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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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