above the world, separated from delights, -considering<br> - vast matters.'</p> - -<p>'Yes; if he has a chela to prepare tea for him, and to fold -a<br> - blanket for his head, and to chase out calving cows.'</p> - -<p>A smoky lamp burned in a niche, but the full moonlight beat it -down;<br> - and by the mixed light, stooping above the food-bag and cups, -Kim<br> - moved like a tall ghost.</p> - -<p>'Ai! But now I have let the blood cool, my head still beats -and<br> - drums, and there is a cord round the back of my neck.'</p> - -<p>'No wonder. It was a strong blow. May he who dealt it -'</p> - -<p>'But for my own passions there would have been no evil.'</p> - -<p>'What evil? Thou hast saved the Sahibs from the death they -deserved<br> - a hundred times.'</p> - -<p>'The lesson is not well learnt, chela.' The lama came to rest -on a<br> - folded blanket, as Kim went forward with his evening routine. -'The<br> - blow was but a shadow upon a shadow. Evil in itself - my legs -weary<br> - apace these latter days! - it met evil in me anger, rage, and a -lust<br> - to return evil. These wrought in my blood, woke tumult in my<br> - stomach, and dazzled my ears.' Here he drank scalding -block-tea<br> - ceremonially, taking the hot cup from Kim's hand. 'Had I -been<br> - passionless, the evil blow would have done only bodily evil - -a<br> - scar, or a bruise - which is illusion. But my mind was not<br> - abstracted, for rushed in straightway a lust to let the Spiti -men<br> - kill. In fighting that lust, my soul was torn and wrenched -beyond a<br> - thousand blows. Not till I had repeated the Blessings' (he meant -the<br> - Buddhist Beatitudes) 'did I achieve calm. But the evil planted -in<br> - me by that moment's carelessness works out to its end. Just is -the<br> - Wheel, swerving not a hair! Learn the lesson, chela.'</p> - -<p>'It is too high for me,' Kim muttered. 'I am still all shaken. -I am<br> - glad I hurt the man.'</p> - -<p>'I felt that, sleeping upon thy knees, in the wood below. -It<br> - disquieted me in my dreams - the evil in thy soul working -through to<br> - mine. Yet on the other hand' - he loosed his rosary -'I have<br> - acquired merit by saving two lives - the lives of those that -wronged<br> - me. Now I must see into the Cause of Things.The boat of my -soul<br> - staggers.'</p> - -<p>'Sleep, and be strong. That is wisest.'</p> - -<p>'I meditate. There is a need greater than thou knowest.'</p> - -<p>Till the dawn, hour after hour, as the moonlight paled on the -high<br> - peaks, and that which had been belted blackness on the sides of -the<br> - far hills showed as tender green forest, the lama stared fixedly -at<br> - the wall. From time to time he groaned. Outside the barred -door,<br> - where discomfited kine came to ask for their old stable, -Shamlegh<br> - and the coolies gave itself up to plunder and riotous living. -The<br> - Ao-chung man was their leader, and once they had opened the -Sahibs'<br> - tinned foods and found that they were very good they dared not -turn<br> - back. Shamlegh kitchen-midden took the dunnage.</p> - -<p>When Kim, after a night of bad dreams, stole forth to brush -his<br> - teeth in the morning chill, a fair-coloured woman with -turquoise-<br> - studded headgear drew him aside.</p> - -<p>'The others have gone. They left thee this kilta as the -promise was.<br> - I do not love Sahibs, but thou wilt make us a charm in return -for<br> - it. We do not wish little Shamlegh to get a bad name on account -of<br> - the - accident. I am the Woman of Shamlegh.' She looked him -over<br> - with bold, bright eyes, unlike the usual furtive glance of<br> - hillwomen.</p> - -<p>'Assuredly. But it must be done in secret.'</p> - -<p>She raised the heavy kilta like a toy and slung it into her -own hut.</p> - -<p>'Out and bar the door! Let none come near till it is -finished,'<br> - said Kim.</p> - -<p>'But afterwards - we may talk?'</p> - -<p>Kim tilted the kilta on the floor - a cascade of -Survey-instruments,<br> - books, diaries, letters, maps, and queerly scented native<br> - correspondence. At the very bottom was an embroidered bag -covering a<br> - sealed, gilded, and illuminated document such as one King sends -to<br> - another. Kim caught his breath with delight,and reviewed the<br> - situation from a Sahib's point of view.</p> - -<p>'The books I do not want. Besides, they are logarithms - -Survey, I<br> - suppose.' He laid them aside. 'The letters I do not understand, -but<br> - Colonel Creighton will. They must all be kept. The maps - they -draw<br> - better maps than me - of course. All the native letters - oho! - -and<br> - particularly the murasla.' He sniffed the embroidered bag. -'That<br> - must be from Hilas or Bunar, and Hurree Babu spoke truth. By -Jove!<br> - It is a fine haul. I wish Hurree could know . . . The rest must -go<br> - out of the window.' He fingered a superb prismatic compass and -the<br> - shiny top of a theodolite. But after all, a Sahib cannot very -well<br> - steal, and the things might be inconvenient evidence later. -He<br> - sorted out every scrap of manuscript, every map, and the -native<br> - letters. They made one softish slab. The three locked -ferril-backed<br> - books, with five worn pocket-books, he put aside.</p> - -<p>'The letters and the murasla I must carry inside my coat and -under<br> - my belt, and the hand-written books I must put into the -food-bag. It<br> - will be very heavy. No. I do not think there is anything more. -If<br> - there is, the coolies have thrown it down the khud, so thatt is -all<br> - right. Now you go too.' He repacked the kilta with all he meant -to<br> - lose, and hove it up on to the windowsill. A thousand feet below -lay<br> - a long, lazy, round-shouldered bank of mist, as yet untouched by -the<br> - morning sun. A thousand feet below that was a hundred-year-old -pine-<br> - forest. He could see the green tops looking like a bed of moss -when<br> - a wind-eddy thinned the cloud.</p> - -<p>'No! I don't think any one will go after you!'</p> - -<p>The wheeling basket vomited its contents as it dropped. -The<br> - theodolite hit a jutting cliff-ledge and exploded like a shell; -the<br> - books, inkstands, paint-boxes, compasses, and rulers showed for -a<br> - few seconds like a swarm of bees. Then they vanished; and, -though<br> - Kim, hanging half out of the window, strained his young ears, -never<br> - a sound came up from the gulf.</p> - -<p>'Five hundred - a thousand rupees could not buy them,' he -thought<br> - sorrowfully. 'It was verree wasteful, but I have all their -other<br> - stuff - everything they did - I hope. Now how the deuce am I to -tell<br> - Hurree Babu, and whatt the deuce am I to do? And my old man is -sick.<br> - I must tie up the letters in oilskin. That is something to do -first<br> - - else they will get all sweated ... And I am all alone!' He -bound<br> - them into a neat packet, swedging down the stiff, sticky oilskin -at<br> - the comers, for his roving life had made him as methodical as an -old<br> - hunter in matters of the road. Then with double care he packed -away<br> - the books at the bottom of the food-bag.</p> - -<p>The woman rapped at the door.</p> - -<p>'But thou hast made no charm,' she said, looking about.</p> - -<p>'There is no need.' Kim had completely overlooked the -necessity for<br> - a little patter-talk. The woman laughed at his confusion<br> - irreverently.</p> - -<p>'None - for thee. Thou canst cast a spell by the mere winking -of an<br> - eye. But think of us poor people when thou art gone. They were -all<br> - too drunk last night to hear a woman. Thou art not drunk?'</p> - -<p>'I am a priest.' Kim had recovered himself, and, the woman -being<br> - aught but unlovely, thought best to stand on his office.</p> - -<p>'I warned them that the Sahibs will be angry and will make -an<br> - inquisition and a report to the Rajah. There is also the Babu -with<br> - them. Clerks have long tongues.'</p> - -<p>'Is that all thy trouble?' The plan rose fully formed in Kim's -mind,<br> - and he smiled ravishingly.</p> - -<p>'Not all,' quoth the woman, putting out a hard brown hand -all<br> - covered with turquoises set in silver.</p> - -<p>'I can finish that in a breath,' he went on quickly. 'The Babu -is<br> - the very hakim (thou hast heard of him?) who was wandering among -the<br> - hills by Ziglaur. I know him.'</p> - -<p>'He will tell for the sake of a reward. Sahibs cannot -distinguish<br> - one hillman from another, but Babus have eyes for men - and -women.'</p> - -<p>'Carry a word to him from me.'</p> - -<p>'There is nothing I would not do for thee.'</p> - -<p>He accepted the compliment calmly, as men must in lands where -women<br> - make the love, tore a leaf from a note-book, and with a -patent<br> - indelible pencil wrote in gross Shikast - the script that bad -little<br> - boys use when they write dirt on walls: 'I have everything that -they<br> - have written: their pictures of the country, and many -letters.<br> - Especially the murasla. Tell me what to do. I am at -Shamlegh-under-<br> - the-Snow. The old man is sick.'</p> - -<p>"Take this to him. It will altogether shut his mouth. He -cannot have<br> - gone far.'</p> - -<p>'Indeed no. They are still in the forest across the spur. -Our<br> - children went to watch them when the light came, and have cried -the<br> - news as they moved.'</p> - -<p>Kim looked his astonishment; but from the edge of the -sheep-pasture<br> - floated a shrill, kite-like trill. A child tending cattle had -picked<br> - it up from a brother or sister on the far side of the slope -that<br> - commanded Chini valley,</p> - -<p>'My husbands are also out there gathering wood.' She drew a -handful<br> - of walnuts from her bosom, split one neatly, and began to eat. -Kim<br> - affected blank ignorance.</p> - -<p>'Dost thou not know the meaning of the walnut -- priest?' she -said<br> - coyly, and handed him the half-shells.</p> - -<p>'Well thought of.' He slipped the piece of paper between -them<br> - quickly. 'Hast thou a little wax to close them on this -letter?'</p> - -<p>The woman sighed aloud, and Kim relented.</p> - -<p>'There is no payment till service has been rendered. Carry -this to<br> - the Babu, and say it was sent by the Son of the Charm.'</p> - -<p>'Al! Truly! Truly! By a magician - who is like a Sahib.'</p> - -<p>'Nay, a Son of the Charm: and ask if there be any answer.'</p> - -<p>'But if he offer a rudeness? I - I am afraid.'</p> - -<p>Kim laughed. 'He is, I have no doubt, very tired and very -hungry.<br> - The Hills make cold bedfellows. Hai, my' - it was on the tip of -his<br> - tongue to say Mother, but he turned it to Sister -'thou art a -wise<br> - and witty woman. By this time all the villages know what has<br> - befallen the Sahibs - eh?'</p> - -<p>'True. News was at Ziglaur by midnight, and by tomorrow should -be at<br> - Kotgarh. The villages are both afraid and angry.'</p> - -<p>'No need. Tell the villages to feed the Sahibs and pass them -on, in<br> - peace. We must get them quietly away from our valleys. To steal -is<br> - one thing - to kill another. The Babu will understand, and -there<br> - will be no after-complaints. Be swift. I must tend my master -when he<br> - wakes.'</p> - -<p>'So be it. After service - thou hast said? - comes the reward. -I am<br> - the Woman of Shamlegh, and I hold from the Rajah. I am no -common<br> - bearer of babes. Shamlegh is thine: hoof and horn and hide, milk -and<br> - butter. Take or leave.'</p> - -<p>She turned resolutely uphill, her silver necklaces clicking on -her<br> - broad breast, to meet the morning sun fifteen hundred feet -above<br> - them. This time Kim thought in the vernacular as he waxed down -the<br> - oilskin edges of the packets.</p> - -<p>'How can a man follow the Way or the Great Game when he is -so-always<br> - pestered by women? There was that girl at Akrola of the Ford; -and<br> - there was the scullion's wife behind the dovecot - not counting -the<br> - others - and now comes this one! When I was a child it was -well<br> - enough, but now I am a man and they will not regard me as a -man.<br> - Walnuts, indeed! Ho! ho! It is almonds in the Plains!'</p> - -<p>He went out to levy on the village - not with a begging-bowl, -which<br> - might do for down-country, but in the manner of a prince. -Shamlegh's<br> - summer population is only three families - four women and eight -or<br> - nine men. They were all full of tinned meats and mixed drinks, -from<br> - ammoniated quinine to white vodka, for they had taken their -full<br> - share in the overnight loot. The neat Continental tents had been -cut<br> - up and shared long ago, and there were patent aluminium -saucepans<br> - abroad.</p> - -<p>But they considered the lama's presence a perfect safeguard -against<br> - all consequences, and impenitently brought Kim of their best - -even<br> - to a drink of chang - the barley-beer that comes from -Ladakh-way.<br> - Then they thawed out in the sun, and sat with their legs -hanging<br> - over infinite abysses, chattering, laughing, and smoking. -They<br> - judged India and its Government solely from their experience -of<br> - wandering Sahibs who had employed them or their friends as<br> - shikarris. Kim heard tales of shots missed upon ibex, serow, -or<br> - markhor, by Sahibs twenty years in their graves - every -detail<br> - lighted from behind like twigs on tree-tops seen against -lightning.<br> - They told him of their little diseases, and, more important, -the<br> - diseases of their tiny, sure-footed cattle; of trips as far -as<br> - Kotgarh, where the strange missionaries live, and beyond even -to<br> - marvellous Simla, where the streets are paved with silver, -and<br> - anyone, look you, can get service with the Sahibs, who ride -about in<br> - two-wheeled carts and spend money with a spade. Presently, -grave<br> - and aloof, walking very heavily, the lama joined himself to -the<br> - chatter under the eaves, and they gave him great room. The thin -air<br> - refreshed him, and he sat on the edge of precipices with the -best of<br> - them, and, when talk languished, flung pebbles into the void. -Thirty<br> - miles away, as the eagle flies, lay the next range, seamed -and<br> - channelled and pitted with little patches of brush - forests, -each a<br> - day's dark march. Behind the village, Shamlegh hill itself cut -off<br> - all view to southward. It was like sitting in a swallow's -nest<br> - under the eaves of the roof of the world.</p> - -<p>>From time to time the lama stretched out his hand, and -with a little<br> - low-voiced prompting would point out the road to Spiti and -north<br> - across the Parungla.</p> - -<p>'Beyond, where the hills lie thickest, lies De-ch'en' (he -meant<br> - Han-le'), 'the great Monastery. s'Tag-stan-ras-ch'en built -it,and of<br> - him there runs this tale.' Whereupon he told it: a fantastic -piled<br> - narrative of bewitchment and miracles that set Shamlegh -a-gasping.<br> - Turning west a little, he speered for the green hills of Kulu, -and<br> - sought Kailung under the glaciers.'For thither came I in the -old,<br> - old days. From Leh I came, over the Baralachi.'</p> - -<p>'Yes, yes; we know it,' said the far-faring people of -Shamlegh.</p> - -<p>'And I slept two nights with the priests of Kailung. These are -the<br> - Hills of my delight! Shadows blessed above all other shadows! -There<br> - my eyes opened on this world; there my eyes were opened to -this<br> - world; there I found Enlightenment; and there I girt my loins -for my<br> - Search. Out of the Hills I came - the high Hills and the -strong<br> - winds. Oh, just is the Wheel!' He blessed them in detail - the -great<br> - glaciers, the naked rocks, the piled moraines and tumbled shale; -dry<br> - upland, hidden salt-lake, age-old timber and fruitful -water-shot<br> - valley one after the other, as a dying man blesses his folk; and -Kim<br> - marvelled at his passion.</p> - -<p>'Yes - yes. There is no place like our Hills,' said the people -of<br> - Shamlegh. And they fell to wondering how a man could live in the -hot<br> - terrible Plains where the cattle run as big as elephants, unfit -to<br> - plough on a hillside; where village touches village, they had -heard,<br> - for a hundred miles; where folk went about stealing in gangs, -and<br> - what the robbers spared the Police carried utterly away.</p> - -<p>So the still forenoon wore through, and at the end of it -Kim's<br> - messenger dropped from the steep pasture as unbreathed as when -she<br> - had set out.</p> - -<p>'I sent a word to the hakim,' Kim explained, while she -made<br> - reverence.</p> - -<p>'He joined himself to the idolaters? Nay, I remember he did -a<br> - healing upon one of them. He has acquired merit, though the -healed<br> - employed his strength for evil. Just is the Wheel! What of -the<br> - hakim?'</p> - -<p>'I feared that thou hadst been bruised and - and I knew he -was<br> - wise.' Kim took the waxed walnut-shell and read in English on -the<br> - back of his note: Your favour received. Cannot get away from -present<br> - company at present, but shall take them into Simla. After -which,<br> - hope to rejoin you. Inexpedient to follow angry gentlemen. -Return by<br> - same road you came, and will overtake. Highly gratified -about<br> - correspondence due to my forethought. 'He says, Holy One, that -he<br> - will escape from the idolaters, and will return to us. Shall we -wait<br> - awhile at Shamlegh, then?'</p> - -<p>The lama looked long and lovingly upon the hills and shook his -head.</p> - -<p>'That may not be, chela. From my bones outward I do desire it, -but<br> - it is forbidden. I have seen the Cause of Things.'</p> - -<p>'Why? When the Hills give thee back thy strength day by -day?<br> - Remember we were weak and fainting down below there in the -Doon.'</p> - -<p>'I became strong to do evil and to forget. A brawler and a<br> - swashbuckler upon the hillsides was I.' Kim bit back a smile. -'Just<br> - and perfect is the Wheel, swerving not a hair. When I was a man -- a<br> - long time ago - I did pilgrimage to Guru Ch'wan among the -poplars'<br> - (he pointed Bhotanwards), 'where they keep the Sacred -Horse.'</p> - -<br> -'Quiet, be quiet!' said Shamlegh, all arow. 'He speaks of -Jam-lin-<br> -nin-k'or, the Horse That Can Go Round The World In a Day.' - -<p>'I speak to my chela only,' said the lama, in gentle reproof, -and<br> - they scattered like frost on south eaves of a morning. 'I did -not<br> - seek truth in those days, but the talk of doctrine. All -illusion! I<br> - drank the beer and ate the bread of Guru Ch'wan. Next day one -said:<br> - "We go out to fight Sangor Gutok down the valley to discover" -(mark<br> - again how Lust is tied to Anger!) "which Abbot shall bear rule -in<br> - the valley and take the profit of the prayers they print at -Sangor<br> - Gutok." I went, and we fought a day.'</p> - -<p>'But how, Holy One?'</p> - -<p>'With our long pencases as I could have shown . . . I say, -we<br> - fought under the poplars, both Abbots and all the monks, and -one<br> - laid open my forehead to the bone. See!' He tilted back his cap -and<br> - showed a puckered silvery scar. 'Just and perfect is the -Wheel!<br> - Yesterday the scar itched, and after fifty years I recalled how -it<br> - was dealt and the face of him who dealt it; dwelling a little -in<br> - illusion. Followed that which thou didst see - strife and -stupidity.<br> - Just is the Wheel! The idolater's blow fell upon the scar. Then -I<br> - was shaken in my soul: my soul was darkened, and the boat of my -soul<br> - rocked upon the waters of illusion. Not till I came to -Shamlegh<br> - could I meditate upon the Cause of Things, or trace the -running<br> - grass-roots of Evil. I strove all the long night.'</p> - -<p>'But', Holy One, thou art innocent of all evil. May I be -thy<br> - sacrifice!'</p> - -<p>Kim was genuinely distressed at the old man's sorrow, and -Mahbub<br> - Ali's phrase slipped out unawares.</p> - -<p>'In the dawn,' the lama went on more gravely, ready rosary -clicking<br> - between the slow sentences, 'came enlightenment. It is here ... -I am<br> - an old man . . . hill-bred, hill-fed, never to sit down among -my<br> - Hills. Three years I travelled through Hind, but - can earth -be<br> - stronger than Mother Earth? My stupid body yearned to the Hills -and<br> - the snows of the Hills, from below there. I said, and it is -true,<br> - my Search is sure. So, at the Kulu woman's house I turned -hillward,<br> - over-persuaded by myself. There is no blame to the hakim. He --<br> - following Desire - foretold that the Hills would make me -strong.<br> - They strengthened me to do evil, to forget my Search. I -delighted in<br> - life and the lust of life. I desired strong slopes to climb. I -cast<br> - about to find them. I measured the strength of my body, which -is<br> - evil, against the high Hills, I made a mock of thee when thy -breath<br> - came short under Jamnotri. I jested when thou wouldst not face -the<br> - snow of the pass.'</p> - -<p>'But what harm? I was afraid. It was just. I am not a hillman; -and I<br> - loved thee for thy new strength.'</p> - -<p>'More than once I remember' - he rested his cheek dolefully on -his<br> - hand - 'I sought thy praise and the hakim's for the mere -strength of<br> - my legs. Thus evil followed evil till the cup was full. Just is -the<br> - Wheel! All Hind for three years did me all honour. From the -Fountain<br> - of Wisdom in the Wonder House to' - he smiled -'a little -child<br> - playing by a big gun - the world prepared my road. And why?'</p> - -<p>'Because we loved thee. It is only the fever of the blow. I -myself<br> - am still sick and shaken.'</p> - -<p>'No! It was because I was upon the Way - tuned as are -si-nen<br> - [cymbals] to the purpose of the Law. I departed from that -ordinance.<br> - The tune was broken: followed the punishment. In my own Hills, -on<br> - the edge of my own country, in the very place of my evil -desire,<br> - comes the buffet - here!' (He touched his brow.) 'As a novice -is<br> - beaten when he misplaces the cups, so am I beaten, who was Abbot -of<br> - Such-zen. No word, look you, but a blow, chela.'</p> - -<p>'But the Sahibs did not know thee, Holy One?'</p> - -<p>'We were well matched. Ignorance and Lust met Ignorance and -Lust<br> - upon the road, and they begat Anger. The blow was a sign to me, -who<br> - am no better than a strayed yak, that my place is not here. Who -can<br> - read the Cause of an act is halfway to Freedom! "Back to the -path,"<br> - says the Blow. "The Hills are not for thee. Thou canst not -choose<br> - Freedom and go in bondage to the delight of life."'</p> - -<p>'Would we had never met that cursed Russian!'</p> - -<p>'Our Lord Himself cannot make the Wheel swing backward. And -for my<br> - merit that I had acquired I gain yet another sign.' He put his -hand<br> - in his bosom, and drew forth the Wheel of Life. 'Look! I -considered<br> - this after I had meditated. There remains untorn by the idolater -no<br> - more than the breadth of my fingernail.'</p> - -<p>'I see.'</p> - -<p>'So much, then, is the span of my life in this body. I have -served<br> - the Wheel all my days. Now the Wheel serves me. But for the -merit I<br> - have acquired in guiding thee upon the Way, there would have -been<br> - added to me yet another life ere I had found my River. Is it -plain,<br> - chela?'</p> - -<p>Kim stared at the brutally disfigured chart. From left to -right<br> - diagonally the rent ran - from the Eleventh House where Desire -gives<br> - birth to the Child (as it is drawn by Tibetans) - across the -human<br> - and animal worlds, to the Fifth House - the empty House of -the<br> - Senses. The logic was unanswerable.</p> - -<p>'Before our Lord won Enlightenment' - the lama folded all away -with<br> - reverence - 'He was tempted. I too have been tempted, but it -is<br> - finished. The Arrow fell in the Plains - not in the Hills.<br> - Therefore, what make we here?'</p> - -<p>'Shall we at least wait for the hakim?'</p> - -<p>'I know how long I shall live in this body. What can a hakim -do?'</p> - -<p>'But thou art all sick and shaken. Thou canst not walk.'</p> - -<p>'How can I be sick if I see Freedom?' He rose unsteadily to -his<br> - feet.</p> - -<p>'Then I must get food from the village. Oh, the weary Road!' -Kim<br> - felt that he too needed rest.</p> - -<p>'That is lawful. Let us eat and go. he Arrow fell in the -Plains ...<br> - but I yielded to Desire. Make ready, chela.'</p> - -<p>Kim turned to the woman with the turquoise headgear who had -been<br> - idly pitching pebbles over the cliff. She smiled very -kindly.</p> - -<p>'I found him like a strayed buffalo in a cornfield - the -Babu;<br> - snorting and sneezing with cold. He was so hungry that he forgot -his<br> - dignity and gave me sweet words. The Sahibs have nothing.' She -flung<br> - out an empty palm. 'One is very sick about the stomach. Thy -work?'</p> - -<p>Kim nodded, with a bright eye.</p> - -<p>'I spoke to the Bengali first - and to the people of a -near-by<br> - village after. The Sahibs will be given food as they need it - -nor<br> - will the people ask money. The plunder is already distributed. -The<br> - Babu makes lying speeches to the Sahibs. Why does he not -leave<br> - them?'</p> - -<p>'Out of the greatness of his heart.'</p> - -<p>"Was never a Bengali yet had one bigger than a dried walnut. -But it<br> - is no matter ... Now as to walnuts. After service comes reward. -I<br> - have said the village is thine.'</p> - -<p>'It is my loss,' Kim began. 'Even now I had planned desirable -things<br> - in my heart which' - there is no need to go through the -compliments<br> - proper to these occasions. He sighed deeply . . . 'But my -master,<br> - led by a vision -'</p> - -<p>'Huh! What can old eyes see except a full begging-bowl?'</p> - -<p>'- turns from this village to the Plains again.'</p> - -<p>'Bid him stay.'</p> - -<p>Kim shook his head. 'I know my Holy One, and his rage if he -be<br> - crossed,' he replied impressively. 'His curses shake the -Hills.'</p> - -<p>'Pity they did not save him from a broken head! I heard that -thou<br> - wast the tiger-hearted one who smote the Sahib. Let him dream -a<br> - little longer. Stay!'</p> - -<p>'Hillwoman,' said Kim, with austerity that could not harden -the<br> - outlines of his young oval face, 'these matters are too high -for<br> - thee.'</p> - -<p>'The Gods be good to us! Since when have men and women been -other<br> - than men and women?'</p> - -<p>'A priest is a priest. He says he will go upon this hour. I am -his<br> - chela, and I go with him. We need food for the Road. He is -an<br> - honoured guest in all the villages, but' - he broke into a -pure<br> - boy's grin - 'the food here is good. Give me some.'</p> - -<p>'What if I do not give it thee? I am the woman of this -village.'</p> - -<p>'Then I curse thee - a little - not greatly, but enough to<br> - remember.' He could not help smiling.</p> - -<p>'Thou hast cursed me already by the down-dropped eyelash and -the<br> - uplifted chin. Curses? What should I care for mere words?' -She<br> - clenched her hands upon her bosom . . . 'But I would not have -thee<br> - to go in anger, thinking hardly of me - a gatherer of cow-dung -and<br> - grass at Shamlegh, but still a woman of substance.'</p> - -<p>'I think nothing,' said Kim, 'but that I am grieved to go, for -I am<br> - very weary; and that we need food. Here is the bag.'</p> - -<p>The woman snatched it angrily. 'I was foolish,' said she. 'Who -is<br> - thy woman in the Plains? Fair or black? I was fair once. -Laughest<br> - thou? Once, long ago, if thou canst believe, a Sahib looked on -me<br> - with favour. Once, long ago, I wore European clothes at the -Mission-<br> - house yonder.' She pointed towards Kotgarh. 'Once, long ago. I -was<br> - Ker-lis-ti-an and spoke English - as the Sahibs speak it. Yes. -My<br> - Sahib said he would return and wed me - yes, wed me. He went -away -<br> - I had nursed him when he was sick - but he never returned. Then -I<br> - saw that the Gods of the Kerlistians lied, and I went back to my -own<br> - people . . . I have never set eyes on a Sahib since. (Do not -laugh<br> - at me. The fit is past, little priestling.) Thy face and thy -walk<br> - and thy fashion of speech put me in mind of my Sahib, though -thou<br> - art only a wandering mendicant to whom I give a dole. Curse me? -Thou<br> - canst neither curse nor bless!' She set her hands on her hips -and<br> - laughed bitterly. 'Thy Gods are lies; thy works are lies; thy -words<br> - are lies. There are no Gods under all the Heavens. I know it ... -But<br> - for awhile I thought it was my Sahib come back, and he was my -God.<br> - Yes, once I made music on a pianno in the Mission-house at -Kotgarh.<br> - Now I give alms to priests who are heatthen.' She wound up with -the<br> - English word, and tied the mouth of the brimming bag.</p> - -<p>'I wait for thee, chela, ' said the lama, leaning against the -door-<br> - post.</p> - -<p>The woman swept the tall figure with her eyes. 'He walk! He -cannot<br> - cover half a mile. Whither would old bones go?'</p> - -<p>At this Kim, already perplexed by the lama's collapse and -foreseeing<br> - the weight of the bag, fairly lost his temper.</p> - -<p>'What is it to thee, woman of ill-omen, where he goes?'</p> - -<p>'Nothing - but something to thee, priest with a Sahib's face. -Wilt<br> - thou carry him on thy shoulders?'</p> - -<p>'I go to the Plains. None must hinder my return. I have -wrestled<br> - with my soul till I am strengthless. The stupid body is spent, -and<br> - we are far from the Plains.'</p> - -<p>'Behold!' she said simply, and drew aside to let Kim see his -own<br> - utter helplessness. 'Curse me. Maybe it will give him strength. -Make<br> - a charm! Call on thy great God. Thou art a priest.' She turned -away.</p> - -<p>The lama had squatted limply, still holding by the door-post. -One<br> - cannot strike down an old man that he recovers again like a boy -in<br> - the night. Weakness bowed him to the earth, but his eyes that -hung<br> - on Kim were alive and imploring.</p> - -<p>'It is all well,' said Kim. 'It is the thin air that weakens -thee.<br> - In a little while we go! It is the mountain-sickness. I too am -a<br> - little sick at stomach,' ... and he knelt and comforted with -such<br> - poor words as came first to his lips. Then the woman returned, -more<br> - erect than ever.</p> - -<p>'Thy Gods useless, heh? Try mine. I am the Woman of Shamlegh.' -She<br> - hailed hoarsely, and there came out of a cow-pen her two -husbands<br> - and three others with a dooli, the rude native litter of the -Hills,<br> - that they use for carrying the sick and for visits of state. -'These<br> - cattle' - she did not condescend to look at them - 'are thine -for so<br> - long as thou shalt need.'</p> - -<p>'But we will not go Simla-way. We will not go near the -Sahibs,'<br> - cried the first husband.</p> - -<p>'They will not run away as the others did, nor will they -steal<br> - baggage. Two I know for weaklings. Stand to the rear-pole, Sonoo -and<br> - Taree.' They obeyed swiftly. 'Lower now, and lift in that holy -man.<br> - I will see to the village and your virtuous wives till ye -return.'</p> - -<p>'When will that be?'</p> - -<p>'Ask the priests. Do not pester me. Lay the food-bag at the -foot, it<br> - balances better so.'</p> - -<p>'Oh, Holy One, thy Hills are kinder than our Plains!' cried -Kim,<br> - relieved, as the lama tottered to the litter. 'It is a very -king's<br> - bed - a place of honour and ease. And we owe it to -'</p> - -<p>'A woman of ill-omen. I need thy blessings as much as I do -thy<br> - curses. It is my order and none of thine. Lift and away! Here! -Hast<br> - thou money for the road?'</p> - -<p>She beckoned Kim to her hut, and stooped above a battered -English<br> - cash-box under her cot.</p> - -<p>'I do not need anything,' said Kim, angered where he should -have<br> - been grateful. 'I am already rudely loaded with favours.'</p> - -<p>She looked up with a curious smile and laid a hand on his -shoulder.<br> - 'At least, thank me. I am foul-faced and a hillwoman, but, as -thy<br> - talk goes, I have acquired merit. Shall I show thee how the -Sahibs<br> - render thanks?' and her hard eyes softened.</p> - -<p>'I am but a wandering priest,' said Kim, his eyes lighting -in<br> - answer. 'Thou needest neither my blessings nor my curses.'</p> - -<p>'Nay. But for one little moment - thou canst overtake the -dooli in<br> - ten strides - if thou wast a Sahib, shall I show thee what -thou<br> - wouldst do?' -</p> - -<p>'How if I guess, though?' said Kim, and putting his arm round -her<br> - waist, he kissed her on the cheek, adding in English: 'Thank -you<br> - verree much, my dear.'</p> - -<p>Kissing is practically unknown among Asiatics, which may have -been<br> - the reason that she leaned back with wide-open eyes and a face -of<br> - panic.</p> - -<p>'Next time,' Kim went on, 'you must not be so sure of your -heatthen<br> - priests. Now I say good-bye.' He held out his hand -English-fashion.<br> - She took it mechanically. 'Good-bye, my dear.'</p> - -<p>'Good-bye, and - and' - she was remembering her English words -one by<br> - one -'you will come back again? Good-bye, and - thee God bless -you.'</p> - -<p>Half an hour later, as the creaking litter jolted up the hill -path<br> - that leads south-easterly from Shamlegh, Kim saw a tiny figure -at<br> - the hut door waving a white rag.</p> - -<p>'She has acquired merit beyond all others,' said the lama. -'For to<br> - set a man upon the way to Freedom is half as great as though she -had<br> - herself found it.'</p> - -<p>'Umm,' said Kim thoughtfully, considering the past. 'It may be -that<br> - I have acquired merit also ... At least she did not treat me -like a<br> - child.' He hitched the front of his robe, where lay the slab -of<br> - documents and maps, re-stowed the precious food-bag at the -lama's<br> - feet, laid his hand on the litter's edge, and buckled down to -the<br> - slow pace of the grunting husbands.</p> - -<p>'These also acquire merit,' said the lama after three -miles.</p> - -<p>'More than that, they shall be paid in silver,' quoth Kim. The -Woman<br> - of Shamlegh had given it to him; and it was only fair, he -argued,<br> - that her men should earn it back again.</p> - -<p></p> - -<h2>Chapter 15</h2> - -<p><br> - I'd not give room for an Emperor -<br> - I'd hold my road for a King.<br> - To the Triple Crown I'd not bow down -<br> - But this is a different thing!<br> - I'll not fight with the Powers of Air -<br> - Sentry, pass him through!<br> - Drawbridge let fall - He's the Lord of us all -<br> - The Dreamer whose dream came true!</p> - -<p>The Siege of the Fairies.</p> - -<p><br> - Two hundred miles north of Chini, on the blue shale of Ladakh, -lies<br> - Yankling Sahib, the merry-minded man, spy-glassing wrathfully -across<br> - the ridges for some sign of his pet tracker - a man from -Ao-chung.<br> - But that renegade, with a new Mannlicher rifle and two -hundred<br> - cartridges, is elsewhere, shooting musk-deer for the market, -and<br> - Yankling Sahib will learn next season how very ill he has -been.</p> - -<p><br> - Up the valleys of Bushahr - the far-beholding eagles of the<br> - Himalayas swerve at his new blue-and-white gored umbrella - -hurries<br> - a Bengali, once fat and well-looking, now lean and weather-worn. -He<br> - has received the thanks of two foreigners of distinction, -piloted<br> - not unskilfully to Mashobra tunnel, which leads to the great and -gay<br> - capital of India. It was not his fault that, blanketed by wet -mists,<br> - he conveyed them past the telegraph-station and European colony -of<br> - Kotgarh. It was not his fault, but that of the Gods, of whom -he<br> - discoursed so engagingly, that he led them into the borders -of<br> - Nahan, where the Rahah of that State mistook them for -deserting<br> - British soldiery. Hurree Babu explained the greatness and glory, -in<br> - their own country, of his companions, till the drowsy -kinglet<br> - smiled. He explained it to everyone who asked - many times - -aloud -<br> - variously. He begged food, arranged accommodation, proved a -skilful<br> - leech for an injury of the groin - such a blow as one may -receive<br> - rolling down a rock-covered hillside in the dark - and in all -things<br> - indispensable. The reason of his friendliness did him credit. -With<br> - millions of fellow-serfs, he had learned to look upon Russia as -the<br> - great deliverer from the North. He was a fearful man. He had -been<br> - afraid that he could not save his illustrious employers from -the<br> - anger of an excited peasantry. He himself would just as lief hit -a<br> - holy man as not, but ... He was deeply grateful and -sincerely<br> - rejoiced that he had done his 'little possible' towards -bringing<br> - their venture to - barring the lost baggage - a successful -issue, he<br> - had forgotten the blows; denied that any blows had been dealt -that<br> - unseemly first night under the pines. He asked neither pension -nor<br> - retaining fee, but, if they deemed him worthy, would they write -him<br> - a testimonial? It might be useful to him later, if others, -their<br> - friends, came over the Passes. He begged them to remember him -in<br> - their future greatnesses, for he 'opined subtly' that he, even -he,<br> - Mohendro Lal Dutt, MA of Calcutta, had 'done the State some<br> - service'.</p> - -<p>They gave him a certificate praising his courtesy, -helpfulness, and<br> - unerring skill as a guide. He put it in his waist-belt and -sobbed<br> - with emotion; they had endured so many dangers together. He led -them<br> - at high noon along crowded Simla Mall to the Alliance Bank of -Simla,<br> - where they wished to establish their identity. Thence he -vanished<br> - like a dawn-cloud on Jakko.</p> - -<p>Behold him, too fine-drawn to sweat, too pressed to vaunt the -drugs<br> - in his little brass-bound box, ascending Shamlegh slope, a just -man<br> - made perfect. Watch him, all Babudom laid aside, smoking at noon -on<br> - a cot, while a woman with turquoise-studded headgear points -south-<br> - easterly across the bare grass. Litters, she says, do not travel -as<br> - fast as single men, but his birds should now be in the Plains. -The<br> - holy man would not stay though Lispeth pressed him. The Babu -groans<br> - heavily, girds up his huge loins, and is off again. He does not -care<br> - to travel after dusk; but his days' marches - there is none to -enter<br> - them in a book - would astonish folk who mock at his race. -Kindly<br> - villagers, remembering the Dacca drug-vendor of two months ago, -give<br> - him shelter against evil spirits of the wood. He dreams of -Bengali<br> - Gods, University text-books of education, and the Royal -Society,<br> - London, England. Next dawn the bobbing blue-and-white umbrella -goes<br> - forward.</p> - -<p>On the edge of the Doon, Mussoorie well behind them and the -Plains<br> - spread out in golden dust before, rests a worn litter in which - -all<br> - the Hills know it - lies a sick lama who seeks a River for -his<br> - healing. Villages have almost come to blows over the honour -of<br> - bearing it, for not only has the lama given them blessings, but -his<br> - disciple good money - full one-third Sahibs' prices. Twelve -miles a<br> - day has the dooli travelled, as the greasy, rubbed pole-ends -show,<br> - and by roads that few Sahibs use. Over the Nilang Pass in storm -when<br> - the driven snow-dust filled every fold of the impassive -lama's<br> - drapery; between the black horns of Raieng where they heard -the<br> - whistle of the wild goats through the clouds; pitching and -strained<br> - on the shale below; hard-held between shoulder and clenched jaw -when<br> - they rounded the hideous curves of the Cut Road under -Bhagirati;<br> - swinging and creaking to the steady jog-trot of the descent into -the<br> - Valley of the Waters; pressed along the steamy levels of that -locked<br> - valley; up, up and out again, to meet the roaring gusts off<br> - Kedarnath; set down of mid-days in the dun gloom of kindly -oak-<br> - forests; passed from village to village in dawn-chill, when -even<br> - devotees may be forgiven for swearing at impatient holy men;or -by<br> - torchlight, when the least fearful think of ghosts - the dooli -has<br> - reached her last stage. The little hill-folk sweat in the -modified<br> - heat of the lower Siwaliks, and gather round the priests for -their<br> - blessing and their wage.</p> - -<p>'Ye have acquired merit,' says the lama. 'Merit greater than -your<br> - knowing. And ye will return to the Hills,' he sighs.</p> - -<p>'Surely. The high Hills as soon as may be.' The bearer rubs -his<br> - shoulder, drinks water, spits it out again, and readjusts his -grass<br> - sandal. Kim - his face is drawn and tired - pays very small -silver<br> - from his belt', heaves out the food-bag, crams an oilskin packet --<br> - they are holy writings - into his bosom, and helps the lama to -his<br> - feet. The peace has come again into the old man's eyes, and he -does<br> - not look for the hills to fall down and crush him as he did -that<br> - terrible night when they were delayed by the flooded river.</p> - -<p>The men pick up the dooli and swing out of sight between the -scrub<br> - clumps.</p> - -<p>The lama raises a hand toward the rampart of the Himalayas. -'Not<br> - with you, O blessed among all hills, fell the Arrow of Our Lord! -And<br> - never shall I breathe your airs again!'</p> - -<p>'But thou art ten times the stronger man in this good air,' -says<br> - Kim, for to his wearied soul appeal the well-cropped, kindly -Plains.<br> - 'Here, or hereabouts, fell the Arrow, yes. We will go very -softly,<br> - perhaps, a koss a day, for the Search is sure. But the bag -weighs<br> - heavy.'</p> - -<p>'Ay, our Search is sure. I have come out of great -temptation.'</p> - -<p>It was never more than a couple of miles a day now, and -Kim's<br> - shoulders bore all the weight of it - the burden of an old man, -the<br> - burden of the heavy food-bag with the locked books, the load of -the<br> - writings on his heart, and the details of the daily routine. -He<br> - begged in the dawn, set blankets for the lama's meditation, held -the<br> - weary head on his lap through the noonday heats, fanning away -the<br> - flies till his wrists ached, begged again in the evenings, -and<br> - rubbed the lama's feet, who rewarded him with promise of Freedom --<br> - today, tomorrow, or, at furthest, the next day.</p> - -<p>'Never was such a chela. I doubt at times whether Ananda -more<br> - faithfully nursed Our Lord. And thou art a Sahib? When I was a -man -<br> - a long time ago - I forgot that. Now I look upon thee often, -and<br> - every time I remember that thou art a Sahib. It is strange.'</p> - -<p>'Thou hast said there is neither black nor white. Why plague -me with<br> - this talk, Holy One? Let me rub the other foot. It vexes me. I -am<br> - not a Sahib. I am thy chela, and my head is heavy on my -shoulders.'</p> - -<p>'Patience a little! We reach Freedom together. Then thou and -I, upon<br> - the far bank of the River, will look back upon our lives as in -the<br> - Hills we saw our days' marches laid out behind us. Perhaps I was -once<br> - a Sahib.'</p> - -<p>"Was -never a Sahib like thee, I swear it.'</p> - -<p>'I am certain the Keeper of the Images in the Wonder House was -in<br> - past life a very wise Abbot. But even his spectacles do not make -my<br> - eyes see. There fall shadows when I would look steadily. No -matter -<br> - we know the tricks of the poor stupid carcass - shadow changing -to<br> - another shadow. I am bound by the illusion of Time and Space. -How<br> - far came we today in the flesh?'</p> - -<p>'Perhaps half a koss.' (Three quarters of a mile, and it was -a<br> - weary march.)</p> - -<p>'Half a koss. Ha! I went ten thousand thousand in the spirit. -How,<br> - we are all lapped and swathed and swaddled in these -senseless<br> - things.' He looked at his thin blue-veined hand that found the -beads<br> - so heavy. 'Chela, hast thou never a wish to leave me?'</p> - -<p>Kim thought of the oilskin packet and the books in the food- -bag. If<br> - someone duly authorized would only take delivery of them the -Great<br> - Game might play itself for aught he then cared. He was tired and -hot<br> - in his head, and a cough that came from the stomach worried -him.</p> - -<p>'No.' he said almost sternly. 'I am not a dog or a snake to -bite<br> - when I have learned to love.'</p> - -<p>'Thou art too tender towards me.'</p> - -<p>'Not that either. I have moved in one matter without -consulting<br> - thee. I have sent a message to the Kulu woman by that woman who -gave<br> - us the goat's milk this morn, saying that thou wast a little -feeble<br> - and wouldst need a litter. I beat myself in mv mind that I did -not<br> - do it when we entered the Doon. e stay in this place till -the<br> - litter returns.'</p> - -<p>'I am content. She is a woman with a heart of gold, as thou -sayest,<br> - but a talker - something of a talker.'</p> - -<p>'She will not weary thee. I have looked to that also. Holy -One, my<br> - heart is very heavy for my many carelessnesses towards thee.' -An<br> - hysterical catch rose in his throat. 'I have walked thee too -far: I<br> - have not picked good food always for thee; I have not considered -the<br> - heat; I have talked to people on the road and left thee alone -... I<br> - have - I have ... Hai mai! But I love thee ... and it is all -too<br> - late ... I was a child . . . Oh, why was I not a man? . . .'<br> - Overborne by strain, fatigue, and the weight beyond his years, -Kim<br> - broke down and sobbed at the lama's feet.</p> - -<p>'What a to-do is here!' said the old man gently. 'Thou hast -never<br> - stepped a hair's breadth from the Way of Obedience. Neglect -me?<br> - Child, I have lived on thy strength as an old tree lives on the -lime<br> - of a new wall. Day by day, since Shamlegh down, I have -stolen<br> - strength from thee. Therefore, not through any sin of thine, -art<br> - thou weakened. It is the Body - the silly, stupid Body - that -speaks<br> - now. Not the assured Soul. Be comforted! Know at least the -devils<br> - that thou fightest. They are earth-born - children of illusion. -We<br> - will go to the woman from Kulu. She shall acquire merit in -housing<br> - us, and specially in tending me. Thou shalt run free till -strength<br> - returns. I had forgotten the stupid Body. If there be any blame, -I<br> - bear it. But we are too close to the Gates of Deliverance to -weigh<br> - blame. I could praise thee, but what need? In a little - in a -very<br> - little - we shall sit beyond all needs.'</p> - -<p>And so he petted and comforted Kim with wise saws and grave -texts on<br> - that little-understood beast, our Body, who, being but a -delusion,<br> - insists on posing as the Soul, to the darkening of the Way, and -the<br> - immense multiplication of unnecessary devils.</p> - -<p>'Hai! hai! Let us talk of the woman from Kulu. Think you she -will<br> - ask another charm for her grandsons? When I was a young man, a -very<br> - long time ago, I was plagued with these vapours - and some -others -<br> - and I went to an Abbot - a very holy man and a seeker after -truth,<br> - though then I knew it not. Sit up and listen, child of my soul! -My<br> - tale was told. Said he to me, "Chela, know this. There are many -lies<br> - in the world, and not a few liars, but there are no liars like -our<br> - bodies, except it be the sensations of our bodies." Considering -this<br> - I was comforted, and of his great favour he suffered me to drink -tea<br> - In his presence. Suffer me now to drink tea, for I am -thirsty.'</p> - -<p>With a laugh across his tears, Kim kissed the lama's feet, and -set<br> - about the tea-making.</p> - -<p>'Thou leanest on me in the body, Holy One, but I lean on thee -for<br> - some other things. Dost know it?'</p> - -<p>'I have guessed maybe,' and the lama's eyes twinkled. 'We -must<br> - change that.'</p> - -<p>So, when with scufflings and scrapings and a hot air of -importance,<br> - paddled up nothing less than the Sahiba's pet palanquin sent -twenty<br> - miles, with that same grizzled old Oorya servant in charge, and -when<br> - they reached the disorderly order of the long white rambling -house<br> - behind Saharunpore, the lama took his own measures.</p> - -<p>Said the Sahiba cheerily from an upper window, after -compliments:<br> - 'What is the good of an old woman's advice to an old man? I -told<br> - thee - I told thee, Holy One, to keep an eye upon the chela. -How<br> - didst thou do it? Never answer me! I know. He has been running -among<br> - the women. Look at his eyes - hollow and sunk - and the -Betraying<br> - Line from the nose down! He has been sifted out! Fie! Fie! And -a<br> - priest, too!'</p> - -<p>Kim looked up, over-weary to smile, shaking his head in -denial.</p> - -<p>'Do not jest,' said the lama. 'That time is done. We are here -upon<br> - great matters. A sickness of soul took me in the Hills, and him -a<br> - sickness of the body. Since then I have lived upon his strength --<br> - eating him.'</p> - -<p>'Children together - young and old,' she sniffed, but forbore -to<br> - make any new jokes. 'May this present hospitality restore ye! -Hold<br> - awhile and I will come to gossip of the high good Hills.'</p> - -<p>At evening time - her son-in-law was returned, so she did not -need<br> - to go on inspection round the farm - she won to the meat of -the<br> - matter, explained low-voicedly by the lama. The two old heads -nodded<br> - wisely together. Kim had reeled to a room with a cot in it, and -was<br> - dozing soddenly. The lama had forbidden him to set blankets or -get<br> - food.</p> - -<p>'I know - I know. Who but I?' she cackled. 'We who go down to -the<br> - burning-ghats clutch at the hands of those coming up from the -River<br> - of Life with full water-jars - yes, brimming water-jars. I did -the<br> - boy wrong. He lent thee his strength? It is true that the old -eat<br> - the young daily. Stands now we must restore him.'</p> - -<p>'Thou hast many times acquired merit -'</p> - -<p>'My merit. What is it? Old bag of bones making curries for -men<br> - who do not ask "Who cooked this?" Now if it were stored up for -my<br> - grandson -'</p> - -<p>'He that had the belly-pain?'</p> - -<p>'To think the Holy One remembers that! I must tell his mother. -It is<br> - most singular honour! "He that had the belly-pain" - straightway -the<br> - Holy One remembered. She will be proud.'</p> - -<p>'My chela is to me as is a son to the unenlightened.'</p> - -<p>'Say grandson, rather. Mothers have not the wisdom of our -years. If<br> - a child cries they say the heavens are falling. Now a -grandmother is<br> - far enough separated from the pain of bearing and the pleasure -of<br> - giving the breast to consider whether a cry is wickedness pure -or<br> - the wind. And since thou speakest once again of wind, when last -the<br> - Holy One was here, maybe I offended in pressing for charms.'</p> - -<p>'Sister,' said the lama, using that form of address a Buddhist -monk<br> - may sometimes employ towards a nun, 'if charms comfort thee --'</p> - -<p>'They are better than ten thousand doctors.'</p> - -<p>'I say, if they comfort thee, I who was Abbot of Such-zen, -will make<br> - as many as thou mayest desire. I have never seen thy face -'</p> - -<p>'That even the monkeys who steal our loquats count for again. -Hee!<br> - hee!'</p> - -<p>'But as he who sleeps there said,' - he nodded at the shut -door of<br> - the guest-chamber across the forecourt - 'thou hast a heart of -gold<br> - ... And he is in the spirit my very "grandson" to me'</p> - -<p>'Good! I am the Holy One's cow." This was pure Hinduism, but -the<br> - lama never heeded. 'I am old. I have borne sons in the body. -Oh,<br> - once I could please men! Now I can cure them.' He heard her -armlets<br> - tinkle as though she bared arms for action. 'I will take over -the<br> - boy and dose him, and stuff him, and make him all whole. Hat! -hai'!<br> - We old people know something yet.'</p> - -<p>Wherefore when Kim, aching in every bone, opened his eyes, and -would<br> - go to the cook-house to get his master's food, he found -strong<br> - coercion about him, and a veiled old figure at the door, flanked -by<br> - the grizzled manservant, who told him very precisely the things -that<br> - he was on no account to do.</p> - -<p>'Thou must have? Thou shalt have nothing. What? A locked box -in<br> - which to keep holy books? Oh, that is another matter. -Heavens<br> - forbid I should come between a priest and his prayers! It shall -be<br> - brought, and thou shalt keep the key.'</p> - -<p>They pushed the coffer under his cot, and Kim shut away -Mahbub's<br> - pistol, the oilskin packet of letters, and the locked books -and<br> - diaries, with a groan of relief. For some absurd reason their -weight<br> - on his shoulders was nothing to their weight on his poor mind. -His<br> - neck ached under it of nights.</p> - -<p>'Thine is a sickness uncommon in youth these days: since young -folk<br> - have given up tending their betters. The remedy is sleep, -and<br> - certain drugs,' said the Sahiba; and he was glad to give himself -up<br> - to the blankness that half menaced and half soothed him.</p> - -<p>She brewed drinks, in some mysterious Asiatic equivalent to -the<br> - still-room - drenches that smelt pestilently and tasted worse. -She<br> - stood over Kim till they went down, and inquired exhaustively -after<br> - they had come up. She laid a taboo upon the forecourt, and -enforced<br> - it by means of an armed man. It is true he was seventy odd, that -his<br> - scabbarded sword ceased at the hilt; but he represented the<br> - authority of the Sahiba, and loaded wains, chattering -servants,<br> - calves, dogs, hens, and the like, fetched a wide compass by -those<br> - parts. Best of all, when the body was cleared, she cut out from -the<br> - mass of poor relations that crowded the back of the buildings --<br> - house-hold dogs, we name them - a cousin's widow, skilled in -what<br> - Europeans, who know nothing about it, call massage. And the two -of<br> - them, laying him east and west, that the mysterious -earth-currents<br> - which thrill the clay of our bodies might help and not hinder, -took<br> - him to pieces all one long afternoon - bone by bone, muscle -by<br> - muscle, ligament by ligament, and lastly, nerve by nerve. -Kneaded to<br> - irresponsible pulp, half hypnotized by the perpetual flick -and<br> - readjustment of the uneasy chudders that veiled their eyes, Kim -slid<br> - ten thousand miles into slumber - thirty-six hours of it - -sleep<br> - that soaked like rain after drought.</p> - -<br> -Then she fed him, and the house spun to her clamour. She caused -<br> -fowls to be slain; she sent for vegetables, and the sober, -slow-<br> -thinking gardener, nigh as old as she, sweated for it; she took -<br> -spices, and milk, and onion, with little fish from the brooks - -anon <br> -limes for sherbets, fat quails from the pits, then chicken-livers -<br> -upon a skewer, with sliced ginger between. - -<p>'I have seen something of this world,' she said over the -crowded<br> - trays, 'and there are but two sorts of women in it -those who -take<br> - the strength out of a man and those who put it back. Once I was -that<br> - one, and now I am this. Nay - do not play the priestling with -me.<br> - Mine was but a jest. If it does not hold good now, it will when -thou<br> - takest the road again. Cousin,' - this to the poor relation, -never<br> - wearied of extolling her patroness's charity -'he is getting a -bloom<br> - on the skin of a new-curried horse. Our work is like -polishing<br> - jewels to be thrown to a dance-girl - eh?'</p> - -<p>Kim sat up and smiled. The terrible weakness had dropped from -him<br> - like an old shoe. His tongue itched for free speech again, and -but a<br> - week back the lightest word clogged it like ashes. The pain in -his<br> - neck (he must have caught it from the lama) had gone with the -heavy<br> - dengue-aches and the evil taste in the mouth. The two old women, -a<br> - little, but not much, more careful about their veils now, -clucked as<br> - merrily as the hens that had entered pecking through the open -door.</p> - -<p>'Where is my Holy One?' he demanded.</p> - -<p>'Hear him! Thy Holy One is well,' she snapped viciously. -'Though<br> - that is none of his merit., Knew I a charm to make him wise, -I'd<br> - sell my jewels and buy it. To refuse good food that I cooked -myself<br> - - and go roving into the fields for two nights on an empty belly --<br> - and to tumble into a brook at the end of it - call you that<br> - holiness? Then, when he has nearly broken what thou hast left of -my<br> - heart with anxiety, he tells me that he has acquired merit. Oh, -how<br> - like are all men! No, that was not it - he tells me that he is -freed<br> - from all sin. I could have told him that before he wetted -himself<br> - all over. He is well now - this happened a week ago - but burn -me<br> - such holiness! A babe of three would do better. Do not fret -thyself<br> - for the Holy One. He keeps both eyes on thee when he is not -wading<br> - our brooks.'</p> - -<p>'I do not remember to have seen him. I remember that the days -and<br> - nights passed like bars of white and black, opening and -shutting. I<br> - was not sick: I was but tired."</p> - -<p>'A lethargy that comes by right some few score years later. -But it is<br> - done now.'</p> - -<p>'Maharanee,' Kim began, but led by the look in her eye, -changed it<br> - to the title of plain love - 'Mother, I owe my life to thee. -How<br> - shall I make thanks? Ten thousand blessings upon thy house and --'</p> - -<p>'The house be unblessed!' (It is impossible to give exactly -the old<br> - lady's word.) 'Thank the Gods as a priest if thou wilt, but -thank<br> - me, if thou carest, as a son. Heavens above! Have I shifted thee -and<br> - lifted thee and slapped and twisted thy ten toes to find texts -flung<br> - at my head? Somewhere a mother must have borne thee to break -her<br> - heart. What used thou to her - son?'</p> - -<p>'I had no mother, my mother,' said Kim. 'She died, they tell -me,<br> - when I was young.'</p> - -<p>'Hai mai! Then none can say I have robbed her of any right if -- when<br> - thou takest the road again and this house is but one of a -thousand<br> - used for shelter and forgotten, after an easy-flung blessing. -No<br> - matter. I need no blessings, but - but -' She stamped her foot -at<br> - the poor relation. 'Take up the trays to the house. What is the -good<br> - of stale food in the room, O woman of ill-omen?'</p> - -<p>'I ha - have borne a son in my time too, but he died,' -whimpered the<br> - bowed sister-figure behind the chudder. 'Thou knowest he died! -I<br> - only waited for the order to take away the, tray.'</p> - -<p>'It is I that am the woman of ill-omen,' cried the old -lady<br> - penitently. 'We that go down to the chattris [the big -umbrellas<br> - above the burning-ghats where the priests take their last -dues]<br> - clutch hard at the bearers of the chattis [water-jars - young -folk<br> - full of the pride of life, she meant; but the pun is -clumsy].When<br> - one cannot dance in the festival one must e'en look out of -the<br> - window, and grandmothering takes all a woman's time. Thy -master<br> - gives me all the charms I now desire for my daughter's eldest, -by<br> - reason - is it? - that he is wholly free from sin. The hakim -is<br> - brought very low these days. He goes about poisoning my servants -for<br> - lack of their betters.'</p> - -<p>'What hakim, mother?'</p> - -<p>'That very Dacca man who gave me the pill which rent me in -three<br> - pieces. He cast up like a strayed camel a week ago, vowing that -he<br> - and thou had been blood-brothers together up Kulu-way, and -feigning<br> - great anxiety for thy health. He was very thin and hungry, so I -gave<br> - orders to have him stuffed too - him and his anxiety!'</p> - -<p>'I would see him if he is here.'</p> - -<p>'He eats five times a day, and lances boils for my hinds to -save<br> - himself from an apoplexy. He is so full of anxiety for thy -health<br> - that he sticks to the cook-house door and stays himself with -scraps.<br> - He will keep. We shall never get rid of him.'</p> - -<p>'Send him here, mother' - the twinkle returned to Kim's eye -for a<br> - flash - 'and I will try.'</p> - -<p>'I'll send him, but to chase him off is an ill turn. At least -he had<br> - the sense to fish the Holy One out of the brook; thus, as the -Holy<br> - One did not say, acquiring merit.'</p> - -<p>'He is a very wise hakim. Send him, mother.'</p> - -<p>'Priest praising priest? A miracle! If he is any friend of -thine (ye<br> - squabbled at your last meeting) I'll hale him here with -horse-ropes<br> - and - and give him a caste-dinner afterwards, my son ... Get up -and<br> - see the world! This lying abed is the mother of seventy devils -...<br> - my son! my son!'</p> - -<p>She trotted forth to raise a typhoon off the cook-house, and -almost<br> - on her shadow rolled in the Babu, robed as to the shoulders like -a<br> - Roman emperor, jowled like Titus, bare-headed, with new -patent-<br> - leather shoes, in highest condition of fat, exuding joy and<br> - salutations.</p> - -<p>'By Jove, Mister O'Hara, but I are jolly-glad to see you. I -will<br> - kindly shut the door. It is a pity you are sick. Are you very -sick?'</p> - -<p>'The papers - the papers from the kilta. The maps and the -murasla!'<br> - He held out the key impatiently; for the present need on his -soul<br> - was to get rid of the loot.</p> - -<p>'You are quite right. That is correct Departmental view to -take. You<br> - have got everything?'</p> - -<p>'All that was handwritten in the kilta I took. The rest I -threw down<br> - the hill.' He could hear the key's grate in the lock, the -sticky<br> - pull of the slow-rending oilskin, and a quick shuffling of -papers.<br> - He had been annoyed out of all reason by the knowledge that they -lay<br> - below him through the sick idle days - a burden incommunicable. -For<br> - that reason the blood tingled through his body, when Hurree,<br> - skipping elephantinely, shook hands again.</p> - -<p>'This is fine! This is finest! Mister O'Hara! you have - ha! -ha!<br> - swiped the whole bag of tricks - locks, stocks, and barrels. -They<br> - told me it was eight months' work gone up the spouts! By Jove, -how<br> - they beat me! ... Look, here is the letter from Hilas!' He -intoned a<br> - line or two of Court Persian, which is the language of -authorized<br> - and unauthorized diplomacy. 'Mister Rajah Sahib has just about -put<br> - his foot in the holes. He will have to explain offeecially how -the<br> - deuce-an'-all he is writing love-letters to the Czar. And they -are<br> - very clever maps ... and there is three or four Prime Ministers -of<br> - these parts implicated by the correspondence. By Gad, sar! -The<br> - British Government will change the succession in Hilas and -Bunar,<br> - and nominate new heirs to the throne. "Trea-son most base" ... -but<br> - you do not understand? Eh?'</p> - -<p>'Are they in thy hands?' said Kim. It was all he cared -for.</p> - -<p>'Just you jolly-well bet yourself they are.' He stowed the -entire<br> - trove about his body, as only Orientals can. 'They are going up -to<br> - the office, too. The old lady thinks I am permanent fixture -here,<br> - but I shall go away with these straight off - immediately. Mr -Lurgan<br> - will be proud man. You are offeecially subordinate to me, but -I<br> - shall embody your name in my verbal report. It is a pity we are -not<br> - allowed written reports. We Bengalis excel in thee exact -science.'<br> - He tossed back the key and showed the box empty.</p> - -<p>'Good. That is good. I was very tired. My Holy One was sick, -too.<br> - And did he fall into -'</p> - -<p>'Oah yess. I am his good friend, I tell you. He was behaving -very<br> - strange when I came down after you, and I thought perhaps he -might<br> - have the papers. I followed him on his meditations, and to -discuss<br> - ethnological points also. You see, I am verree small person -here<br> - nowadays, in comparison with all his charms. By Jove, O'Hara, do -you<br> - know, he is afflicted with infirmity of fits. Yess, I tell -you.<br> - Cataleptic, too, if not also epileptic. I found him in such a -state<br> - under a tree in articulo mortem, and he jumped up and walked -into a<br> - brook and he was nearly drowned but for me. I pulled him -out.'</p> - -<p>'Because I was not there!' said Kim. 'He might have died.'</p> - -<p>'Yes, he might have died, but he is dry now, and asserts he -has<br> - undergone transfiguration.' The Babu tapped his forehead -knowingly.<br> - 'I took notes of his statements for Royal Society - in posse. -You<br> - must make haste and be quite well and come back to Simla, and I -will<br> - tell you all my tale at Lurgan's. It was splendid. The bottoms -of<br> - their trousers were quite torn, and old Nahan Rajah, he thought -they<br> - were European soldiers deserting.'</p> - -<p>'Oh, the Russians? How long were they with thee?'</p> - -<p>'One was a Frenchman. Oh, days and days and days! Now all the -hill-<br> - people believe all Russians are all beggars. By Jove! they had -not<br> - one dam'-thing that I did not get them. And I told the common -people<br> - - oah, such tales and anecdotes! -I will tell you at old -Lurgan's<br> - when you come up. We will have - ah - a night out! It is feather -in<br> - both our caps! Yess, and they gave me a certificate. That is<br> - creaming joke. You should have seen them at the Alliance -Bank<br> - identifying themselves! And thank Almighty God you got their -papers<br> - so well! You do not laugh verree much, but you shall laugh when -you<br> - are well. Now I will go straight to the railway and get out. -You<br> - shall have all sorts of credits for your game. When do you -come<br> - along? We are very proud of you though you gave us great -frights.<br> - And especially Mahbub.'</p> - -<p>'Ay, Mahbub. And where is he?'</p> - -<p>'Selling horses in this vi-cinity, of course.'</p> - -<p>'Here! Why? Speak slowly. There is a thickness in my head -still.'</p> - -<p>The Babu looked shyly down his nose. 'Well, you see, I am -fearful<br> - man, and I do not like responsibility. You were sick, you see, -and I<br> - did not know where deuce-an'-all the papers were, and if so, -how<br> - many. So when I had come down here I slipped in private wire -to<br> - Mahbub - he was at Meerut for races - and I tell him how -case<br> - stands. He comes up with his men and he consorts with the lama, -and<br> - then he calls me a fool, and is very rude -'</p> - -<p>'But wherefore - wherefore?'</p> - -<p>'That is what I ask. I only suggest that if anyone steals the -papers<br> - I should like some good strong, brave men to rob them back -again.<br> - You see, they are vitally important, and Mahbub Ali he did not -know<br> - where you were.'</p> - -<p>'Mahbub Ali to rob the Sahiba's house? Thou art mad, Babu,' -said<br> - Kim with indignation.</p> - -<p>'I wanted the papers. Suppose she had stole them? It was -only<br> - practical suggestion, I think. You are not pleased, eh?'</p> - -<p>A native proverb - unquotable - showed the blackness of -Kim's<br> - disapproval.</p> - -<p>'Well,' - Hurree shrugged his shoulders - 'there is no -accounting<br> - for thee taste. Mahbub was angry too. He has sold horses all -about<br> - here, and he says old lady is pukka [thorough] old lady and -would<br> - not condescend to such ungentlemanly things. I do not care. I -have<br> - got the papers, and I was very glad of moral support from -Mahbub. I<br> - tell you, I am fearful man, but, somehow or other, the more -fearful<br> - I am the more dam'-tight places I get into. So I was glad you -came<br> - with me to Chini, and I am glad Mahbub was close by. The old -lady<br> - she is sometimes very rude to me and my beautiful pills.'</p> - -<p>'Allah be merciful!' said Kim on his elbow, rejoicing. 'What a -beast<br> - of wonder is a Babu! And that man walked alone - if he did walk --<br> - with robbed and angry foreigners!'</p> - -<p>'Oah, thatt was nothing, after they had done beating me; but -if I<br> - lost the papers it was pretty-jolly serious. Mahbub he nearly -beat<br> - me too, and he went and consorted with the lama no end. I -shall<br> - stick to ethnological investigations henceforwards. Now -good-bye,<br> - Mister O'Hara. I can catch 4.25 p.m. to Umballa if I am quick. -It<br> - will be good times when we all tell thee tale up at Mr Lurgan's. -I<br> - shall report you offeecially better. Good-bye, my dear fallow, -and<br> - when next you are under thee emotions please do not use the<br> - Mohammedan terms with the Tibetan dress.'</p> - -<p>He shook hands twice - a Babu to his boot-heels - and opened -the<br> - door. With the fall of the sunlight upon his still triumphant -face<br> - he returned to the humble Dacca quack.</p> - -<p>'He robbed them,' thought Kim, forgetting his own share in the -game.<br> - 'He tricked them. He lied to them like a Bengali. They give him -a<br> - chit [a testimonial]. He makes them a mock at the risk of his -life -<br> - I never would have gone down to them after the pistol-shots - -and<br> - then he says he is a fearful man ... And he is a fearful man. I -must<br> - get into the world again.'</p> - -<p>At first his legs bent like bad pipe-stems, and the flood and -rush<br> - of the sunlit air dazzled him. He squatted by the white wall, -the<br> - mind rummaging among the incidents of the long dooli journey, -the<br> - lama's weaknesses, and, now that the stimulus of talk was -removed,<br> - his own self-pity, of which, like the sick, he had great store. -The<br> - unnerved brain edged away from all the outside, as a raw horse, -once<br> - rowelled, sidles from the spur. It was enough, amply enough, -that<br> - the spoil of the kilta was away - off his hands - out of his<br> - possession. He tried to think of the lama - to wonder why he -had<br> - tumbled into a brook - but the bigness of the world, seen -between<br> - the forecourt gates, swept linked thought aside. Then he looked -upon<br> - the trees and the broad fields, with the thatched huts hidden -among<br> - crops - looked with strange eyes unable to take up the size -and<br> - proportion and use of things - stared for a still half-hour. -All<br> - that while he felt, though he could not put it into words, that -his<br> - soul was out of gear with its surroundings - a cog-wheel<br> - unconnected with any machinery, just like the idle cog-wheel of -a<br> - cheap Beheea sugar-crusher laid by in a corner. The breezes -fanned<br> - over him, the parrots shrieked at him, the noises of the -populated<br> - house behind - squabbles, orders, and reproofs - hit on dead -ears.</p> - -<p>'I am Kim. I am Kim. And what is Kim?' His soul repeated it -again<br> - and again.</p> - -<p>He did not want to cry - had never felt less like crying in -his life<br> - - but of a sudden easy, stupid tears trickled down his nose, -and<br> - with an almost audible click he felt the wheels of his being -lock up<br> - anew on the world without. Things that rode meaningless on -the<br> - eyeball an instant before slid into proper proportion. Roads -were<br> - meant to be walked upon, houses to belived in, cattle to be -driven,<br> - fields to be tilled, and men and women to be talked to. They -were<br> - all real and true - solidly planted upon the feet - -perfectly<br> - comprehensible - clay of his clay, neither more nor less. He -shook<br> - himself like a dog with a flea in his ear, and rambled out of -the<br> - gate. Said the Sahiba, to whom watchful eyes reported this -move:<br> - 'Let him go. I have done my share. Mother Earth must do the -rest.<br> - When the Holy One comes back from meditation, tell him.'</p> - -<p>There stood an empty bullock-cart on a little knoll half a -mile<br> - away, with a young banyan tree behind - a look-out, as it -were,<br> - above some new-ploughed levels; and his eyelids, bathed in soft -air,<br> - grew heavy as he neared it. The ground was good clean dust - no -new<br> - herbage that, living, is half-way to death already, but the -hopeful<br> - dust that holds the seeds of all life. He felt it between his -toes,<br> - patted it with his palms, and joint by joint, sighing -luxuriously,<br> - laid him down full length along in the shadow of the -wooden-pinned<br> - cart. And Mother Earth was as faithful as the Sahiba. She -breathed<br> - through him to restore the poise he had lost lying so long on a -cot<br> - cut off from her good currents. His head lay powerless upon -her<br> - breast, and his opened hands surrendered to her strength. The -many-<br> - rooted tree above him, and even the dead manhandled wood -beside,<br> - knew what he sought, as he himself did not know. Hour upon hour -he<br> - lay deeper than sleep.</p> - -<p>Towards evening, when the dust of returning kine made all -the<br> - horizons smoke, came the lama and Mahbub Ali, both afoot, -walking<br> - cautiously, for the house had told them where he had gone.</p> - -<br> -'Allah! What a fool's trick to play in open country!' muttered -the <br> -horse-dealer. 'He could be shot a hundred times - but this is not -<br> -the Border.' - -<p>'And,' said the lama, repeating a many-times-told tale, 'never -was<br> - such a chela. Temperate, kindly, wise, of ungrudging -disposition, a<br> - merry heart upon the road, never forgetting, learned, -truthful,<br> - courteous. Great is his reward!'</p> - -<p>'I know the boy - as I have said.'</p> - -<p>'And he was all those things?'</p> - -<p>'Some of them - but I have not yet found a Red Hat's charm -for<br> - making him overly truthful. He has certainly been well -nursed.'</p> - -<p>'The Sahiba is a heart of gold,' said the lama earnestly. 'She -looks<br> - upon him as her son.'</p> - -<p>'Hmph! Half Hind seems that way disposed. I only wished to see -that<br> - the boy had come to no harm and was a free agent. As thou -knowest,<br> - he and I were old friends in the first days of your -pilgrimage<br> - together.'</p> - -<p>'That is a bond between us.' The lama sat down. 'We are at the -end<br> - of the pilgrimage.'</p> - -<p>'No thanks to thee thine was not cut off for good and all a -week<br> - back. I heard what the Sahiba said to thee when we bore thee up -on<br> - the cot.' Mahbub laughed, and tugged his newly dyed beard.</p> - -<p>'I was meditating upon other matters that tide. It was the -hakim<br> - from Dacca broke my meditations.'</p> - -<p>'Otherwise' - this was in Pushtu for decency's sake -'thou -wouldst<br> - have ended thy meditations upon the sultry side of Hell - being -an<br> - unbeliever and an idolater for all thy child's simplicity. But -now,<br> - Red Hat, what is to be done?'</p> - -<p>'This very night,' - the words came slowly, vibrating with -triumph -<br> - 'this very night he will be as free as I am from all taint of -sin -<br> - assured as I am, when he quits this body, of Freedom from the -Wheel<br> - of Things. I have a sign' - he laid his hand above the torn -chart in<br> - his bosom -'that my time is short; but I shall have safeguarded -him<br> - throughout the years. Remember, I have reached Knowledge, as I -told<br> - thee only three nights back.'</p> - -<p>'It must be true, as the Tirah priest said when I stole his -cousin's<br> - wife, that I am a Sufi [a free-thinker]; for here I sit, I -said<br> - Mahbub to himself, 'drinking in blasphemy unthinkable ... I -remember<br> - the tale. On that, then, he goes to Fannatu l'Adn [the Gardens -of<br> - Eden]. But how? Wilt thou slay him or drown him in that -wonderful<br> - river from which the Babu dragged thee?'</p> - -<p>'I was dragged from no river,' said the lama simply. 'Thou -hast<br> - forgotten what befell. I found it by Knowledge.'</p> - -<p>'Oh, ay. True,' stammered Mahbub, divided between high -indignation<br> - and enormous mirth. 'I had forgotten the exact run of what -happened.<br> - Thou didst find it knowingly.'</p> - -<p>'And to say that I would take life is - not a sin, but a -madness<br> - simple. My chela aided me to the River. It is his right to -be<br> - cleansed from sin - with me.'</p> - -<p>'Ay, he needs cleansing. But afterwards, old man - -afterwards?'</p> - -<p>'What matter under all the Heavens? He is sure of Nibban -<br> - enlightened - as I am.'</p> - -<p>'Well said. I had a fear he might mount Mohammed's Horse and -fly<br> - away.'</p> - -<p>'Nay - he must go forth as a teacher.'</p> - -<p>'Aha! Now I see! That is the right gait for the colt. -Certainly he<br> - must go forth as a teacher. He is somewhat urgently needed as -a<br> - scribe by the State, for instance.'</p> - -<p>'To that end he was prepared. I acquired merit in that I gave -alms<br> - for his sake. A good deed does not die. He aided me in my -Search. I<br> - aided him in his. Just is the Wheel, O horse-seller from the -North.<br> - Let him be a teacher; let him be a scribe - what matter? He -will<br> - have attained Freedom at the end. The rest is illusion.'</p> - -<p>'What matter? When I must have him with me beyond Balkh in -six<br> - months! I come up with ten lame horses and three strong-backed -men -<br> - thanks to that chicken of a Babu - to break a sick boy by force -out<br> - of an old trot's house. It seems that I stand by while a young -Sahib<br> - is hoisted into Allah knows what of an idolater's Heaven by -means of<br> - old Red Hat. And I am reckoned something of a player of the -Game<br> - myself! But the madman is fond of the boy; and I must be -very<br> - reasonably mad too.'</p> - -<p>'What is the prayer?' said the lama, as the rough Pushtu -rumbled<br> - into the red beard.</p> - -<p>'No matter at all; but now I understand that the boy, sure -of<br> - Paradise, can yet enter Government service, my mind is easier. -I<br> - must get to my horses. It grows dark. Do not wake him. I have -no<br> - wish to hear him call thee master.'</p> - -<p>'But he is my disciple. What else?'</p> - -<p>'He has told me.' Mahbub choked down his touch of spleen and -rose<br> - laughing. 'I am not altogether of thy faith, Red Hat - if so -small a<br> - matter concern thee.'</p> - -<p>'It is nothing, said the lama.</p> - -<p>'I thought not. Therefore it will not move thee, sinless, -new-<br> - washed and three parts drowned to boot, when I call thee a good -man<br> - - a very good man. We have talked together some four or five<br> - evenings now, and for all I am a horse-coper I can still, as -the<br> - saying is, see holiness beyond the legs of a horse. Yea, can -see,<br> - too, how our Friend of all the World put his hand in thine at -the<br> - first. Use him well, and suffer him to return to the world as -a<br> - teacher, when thou hast - bathed his legs, if that be the -proper<br> - medicine for the colt.'</p> - -<p>'Why not follow the Way thyself, and so accompany the -boy?'</p> - -<p>Mahbub stared stupefied at the magnificent insolence of the -demand,<br> - which across the Border he would have paid with more than a -blow.<br> - Then the humour of it touched his worldly soul.</p> - -<p>'Softly - softly - one foot at a time, as the lame gelding -went over<br> - the Umballa jumps. I may come to Paradise later - I have -workings<br> - that way - great motions - and I owe them to thy simplicity. -Thou<br> - hast never lied?'</p> - -<p>'What need?'</p> - -<p>'O Allah, hear him! "What need" in this Thy world! Nor ever -harmed a<br> - man?'</p> - -<p>'Once - with a pencase - before I was wise.'</p> - -<p>'So? I think the better of thee. Thy teachings are good. Thou -hast<br> - turned one man that I know from the path of strife.' He -laughed<br> - immensely. 'He came here open-minded to commit a dacoity [a -house-<br> - robbery with violence]. Yes, to cut, rob, kill, and carry off -what<br> - he desired.'</p> - -<p>'A great foolishness!'</p> - -<p>'Oh! black shame too. So he thought after he had seen thee - -and a<br> - few others, male and female. So he abandoned it; and now he goes -to<br> - beat a big fat Babu man.'</p> - -<p>'I do not understand.'</p> - -<p>'Allah forbid it! Some men are strong in knowledge, Red Hat. -Thy<br> - strength is stronger still. Keep it - I think thou wilt. If the -boy<br> - be not a good servant, pull his ears off.'</p> - -<p>With a hitch of his broad Bokhariot belt the Pathan swaggered -off<br> - into the gloaming, and the lama came down from his clouds so far -as<br> - to look at the broad back.</p> - -<p>'That person lacks courtesy, and is deceived by the shadow -of<br> - appearances. But he spoke well of my chela, who now enters upon -his<br> - reward. Let me make the prayer! ... Wake, O fortunate above all -born<br> - of women. Wake! It is found!'</p> - -<p>Kim came up from those deep wells, and the lama attended his -yawning<br> - pleasure; duly snapping fingers to head off evil spirits.</p> - -<p>'I have slept a hundred years. Where -? Holy One, hast thou -been<br> - here long? I went out to look for thee, but' - he laughed -drowsily -<br> - 'I slept by the way. I am all well now. Hast thou eaten? Let us -go<br> - to the house. It is many days since I tended thee. And the -Sahiba<br> - fed thee well? Who shampooed thy legs? What of the weaknesses - -the<br> - belly and the neck, and the beating in the ears?'</p> - -<p>'Gone - all gone. Dost thou not know?'</p> - -<p>'I know nothing, but that I have not seen thee in a monkey's -age.<br> - Know what?'</p> - -<p>'Strange the knowledge did not reach out to thee, when all -my<br> - thoughts were theeward.'</p> - -<p>'I cannot see the face, but the voice is like a gong. Has the -Sahiba<br> - made a young man of thee by her cookery?'</p> - -<p>He peered at the cross-legged figure, outlined jet-black -against the<br> - lemon-coloured drift of light. So does the stone Bodhisat sit -who<br> - looks down upon the patent self-registering turnstiles of the -Lahore<br> - Museum.</p> - -<p>The lama held his peace. Except for the click of the rosary -and a<br> - faint clop-clop of Mahbub's retreating feet, the soft, smoky -silence<br> - of evening in India wrapped them close.</p> - -<p>'Hear me! I bring news.'</p> - -<p>'But let us -'</p> - -<p>Out shot the long yellow hand compelling silence. Kim tucked -his<br> - feet under his robe-edge obediently.</p> - -<p>'Hear me! I bring news! The Search is finished. Comes now the -Reward<br> - ... Thus. When we were among the Hills, I lived on thy strength -till<br> - the young branch bowed and nigh broke. When we came out of -the<br> - Hills, I was troubled for thee and for other matters which I -held in<br> - my heart. The boat of my soul lacked direction; I could not see -into<br> - the Cause of Things. So I gave thee over to the virtuous -woman<br> - altogether. I took no food. I drank no water. Still I saw not -the<br> - Way. They pressed food upon me and cried at my shut door. So -I<br> - removed myself to a hollow under a tree. I took no food. I took -no<br> - water. I sat in meditation two days and two nights, abstracting -my<br> - mind; inbreathing and outbreathing in the required manner . . . -Upon<br> - the second night - so great was my reward - the wise Soul -loosed<br> - itself from the silly Body and went free. This I have never -before<br> - attained, though I have stood on the threshold of it. Consider, -for<br> - it is a marvel!'</p> - -<p>'A marvel indeed. Two days and two nights without food! Where -was<br> - the Sahiba?' said Kim under his breath.</p> - -<p>'Yea, my Soul went free, and, wheeling like an eagle, saw -indeed<br> - that there was no Teshoo Lama nor any other soul. As a drop -draws to<br> - water, so my Soul drew near to the Great Soul which is beyond -all<br> - things. At that point, exalted in contemplation, I saw all -Hind,<br> - from Ceylon in the sea to the Hills, and my own Painted Rocks -at<br> - Such-zen; I saw every camp and village, to the least, where we -have<br> - ever rested. I saw them at one time and in one place; for they -were<br> - within the Soul. By this I knew the Soul had passed beyond -the<br> - illusion of Time and Space and of Things. By this I knew that I -was<br> - free. I saw thee lying in thy cot, and I saw thee falling -downhill<br> - under the idolater - at one time, in one place, in my Soul, -which,<br> - as I say, had touched the Great Soul. Also I saw the stupid body -of<br> - Teshoo Lama lying down, and the hakim from Dacca kneeled -beside,<br> - shouting in its ear. Then my Soul was all alone, and I saw -nothing,<br> - for I was all things, having reached the Great Soul. And I -meditated<br> - a thousand thousand years, passionless, well aware of the Causes -of<br> - all Things. Then a voice cried: "What shall come to the boy if -thou<br> - art dead?" and I was shaken back and forth in myself with pity -for<br> - thee; and I said: "I will return to my chela, lest he miss the -Way."<br> - Upon this my Soul, which is the Soul of Teshoo Lama, withdrew -itself<br> - from the Great Soul with strivings and yearnings and retchings -and<br> - agonies not to be told. As the egg from the fish, as the fish -from<br> - the water, as the water from the cloud, as the cloud from the -thick<br> - air, so put forth, so leaped out, so drew away, so fumed up the -Soul<br> - of Teshoo Lama from the Great Soul. Then a voice cried: "The -River!<br> - Take heed to the River!" and I looked down upon all the world, -which<br> - was as I had seen it before - one in time, one in place - and I -saw<br> - plainly the River of the Arrow at my feet. At that hour my Soul -was<br> - hampered by some evil or other whereof I was not wholly -cleansed,<br> - and it lay upon my arms and coiled round my waist; but I put -it<br> - aside, and I cast forth as an eagle in my flight for the very -place<br> - of the River. I pushed aside world upon world for thy sake. I -saw<br> - the River below me - the River of the Arrow - and, descending, -the<br> - waters of it closed over me; and behold I was again in the body -of<br> - Teshoo Lama, but free from sin, and the hakim from Decca bore up -my<br> - head in the waters of the River. It is here! It is behind the -mango-<br> - tope here - even here!'</p> - -<p>'Allah kerim! Oh, well that the Babu was by! Wast thou very -wet?'</p> - -<p>'Why should I regard? I remember the hakim was concerned for -the<br> - body of Teshoo Lama. He haled it out of the holy water in his -hands,<br> - and there came afterwards thy horse-seller from the North with a -cot<br> - and men, and they put the body on the cot and bore it up to -the<br> - Sahiba's house.'</p> - -<br> -'What said the Sahiba?' - -<p>'I was meditating in that body, and did not hear. So thus the -Search<br> - is ended. For the merit that I have acquired, the River of the -Arrow<br> - is here. It broke forth at our feet, as I have said. I have -found<br> - it. Son of my Soul, I have wrenched my Soul back from the -Threshold<br> - of Freedom to free thee from all sin - as I am free, and -sinless!<br> - Just is the Wheel! Certain is our deliverance! Come!'</p> - -<p>He crossed his hands on his lap and smiled, as a man may who -has won<br> - salvation for himself and his beloved.</p> - -<p></p> - - - - - - - - - -<pre> - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Kim, by Rudyard Kipling - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KIM *** - -This file should be named kimrk12h.htm or kimrk12h.zip -Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, kimrk13h.txt -VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, kimrk12ha.txt - -Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US -unless a copyright notice is included. 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