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diff --git a/old/kimrk11.txt b/old/kimrk11.txt deleted file mode 100644 index e5f4384..0000000 --- a/old/kimrk11.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,13122 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg Etext of Kim, by Rudyard Kipling -(#10 in our series by Rudyard Kipling) - -Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the -copyright laws for your country before distributing this or any other -Project Gutenberg file. - -We encourage you to keep this file, exactly as it is, on your -own disk, thereby keeping an electronic path open for future -readers. Please do not remove this. - -This header should be the first thing seen when anyone starts to -view the etext. 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Smith, BIT Student -Broome Community College -Front Street -Binghamton, NY 13902 -franks_p@mail.sunybroome.edu - -With updates and fixes by Dave Bruchie. - - - - -Kim - -by Rudyard Kipling - - - - -Chapter I - - -O ye who tread the Narrow Way -By Tophet-flare to judgment Day, -Be gentle when 'the heathen' pray -To Buddha at Kamakura! - -Buddha at Kamakura. - - - -He sat, in defiance of municipal orders, astride the gun Zam -Zammah on her brick platform opposite the old Ajaib-Gher - -the Wonder House, as the natives call the Lahore Museum. -Who hold Zam-Zammah, that 'fire-breathing dragon', hold the -Punjab, for the great green-bronze piece is always first of the - conqueror's loot. - -There was some justification for Kim - he had kicked Lala -Dinanath's boy off the trunnions - since the English held the -Punjab and Kim was English. Though he was burned black as any -native; though he spoke the vernacular by preference, and his -mother-tongue in a clipped uncertain sing-song; though he -consorted on terms of perfect equality with the small boys of the -bazar; Kim was white - a poor white of the very poorest. The -half-caste woman who looked after him (she smoked opium, and -pretended to keep a second-hand furniture shop by the square -where the cheap cabs wait) told the missionaries that she was -Kim's mother's sister; but his mother had been nursemaid in a -Colonel's family and had married Kimball O'Hara, a young colour- -sergeant of the Mavericks, an Irish regiment. He afterwards took -a post on the Sind, Punjab, and Delhi Railway, and his Regiment -went home without him. The wife died of cholera in Ferozepore, -and O'Hara fell to drink and loafing up and down the line with -the keen-eyed three-year-old baby. Societies and chaplains, -anxious for the child, tried to catch him, but O'Hara drifted -away, till he came across the woman who took opium and learned -the taste from her, and died as poor whites die in India. His -estate at death consisted of three papers - one he called his 'ne -varietur' because those words were written below his signature -thereon, and another his 'clearance-certificate'. The third was -Kim's birth-certificate. Those things, he was used to say, in his -glorious opium-hours, would yet make little Kimball a man. On no -account was Kim to part with them, for they belonged to a great -piece of magic - such magic as men practised over yonder behind -the Museum, in the big blue-and-white Jadoo-Gher - the Magic -House, as we name the Masonic Lodge. It would, he said, all come -right some day, and Kim's horn would be exalted between pillars - -monstrous pillars - of beauty and strength. The Colonel himself, -riding on a horse, at the head of the finest Regiment in the -world, would attend to Kim - little Kim that should have been -better off than his father. Nine hundred first-class devils, -whose God was a Red Bull on a green field, would attend to Kim, -if they had not forgotten O'Hara - poor O'Hara that was gang- -foreman on the Ferozepore line. Then he would weep bitterly in -the broken rush chair on the veranda. So it came about after his -death that the woman sewed parchment, paper, and birth- -certificate into a leather amulet-case which she strung round -Kim's neck. - -'And some day,' she said, confusedly remembering O'Hara's -prophecies, 'there will come for you a great Red Bull on a green -field, and the Colonel riding on his tall horse, yes, and' -dropping into English - 'nine hundred devils.' - -'Ah,' said Kim, 'I shall remember. A Red Bull and a Colonel on a -horse will come, but first, my father said, will come the two men -making ready the ground for these matters. That is how my father -said they always did; and it is always so when men work magic.' - -If the woman had sent Kim up to the local Jadoo-Gher with those -papers, he would, of course, have been taken over by the -Provincial Lodge, and sent to the Masonic Orphanage in the Hills; -but what she had heard of magic she distrusted. Kim, too, held -views of his own. As he reached the years of indiscretion, he -learned to avoid missionaries and white men of serious aspect who -asked who he was, and what he did. For Kim did nothing with an -immense success. True, he knew the wonderful walled city of -Lahore from the Delhi Gate to the outer Fort Ditch; was hand in -glove with men who led lives stranger than anything Haroun al -Raschid dreamed of; and he lived in a life wild as that of the -Arabian Nights, but missionaries and secretaries of charitable -societies could not see the beauty of it. His nickname through -the wards was 'Little Friend of all the World'; and very often, -being lithe and inconspicuous, he executed commissions by night -on the crowded housetops for sleek and shiny young men of -fashion. It was intrigue, - of course he knew that much, as he -had known all evil since he could speak, - but what he loved was -the game for its own sake - the stealthy prowl through the dark -gullies and lanes, the crawl up a waterpipe, the sights and -sounds of the women's world on the flat roofs, and the headlong -flight from housetop to housetop under cover of the hot dark. -Then there were holy men, ash-smeared fakirs by their brick -shrines under the trees at the riverside, with whom he was quite -familiar - greeting them as they returned from begging-tours, -and, when no one was by, eating from the same dish. The woman who -looked after him insisted with tears that he should wear European -clothes - trousers, a shirt and a battered hat. Kim found it -easier to slip into Hindu or Mohammedan garb when engaged on -certain businesses. One of the young men of fashion - he who was -found dead at the bottom of a well on the night of the earthquake -had once given him a complete suit of Hindu kit, the costume -of a lowcaste street boy, and Kim stored it in a secret place -under some baulks in Nila Ram's timber-yard, beyond the Punjab -High Court, where the fragrant deodar logs lie seasoning after -they have driven down the Ravi. When there was business or frolic -afoot, Kim would use his properties, returning at dawn to the -veranda, all tired out from shouting at the heels of a marriage -procession, or yelling at a Hindu festival. Sometimes there was -food in the house, more often there was not, and then Kim went -out again to eat with his native friends. - -As he drummed his heels against Zam-Zammah he turned now and -again from his king-of-the-castle game with little Chota Lal and -Abdullah the sweetmeat-seller's son, to make a rude remark to the -native policeman on guard over rows of shoes at the Museum door. -The big Punjabi grinned tolerantly: he knew Kim of old. So did -the water-carrier, sluicing water on the dry road from his goat- -skin bag. So did Jawahir Singh, the Museum carpenter, bent over -new packing-cases. So did everybody in sight except the peasants -from the country, hurrying up to the Wonder House to view the -things that men made in their own province and elsewhere. The -Museum was given up to Indian arts and manufactures, and anybody -who sought wisdom could ask the Curator to explain. - -'Off ! Off ! Let me up!' cried Abdullah, climbing up ZamZammah's -wheel. - -'Thy father was a pastry-cook, Thy mother stole the ghi" sang -Kim. 'All Mussalmans fell off Zam-Zammah long ago!' - -'Let me up!' shrilled little Chota Lal in his gilt-embroidered -cap. His father was worth perhaps half a million sterling, but -India is the only democratic land in the world. - -'The Hindus fell off Zam-Zammah too. The Mussalmans pushed them -off. Thy father was a pastry-cook -' - -He stopped; for there shuffled round the corner, from the roaring -Motee Bazar, such a man as Kim, who thought he knew all castes, -had never seen. He was nearly six feet high, dressed in fold upon -fold of dingy stuff like horse-blanketing, and not one fold of it -could Kim refer to any known trade or profession. At his belt -hung a long open-work iron pencase and a wooden rosary such as -holy men wear. On his head was a gigantic sort of tam-o'-shanter. -His face was yellow and wrinkled, like that of Fook Shing, the -Chinese bootmaker in the bazar. His eyes turned up at the corners -and looked like little slits of onyx. - -'Who is that?' said Kim to his companions. - -'Perhaps it is a man,' said Abdullah, finger in mouth, staring. - -'Without doubt.' returned Kim; 'but he is no man of India that I -have ever seen.' - -'A priest, perhaps,' said Chota Lal, spying the rosary. 'See! He -goes into the Wonder House!' - -'Nay, nay,' said the policeman, shaking his head. 'I do not -understand your talk.' The constable spoke Punjabi. 'O Friend of -all the World, what does he say?' - -'Send him hither,' said Kim, dropping from Zam-Zammah, -flourishing his bare heels. 'He is a foreigner, and thou art a -buffalo.' - -The man turned helplessly and drifted towards the boys. He was -old, and his woollen gaberdine still reeked of the stinking -artemisia of the mountain passes. - -'O Children, what is that big house?' he said in very fair Urdu. - -'The Ajaib-Gher, the Wonder House!' Kim gave him no title - such -as Lala or Mian. He could not divine the man's creed. - -'Ah! The Wonder House! Can any enter?' - -'It is written above the door - all can enter.' - -'Without payment?' - -'I go in and out. I am no banker,' laughed Kim. - -'Alas! I am an old man. I did not know.' Then, fingering his -rosary, he half turned to the Museum. - -'What is your caste? Where is your house? Have you come far?' Kim -asked. - -'I came by Kulu - from beyond the Kailas - but what know you? -From the Hills where' - he sighed - 'the air and water are fresh -and cool.' - -'Aha! Khitai [a Chinaman],' said Abdullah proudly. Fook Shing had -once chased him out of his shop for spitting at the joss above -the boots. - -'Pahari [a hillman],' said little Chota Lal. - -'Aye, child - a hillman from hills thou'lt never see. Didst hear -of Bhotiyal [Tibet]? I am no Khitai, but a Bhotiya [Tibetan], -since you must know - a lama - or, say, a guru in your tongue.' - -'A guru from Tibet,' said Kim. 'I have not seen such a man. They -be Hindus in Tibet, then?' - -'We be followers of the Middle Way, living in peace in our -lamasseries, and I go to see the Four Holy Places before I die. -Now do you, who are children, know as much as I do who am old.' -He smiled benignantly on the boys. - -'Hast thou eaten?' - -He fumbled in his bosom and drew forth a worn, wooden begging- -bowl. The boys nodded. All priests of their acquaintance begged. - -'I do not wish to eat yet.' He turned his head like an. old -tortoise in the sunlight. 'Is it true that there are many images -in the Wonder House of Lahore?' He repeated the last words as one -making sure of an address. - -'That is true,' said Abdullah. 'It is full of heathen buts. Thou -also art an idolater.' - -'Never mind him,' said. Kim. 'That is the Government's house and -there is no idolatry in it, but only a Sahib with a white beard. -Come with me and I will show.' - -'Strange priests eat boys,' whispered Chota Lal. - -'And he is a stranger and a but-parast [idolater],' said -Abdullah, the Mohammedan. - -Kim laughed. 'He is new. Run to your mothers' laps, and be safe. -Come!' - -Kim clicked round the self-registering turnstile; the old man -followed and halted amazed. In the entrance-hall stood the larger -figures of the Greco-Buddhist sculptures done, savants know how -long since, by forgotten workmen whose hands were feeling, and -not unskilfully, for the mysteriously transmitted Grecian touch. -There were hundreds of pieces, friezes of figures in relief, -fragments of statues and slabs crowded with figures that had -encrusted the brick walls of the Buddhist stupas and viharas of -the North Country and now, dug up and labelled, made the pride of -the Museum. In open-mouthed wonder the lama turned to this and -that, and finally checked in rapt attention before a large alto- -relief representing a coronation or apotheosis of the Lord -Buddha. The Master was represented seated on a lotus the petals -of which were so deeply undercut as to show almost detached. -Round Him was an adoring hierarchy of kings, elders, and old-time -Buddhas. Below were lotus-covered waters with fishes and water- -birds. Two butterfly-winged dewas held a wreath over His head; -above them another pair supported an umbrella surmounted by the -jewelled headdress of the Bodhisat. - -'The Lord! The Lord! It is Sakya Muni himself,' the lama half -sobbed; and under his breath began the wonderful Buddhist -invocation: - -To Him the Way, the Law, apart, Whom Maya held beneath her heart, -Ananda's Lord, the Bodhisat. - -'And He is here! The Most Excellent Law is here also. My -pilgrimage is well begun. And what work! What work!' - -'Yonder is the Sahib.' said Kim, and dodged sideways among the -cases of the arts and manufacturers wing. A white-bearded -Englishman was looking at the lama, who gravely turned and -saluted him and after some fumbling drew forth a note-book and a -scrap of paper. - -'Yes, that is my name,' smiling at the clumsy, childish print. - -'One of us who had made pilgrimage to the Holy Places - he is now -Abbot of the Lung-Cho Monastery - gave it me,' stammered the -lama. 'He spoke of these.' His lean hand moved tremulously round. - -'Welcome, then, O lama from Tibet. Here be the images, and I am -here' - he glanced at the lama's face - 'to gather knowledge. -Come to my office awhile.' The old man was trembling with -excitement. - -The office was but a little wooden cubicle partitioned off from -the sculpture-lined gallery. Kim laid himself down, his ear -against a crack in the heat-split cedar door, and, following his -instinct, stretched out to listen and watch. - -Most of the talk was altogether above his head. The lama, -haltingly at first, spoke to the Curator of his own lamassery, -the Such-zen, opposite the Painted Rocks, four months' march -away. The Curator brought out a huge book of photos and showed -him that very place, perched on its crag, overlooking the -gigantic valley of many-hued strata. - -'Ay, ay!' The lama mounted a pair of horn-rimmed spectacles of -Chinese work. 'Here is the little door through which we bring -wood before winter. And thou - the English know of these things? -He who is now Abbot of Lung-Cho told me, but I did not believe. -The Lord - the Excellent One - He has honour here too? And His -life is known?' - -'It is all carven upon the stones. Come and see, if thou art -rested.' - -Out shuffled the lama to the main hall, and, the Curator beside -him, went through the collection with the reverence of a devotee -and the appreciative instinct of a craftsman. - -Incident by incident in the beautiful story he identified on the -blurred stone, puzzled here and there by the unfamiliar Greek -convention, but delighted as a child at each new trove. Where the -sequence failed, as in the Annunciation, the Curator supplied it -from his mound of books - French and German, with photographs and -reproductions. - -Here was the devout Asita, the pendant of Simeon in the Christian -story, holding the Holy Child on his knee while mother and father -listened; and here were incidents in the legend of the cousin -Devadatta. Here was the wicked woman who accused the Master of -impurity, all confounded; here was the teaching in the Deer-park; -the miracle that stunned the fire-worshippers; here was the -Bodhisat in royal state as a prince; the miraculous birth; the -death at Kusinagara, where the weak disciple fainted; while there -were almost countless repetitions of the meditation under the -Bodhi tree; and the adoration of the alms-bowl was everywhere. In -a few minutes the Curator saw that his guest was no mere bead- -telling mendicant, but a scholar of parts. And they went at it -all over again, the lama taking snuff, wiping his spectacles, and -talking at railway speed in a bewildering mixture of Urdu and -Tibetan. He had heard of the travels of the Chinese pilgrims, Fu- -Hiouen and Hwen-Tsiang, and was anxious to know if there was any -translation of their record. He drew in his breath as he turned -helplessly over the pages of Beal and Stanislas Julien. "Tis all -here. A treasure locked.' Then he composed himself reverently to -listen to fragments hastily rendered into Urdu. For the first -time he heard of the labours of European scholars, who by the -help of these and a hundred other documents have identified the -Holy Places of Buddhism. Then he was shown a mighty map, spotted -and traced with yellow. The brown finger followed the Curator's -pencil from point to point. Here was Kapilavastu, here the Middle -Kingdom, and here Mahabodhi, the Mecca of Buddhism; and here was -Kusinagara, sad place of the Holy One's death. The old man bowed -his head over the sheets in silence for a while, and the Curator -lit another pipe. Kim had fallen asleep. When he waked, the talk, -still in spate, was more within his comprehension. - -'And thus it was, O Fountain of Wisdom, that I decided to go to -the Holy Places which His foot had trod - to the Birthplace, even -to Kapila; then to Mahabodhi, which is Buddh Gaya - to the -Monastery - to the Deer-park -to the place of His death.' - -The lama lowered his voice. 'And I come here alone. For five - -seven - eighteen - forty years it was in my mind that the Old Law -was not well followed; being overlaid, as thou knowest, with -devildom, charms, and idolatry. Even as the child outside said -but now. Ay, even as the child said, with but-parasti.' - -'So it comes with all faiths.' - -'Thinkest thou? The books of my lamassery I read, and they were -dried pith; and the later ritual with which we of the Reformed -Law have cumbered ourselves - that, too, had no worth to these -old eyes. Even the followers of the Excellent One are at feud on -feud with one another. It is all illusion. Ay, maya, illusion. -But I have another desire' - the seamed yellow face drew within -three inches of the Curator, and the long forefinger-nail tapped -on the table. 'Your scholars, by these books, have followed the -Blessed Feet in all their wanderings; but there are things which -they have not sought out. I know nothing - nothing do I know - -but I go to free myself from the Wheel of Things by a broad and -open road.' He smiled with most simple triumph. 'As a pilgrim to -the Holy Places I acquire merit. But there is more. Listen to a -true thing. When our gracious Lord, being as yet a youth, sought -a mate, men said, in His father's Court, that He was too tender -for marriage. Thou knobbiest?' - -The Curator nodded, wondering what would come next. -'So they made the triple trial of strength against all comers. -And at the test of the Bow, our Lord first breaking that which -they gave Him, called for such a bow as none might bend. Thou -knowest?' - -'It is written. I have read.' - -'And, overshooting all other marks, the arrow passed far and far -beyond sight. At the last it fell; and, where it touched earth, -there broke out a stream which presently became a River, whose -nature, by our Lord's beneficence, and that merit He acquired ere -He freed himself, is that whoso bathes in it washes away all -taint and speckle of sin.' - -'So it is written,' said the Curator sadly. - -The lama drew a long breath. "Where is that River? Fountain of -Wisdom, where fell the arrow?" - -'Alas', my brother, I do not know,' said the Curator. - -'Nay, if it please thee to forget - the one thing only that thou -hast not told me. Surely thou must know? See, I am an old man! I -ask with my head between thy feet, O Fountain of Wisdom. We know -He drew the bow! We know the arrow fell! We know the stream -gushed! Where, then, is the River? My dream told me to find it. -So I came. I am here. But where is the River?' - -'If I knew, think you I would not cry it aloud?' - -'By it one attains freedom from the Wheel of Things,' the lama -went on, unheeding. 'The River of the Arrow! Think again! Some -little stream, maybe - dried in the heats? But the Holy One would -never so cheat an old man.' - -'I do not know. I do not know.' - -The lama brought his thousand-wrinkled face once more a -handsbreadth from the Englishman's. 'I see thou dost not know. -Not being of the Law, the matter is hid from thee.' - -'Ay - hidden - hidden.' - -'We are both bound, thou and I, my brother. But I' - he rose with -a sweep of the soft thick drapery - 'I go to cut myself free. -Come also!' - -'I am bound,' said the Curator. 'But whither goest thou?' - -'First to Kashi [Benares]: where else? There I shall meet one of -the pure faith in a Jain temple of that city. He also is a Seeker -in secret, and from him haply I may learn. Maybe he will go with -me to Buddh Gaya. Thence north and west to Kapilavastu, and there -will I seek for the River. Nay, I will seek everywhere as I go - -for the place is not known where the arrow fell.' - -'And how wilt thou go? It is a far cry to Delhi, and farther to -Benares.' - -'By road and the trains. From Pathankot, having left the Hills, I -came hither in a te-rain. It goes swiftly. At first I was amazed -to see those tall poles by the side of the road snatching up and -snatching up their threads,' - he illustrated the stoop and whirl -of a telegraph-pole flashing past the train. 'But later, I was -cramped and desired to walk, as I am used.' - -'And thou art sure of thy road?' said the Curator. - -'Oh. for that one but asks a question and pays money, and the -appointed persons despatch all to the appointed place. That much -I knew in my lamassery from sure report,' said the lama proudly. - -'And when dost thou go?' The Curator smiled at the mixture of -old-world piety and modern progress that is the note of India -today. - -'As soon as may be. I follow the places of His life till I come -to the River of the Arrow. There is, moreover, a written paper of -the hours of the trains that go south.' - -'And for food?' Lamas, as a rule, have good store of money -somewhere about them, but the Curator wished to make sure. - -'For the journey, I take up the Master's begging-bowl. Yes. Even -as He went so go I, forsaking the ease of my monastery. There was -with me when I left the hills a chela [disciple] who begged for -me as the Rule demands, but halting in Kulu awhile a fever took -him and he died. I have now no chela, but I will take the alms- -bowl and thus enable the charitable to acquire merit.' He nodded -his head valiantly. Learned doctors of a lamassery do not beg, -but the lama was an enthusiast in this quest. - -'Be it so,' said the Curator, smiling. 'Suffer me now to acquire -merit. We be craftsmen together, thou and I. Here is a new book -of white English paper: here be sharpened pencils two and three - -thick and thin, all good for a scribe. Now lend me thy spectacles.' - -The Curator looked through them. They were heavily scratched, but -the power was almost exactly that of his own pair, which he slid -into the lama's hand, saying: 'Try these.' - -'A feather! A very feather upon the face? The old man turned his -head delightedly and wrinkled up his nose. 'How scarcely do I -feel them! How clearly do I see! - -'They be, bilaur - crystal - and will never scratch. May they -help thee to thy River, for they are thine.' - -'I will take them and the pencils and the white note-book,' said -the lama, 'as a sign of friendship between priest and priest - -and now -' He fumbled at his belt, detached the open-work iron -pincers, and laid it on the Curator's table. 'That is for a -memory between thee and me - my pencase. It is something old - -even as I am.' - -It was a piece of ancient design, Chinese, of an iron that is not -smelted these days; and the collector's heart in the Curator's -bosom had gone out to it from the first. For no persuasion would -the lama resume his gift. - -'When I return, having found the River, I will bring thee a -written picture of the Padma Samthora such as I used to make on -silk at the lamassery. Yes - and of the Wheel of Life,' he -chuckled, 'for we be craftsmen together, thou and I.' - -The Curator would have detained him: they are few in the world -who still have the secret of the conventional brush-pen Buddhist -pictures which are, as it were, half written and half drawn. But -the lama strode out, head high in air, and pausing an instant -before the great statue of a Bodhisat in meditation, brushed -through the turnstiles. - -Kim followed like a shadow. What he had overheard excited him -wildly. This man was entirely new to all his experience, and he -meant to investigate further, precisely as he would have -investigated a new building or a strange festival in Lahore city. -The lama was his trove, and he purposed to take possession. Kim's -mother had been Irish too. - -The old man halted by Zam-Zammah and looked round till his eye -fell on Kim. The inspiration of his pilgrimage had left him for -awhile, and he felt old, forlorn, and very empty. - -'Do not sit under that gun,' said the policeman loftily. - -'Huh! Owl!' was Kim's retort on the lama's behalf 'Sit under that -gun if it please thee. When didst thou steal the milkwoman's -slippers, Dunnoo?' - -That was an utterly unfounded charge sprung on the spur of the -moment, but it silenced Dunnoo, who knew that Kim's clear yell -could call up legions of bad bazar boys if need arose. - -'And whom didst thou worship within?' said Kim affably, squatting -in the shade beside the lama. - -'I worshipped none, child. I bowed before the Excellent Law.' - -Kim accepted this new God without emotion. He knew already a few -score. - -'And what dost thou do?' - -'I beg. I remember now it is long since I have eaten or drunk. -What is the custom of charity in this town? In silence, as we do -of Tibet, or speaking aloud?' - -'Those who beg in silence starve in silence,' said Kim, quoting a -native proverb. The lama tried to rise, but sank back again, -sighing for his disciple, dead in far-away Kulu. Kim watched head -to one side, considering and interested. - -'Give me the bowl. I know the people of this city - all who are -charitable. Give, and I will bring it back filled.' - -Simply as a child the old man handed him the bowl. -[start here] -'Rest, thou. I know the people.' - -He trotted off to the open shop of a kunjri, a low-caste -vegetable-seller, which lay opposite the belt-tramway line down -the Motee Bazar. She knew Kim of old. - -'Oho, hast thou turned yogi with thy begging-bowl?' she cried. - -'Nay.' said Kim proudly. 'There is a new priest in the city a man -such as I have never seen.' - -'Old priest - young tiger,' said the woman angrily. 'I am tired -of new priests! They settle on our wares like flies. Is the -father of my son a well of charity to give to all who ask?' - -'No,' said Kim. 'Thy man is rather yagi [bad-tempered] than yogi -[a holy man]. But this priest is new. The Sahib in the Wonder -House has talked to him like a brother. O my mother, fill me this -bowl. He waits.' - -'That bowl indeed! That cow-bellied basket! Thou hast as much -grace as the holy bull of Shiv. He has taken the best of a basket -of onions already, this morn; and forsooth, I must fill thy bowl. -He comes here again.' - -The huge, mouse-coloured Brahmini bull of the ward was -shouldering his way through the many-coloured crowd, a stolen -plantain hanging out of his mouth. He headed straight for the -shop, well knowing his privileges as a sacred beast, lowered his -head, and puffed heavily along the line of baskets ere making his -choice. Up flew Kim's hard little heel and caught him on his -moist blue nose. He snorted indignantly, and walked away across -the tram-rails, his hump quivering with rage. - -'See! I have saved more than the bowl will cost thrice over. Now, -mother, a little rice and some dried fish atop - yes, and some -vegetable curry.' - -A growl came out of the back of the shop, where a man lay. - -'He drove away the bull,' said the woman in an undertone. 'It is -good to give to the poor.' She took the bowl and returned it full -of hot rice. - -'But my yogi is not a cow,' said Kim gravely, making a hole with -his fingers in the top of the mound. 'A little curry is good, and -a fried cake, and a morsel of conserve would please him, I -think.' - -'It is a hole as big as thy head,' said the woman fretfully. But -she filled it, none the less, with good, steaming vegetable -curry, clapped a fried cake atop, and a morsel of clarified -butter on the cake, dabbed a lump of sour tamarind conserve at -the side; and Kim looked at the load lovingly. - -'That is good. When I am in the bazar the bull shall not come to -this house. He is a bold beggar-man.' - -'And thou?' laughed the woman. 'But speak well of bulls. Hast -thou not told me that some day a Red Bull will come out of a -field to help thee? Now hold all straight and ask for the holy -man's blessing upon me. Perhaps, too, he knows a cure for my -daughter's -sore eyes. Ask. him that also, O thou Little Friend -of all the World.' - -But Kim had danced off ere the end of the sentence, dodging -pariah dogs and hungry acquaintances. - -'Thus do we beg who know the way of it,' said he proudly to the -lama, who opened his eyes at the contents of the bowl. 'Eat now -and - I will eat with thee. Ohe, bhisti!' he called to the water- -carrier, sluicing the crotons by the Museum. 'Give water here. We -men are thirsty.' - -'We men!' said the bhisti, laughing. 'Is one skinful enough for -such a pair? Drink, then, in the name of the Compassionate.' - -He loosed a thin stream into Kim's hands, who drank nativefasion; -but the lama must needs pull out a cup from his inexhaustible -upper draperies and drink ceremonially. - -'Pardesi [a foreigner],' Kim explained, as the old man delivered -in an unknown tongue what was evidently a blessing. - -They ate together in great content, clearing the beggingbowl. -Then the lama took snuff from a portentous wooden snuff-gourd, -fingered his rosary awhile, and so dropped into the easy sleep of -age, as the shadow of Zam-Zammah grew long. - -Kim loafed over to the nearest tobacco-seller, a rather lively -young Mohammedan woman, and begged a rank cigar of the brand that -they sell to students of the Punjab University who copy English -customs. Then he smoked and thought, knees to chin, under the -belly of the gun, and the outcome of his thoughts was a sudden -and stealthy departure in the direction of Nila Ram's timber- -yard. - -The lama did not wake till the evening life of the city had begun -with lamp-lighting and the return of white-robed clerks and -subordinates from the Government offices. He stared dizzily in -all directions, but none looked at him save a Hindu urchin in a -dirty turban and Isabella-coloured clothes. Suddenly he bowed his -head on his knees and wailed. - -'What is this?' said the boy, standing before him. 'Hast thou -been robbed?' - -'It is my new chela [disciple] that is gone away from me, and I -know not where he is.' - -'And what like of man was thy disciple?' - -'It was a boy who came to me in place of him who died, on account -of the merit which I had gained when I bowed before the Law -within there.' He pointed towards the Museum. 'He came upon me to -show me a road which I had lost. He led me into the Wonder House, -and by his talk emboldened me to speak to the Keeper of the -Images, so that I was cheered and made strong. And when I was -faint with hunger he begged for me, as would a chela for his -teacher. Suddenly was he sent. Suddenly has he gone away. It was -in my mind to have taught him the Law upon the road to Benares.' - -Kim stood amazed at this, because he had overheard the talk in -the Museum, and knew that the old man was speaking the truth, -which is a thing a native on the road seldom presents to a -stranger. - -'But I see now that he was but sent for a purpose. By this I know -that I shall find a certain River for which I seek.' - -'The River of the Arrow?' said Kim, with a superior smile. - -'Is this yet another Sending?' cried the lama. 'To none have I -spoken of my search, save to the Priest of the Images. Who art -thou?' - -'Thy chela,' said Kim simply, sitting on his heels. 'I have never -seen anyone like to thee in all this my life. I go with thee to -Benares. And, too, I think that so old a man as thou, speaking -the truth to chance-met people at dusk, is in great need of a -disciple.' - -'But the River - the River of the Arrow?' - -'Oh, that I heard when thou wast speaking to the- Englishman. I -lay against the door.' - -The lama sighed. 'I thought thou hadst been a guide permitted. -Such things fall sometimes - but I am not worthy. Thou dost not, -then, know the River?' - -'Not U Kim laughed uneasily. 'I go to look for - for a bull a -Red. Bull on a green field who shall help me.' Boylike, if an -acquaintance had a scheme, Kim was quite ready with one of his own; -and, boylike, he had really thought for as much as twenty minutes at a -time of his father's prophecy. - -'To what, child?' said the lama. - -'God knows, but so my father told me'. I heard thy talk in the -Wonder House of all those new strange places in the Hills, and if -one so old and so little - so used to truth-telling - may go out -for the small matter of a river, it seemed to me that I too must -go a-travelling. If it is our fate to find those things we shall -find them - thou, thy River; and I, my Bull, and the Strong -Pillars and some other matters that I forget.' - -'It is not pillars but a Wheel from which I would be free,' said -the lama. - -'That is all one. Perhaps they will make me a king,' said Kim, -serenely prepared for anything. - -'I will teach thee other and better desires upon the road,' the -lama replied in the voice of authority. 'Let us go to Benares.' - -'Not by night. Thieves are abroad. Wait till the day.' - -'But there is no place to sleep.' The old man was used to the -order of his monastery, and though he slept on the ground, as the -Rule decrees, preferred a decency in these things. - -'We shall get good lodging at the Kashmir Serai,' said Kim, -laughing at his perplexity. 'I have a friend there. Come!' - -The hot and crowded bazars blazed with light as they made their -way through the press of all the races in Upper India, and the -lama mooned through it like a man in a dream. It was his first -experience of a large manufacturing city, and the crowded tram- -car with its continually squealing brakes frightened him. Half -pushed, half towed, he arrived at the high gate of the Kashmir -Serai: that huge open square over against the railway station, -surrounded with arched cloisters, where the camel and horse -caravans put up on their return from Central Asia. Here were all -manner of Northern folk, tending tethered ponies and kneeling -camels; loading and unloading bales and bundles; drawing water -for the evening meal at the creaking well-windlasses; piling -grass before the shrieking, wild-eyed stallions; cuffing the -surly caravan dogs; paying off camel-drivers; taking on new -grooms; swearing, shouting, arguing, and chaffering in the packed -square. The cloisters, reached by three or four masonry steps, -made a haven of refuge around this turbulent sea. Most of them -were rented to traders, as we rent the arches of a viaduct; the -space between pillar and pillar being bricked or boarded off into -rooms, which were guarded by heavy wooden doors and cumbrous -native padlocks. Locked doors showed that the owner was away, and -a few rude - sometimes very rude - chalk or paint scratches told -where he had gone. Thus: 'Lutuf Ullah is gone to Kurdistan.' -Below, in coarse verse: 'O Allah, who sufferest lice to live on -the coat of a Kabuli, why hast thou allowed this louse Lutuf to -live so long?' - -Kim, fending the lama between excited men and excited beasts, -sidled along the cloisters to the far end, nearest the -railway -station, where Mahbub Ali, the horse-trader, lived when he came -in from that mysterious land beyond the Passes of the North. - -Kim had had many dealings with Mahbub in his little life, -especially between his tenth and his thirteenth year - and the -big burly Afghan, his beard dyed scarlet with lime (for he was -elderly and did not wish his grey hairs to show), knew the boy's -value as a gossip. Sometimes he would tell Kim to watch a man who -had nothing whatever to do with horses: to follow him for one -whole day and report every soul with whom he talked. Kim would -deliver himself of his tale at evening, and Mahbub would listen -without a word or gesture. It was intrigue of some kind, Kim -knew; but its worth lay in saying nothing whatever to anyone -except Mahbub, who gave him beautiful meals all hot from the -cookshop at the head of the serai, and once as much as eight -annas in money. - -'He is here,' said Kim, hitting a bad-tempered camel on the nose. -'Ohe. Mahbub Ali!' He halted at a dark arch and slipped behind -the bewildered lama. - -The horse-trader, his deep, embroidered Bokhariot belt unloosed, -was lying on a pair of silk carpet saddle-bags, pulling lazily at -an immense silver hookah. He turned his head very slightly at the -cry; and seeing only the tall silent figure, chuckled in his -deep. chest. - -'Allah! A lama! A Red Lama! It is far from Lahore to the Passes. -What dost thou do here?' - -The lama held out the begging-bowl mechanically. - -'God's curse on all unbelievers!' said Mahbub. 'I do not give to -a lousy Tibetan; but ask my Baltis over yonder behind the camels. -They may value your blessings. Oh, horseboys, here is a -countryman of yours. See if he be hungry.' - -A shaven, crouching Balti, who had come down with the horses, and -who was nominally some sort of degraded Buddhist, fawned upon the -priest, and in thick gutturals besought the Holy One to sit at -the horseboys' fire. - -'Go!' said Kim, pushing him lightly, and the lama strode away, -leaving Kim at the edge of the cloister. - -'Go!' said Mahbub Ali, returning to his hookah. 'Little Hindu, -run away. God's curse on all unbelievers! Beg from those of my -tail who are of thy faith.' - -'Maharaj,' whined Kim, using the Hindu form of address, and -thoroughly enjoying the situation; 'my father is dead - my mother -is dead - my stomach is empty.' - -'Beg from my men among the horses, I say. There must be some -Hindus in my tall.' - -'Oh, Mahbub Ali, but am I a Hindu?' said Kim in English. - -The trader gave no sign of astonishment, but looked under shaggy -eyebrows. - -'Little Friend of all the World,' said he, 'what is this?' - -'Nothing. I am now that holy man's disciple; and we go a -pilgrimage together - to Benares, he says. He is quite mad, and I -am tired of Lahore city. I wish new air and water.' - -'But for whom dost thou work? Why come to me?' The voice was -harsh with suspicion. - -'To whom else should I come? I have no money. It is not good to -go about without money. Thou wilt sell many horses to the -officers. They are very fine horses, these new ones: I have seen -them. Give me a rupee, Mahbub Ali, and when I come to my wealth I -will give thee a bond and pay.' - -'Um!' said Mahbub Ali, thinking swiftly. 'Thou hast never before -lied to me. Call that lama - stand back in the dark.' - -'Oh, our tales will agree,' said Kim, laughing. - -'We go to Benares,' said the lama, as soon as he understood the -drift of Mahbub Ali's questions. 'The boy and I, I go to seek for -a certain River.' - -'Maybe - but the boy?' - -'He is my disciple. He was sent, I think, to guide me to that -River. Sitting under a. gun was I when he came suddenly. Such -things have befallen the fortunate to whom guidance was allowed. -But I remember now, he said he was of this world - a Hindu.' - -'And his name?' - -'That I did not ask. Is he not my disciple?' - -'His country - his race - his village? Mussalman - Sikh Hindu - -Jain - low caste or high?' - -'Why should I ask? There is neither high nor low in the Middle -Way. If he is my chela - does - will - can anyone take him from -me? for, look you, without him I shall not find my River.' He -wagged his head solemnly. - -'None shall take him from thee. Go, sit among my Baltis,' said -Mahbub Ali, and the lama drifted off, soothed by the promise. - -'Is he not quite mad?' said Kim, coming forward to the light -again. 'Why should I lie to thee, Hajji?' - -Mahbub puffed his hookah in silence. Then he began, almost -whispering: 'Umballa is on the road to Benares - if indeed ye two -go there.' - -'Tck! Tck! I tell thee he does not know how to lie - as we two -know.' - -'And if thou wilt carry a message for me as far as Umballa, I -will give thee money. It concerns a horse - a white stallion -which I have sold to an officer upon the last time I returned -from the Passes. But then - stand nearer and hold up hands as -begging -the pedigree of the white stallion was not fully -established, and that officer, who is now at Umballa, bade me -make it clear.' (Mahbub here described the horse and the -appearance of the officer.) 'So the message to that officer will -be: "The pedigree of the white stallion is fully established." By -this will he know that thou comest from me. He will then say -"What proof hast thou?" and thou wilt answer: "Mahbub Ali has -given me the proof."' - -'And all for the sake of a white stallion,' said Kim, with a -giggle, his eyes aflame. - -'That pedigree I will give thee now - in my own fashion and some -hard words as well.' A shadow passed behind Kim, and a feeding -camel. Mahbub Ali raised his voice. - -'Allah! Art thou the only beggar in the city? Thy mother is dead. -Thy father is dead. So is it with all of them. Well, well - ' - -He turned as feeling on the floor beside him and tossed a flap of -soft, greasy Mussalman bread to the boy. 'Go and lie down among -my horseboys for tonight - thou and the lama. Tomorrow I may give -thee service.' - -Kim slunk away, his teeth in the bread, and, as he expected, he -found a small wad of folded tissue-paper wrapped in oilskin, with -three silver rupees - enormous largesse. He smiled and thrust -money and paper into his leather amulet-case. The lama, -sumptuously fed by Mahbub's Baltis, was already asleep in a -corner of one of the stalls. Kim lay down beside him and laughed. -He knew he had rendered a service to Mahbub Ali, and not for one -little minute did he believe the tale of the stallion's pedigree. - -But Kim did not suspect that Mahbub Ali, known as one of the best -horse-dealers in the Punjab, a wealthy and enterprising trader, -whose caravans penetrated far and far into the Back of Beyond, -was registered in one of the locked books of the Indian Survey -Department as C25 IB. Twice or thrice yearly C25 would send in a -little story, baldly told but most interesting, and generally - -it was checked by the statements of R17 and M4 - quite true. It -concerned all manner of out-of-the-way mountain principalities, -explorers of nationalities other than English, and the guntrade - -was, in brief, a small portion of that vast mass of 'information -received' on which the Indian Government acts. But, recently, -five confederated Kings, who had no business to confederate, had -been informed by a kindly Northern Power that there was a leakage -of news from their territories into British India. So those -Kings' Prime Ministers were seriously annoyed and took steps, -after the Oriental fashion. They suspected, among many others, -the bullying, red-bearded horsedealer whose caravans ploughed -through their fastnesses belly-deep in snow. At least, his -caravan that season had been ambushed and shot at twice on the -way down, when Mahbub's men accounted for three strange ruffians -who might, or might not, have been hired for the job. Therefore -Mahbub had avoided halting at the insalubrious city of Peshawur, -and had come through without stop to Lahore, where, knowing his -country-people, he anticipated curious developments. - -And there was that on Mahbub Ali which he did not wish to keep an -hour longer than was necessary - a wad of closely folded tissue- -paper, wrapped in oilskin - an impersonal, unaddressed statement, -with five microscopic pin-holes in one corner, that most -scandalously betrayed the five confederated Kings, the -sympathetic Northern Power, a Hindu banker in Peshawur, a firm of -gun-makers in Belgium, and an important, semi-independent -Mohammedan ruler to the south. This last was R17's work, which -Mahbub had picked up beyond the Dora Pass and was carrying in for -R17, who, owing to circumstances over which he had no control, -could not leave his post of observation. Dynamite was milky and -innocuous beside that report Of C25; and even an Oriental, with -an Oriental's views of the value of time, could see that the -sooner it was in the proper hands the better. Mahbub had no -particular desire to die by violence, because two or three family -blood-feuds across the Border hung unfinished on his hands, and -when these scores were cleared he intended to settle down as a -more or less virtuous citizen. He had never passed the serai gate -since his arrival two days ago, but had been ostentatious in -sending telegrams to Bombay, where he banked some of his money; -to Delhi, where a sub-partner of his own clan was selling horses -to the agent of a Rajputana state; and to Umballa, where an -Englishman was excitedly demanding the pedigree of a white -stallion. The public letter-writer, who knew English, composed -excellent telegrams, such as: 'Creighton, Laurel Bank, Umballa. -Horse is Arabian as already advised. Sorrowful delayed pedigree -which am translating.' And later to the same address: 'Much -sorrowful delay. Will forward pedigree.' To his sub-partner at -Delhi he wired: 'Lutuf Ullah. Have wired two thousand rupees your -credit Luchman Narain's bank-' This was entirely in the way of -trade, but every one of those telegrams was discussed and re- -discussed, by parties who conceived themselves to be interested, -before they went over to the railway station in charge of a -foolish Balti, who allowed all sorts of people to read them on -the road. - -When, in Mahbub's own picturesque language, he had muddied the -wells of inquiry with the stick of precaution, Kim had dropped on -him, sent from Heaven; and, being as prompt as he was -unscrupulous, Mahbub Ali used to taking all sorts of gusty -chances, pressed him into service on the spot. - -A wandering lama with a low-caste boy-servant might attract a -moment's interest as they wandered about India, the land of -pilgrims; but no one would suspect them or, what was more to the -point, rob. - -He called for a new light-ball to his hookah, and considered the -case. If the worst came to the worst, and the boy came to harm, -the paper would incriminate nobody. And he would go up to Umballa -leisurely and - at a certain risk of exciting fresh suspicion - -repeat his tale by word of mouth to the people concerned. - -But R17's report was the kernel of the whole affair, and it would -be distinctly inconvenient if that failed to come to hand. -However, God was great, and Mahbub Ali felt he had done all he -could for the time being. Kim was the one soul in the world who -had never told him a lie. That would have been a fatal blot on -Kim's character if Mahbub had not known that to others, for his -own ends or Mahbub's business, Kim could lie like an Oriental. - -Then Mahbub Ali rolled across the serai to the Gate of the -Harpies who paint their eyes and trap the stranger, and was at -some pains to call on the one girl who, he had reason to believe, -was a particular friend of a smooth-faced Kashmiri pundit who had -waylaid his simple Balti in the matter of the telegrams. It was -an utterly foolish thing to do; because they fell to drinking -perfumed brandy against the Law of the Prophet, and Mahbub grew -wonderfully drunk, and the gates of his mouth were loosened, and -he pursued the Flower of Delight with the feet of intoxication -till he fell flat among the cushions, where the Flower of -Delight, aided by a smooth-faced Kashmiri pundit, searched him -from head to foot most thoroughly. - -About the same hour Kim heard soft feet in Mahbub's deserted -stall. The horse-trader, curiously enough, had left his door -unlocked, and his men were busy celebrating their return to India -with a whole sheep of Mahbub's bounty. A sleek young gentleman -from Delhi, armed with a bunch of keys which the Flower had -unshackled from the senseless one's belt, went through every -single box, bundle, mat, and saddle-bag in Mahbub's possession -even more systematically than the Flower and the pundit were -searching the owner. - -'And I think.' said the Flower scornfully an hour later, one -rounded elbow on the snoring carcass, 'that he is no more than a -pig of an Afghan horse-dealer, with no thought except women and -horses. Moreover, he may have sent it away by now - if ever there -were such a thing.' - -'Nay - in a matter touching Five Kings it would be next his black -heart,' said the pundit. 'Was there nothing?' - -The Delhi man laughed and resettled his turban as he entered. 'I -searched between the soles of his slippers as the Flower searched -his clothes. This is not the man but another. I leave little -unseen.' - -'They did not say he was the very man,' said the pundit -thoughtfully. 'They said, "Look if he be the man, since our -counsels are troubled."' - -'That North country is full of horse-dealers as an old coat of -lice. There is Sikandar Khan, Nur Ali Beg, and Farrukh Shah all -heads of kafilas [caravans] - who deal there,' said the Flower. - -'They have not yet come in,' said the pundit. 'Thou must ensnare -them later.' - -Phew!' said the Flower with deep disgust, rolling Mahbub's head -from her lap. 'I earn my money. Farrukh Shah is a bear, Ali Beg a -swashbuckler, and old Sikandar Khan - yaie! Go! I sleep now. This -swine will not stir till dawn.' - -When Mahbub woke, the Flower talked to him severely on the sin of -drunkenness. Asiatics do not wink when they have outmanoeuvred an -enemy, but as Mahbub Ali cleared his throat, tightened his belt, -and staggered forth under the early morning stars, he came very -near to it. - -'What a colt's trick!' said he to himself 'As if every girl in -Peshawur did not use it! But 'twas prettily done. Now God He -knows how many more there be upon the Road who have orders to -test me - perhaps with the knife. So it stands that the boy must - go to Umballa - and by rail -for the writing is something -urgent. I abide here, following the Flower and drinking wine as -an Afghan coper should.' - -He halted at the stall next but one to his own. His men lay there -heavy with sleep. There was no sign of Kim or the lama. - -'Up! He stirred a sleeper. 'Whither went those who lay here last -even - the lama and the boy? Is aught missing?' - -'Nay,' grunted the man, 'the old madman rose at second cockcrow -saying he would go to Benares, and the young one led him away.' - -'The curse of Allah on all unbelievers!' said Mahbub heartily, -and climbed into his own stall, growling in his beard. - -But it was Kim who had wakened the lama - Kim with one eye laid -against a knot-hole in the planking, who had seen the Delhi man's -search through the boxes. This was no common thief that turned -over letters, bills, and saddles - no mere burglar who ran a -little knife sideways into the soles of Mahbub's slippers, or -picked the seams of the saddle-bags so deftly. At first Kim had -been minded to give the alarm - the long-drawn cho-or -choor! -[thief! thief!] that sets the serai ablaze of nights; but he -looked more carefully, and, hand on amulet, drew his own -conclusions. - -'It must be the pedigree of that made-up horse-lie,' said he, -'the thing that I carry to Umballa. Better that we go now. Those -who search bags with knives may presently search bellies with -knives. Surely there is a woman behind this. Hai! Hai! in a -whisper to the light-sleeping old man. 'Come. It is time - time -to go to Benares.' - -The lama rose obediently, and they passed out of the serai like -shadows. - - - - - -Chapter 2 - - -And whoso will, from Pride released; -Contemning neither creed nor priest, -May feel the Soul of all the East. -About him at Kamakura. - -Buddha at Kamakura. - - -They entered the fort-like railway station, black in the end of -night; the electrics sizzling over the goods-yard where they -handle the heavy Northern grain-traffic. - -'This is the work of devils!' said the lama, recoiling from the -hollow echoing darkness, the glimmer of rails between the masonry -platforms, and the maze of girders above. He stood in a gigantic -stone hall paved, it seemed, with the sheeted dead third-class -passengers who had taken their tickets overnight and were -sleeping in the waiting-rooms. All hours of the twenty-four are -alike to Orientals, and their passenger traffic is regulated -accordingly. - -'This is where the fire-carriages come. One stands behind that -hole' -Kim pointed to the ticket-office - 'who will give thee a -paper to take thee to Umballa.' - -'But we go to Benares,' he replied petulantly. - -'All one. Benares then. Quick: she comes!' - -'Take thou the purse.' - -The lama, not so well used to trains as he had pretended, started -as the 3.25a.m. south-bound roared in. The sleepers sprang to -life, and the station filled with clamour and shoutings, cries of -water and sweetmeat vendors, shouts of native policemen, and -shrill yells of women gathering up their baskets, their families, -and their husbands. - -'It is the train - only the te-rain. It will not come here. -Wait!' Amazed at the lama's immense- simplicity (he had handed -him a small bag full of rupees), Kim asked and paid for a ticket -to Umballa. A sleepy clerk grunted and flung out a ticket to the -next station, just six miles distant. - -'Nay,' said Kim, scanning it with a grin. 'This may serve for -farmers, but I live in the city of Lahore. It was cleverly done, -Babu. Now give the ticket to Umballa.' - -The Babu scowled and dealt the proper ticket. - -'Now another to Amritzar,' said Kim, who had no notion of -spending Mahbub Ali's money on anything so crude as a paid ride -to Umballa. 'The price is so much. The small money in return is -just so much. I know the ways of the te-rain ... Never did yogi -need chela as thou dost,' he went on merrily to the bewildered -lama. 'They would have flung thee out at Mian Mir but for me. -This way! Come!' He returned the money, keeping only one anna in -each rupee of the price of the Umballa ticket as his commission - -the immemorial commission of Asia. - -The lama jibbed at the open door of a crowded third-class -carriage. 'Were it not better to walk?' said he weakly. - -A burly Sikh artisan thrust forth his bearded head. 'Is he -afraid? Do not be afraid. I remember the time when I was afraid -of the te-rain. Enter! This thing is the work of the Government.' - -'I do not fear,' said the lama. 'Have ye room within for two?' - -'There is no room even for a mouse,' shrilled the wife of a well- -to-do cultivator - a Hindu Jat from the rich Jullundur, district. -Our night trains are not as well looked after as the day ones, -where the sexes are very strictly kept to separate carriages. - -'Oh, mother of my son, we can make space,' said the blueturbaned -husband. 'Pick up the child. It is a holy man, see'st thou?' - -'And my lap full of seventy times seven bundles! Why not bid him -sit on my knee, Shameless? But men are ever thus!' She looked -round for approval. An Amritzar courtesan near the window sniffed -behind her head drapery. - -'Enter! Enter!' cried a fat Hindu money-lender, his folded -account-book in a cloth under his arm. With an oily smirk: 'It is -well to be kind to the poor.' - -'Ay, at seven per cent a month with a mortgage on the unborn -calf,' said a young Dogra, soldier going south on leave; and they -all laughed. - -'Will it travel to Benares?' said the lama. - -'Assuredly. Else why should we come? Enter, or we are left,' -cried Kim. - -'See!' shrilled the Amritzar girl. 'He has never entered a train. -Oh, see!' - -'Nay, help,' said the cultivator, putting out a large brown hand -and hauling him in. 'Thus is it done, father.' - -'But - but - I sit on the floor. It is against the Rule to sit on -a bench,' said the lama. 'Moreover, it cramps me.' - -'I say,' began the money-lender, pursing his lips, 'that there is -not one rule of right living which these te-rains do not cause as -to break. We sit, for example, side by side with all castes and -peoples.' - -'Yea, and with most outrageously shameless ones,' said the wife, -scowling at the Amritzar girl making eyes at the young sepoy. - -'I said we might have gone by cart along the road,' said the -husband, 'and thus have saved some money.' - -'Yes - and spent twice over what we saved on food by the way. -That was talked out ten thousand times.' - -'Ay, by ten thousand tongues,' grunted he. - -'The Gods help us poor women if we may not speak. Oho! He is of -that sort which may not look at or reply to a woman.' For the -lama, constrained by his Rule, took not the faintest notice of -her. 'And his disciple is like him?' - -'Nay, mother,' said Kim most promptly. 'Not when the woman is -well-looking and above all charitable to the hungry.' - -'A beggar's answer,' said the Sikh, laughing. 'Thou hast brought -it on thyself, sister!' Kim's hands were crooked in supplication. - -'And whither goest thou?' said the woman, handing him the half of -a cake from a greasy package. - -'Even to Benares.' - -'Jugglers belike?' the young soldier suggested. 'Have ye any -tricks to pass the time? Why does not that yellow man answer?' - - -'Because,' said Kim stoutly, 'he is holy, and thinks upon matters -hidden from thee.' - -'That may be well. We of the Ludhiana Sikhs' - he rolled it out -sonorously -'do not trouble our heads with doctrine. We fight.' - -'My sister's brother's son is naik (corporal] in that regiment,' -said the Sikh craftsman quietly. 'There are also some Dogra -companies there.' The soldier glared, for a Dogra is of other -caste than a Sikh, and the banker tittered. - -'They are all one to me, ' said the Amritzar girl. - -'That we believe,' snorted the cultivator's wife malignantly. - -'Nay, but all who serve the Sirkar with weapons in their hands -are, as it were, one brotherhood. There is one brotherhood of the -caste, but beyond that again' - she looked round timidly -'the -bond of the Pulton - the Regiment -eh?' - -'My brother is in a Jat regiment,' said the cultivator. 'Dogras -be good men.' - -'Thy Sikhs at least were of that opinion,' said the soldier, with -a scowl at the placid old man in the corner. 'Thy Sikhs thought -so when our two companies came to help them at the Pirzai Kotal -in the face of eight Afridi standards on the ridge not three -months gone.' - -He told the story of a Border action in which the Dogra companies -of the Ludhiana Sikhs had acquitted themselves well. The Amritzar -girl smiled; for she knew the talc was to win her approval. - -'Alas!' said the cultivator's wife at the end. 'So their villages -were burnt and their little children made homeless?' - -'They had marked our dead. They paid a great payment after we of -the Sikhs had schooled them. So it was. Is this Amritzar?' - -'Ay, and here they cut our tickets,' said the banker, fumbling at -his belt. - -The lamps were paling in the dawn when the half-caste guard came -round. Ticket-collecting is a slow business in the East, where -people secrete their tickets in all sorts of curious places. Kim -produced his and was told to get out. - -'But I go to Umballa,' he protested. 'I go with this holy man.' - -'Thou canst go to Jehannum for aught I care. This ticket is only - -Kim burst into a flood of tears, protesting that the lama was his -father and his mother, that he was the prop of the lama's -declining years, and that the lama would die without his care. -All the carriage bade the guard be merciful - the banker was -specially eloquent here - but the guard hauled Kim on to the -platform. The lama blinked - he could not overtake the situation -and Kim lifted up his voice and wept outside the carriage -window. - -'I am very poor. My father is dead - my mother is dead. O -charitable ones, if I am left here, who shall tend that old man?' - -'What - what is this?' the lama repeated. 'He must go to Benares. -He must come with me. He is my chela. If there is money to be -paid -' - -'Oh, be silent,' whispered Kim; 'are we Rajahs to throw away good -silver when the world is so charitable?' - -The Amritzar girl stepped out with her bundles, and it was on her -that Kim kept his watchful eye. Ladies of that persuasion, he -knew, were generous. - -'A ticket - a little tikkut to Umballa - O Breaker of Hearts!' -She laughed. 'Hast thou no charity?' - -'Does the holy man come from the North' - -'From far and far in the North he comes,' cried Kim. 'From among -the hills.' - -'There is snow among the pine-trees in the North - in the hills -there is snow. My mother was from Kulu. Get thee a ticket. Ask -him for a blessing.' - -'Ten thousand blessings,' shrilled Kim. 'O Holy One, a woman has -given us in charity so that I can come with thee - a woman with a -golden heart. I run for the tikkut.' - -The girl looked up at the lama, who had mechanically followed Kim -to the platform. He bowed his head that he might not see her, and -muttered in Tibetan as she passed on with the crowd. - -'Light come - light go,' said the cultivator's wife viciously. - -'She has acquired merit,' returned the lama. 'Beyond doubt it was -a nun.' - -'There be ten thousand such nuns in Amritzar alone. Return, -old man, or the te-rain may depart without thee,' cried the -banker. - -'Not only was it sufficient for the ticket, but for a little food -also, ' said Kim, leaping to his place. 'Now eat, Holy One. Look. -Day comes!' - -Golden, rose, saffron, and pink, the morning mists smoked away -across the flat green levels. All the rich Punjab lay out in the -splendour of the keen sun. The lama flinched a little as the -telegraph-posts swung by. - -'Great is the speed of the te-rain,' said the banker, with a -patronizing grin. 'We have gone farther since Lahore than thou -couldst walk in two days: at even, we shall enter Umballa.' - -'And that is still far from Benares,' said the lama wearily, -mumbling over the cakes that Kim offered. They all unloosed their -bundles and made their morning meal. Then the banker, the -cultivator, and the soldier prepared their pipes and wrapped the -compartment in choking, acrid smoke, spitting and coughing and -enjoying themselves. The Sikh and the cultivator's wife chewed -pan; the lama took snuff and told his beads, while Kim, cross- -legged, smiled over the comfort of a full stomach. - -'What rivers have ye by Benares?' said the lama of a sudden to -the carriage at large. - -'We have Gunga,' returned the banker, when the little titter had -subsided. - -'What others?' - -'What other than Gunga?' - -'Nay, but in my mind was the thought of a certain River of -healing.' - -'That is Gunga. Who bathes in her is made clean and goes to the -Gods. Thrice have I made pilgrimage to Gunga.' He looked round -proudly. - -'There was need,' said the young sepoy drily, and the travellers' -laugh turned against the banker. - -'Clean - to return again to the Gods,' the lama muttered. 'And to -go forth on the round of lives anew - still tied to the Wheel.' -He shook his head testily. 'But maybe there is a mistake. Who, -then, made Gunga in the beginning?' - -'The Gods. Of what known faith art thou?' the banker said, -appalled. - -'I follow the Law - the Most Excellent Law. So it was the Gods -that made Gunga. What like of Gods were they?' - -The carriage looked at him in amazement. It was inconceivable -that anyone should be ignorant of Gunga. - -'What - what is thy God?' said the money-lender at last. - -'Hear!' said the lama, shifting the rosary to his hand. 'Hear: -for I speak of Him now! O people of Hind, listen!' - -He began in Urdu the tale of the Lord Buddha, but, borne by his -own thoughts, slid into Tibetan and long-droned texts from a -Chinese book of the Buddha's life. The gentle, tolerant folk -looked on reverently. All India is full of holy men stammering -gospels in strange tongues; shaken and consumed in the fires of -their own zeal; dreamers, babblers, and visionaries: as it has -been from the beginning and will continue to the end. - -'Um!' said the soldier of the Ludhiana Sikhs. 'There was a -Mohammedan regiment lay next to us at the Pirzai Kotal, and a -priest of theirs - he was, as I remember, a naik - when the fit -was on him, spake prophecies. But the mad all are in God's -keeping. His officers overlooked much in that man.' - -The lama fell back on Urdu, remembering that he was in a strange -land. 'Hear the tale of the Arrow which our Lord loosed from the -bow,' he said. - -This was much more to their taste, and they listened curiously -while he told it. 'Now, O people of Hind, I go to seek that -River. Know ye aught that may guide me, for we be all men and -women in evil case.' - -'There is Gunga - and Gunga alone - who washes away sin.' ran the -murmur round the carriage. - -'Though past question we have good Gods Jullundur-way,' said the -cultivator's wife, looking out of the window. 'See how they have -blessed the crops.' - -'To search every river in the Punjab is no small matter,' said -her husband. 'For me, a stream that leaves good silt on my land -suffices, and I thank Bhumia, the God of the Home-stead.' He -shrugged one knotted, bronzed shoulder. - -'Think you our Lord came so far North?' said the lama, turning to -Kim. - -'It may be,' Kim replied soothingly, as he spat red pan-juice on -the floor. - -'The last of the Great Ones,' said the Sikh with authority, 'was -Sikander Julkarn [Alexander the Great]. He paved the streets of -Jullundur and built a great tank near Umballa. That pavement -holds to this day; and the tank is there also. I never heard of -thy God.' - -'Let thy hair grow long and talk Punjabi,' said the young soldier -jestingly to Kim, quoting a Northern proverb. 'That is all that -makes a Sikh.' But he did not say this very loud. - -The lama sighed and shrank into himself, a dingy, shapeless mass. -In the pauses of their talk they could hear the low droning _'Om -mane pudme hum! Om mane pudme hum!' - and the thick click of the -wooden rosary beads. - -'It irks me,' he said at last. 'The speed and the clatter irk me. -Moreover, my chela, I think that maybe we have over-passed that -River.' - -'Peace, peace,' said Kim. 'Was not the River near Benares? We are -yet far from the place.' - -'But - if our Lord came North, it may be any one of these little -ones that we have run across.' - -'I do not know.' - -'But thou wast sent to me - wast thou sent to me? - for the merit -I had acquired over yonder at Such-zen. From beside the cannon -didst thou come - bearing two faces -and two garbs.' - -'Peace. One must not speak of these things here,' whispered Kim. -'There was but one of me. Think again and thou wilt remember. A -boy - a Hindu boy - by the great green cannon.' - -'But was there not also an Englishman with a white beard holy -among images - who himself made more sure my assurance of the -River of the Arrow?' - -'He - we - went to the Ajaib-Gher in Lahore to pray before the -Gods there,' Kim explained to the openly listening company. 'And -the Sahib of the Wonder House talked to him - yes, this is truth -as a brother. He is a very holy man, from far beyond the Hills. -Rest, thou. In time we come to Umballa.' - -'But my River - the River of my healing?' - -'And then, if it please thee, we will go hunting for that River -on foot. So that we miss nothing - not even a little rivulet in a -field-side.' - -'But thou hast a Search of thine own?' The lama - very pleased -that he remembered so well - sat bolt upright. - -'Ay,' said Kim, humouring him. The boy was entirely happy to be -out chewing pan and seeing new people in the great good-tempered -world. - -'It was a bull - a Red Bull that shall come and help thee and -carry thee - whither? I have forgotten. A Red Bull on a green -field, was it not?' - -'Nay, it will carry me nowhere,' said Kim. 'It is but a tale I -told thee.' - -'What is this?' The cultivator's wife leaned forward, her -bracelets clinking on her arm. 'Do ye both dream dreams? A Red -Bull on a green field, that shall carry thee to the heavens or -what? Was it a vision? Did one make a prophecy? We have a Red -Bull in our village behind Jullundur city, and he grazes by -choice in the very greenest of our fields!' - -'Give a woman an old wife's tale and a weaver-bird a leaf and a -thread', they will weave wonderful things,' said the Sikh. 'All -holy men dream dreams, and by following holy men their disciples -attain that power.' - -'A Red Bull on a green field, was it?' the lama repeated. 'In a -former life it may be thou hast acquired merit, and the Bull will -come to reward thee.' - -'Nay - nay - it was but a tale one told to me - for a jest -belike. But I will seek the Bull about Umballa, and thou canst -look for thy River and rest from the clatter of the train.' - -'It may be that the Bull knows - that he is sent to guide us -both.' said the lama, hopefully as a child. Then to the company, -indicating Kim: 'This one was sent to me but yesterday. He is -not, I think, of this world.' - -'Beggars aplenty have I met, and holy men to boot, but never such -a yogi nor such a disciple,' said the woman. - - -Her husband touched his forehead lightly with one finger -and smiled. But the next time the lama would eat they took care -to give him of their best. - -And at last - tired, sleepy, and dusty - they reached Umballa -City Station. - -'We abide here upon a law-suit,' said the cultivator's wife to -Kim. 'We lodge with my man's cousin's younger brother. There is -room also in the courtyard for thy yogi and for thee. Will- will -he give me a blessing?' - -'O holy man! A woman with a heart of gold gives us lodging for -the night. It is a kindly land, this land of the South. See how -we have been helped since the dawn!' - -The lama bowed his head in benediction. - -'To fill my cousin's younger brother's house with wastrels -' the -husband began, as he shouldered his heavy bamboo staff. - -'Thy cousin's younger brother owes my father's cousin something -yet on his daughter's marriage-feast,' said the woman crisply. -'Let him put their food to that account. The yogi will beg, I -doubt not.' - -'Ay, I beg for him,' said Kim, anxious only to get the lama under -shelter for the night, that he might seek Mahbub Ali's Englishman -and deliver himself of the white stallion's pedigree. - -'Now,' said he, when the lama had come to an anchor in the inner -courtyard of a decent Hindu house behind the cantonments, 'I go -away for a while - to - to buy us victual in the bazar. Do not -stray abroad till I return.' - -'Thou wilt return? Thou wilt surely return?' The old man caught -at his wrist. 'And thou wilt return in this very same shape? Is -it too late to look tonight for the River?' - -'Too late and too dark. Be comforted. Think how far thou art on -the road - an hundred miles from Lahore already.' - -'Yea - and farther from my monastery. Alas! It is a great and -terrible world.' - -Kim stole out and away, as unremarkable a figure as ever carried -his own and a few score thousand other folk's fate slung round -his neck. Mahbub Ali's directions left him little doubt of the -house in which his Englishman lived; and a groom, bringing a dog- -cart home from the Club, made him quite sure. It remained only to -identify his man, and Kim slipped through the garden hedge and -hid in a clump of plumed grass close to the veranda. The house -blazed with lights, and servants moved about tables dressed with -flowers, glass, and silver. Presently forth came an Englishman, -dressed in black and - white, humming a tune. It was too dark to -see his face, so Kim, beggar-wise, tried an old experiment. - -'Protector of the Poor!' - -The man backed towards the voice. - -'Mahbub Ali says -' - -'Hah! What says Mahbub Ali?' He made no attempt to look for the -speaker, and that showed Kim that he knew. - -'The pedigree of the white stallion is fully established.' - -'What proof is there?' The Englishman switched at the rose-hedge -in the side of the drive. - -'Mahbub Ali has given me this proof.' Kim flipped the wad of -folded paper into the air, and it fell in the path beside the -man, who put his foot on it as a gardener came round the corner. -When the servant passed he picked it up, dropped a rupee - Kim -could hear the clink - and strode into the house, never turning -round. Swiftly Kim took up the money; but for all his training, -he was Irish enough by birth to reckon silver the least part of -any game. What he desired was the visible effect of action; so, -instead of slinking away, he lay close in the grass and wormed -nearer to the house. - -He saw - Indian bungalows are open through and through the -Englishman return to a small dressing-room, in a comer of the -veranda, that was half office, littered with papers and despatch- -boxes, and sit down to study Mahbub Ali's message. His face, by -the full ray of the kerosene lamp, changed and darkened, and Kim, -used as every beggar must be to watching countenances, took good -note. - -'Will! Will, dear!' called a woman's voice. 'You ought to be in -the drawing-room. They'll be here in a minute.' - -The man still read intently. - -'Will!' said the voice, five minutes later. 'He's come. I can -hear the troopers in the drive.' - -The man dashed out bareheaded as a big landau with four native -troopers behind it halted at the veranda, and a tall, black -haired man, erect as an arrow, swung out, preceded by a young -officer who laughed pleasantly. - -Flat on his belly lay Kim, almost touching the high wheels. His -man and the black stranger exchanged two sentences. - -'Certainly, sir,' said the young officer promptly. 'Everything -waits while a horse is concerned.' - -'We shan't be more than twenty minutes,' said Kim's man. 'You can -do the honours -keep 'em amused, and all that.' - -'Tell one of the troopers to wait,' said the tall man, and they -both passed into the dressing-room together as the landau rolled -away. Kim saw their heads bent over Mahbub Ali's message, and -heard the voices - one low and deferential, the other sharp and -decisive. - -'It isn't a question of weeks. It is a question of days - hours -almost,' said the elder. 'I'd been expecting it for some time, -but this' - he tapped Mahbub Ali's paper - 'clinches it. Grogan's -dining here to-night, isn't he?' - -'Yes, sir, and Macklin too.' - -'Very good. I'll speak to them myself. The matter will be -referred to the Council, of course, but this is a case where one -is justified in assuming that we take action at once. Warn the -Pined and Peshawar brigades. It will disorganize all the summer -reliefs, but we can't help that. This comes of not smashing them -thoroughly the first time. Eight thousand should be enough.' - -'What about artillery, sir?' - -'I must consult Macklin.' - -'Then it means war?' - -'No. Punishment. When a man is bound by the action of his -predecessor -' - -'But C25 may have lied.' - -'He bears out the other's information. Practically, they showed -their hand six months back. But Devenish would have it there was -a chance of peace. Of course they used it to make themselves -stronger. Send off those telegrams at once - the new code, not -the old - mine and Wharton's. I don't think we need keep the -ladies waiting any longer. We can settle the rest over the -cigars. I thought it was coming. It's punishment - not war.' - -As the trooper cantered off, Kim crawled round to the back of the -house, where, going on his Lahore experiences, he judged there -would be food - and information. The kitchen was crowded with -excited scullions, one of whom kicked him. - -'Aie,' said Kim, feigning tears. 'I came only to wash dishes in -return for a bellyful.' - -'All Umballa is on the same errand. Get hence. They go in now -with the soup. Think you that we who serve Creighton Sahib need -strange scullions to help us through a big dinner?' - -'It is a very big dinner,' said Kim, looking at the plates. - -'Small wonder. The guest of honour is none other than the Jang-i- -Lat Sahib [the Commander-in-Chief].' - -'Ho!' said Kim, with the correct guttural note of wonder. He had -learned what he wanted, and when the scullion turned he was gone. - -'And all that trouble,' said he to himself, thinking as usual in -Hindustani, 'for a horse's pedigree! Mahbub Ali should have come -to me to learn a little lying. Every time before that I have -borne a message it concerned a woman. Now it is men. Better. The -tall man said that they will loose a great army to punish someone --somewhere - the news goes to Pindi and Peshawur. There are also -guns. Would I had crept nearer. It is big news!' - -He returned to find the cultivator's cousin's younger brother -discussing the family law-suit in all its bearings with the -cultivator and his wife and a few friends, while the lama dozed. -After the evening meal some one passed him a water-pipe; and Kim -felt very much of a man as he pulled at the smooth coconut-shell, -his legs spread abroad in the moonlight, his tongue clicking in -remarks from time to time. His hosts were most polite; for the -cultivator's wife had told them of his vision of the Red Bull, -and of his probable descent from another world. Moreover, the -lama was a great and venerable curiosity. - - -The family priest, an old, tolerant Sarsut Brahmin, dropped in -later, and naturally started a theological argument to impress -the family. By creed, of course, they were all on their priest's -side, but the lama was the guest and the novelty. His gentle -kindliness, and his impressive Chinese quotations, that sounded -like spells, delighted them hugely; and in this sympathetic, -simple air, he expanded like the Bodhisat's own lotus, speaking -of his life in the great hills of Such-zen, before, as he said, -'I rose up to seek enlightenment.' - -Then it came out that in those worldly days he had been a master- -hand at casting horoscopes and nativities; and the family priest -led him on to describe his methods; each giving the planets names -that the other could not understand, and pointing upwards as the -big stars sailed across the dark. The children of the house -tugged unrebuked at his rosary; and he clean forgot the Rule -which forbids looking at women as he talked of enduring snows, -landslips, blocked passes, the remote cliffs where men find -sapphires and turquoise, and that wonderful upland road that -leads at last into Great China itself. - -'How thinkest thou of this one?' said the cultivator aside to the -priest. - -'A holy man - a holy man indeed. His Gods are not the Gods, but -his feet are upon the Way,' was the answer. 'And his methods of -nativities, though that is beyond thee, are wise and sure.1 - -'Tell me,' said Kim lazily, 'whether I find my Red Bull on a -green field, as was promised me.' - -'What knowledge hast thou of thy birth-hour?' the priest asked, -swelling with importance. - -'Between first and second cockcrow of the first night in May.' - -'Of what year?' - -'I do not know; but upon the hour that I cried first fell the -great earthquake in Srinagar which is in Kashmir.' This Kim had -from the woman who took care of him, and she again from Kimball -O'Hara. The earthquake had been felt in India, and for long stood -a leading date in the Punjab. - -'Ai!' said a woman excitedly. This seemed to make Kim's -supernatural origin more certain. "Was not such an one's daughter -born then -' - -'And her mother bore her husband four sons in four years all -likely boys,' cried the cultivator's wife, sitting outside the -circle in the shadow. - -'None reared in the knowledge,' said the family priest, 'forget -how the planets stood in their Houses upon that night.' He began -to draw in the dust of the courtyard. 'At least thou hast good -claim to a half of the House of the Bull. How runs thy prophecy?' - -'Upon a day,' said Kim, delighted at the sensation he was -creating, 'I shall be made great by means of a Red Bull on a -green field, but first there will enter two men making all things -ready.' - -'Yes: thus ever at the opening of a vision. A thick darkness that -clears slowly; anon one enters with a broom making ready the -place. Then begins the Sight. Two men - thou sayest? Ay, ay. The -Sun, leaving the House of the Bull, enters that of the Twins. -Hence the two men of the prophecy. Let us now consider. Fetch me -a twig, little one.' - -He knitted his brows, scratched, smoothed out, and scratched -again in the dust mysterious signs - to the wonder of all save -the lama, who, with fine instinct, forbore to interfere. - -At the end of half an hour, he tossed the twig from him with a -grunt. - -'Hm! Thus say the stars. Within three days come the two men to -make all things ready. After them follows the Bull; but the sign -over against him is the sign of War and armed men.' - -'There was indeed a man of the Ludhiana Sikhs in the carriage -from Lahore,' said the cultivator's wife hopefully. - -'Tck! Armed men - many hundreds. What concern hast thou with -war?' said the priest to Kim. 'Thine is a red and an angry sign -of War to be loosed very soon.' - -'None - none.' said the lama earnestly. 'We seek only peace and -our River.' - -Kim smiled, remembering what he had overheard in the dressing- -room. Decidedly he was a favourite of the stars. - -The priest brushed his foot over the rude horoscope. 'More than -this I cannot see. In three days comes the Bull to thee, boy.' - -'And my River, my River,' pleaded the lama. 'I had hoped his Bull -would lead us both to the River.' - -'Alas, for that wondrous River, my brother,' the priest replied. -'Such things are not common.' - -Next morning, though they were pressed to stay, the lama insisted -on departure. They gave Kim a large bundle of good food and -nearly three annas in copper money for the needs of the road, and -with many blessings watched the two go southward in the dawn. - -'Pity it is that these and such as these could not be freed from - -'Nay, then would only evil people be left on the earth, and who -would give us meat and shelter?' quoth Kim, stepping merrily -under his burden. - -'Yonder is a small stream. Let us look,' said the lama, and he -led from the white road across the fields; walking into a very -hornets' nest of pariah dogs. - - - - - -Chapter 3 - - -Yea, voice of every Soul that clung - -To life that strove from rung to rung -When Devadatta's rule was young, -The warm wind brings Kamakura. - -Buddha at Kamakura. - - -Behind them an angry farmer brandished a bamboo pole. He was a -market-gardener, Arain by caste, growing vegetables and flowers -for Umballa city, and well Kim knew the breed. - -'Such an one,' said the lama, disregarding the dogs, 'is impolite -to strangers, intemperate of speech and uncharitable. Be warned -by his demeanour, my disciple.' - -'Ho, shameless beggars!' shouted the farmer. 'Begone! Get hence!' - -'We go,' the lama returned, with quiet dignity. 'We go from these -unblessed fields.' - -'Ah,' said Kim, sucking in his breath. 'If the next crops fail, -thou canst only blame thine own tongue.' - -The man shuffled uneasily in his slippers. 'The land is full of -beggars,' he began, half apologetically. - -'And by what sign didst thou know that we would beg from thee, O -Mali?' said Kim tartly, using the name that a market-gardener -least likes. 'All we sought was to look at that river beyond the -field there.' - -'River, forsooth!' the man snorted. 'What city do ye hail from -not to know a canal-cut? It runs as straight as an arrow ' and I -pay for the water as though it were molten silver. There is a -branch of a river beyond. But if ye need water I can give that - -and milk.' - -'Nay, we will go to the river,' said the lama, striding out. - -'Milk and a meal.' the man stammered, as he looked at the strange -tall figure. 'I - I would not draw evil upon myself - or my -crops. But beggars are so many in these hard days.' - -'Take notice.' The lama turned to Kim. 'He was led to speak -harshly by the Red Mist of anger. That clearing from his eyes, he -becomes courteous and of an affable heart. May his fields be -blessed! Beware not to judge men too hastily, O farmer.' - -'I have met holy ones who would have cursed thee from hearthstone -to byre,' said Kim to the abashed man. 'Is he not wise and holy? -I am his disciple.' - -He cocked his nose in the air loftily and stepped across the -narrow field-borders with great dignity. - -'There is no pride,' said the lama, after a pause, 'there is no -pride among such as follow the Middle Way.' - -'But thou hast said he was low-caste and discourteous.' - -'Low-caste I did not say, for how can that be which is not? -Afterwards he amended his discourtesy, and I forgot the offence. -Moreover, he is as we are, bound upon the Wheel of Things; but he -does not tread the way of deliverance.' He halted at a little -runlet among the fields, and considered the hoof-pitted bank. - -'Now, how wilt thou know thy River?' said Kim, squatting in the -shade of some tall sugar-cane. - -'When I find it, an enlightenment will surely be given. This, I -feel, is not the place. O littlest among the waters, if only thou -couldst tell me where runs my River! But be thou blessed to make -the fields bear!' - -'Look! Look!' Kim sprang to his side and dragged him back. A -yellow-and-brown streak glided from the purple rustling stems to -the bank, stretched its neck to the water, drank, and lay still - -a big cobra with fixed, lidless eyes. - -'I have no stick - I have no stick,' said Kim. '1 will get me one -and break his back.' - -'Why? He is upon the Wheel as we are - a life ascending or -descending - very far from deliverance. Great evil must the soul -have done that is cast into this shape.' - -'I hate all snakes,' said Kim. No native training can quench the -white man's horror of the Serpent. - -'Let him live out his life.' The coiled thing hissed and half -opened its hood. 'May thy release come soon, brother!' the lama -continued placidly. 'Hast thou knowledge, by chance, of my -River?' - -'Never have I seen such a man as thou art,' Kim whispered, -overwhelmed. 'Do the very snakes understand thy talk?' - -'Who knows?' He passed within a foot of the cobra's poised head. -It flattened itself among the dusty coils. - -'Come, thou!' he called over his shoulder. - -'Not I,' said Kim'. 'I go round.' - -'Come. He does no hurt.' - -Kim hesitated for a moment. The lama backed his order by some -droned Chinese quotation which Kim took for a charm. He obeyed -and bounded across the rivulet, and the snake, indeed, made no -sign. - -'Never have I seen such a man.' Kim wiped the sweat from his -forehead. 'And now, whither go we?' - -'That is for thee to say. I am old, and a stranger - far from my -own place. But that the rel-carriage fills my head with noises of -devil-drums I would go in it to Benares now ... Yet by so going -we may miss the River. Let us find another river.' - -Where the hard-worked soil gives three and even four crops a year -through patches of sugar-cane, tobacco, long white radishes, -and nol-kol, all that day they strolled on, turning aside to -every glimpse of water; rousing village dogs and sleeping -villages at noonday; the lama replying to the volleyed questions -with an unswerving simplicity. They sought a River a River of -miraculous healing. Had any one knowledge of such a stream? -Sometimes men laughed, but more often heard the story out to the -end and offered them a place in the shade, a drink of milk, and a -meal. The women were always kind, and the little children as -children are the world over, alternately shy and venturesome. -Evening found them at rest under the village tree of a mud- -walled, mud-roofed hamlet, talking to the headman as the cattle -came in from the grazing-grounds and the women prepared the day's -last meal. They had passed beyond the belt of market-gardens -round hungry Umballa, and were among the mile-wide green of the -staple crops. - -He was a white-bearded and affable elder, used to entertaining -strangers. He dragged out a string bedstead for the lama, set -warm cooked food before him, prepared him a pipe, and, the -evening ceremonies being finished in the village temple, sent for -the village priest. - -Kim told the older children tales of the size and beauty of -Lahore, of railway travel, and such-like city things, while the -men talked, slowly as their cattle chew the cud. - -'I cannot fathom it,' said the headman at last to the priest. -'How readest thou this talk?' The lama, his tale told, was -silently telling his beads. - -'He is a Seeker.' the priest answered. 'The land is full of such. -Remember him who came only last, month - the fakir with the -tortoise?' - -'Ay, but that man had right and reason, for Krishna Himself -appeared in a vision promising him Paradise without the burning- -pyre if he journeyed to Prayag. This man seeks no God who is -within my knowledge.' - -'Peace, he is old: he comes from far off, and he is mad,' the -smooth-shaven priest replied. 'Hear me.' He turned to the lama. -'Three koss [six miles] to the westward runs the great road to -Calcutta.' - -'But I would go to Benares - to Benares.' - -'And to Benares also. It crosses all streams on this side of -Hind. Now my word to thee, Holy One, is rest here till tomorrow. -Then take the road' (it was the Grand Trunk Road he meant) 'and -test each stream that it overpasses; for, as I understand, the -virtue of thy River lies neither in one pool nor place, but -throughout its length. Then, if thy Gods will, be assured that -thou wilt come upon thy freedom.' - -'That is well said.' The lama was much impressed by the plan. 'We -will begin tomorrow, and a blessing on thee for showing old feet -such a near road.' A deep, sing-song Chinese half-chant closed -the sentence. Even the priest was impressed, and the headman -feared an evil spell: but none could look at the lama's simple, -eager face and doubt him long. - -'Seest thou my chela?' he said, diving into his snuff-gourd with -an important sniff. It was his duty to repay courtesy with -courtesy. - -'I see - and hear.' The headman rolled his eye where Kim was -chatting to a girl in blue as she laid crackling thorns on a -fire. - -'He also has a Search of his own. No river, but a Bull. Yea, a -Red Bull on a green field will some day raise him to honour. He -is, I think, not altogether of this world. He was sent of a -sudden to aid me in this search, and his name is Friend of all -the World.' - -The priest smiled. 'Ho, there, Friend of all the World,' he cried -across the sharp-smelling smoke, 'what art thou?' - -'This Holy One's disciple,' said Kim. - -'He says thou are a but [a spirit].' - -'Can buts eat?' said Kim, with a twinkle. 'For I am hungry.' - -'It is no jest,' cried the lama. 'A certain astrologer of that city -whose name I have forgotten -' - -'That is no more than the city of Umballa where we slept last -night,' Kim whispered to the priest. - -'Ay, Umballa was it? He cast a horoscope and declared that my -chela should find his desire within two days. But what said he of -the meaning of the stars, Friend of all the World?' - -Kim cleared his throat and looked around at the village -greybeards. - -'The meaning of my Star is War,' he replied pompously. - -Somebody laughed at the little tattered figure strutting on the -brickwork plinth under the great tree. Where a native would have -lain down, Kim's white blood set him upon his feet. - -'Ay, War,' he answered. - -'That is a sure prophecy,' rumbled a deep voice. 'For there is -always war along the Border -as I know.' - -It was an old, withered man, who had served the Government in the -days of the Mutiny as a native officer in a newly raised cavalry -regiment. The Government had given him a good holding in the -village, and though the demands of his sons, now grey-bearded -officers on their own account, had impoverished him, he was still -a person of consequence. English officials - Deputy Commissioners -even - turned aside from the main road to visit him, and on those -occasions he dressed himself in the uniform of ancient days, and -stood up like a ramrod. - -'But this shall be a great war - a war of eight thousand.' Kim's -voice shrilled across the quick-gathering crowd, astonishing -himself. - -'Redcoats or our own regiments?' the old man snapped, as though -he were asking an equal. His tone made men respect Kim. - -'Redcoats,' said Kim at a venture. 'Redcoats and guns.' - -'But - but the astrologer said no word of this,' cried the lama, -snuffing prodigiously in his excitement. - -'But I know. The word has come to me, who am this Holy One's -disciple. There will rise a war - a war of eight thousand redcoats. -From Pindi and Peshawur they will be drawn. This is -sure. - -'The boy has heard bazar-talk,' said the priest. - -'But he was always by my side,' said the lama. 'How should he know? -I did not know.' - -'He will make a clever juggler when the old man is dead,' muttered -the priest to the headman. 'What new trick is this?' - -'A sign. Give me a sign,' thundered the old soldier suddenly. 'If -there were war my sons would have told me.' - -'When all is ready, thy sons, doubt not, will be told. But it is a -long road from thy sons to the man in whose hands these things -lie.' Kim warmed to the game, for it reminded him of experiences -in the letter-carrying line, when, for the sake of a few pice, he -pretended to know more than he knew. But now he was playing for -larger things - the sheer excitement and the sense of power. He -drew a new breath and went on. - -'Old man, give me a sign. Do underlings order the goings of eight -thousand redcoats -with guns?' - -'No.' Still the old man answered as though Kim were an equal. - -'Dost thou know who He is, then, that gives the order?' - -'I have seen Him.' - -'To know again?' - -'I have known Him since he was a lieutenant in the topkhana (the -Artillery].' - -'A tall man. A tall man with black hair, walking thus?' Kim took -a few paces in a stiff, wooden style. - -'Ay. But that anyone may have seen.' The crowd were breathless- -still through all this talk. - -'That is true,' said Kim. 'But I will say more. Look now. First -the great man walks thus. Then He thinks thus.' (Kim drew a -forefinger over his forehead and downwards till it came to rest -by the angle of the jaw.) 'Anon He twitches his fingers thus. -Anon He thrusts his hat under his left armpit.' Kim illustrated -the motion and stood like a stork. - -The old man groaned, inarticulate with amazement; and the crowd -shivered. - -'So - so - so. But what does He when He is about to give an order?' - -'He rubs the skin at the back of his neck - thus. Then falls one -finger on the table and He makes a small sniffing noise through -his nose. Then He speaks, saying: "Loose such and such a regiment. -Call out such guns."' - -The old man rose stiffly and saluted. - -'"For"' - Kim translated into the vernacular the clinching -sentences he had heard in the dressing-room at Umballa - '"For," -says He, "we should have done this long ago. It is not war - it is -a chastisement. Snff!"' - -'Enough. I believe. I have seen Him thus in the smoke of battles. -Seen and heard. It is He!' - -'I saw no smoke' - Kim's voice shifted to the rapt sing-song of the -wayside fortune-teller. 'I saw this in darkness. First came a man -to make things clear. Then came horsemen. Then came He. standing in -a ring of light. The rest followed as I have said. Old man, have I -spoken truth?' - -'It is He. Past all doubt it is He.' - -The crowd drew a long, quavering breath, staring alternately at the -old man, still at attention, and ragged Kim against the purple -twilight. - -'Said I not - said I not he was from the other world?' cried the -lama proudly. 'He is the Friend of all the World. He is the -Friend of the Stars!' - -'At least it does not concern us,' a man cried. 'O thou young -soothsayer, if the gift abides with thee at all seasons, I have a -red-spotted cow. She may be sister to thy Bull for aught I know - -' - -'Or I care,' said Kim. 'My Stars do not concern themselves with thy -cattle.' - -'Nay, but she is very sick,' a woman struck in. 'My man is a -buffalo, or he would have chosen his words better. Tell me if she -recover?' - -Had Kim been at all an ordinary boy, he would have carried on the -play; but one does not know Lahore city, and least of all the -fakirs by the Taksali Gate, for thirteen years without also knowing -human nature. - -The priest looked at him sideways, something bitterly - a dry and -blighting smile. - -'Is there no priest, then, in the village? I thought I had seen a -great one even now,' cried Kim. - -'Ay - but -' the woman began. - -'But thou and thy husband hoped to get the cow cured for a handful -of thanks.' The shot told: they were notoriously the closest-fisted -couple in the village. 'It is not well to cheat the temples. Give a -young calf to thine own priest, and, unless thy Gods are angry past -recall, she will give milk within a month.' - -'A master-beggar art thou,' purred the priest approvingly. 'Not the -cunning of forty years could have done better. Surely thou hast -made the old man rich?' - -'A little flour, a little butter and a mouthful of cardamoms,' Kim -retorted, flushed with the praise, but still cautious -'Does one -grow rich on that? And, as thou canst see, he is mad. But it serves -me while I learn the road at least." - -He knew what the fakirs of the Taksali Gate were like when they -talked among themselves, and copied the very inflection of their -lewd disciples. - -'Is his Search, then, truth or a cloak to other ends? It may be -treasure.' - -'He is mad - many times mad. There is nothing else.' - -Here the old soldier bobbled up and asked if Kim would accept his -hospitality for the night. The priest recommended him to do so, but -insisted that the honour of entertaining the lama belonged to the -temple - at which the lama smiled guilelessly. Kim glanced from one -face to the other, and drew his own conclusions. - -'Where is the money?' he whispered, beckoning the old man off into -the darkness. - -'In my bosom. Where else?' - -'Give it me. Quietly and swiftly give it me.' - -'But why? Here is no ticket to buy.' - -'Am I thy chela, or am I not? Do I not safeguard thy old feet about -the ways? Give me the money and at dawn I will return it.' He -slipped his hand above the lama's girdle and brought away the -purse. - -'Be it so - be it so.' The old man nodded his head. 'This is a -great and terrible world. I never knew there were so many men alive -in it.' - -Next morning the priest was in a very bad temper, but the lama was -quite happy; and Kim had enjoyed a most interesting evening with -the old man, who brought out his cavalry sabre and, balancing it on -his dry knees, told tales of the Mutiny and young captains thirty -years in their graves, till Kim dropped off to sleep. - -'Certainly the air of this country is good,' said the lama. 'I -sleep lightly, as do all old men; but last night I slept unwaking -till broad day. Even now I am heavy.' - -'Drink a draught of hot milk,' said Kim, who had carried not a few -such remedies to opium-smokers of his acquaintance. 'It is time to -take the Road again.' - -'The long Road that overpasses all the rivers of Hind,' said the -lama gaily. 'Let us go. But how thinkest thou, chela, to recompense -these people, and especially the priest, for their great kindness? -Truly they are but-parast, but in other lives, maybe, they will -receive enlightenment. A rupee to the temple? The thing within is -no more than stone and red paint, but the heart of man we must -acknowledge when and where it is good.' - -'Holy One, hast thou ever taken the Road alone?' Kim looked up -sharply, like the Indian crows so busy about the fields. - -'Surely, child: from Kulu to Pathankot - from Kulu, where my first -chela died. When men were kind to us we made offerings, and all men -were well-disposed throughout all the Hills.' - -'It is otherwise in Hind,' said Kim drily. 'Their Gods are many- -armed and malignant. Let them alone.' - -'I would set thee on thy road for a little, Friend of all the World -thou and thy yellow man.' The old soldier ambled up the village -street, all shadowy in the dawn, on a punt, scissor-hocked pony. -'Last night broke up the fountains of remembrance in my so-dried -heart, and it was as a blessing to me. Truly there is war abroad in -the air. I smell it. See! I have brought my sword.' - -He sat long-legged on the little beast, with the big sword at his -side -hand dropped on the pommel - staring fiercely over the flat -lands towards the North. 'Tell me again how He showed in thy -vision. Come up and sit behind me. The beast will carry two.' - -'I am this Holy One's disciple,' said Kim, as they cleared the -village-gate. The villagers seemed almost sorry to be rid of them, -but the priest's farewell was cold and distant. He had wasted some -opium on a man who carried no money. - -'That is well spoken. I am not much used to holy men, but respect -is always good. There is no respect in these days - not even when -a Commissioner Sahib comes to see me. But why should one whose -Star leads him to war follow a holy man?' - -'But he is a holy man,' said Kim earnestly. 'In truth, and in talk -and in act, holy. He is not like the others. I have never seen such -an one. We be not fortune-tellers, or jugglers, or beggars.' - -'Thou art not. That I can see. But I do not know that other. He -marches well, though.' - -The first freshness of the day carried the lama forward with long, -easy, camel-like strides. He was deep in meditation, mechanically -clicking his rosary. - -They followed the rutted and worn country road that wound across -the flat between the great dark-green mango-groves, the line of the -snowcapped Himalayas faint to the eastward. All India was at work -in the fields, to the creaking of well-wheels, the shouting of -ploughmen behind their cattle, and the clamour of the crows. Even -the pony felt the good influence and almost broke into a trot as -Kim laid a hand on the stirrup-leather. - -'It repents me that I did not give a rupee to the shrine,' said the -lama on the last bead of his eighty-one. - -The old soldier growled in his beard, so that the lama for the -first time was aware of him. - -'Seekest thou the River also?' said he, turning. - -'The day is new,' was the reply. 'What need of a river save to -water at before sundown? I come to show thee a short lane to the -Big Road.' - -'That is a courtesy to be remembered, O man of good will. But why -the sword?' - -The old soldier looked as abashed as a child interrupted in his -game of make-believe. - -'The sword,' he said, fumbling it. 'Oh, that was a fancy of mine -an old man's fancy. Truly the police orders are that no man must -bear weapons throughout Hind, but' - he cheered up and slapped the -hilt - 'all the constabeels hereabout know me.' - -'It is not a good fancy,' said the lama. 'What profit to kill men?' - -'Very little - as I know; but if evil men were not now and then -slain it would not be a good world for weaponless dreamers. I do -not speak without knowledge who have seen the land from Delhi south -awash with blood.' - -'What madness was that, then?' - -'The Gods', who sent it for a plague, alone know. A madness ate -into all the Army, and they turned against their officers. That -was the first evil, but not past remedy if they had then held their -hands. But they chose to kill the Sahibs' wives and children. Then -came the Sahibs from over the sea and called them to most strict -account.' - -'Some such rumour, I believe, reached me once long ago. They -called it the Black Year, as I remember.' - -'What manner of life hast thou led, not to know The Year? A rumour -indeed! All earth knew, and trembled!' - -'Our earth never shook but once - upon the day that the Excellent -One received Enlightenment.' - -'Umph! I saw Delhi shake at least- and Delhi is the navel of the -world.' - -'So they turned against women and children? That was a bad deed, -for which the punishment cannot be avoided.' - -'Many strove to do so, but with very small profit. I was then in -a regiment of cavalry. It broke. Of six hundred and eighty sabres -stood fast to their salt - how many, think you? Three. Of whom I -was one.' - -'The greater merit.' - -'Merit! We did not consider it merit in those days. My people, my -friends, my brothers fell from me. They said: "The time of the -English is accomplished. Let each strike out a little holding for -himself." But I had talked with the men of Sobraon, of -Chilianwallah, of Moodkee and Ferozeshah. I said: "Abide a little -and the wind turns. There is no blessing in this work." In those -days I rode seventy miles with an English Memsahib and her babe on -my saddle-bow. (Wow! That was a horse fit for a man!) I placed them -in safety, and back came I to my officer the one that was not -killed of our five. "Give me work," said I, "for I am an outcast -among my own kind, and my cousin's blood is wet on my sabre." "Be -content," said he. "There is great work forward. When this madness -is over there is a recompense."' - -'Ay, there is a recompense when the madness is over, surely?' the -lama muttered half to himself. - -'They did not hang medals in those days on all who by accident had -heard a gun fired. No! In nineteen pitched battles was I; in six- -and-forty skirmishes of horse; and in small affairs without number. -Nine wounds I bear; a medal and four clasps and the medal of an -Order, for my captains, who are now generals, remembered me when -the Kaisar-i-Hind had accomplished fifty years of her reign, and -all the land rejoiced. They said: "Give him the Order of Berittish -India." I carry it upon my neck now. I have also my jaghir -[holding] from the hands of the State - a free gift to me and mine. -The men of the old days -they are now Commissioners - come riding -to me through the crops - high upon horses so that all the village -sees - and we talk out the old skirmishes, one dead man's name -leading to another.' - -'And after?' said the lama. - -'Oh, afterwards they go away, but not before my village has seen. - -'And at the last what wilt thou do?' - -'At the last I shall die.' - -'And after?' - -'Let the Gods order it. I have never pestered Them with prayers. -I do not think They will pester me. Look you, I have noticed in my -long life that those who eternally break in upon Those Above with -complaints and reports and bellowings and weepings are presently -sent for in haste, as our Colonel used to send for slack-jawed -down-country men who talked too much. No, I have never wearied the -Gods. They will remember this, and give me a quiet place where I -can drive my lance in the shade, and wait to welcome my sons: I -have no less than three Rissaldar-majors all - in the regiments.' - -'And they likewise, bound upon the Wheel, go forth from life to -life - from despair to despair,' said the lama below his breath, -'hot, uneasy, snatching.' - -'Ay,' the old soldier chuckled. 'Three Rissaldar-majors in three -regiments. Gamblers a little, but so am I. They must be well -mounted; and one cannot take the horses as in the old days one took -women. Well, well, my holding can pay for all. How thinkest thou? -It is a well-watered strip, but my men cheat me. I do not know how -to ask save at the lance's point. Ugh! I grow angry and I curse -them, and they feign penitence, but behind my back I know they call -me a toothless old ape.' - -'Hast thou never desired any other thing?' - -'Yes - yes - a thousand times! A straight back and a close-clinging -knee once more; a quick wrist and a keen eye; and the marrow that -makes a man. Oh, the old days - the good days of my strength!' - -'That strength is weakness.' - -'It has turned so; but fifty years since I could have proved it -otherwise,' the old soldier retorted, driving his stirrup-edge into -the pony's lean flank. - -'But I know a River of great healing.' - -'I have drank Gunga-water to the edge of dropsy. All she gave me -was a flux, and no sort of strength.' - -'It is not Gunga. The River that I know washes from all taint of -sin. Ascending the far bank one is assured of Freedom. I do not -know thy life, but thy face is the face of the honourable and -courteous. Thou hast clung to thy Way, rendering fidelity when it -was hard to give, in that Black Year of which I now remember -other tales. Enter now upon the Middle Way which is the path to -Freedom. Hear the Most Excellent Law, and do not follow dreams.' - -'Speak, then, old man,' the soldier smiled, half saluting. 'We be -all babblers at our age.' - -The lama squatted under the shade of a mango, whose shadow played -checkerwise over his face; the soldier sat stiffly on the pony; -and Kim, making sure that there were no snakes, lay down in the -crotch of the twisted roots. - -There was a drowsy buzz of small life in hot sunshine, a cooing -of doves, and a sleepy drone of well-wheels across the fields. -Slowly and impressively the lama began. At the end of ten minutes -the old soldier slid from his pony, to hear better as he said, -and sat with the reins round his wrist. The lama's voice faltered -the periods lengthened. Kim was busy watching a grey squirrel. -When the little scolding bunch of fur, close pressed to the -branch, disappeared, preacher and audience were fast asleep, the -old officer's strong-cut head pillowed on his arm, the lama's -thrown back against the tree-bole, where it showed like yellow -ivory. A naked child toddled up, stared, and, moved by some quick -impulse of reverence, made a solemn little obeisance before the -lama - only the child was so short and fat that it toppled over -sideways, and Kim laughed at the sprawling, chubby legs. The -child, scared and indignant, yelled aloud. - -'Hai! Hai!' said the soldier, leaping to his feet. 'What is it? -What orders? ... It is ... a child! I dreamed it was an alarm. -Little one - little one - do not cry. Have I slept? That was -discourteous indeed!' - -'I fear! I am afraid!' roared the child. - -'What is it to fear? Two old men and a boy? How wilt thou ever make -a soldier, Princeling?' - -The lama had waked too, but, taking no direct notice of the child, -clicked his rosary. - -'What is that?' said the child, stopping a yell midway. 'I have -never seen such things. Give them me.' - -'Aha.' said the lama, smiling, and trailing a loop of it on the -grass: - -This is a handful of cardamoms, -This is a lump of ghi: -This is millet and chillies and rice, -A supper for thee and me! - -The child shrieked with joy, and snatched at the dark, glancing -beads. - -'Oho!' said the old soldier. 'Whence hadst thou that song, despiser -of this world?' - -'I learned it in Pathankot - sitting on a doorstep,' said the lama -shyly. 'It is good to be kind to babes.' - -'As I remember, before the sleep came on us, thou hadst told me -that marriage and bearing were darkeners of the true light, -stumbling-blocks upon the Way. Do children drop from Heaven in thy -country? Is it the Way to sing them songs?' - -'No man is all perfect,' said the lama gravely, recoiling the -rosary. 'Run now to thy mother, little one.' - -'Hear him!' said the soldier to Kim. 'He is ashamed for that he has -made a child happy. There was a very good householder lost in thee, -my brother. Hai, child!' He threw it a pice. 'Sweetmeats are always -sweet.' And as the little figure capered away into the sunshine: -'They grow up and become men. Holy One, I grieve that I slept in -the midst of thy preaching. Forgive me.' - -'We be two old men,' said the lama. 'The fault is mine. I listened -to thy talk of the world and its madness, and one fault led to the -next.' - -'Hear him! What harm do thy Gods suffer from play with a babe? And -that song was very well sung. Let us go on and I will sing thee the -song of Nikal Seyn before Delhi - the old song.' - -And they fared out from the gloom of the mango tope, the old man's -high, shrill voice ringing across the field, as wail by long-drawn -wail he unfolded the story of Nikal Seyn [Nicholson] - the song -that men sing in the Punjab to this day. Kim was delighted, and the -lama listened with deep interest. - -'Ahi! Nikal Seyn is dead - he died before Delhi! Lances of the -North, take vengeance for Nikal Seyn.' He quavered it out to the -end, marking the trills with the flat of his sword on the pony's -rump. - -'And now we come to the Big Road,' said he, after receiving the -compliments of Kim; for the lama was markedly silent. 'It is long -since I have ridden this way, but thy boy's talk stirred me. See, -Holy One - the Great Road which is the backbone of all Hind. For -the most part it is shaded, as here, with four lines of trees; the -middle road -all hard takes the quick traffic. In the days before -rail-carriages the Sahibs travelled up and down here in hundreds. -Now there are only country-carts and such like. Left and right is -the rougher road for the heavy carts - grain and cotton and timber, -fodder, lime and hides. A man goes in safety here for at every few -koss is a police-station. The police are thieves and extortioners -(I myself would patrol it with cavalry - young recruits under a -strong captain), but at least they do not suffer any rivals. All -castes and kinds of men move here. - -Look! Brahmins and chumars, bankers and tinkers, barbers and -bunnias, pilgrims -and potters - all the world going and coming. It -is to me as a river from which I am withdrawn like a log after a -flood.' - -And truly the Grand Trunk Road is a wonderful spectacle. It runs -straight, bearing without crowding India's traffic for fifteen -hundred miles - such a river of life as nowhere else exists in -the world. They looked at the green-arched, shade-flecked length -of it, the white breadth speckled with slow-pacing folk; and the -two-roomed police-station opposite. - -'Who bears arms against the law?' a constable called out -laughingly, as he caught sight of the soldier's sword. 'Are not -the police enough to destroy evil-doers?' - -'It was because of the police I bought it,' was the answer. 'Does -all go well in Hind?' - -'Rissaldar Sahib, all goes well.' - -'I am like an old tortoise, look you, who puts his head out from -the bank and draws it in again. Ay, this is the Road of Hindustan. -All men come by this way...' - -'Son of a swine, is the soft part of the road meant for thee to -scratch thy back upon? Father of all the daughters of shame and -husband of ten thousand virtueless ones, thy mother was devoted -to a devil, being led thereto by her mother. Thy aunts have never -had a nose for seven generations! Thy sister - What Owl's folly -told thee to draw thy carts across the road? A broken wheel? Then -take a broken head and put the two together at leisure!' - -The voice and a venomous whip-cracking came out of a pillar of -dust fifty yards away, where a cart had broken down. A thin, high -Kathiawar mare, with eyes and nostrils aflame, rocketed out of -the jam, snorting and wincing as her rider bent her across the -road in chase of a shouting man. He was tall and grey-bearded, -sitting the almost mad beast as a piece of her, and scientifically -lashing his victim between plunges. - -The old man's face lit with pride. 'My child!' said he briefly, and -strove to rein the pony's neck to a fitting arch. - -'Am I to be beaten before the police?' cried the carter. 'Justice! -I will have Justice -' - -'Am I to be blocked by a shouting ape who upsets ten thousand sacks -under a young horse's nose? That is the way to ruin a mare.' - -'He speaks truth. He speaks truth. But she follows her man close,' -said the old man. The carter ran under the wheels of his cart and -thence threatened all sorts of vengeance. - -'They are strong men, thy sons,' said the policeman serenely, -picking his teeth. - -The horseman delivered one last vicious cut with his whip and came -on at a canter. - -'My father!' He reigned back ten yards and dismounted. - -The old man was off his pony in an instant, and they embraced as do -father and son in the East. - - - - -Chapter 4 - - -Good Luck, she is never a lady, -But the cursedest quean alive, -Tricksy, wincing, and jady - -Kittle to lead or drive. -Greet her - she's hailing a stranger! -Meet her - she's busking to leave! -Let her alone for a shrew to the bone -And the hussy comes plucking your sleeve! -Largesse! Largesse, O Fortune! -Give or hold at your will. -If I've no care for Fortune, -Fortune must follow me still! - -The Wishing-Caps. - - -Then, lowering their voices, they spoke together. Kim came to rest -under a tree, but the lama tugged impatiently at his elbow. - -'Let us go on. The River is not here.' - -'Hai mai! Have we not walked enough for a little? Our River will -not run away. Patience, and he will give us a dole.' - -'This.' said the old soldier suddenly, 'is the Friend of the Stars. -He brought me the news yesterday. Having seen the very man Himself, -in a vision, giving orders for the war.' - -'Hm!' said his son, all deep in his broad chest. 'He came by a -bazar-rumour and made profit of it.' - -His father laughed. 'At least he did not ride to me begging for a -new charger, and the Gods know how many rupees. Are thy brothers' -regiments also under orders?' - -'I do not know. I took leave and came swiftly to thee in case -' - -'In case they ran before thee to beg. O gamblers and spendthrifts -all! But thou hast never yet ridden in a charge. A good horse is -needed there, truly. A good follower and a good pony also for the -marching. Let us see - let us see.' He thrummed on the pommel. - -'This is no place to cast accounts in, my father. Let us go to thy -house.' - -'At least pay the boy, then: I have no pice with me, and he brought -auspicious news. Ho! Friend of all the World, a war is toward as -thou hast said.' - -'Nay, as I know, the war,' returned Kim composedly. - -'Eh?' said the lama, fingering his beads, all eager for the road. - -'My master does not trouble the Stars for hire. We brought the news -bear witness, we brought the news, and now we go.' Kim half-crooked -his hand at his side. - -The son tossed a silver coin through the sunlight, grumbling -something about beggars and jugglers. It was a four-anna piece, and -would feed them well for days. The lama, seeing the flash of the -metal, droned a blessing. - -'Go thy way, Friend of all the World,' piped the old soldier, -wheeling his scrawny mount. 'For once in all my days I have met a -true prophet - who was not in the Army.' - -Father and son swung round together: the old man sitting as erect -as the younger. - -A Punjabi constable in yellow linen trousers slouched across the -road. He had seen the money pass. - -'Halt!' he cried in impressive English. 'Know ye not that there is -a takkus of two annas a head, which is four annas, on those who -enter the Road from this side-road? It is the order of the Sirkar, -and the money is spent for the planting of trees and the -beautification of the ways.' - -'And the bellies of the police,' said Kim, slipping out of arm's -reach. 'Consider for a while, man with a mud head. Think you we -came from the nearest pond like the frog, thy father-in-law? Hast -thou ever heard the name of thy brother?' - -'And who was he? Leave the boy alone,' cried a senior constable, -immensely delighted, as he squatted down to smoke his pipe in the -veranda. - -'He took a label from a bottle of belaitee-pani [soda-water], and, -affixing it to a bridge, collected taxes for a month from those who -passed, saying that it was the Sirkar's order. Then came an -Englishman and broke his head. Ah, brother, I am a town-crow, not a -village-crow!' - -The policeman drew back abashed, and Kim hooted at him all down the -road. - -'Was there ever such a disciple as I?' he cried merrily to the -lama. 'All earth would have picked thy bones within ten mile of -Lahore city if I had not guarded thee.' - -'I consider in my own mind whether thou art a spirit, sometimes, or -sometimes an evil imp,' said the lama, smiling slowly. - -'I am thy chela.' Kim dropped into step at his side - that -indescribable gait of the long-distance tramp all the world over. - -'Now let us walk,' muttered the lama, and to the click of his -rosary they walked in silence mile upon mile. The lama as usual, -was deep in meditation, but Kim's bright eyes were open wide. This -broad, smiling river of life, he considered, was a vast improvement -on the cramped and crowded Lahore streets. There were new people -and new sights at every stride - castes he knew and castes that -were altogether out of his experience. - -They met a troop of long-haired, strong-scented Sansis with baskets -of lizards and other unclean food on their backs, their lean dogs -sniffing at their heels. These people kept their own side of the -road', moving at a quick, furtive jog-trot, and all other castes -gave them ample room; for the Sansi is deep pollution. Behind them, -walking wide and stiffly across the strong shadows, the memory of -his leg-irons still on him, strode one newly released from the -jail; his full stomach and shiny skin to prove that the Government -fed its prisoners better than most honest men could feed -themselves. Kim knew that walk well, and made broad jest of it as -they passed. Then an Akali, a wild-eyed, wild-haired Sikh devotee -in the blue-checked clothes of his faith, with polished-steel -quoits glistening on the cone of his tall blue turban, stalked -past, returning from a visit to one of the independent Sikh States, -where he had been singing the ancient glories of the Khalsa to -College-trained princelings in top-boots and white-cord breeches. -Kim was careful not to irritate that man; for the Akali's temper is -short and his arm quick. Here and there they met or were overtaken -by the gaily dressed crowds of whole villages turning out to some -local fair; the women, with their babes on their hips, walking -behind the men, the older boys prancing on sticks of sugar-cane, -dragging rude brass models of locomotives such as they sell for a -halfpenny, or flashing the sun into the eyes of their betters from -cheap toy mirrors. One could see at a glance what each had bought; -and if there were any doubt it needed only to watch the wives -comparing, brown arm against brown arm, the newly purchased dull -glass bracelets that come from the North-West. These merry-makers -stepped slowly, calling one to the other and stopping to haggle -with sweetmeat-sellers, or to make a prayer before one of the -wayside shrines - sometimes Hindu, sometimes Mussalman - which the -low-caste of both creeds share with beautiful impartiality. A solid -line of blue, rising and falling like the back of a caterpillar in -haste, would swing up through the quivering dust and trot past to a -chorus of quick cackling. That was a gang of changars - the women -who have taken all the embankments of all the Northern railways -under their charge - a flat-footed, big-bosomed, strong-limbed, -blue-petticoated clan of earth-carriers, hurrying north on news of -a job, and wasting no time by the road. They belong to the caste -whose men do not count, and they walked with squared elbows, -swinging hips, and heads on high, as suits women who carry heavy -weights. A little later a marriage procession would strike into the -Grand Trunk with music and shoutings, and a smell of marigold and -jasmine stronger even than the reek of the dust. One could see the -bride's litter, a blur of red and tinsel, staggering through the -haze, while the bridegroom's bewreathed pony turned aside to snatch -a mouthful from a passing fodder-cart. Then Kim would join the -Kentish-fire of good wishes and bad jokes, wishing the couple a -hundred sons and no daughters, as the saying is. Still more -interesting and more to be shouted over it was when a strolling -juggler with some half-trained monkeys, or a panting, feeble bear, -or a woman who tied goats' horns to her feet, and with these danced -on a slack-rope, set the horses to shying and the women to shrill, -long-drawn quavers of amazement. - -The lama never raised his eyes. He did not note the money-lender on -his goose-rumped pony, hastening along to collect the cruel -interest; or the long-shouting, deep-voiced little mob -still in -military formation - of native soldiers on leave, rejoicing to be -rid of their breeches and puttees, and saying the most outrageous -things to the most respectable women in sight. Even the seller of -Ganges-water he did not see, and Kim expected that he would at -least buy a bottle of that precious stuff. He looked steadily at -the ground, and strode as steadily hour after hour, his soul busied -elsewhere. But Kim was in the seventh heaven of joy. The Grand Trunk -at this point was built on an embankment to guard against -winter floods from the foothills, so that one walked, as it were, a -little above the country, along a stately corridor, seeing all -India spread out to left and right. It was beautiful to behold the -many-yoked grain and cotton wagons crawling over the country roads: -one could hear their axles, complaining a mile away, coming nearer, -till with shouts and yells and bad words they climbed up the steep -incline and plunged on to the hard main road, carter reviling -carter. It was equally beautiful to watch the people, little clumps -of red and blue and pink and white and saffron, turning aside to go -to their own villages, dispersing and growing small by twos and -threes across the level plain. Kim felt these things, though he -could not give tongue to his feelings, and so contented himself -with buying peeled sugar-cane and spitting the pith generously -about his path. From time to time the lama took snuff, and at last -Kim could endure the silence no longer. - -'This is a good land - the land of the South!' said he. 'The air is -good; the water is good. Eh?' - -'And they are all bound upon the Wheel,' said the lama. 'Bound from -life after life. To none of these has the Way been shown.' He shook -himself back to this world. - -'And now we have walked a weary way,' said Kim. 'Surely we shall -soon come to a parao [a resting-place]. Shall we stay there? Look, -the sun is sloping.' - -'Who will receive us this evening?' - -'That is all one. This country is full of good folk. Besides' he -sunk his voice beneath a whisper - 'we have money.' - -The crowd thickened as they neared the resting-place which marked -the end of their day's journey. A line of stalls selling very -simple food and tobacco, a stack of firewood, a police-station, a -well, a horse-trough, a few trees, and, under them, some trampled -ground dotted with the black ashes of old fires, are all that mark -a parao on the Grand Trunk; if you except the beggars and the crows -- both hungry. - -By this time the sun was driving broad golden spokes through the -lower branches of the mango-trees; the parakeets and doves were -coming. home in their hundreds; the chattering, grey-backed Seven -Sisters, talking over the day's adventures, walked back and forth -in twos and threes almost under the feet of the travellers; and -shufflings and scufflings in the branches showed that the bats were -ready to go out on the night-picket. Swiftly the light gathered -itself together, painted for an instant the faces and the -cartwheels and the bullocks' horns as red as blood. Then the night -fell, changing the touch of the air, drawing a low, even haze, like -a gossamer veil of blue, across the face of the country, and -bringing out, keen and distinct, the smell of wood-smoke and cattle -and the good scent of wheaten cakes cooked on ashes. The evening -patrol hurried out of the police-station with important coughings -and reiterated orders; and a live charcoal ball in the cup of a -wayside carter's hookah glowed red while Kim's eye mechanically -watched the last flicker of the sun on the brass tweezers. - -The life of the parao was very like that of the Kashmir Serai on a -small scale. Kim dived into the happy Asiatic disorder which, if -you only allow time, will bring you everything that a simple man -needs. - -His wants were few, because, since the lama had no caste scruples, -cooked food from the nearest stall would serve; but, for luxury's -sake, Kim bought a handful of dung-cakes to build a fire. All -about, coming and going round the little flames, men cried for oil, -or grain, or sweetmeats, or tobacco, jostling one another while -they waited their turn at the well; and under the men's voices you -heard from halted, shuttered carts the high squeals and giggles of -women whose faces should not be seen in public. - -Nowadays, well-educated natives are of opinion that when their -womenfolk travel - and they visit a good deal - it is better to -take them quickly by rail in a properly screened compartment; and -that custom is spreading. But there are always those of the old -rock who hold by the use of their forefathers; and, above all, -there are always the old women - more conservative than the men - -who toward the end of their days go on a pilgrimage. They, being -withered and undesirable, do not, under certain circumstances, -object to unveiling. After their long seclusion, during which they -have always been in business touch with a thousand outside -interests, they love the bustle and stir of the open road, the -gatherings at the shrines, and the infinite possibilities of gossip -with like-minded dowagers. Very often it suits a longsuffering -family that a strong-tongued, iron-willed old lady should disport -herself about India in this fashion; for certainly pilgrimage is -grateful to the Gods. So all about India, in the most remote -places, as in the most public, you find some knot of grizzled -servitors in nominal charge of an old lady who is more or less -curtained and hid away in a bullock-cart. Such men are staid and -discreet, and when a European or a high-caste native is near will -net their charge with most elaborate precautions; but in the -ordinary haphazard chances of pilgrimage the precautions are not -taken. The old lady is, after all, intensely human, and lives to -look upon life. - -Kim marked down a gaily ornamented ruth or family bullock-cart, -with a broidered canopy of two domes, like a double-humped camel, -which had just been drawn into the par. Eight men made its retinue, -and two of the eight were armed with rusty sabres - sure signs that -they followed a person of distinction, for the common folk do not -bear arms. An increasing cackle of complaints, orders, and jests, -and what to a European would have been bad language, came from -behind the curtains. Here was evidently a woman used to command. - -Kim looked over the retinue critically. Half of them were thin- -legged, grey-bearded Ooryas from down country. The other half were -duffle-clad, felt-hatted hillmen of the North; and that mixture -told its own tale, even if he had not overheard the incessant -sparring between the two divisions. The old lady was going south on -a visit - probably to a rich relative, most probably to a son-in- -law, who had sent up an escort as a mark of respect. The hillmen -would be of her own people - Kulu or Kangra folk. It was quite -clear that she was not taking her daughter down to be wedded, or -the curtains would have been laced home and the guard would have -allowed no one near the car. A merry and a high-spirited dame, -thought Kim, balancing the dung-cake in one hand, the cooked food -in the other, and piloting the lama with a nudging shoulder. -Something might be made out of the meeting. The lama would give him -no help, but, as a conscientious chela, Kim was delighted to beg -for two. - -He built his fire as close to the cart as he dared, waiting for one -of the escort to order him away. The lama dropped wearily to the -ground, much as a heavy fruit-eating bat cowers, and returned to -his rosary. - -'Stand farther off, beggar!' The order was shouted in broken -Hindustani by one of the hillmen. - -'Huh! It is only a pahari [a hillman]', said Kim over his shoulder. -'Since when have the hill-asses owned all Hindustan?' - -The retort was a swift and brilliant sketch of Kim's pedigree for -three generations. - -'Ah!' Kim's voice was sweeter than ever, as he broke the dung-cake -into fit pieces. 'In my country we call that the beginning of love-talk.' - -A harsh, thin cackle behind the curtains put the hillman on his -mettle for a second shot. - -'Not so bad - not so bad,' said Kim with calm. 'But have a care, my -brother, lest we - we, I say - be minded to give a curse or so in -return. And our curses have the knack of biting home.' - -The Ooryas laughed; the hillman sprang forward threateningly. The -lama suddenly raised his head, bringing his huge tam-o'-shanter hat -into the full light of Kim's new-started fire. - -'What is it?' said he. - -The man halted as though struck to stone. 'I - I - am saved from a -great sin,' he stammered. - -'The foreigner has found him a priest at last,' whispered one of -the Ooryas. - -'Hai! Why is that beggar-brat not well beaten?' the old woman -cried. - -The hillman drew back to the cart and whispered something to the -curtain. There was dead silence, then a muttering. - -'This goes well,' thought Kim, pretending neither to see nor hear. - -'When - when - he has eaten' - the hillman fawned on Kim - 'it - it -is requested that the Holy One will do the honour to talk to one -who would speak to him.' - -'After he has eaten he will sleep,' Kim returned loftily. He could -not quite see what new turn the game had taken, but stood resolute -to profit by it. 'Now I will get him his food.' The last sentence, -spoken loudly, ended with a sigh as of faintness. - -'I - I myself and the others of my people will look to that - if it -is permitted.' - -'It is permitted,' said Kim, more loftily than ever. 'Holy One, -these people will bring us food.' - -'The land is good. All the country of the South is good - a great -and a terrible world,' mumbled the lama drowsily. - -'Let him sleep,' said Kim, 'but look to it that we are well fed -when he wakes. He is a very holy man.' - -Again one of the Ooryas said something contemptuously. - -'He is not a fakir. He is not a down-country beggar,' Kim went on -severely, addressing the stars. 'He is the most holy of holy men. -He is above all castes. I am his chela.' - -'Come here!' said the flat thin voice behind the curtain; and Kim -came, conscious that eyes he could not see were staring at him. One -skinny brown finger heavy with rings lay on the edge of the cart, -and the talk went this way: - -'Who is that one?' - -'An exceedingly holy one. He comes from far off. He comes from -Tibet.' - -'Where in Tibet?' - -'From behind the snows - from a very far place. He knows the stars; -he makes horoscopes; he reads nativities. But he does not do this -for money. He does it for kindness and great charity. I am his -disciple. I am called also the Friend of the Stars.' - -'Thou art no hillman.' - -'Ask him. He will tell thee I was sent to him from the Stars to -show him an end to his pilgrimage.' - -'Humph! Consider, brat, that I am an old woman and not altogether a -fool. Lamas I know, and to these I give reverence, but thou art no -more a lawful chela than this my finger is the pole of this wagon. -Thou art a casteless Hindu - a bold and unblushing beggar, -attached, belike, to the Holy One for the sake of gain.' - -'Do we not all work for gain?' Kim changed his tone promptly to -match that altered voice. 'I have heard' - this was a bow drawn at -a venture - 'I have heard -' - -'What hast thou heard?' she snapped, rapping with the finger. - -'Nothing that I well remember, but some talk in the bazars, which -is doubtless a lie, that even Rajahs - small Hill Rajahs -' - -'But none the less of good Rajput blood.' - -'Assuredly of good blood. That these even sell the more comely of -their womenfolk for gain. Down south they sell them - to zemindars -and such-all of Oudh.' - -If there be one thing in the world that the small Hill Rajahs deny -it is just this charge; but it happens to be one thing that the -bazars believe, when they discuss the mysterious slave-traffics of -India. The old lady explained to Kim, in a tense, indignant -whisper, precisely what manner and fashion of malignant liar he -was. Had Kim hinted this when she was a girl, he would have been -pommelled to death that same evening by an elephant. This was -perfectly true. - -'Ahai! I am only a beggar's brat, as the Eye of Beauty has said,' -he wailed in extravagant terror. - -'Eye of Beauty, forsooth! Who am I that thou shouldst fling -beggar-endearments at me?' And yet she laughed at the long- -forgotten word. 'Forty years ago that might have been said, and not -without truth. Ay. thirty years ago. But it is the fault of this -gadding up and down Hind that a king's widow must jostle all the -scum of the land, and be made a mock by beggars.' - -'Great Queen,' said Kim promptly, for he heard her shaking with -indignation, 'I am even what the Great Queen says I am; but none -the less is my master holy. He has not yet heard the Great Queen's -order that -' I - -'Order? I order a Holy One - a Teacher of the Law - to come and -speak to a woman? Never!' - -'Pity my stupidity. I thought it was given as an order -' - -'It was not. It was a petition. Does this make all clear?' - -A silver coin clicked on the edge of the cart. Kim took it and -salaamed profoundly. The old lady recognized that, as the eyes and -the ears of the lama, he was to be propitiated. - -'I am but the Holy One's disciple. When he has eaten perhaps he -will come.' - -'Oh, villain and shameless rogue!' The jewelled forefinger shook -itself at him reprovingly; but he could hear the old lady's -chuckle. - -'Nay, what is it?' he said, dropping into his most caressing and -confidential tone - the one, he well knew, that few could resist. -'Is - is there any need of a son in thy family? Speak freely, for -we priests -' That last was a direct plagiarism from a fakir by the -Taksali Gate. - -'We priests! Thou art not yet old enough to -' She checked the joke -with another laugh. 'Believe me, now and again, we women, O priest, -think of other matters than sons. Moreover, my daughter has borne -her man-child.' - -'Two arrows in the quiver are better than one; and three are better -still.' Kim quoted the proverb with a meditative cough, looking -discreetly earthward. - -'True - oh, true. But perhaps that will come. Certainly those down- -country Brahmins are utterly useless. I sent gifts and monies and -gifts again to them, and they prophesied.' - -'Ah,' drawled Kim, with infinite contempt, 'they prophesied!' A -professional could have done no better. - -'And it was not till I remembered my own Gods that my prayers were -heard. I chose an auspicious hour, and - perhaps thy Holy One has -heard of the Abbot of the Lung-Cho lamassery. It was to him I put -the matter, and behold in the due time all came about as I desired. -The Brahmin in the house of the father of my daughter's son has -since said that it was through his prayers - which is a little -error that I will explain to him when we reach our journey's end. -And so afterwards I go to Buddh Gaya, to make shraddha for the -father of my children.' - -'Thither go we.' - -'Doubly auspicious,' chirruped the old lady. 'A second son at -least!' - -'O Friend of all the World!' The lama had waked, and, simply as a -child bewildered in a strange bed, called for Kim. - -'I come! I come, Holy One!' He dashed to the fire, where he found -the lama already surrounded by dishes of food, the hillmen visibly -adoring him and the Southerners looking sourly. - -'Go back! Withdraw!' Kim cried. 'Do we eat publicly like dogs?' -They finished the meal in silence, each turned a little from the -other, and Kim topped it with a native-made cigarette. - -'Have I not said an hundred times that the South is a good land? -Here is a virtuous and high-born widow of a Hill Rajah on -pilgrimage, she says, to Buddha Gay. She it is sends us those -dishes; and when thou art well rested she would speak to thee.' - -'Is this also thy work?' The lama dipped deep into his snuff-gourd. - -'Who else watched over thee since our wonderful journey began?' -Kim's eyes danced in his head as he blew the rank smoke through his -nostrils and stretched him on the dusty ground. 'Have I failed to -oversee thy comforts, Holy One?' - -'A blessing on thee.' The lama inclined his solemn head. 'I have -known many men in my so long life, and disciples not a few. But to -none among men, if so be thou art woman-born, has my heart gone out -as it has to thee - thoughtful, wise, and courteous; but something -of a small imp.' - -'And I have never seen such a priest as thou.' Kim considered the -benevolent yellow face wrinkle by wrinkle. 'It is less than three -days since we took the road together, and it is as though it were a -hundred years.' - -'Perhaps in a former life it was permitted that I should have -rendered thee some service. Maybe' - he smiled -'I freed thee from -a trap; or, having caught thee on a hook in the days when I was -not enlightened, cast thee back into the river.' - -'Maybe,' said Kim quietly. He had heard this sort of speculation -again and again, from the mouths of many whom the English would not -consider imaginative. 'Now, as regards that - -women in the bullock-cart I think she needs a second son for her -daughter.' - -'That is no part of the Way,' sighed the lama. 'But at least she is -from the Hills. Ah, the Hills, and the snow of the Hills!' - -He rose and stalked to the cart. Kim would have given his ears to -come too, but the lama did not invite him; and the few words he -caught were in an unknown tongue, for they spoke some common speech -of the mountains. The woman seemed to ask questions which the lama -turned over in his mind before answering. Now and again he heard -the singsong cadence of a Chinese quotation. It was a strange -picture that Kim watched between drooped eyelids. The lama, very -straight and erect, the deep folds of his yellow clothing slashed -with black in the light of the parao fires precisely as a knotted -tree-trunk is slashed with the shadows of the low sun, addressed a -tinsel and lacquered ruth which burned like a many-coloured jewel -in the same uncertain light. The patterns on the gold-worked -curtains ran up and down, melting and reforming as the folds shook -and quivered to the night wind; and when the talk grew more earnest -the jewelled forefinger snapped out little sparks of light between -the embroideries. Behind the cart was a wall of uncertain darkness -speckled with little flames and alive with half-caught forms and -faces and shadows. The voices of early evening had settled down to -one soothing hum whose deepest note was the steady chumping of the -bullocks above their chopped straw, and whose highest was the -tinkle of a Bengali dancing-girl's sitar. Most men had eaten and -pulled deep at their gurgling, grunting hookahs, which in full -blast sound like bull-frogs. - -At last the lama returned. A hillman walked behind him with a -wadded cotton-quilt and spread it carefully by the fire. - -'She deserves ten thousand grandchildren,' thought Kim. 'None the -less, but for me, those gifts would not have come.' - -'A virtuous woman - and a wise one.' The lama slackened off, joint -by joint, like a slow camel. 'The world is full of charity to those -who follow the Way.' He flung a fair half of the quilt over Kim. -'And what said she?' Kim rolled up in his share of it. - -'She asked me many questions and propounded many problems - the -most of which were idle tales which she had heard from devil- -serving priests who pretend to follow the Way. Some I answered, and -some I said were foolish. Many wear the Robe, but few keep the -Way.' - -'True. That is true.' Kim used the thoughtful, conciliatory tone of -those who wish to draw confidences. - -'But by her lights she is most right-minded. She desires greatly -that we should go with her to Buddh Gaya; her road being ours, as I -understand, for many days' journey to the southward.' - -'And?' - -'Patience a little. To this I said that my Search came before all -things. She had heard many foolish legends, but this great truth of -my River she had never heard. Such are the priests of the lower -hills! She knew the Abbot of Lung-Cho, but she did not know of my -River - nor the tale of the Arrow.' - -'And?' - -'I spoke therefore of the Search, and of the Way, and of matters -that were profitable; she desiring only that I should accompany her -and make prayer for a second son.' - -'Aha! "We women" do not think of anything save children,' said Kim -sleepily. - -'Now, since our roads run together for a while, I do not see that -we in any way depart from our Search if so be we accompany her - at -least as far as - I have forgotten the name of the city.' - -'Ohe!' said Kim, turning and speaking in a sharp whisper to one of -the Ooryas a few yards away. 'Where is your master's house?' - -'A little behind Saharunpore, among the fruit gardens.' He named -the village. - -'That was the place,' said the lama. 'So far, at least, we can go -with her.' - -'Flies go to carrion,' said the Oorya, in an abstracted voice. - -'For the sick cow a crow; for the sick man a Brahmin.' Kim breathed -the proverb impersonally to the shadow-tops of the trees overhead. - -The Oorya grunted and held his peace. - -'So then we go with her, Holy One?' - -'Is there any reason against? I can still step aside and try all -the rivers that the road overpasses. She desires that I should -come. She very greatly desires it.' - -Kim stifled a laugh in the quilt. When once that imperious old lady -had recovered from her natural awe of a lama he thought it probable -that she would be worth listening to. - -He was nearly asleep when the lama suddenly quoted a proverb: 'The -husbands of the talkative have a great reward hereafter.' Then Kim -heard him snuff thrice, and dozed off, still laughing. - -The diamond-bright dawn woke men and crows and bullocks together. -Kim sat up and yawned, shook himself, and thrilled with delight. -This was seeing the world in real truth; this was life as he would -have it - bustling and shouting, the buckling of belts, and beating -of bullocks and creaking of wheels, lighting of fires and cooking -of food, and new sights at every turn of the approving eye. The -morning mist swept off in a whorl of silver, the parrots shot away -to some distant river in shrieking green hosts: all the well-wheels -within ear-shot went to work. India was awake, and Kim was in the -middle of it, more awake and more excited than anyone, chewing on a -twig that he would presently use as a toothbrush; for he borrowed -right- and left-handedly from all the customs of the country he -knew and loved. There was no need to worry about food - no need to -spend a cowrie at the crowded stalls. He was the disciple of a holy -man annexed by a strong-willed old lady. All things would be -prepared for them, and when they were respectfully invited so to do -they would sit and eat. For the rest - Kim giggled here as he -cleaned his teeth - his hostess would rather heighten the enjoyment -of the road. He inspected her bullocks critically, as they came up -grunting and blowing under the yokes. If they went too fast -it was -not likely - there would be a pleasant seat for himself along the -pole; the lama would sit beside the driver. The escort, of course, -would walk. The old lady, equally of course, would talk a great -deal, and by what he had heard that conversation would not lack -salt. She was already ordering, haranguing, rebuking, and, it must -be said, cursing her servants for delays. - -'Get her her pipe. In the name of the Gods, get her her pipe and -stop her ill-omened mouth,' cried an Oorya, tying up his shapeless -bundles of bedding. 'She and the parrots are alike. They screech in -the dawn.' - -'The lead-bullocks! Hai! Look to the lead-bullocks!' They were -backing and wheeling as a grain-cart's axle caught them by the -horns. "Son of an owl, where dost thou go?' This to the grinning -carter. - -'Ai! Yai! Yai! That within there is the Queen of Delhi going to -pray for a son,' the man called back over his high load. 'Room for -the Queen of Delhi and her Prime Minister the grey monkey climbing -up his own sword!' Another cart loaded with bark for a down-country -tannery followed close behind, and its driver added a few -compliments as the ruth-bullocks backed and backed again. - -From behind the shaking curtains came one volley of invective. It -did not last long, but in kind and quality, in blistering, biting -appropriateness, it was beyond anything that even Kim had heard. He -could see the carter's bare chest collapse with amazement, as the -man salaamed reverently to the voice, leaped from the pole, and -helped the escort haul their volcano on to the main road. Here the -voice told him truthfully what sort of wife he had wedded, and what -she was doing in his absence. - -'Oh, shabash!' murmured Kim, unable to contain himself, as the man -slunk away. - -'Well done, indeed? It is a shame and a scandal that a poor woman -may not go to make prayer to her Gods except she be jostled and -insulted by all the refuse of Hindustan - that she must eat gali -[abuse] as men eat ghi. But I have yet a wag left to my tongue - a -word or two well spoken that serves the occasion. And still am I -without my tobacco! Who is the one-eyed and luckless son of shame -that has not yet prepared my pipe?' - -It was hastily thrust in by a hillman, and a trickle of thick smoke -from each corner of the curtains showed that peace was restored. - -If Kim had walked proudly the day before, disciple of a holy man, -today he paced with tenfold pride in the train of a semi-royal -procession, with a recognized place under the patronage of an old -lady of charming manners and infinite resource. The escort, their -heads tied up native-fashion, fell in on either side the cart, -shuffling enormous clouds of dust. - -The lama and Kim walked a little to one side; Kim chewing his stick -of sugarcane, and making way for no one under the status of a -priest. They could hear the old lady's tongue clack as steadily as -a rice-husker. She bade the escort tell her what was going on on -the road; and so soon as they were clear of the parao she flung -back the curtains and peered out, her veil a third across her face. -Her men did not eye her directly when she addressed them, and thus -the proprieties were more or less observed. - -A dark, sallowish District Superintendent of Police, faultlessly -uniformed, an Englishman, trotted by on a tired horse, and, seeing -from her retinue what manner of person she was, chaffed her. - -'O mother,' he cried, 'do they do this in the zenanas? Suppose an -Englishman came by and saw that thou hats no nose?' - -'What?' she shrilled back. 'Thine own mother has no nose? Why say -so, then, on the open road?' - -It was a fair counter. The Englishman threw up his hand with the -gesture of a man hit at sword-play. She laughed and nodded. - -'Is this a face to tempt virtue aside?. She withdrew all her veil -and stared at him. - -It was by no means lovely, but as the man gathered up his reins he -called it a Moon of Paradise, a Disturber of Integrity, and a few -other fantastic epithets which doubled her up with mirth. - -'That is a nut-cut [rogue],' she said. 'All police-constables are -nut-cuts; but the police-wallahs are the worst. Hai, my son, thou -hast never learned all that since thou camest from Belait [Europe]. -Who suckled thee?' - -'A pahareen - a hillwoman of Dalhousie, my mother. Keep thy beauty -under a shade - O Dispenser of Delights,' and he was gone. - -'These be the sort' - she took a fine judicial tone, and stuffed -her mouth with pan - 'These be the sort to oversee justice. They -know the land and the customs of the land, The others, all new from -Europe, suckled by white women and learning our tongues from books, -are worse than the pestilence. They do harm to Kings.' Then she -told a long, long tale to the world at large, of an ignorant young -policeman who had disturbed some small Hill Rajah, a- ninth cousin -of her own, in the matter of a trivial land-case, winding up with a -quotation from a work by no means devotional. - -Then her mood changed, and she bade one of the escort ask whether -the lama would walk alongside and discuss matters of religion. So -Kim dropped back into the dust and returned to his sugar-cane. For -an hour or more the lama's tam-o'shanter showed like a moon through -the haze; and, from all he heard, Kim gathered that the old woman -wept. One of the Ooryas half apologized for his rudeness overnight, -saying that he had never known his mistress of so bland a temper, -and he ascribed it to the presence of the strange priest. -Personally, he believed in Brahmins, though, like all natives, he -was acutely aware of their cunning and their greed. Still, when -Brahmins but irritated with begging demands the mother of his -master's wife, and when she sent them away so angry that they -cursed the whole retinue (which was the real reason of the second -off-side bullock going lame, and of the pole breaking the night -before), he was prepared to accept any priest of any other -denomination in or out of India. To this Kim assented with wise -nods, and bade the Oorya observe that the lama took no money, and -that the cost of his and Kim's food would be repaid a hundred times -in the good luck that would attend the caravan henceforward. He -also told stories of Lahore city, and sang a song or two which made -the escort laugh. As a town-mouse well acquainted with the latest -songs by the most fashionable composers - they are women for the -most part - Kim had a distinct advantage over men from a little -fruit-village behind Saharunpore, but he let that advantage be -inferred. - -At noon they turned aside to eat, and the meal was good, plentiful, -and well-served on plates of clean leaves, in decency, out of drift -of the dust. They gave the scraps to certain beggars, that all -requirements might be fulfilled, and sat down to a long, luxurious -smoke. The old lady had retreated behind her curtains, but mixed -most freely in the talk, her servants arguing with and -contradicting her as servants do throughout the East. She compared -the cool and the pines of the Kangra and Kulu hills with the dust -and the mangoes of the South; she told a tale of some old local -Gods at the edge of her husband's territory; she roundly abused the -tobacco which she was then smoking, reviled all Brahmins, and -speculated without reserve on the coming of many grandsons. - - - - - - Chapter 5 - - -Here come I to my own again -Fed, forgiven, and known again -Claimed by bone of my bone again, -And sib to flesh of my flesh! -The fatted calf is dressed for me, -But the husks have greater zest for me ... -I think my pigs will be best for me, -So I'm off to the styes afresh. - -The Prodigal Son. - - -Once more the lazy, string-tied, shuffling procession got under -way, and she slept till they reached the next halting-stage. It was -a very short march, and time lacked an hour to sundown, so Kim cast -about for means of amusement. - -'But why not sit and rest?' said one of the escort. 'Only the -devils and the English walk to and fro without reason.' - -'Never make friends with the Devil, a Monkey, or a Boy. No man -knows what they will do next,' said his fellow. - -Kim turned a scornful back - he did not want to hear the old story -how the Devil played with the boys and repented of it and walked -idly across country. - -The lama strode after him. All that day, whenever they passed a -stream, he had turned aside to look at it, but in no case had he -received any warning that he had found his River. Insensibly, too, -the comfort of speaking to someone in a reasonable tongue,' and of -being properly considered and respected as her spiritual adviser by -a well-born woman, had weaned his thoughts a little from the -Search. And further, he was prepared to spend serene years in his -quest; having nothing of the white manis impatience, but a great -faith. - -'Where goest thou?' he called after Kim. - -'Nowhither - it was a small march, and all this'- Kim waved his -hands abroad - 'is new to me.' - -'She is beyond question a wise and a discerning woman. But it is -hard to meditate when -' - -'All women are thus.' Kim spoke as might have Solomon. - -'Before the lamassery was a broad platform,' the lama muttered, -looping up the well-worn rosary, 'of stone. On that I have left the -marks of my feet - pacing to and fro with these.' - -He clicked the beads, and began the 'Om mane pudme hum's of his -devotion; grateful for the cool, the quiet, and the absence of -dust. - -One thing after another drew Kim's idle eye across the plain. There -was no purpose in his wanderings, except that the build of the huts -near by seemed new, and he wished to investigate. - -They came out on a broad tract of grazing-ground, brown and purple -in the afternoon light, with a heavy clump of mangoes in the -centre. It struck Kim as curious that no shrine stood in so -eligible a spot: the boy was observing as any priest for these -things. Far across the plain walked side by side four men, made -small by the distance. He looked intently under his curved palms -and caught the sheen of brass. - -'Soldiers. White soldiers!' said he. 'Let us see.' - -'It is always soldiers when thou and I go out alone together. But I -have never seen the white soldiers.' - -'They do no harm except when they are drunk. Keep behind this -tree.' - -They stepped behind the thick trunks in the cool dark of the mango- -tope. Two little figures halted; the other two came forward -uncertainly. They were the advance-party of a regiment on the -march, sent out, as usual, to mark the camp. They bore five-foot -sticks with fluttering flags, and called to each other as they -spread over the flat earth. - -At last they entered the mango-grove, walking heavily. - -'It's here or hereabouts - officers' tents under the trees, I take -it, an' the rest of us can stay outside. Have they marked out for -the baggage-wagons behind?' - -They cried again to their comrades in the distance, and the rough -answer came back faint and mellowed. - -'Shove the flag in here, then,' said one. - -'What do they prepare?' said the lama, wonderstruck. 'This is a -great and terrible world. What is the device on the flag?' - -A soldier thrust a stave within a few feet of them, grunted -discontentedly, pulled it up again, conferred with his companion, -who looked up and down the shaded cave of greenery, and returned -it. - -Kim stared with all his eyes, his breath coming short and sharp -between his teeth. The soldiers stamped off into the sunshine. - -'O Holy One!' he gasped. 'My horoscope! The drawing in the dust by -the priest at Umballa! Remember what he said. First come two - -ferashes - to make all things ready - in a dark place, as it is -always at the beginning of a vision.' - -'But this is not vision,' said the lama. 'It is the world's -Illusion, and no more.' - -'And after them comes the Bull - the Red Bull on the green field. -Look! It is he!' - -He pointed to the flag that was snap snapping in the evening breeze -not ten feet away. It was no more than an ordinary camp marking- -flag; but the regiment, always punctilious in matters of millinery, -had charged it with the regimental device, the Red Bull, which is -the crest of the Mavericks - the great Red Bull on a background of -Irish green. - -'I see, and now I remember.' said the lama. 'Certainly it is thy -Bull. Certainly, also, the two men came to make all ready.' - -'They are soldiers - white soldiers. What said the priest? "The -sign over against the Bull is the sign of War and armed men." Holy -One, this thing touches my Search.' - -'True. It is true.' The lama stared fixedly at the device that -flamed like a ruby in the dusk. 'The priest at Umballa said that -thine was the sign of War.' - -'What is to do now?' - -'Wait. Let us wait.' - -'Even now the darkness clears" said Kim. It was only natural that -the descending sun should at last strike through the tree-trunks, -across the grove, filling it with mealy gold light for a few -minutes; but to Kim it was the crown of the Umballa Brahmin's -prophecy. - -'Hark!' said the lama. 'One beats a drum - far off!' - -At first the sound, carrying diluted through the still air, -resembled the beating of an artery in the head. Soon a sharpness -was added. - -'Ah! The music,' Kim explained. He knew the sound of a regimental -band, but it amazed the lama. - -At the far end of the plain a heavy, dusty column crawled in sight. -Then the wind brought the tune: - -We crave your condescension -To tell you what we know -Of marching in the Mulligan Guards -To Sligo Port below! - -Here broke in the shrill-tongued fifes: - -We shouldered arms, -We marched - we marched away. -From Phoenix Park -We marched to Dublin Bay. -The drums and the fifes, -Oh, sweetly they did play, -As we marched - marched - marched - with the -Mulligan Guards! - -It was the band of the Mavericks playing the regiment to camp; for -the men were route-marching with their baggage. The rippling column -swung into the level - carts behind it divided left and right, ran -about like an ant-hill, and ... - -'But this is sorcery!' said the lama. - -The plain dotted itself with tents that seemed to rise, all spread, -from the carts. Another rush of men invaded the grove, pitched a -huge tent in silence, ran up yet eight or nine more by the side of -it, unearthed cooking-pots, pans, and bundles, which were taken -possession of by a crowd of native servants; and behold the mango- -tope turned into an orderly town as they watched! - -'Let us go,' said the lama, sinking back afraid, as the fires -twinkled and white officers with jingling swords stalked into the -Mess-tent. - -'Stand back in the shadow. No one can see beyond the light of a -fire,' said Kim, his eyes still on the flag. He had never before -watched the routine of a seasoned regiment pitching camp in thirty -minutes. - -'Look! look! look!' clucked the lama. 'Yonder comes a priest.' It -was Bennett, the Church of England Chaplain of the regiment, -limping in dusty black. One of his flock had made some rude remarks -about the Chaplain's mettle; and to abash him Bennett had marched -step by step with the men that day. The black dress, gold cross on -the watch-chain, the hairless face, and the soft, black wideawake -hat would have marked him as a holy man anywhere in all India. He -dropped into a camp-chair by the door of the Mess-tent and slid off -his boots. Three or four officers gathered round him, laughing and -joking over his exploit. - -'The talk of white men is wholly lacking in dignity,' said the -lama, who judged only by tone. 'But I considered the countenance of -that priest and I think he is learned. Is it likely that he will -understand our talk? I would talk to him of my Search.' - -'Never speak to a white man till he is fed,' said Kim, quoting a -well-known proverb. 'They will eat now, and - and I do not think -they are good to beg from. Let us go back to the resting-place. -After we have eaten we will come again. It certainly was a Red Bull -- my Red Bull.' - -They were both noticeably absent-minded when the old lady's retinue -set their meal before them; so none broke their reserve, for it is -not lucky to annoy guests. - -'Now,' said Kim, picking his teeth, 'we will return to that place; -but thou, O Holy One, must wait a little way off, because thy feet -are heavier than mine and I am anxious to see more of that Red -Bull.' - -'But how canst thou understand the talk? Walk slowly. The road is -dark,' the lama replied uneasily. - -Kim put the question aside. 'I marked a place near to the trees,' -said he, 'where thou canst sit till I call. Nay,' as the lama made -some sort of protest, 'remember this is my Search - the Search for -my Red Bull. The sign in the Stars was not for thee. I know a -little of the customs of white soldiers, and I always desire to see -some new things.' - -'What dost thou not know of this world?' The lama squatted -obediently in a little hollow of the ground not a hundred yards -from the hump of the mango-trees dark against the star-powdered -sky. - -'Stay till I call.' Kim flitted into the dusk. He knew that in all -probability there would be sentries round the camp, and smiled to -himself as he heard the thick boots of one. A boy who can dodge -over the roofs of Lahore city on a moonlight night, using every -little patch and corner of darkness to discomfit his pursuer, is -not likely to be checked by a line of well-trained soldiers. He -paid them the compliment of crawling between a couple, and, running -and halting, crouching and dropping flat, worked his way toward the -lighted Mess-tent where, close pressed behind the mango-tree, he -waited till some chance word should give him a returnable lead. - -The one thing now in his mind was further information as to the Red -Bull. For aught he knew, and Kim's limitations were as curious and -sudden as his expansions, the men, the nine hundred thorough devils -of his father's prophecy, might pray to the beast after dark, as -Hindus pray to the Holy Cow. That at least would be entirely right -and logical, and the padre with the gold cross would be therefore -the man to consult in the matter. On the other hand, remembering -sober-faced padres whom he had avoided in Lahore city, the priest -might be an inquisitive nuisance who would bid him learn. But had -it not been proven at Umballa that his sign in the high heavens -portended War and armed men? Was he not the Friend of the Stars as -well as of all the World, crammed to the teeth with dreadful -secrets? Lastly - and firstly as the undercurrent of all his quick -thoughts -this adventure, though he did not know the English word, -was a stupendous lark - a delightful continuation of his old -flights across the housetops, as well as the fulfilment of sublime -prophecy. He lay belly-flat and wriggled towards the Mess-tent -door, a hand on the amulet round his neck. - -It was as he suspected. The Sahibs prayed to their God; for in the -centre of the Mess-table - its sole ornament when they were on the -line of march - stood a golden bull fashioned from old-time loot of -the Summer Palace at Pekin - a red-gold bull with lowered head, -ramping upon a field of Irish green. To him the Sahibs held out -their glasses and cried aloud confusedly. - -Now the Reverend Arthur Bennett always left Mess after that toast, -and being rather tired by his march his movements were more abrupt -than usual. Kim, with slightly raised head, was still staring at -his totem on the table, when the Chaplain stepped on his right -shoulder-blade. Kim flinched under the leather, and, rolling -sideways, brought down the Chaplain, who, ever a man of action, -caught him by the throat and nearly choked the life out of him. Kim -then kicked him desperately in the stomach. Mr Bennett gasped and -doubled up, but without relaxing his grip, rolled over again, and -silently hauled Kim to his own tent. The Mavericks were incurable -practical jokers; and it occurred to the Englishman that silence -was best till he had made complete inquiry. - -'Why, it's a boy!' he said, as he drew his prize under the light of -the tent-pole lantern, then shaking him severely cried: 'What were -you doing? You're a thief. Choor? Mallum?' His Hindustani was very -limited, and the ruffled and disgusted Kim intended to keep to the -character laid down for him. As he recovered his breath he was -inventing a beautifully plausible tale of his relations to some -scullion, and at the same time keeping a keen eye on and a little -under the Chaplain's left arm-pit. The chance came; he ducked for -the doorway, but a long arm shot out and clutched at his neck, -snapping the amulet-string and closing on the amulet. - -'Give it me. O, give it me. Is it lost? Give me the papers.' - -The words were in English - the tinny, saw-cut English of the -native-bred, and the Chaplain jumped. - -'A scapular,' said he, opening his hand. 'No, some sort of heathen -charm. Why - why, do you speak English? Little boys who steal are -beaten. You know that?' - -'I do not - I did not steal.' Kim danced in agony like a terrier at -a lifted stick. 'Oh, give it me. It is my charm. Do not thieve it -from me.' - -The Chaplain took no heed, but, going to the tent door, called -aloud. A fattish, clean-shaven man appeared. - -'I want your advice, Father Victor,' said Bennett. 'I found this -boy in the dark outside the Mess-tent. Ordinarily, I should have -chastised him and let him go, because I believe him to be a thief. -But it seems he talks English, and he attaches some sort of value -to a charm round his neck. I thought perhaps you might help me.' - -Between himself and the Roman Catholic Chaplain of the Irish -contingent lay, as Bennett believed, an unbridgeable gulf, but it -was noticeable that whenever the Church of England dealt with a -human problem she was very likely to call in the Church of Rome. -Bennett's official abhorrence of the Scarlet Woman and all her ways -was only equalled by his private respect for Father Victor. - -'A thief talking English, is it? Let's look at his charm. No, it's -not a scapular, Bennett.' He held out his hand. - -'But have we any right to open it? A sound whipping -' - -'I did not thieve,' protested Kim. 'You have hit me kicks all over -my body. Now give me my charm and I will go away.' - -'Not quite so fast. We'll look first,' said Father Victor, -leisurely rolling out poor Kimball O'Hara's 'ne varietur' -parchment, his clearance-certificate, and Kim's baptismal -certificate. On this last O'Hara - with some confused idea that he -was doing wonders for his son - had scrawled scores of times: 'Look -after the boy. Please look after the boy' - signing his name and -regimental number in full. - -'Powers of Darkness below!" said Father Victor, passing all over to -Mr Bennett. 'Do you know what these things are?' - -'Yes.' said Kim. 'They are mine, and I want to go away.' - -'I do not quite understand,' said Mr Bennett. 'He probably brought -them on purpose. It may be a begging trick of some kind.' - -'I never saw a beggar less anxious to stay with his company, then. -There's the makings of a gay mystery here. Ye believe in -Providence, Bennett?' - -'I hope so.' - -'Well, I believe in miracles, so it comes to the same thing. Powers -of Darkness! Kimball O'Hara! And his son! But then he's a native, -and I saw Kimball married myself to Annie Shott. How long have you -had these things, boy?' - -'Ever since I was a little baby.' - -Father Victor stepped forward quickly and opened the front of Kim's -upper garment. 'You see, Bennett, he's not very black. What's your -name?' - -'Kim.' - -'Or Kimball?' - -'Perhaps. Will you let me go away?' - -'What else?' - -'They call me Kim Rishti ke. That is Kim of the Rishti.' - -'What is that - "Rishti"?' - -'Eye-rishti - that was the Regiment - my father's.' - -'Irish - oh, I see.' - -'Yess. That was how my father told me. My father, he has lived.' - -'Has lived where?' - -'Has lived. Of course he is dead - gone-out.' - -'Oh! That's your abrupt way of putting it, is it?' - -Bennett interrupted. 'It is possible I have done the boy an -injustice. He is certainly white, though evidently neglected. I am -sure I must have bruised him. I do not think spirits -' - -'Get him a glass of sherry, then, and let him squat on the cot. -Now, Kim,' continued Father Victor, 'no one is going to hurt you. -Drink that down and tell us about yourself. The truth, if you've no -objection.' - -Kim coughed a little as he put down the empty glass, and -considered. This seemed a time for caution and fancy. Small boys -who prowl about camps are generally turned out after a whipping. -But he had received no stripes; the amulet was evidently working in -his favour, and it looked as though the Umballa horoscope and the -few words that he could remember of his father's maunderings fitted -in most miraculously. Else why did the fat padre seem so impressed, -and why the glass of hot yellow drink from the lean one? - -'My father, he is dead in Lahore city since I was very little. The -woman, she kept kabarri shop near where the hire-carriages are.' -Kim began with a plunge, not quite sure how far the truth would -serve him. - -'Your mother?' - -'No!' - with a gesture of disgust. 'She went out when I was born. -My father, he got these papers from the Jadoo-Gher what do you call -that?' (Bennett nodded) 'because he was in good-standing. What do -you call that?' (again Bennett nodded). 'My father told me that. He -said, too, and also the Brahmin who made the drawing in the dust at -Umballa two days ago, he said, that I shall find a Red Bull on a -green field and that the Bull shall help me.' - -'A phenomenal little liar,' muttered Bennett. - -'Powers of Darkness below, what a country!' murmured Father Victor. -'Go on, Kim.' - -'I did not thieve. Besides, I am just now disciple of a very holy -man. He is sitting outside. We saw two men come with flags, making -the place ready. That is always so in a dream, or on account of a - -a -prophecy. So I knew it was come true. I saw the Red Bull on the -green field, and my father he said: "Nine hundred pukka devils and -the Colonel riding on a horse will look after you when you find the -Red Bull!" I did not know what to do when I saw the Bull, but I -went away and I came again when it was dark. I wanted to see the -Bull again, and I saw the Bull again with the - the Sahibs praying -to it. I think the Bull shall help me. The holy man said so too. He -is sitting outside. Will you hurt him, if I call him a shout now? -He is very holy. He can witness to all the things I say, and he -knows I am not a thief.' - -'"Sahibs praying to a bull!" What in the world do you make of -that?' said Bennett. "'Disciple of a holy man!" Is the boy mad?' - -'It's O'Hara's boy, sure enough. O'Hara's boy leagued with all the -Powers of Darkness. It's very much what his father would have done -if he was drunk. We'd better invite the holy man. He may know -something.' - -'He does not know anything,' said Kim. 'I will show you him if you -come. He is my master. Then afterwards we can go.' - -'Powers of Darkness!' was all that Father Victor could say, as -Bennett marched off, with a firm hand on Kim's shoulder. - -They found the lama where he had dropped. - -'The Search is at an end for me,' shouted Kim in the vernacular. 'I -have found the Bull, but God knows what comes next. They will not -hurt you. Come to the fat priest's tent with this thin man and see -the end. It is all new, and they cannot talk Hindi. They are only -uncurried donkeys.' - -'Then it is not well to make a jest of their ignorance,' the lama -returned. 'I am glad if thou art rejoiced, chela.' - -Dignified and unsuspicious, he strode into the little tent, saluted -the Churches as a Churchman, and sat down by the open charcoal -brazier. The yellow lining of the tent reflected in the lamplight -made his face red-gold. - -Bennett looked at him with the triple-ringed uninterest of the -creed that lumps nine-tenths of the world under the title of -'heathen'. - -'And what was the end of the Search? What gift has the Red Bull -brought?' The lama addressed himself to Kim. - -'He says, "What are you going to do?"' Bennett was staring uneasily -at Father Victor, and Kim, for his own ends, took upon himself the -office of interpreter. - -'I do not see what concern this fakir has with the boy, who is -probably his dupe or his confederate,' Bennett began. 'We cannot -allow an English boy - Assuming that he is the son of a Mason, the -sooner he goes to the Masonic Orphanage the better.' - -'Ah! That's your opinion as Secretary to the Regimental Lodge,' -said Father Victor; 'but we might as well tell the old man what we -are going to do. He doesn't look like a villain.' - -'My experience is that one can never fathom the Oriental mind. Now, -Kimball, I wish you to tell this man what I say word for word.' - -Kim gathered the import of the next few sentences and began thus: - -'Holy One, the thin fool who looks like a camel says that I am the -son of a Sahib.' - -'But how?' - -'Oh, it is true. I knew it since my birth, but he could only find -it out by rending the amulet from my neck and reading all the -papers. He thinks that once a Sahib is always a Sahib, and between -the two of them they purpose to keep me in this Regiment or to send -me to a madrissah [a school]. It has happened before. I have always -avoided it. The fat fool is of one mind and the camel-like one of -another. But that is no odds. I may spend one night here and -perhaps the next. It has happened before. Then I will run away and -return to thee.' - -'But tell them that thou art my chela. Tell them how thou didst -come to me when I was faint and bewildered. Tell them of our -Search, and they will surely let thee go now.' - -'I have already told them. They laugh, and they talk of the -police.' - -'What are you saying?' asked Mr Bennett. - -'Oah. He only says that if you do not let me go it will stop him in -his business - his ur-gent private af-fairs.' This last was a -reminiscence of some talk with a Eurasian clerk in the Canal -Department, but it only drew a smile, which nettled him. 'And if -you did know what his business was you would not be in such a -beastly hurry to interfere.' - -'What is it then?' said Father Victor, not without feeling, as he -watched the lama's face. - -'There is a River in this country which he wishes to find so verree -much. It was put out by an Arrow which -'Kim tapped his foot -impatiently as he translated in his own mind from the vernacular to -his clumsy English. 'Oah, it was made by our Lord God Buddha, you -know, and if you wash there you are washed away from all your sins -and made as white as cotton-wool.' (Kim had heard mission-talk in -his time.) 'I am his disciple, and we must find that River. It is -so verree valuable to us.' - -'Say that again,' said Bennett. Kim obeyed, with amplifications. - -'But this is gross blasphemy!' cried the Church of England. - -'Tck! Tck!' said Father Victor sympathetically. 'I'd give a good -deal to be able to talk the vernacular. A river that washes away -sin! And how long have you two been looking for it?' - -'Oh, many days. Now we wish to go away and look for it again. It is -not here, you see.' - -'I see,' said Father Victor gravely. 'But he can't go on in that -old man's company. It would be different, Kim, if you were not a -soldier's son. Tell him that the Regiment will take care of you and -make you as good a man as your - as good a man as can be. Tell him -that if he believes in miracles he must believe that -' - -'There is no need to play on his credulity,' Bennett interrupted. - -'I'm doing no such thing. He must believe that the boy's coming -here -to his own Regiment - in search of his Red Bull is in the -nature of a miracle. Consider the chances against it, Bennett. This -one boy in all India, and our Regiment of all others on the line o' -march for him to meet with! It's predestined on the face of it. -Yes, tell him it's Kismet. Kismet, mallum? [Do you understand?]' - -He turned towards the lama, to whom he might as well have talked of -Mesopotamia. - -'They say,' - the old man's eye lighted at Kim's speech 'they say -that the meaning of my horoscope is now accomplished, and that -being led back - though as thou knowest I went out of curiosity - -to these people and their Red Bull I must needs go to a madrissah -and be turned into a Sahib. Now I make pretence of agreement, for -at the worst it will be but a few meals eaten away from thee. Then -I will slip away and follow down the road to Saharunpore. -Therefore, Holy One, keep with that Kulu woman - on no account -stray far from her cart till I come again. Past question, my sign -is of War and of armed men. See how they have given me wine to -drink and set me upon a bed of honour! My father must have been -some great person. So if they raise me to honour among them, good. -If not, good again. However it goes, I will run back to thee when I -am tired. But stay with the Rajputni, or I shall miss thy feet ... -Oah yess,' said the boy, 'I have told him everything you tell me to -say.' - -'And I cannot see any need why he should wait,' said Bennett, -feeling in his trouser-pocket. 'We can investigate the details -later - and I will give him a ru -' - -'Give him time. Maybe he's fond of the lad,' said Father Victor, -half arresting the clergyman's motion. - -The lama dragged forth his rosary and pulled his huge hat-brim over -his eyes. - -'What can he want now?' - -'He says' - Kim put up one hand. 'He says: Be quiett.' He wants to -speak to me by himself You see, you do not know one little word of -what he says, and I think if you talk he will perhaps give you very -bad curses. When he takes those beads like that, you see, he always -wants to be quiett.' - -The two Englishmen sat overwhelmed, but there was a look in -Bennett's eye that promised ill for Kim when he should be relaxed -to the religious arm. - -'A Sahib and the son of a Sahib -' The lama's voice was harsh with -pain. 'But no white man knows the land and the customs of the land -as thou knowest. How comes it this is true?' - -'What matter, Holy One? - but remember it is only for a night or -two. Remember, I can change swiftly. It will all be as it was when -I first spoke to thee under Zam-Zammah the great gun -' - -'As a boy in the dress of white men - when I first went to the -Wonder House. And a second time thou wast a Hindu. What shall the -third incarnation be?' He chuckled drearily. 'Ah, chela, thou has -done a wrong to an old man because my heart went out to thee.' - -'And mine to thee. But how could I know that the Red Bull would -bring me to this business?' - -The lama covered his face afresh, and nervously rattled the rosary. -Kim squatted beside him and laid hold upon a fold of his clothing. - -'Now it is understood that the boy is a Sahib?' he went on in a -muffled tone. 'Such a Sahib as was he who kept the images in the -Wonder House.' The lama's experience of white men was limited. He -seemed to be repeating a lesson. 'So then it is not seemly that he -should do other than as the Sahibs do. He must go back to his own -people.' - -'For a day and a night and a day,' Kim pleaded. - -'No, ye don't!' Father Victor saw Kim edging towards the door, and -interposed a strong leg. - -'I do not understand the customs of white men. The Priest of the -Images in the Wonder House in Lahore was more courteous than the -thin one here. This boy will be taken from me. They will make a -Sahib of my disciple? Woe to me! How shall I find my River? Have -they no disciples? Ask.' - -'He says he is very sorree that he cannot find the River now any -more. He says, Why have you no disciples, and stop bothering him? -He wants to be washed of his sins.' - -Neither Bennett nor Father Victor found any answer ready. - -Said Kim in English, distressed for the lama's agony: 'I think if -you will let me go now we will walk away quietly and not steal. We -will look for that River like before I was caught. I wish I did not -come here to find the Red Bull and all that sort of thing. I do not -want it.' - -'It's the very best day's work you ever did for yourself, young -man,' said Bennett. - -'Good heavens, I don't know how to console him,' said Father -Victor, watching the lama intently. 'He can't take the boy away -with him, and yet he's a good man - I'm sure he's a good man. -Bennett, if you give him that rupee he'll curse you root and -branch!' - -They listened to each other's breathing - three - five full -minutes. Then the lama raised his head, and looked forth across -them into space and emptiness. - -'And I am a Follower of the Way,' he said bitterly. 'The sin is -mine and the punishment is mine. I made believe to myself for now I -see it was but make-belief - that thou wast sent to me to aid in -the Search. So my heart went out to thee for thy charity and thy -courtesy and the wisdom of thy little years. But those who follow -the Way must permit not the fire of any desire or attachment, for -that is all Illusion. As says . . .' He quoted an old, old Chinese -text, backed it with another, and reinforced these with a third. 'I -stepped aside from the Way, my chela. It was no fault of thine. I -delighted in the sight of life, the new people upon the roads, and -in thy joy at seeing these things. I was pleased with thee who -should have considered my Search and my Search alone. Now I am -sorrowful because thou art taken away and my River is far from me. -It is the Law which I have broken!' - -'Powers of Darkness below!' said Father Victor, who, wise in the -confessional, heard the pain in every sentence. - -'I see now that the sign of the Red Bull was a sign for me as well -as for thee. All Desire is red - and evil. I will do penance and -find my River alone.' - -'At least go back to the Kulu woman,' said Kim, 'otherwise thou -wilt be lost upon the roads. She will feed thee till I run back to -thee.' - -The lama waved a hand to show that the matter was finally settled -in his mind. - -'Now,' - his tone altered as he turned to Kim, - 'what will they do -with thee? At least I may, acquiring merit, wipe out past ill.' - -'Make me a Sahib - so they think. The day after tomorrow I return. -Do not grieve.' - -'Of what sort? Such an one as this or that man?' He pointed to -Father Victor. 'Such an one as those I saw this evening men wearing -swords and stamping heavily?' - -'Maybe.' - -'That is not well. These men follow desire and come to emptiness. -Thou must not be of their sort.' - -'The Umballa priest said that my Star was War,' Kim interjected. 'I -will ask these fools - but there is truly no need. I will run away -this night, for all I wanted to see the new things.' - -Kim put two or three questions in English to Father Victor, -translating the replies to the lama. - -Then: 'He says, "You take him from me and you cannot say what you -will make him." He says, "Tell me before I go, for it is not a -small thing to make a child."' - -'You will be sent to a school. Later on, we shall see. Kimball, I -suppose you'd like to be a soldier?' - -'Gorah-log [white-folk]. No-ah! No-ah!' Kim shook his head -violently. There was nothing in his composition to which drill and -routine appealed. 'I will not be a soldier.' - -'You will be what you're told to be,' said Bennett; 'and you should -be grateful that we're going to help you.' - - -Kim smiled compassionately. If these men lay under the delusion -that he would do anything that he did not fancy, so much the -better. - -Another long silence followed. Bennett fidgeted with impatience, -and suggested calling a sentry to evict the fakir. - -'Do they give or sell learning among the Sahibs? Ask them,' said -the lama, and Kim interpreted. - -'They say that money is paid to the teacher - but that money the -Regiment will give ... What need? It is only for a night.' - -'And - the more money is paid the better learning is given?' The -lama disregarded Kim's plans for an early flight. 'It is no wrong -to pay for learning. To help the ignorant to wisdom is always a -merit.' The rosary clicked furiously as an abacus. Then he faced -his oppressors. - -'Ask them for how much money do they give a wise and suitable -teaching? And in what city is that teaching given?' - -'Well,'said Father Victor in English, when Kim had translated, -'that depends. The Regiment would pay for you all the time you are -at the Military Orphanage; or you might go on the Punjab Masonic -Orphanage's list (not that he or you 'ud understand what that -means); but the best schooling a boy can get in India is, of -course, at St Xavier's in Partibus at Lucknow.' This took some time -to interpret, for Bennett wished to cut it short. - -'He wants to know how much?' said Kim placidly. - -'Two or three hundred rupees a year.' Father Victor was long past -any sense of amazement. Bennett, impatient, did not understand. - -'He says: "Write that name and the money upon a paper and give it -him." And he says you must write your name below, because he is -going to write a letter in some days to you. He says you are a good -man. He says the other man is a fool. He is going away.' - -The lama rose suddenly. 'I follow my Search,' he cried, and was -gone. - -'He'll run slap into the sentries,' cried Father Victor, jumping up -as the lama stalked out; 'but I can't leave the boy.' Kim made -swift motion to follow, but checked himself. There was no sound of -challenge outside. The lama had disappeared. - -Kim settled himself composedly on the Chaplain's cot. At least the -lama had promised that he would stay with the Raiput woman from -Kulu, and the rest was of the smallest importance. It pleased him -that the two padres were so evidently excited. They talked long in -undertones, Father Victor urging some scheme on Mr Bennett, who -seemed incredulous. All this was very new and fascinating, but Kim -felt sleepy. They called men into the tent - one of them certainly -was the Colonel, as his father had prophesied - and they asked him -an infinity of questions, chiefly about the woman who looked after -him, all of which Kim answered truthfully. They did not seem to -think the woman a good guardian. - -After all, this was the newest of his experiences. Sooner or later, -if he chose, he could escape into great, grey, formless India, -beyond tents and padres and colonels. Meantime, if the Sahibs were -to be impressed, he would do his best to impress them. He too was a -white man. - -After much talk that he could not comprehend, they handed him over -to a sergeant, who had strict instructions not to let him escape. -The Regiment would go on to Umballa, and Kim would be sent up, -partly at the expense of the Lodge and in part by subscription, to -a place called Sanawar. - -'It's miraculous past all whooping, Colonel,' said Father Victor, -when he had talked without a break for ten minutes. 'His Buddhist -friend has levanted after taking my name and address. I can't quite -make out whether he'll pay for the boy's education or whether he is -preparing some sort of witchcraft on his own account.' Then to Kim: -'You'll live to be grateful to your friend the Red Bull yet. We'll -make a man of you at Sanawar - even at the price o' making you a -Protestant.' - -'Certainly - most certainly,' said Bennett. - -'But you will not go to Sanawar,' said Kim. - -'But we will go to Sanawar, little man. That's the order of the -Commander-in-Chief, who's a trifle more important than O'Hara's -son.' - -'You will not go to Sanawar. You will go to thee War.' - -There was a shout of laughter from the full tent. - -'When you know your own Regiment a trifle better you won't confuse -the line of march with line of battle, Kim. We hope to go to "thee -War" sometime.' - -'Oah, I know all thatt.' Kim drew his bow again at a venture. If -they were not going to the war, at least they did not know what he -knew of the talk in the veranda at Umballa. - -'I know you are not at thee war now; but I tell you that as soon as -you get to Umballa you will be sent to the war - the new war. It is -a war of eight thousand men, besides the guns.' - -'That's explicit. D'you add prophecy to your other gifts? Take him -along, sergeant. Take up a suit for him from the Drums, an' take -care he doesn't slip through your fingers. Who says the age of -miracles is gone by? I think I'll go to bed. My poor mind's -weakening.' - -At the far end of the camp, silent as a wild animal, an hour later -sat Kim, newly washed all over, in a horrible stuff suit that -rasped his arms and legs. - -'A most amazin' young bird,' said the sergeant. 'He turns up in -charge of a yellow-headed buck-Brahmin priest, with his father's -Lodge certificates round his neck, talkin' God knows what all of a -red bull. The buck-Brahmin evaporates without explanations, an' the -bhoy sets cross-legged on the Chaplain's bed prophesyin' bloody war -to the men at large. Injia's a wild land for a God-fearin' man. -I'll just tie his leg to the tent-pole in case he'll go through the -roof What did ye say about the war?' - -'Eight thousand men, besides guns,' said Kim. 'Very soon you will -see.' - -'You're a consolin' little imp. Lie down between the Drums an' go -to bye-bye. Those two boys will watch your slumbers.' - - - - - - Chapter 6 - - -Now I remember comrades - -Old playmates on new seas - -Whenas we traded orpiment -Among the savages. -Ten thousand leagues to southward, -And thirty years removed - -They knew not noble Valdez, -But me they knew and loved. - -Song of Diego Valdez. - - -Very early in the morning the white tents came down and disappeared -as the Mavericks took a side-road to Umballa. It did not skirt the -resting-place, and Kim, trudging beside a baggage-cart under fire -of comments from soldiers' wives, was not so confident as -overnight. He discovered that he was closely watched - Father -Victor on the one side, and Mr Bennett on the other. - -In the forenoon the column checked. A camel-orderly handed the -Colonel a letter. He read it, and spoke to a Major. Half a mile in -the rear, Kim heard a hoarse and joyful clamour rolling down on him -through the thick dust. Then someone beat him on the back, crying: -'Tell us how ye knew, ye little limb of Satan? Father dear, see if -ye can make him tell.' - -A pony ranged alongside, and he was hauled on to the priest's -saddlebow. - -'Now, my son, your prophecy of last night has come true. Our orders -are to entrain at Umballa for the Front tomorrow.' - -'What is thatt?' said Kim, for 'front' and 'entrain' were newish -words to him. - -'We are going to "thee War," as you called it.' - -'Of course you are going to thee War. I said last night.' - -'Ye did; but, Powers o' Darkness, how did ye know?' - -Kim's eyes sparkled. He shut his lips, nodded his head, and looked -unspeakable things. The Chaplain moved on through the dust, and -privates, sergeants, and subalterns called one another's attention -to the boy. The Colonel, at the head of the column, stared at him -curiously. 'It was probably some bazar rumour.' he said; 'but even -then -' He referred to the paper in his hand. 'Hang it all, the -thing was only decided within the last forty-eight hours.' - -Are there many more like you in India?' said Father Victor, 'or are -you by way o' being a lusus naturae?' - -'Now I have told you,' said the boy, 'will you let me go back to my -old man? If he has not stayed with that woman from Kulu, I am -afraid he will die.' - -'By what I saw of him he's as well able to take care of himself as -you. No. Ye've brought us luck, an' we're goin' to make a man of -you. I'll take ye back to your baggage-cart and ye'll come to me -this evening.' - -For the rest of the day Kim found himself an object of -distinguished consideration among a few hundred white men. The -story of his appearance in camp, the discovery of his parentage, -and his prophecy, had lost nothing in the telling. A big, shapeless -white woman on a pile of bedding asked him mysteriously whether he -thought her husband would come back from the war. Kim reflected -gravely, and said that he would, and the woman gave him food. In -many respects, this big procession that played music at intervals - -this crowd that talked and laughed so easily - resembled a festival -in Lahore city. So far, there was no sign of hard work, and he -resolved to lend the spectacle his patronage. At evening there came -out to meet them bands of music, and played the Mavericks into camp -near Umballa railway station. That was an interesting night. Men of -other regiments came to visit the Mavericks. The Mavericks went -visiting on their own account. Their pickets hurried forth to bring -them back, met pickets of strange regiments on the same duty; and, -after a while, the bugles blew madly for more pickets with officers -to control the tumult. The Mavericks had a reputation for -liveliness to live up to. But they fell in on the platform next -morning in perfect shape and condition; and Kim, left behind with -the sick, women, and boys, found himself shouting farewells -excitedly as the trains drew away. Life as a Sahib was amusing so -far; but he touched it with a cautious hand. Then they marched him -back in charge of a drummer-boy to empty, lime-washed barracks, -whose floors were covered with rubbish and string and paper, and -whose ceilings gave back his lonely footfall. Native-fashion, he -curled himself up on a stripped cot and went to sleep. An angry man -stumped down the veranda, woke him up, and said he was a -schoolmaster. This was enough for Kim, and he retired into his -shell. He could just puzzle out the various English Police notices -in Lahore city, because they affected his comfort; and among the -many guests of the woman who looked after him had been a queer -German who painted scenery for the Parsee travelling theatre. He -told Kim that he had been 'on the barricades in 'Forty-eight,' and -therefore - at least that was how it struck Kim - he would teach -the boy to write in return for food. Kim had been kicked as far as -single letters, but did not think well of them. - -'I do not know anything. Go away!' said Kim, scenting evil. -Hereupon the man caught him by the ear, dragged him to a room in a -far-off wing where a dozen drummer-boys were sitting on forms, and -told him to be still if he could do nothing else. This he managed -very successfully. The man explained something or other with white -lines on a black board for at least half an hour, and Kim continued -his interrupted nap. He much disapproved of the present aspect of -affairs, for this was the very school and discipline he had spent -two-thirds of his young life in avoiding. Suddenly a beautiful idea -occurred to him, and he wondered that he had not thought of it -before. - -The man dismissed them, and first to spring through the veranda -into the open sunshine was Kim. - -' 'Ere, you! 'Alt! Stop!' said a high voice at his heels. 'I've got -to look after you. My orders are not to let you out of my sight. -Where are you goin'?' - -It was the drummer-boy who had been hanging round him all the -forenoon - a fat and freckled person of about fourteen, and Kim -loathed him from the soles of his boots to his cap-ribbons. - -'To the bazar - to get sweets - for you,' said Kim, after thought. - -'Well, the bazar's out o' bounds. If we go there we'll get a -dressing-down. You come back.' - -'How near can we go?' Kim did not know what bounds meant, but he -wished to be polite - for the present. - -' 'Ow near? 'Ow far, you mean! We can go as far as that tree down -the road.' - -'Then I will go there.' - -'All right. I ain't goin'. It's too 'ot. I can watch you from 'ere. -It's no good your runnin' away. If you did, they'd spot you by your -clothes. That's regimental stuff you're wearin'. There ain't a -picket in Umballa wouldn't 'ead you back quicker than you started -out.' - -This did not impress Kim as much as the knowledge that his raiment -would tire him out if he tried to run. He slouched to the tree at -the corner of a bare road leading towards the bazar, and eyed the -natives passing. Most of them were barrack-servants of the lowest -caste. Kim hailed a sweeper, who promptly retorted with a piece of -unnecessary insolence, in the natural belief that the European boy -could not follow it. The low, quick answer undeceived him. Kim put -his fettered soul into it, thankful for the late chance to abuse -somebody in the tongue he knew best. 'And now, go to the nearest -letter-writer in the bazar and tell him to come here. I would write -a letter.' - -'But - but what manner of white man's son art thou to need a bazar -letter-writer? Is there not a schoolmaster in the barracks?' - -'Ay; and Hell is full of the same sort. Do my order, you - you Od! -Thy mother was married under a basket! Servant of Lal Beg' (Kim -knew the God of the sweepers), 'run on my business or we will talk -again.' - -The sweeper shuffled off in haste. 'There is a white boy by the -barracks waiting under a tree who is not a white boy,' he stammered -to the first bazar letter-writer he came across. 'He needs thee.' - -'Will he pay?' said the spruce scribe, gathering up his desk -and pens and sealing-wax all in order. - -'I do not know. He is not like other boys. Go and see. It is -well worth.' - -Kim danced with impatience when the slim young Kayeth hove in -sight. As soon as his voice could carry he cursed him volubly. - -'First I will take my pay,' the letter-writer said. 'Bad words have -made the price higher. But who art thou, dressed in that fashion, -to speak in this fashion?' - -'Aha! That is in the letter which thou shalt write. Never was such -a tale. But I am in no haste. Another writer will serve me. Umballa -city is as full of them as is Lahore.' - -'Four annas,' said the writer, sitting down and spreading his cloth -in the shade of a deserted barrack-wing. - -Mechanically Kim squatted beside him squatted as only the natives -can - in spite of the abominable clinging trousers. - -The writer regarded him sideways. - -'That is the price to ask of Sahibs,' said Kim. 'Now fix me a true -one.' - -'An anna and a half. How do I know, having written the letter, that -thou wilt not run away?' - -I must not go beyond this tree, and there is also the stamp to be -considered.' - -'I get no commission on the price of the stamp. Once more, what -manner of white boy art thou?' - -'That shall be said in the letter, which is to Mahbub Ali, the -horse-dealer in the Kashmir Serai, at Lahore. He is my friend.' - -'Wonder on wonder!' murmured the letter-writer, dipping a reed in -the inkstand. 'To be written in Hindi?' - -'Assuredly. To Mahbub Ali then. Begin! I have come down with the -old man as far as Umballa in the train. At Umballa I carried the -news of the bay mare's pedigree.' After what he had seen in the -garden, he was not going to write of white stallions. - -'Slower a little. What has a bay mare to do . . . Is it Mahbub Ali, -the great dealer?' - -'Who else? I have been in his service. Take more ink. Again. As the -order was, so I did it. We then went on foot towards Benares, but -on the third day we found a certain regiment. Is that down?' - -'Ay, pulton,''' murmured the writer, all ears. - -'I went into their camp and was caught, and by means of the charm -about my neck, which thou kno west, it was established that I was -the son of some man in the regiment: according to the prophecy of -the Red Bull, which thou knowest was common talk of our bazar.' Kim -waited for this shaft to sink into the letter-writer's heart, -cleared his throat, and continued: 'A priest clothed me and gave me -a new name . . . One priest, however, was a fool. The clothes are -very heavy, but I am a Sahib and my heart is heavy too. They send -me to a school and beat me. I do not like the air and water here. -Come then and help me, Mahbub Ali, or send me some money, for I -have not sufficient to pay the writer who writes this. - -' "Who writes this." It is my own fault that I was tricked. Thou -art as clever as Husain Bux that forged the Treasury stamps at -Nucklao. But what a tale! What a tale! Is it true by any chance?' - -'It does not profit to tell lies to Mahbub Ali. It is better to -help his friends by lending them a stamp. When the money comes I -will repay.' - -The writer grunted doubtfully, but took a stamp out of his desk, -sealed the letter, handed it over to Kim, and departed. Mahbub -Ali's was a name of power in Umballa. - -'That is the way to win a good account with the Gods,' Kim shouted -after him. - -'Pay me twice over when the money comes,' the man cried over his -shoulder. - -'What was you bukkin' to that nigger about?' said the drummer-boy -when Kim returned to the veranda. 'I was watch-in' you.' - -'I was only talkin' to him.' - -'You talk the same as a nigger, don't you?' - -'No-ah! No-ah! I onlee speak a little. What shall we do now?' - -'The bugles'll go for dinner in arf a minute. My Gawd! I wish I'd -gone up to the Front with the Regiment. It's awful doin' nothin' -but school down 'ere. Don't you 'ate it?' - -'Oah yess!' - -I'd run away if I knew where to go to, but, as the men say, in this -bloomin' Injia you're only a prisoner at large. You can't desert -without bein' took back at once. I'm fair sick of it.' - -'You have been in Be - England?' - -'W'y, I only come out last troopin' season with my mother. I should -think I 'ave been in England. What a ignorant little beggar you -are! You was brought up in the gutter, wasn't you?' - -'Oah yess. Tell me something about England. My father he came from -there.' - -Though he would not say so, Kim of course disbelieved every word -the drummer-boy spoke about the Liverpool suburb which was his -England. It passed the heavy time till dinner - a most unappetizing -meal served to the boys and a few invalids in a corner of a -barrack-room. But that he had written to Mahbub Ali, Kim would have -been almost depressed. The indifference of native crowds he was -used to; but this strong loneliness among white men preyed on him. -He was grateful when, in the course of the afternoon, a big soldier -took him over to Father Victor, who lived in another wing across -another dusty parade-ground. The priest was reading an English -letter written in purple ink. He looked at Kim more curiously than -ever. - -'An' how do you like it, my son, as far as you've gone? Not much, -eh? It must be hard - very hard on a wild animal. Listen now. I've -an amazin' epistle from your friend.' - -'Where is he? Is he well? Oah! If he knows to write me letters, it -is all right.' - -'You're fond of him then?' - -'Of course I am fond of him. He was fond of me.' - -'It seems so by the look of this. He can't write English, can he?' - -'Oah no. Not that I know, but of course he found a letter-writer -who can write English verree well, and so he wrote. I do hope you -understand.' - -'That accounts for it. D'you know anything about his money -affairs?' Kim's face showed that he did not. - -'How can I tell?' - -'That's what I'm askin'. Now listen if you can make head or tail o' -this. We'll skip the first part . . . It's written from Jagadhir -Road . . . "Sitting on wayside in grave meditation, trusting to be -favoured with your Honour's applause of present step, which -recommend your Honour to execute for Almighty God's sake. Education -is greatest blessing if of best sorts. Otherwise no earthly use." -Faith, the old man's hit the bull's-eye that time! "If your Honour -condescending giving my boy best educations Xavier" (I suppose -that's St Xavier's in Partibus) "in terms of our conversation dated -in your tent 15th instant" (a business-like touch there!) "then -Almighty God blessing your Honour's succeedings to third an' fourth -generation and" - now listen! -"confide in your Honour's humble -servant for adequate remuneration per hoondi per annum three -hundred rupees a year to one expensive education St Xavier, -Lucknow, and allow small time to forward same per hoondi sent to -any part of India as your Honour shall address yourself This -servant of your Honour has presently no place to lay crown of his -head, but going to Benares by train on account of persecution of -old woman talking so much and unanxious residing Saharunpore in any -domestic capacity." Now what in the world does that mean?' - -'She has asked him to be her puro - her clergyman - at Saharunpore, -I think. He would not do that on account of his River. She did -talk.' - -'It's clear to you, is it? It beats me altogether. "So going to -Benares, where will find address and forward rupees for boy who is -apple of eye, and for Almighty God's sake execute this education, -and your petitioner as in duty bound shall ever awfully pray. -Written by Sobrao Satai, Failed Entrance Allahabad University, for -Venerable Teshoo Lama the priest of Such-zen looking for a River, -address care of Tirthankars' Temple, Benares. P. M. -Please note -boy is apple of eye, and rupees shall be sent per hoondi three -hundred per annum. For God Almighty's sake." Now, is that ravin' -lunacy or a business proposition? I ask you, because I'm fairly at -my wits' end.' - -'He says he will give me three hundred rupees a year? So he will -give me them.' - -'Oh, that's the way you look at it, is it?' - -'Of course. If he says so!' - -The priest whistled; then he addressed Kim as an equal.'I don't -believe it; but we'll see. You were goin' off today to the -Military Orphanage at Sanawar, where the Regiment would keep you -till you were old enough to enlist. Ye'd be brought up to the -Church of England. Bennett arranged for that. On the other hand, if -ye go to St Xavier's ye'll get a better education an - an can have -the religion. D'ye see my dilemma? Kim saw nothing save a vision -of the lama going south in a train with none to beg for him. - -'Like most people, I'm going to temporize. If your friend sends the -money from Benares - Powers of Darkness below, where's a street- -beggar to raise three hundred rupees? - ye'll go down to Lucknow -and I'll pay your fare, because I can't touch the subscription- -money if I intend, as I do, to make ye a Catholic. If he doesn't, -ye'll go to the Military Orphanage at the Regiment's expense. I'll -allow him three days' grace, though I don't believe it at all. Even -then, if he fails in his payments later on . . . but it's beyond -me. We can only walk one step at a time in this world, praise God! -An' they sent Bennett to the Front an' left me behind. Bennett -can't expect everything.' - -'Oah yess,' said Kim vaguely. - -The priest leaned forward. 'I'd give a month's pay to find what's -goin' on inside that little round head of yours.' - -'There is nothing,' said Kim, and scratched it. He was wondering -whether Mahbub Ali would send him as much as a whole rupee. Then he -could pay the letter-writer and write letters to the lama at -Benares. Perhaps Mahbub Ali would visit him next time he came south -with horses. Surely he must know that Kim's delivery of the letter -to the officer at Umballa had caused the great war which the men -and boys had discussed so loudly over the barrack dinner-tables. -But if Mahbub Ali did not know this, it would be very unsafe to -tell him so. Mahbub Ali was hard upon boys who knew, or thought -they knew, too much. - -'Well, till I get further news' - Father Victor's voice interrupted -the reverie. 'Ye can run along now and play with the other boys. -They'll teach ye something - but I don't think ye'll like it.' - -The day dragged to its weary end. When he wished to sleep he was -instructed how to fold up his clothes and set out his boots; the -other boys deriding. Bugles waked him in the dawn; the schoolmaster -caught him after breakfast, thrust a page of meaningless characters -under his nose, gave them senseless names and whacked him without -reason. Kim meditated poisoning him with opium borrowed from a -barrack-sweeper, but reflected that, as they all ate at one table -in public (this was peculiarly revolting to Kim, who preferred to -turn his back on the world at meals), the stroke might be dangerous. -Then he attempted running off to the village where the priest had tried -to drug the lama--the village where the old soldier lived. But far-seeing -sentries at every exit headed back the little scarlet figure. -Trousers and jacket crippled body and mind alike dangerous. Then he -attempted running off to the village where the priest had tried to, -so he abandoned the project and fell back, Oriental-fashion, on -time and chance. Three days of torment passed in the big, echoing -white rooms. He walked out of affernoons under escort of the -drummer-boy, and all he heard from his companions were the few -useless words which seemed to make two-thirds of the white man's -abuse. Kim knew and despised them all long ago. The boy resented -his silence and lack of interest by beating him, as was only -natural. He did not care for any of the bazars which were in -bounds. He styled all natives 'niggers'; yet servants and sweepers -called him abominable names to his face, and, misled by their -deferential attitude, he never understood. This somewhat consoled -Kim for the beatings. - -On the morning of the fourth day a judgement overtook that drummer. -They had gone out together towards Umballa racecourse. He returned -alone, weeping, with news that young O'Hara, to whom he had been -doing nothing in particular, had hailed a scarlet-bearded nigger on -horseback; that the nigger had then and there laid into him with a -peculiarly adhesive quirt, picked up young O'Hara, and borne him -off at full gallop. These tidings came to Father Victor, and he -drew down his long upper lip. He was already sufficiently startled -by a letter from the Temple of the Tirthankars at Benares, -enclosing a native banker's note of hand for three hundred rupees, -and an amazing prayer to 'Almighty God'. The lama would have been -more annoyed than the priest had he known how the bazar letter- -writer had translated his phrase 'to acquire merit - -'Powers of Darkness below!' Father Victor fumbled with the note. -'An' now he's off with another of his peep-o'-day friends. I don't -know whether it will be a greater relief to me to get him back or -to have him lost. He's beyond my comprehension. How the Divil - -yes, he's the man I mean -can a street-beggar raise money to -educate white boys?' - -Three miles off, on Umballa racecourse, Mahbub Ali, reining a grey -Kabuli stallion with Kim in front of him, was saying: - -'But, Little Friend of all the World, there is my honour and -reputation to be considered. All the officer-Sahibs in all the -regiments, and all Umballa, know Mahbub Ali. Men saw me pick thee -up and chastise that boy. We are seen now from far across this -plain. How can I take thee away, or account for thy disappearing if -I set thee down and let thee run off into the crops? They would put -me in jail. Be patient. Once a Sahib, always a Sahib. When thou art -a man - who knows? - thou wilt be grateful to Mahbub Ali.' - -'Take me beyond their sentries where I can change this red. Give me -money and I will go to Benares and be with my lama again. I do not -want to be a Sahib, and remember I did deliver that message.' - -The stallion bounded wildly. Mahbub Ali had incautiously driven -home the sharp-edged stirrup. (He was not the new sort of fluent -horse-dealer who wears English boots and spurs.) Kim drew his own -conclusions from that betrayal. - -'That was a small matter. It lay on the straight road to Benares. I -and the Sahib have by this time forgotten it. I send so many -letters and messages to men who ask questions about horses, I -cannot well remember one from the other. Was it some matter of a -bay mare that Peters Sahib wished the pedigree of?' - -Kim saw the trap at once. If he had said 'bay mare' Mahbub would -have known by his very readiness to fall in with the amendment that -the boy suspected something. Kim replied therefore: - -'Bay mare. No. I do not forget my messages thus. It was a white -stallion.' - -'Ay, so it was. A white Arab stallion. But thou didst write "bay -mare" to me.' - -'Who cares to tell truth to a letter-writer?' Kim answered, feeling -Mahbub's palm on his heart. - -'Hi! Mahbub, you old villain, pull up!' cried a voice, and an -Englishman raced alongside on a little polo-pony. 'I've been -chasing you half over the country. That Kabuli of yours can go. For -sale, I suppose?' - -'I have some young stuff coming on made by Heaven for the delicate -and difficult polo-game. He has no equal. He - ' - - 'Plays polo and waits at table. Yes. We know all that. What the -deuce have you got there?' - -'A. boy,' said Mahbub gravely. 'He was being beaten by another boy. -His father was once a white soldier in the big war. The boy was a -child in Lahore city. He played with my horses when he was a babe. -Now I think they will make him a soldier. He has been newly caught -by his father's Regiment that went up to the war last week. But I -do not think he wants to be a soldier. I take him for a ride. Tell -me where thy barracks are and I will set thee there.' - -'Let me go. I can find the barracks alone.' - -'And if thou runnest away who will say it is not my fault?' - -'He'll run back to his dinner. Where has he to run to?' the -Englishman asked. - -'He was born in the land. He has friends. He goes where he chooses. -He is a chabuk sawai [a sharp chap]. It needs only to change his -clothing, and in a twinkling he would be a low-caste Hindu boy.' - -'The deuce he would!' The Englishman looked critically at the boy -as Mahbub headed towards the barracks. Kim ground his teeth. Mahbub -was mocking him, as faithless Afghans will; for he went on: - -'They will send him to a school and put heavy boots on his feet and -swaddle him in these clothes. Then he will forget all he knows. -Now, which of the barracks is thine?' - -Kim pointed - he could not speak - to Father Victor's wing, all -staring white near by. - -'Perhaps he will make a good soldier,' said Mahbub reflectively. - -'He will make a good orderly at least. I sent him to deliver a -message once from Lahore. A message concerning the pedigree of a -white stallion.' - -Here was deadly insult on deadlier injury - and the Sahib to whom -he had so craftily given that war-waking letter heard it all. Kim -beheld Mahbub Ali frying in flame for his treachery, but for -himself he saw one long grey vista of barracks, schools, and -barracks again. He gazed imploringly at the clear-cut face in which -there was no glimmer of recognition; but even at this extremity it -never occurred to him to throw himself on the white man's mercy or -to denounce the Afghan. And Mahbub stared deliberately at the -Englishman, who stared as deliberately at Kim, quivering and -tongue-tied. - -'My horse is well trained,' said the dealer. 'Others would have -kicked, Sahib.' - -'Ah,' said the Englishman at last, rubbing his pony's damp withers -with his whip-butt. 'Who makes the boy a soldier?' - -'He says the Regiment that found him, and especially the Padre- -sahib of that regiment. - -'There is the Padre!' Kim choked as bare-headed Father Victor -sailed down upon them from the veranda. - -'Powers O' Darkness below, O'Hara! How many more mixed friends do -you keep in Asia?' he cried, as Kim slid down and stood helplessly -before him. - -'Good morning, Padre,' the Englishman said cheerily. 'I know you by -reputation well enough. Meant to have come over and called before -this. I'm Creighton.' - -'Of the Ethnological Survey?' said Father Victor. The Englishman -nodded. 'Faith, I'm glad to meet ye then; an' I owe you some thanks -for bringing back the boy.' - -'No thanks to me, Padre. Besides, the boy wasn't going away. You -don't know old Mahbub Ali.' The horse-dealer sat impassive in the -sunlight. 'You will when you have been in the station a month. He -sells us all our crocks. That boy is rather a curiosity. Can you -tell me anything about him?' - -'Can I tell you?' puffed Father Victor. 'You'll be the one man that -could help me in my quandaries. Tell you! Powers o' Darkness, I'm -bursting to tell someone who knows something o' the native!' - -A groom came round the corner. Colonel Creighton raised his voice, -speaking in Urdu. 'Very good, Mahbub Ali, but what is the use of -telling me all those stories about the pony? Not one pice more than -three hundred and fifty rupees will I give.' - -'The Sahib is a little hot and angry after riding,' the horse- -dealer returned, with the leer of a privileged jester. 'Presently, -he will see my horse's points more clearly. I will wait till he has -finished his talk with the Padre. I will wait under that tree.' - -'Confound you!' The Colonel laughed. 'That comes of looking at one -of Mahbub's horses. He's a regular old leech, Padre. Wait, then, if -thou hast so much time to spare, Mahbub. Now I'm at your service, -Padre. Where is the boy? Oh, he's gone off to collogue with Mahbub. -Queer sort of boy. Might I ask you to send my mare round under -cover?' - -He dropped into a chair which commanded a clear view of Kim and -Mahbub Ali in conference beneath the tree. The Padre went indoors -for cheroots. - -Creighton heard Kim say bitterly: 'Trust a Brahmin before a snake, -and a snake before an harlot, and an harlot before a Pathan, Mahbub -Ali.' - -'That is all one.' The great red beard wagged solemnly. 'Children -should not see a carpet on the loom till the pattern is made plain. -Believe me, Friend of all the World, I do thee great service. They -will not make a soldier of thee.' - -'You crafty old sinner!' thought Creighton. 'But you're not far -wrong. That boy mustn't be wasted if he is as advertised.' - -'Excuse me half a minute,' cried the Padre from within, 'but I'm -gettin' the documents in the case. - -'If through me the favour of this bold and wise Colonel Sahib comes -to thee, and thou art raised to honour, what thanks wilt thou give -Mahbub Ali when thou art a man?' - -'Nay, nay! I begged thee to let me take the Road again, where I -should have been safe; and thou hast sold me back to the English. -What will they give thee for blood-money?' - -'A cheerful young demon!' The Colonel bit his cigar, and turned -politely to Father Victor. - -'What are the letters that the fat priest is waving before the -Colonel? Stand behind the stallion as though looking at my bridle!' -said Mahbub Ali. - -'A letter from my lama which he wrote from Jagadhir Road, saying -that he will pay three hundred rupees by the year for my -schooling.' - -'Oho! Is old Red Hat of that sort? At which school?' - -'God knows. I think in Nucklao.' - -'Yes. There is a big school there for the sons of Sahibs - and -half-Sahibs. I have seen it when I sell horses there. So the lama -also loved the Friend of all the World?' - -'Ay; and he did not tell lies, or return me to captivity.' - -'Small wonder the Padre does not know how to unravel the thread. -How fast he talks to the Colonel Sahib!' Mahbub Ali chuckled. 'By -Allah!' the keen eyes swept the veranda for an Instant - 'thy lama -has sent what to me looks like a note of hand. I have had some few -dealings in hoondis. The Colonel Sahib is looking at it.' - -'What good is all this to me?' said Kim wearily. 'Thou wilt go -away, and they will return me to those empty rooms where there is -no good place to sleep and where the boys beat me.' - -'I do not think that. Have patience, child. All Pathans are not -faithless - except in horseflesh.' - -Five - ten- fifteen minutes passed, Father Victor talking -energetically or asking questions which the Colonel answered. - -'Now I've told you everything that I know about the boy from -beginnin to end; and it's a blessed relief to me. Did ye ever hear -the like?' - -'At any rate, the old man has sent the money. Gobind Sahai's notes -of hand are good from here to China,' said the Colonel. 'The more -one knows about natives the less can one say what they will or -won't do.' - -'That's consolin' - from the head of the Ethnological Survey. It's -this mixture of Red Bulls and Rivers of Healing (poor heathen, God -help him!) an' notes of hand and Masonic certificates. Are you a -Mason, by any chance?' - -'By Jove, I am, now I come to think of it. That's an additional -reason,' said the Colonel absently. - - 'I'm glad ye see a reason in it. But as I said, it's the mixture -o' things that's beyond me. An' his prophesyin' to our Colonel, -sitting on my bed with his little shimmy torn open showing his -white skin; an' the prophecy comin' true! They'll cure all that -nonsense at St Xavier's, eh?' - -'Sprinkle him with holy water' the Colonel laughed. - -'On my word, I fancy I ought to sometimes. But I'm hoping he'll be -brought up as a good Catholic. All that troubles me is what'll -happen if the old beggar-man -' - -'Lama, lama, my dear sir; and some of them are gentlemen in their -own country - -'The lama, then, fails to pay next year. He's a fine business head -to plan on the spur of the moment, but he's bound to die some day. -An' takin' a heathen's money to give a child a Christian education --' - -'But he said explicitly what he wanted. As soon as he knew the boy -was white he seems to have made his arrangements accordingly. I'd -give a month's pay to hear how he explained it all at the -Tirthankars' Temple at Benares. Look here, Padre, I don't pretend -to know much about natives, but if he says he'll pay, he'll pay - -dead or alive. I mean, his heirs will assume the debt. My advice to -you is, send the boy down to Lucknow. If your Anglican Chaplain -thinks you've stolen a march on him -' - -Bad luck to Bennett! He was sent to the Front instead O' me. -Doughty certified me medically unfit. I'll excommunicate Doughty if -he comes back alive! Surely Bennett ought to be content with -, - -'Glory, leaving you the religion. Quite so! As a matter of fact I -don't think Bennett will mind. Put the blame on me. I - er - -strongly recommend sending the boy to St Xavier's. He can go down -on pass as a soldier's orphan, so the railway fare will be saved. -You can buy him an outfit from the Regimental subscription. The -Lodge will be saved the expense of his education, and that will put -the Lodge in a good temper. It's perfectly easy. I've got to go -down to Lucknow next week. I'll look after the boy on the way - -give him in charge of my servants, and so on.' - -'You're a good man. - -'Not in the least. Don't make that mistake. The lama has sent us -money for a definite end. We can't very well return it. We shall -have to do as he says. Well, that's settled, isn't it? Shall we say -that, Tuesday next, you'll hand him over to me at the night train -south? That's only three days. He can't do much harm in three -days.' - -'It's a weight off my mind, but - this thing here?' - he -waved the note of hand - 'I don't know Gobind Sahai: or his bank, -which may be a hole in a wall.' - -'You've never been a subaltern in debt. I'll cash it if you -like, and send you the vouchers in proper order.' - -'But with all your own work too! It's askin' -' - -'It's not the least trouble indeed. You see, as an -ethnologist, the thing's very interesting to me. I'd like to make a -note of it for some Government work that I'm doing. The -transformation of a regimental badge like your Red Bull into a sort -of fetish that the boy follows is very interesting.' - -'But I can't thank you enough.' - -'There's one thing you can do. All we Ethnological men are as -jealous as jackdaws of one another's discoveries. They're of no -interest to anyone but ourselves, of course, but you know what -book-collectors are like. Well, don't say a word, directly or -indirectly, about the Asiatic side of the boy's character - his -adventures and his prophecy, and so on. I'll worm them out of the -boy later on and - you see?' - -'I do. Ye'll make a wonderful account of it. Never a word will I -say to anyone till I see it in print.' - -'Thank you. That goes straight to an ethnologist's heart. Well, I -must be getting back to my breakfast. Good Heavens! Old Mabbub here -still?' He raised his voice, and the horse-dealer came out from -under the shadow of the tree, 'Well, what is it?' - -'As regards that young horse,' said Mahbub, 'I say that when a colt -is born to be a polo-pony, closely following the ball without -teaching - when such a colt knows the game by divination - then I -say it is a great wrong to break that colt to a heavy cart, Sahib!' - -'So say I also, Mahbub. The colt will be entered for polo only. -(These fellows think of nothing in the world but horses, Padre.) -I'll see you tomorrow, Mahbub, if you've anything likely for sale.' - -The dealer saluted, horseman-fashion, with a sweep of the off hand. -'Be patient a little, Friend of all the World,' he whispered to -the agonized Kim. 'Thy fortune is made. In a little while thou -goest to Nucklao, and - here is something to pay the letter-writer. -I shall see thee again, I think, many times,' and he cantered off -down the road. - -'Listen to me,' said the Colonel from the veranda, speaking in the -vernacular. 'In three days thou wilt go with me to Lucknow, seeing -and hearing new things all the while. Therefore sit still for three -days and do not run away. Thou wilt go to school at Lucknow.' - -'Shall I meet my Holy One there?' Kim whimpered. - -'At least Lucknow is nearer to Benares than Umballa. It may be thou -wilt go under my protection. Mahbub Ali knows this, and he will be -angry if thou returnest to the Road now. Remember - much has been -told me which I do not forget.' - -'I will wait,' said Kim, 'but the boys will beat me.' - -Then the bugles blew for dinner. - - - - - -Chapter 7 - - -Unto whose use the pregnant suns are poised -With idiot moons and stars retracing stars? -Creep thou betweene - thy coming's all unnoised. -Heaven hath her high, as Earth her baser, wars. -Heir to these tumults, this affright, that fraye -(By Adam's, fathers', own, sin bound alway); -Peer up, draw out thy horoscope and say -Which planet mends thy threadbare fate or mars? - -Sir John Christie. - - - -In the afternoon the red-faced schoolmaster told Kim that he had -been 'struck off the strength', which conveyed no meaning to him -till he was ordered to go away and play. Then he ran to the bazar, -and found the young letter-writer to whom he owed a stamp. - -'Now I pay,' said Kim royally, 'and now I need another letter to be -written.' - -'Mahbub Ali is in Umballa,' said the writer jauntily. He was, by -virtue of his office, a bureau of general misinformation. - -'This is not to Mahbub, but to a priest. Take thy pen and write -quickly. To Teshoo La ma, the Holy One from Bhotiyal seeking for a -River, who is now in the Temple of the Tirthankars at Benares. Take -more ink! In three days I am to go down to Nucklao to the school at -Nucklao. The name of the school is Xavier. I do not know where that -school is, but it is at Nucklao.' - -'But I know Nucklao,' the writer interrupted. 'I know the school.' - -'Tell him where it is, and I give half an anna.' - -The reed pen scratched busily. 'He cannot mistake.' The man lifted -his head. 'Who watches us across the street?' - -Kim looked up hurriedly and saw Colonel Creighton in tennis- -flannels. - -'Oh, that is some Sahib who knows the fat priest in the barracks. -He is beckoning me.' - -'What dost thou?' said the Colonel, when Kim trotted up. - -'I - I am not running away. I send a letter to my Holy One at -Benares.' - -'I had not thought of that. Hast thou said that I take thee to -Lucknow?' - -'Nay, I have not. Read the letter, if there be a doubt.' - -'Then why hast thou left out my name in writing to that Holy One?' -The Colonel smiled a queer smile. Kim took his courage in both -hands. - -'It was said once to me that it is inexpedient to write the names -of strangers concerned in any matter, because by the naming of -names many good plans are brought to confusion.' - -'Thou hast been well taught,' the Colonel replied, and Kim flushed. -'I have left my cheroot-case in the Padre's veranda. Bring it to my -house this even.' - -'Where is the house?' said Kim. His quick wit told him that he was -being tested in some fashion or another, and he stood on guard. - -'Ask anyone in the big bazar.' The Colonel walked on. - -'He has forgotten his cheroot-case,' said Kim, returning. 'I must -bring it to him this evening. That is all my letter except, thrice -over, Come to me! Come to me! Come to me! Now I will pay for a -stamp and put it in the post. He rose to go, and as an afterthought -asked: 'Who is that angry-faced Sahib who lost the cheroot-case?' - -'Oh, he is only Creighton Sahib - a very foolish Sahib, who is a -Colonel Sahib without a regiment.' - -'What is his business?' - -'God knows. He is always buying horses which he cannot ride, and -asking riddles about the works of God - such as plants and stones -and the customs of people. The dealers call him the father of -fools, because he is so easily cheated about a horse. Mahbub Ali -says he is madder than most other Sahibs.' - -'Oh!' said Kim, and departed. His training had given him some small -knowledge of character, and he argued that fools are not given -information which leads to calling out eight thousand men besides -guns. The Commander-in-Chief of all India does not talk, as Kim had -heard him talk, to fools. Nor would Mahbub Ali's tone have changed, -as it did every time he mentioned the Colonel's name, if the -Colonel had been a fool. Consequently - and this set Kim to -skipping - there was a mystery somewhere, and Mahbub Ali probably -spied for the Colonel much as Kim had spied for Mahbub. And, like -the horse-dealer, the Colonel evidently respected people who did -not show themselves to be too clever. - - -He rejoiced that he had not betrayed his knowledge of the Colonel's -house; and when, on his return to barracks, he discovered that no -cheroot-case had been left behind, he beamed with delight. Here was -a man after his own heart - a tortuous and indirect person playing -a hidden game. Well, if he could be a fool, so could Kim. - -He showed nothing of his mind when Father Victor, for three long -mornings, discoursed to him of an entirely new set of Gods and -Godlings - notably of a Goddess called Mary, who, he gathered, was -one with Bibi Miriam of Mahbub Ali's theology. He betrayed no -emotion when, after the lecture, Father Victor dragged him from -shop to shop buying articles of outfit, nor when envious drummer- -boys kicked him because he was going to a superior school did he -complain, but awaited the play of circumstances with an interested -soul. Father Victor, good man, took him to the station, put him -into an empty second-class next to Colonel Creighton's first, and -bade him farewell with genuine feeling. - -'They'll make a man o' you, O'Hara, at St Xavier's - a white man, -an', I hope, a good man. They know all about your comin', an' the -Colonel will see that ye're not lost or mislaid anywhere on the -road. I've given you a notion of religious matters, - at least I -hope so, - and you'll remember, when they ask you your religion, -that you're a Cath'lic. Better say Roman Cath'lic, tho' I'm not -fond of the word.' - -Kim lit a rank cigarette - he had been careful to buy a stock in -the bazar - and lay down to think. This solitary passage was verv -different from that joyful down-journey in the third-class with the -lama. 'Sahibs get little pleasure of travel,' he reflected. - -'Hai mai! I go from one place to another as it might be a kickball. -It is my Kismet. No man can escape his Kismet. But I am to pray to -Bibi Miriam, and I am a Sahib.' He looked at his boots ruefully. -'No; I am Kim. This is the great world, and I am only Kim. Who is -Kim?' He considered his own identity, a thing he had never done -before, till his head swam. He was one insignificant person in all -this roaring whirl of India, going southward to he knew not what -fate. - -Presently the Colonel sent for him, and talked for a long time. So -far as Kim could gather, he was to be diligent and enter the Survey -of India as a chain-man. If he were very good, and passed the -proper examinations, he would be earning thirty rupees a month at -seventeen years old, and Colonel Creighton would see that he found -suitable employment. - -Kim pretended at first to understand perhaps one word in three of -this talk. Then the Colonel, seeing his mistake, turned to fluent -and picturesque Urdu and Kim was contented. No man could be a fool -who knew the language so intimately, who moved so gently and -silently, and whose eyes were so different from the dull fat eyes -of other Sahibs. - -'Yes, and thou must learn how to make pictures of roads and -mountains and rivers to carry these pictures in thine eye till a -suitable time comes to set them upon paper. Perhaps some day, when -thou art a chain-man, I may say to thee when we are working -together: "Go across those hills and see what lies beyond." Then -one will say: "There are bad people living in those hills who will -slay the chain-man if he be seen to look like a Sahib." What then?' - -Kim thought. Would it be safe to return the Colonel's lead? - -'I would tell what that other man had said.' - -'But if I answered: "I will give thee a hundred rupees for -knowledge of what is behind those hills - for a picture of a river -and a little news of what the people say in the villages there"?' - -'How can I tell? I am only a boy. Wait till I am a man.' Then, -seeing the Colonel's brow clouded, he went on: 'But I think I -should in a few days earn the hundred rupees.' - -'By what road?' - -Kim shook his head resolutely. 'If I said how I would earn them, -another man might hear and forestall me. It is not good to sell -knowledge for nothing.' - -'Tell now.' The Colonel held up a rupee. Kim's hand half reached -towards it, and dropped. - -'Nay, Sahib; nay. I know the price that will be paid for the -answer, but I do not know why the question is asked.' - -'Take it for a gift, then,' said Creighton, tossing it over. 'There -is a good spirit in thee. Do not let it be blunted at St Xavier's. -There are many boys there who despise the black men.' - -'Their mothers were bazar-women,' said Kim. He knew well there is -no hatred like that of the half-caste for his brother-in-law. - -'True; but thou art a Sahib and the son of a Sahib. Therefore, do -not at any time be led to contemn the black men. I have known boys -newly entered into the service of the Government who feigned not to -understand the talk or the customs of black men. Their pay was cut -for ignorance. There is no sin so great as ignorance. Remember -this.' - -Several times in the course of the long twenty-four hours' run -south did the Colonel send for Kim, always developing this latter -text. - -'We be all on one lead-rope, then,' said Kim at last, 'the Colonel, -Mahbub Ali, and I - when I become a chain-man. He will use me as -Mahbub Ali employed me, I think. That is good, if it allows me to -return to the Road again. This clothing grows no easier by wear.' - -When they came to the crowded Lucknow station there was no sign of -the lama. He swallowed his disappointment, while the Colonel -bundled him into a ticca-gharri with his neat belongings and -despatched him alone to St Xavier's. - -'I do not say farewell, because we shall meet again,' he cried. -'Again, and many times, if thou art one of good spirit. But thou -art not yet tried.' - -'Not when I brought thee' - Kim actually dared to use the tum of -equals - 'a white stallion's pedigree that night?' - -'Much is gained by forgetting, little brother,' said the Colonel, -with a look that pierced through Kim's shoulder-blades as he - scuttled into the carriage. - -It took him nearly five minutes to recover. Then he sniffed the new -air appreciatively. 'A rich city,' he said. 'Richer than Lahore. -How good the bazars must be! Coachman, drive me a little through -the bazars here.' - -'My order is to take thee to the school.' The driver used the -'thou', which is rudeness when applied to a white man. In the -clearest and most fluent vernacular Kim pointed out his error, -climbed on to the box-seat, and, perfect understanding established, -drove for a couple of hours up and down, estimating, comparing, and -enjoying. There is no city - except Bombay, the queen of all - more -beautiful in her garish style than Lucknow, whether you see her -from the bridge over the river, or from the top of the Imambara -looking down on the gilt umbrellas of the Chutter Munzil, and the -trees in which the town is bedded. Kings have adorned her with -fantastic buildings, endowed her with charities, crammed her with -pensioners, and drenched her with blood. She is the centre of all -idleness, intrigue, and luxury, and shares with Delhi the claim to -talk the only pure Urdu. - -'A fair city - a beautiful city.' The driver, as a Lucknow man, was -pleased with the compliment, and told Kim many astounding things -where an English guide would have talked of the Mutiny. - -'Now we will go to the school,' said Kim at last. The great old -school of St Xavier's in Partibus, block on block of low white -buildings, stands in vast grounds over against the Gumti River,' at -some distance from the city. - -'What like of folk are they within?' said Kim. - -'Young Sahibs - all devils. But to speak truth, and I drive many of -them to and fro from the railway station, I have never seen one -that had in him the making of a more perfect devil than thou - this -young Sahib whom I am now driving.' - -Naturally, for he was never trained to consider them in any way -improper, Kim had passed the time of day with one or two frivolous -ladies at upper windows in a certain street, and naturally, in the -exchange of compliments, had acquitted himself well. He was about -to acknowledge the driver's last insolence, when his eye - it was -growing dusk - caught a figure sitting by one of the white plaster -gate-pillars in the long sweep of wall. - -'Stop!' he cried. 'Stay here. I do not go to the school at once.' - -'But what is to pay me for this coming and re-coming?' said the -driver petulantly. 'Is the boy mad? Last time it was a dancing- -girl. This time it is a priest.' - -Kim was in the road headlong, patting the dusty feet beneath the -dirty yellow robe. - -'I have waited here a day and a half,' the lama's level voice -began. 'Nay, I had a disciple with me. He that was my friend at the -Temple of the Tirthankars gave me a guide for this journey. I came -from Benares in the te-rain, when thy letter was given me. Yes, I -am well fed. I need nothing.' - -'But why didst thou not stay with the Kulu woman, O Holy One? In -what way didst thou get to Benares? My heart has been heavy since -we parted.' - -'The woman wearied me by constant flux of talk and requiring charms -for children. I separated myself from that company, permitting her -to acquire merit by gifts. She is at least a woman of open hands, -and I made a promise to return to her house if need arose. Then, -perceiving myself alone in this great and terrible world, I -bethought me of the te-rain to Benares, where I knew one abode in -the Tirthankars' Temple who was a Seeker, even as I.' - -'Ah! Thy River,' said Kim. 'I had forgotten the River.' - -'So soon, my chela? I have never forgotten it. But when I had left -thee it seemed better that I should go to the Temple and take -counsel, for, look you, India is very large, and it may be that -wise men before us, some two or three, have left a record of the -place of our River. There is debate in the Temple of the -Tirthankars on this matter; some saying one thing, and some -another. They are courteous folk.' - -'So be it; but what dost thou do now?' - -'I acquire merit in that I help thee, my chela, to wisdom. The -priest of that body of men who serve the Red Bull wrote me that all -should be as I desired for thee. I sent the money to suffice for -one year, and then I came, as thou seest me, to watch for thee -going up into the Gates of Learning. A day and a half have I waited -not because I was led by any affection towards thee - that is no -part of the Way - but, as they said at the Tirthankars' Temple, -because, money having been paid for learning, it was right that I -should oversee the end of the matter. They resolved my doubts most -clearly. I had a fear that, perhaps, I came because I wished to see -thee - misguided by the Red Mist of affection. It is not so . . . -Moreover, I am troubled by a dream.' - -'But surely, Holy One, thou hast not forgotten the Road and all -that befell on it. Surely it was a little to see me that thou didst -come?' - -'The horses are cold, and it is past their feeding-time,' whined -the driver. - -'Go to Jehannum and abide there with thy reputationless aunt!' Kim -snarled over his shoulder. 'I am all alone in this land; I know not -where I go nor what shall befall me. My heart was in that letter I -sent thee. Except for Mahbub Ali, and he is a Pathan, I have no -friend save thee, Holy One. Do not altogether go away.' - -'I have considered that also,' the lama replied, in a shaking -voice. 'It is manifest that from time to time I shall acquire merit -if before that I have not found my River - by assuring myself -that thy feet are set on wisdom. What they will teach thee I do -not know, but the priest wrote me that no son of a Sahib in all -India will be better taught than thou. So from time to time, -therefore, I will come again. Maybe thou wilt be such a Sahib as he -who gave me these spectacles' - the lama wiped them elaborately - -'in the Wonder House at Lahore. That is my hope, for he was a -Fountain of Wisdom - wiser than many abbots .... Again, maybe thou -wilt forget me and our meetings.' - -'If I eat thy bread,' cried Kim passionately, 'how shall I ever -forget thee?' 'No - no.' He put the boy aside. 'I must go back to -Benares. From time to time,now that I know the customs of letter- -writers in this land, I will send thee a letter, and from time to -time I will come and see thee.' - -'But whither shall I send my letters?' wailed Kim, clutching at the -robe, all forgetful that he was a Sahib. - -'To the Temple of the Tirthankars at Benares. That is the place I -have chosen till I find my River. Do not weep; for, look you, all -Desire is Illusion and a new binding upon the Wheel. Go up to the -Gates of Learning. Let me see thee go . .. Dost thou love me? Then -go, or my heart cracks .. . I will come again. Surely I will come -again. - -The lama watched the ticca-gharri rumble into the compound, and -strode off, snuffing between each long stride. - -'The Gates of Learning' shut with a clang. - -The country born and bred boy has his own manners and customs, -which do not resemble those of any other land; and his teachers -approach him by roads which an English master would not understand. -Therefore, you would scarcely be interested in Kim's experiences as -a St Xavier's boy among two or three hundred precocious youths, -most of whom had never seen the sea. He suffered the usual -penalties for breaking out of bounds when there was cholera in the -city. This was before he had learned to write fair English, and so -was obliged to find a bazar letter-writer. He was, of course, -indicted for smoking and for the use of abuse more full-flavoured -than even St Xavier's had ever heard. He learned to wash himself -with the Levitical scrupulosity of the native-born, who in his -heart considers the Englishman rather dirty. He played the usual -tricks on the patient coolies pulling the punkahs in the sleeping- -rooms where the boys threshed through the hot nights telling tales -till the dawn; and quietly he measured himself against his self- -reliant mates. - -They were sons of subordinate officials in the Railway, Telegraph, -and Canal Services; of warrant-officers, sometimes retired and -sometimes acting as commanders-in-chief to a feudatory Rajah's -army; of captains of the Indian Marine Government pensioners, -planters, Presidency shopkeepers, and missionaries. A few were -cadets of the old Eurasian houses that have taken strong root in -Dhurrumtollah - Pereiras, De Souzas, and D'Silvas. Their parents -could well have educated them in England, but they loved the school -that had served their own youth, and generation followed sallow- -hued generation at St Xavier's. Their homes ranged from Howrah of -the railway people to abandoned cantonments like Monghyr and -Chunar; lost tea-gardens Shillong-way; villages where their fathers -were large landholders in Oudh or the Deccan; Mission-stations a -week from the nearest railway line; seaports a thousand miles -south, facing the brazen Indian surf; and cinchona-plantations -south of all. The mere story of their adventures, which to them -were no adventures, on their road to and from school would have -crisped a Western boy's hair. They were used to jogging off alone -through a hundred miles of jungle, where there was always the -delightful chance of being delayed by tigers; but they would no -more have bathed in the English Channel in an English August than -their brothers across the world would have lain still while a -leopard snuffed at their palanquin. There were boys of fifteen who -had spent a day and a half on an islet in the middle of a flooded -river, taking charge, as by right, of a camp of frantic pilgrims -returning from a shrine. There were seniors who had requisitioned a -chance-met Rajah's elephant, in the name of St Francis Xavier, when -the Rains once blotted out the cart-track that led to their -father's estate, and had all but lost the huge beast in a -quicksand. There was a boy who, he said, and none doubted, had -helped his father to beat off with rifles from the veranda a rush -of Akas in the days when those head-hunters were bold against -lonely plantations. - -And every tale was told in the even, passionless voice of the -native-born, mixed with quaint reflections, borrowed unconsciously -from native foster-mothers, and turns of speech that showed they -had been that instant translated from the vernacular. Kim watched, -listened, and approved. This was not insipid, single-word talk of -drummer-boys. It dealt with a life he knew and in part understood. -The atmosphere suited him, and he throve by inches. They gave him a -white drill suit as the weather warmed, and he rejoiced in the new- -found bodily comforts as he rejoiced to use his sharpened mind over -the tasks they set him. His quickness would have delighted an -English master; but at St Xavier's they know the first rush of -minds developed by sun and surroundings, as they know the half- -collapse that sets in at twenty-two or twenty-three. - -None the less he remembered to hold himself lowly. When tales were -told of hot nights, Kim did not sweep the board with his -reminiscences; for St Xavier's looks down on boys who 'go native -all-together.' One must never forget that one is a Sahib, and that -some day, when examinations are passed, one will command natives. -Kim made a note of this, for he began to understand where -examinations led. - -Then came the holidays from August to October - the long holidays -imposed by the heat and the Rains. Kim was informed that he would -go north to some station in the hills behind Umballa, where Father -Victor would arrange for him. - -'A barrack-school?' said Kim, who had asked many questions and -thought more. - -'Yes, I suppose so,' said the master. 'It will not do you any harm -to keep you out of mischief. You can go up with young De Castro as -far as Delhi.' - -Kim considered it in every possible light. He had been diligent, -even as the Colonel advised. A boy's holiday was his own property - -of so much the talk of his companions had advised him, - and a -barrack-school would be torment after St Xavier's. Moreover - this -was magic worth anything else - he could write. In three months he -had discovered how men can speak to each other without a third -party, at the cost of half an anna and a little knowledge. No word -had come from the lama, but there remained the Road. Kim yearned -for the caress of soft mud squishing up between the toes, as his -mouth watered for mutton stewed with butter and cabbages, for rice -speckled with strong scented cardamoms, for the saffron-tinted -rice, garlic and onions, and the forbidden greasy sweetmeats of the -bazars. They would feed him raw beef on a platter at the barrack- -school, and he must smoke by stealth. But again, he was a Sahib and -was at St Xavier's, and that pig Mahbub Ali ... No, he would not -test Mahbub's hospitality - and yet ... He thought - -it out alone in the dormitory, and came to the conclusion he had -been unjust to Mahbub. - -The school was empty; nearly all the masters had gone away; Colonel -Creighton 's railway pass lay in his hand, and Kim puffed himself -that he had not spent Colonel Creighton 's or Mahbub's money in -riotous living. He was still lord of two rupees seven annas. His -new bullock-trunk, marked 'K. O'H.', and bedding-roll lay in the -empty sleeping-room. 'Sahibs are always tied to their baggage,' -said Kim, nodding at them. 'You will stay here' He went out into -the warm rain, smiling sinfully, and sought a certain house whose -outside he had noted down some time before. . . - -'Arre'! Dost thou know what manner of women we be in this quarter? -Oh, shame!' - -'Was I born yesterday?' Kim squatted native-fashion on the cushions -of that upper room. 'A little dyestuff and three yards of cloth to -help out a jest. Is it much to ask?' - -'Who is she? Thou art full young, as Sahibs go, for this devilry.' - -'Oh, she? She is the daughter of a certain schoolmaster of a -regiment in the cantonments. He has beaten me twice because I -went over their wall in these clothes. Now I would go as a -gardener's boy. Old men are very jealous.' - -'That is true. Hold thy face still while I dab on the juice.' - -'Not too black, Naikan. I would not appear to her as a hubshi -[nigger).' - -'Oh, love makes nought of these things. And how old is she?' - -'Twelve years, I think,' said the shameless Kim. 'Spread it also on -the breast. It may be her father will tear my clothes off me, and -if I am piebald -' he laughed. - -The girl worked busily, dabbing a twist of cloth into a little -saucer of brown dye that holds longer than any walnut-juice. - -'Now send out and get me a cloth for the turban. Woe is me, my head -is all unshaved! And he will surely knock off my turban.' - -'I am not a barber, but I will make shift. Thou wast born to be a -breaker of hearts! All this disguise for one evening? Remember, the -stuff does not wash away.' She shook with laughter till her -bracelets and anklets jingled. 'But who is to pay me for this? -Huneefa herself could not have given thee better stuff.' - -'Trust in the Gods, my sister,' said Kim gravely, screwing his face -round as the stain dried. 'Besides, hast thou ever helped to paint -a Sahib thus before?' - -'Never indeed. But a jest is not money.' - -'It is worth much more.' - -'Child, thou art beyond all dispute the most shameless son of -Shaitan that I have ever known to take up a poor girl's time with -this play, and then to say: "Is not the jest enough?" Thou wilt go -very far in this world.' She gave the dancing-girls' salutation in -mockery. - -'All one. Make haste and rough-cut my head.' Kim shifted from foot -to foot, his eyes ablaze with mirth as he thought of the fat days -before him. He gave the girl four annas, and ran down the stairs in -the likeness of a low-caste Hindu boy -perfect in every detail. A -cookshop was his next point of call, where he feasted in -extravagance and greasy luxury. - -On Lucknow station platform he watched young De Castro, all covered -with prickly-heat, get into a second-class compartment. Kim -patronized a third, and was the life and soul of it. He explained -to the company that he was assistant to a juggler who had left him -behind sick with fever, and that he would pick up his master at -Umballa. As the occupants of the carriage changed, he varied this -tale, or adorned it with all the shoots of a budding fancy, the -more rampant for being held off native speech so long. In all India -that night was no human being so joyful as Kim. At Umballa he got -out and headed eastward, plashing over the sodden fields to the -village where the old soldier lived. - -About this time Colonel Creighton at Simla was advised from Lucknow -by wire that young O'Hara had disappeared. Mahbub Ali was in town -selling horses, and to him the Colonel confided the affair one -morning cantering round Annandale racecourse. - -'Oh, that is nothing,' said the horse-dealer. 'Men are like horses. -At certain times they need salt, and if that salt is not in the -mangers they will lick it up from the earth. He has gone back to -the Road again for a while. The madrissak wearied him. I knew it -would. Another time, I will take him upon the Road myself. Do not -be troubled, Creighton Sahib. It is as though a polo-pony, breaking -loose, ran out to learn the game alone.' - -'Then he is not dead, think you?' - -'Fever might kill him. I do not fear for the boy otherwise. A -monkey does not fall among trees.' - -Next morning, on the same course, Mahbub's stallion ranged -alongside the Colonel. - -'It is as I had thought,' said the horse-dealer. 'He has come -through Umballa at least, and there he has written a letter to me, -having learned in the bazar that I was here.' - -'Read,' said the Colonel, with a sigh of relief. It was absurd that -a man of his position should take an interest in a little country- -bred vagabond; but the Colonel remembered the conversation in the -train, and often in the past few months had caught himself thinking -of the queer, silent, self-possessed boy. His evasion, of course, -was the height of insolence, but it argued some resource and nerve. - -Mahbub's eyes twinkled as he reined out into the centre of the -cramped little plain, where none could come near unseen. - -'"The Friend of the Stars, who is the Friend of all the World-"' - -'What is this?' - -'A name we give him in Lahore city. "The Friend of all the World -takes leave to go to his own places. He will come back upon the -appointed day. Let the box and the bedding-roll be sent for; and if -there has been a fault, let the Hand of Friendship turn aside the -Whip of Calamity." There is yet a little more, but-' - -'No matter, read.' - -'"Certain things are not known to those who eat with forks. It is -better to eat with both hands for a while. Speak soft words to -those who do not understand this that the return may be -propitious." Now the manner in which that was cast is, of course, -the work of the letter-writer, but see how wisely the boy has -devised the matter of it so that no hint is given except to those -who know!' - -'Is this the Hand of Friendship to avert the Whip of Calamity?' -laughed the Colonel. - -'See how wise is the boy. He would go back to the Road again, as I -said. Not knowing yet thy trade -' - -'I am not at all sure of that,' the Colonel muttered. - -'He turns to me to make a peace between you. Is he not wise? He -says he will return. He is but perfecting his knowledge. Think, -Sahib! He has been three months at the school. And he is not -mouthed to that bit. For my part, I rejoice. The pony learns the -game.' - -'Ay, but another time he must not go alone.' - -'Why? He went alone before he came under the Colonel Sahib's -protection. When he comes to the Great Game he must go alone - -alone, and at peril of his head. Then, if he spits, or sneezes, or -sits down other than as the people do whom he watches, he may be -slain. Why hinder him now? Remember how the Persians say: The -jackal that lives in the wilds of Mazanderan can only be caught by - the hounds of Mazanderan.' - -'True. It is true, Mahbub Ali. And if he comes to no harm, I do not -desire anything better. But it is great insolence on his part.' - -'He does not tell me, even, whither he goes,' said Mahbub. 'He is -no fool. When his time is accomplished he will come to me. It is -time the healer of pearls took him in hand. He ripens too quickly - -as Sahibs reckon.' - -This prophecy was fulfilled to the letter a month later. Mahbub had -gone down to Umballa to bring up a fresh consignment of horses, and -Kim met him on the Kalka road at dusk riding alone, begged an alms -of him, was sworn at, and replied in English. There was nobody -within earshot to hear Mahbub's gasp of amazement. - -'Oho! And where hast thou been?' 'Up and down - down and up.' - -'Come under a tree, out of the wet, and tell.' 'I stayed for a -while with an old man near Umballa; anon with a household of my -acquaintance in Umballa. With one of these I went as far as Delhi -to the southward. That is a wondrous city. Then I drove a bullock -for a teli [an oilman] coming north; but I heard of a great feast -forward in Patiala, and thither went I in the company of a -firework-maker. It was a great feast' (Kim rubbed his stomach). 'I -saw Rajahs, and elephants with gold and silver trappings; and they -lit all the fireworks at once, whereby eleven men were killed, my -fire-work-maker among them, and I was blown across a tent but took -no harm. Then I came back to the rel with a Sikh horseman, to whom -I was groom for my bread; and so here.' - -'Shabash!' said Mahbub Ali. - -'But what does the Colonel Sahib say? I do not wish to be beaten. - -'The Hand of Friendship has averted the Whip of Calamity; but -another time, when thou takest the Road it will be with me. This is -too early.' - -'Late enough for me. I have learned to read and to write English a -little at the madrissah. I shall soon be altogether a Sahib.' - -'Hear him!' laughed Mahbub, looking at the little drenched figure -dancing in the wet. 'Salaam - Sahib,' and he saluted ironically. -'Well, art tired of the Road, or wilt thou come on to Umballa with -me and work back with the horses?' - -'I come with thee, Mahbub Ali.' - - - - - -Chapter 8 - - -Something I owe to the soil that grew - -More to the life that fed - -But most to Allah Who gave me two -Separate sides to my head. - -I would go without shirts or shoes, -Friends, tobacco or bread -Sooner than for an instant lose -Either side of my head.' - -The Two-Sided Man. - - -'Then in God's name take blue for red,' said Mahbub, alluding to -the Hindu colour of Kim's disreputable turban. - -Kim countered with the old proverb, 'I will change my faith and my -bedding, but thou must pay for it.' - -The dealer laughed till he nearly fell from his horse. At a shop on -the outskirts of the city the change was made, and Kim stood up, -externally at least, a Mohammedan. - -Mahbub hired a room over against the railway station, sent for a -cooked meal of the finest with the almond-curd sweet-meats -[balushai we call it] and fine-chopped Lucknow tobacco. - -'This is better than some other meat that I ate with the Sikh,' -said Kim, grinning as he squatted, 'and assuredly they give no such -victuals at my madrissah.' - -'I have a desire to hear of that same madrissah.' Mahbub stuffed -himself with great boluses of spiced mutton fried in fat with -cabbage and golden-brown onions. 'But tell me first, altogether and -truthfully, the manner of thy escape. For, O Friend of all the -World,' - he loosed his cracking belt - 'I do not think it is -often that a Sahib and the son of a Sahib runs away from there.' - -'How should they? They do not know the land. It was nothing,' said -Kim, and began his tale. When he came to the disguisement and the -interview with the girl in the bazar, Mahbub Ali's gravity went -from him. He laughed aloud and beat his hand on his thigh. - -'Shabash! Shabash! Oh, well done, little one! What will the healer -of turquoises say to this? Now, slowly, let us hear what befell -afterwards - step by step, omitting nothing.' - -Step by step then, Kim told his adventures between coughs as the -full-flavoured tobacco caught his lungs. - -'I said,' growled Mahbub Ali to himself, 'I said it was the pony -breaking out to play polo. The fruit is ripe already -except that -he must learn his distances and his pacings, and his rods and his -compasses. Listen now. I have turned aside the Colonel's whip from -thy skin, and that is no small service.' - -'True.' Kim pulled serenely. 'That is true.' - -'But it is not to be thought that this running out and in is any -way good.' - -'It was my holiday, Hajji. I was a slave for many weeks. Why should -I not run away when the school was shut? Look, too, how I, living -upon my friends or working for my bread, as I did with the Sikh, -have saved the Colonel Sahib a great expense.' - -Mahbub's lips twitched under his well-pruned Mohammedan moustache. - -'What are a few rupees' - the Pathan threw out his open hand -carelessly - 'to the Colonel Sahib? He spends them for a purpose, -not in any way for love of thee.' - -'That,' said Kim slowly, 'I knew a very long time ago.' - -'Who told?' - -'The Colonel Sahib himself. Not in those many words, but plainly -enough for one who is not altogether a mud-head. Yea, he told me in -the te-rain when we went down to Lucknow.' - -'Be it so. Then I will tell thee more, Friend of all the World, -though in the telling I lend thee my head.' - -'It was forfeit to me,' said Kim, with deep relish, 'in Umballa, -when thou didst pick me up on the horse after the drummer-boy beat -me.' - -'Speak a little plainer. All the world may tell lies save thou and -I. For equally is thy life forfeit to me if I chose to raise my -finger here.' - -'And this is known to me also,' said Kim, readjusting the live -charcoal-ball on the weed. 'It is a very sure tie between us. -Indeed, thy hold is surer even than mine; for who would miss a boy -beaten to death, or, it may be, thrown into a well by the roadside? -Most people here and in Simla and across the passes behind the -Hills would, on the other hand, say: "What has come to Mahbub Ali?" -if he were found dead among his horses. Surely, too, the Colonel -Sahib would make inquiries. But again,'- Kim's face puckered with -cunning, - 'he would not make overlong inquiry, lest people should -ask: "What has this Colonel Sahib to do with that horse-dealer?" -But I - if I lived -, - -'As thou wouldst surely die -, - -'Maybe; but I say, if I lived, I, and I alone, would know that one -had come by night, as a common thief perhaps, to Mahbub Ali's -bulkhead in the serai, and there had slain him, either before or -after that thief had made a full search into his saddlebags and -between the soles of his slippers. Is that news to tell to the -Colonel, or would he say to me - (I have not forgotten when he sent -me back for a cigar-case that he had not left behind him) - "What -is Mahbub Ali to me?"?' - -Up went a gout of heavy smoke. There was a long pause: then Mahbub -Ali spoke in admiration: 'And with these things on thy mind, dost -thou lie down and rise again among all the Sahibs' little sons at -the madrissah and meekly take instruction from thy teachers?' - -'It is an order,' said Kim blandly. 'Who am I to dispute an order?' - -'A most finished Son of Eblis,' said Mahbub Ali. 'But what is this -tale of the thief and the search?' - -'That which I saw,' said Kim, 'the night that my lama and I lay -next thy place in the Kashmir Seral. The door was left unlocked, -which I think is not thy custom, Mahbub. He came in as one assured -that thou wouldst not soon return. My eye was against a knot-hole -in the plank. He searched as it were for something - not a rug, not -stirrups, nor a bridle, nor brass pots- something little and most -carefully hid. Else why did he prick with an iron between the soles -of thy slippers?' - -'Ha!' Mahbub Ali smiled gently. 'And seeing these things, what tale -didst thou fashion to thyself, Well of the Truth?' - -'None. I put my hand upon my amulet, which lies always next to my -skin, and, remembering the pedigree of a white stallion that I had -bitten out of a piece of Mussalmani bread, I went away to Umballa -perceiving that a heavy trust was laid upon me. At that hour, had I -chosen, thy head was forfeit. It needed only to say to that man, "I -have here a paper concerning a horse which I cannot read." And -then?' Kim peered at Mahbub under his eyebrows. - -'Then thou wouldst have drunk water twice - perhaps thrice, -afterwards. I do not think more than thrice,' said Mahbub simply. - -'It is true. I thought of that a little, but most I thought that I -loved thee, Mahbub. Therefore I went to Umballa, as thou knowest, -but (and this thou dost not know) I lay hid in the garden-grass to -see what Colonel Creighton Sahib might do upon reading the white -stallion's pedigree.' - -'And what did he?' for Kim had bitten off the conversation. - -'Dost thou give news for love, or dost thou sell it?' Kim asked. - -'I sell and - I buy.' Mahbub took a four-anna piece out of his belt -and held it up. - -'Eight!' said Kim, mechanically following the huckster instinct of -the East. - -Mahbub laughed, and put away the coin. It is too easy to deal in -that market, Friend of all the World. Tell me for love. Our lives -lie in each other's hand.' - -'Very good. I saw the Jang-i-Lat Sahib [the Commander-in-Chief] -come to a big dinner. I saw him in Creighton Sahib's office. I saw -the two read the white stallion's pedigree. I heard the very orders -given for the opening of a great war.' - -'Hah!' Mahbub nodded with deepest eyes afire. 'The game is well -played. That war is done now, and the evil, we hope, nipped before -the flower- thanks to me - and thee. What didst thou later?' - -'I made the news as it were a hook to catch me victual and honour -among the villagers in a village whose priest drugged my lama. But -I bore away the old man's purse, and the Brahmin found nothing. So -next morning he was angry. Ho! Ho! And I also used the news when I -fell into the hands of that white Regiment with their Bull!' - -'That was foolishness.' Mahbub scowled. 'News is not meant to be -thrown about like dung-cakes, but used sparingly - like bhang.' - -'So I think now, and moreover, it did me no sort of good. But that -was very long ago,' he made as to brush it all away with a thin -brown hand - 'and since then, and especially in the nights under -the punkah at the madrissah, I have thought very greatly.' - -'Is it permitted to ask whither the Heaven-born's thought might -have led?' said Mahbub, with an elaborate sarcasm, smoothing his -scarlet beard. - -'It is permitted,' said Kim, and threw back the very tone. 'They -say at Nucklao that no Sahib must tell a black man that he has made -a fault.' - -Mahbub's hand shot into his bosom, for to call a Pathan a 'black -man' [kala admi] is a blood-insult. Then he remembered and laughed. -'Speak, Sahib. Thy black man hears.' - -'But,' said Kim, 'I am not a Sahib, and I say I made a fault to -curse thee, Mahbub Ali, on that day at Umballa when I thought I was -betrayed by a Pathan. I was senseless; for I was but newly caught, -and I wished to kill that low-caste drummer-boy. I say now, Hajji, -that it was well done; and I see my road all clear before me to a -good service. I will stay in the madrissah till I am ripe.' - -'Well said. Especially are distances and numbers and the manner of -using compasses to be learned in that game. One waits in the Hills -above to show thee.' - -'I will learn their teaching upon a condition - that my time is -given to me without question when the madrissah is shut. Ask that -for me of the Colonel.' - -'But why not ask the Colonel in the Sahibs' tongue?' - -'The Colonel is the servant of the Government. He is sent hither -and yon at a word, and must consider his own advancement. (See how -much I have already learned at Nucklao!) Moreover, the Colonel I -know since three months only. I have known one Mahbub Ali for six -years. So! To the madrissah I will go. At the madrissah I will -learn. In the madrissah I will be a Sahib. But when the madrissah -is shut, then must I be free and go among my people. Otherwise I -die!' - -'And who are thy people, Friend of all the World?' - -'This great and beautiful land,' said Kim, waving his paw round the -little clay-walled room where the oil-lamp in its niche burned -heavily through the tobacco-smoke. 'And, further, I would see my -lama again. And, further, I need money.' - -'That is the need of everyone,' said Mahbub ruefully. 'I will give -thee eight annas, for much money is not picked out of horses' -hooves, and it must suffice for many days. As to all the rest, I am -well pleased, and no further talk is needed. Make haste to learn, -and in three years, or it may be less, thou wilt be an aid - even -to me.' - -'Have I been such a hindrance till now?' said Kim, with a boy's -giggle. - -'Do not give answers,' Mahbub grunted. 'Thou art my new horse-boy. -Go and bed among my men. They are near the north end of the -station, with the horses.' - -'They will beat me to the south end of the station if I come -without authority.' - -Mahbub felt in his belt, wetted his thumb on a cake of Chinese ink, -and dabbed the impression on a piece of soft native paper. From -Balkh to Bombay men know that rough-ridged print with the old scar -running diagonally across it. - -'That is enough to show my headman. I come in the morning.' - -'By which road?' said Kim. - -'By the road from the city. There is but one, and then we return to -Creighton Sahib. I have saved thee a beating.' - -'Allah! What is a beating when the very head is loose on the -shoulders?' - -Kim slid out quietly into the night, walked half round the house, -keeping close to the walls, and headed away from the station for a -mile or so. Then, fetching a wide compass, he worked back at -leisure, for he needed time to invent a story if any of Mahbub's -retainers asked questions. - -They were camped on a piece of waste ground beside the railway, -and, being natives, had not, of course, unloaded the two trucks in -which Mahbub's animals stood among a consignment of country-breds -bought by the Bombay tram-company. The headman, a broken-down, -consumptive-looking Mohammedan, promptly challenged Kim, but was -pacified at sight of Mahbub's sign-manual. - -'The Hajji has of his favour given me service,' said Kim testily. -'If this be doubted, wait till he comes in the morning. Meantime, a -place by the fire.' - -Followed the usual aimless babble that every low-caste native must -raise on every occasion. It died down, and Kim lay out behind the -little knot of Mahbub's followers, almost under the wheels of a -horse-truck, a borrowed blanket for covering. Now a bed among -brickbats and ballast-refuse on a damp night, between overcrowded -horses and unwashed Baltis, would not appeal to many white boys; -but Kim was utterly happy. Change of scene, service, and -surroundings were the breath of his little nostrils, and thinking -of the neat white cots of St Xavier's all arow under the punkah -gave him joy as keen as the repetition of the multiplication-table -in English. - -'I am very old,' he thought sleepily. 'Every month I become a year -more old. I was very young, and a fool to boot, when I took -Mahbub's message to Umballa. Even when I was with that white -Regiment I was very young and small and had no wisdom. But now I -learn every day, and in three years the Colonel will take me out of -the madrissah and let me go upon the Road with Mahbub hunting for -horses' pedigrees, or maybe I shall go by myself; or maybe I shall -find the lama and go with him. Yes; that is best. To walk again as -a chela with my lama when he comes back to Benares.' The thoughts -came more slowly and disconnectedly. He was plunging into a -beautiful dreamland when his ears caught a whisper, thin and sharp, -above the monotonous babble round the fire. It came from behind the -iron-skinned horse-truck. - -'He is not here, then?' - -'Where should he be but roystering in the city. Who looks for a rat -in a frog-pond? Come away. He is not our man.' - -'He must not go back beyond the Passes a second time. It is the -order.' - -'Hire some woman to drug him. It is a few rupees only, and there is -no evidence.' - -'Except the woman. It must be more certain; and remember the price -upon his head.' - -'Ay, but the police have a long arm, and we are far from the -Border. If it were in Peshawur, now!' - -'Yes - in Peshawur,' the second voice sneered. 'Peshawur, full of -his blood-kin - full of bolt-holes and women behind whose clothes -he will hide. Yes, Peshawur or Jehannum would suit us equally -well.' - -'Then what is the plan?' - -'O fool, have I not told it a hundred times? Wait till he comes to -lie down, and then one sure shot. The trucks are between us and -pursuit. We have but to run back over the lines and go our way. -They will not see whence the shot came. Wait here at least till the -dawn. What manner of fakir art thou, to shiver at a little -watching?' - -'Oho!' thought Kim, behind close-shut eyes. 'Once again it is -Mahbub. Indeed a white stallion's pedigree is not a good thing to -peddle to Sahibs! Or maybe Mahbub has been selling other news. Now -what is to do, Kim? I know not where Mahbub houses, and if he comes -here before the dawn they will shoot him. That would be no profit -for thee, Kim. And this is not a matter for the police. That would -be no profit for Mahbub; and' - he giggled almost aloud - 'I do not -remember any lesson at Nucklao which will help me. Allah! Here is -Kim and yonder are they. First, then, Kim must wake and go away, so -that they shall not suspect. A bad dream wakes a man - thus -, - -He threw the blanket off his face, and raised himself suddenly with -the terrible, bubbling, meaningless yell of the Asiatic roused by -nightmare. - -'Urr-urr-urr-urr! Ya-la-la-la-la! Narain! The churel! The churel!' - -A churel is the peculiarly malignant ghost of a woman who has died -in child-bed. She haunts lonely roads, her feet are turned -backwards on the ankles, and she leads men to torment. - -Louder rose Kim's quavering howl, till at last he leaped to his -feet and staggered off sleepily, while the camp cursed him for -waking them. Some twenty yards farther up the line he lay down -again, taking care that the whisperers should hear his grunts and -groans as he recomposed himself. After a few minutes he rolled -towards the road and stole away into the thick darkness. - -He paddled along swiftly till he came to a culvert, and dropped -behind it, his chin on a level with the coping-stone. Here he could -command all the night-traffic, himself unseen. - -Two or three carts passed, jingling out to the suburbs; a coughing -policeman and a hurrying foot-passenger or two who sang to keep off -evil spirits. Then rapped the shod feet of a horse. - -'Ah! This is more like Mahbub,' thought Kim, as the beast shied at -the little head above the culvert. - -'Ohe', Mahbub Ali,' he whispered, 'have a care!' - -The horse was reined back almost on its haunches, and forced -towards the culvert. - -'Never again,' said Mahbub, 'will I take a shod horse for night- -work. They pick up all the bones and nails in the city.' He stooped -to lift its forefoot, and that brought his head within a foot of -Kim's. Down - keep down,' he muttered. 'The night is full of -eyes.' - -'Two men wait thy coming behind the horse-trucks. They will shoot -thee at thy lying down, because there is a price on thy head. I -heard, sleeping near the horses.' - -'Didst thou see them? . .. Hold still, Sire of Devils!' This -furiously to the horse. - -'No.' - -'Was one dressed belike as a fakir?' - -'One said to the other, "What manner of fakir art thou, to shiver -at a little watching?"' - -'Good. Go back to the camp and lie down. I do not die tonight.' - -Mahbub wheeled his horse and vanished. Kim tore back down the ditch -till he reached a point opposite his second resting-place, slipped -across the road like a weasel, and re-coiled himself in the -blanket. - -'At least Mahbub knows,' he thought contentedly. 'And certainly he -spoke as one expecting it. I do not think those two men will profit -by tonight's watch.' - -An hour passed, and, with the best will in the world to keep awake -all night, he slept deeply. Now and again a night train roared -along the metals within twenty feet of him; but he had all the -Oriental's indifference to mere noise, and it did not even weave a -dream through his slumber. - -Mahbub was anything but asleep. It annoyed him vehemently that -people outside his tribe and unaffected by his casual amours should -pursue him for the life. His first and natural impulse was to cross -the line lower down, work up again, and, catching his well-wishers -from behind, summarily slay them. Here, he reflected with sorrow, -another branch of the Government, totally unconnected with Colonel -Creighton, might demand explanations which would be hard to supply; -and he knew that south of the Border a perfectly ridiculous fuss is -made about a corpse or so. He had not been troubled in this way -since he sent Kim to Umballa with the message, and hoped that -suspicion had been finally diverted. - -Then a most brilliant notion struck him. - -'The English do eternally tell the truth,' he said, 'therefore we -of this country are eternally made foolish. By Allah, I will tell -the truth to an Englishman! Of what use is the Government police if -a poor Kabuli be robbed of his horses in their very trucks. This is -as bad as Peshawur! I should lay a complaint at the station. Better -still, some young Sahib on the Railway! They are zealous, and if -they catch thieves it is remembered to their honour.' - -He tied up his horse outside the station, and strode on to the -platform. - -'Hullo, Mahbub Ali' said a young Assistant District Traffic -Superintendent who was waiting to go down the line - a tall, tow- -haired, horsey youth in dingy white linen. 'What are you doing -here? Selling weeds - eh?' - -'No; I am not troubled for my horses. I come to look for Lutuf -Ullah. I have a truck-load up the line. Could anyone take them out -without the Railway's knowledge?' - -'Shouldn't think so, Mahbub. You can claim against us if they do.' - -'I have seen two men crouching under the wheels of one of the -trucks nearly all night. Fakirs do not steal horses, so I gave them -no more thought. I would find Lutuf Ullah, my partner.' - -'The deuce you did? And you didn't bother your head about it? 'Pon -my word, it's just almost as well that I met you. What were they -like, eh?' - -'They were only fakirs. They will no more than take a little grain, -perhaps, from one of the trucks. There are many up the line. The -State will never miss the dole. I came here seeking for my partner, -Lutuf Ullah - -'Never mind your partner. Where are your horse-trucks?' - -'A little to this side of the farthest place where they make lamps -for the trains.' - -'The signal-box! Yes.' - -'And upon the rail nearest to the road upon the right-hand side - -looking up the line thus. But as regards Lutuf Ullah - a tall man -with a broken nose, and a Persian greyhound Aie!' - -The boy had hurried off to wake up a young and enthusiastic -policeman; for, as he said, the Railway had suffered much from -depredations in the goods-yard. Mahbub Ali chuckled in his dyed -beard. - -'They will walk in their boots, making a noise, and then they will -wonder why there are no fakirs. They are very clever boys--Barton -Sahib and Young Sahib.' - -He waited idly for a few minutes, expecting to see them hurry up -the line girt for action. A light engine slid through the station, -and he caught a glimpse of young Barton in the cab. - -'I did that child an injustice. He is not altogether a fool,' said -Mahbub Ali. 'To take a fire-carriage for a thief is a new game!' - -When Mahbub Ali came to his camp in the dawn, no one thought it -worth while to tell him any news of the night. No one, at least, -but one small horseboy, newly advanced to the great man's service, -whom Mahbub called to his tiny tent to assist in some packing. - -'It is all known to me,' whispered Kim, bending above saddlebags. -'Two Sahibs came up on a te-train. I was running to and fro in the -dark on this side of the trucks as the te-train moved up and down -slowly. They fell upon two men sitting under this truck - Hajji, -what shall I do with this lump of tobacco? Wrap it in paper and put -it under the salt-bag? Yes - and struck them down. But one man -struck at a Sahib with a fakir's buck's horn' (Kim meant the -conjoined black-buck horns, which are a fakir's sole temporal -weapon) - 'the blood came. So the other Sahib, first smiting his -own man senseless, smote the stabber with a short gun which had -rolled from the first man's hand. They all raged as though mad -together.' - -Mahbub smiled with heavenly resignation. 'No! That is not so much -dewanee [madness, or a case for the civil court - the word can be -punned upon both ways] as nizamut [a criminal case]. A gun, sayest -thou? Ten good years in jail.' - -'Then they both lay still, but I think they were nearly dead when -they were put on the te-train. Their heads moved thus. And there is -much blood on the line. Come and see?' - -'I have seen blood before. Jail is the sure place - and assuredly -they will give false names, and assuredly no man will find them for -a long time. They were unfriends of mine. Thy fate and mine seem on -one string. What a tale for the healer of pearls! Now swiftly with -the saddle-bags and the cooking-platter. We will take out the -horses and away to Simla.' - -Swiftly - as Orientals understand speed - with long explanations, -with abuse and windy talk, carelessly, amid a hundred checks for -little things forgotten, the untidy camp broke up and led the half- -dozen stiff and fretful horses along the Kalka road in the fresh of -the rain-swept dawn. Kim, regarded as Mahbub Ali's favourite by all -who wished to stand well with the Pathan, was not called upon to -work. They strolled on by the easiest of stages, halting every few -hours at a wayside shelter. Very many Sahibs travel along the Kalka -road; and, as Mahbub Ali says, every young Sahib must needs esteem -himself a judge of a horse, and, though he be over head in debt to -the money-lender, must make as if to buy. That was the reason that -Sahib after Sahib, rolling along in a stage-carriage, would stop -and open talk. Some would even descend from their vehicles and feel -the horses' legs; asking inane questions, or, through sheer -ignorance of the vernacular, grossly insulting the imperturbable -trader. - -'When first I dealt with Sahibs, and that was when Colonel Soady -Sahib was Governor of Fort Abazai and flooded the Commissioner's -camping-ground for spite,' Mahbub confided to Kim as the boy filled -his pipe under a tree, 'I did not know how greatly they were fools, -and this made me wroth. As thus -, and he told Kim a tale of an -expression, misused in all innocence, that doubled Kim up with -mirth. 'Now I see, however,' - he exhaled smoke slowly - 'that it -is with them as with all men - in certain matters they are wise, -and in others most foolish. Very foolish it is to use the wrong -word to a stranger; for though the heart may be clean of offence, -how is the stranger to know that? He is more like to search truth -with a dagger.' - -'True. True talk,' said Kim solemnly. 'Fools speak of a cat when a -woman is brought to bed, for instance. I have heard them.' - -'Therefore, in one situate as thou art, it particularly behoves -thee to remember this with both kinds of faces. Among Sahibs, never -forgetting thou art a Sahib; among the folk of Hind, always -remembering thou art -' He paused, with a puzzled smile. - -'What am I? Mussalman, Hindu, Jain, or Buddhist? That is a hard -knot.' - -'Thou art beyond question an unbeliever, and therefore thou wilt be -damned. So says my Law - or I think it does. But thou art also my -Little Friend of all the World, and I love thee. So says my heart. -This matter of creeds is like horseflesh. The wise man knows horses -are good - that there is a profit to be made from all; and for -myself- but that I am a good Sunni and hate the men of Tirah - I -could believe the same of all the Faiths. Now manifestly a -Kathiawar mare taken from the sands of her birthplace and removed -to the west of Bengal founders - nor is even a Balkh stallion (and -there are no better horses than those of Balkh, were they not so -heavy in the shoulder) of any account in the great Northern deserts -beside the snow-camels I have seen. Therefore I say in my heart the -Faiths are like the horses. Each has merit in its own country.' - -'But my lama said altogether a different thing.' - -'Oh, he is an old dreamer of dreams from Bhotiyal. My heart is a -little angry, Friend of all the World, that thou shouldst see such -worth in a man so little known.' - -'It is true, Hajji; but that worth do I see, and to him my heart is -drawn.' - -'And his to thine, I hear. Hearts are like horses. They come and -they go against bit or spur. Shout Gul Sher Khan yonder to drive in -that bay stallion's pickets more firmly. We do not want a horse- -fight at every resting-stage, and the dun and the black will be -locked in a little . . . Now hear me. Is it necessary to the -comfort of thy heart to see that lama?' - -'It is one part of my bond,' said Kim. 'If I do not see him, and if -he is taken from me, I will go out of that madrissah in Nucklao -and, and - once gone, who is to find me again?' - -'It is true. Never was colt held on a lighter heel-rope than thou.' -Mahbub nodded his head. - -'Do not be afraid.' Kim spoke as though he could have evanished on -the moment. 'My lama has said that he will come to see me at the -madrissah -, - -'A beggar and his bowl in the presence of those young Sa -' - -'Not all!' Kim cut in with a snort. 'Their eyes are blued and their -nails are blackened with low-caste blood, many of them. Sons of -mehteranees - brothers-in-law to the bhungi [sweeper].' - -We need not follow the rest of the pedigree; but Kim made his -little point clearly and without heat, chewing a piece of sugar- -cane the while. - -'Friend of all the World,' said Mahbub, pushing over the pipe for -the boy to clean, 'I have met many men, women, and boys, and not a -few Sahibs. I have never in all my days met such an imp as thou -art.' - -'And why? When I always tell thee the truth.' - -'Perhaps the very reason, for this is a world of danger to honest -men.' Mahbub Ali hauled himself off the ground, girt in his belt, -and went over to the horses. - -'Or sell it?' - -There was that in the tone that made Mahbub halt and turn. 'What -new devilry?' - -'Eight annas, and I will tell,' said Kim, grinning. 'It touches thy -peace.' - -'O Shaitan!' Mahbub gave the money. - -'Rememberest thou the little business of the thieves in the dark, -down yonder at Umballa?' - -'Seeing they sought my life, I have not altogether forgotten. Why?' - -'Rememberest thou the Kashmir Serai?' - -'I will twist thy ears in a moment - Sahib.' - -'No need - Pathan. Only, the second fakir, whom the Sahibs beat -senseless, was the man who came to search thy bulkhead at Lahore. I -saw his face as they helped him on the engine. The very same man.' - -'Why didst thou not tell before?' - -'Oh, he will go to jail, and be safe for some years. There is no -need to tell more than is necessary at any one time. Besides, I did -not then need money for sweetmeats.' - -'Allah kerim!' said Mahbub Ah. 'Wilt thou some day sell my head for -a few sweetmeats if the fit takes thee?' - -Kim will remember till he dies that long, lazy journey from -Umballa, through Kalka and the Pinjore Gardens near by, up to -Simla. A sudden spate in the Gugger River swept down one horse -(the most valuable, be sure), and nearly drowned Kim among the -dancing boulders. Farther up the road the horses were stampeded by -a Government elephant, and being in high condition of grass food, -it cost a day and a half to get them together again. Then they met -Sikandar Khan coming down with a few unsaleable screws - remnants -of his string -and Mahbub, who has more of horse-coping in his -little fingernail than Sikandar Khan in all his tents, must needs -buy two of the worst, and that meant eight hours' laborious -diplomacy and untold tobacco. But it was all pure delight - the -wandering road, climbing, dipping, and sweeping about the growing -spurs; the flush of the morning laid along the distant snows; the -branched cacti, tier upon tier on the stony hillsides; the voices -of a thousand water-channels; the chatter of the monkeys; the -solemn deodars, climbing one after another with down-drooped -branches; the vista of the Plains rolled out far beneath them; the -incessant twanging of the tonga-horns and the wild rush of the led -horses when a tonga swung round a curve; the halts for prayers -(Mahbub was very religious in dry-washings and bellowings when time -did not press); the evening conferences by the halting-places, when -camels and bullocks chewed solemnly together and the stolid drivers -told the news of the Road - all these things lifted Kim's heart to -song within him. - -'But, when the singing and dancing is done,' said Mahbub Ali, -'comes the Colonel Sahib's, and that is not so sweet.' - -'A fair land - a most beautiful land is this of Hind - and the land -of the Five Rivers is fairer than all,' Kim half chanted. 'Into it -I will go again if Mahbub Ali or the Colonel lift hand or foot -against me. Once gone, who shall find me? Look, Hajji, is yonder -the city of Simla? Allah, what a city!' - -'My father's brother, and he was an old man when Mackerson Sahib's -well was new at Peshawur, could recall when there were but two -houses in it. - -He led the horses below the main road into the lower Simla bazar - -the crowded rabbit-warren that climbs up from the valley to the -Town Hall at an angle of forty-five. A man who knows his way there -can defy all the police of India's summer capital, so cunningly -does veranda communicate with veranda, alley-way with alley-way, -and bolt-hole with bolt-hole. Here live those who minister to the -wants of the glad city - jhampanis who pull the pretty ladies' -'rickshaws by night and gamble till the dawn; grocers, oil-sellers, -curio-vendors, firewood-dealers, priests, pickpockets, and native -employees of the Government. Here are discussed by courtesans the -things which are supposed to be profoundest secrets of the India -Council; and here gather all the sub-sub-agents of half the Native -States. Here, too, Mahbub Ali rented a room, much more securely -locked than his bulkhead at Lahore, in the house of a Mohammedan -cattle-dealer. It was a place of miracles, too, for there went in -at twilight a Mohammedan horseboy, and there came out an hour later -a Eurasian lad - the Lucknow girl's dye was of the best - in badly- -fitting shop-clothes. - -'I have spoken with Creighton Sahib,' quoth Mahbub Ali, and a -second time has the Hand of Friendship averted the Whip of -Calamity. He says that thou hast altogether wasted sixty days upon -the Road, and it is too late, therefore, to send thee to any Hill- -school.' - -'I have said that my holidays are my own. I do not go to school -twice over. That is one part of my bond.' - -'The Colonel Sahib is not yet aware of that contract. Thou art to -lodge in Lurgan Sahib's house till it is time to go again to -Nucklao.' - -'I had sooner lodge with thee, Mahbub.' - -'Thou dost not know the honour. Lurgan Sahib himself asked for -thee. Thou wilt go up the hill and along the road atop, and there -thou must forget for a while that thou hast ever seen or spoken to -me, Mahbub Ali, who sells horses to Creighton Sahib, whom thou dost -not know. Remember this order.' - -Kim nodded. 'Good,' said he, 'and who is Lurgan Sahib? Nay' - he -caught Mahbub's sword-keen glance - 'indeed I have never heard his -name. Is he by chance - he lowered his voice -'one of us?' - -'What talk is this of us, Sahib?' Mahbub Ali returned, in the tone -he used towards Europeans. 'I am a Pathan; thou art a Sahib and the -son of a Sahib. Lurgan Sahib has a shop among the European shops. -All Simla knows it. Ask there ... and, Friend of all the World, he -is one to be obeyed to the last wink of his eyelashes. Men say he -does magic, but that should not touch thee. Go up the hill and ask. -Here begins the Great Game.' - - - - - -Chapter 9 - - -S' doaks was son of Yelth the wise - -Chief of the Raven clan. -Itswoot the Bear had him in care -To make him a medicine-man. - -He was quick and quicker to learn - -Bold and bolder to dare: -He danced the dread Kloo-Kwallie Dance -To tickle Itswoot the Bear! - -Oregon Legend - - - -Kim flung himself whole-heartedly upon the next turn of the wheel. -He would be a Sahib again for a while. In that idea, so soon as he -had reached the broad road under Simla Town Hall, he cast about for -one to impress. A Hindu child, some ten years old, squatted under a -lamp-post. - -Where is Mr Lurgan's house?' demanded Kim. - -'I do not understand English,' was the answer, and Kim shifted his -speech accordingly. - -'I will show.' - -Together they set off through the mysterious dusk, full of the -noises of a city below the hillside, and the breath of a cool wind -in deodar-crowned Jakko, shouldering the stars. The house-lights, -scattered on every level, made, as it were, a double firmament. -Some were fixed, others belonged to the 'rickshaws of the careless, -open-spoken English folk, going out to dinner. - -'It is here,' said Kim's guide, and halted in a veranda flush with -the main road. No door stayed them, but a curtain of beaded reeds -that split up the lamplight beyond. - -'He is come,' said the boy, in a voice little louder than a sigh, -and vanished. Kim felt sure that the boy had been posted to guide -him from the first, but, putting a bold face on it, parted the -curtain. A black-bearded man, with a green shade over his eyes, sat -at a table, and, one by one, with short, white hands, picked up -globules of light from a tray before him, threaded them on a -glancing silken string, and hummed to himself the while. Kim was -conscious that beyond the circle of light the room was full of -things that smelt like all the temples of all the East. A whiff of -musk, a puff of sandal-wood, and a breath of sickly jessamine-oil -caught his opened nostrils. - -'I am here,' said Kim at last, speaking in the vernacular: the -smells made him forget that he was to be a Sahib - -'Seventy-nine, eighty, eighty-one,' the man counted to himself, -stringing pearl after pearl so quickly that Kim could scarcely -follow his fingers. He slid off the green shade and looked fixedly -at Kim for a full half-minute. The pupils of the eye dilated and -closed to pin-pricks, as if at will. There was a fakir by the -Taksali Gate who had just this gift and made money by it, -especially when cursing silly women. Kim stared with interest. His -disreputable friend could further twitch his ears, almost like a -goat, and Kim was disappointed that this new man could not imitate -him. - -'Do not be afraid,' said Lurgan Sahib suddenly. - -'Why should I fear?' - -'Thou wilt sleep here tonight, and stay with me till it is time to -go again to Nucklao. It is an order.' - -'It is an order,' Kim repeated. 'But where shall I sleep?' - -'Here, in this room.' Lurgan Sahib waved his hand towards the -darkness behind him. - -'So be it,' said Kim composedly. 'Now?' - -He nodded and held the lamp above his head. As the light swept -them, there leaped out from the walls a collection of Tibetan -devil-dance masks, hanging above the fiend-embroidered draperies of -those ghastly functions - horned masks, scowling masks, and masks -of idiotic terror. In a corner, a Japanese warrior, mailed and -plumed, menaced him with a halberd, and a score of lances and -khandas and kuttars gave back the unsteady gleam. But what -interested Kim more than all these things - he had seen devil-dance -masks at the Lahore Museum - was a glimpse of the soft-eyed Hindu -child who had left him in the doorway, sitting cross-legged under -the table of pearls with a little smile on his scarlet lips. - -'I think that Lurgan Sahib wishes to make me afraid. And I am sure -that that devil's brat below the table wishes to see me afraid. -This place,' he said aloud, 'is like a Wonder House. Where is my -bed?' - -Lurgan Sahib pointed to a native quilt in a corner by the loathsome -masks, picked up the lamp, and left the room black. - -'Was that Lurgan Sahib?' Kim asked as he cuddled down. No answer. -He could hear the Hindu boy breathing, however, and, guided by the -sound, crawled across the floor, and cuffed into the darkness, -crying: 'Give answer, devil! Is this the way to lie to a Sahib?' - -From the darkness he fancied he could hear the echo of a chuckle. -It could not be his soft-fleshed companion, because he was weeping. -So Kim lifted up his voice and called aloud: - -'Lurgan Sahib! O Lurgan Sahib! Is it an order that thy servant does -not speak to me?' - -'It is an order.' The voice came from behind him and he started. - -'Very good. But remember,' he muttered, as he resought the quilt, -'I will beat thee in the morning. I do not love Hindus.' - - -That was no cheerful night; the room being overfull of voices and -music. Kim was waked twice by someone calling his name. The second -time he set out in search, and ended by bruising his nose against a -box that certainly spoke with a human tongue, but in no sort of -human accent. It seemed to end in a tin trumpet and to be joined by -wires to a smaller box on the floor - so far, at least, as he could -judge by touch. And the voice, very hard and whirring, came out of -the trumpet. Kim rubbed his nose and grew furious, thinking, as -usual, in Hindi. - -'This with a beggar from the bazar might be good, but - I am a -Sahib and the son of a Sahib and, whichis twice as much more -beside, a student of Nucklao. Yess' (here he turned to English), -'a boy of St Xavier's. Damn Mr Lurgan's eyes! - It is some sort of -machinery like a sewing-machine. Oh, it is a great cheek of him - -we are not frightened that way at Lucknow - No!' Then in Hindi: -'But what does he gain? He is only a trader - I am in his -shop. But Creighton Sahib is a Colonel - and I think Creighton -Sahib gave orders that it should be done. How I will beat that -Hindu in the morning! What is this?' - -The trumpet-box was pouring out a string of the most elaborate -abuse that even Kim had ever heard, in a high uninterested voice, -that for a moment lifted the short hairs of his neck. When the vile -thing drew breath, Kim was reassured by the soft, sewing-machine- -like whirr. - -'Chup! [Be still)' he cried, and again he heard a chuckle that -decided him. 'Chup - or I break your head.' - -The box took no heed. Kim wrenched at the tin trumpet and something -lifted with a click. He had evidently raised a lid. If there were a -devil inside, now was its time, for - he sniffed -thus did the -sewing-machines of the bazar smell. He would clean that shaitan. He -slipped off his jacket, and plunged it into the box's mouth. -Something long and round bent under the pressure, there was a whirr -and the voice stopped - as voices must if you ram a thrice-doubled -coat on to the wax cylinder and into the works of an expensive -phonograph. Kim finished his slumbers with a serene mind. - -In the morning he was aware of Lurgan Sahib looking down on him. - -'Oah!' said Kim, firmly resolved to cling to his Sahib-dom. 'There -was a box in the night that gave me bad talk. So I stopped it. Was -it your box?' - -The man held out his hand. - -'Shake hands, O'Hara,' he said. 'Yes, it was my box. I keep such -things because my friends the Rajahs like them. That one is broken, -but it was cheap at the price. Yes, my friends, the Kings, are very -fond of toys - and so am I sometimes.' - -Kim looked him over out of the corners of his eyes. He was a Sahib -in that he wore Sahib's clothes; the accent of his Urdu, the -intonation of his English, showed that he was anything but a Sahib. -He seemed to understand what moved in Kim's mind ere the boy opened -his mouth, and he took no pains to explain himself as did Father -Victor or the Lucknow masters. Sweetest of all - he treated Kim as -an equal on the Asiatic side. - -'I am sorry you cannot beat my boy this morning. He says he will -kill you with a knife or poison. He is jealous, so I have put him -in the corner and I shall not speak to him today. He has just tried -to kill me. You must help me with the breakfast. He is almost too -jealous to trust, just now.' - -Now a genuine imported Sahib from England would have made a great -to-do over this tale. Lurgan Sahib stated it as simply as Mahbub -Ali was used to record his little affairs in the North. - -The back veranda of the shop was built out over the sheer hillside, -and they looked down into their neighbours' chimney-pots, as is the -custom of Simla. But even more than the purely Persian meal cooked -by Lurgan Sahib with his own hands, the shop fascinated Kim. The -Lahore Museum was larger, but here were more wonders - ghost- -daggers and prayer-wheels from Tibet; turquoise and raw amber -necklaces; green jade bangles; curiously packed incense-sticks in -jars crusted over with raw garnets; the devil-masks of overnight -and a wall full of peacock-blue draperies; gilt figures of Buddha, -and little portable lacquer altars; Russian samovars with -turquoises on the lid; egg-shell china sets in quaint octagonal -cane boxes; yellow ivory crucifixes - from Japan of all places in -the world, so Lurgan Sahib said; carpets in dusty bales, smelling -atrociously, pushed back behind torn and rotten screens of -geometrical work; Persian water-jugs for the hands after meals; -dull copper incense-burners neither Chinese nor Persian, with -friezes of fantastic devils running round them; tarnished silver -belts that knotted like raw hide; hairpins of jade, ivory, and -plasma; arms of all sorts and kinds, and a thousand other oddments -were cased, or piled, or merely thrown into the room, leaving a -clear space only round the rickety deal table, where Lurgan Sahib -worked. - -'Those things are nothing,' said his host, following Kim's glance. -'I buy them because they are pretty, and sometimes I sell - if I -like the buyer's look. My work is on the table - some of it.' - -It blazed in the morning light - all red and blue and green -flashes, picked out with the vicious blue-white spurt of a diamond -here and there. Kim opened his eyes. - -'Oh, they are quite well, those stones. It will not hurt them to -take the sun. Besides, they are cheap. But with sick stones it is -very different.' He piled Kim's plate anew. 'There is no one but me -can doctor a sick pearl and re-blue turquoises. I grant you opals - -any fool can cure an opal - but for a sick pearl there is only me. -Suppose I were to die! Then there would be no one ... Oh no! You -cannot do anything with jewels. It will be quite enough if you -understand a little about the Turquoise - some day.' - -He moved to the end of the veranda to refill the heavy, porous clay -water-jug from the filter. - -'Do you want drink?' - -Kim nodded. Lurgan Sahib, fifteen feet off, laid one hand on the -jar. Next instant, it stood at Kim's elbow, full to within half an -inch of the brim - the white cloth only showing, by a small -wrinkle, where it had slid into place. - -'Wah!' said Kim in most utter amazement. 'That is magic.' Lurgan -Sahib's smile showed that the compliment had gone home. - -'Throw it back.' - -'It will break.' - -'I say, throw it back.' - -Kim pitched it at random. It fell short and crashed into fifty -pieces, while the water dripped through the rough veranda boarding. - -'I said it would break.' - -'All one. Look at it. Look at the largest piece.' - -That lay with a sparkle of water in its curve, as it were a star on -the floor. Kim looked intently. Lurgan Sahib laid one hand gently -on the nape of his neck, stroked it twice or thrice, and whispered: -'Look! It shall come to life again, piece by piece. First the big -piece shall join itself to two others on the right and the left - -on the right and the left. Look!' - -To save his life, Kim could not have turned his head. The light -touch held him as in a vice, and his blood tingled pleasantly -through him. There was one large piece of the jar where there had -been three, and above them the shadowy outline of the entire -vessel. He could see the veranda through it, but it was thickening -and darkening with each beat of his pulse. Yet the jar - how slowly -the thoughts came! - the jar had been smashed before his eyes. -Another wave of prickling fire raced down his neck, as Lurgan Sahib -moved his hand. - -'Look! It is coming into shape,' said Lurgan Sahib. - -So far Kim had been thinking in Hindi, but a tremor came on him, -and with an effort like that of a swimmer before sharks, who hurls -himself half out of the water, his mind leaped up from a darkness -that was swallowing it and took refuge in - the multiplication- -table in English! - -'Look! It is coming into shape,' whispered Lurgan Sahib. - -The jar had been smashed - yess, smashed - not the native word, he -would not think of that - but smashed - into fifty pieces, and -twice three was six, and thrice three was nine, and four times -three was twelve. He clung desperately to the repetition. The -shadow-outline of the jar cleared like a mist after rubbing eyes. -There were the broken shards; there was the spilt water drying in -the sun, and through the cracks of the veranda showed, all ribbed, -the white house-wall below - and thrice twelve was thirty-six! - -'Look! Is it coming into shape?' asked Lurgan Sahib. - -'But it is smashed - smashed,' he gasped - Lurgan Sahib had been -muttering softly for the last half-minute. Kim wrenched his head -aside. 'Look! Dekho! It is there as it was there.' - -'It is there as it was there,' said Lurgan, watching Kim closely -while the boy rubbed his neck. 'But you are the first of many who -has ever seen it so.' He wiped his broad forehead. - -'Was that more magic?' Kim asked suspiciously. The tingle had gone -from his veins; he felt unusually wide awake. - -'No, that was not magic. It was only to see if there was - a flaw -in a jewel. Sometimes very fine jewels will fly all to pieces if a -man holds them in his hand, and knows the proper way. That is why -one must be careful before one sets them. Tell me, did you see the -shape of the pot?' - -'For a little time. It began to grow like a flower from the -ground.' - -'And then what did you do? I mean, how did you think?' - -'Oah! I knew it was broken, and so, I think, that was what I -thought - and it was broken.' - -'Hm! Has anyone ever done that same sort of magic to you before?' - -'If it was,' said Kim 'do you think I should let it again? I should -run away.' - -'And now you are not afraid - eh?' - -'Not now.' - -Lurgan Sahib looked at him more closely than ever. 'I shall ask -Mahbub Ali - not now, but some day later,' he muttered. 'I am -pleased with you - yes; and I am pleased with you - no. You are the -first that ever saved himself. I wish I knew what it was that ... -But you are right. You should not tell that - not even to me.' - -He turned into the dusky gloom of the shop, and sat down at the -table, rubbing his hands softly. A small, husky sob came from -behind a pile of carpets. It was the Hindu child obediently facing -towards the wall. His thin shoulders worked with grief. - -'Ah! He is jealous, so jealous. I wonder if he will try to poison -me again in my breakfast, and make me cook it twice. - -'Kubbee - kubbee nahin [Never - never. No!]', came the broken -answer. - -'And whether he will kill this other boy?' - - -'Kubbee - kubbee nahin.' - -'What do you think he will do?' He turned suddenly on Kim. - -'Oah! I do not know. Let him go, perhaps. Why did he want to poison -you?' - -'Because he is so fond of me. Suppose you were fond of someone, and -you saw someone come, and the man you were fond of was more pleased -with him than he was with you, what would you do?' - -Kim thought. Lurgan repeated the sentence slowly in the vernacular. -'I should not poison that man,' said Kim reflectively, 'but I -should beat that boy - if that boy was fond of my man. But first, I -would ask that boy if it were true.' - -'Ah! He thinks everyone must be fond of me.' - -'Then I think he is a fool.' - -'Hearest thou?' said Lurgan Sahib to the shaking shoulders. 'The -Sahib's son thinks thou art a little fool. Come out, and next time -thy heart is troubled, do not try white arsenic quite so openly. -Surely the Devil Dasim was lord of our table-cloth that day! It -might have made me ill, child, and then a stranger would have -guarded the jewels. Come!' - -The child, heavy-eyed with much weeping, crept out from behind the -bale and flung himself passionately at Lurgan Sahib's feet, with an -extravagance of remorse that impressed even Kim. - -'I will look into the ink-pools - I will faithfully guard the -jewels! Oh, my Father and my Mother, send him away!' He indicated -Kim with a backward jerk of his bare heel. - -'Not yet - not yet. In a little while he will go away again. But -now he is at school - at a new madrissah - and thou shalt be his -teacher. Play the Play of the Jewels against him. I will keep -tally.' - -The child dried his tears at once, and dashed to the back of the -shop, whence he returned with a copper tray. - -'Give me!' he said to Lurgan Sahib. 'Let them come from thy hand, -for he may say that I knew them before.' - -'Gently - gently,' the man replied, and from a drawer under the -table dealt a half-handful of clattering trifles into the tray. - -'Now,' said the child, waving an old newspaper. 'Look on them as -long as thou wilt, stranger. Count and, if need be, handle. One -look is enough for me.' He turned his back proudly. - -'But what is the game?' - -'When thou hast counted and handled and art sure that thou canst -remember them all, I cover them with this paper, and thou must tell -over the tally to Lurgan Sahib. I will write mine.' - -'Oah!' The instinct of competition waked in his breast. He bent -over the tray. There were but fifteen stones on it. 'That is easy,' -he said after a minute. The child slipped the paper over the -winking jewels and scribbled in a native account-book. - -'There are under that paper five blue stones - one big, one -smaller, and three small,' said Kim, all in haste. 'There are four -green stones, and one with a hole in it; there is one yellow stone -that I can see through, and one like a pipe-stem. There are two red -stones, and - and - I made the count fifteen, but two I have -forgotten. No! Give me time. One was of ivory, little and brownish; -and - and - give me time...' - -'One - two' - Lurgan Sahib counted him out up to ten. Kim shook his -head. - -'Hear my count!' the child burst in, trilling with laughter. -'First, are two flawed sapphires - one of two ruttees and one of -four as I should judge. The four-ruttee sapphire is chipped at the -edge. There is one Turkestan turquoise, plain with black veins, and -there are two inscribed - one with a Name of God in gilt, and the -other being cracked across, for it came out of an old ring, I -cannot read. We have now all five blue stones. Four flawed emeralds -there are, but one is drilled in two places, and one is a little -carven-' - -'Their weights?' said Lurgan Sahib impassively. - -'Three - five - five - and four ruttees as I judge it. There is one -piece of old greenish pipe amber, and a cut topaz from Europe. -There is one ruby of Burma, of two ruttees, without a flaw, and -there is a balas-ruby, flawed, of two ruttees. There is a carved -ivory from China representing a rat sucking an egg; and there is -last - ah ha! - a ball of crystal as big as a bean set on a gold -leaf.' - -He clapped his hands at the close. - -'He is thy master,' said Lurgan Sahib, smiling. - -'Huh! He knew the names of the stones,' said Kim, flushing. 'Try -again! With common things such as he and I both know.' - -They heaped the tray again with odds and ends gathered from the -shop, and even the kitchen, and every time the child won, till Kim -marvelled. - -'Bind my eyes - let me feel once with my fingers, and even then I -will leave thee opened-eyed behind,' he challenged. - -Kim stamped with vexation when the lad made his boast good. - -'If it were men - or horses,' he said, 'I could do better. This -playing with tweezers and knives and scissors is too little.' - -'Learn first - teach later,' said Lurgan Sahib. 'Is he thy master?' - -'Truly. But how is it done?' - -'By doing it many times over till it is done perfectly - for it is -worth doing.' - -The Hindu boy, in highest feather, actually patted Kim on the back. - -'Do not despair,' he said. 'I myself will teach thee.' - -'And I will see that thou art well taught,' said Lurgan Sahib, -still speaking in the vernacular, 'for except my boy here - it was -foolish of him to buy so much white arsenic when, if he had asked, -I could have given it - except my boy here I have not in a long -time met with one better worth teaching. And there are ten days -more ere thou canst return to Lucknao where they teach nothing - at -the long price. We shall, I think, be friends.' - -They were a most mad ten days, but Kim enjoyed himself too much to -reflect on their craziness. In the morning they played the Jewel -Game - sometimes with veritable stones, sometimes with piles of -swords and daggers, sometimes with photo-graphs of natives. Through -the afternoons he and the Hindu boy would mount guard in the shop, -sitting dumb behind a carpet-bale or a screen and watching Mr -Lurgan's many and very curious visitors. There were small Rajahs, -escorts coughing in the veranda, who came to buy curiosities - such -as phonographs and mechanical toys. There were ladies in search of -necklaces, and men, it seemed to Kim - but his mind may have been -vitiated by early training - in search of the ladies; natives from -independent and feudatory Courts whose ostensible business was the -repair of broken necklaces - rivers of light poured out upon the -table - but whose true end seemed to be to raise money for angry -Maharanees or young Rajahs. There were Babus to whom Lurgan Sahib -talked with austerity and authority, but at the end of each -interview he gave them money in coined silver and currency notes. -There were occasional gatherings of long-coated theatrical natives -who discussed metaphysics in English and Bengali, to Mr Lurgan's -great edification. He was always interested in religions. At the -end of the day, Kim and the Hindu boy - whose name varied at -Lurgan's pleasure - were expected to give a detailed account of all -that they had seen and heard - their view of each man's character, -as shown in his face, talk, and manner, and their notions of his -real errand. After dinner, Lurgan Sahib's fancy turned more to what -might be called dressing-up, in which game he took a most informing -interest. He could paint faces to a marvel; with a brush-dab here -and a line there changing them past recognition. The shop was full -of all manner of dresses and turbans, and Kim was apparelled -variously as a young Mohammedan of good family, an oilman, and once -- which was a joyous evening - as the son of an Oudh landholder in -the fullest of full dress. Lurgan Sahib had a hawk's eye to detect -the least flaw in the make-up; and lying on a worn teak-wood couch, -would explain by the half-hour together how such and such a caste -talked, or walked, or coughed, or spat, or sneezed, and, since -'hows' matter little in this world, the 'why' of everything. The -Hindu child played this game clumsily. That little mind, keen as an -icicle where tally of jewels was concerned, could not temper itself -to enter another's soul; but a demon in Kim woke up and sang with -joy as he put on the changing dresses, and changed speech and -gesture therewith. - -Carried away by enthusiasm, he volunteered to show Lurgan Sahib one -evening how the disciples of a certain caste of fakir, old Lahore -acquaintances, begged doles by the roadside; and what sort of -language he would use to an Englishman, to a Punjabi farmer going -to a fair, and to a woman without a veil. Lurgan Sahib laughed -immensely, and begged Kim to stay as he was, immobile for half an -hour - cross-legged, ash-smeared, and wild-eyed, in the back room. -At the end of that time entered a hulking, obese Babu whose -stockinged legs shook with fat, and Kim opened on him with a shower -of wayside chaff. Lurgan Sahib - this annoyed Kim - watched the -Babu and not the play. - -'I think,' said the Babu heavily, lighting a cigarette, 'I am of -opeenion that it is most extraordinary and effeecient performance. -Except that you had told me I should have opined that- that- that -you were pulling my legs. How soon can he become approximately -effeecient chain-man? Because then I shall indent for him.' - -'That is what he must learn at Lucknow.' - -'Then order him to be jolly-dam'-quick. Good-night, Lurgan.' The -Babu swung out with the gait of a bogged cow. - -When they were telling over the day's list of visitors, Lurgan -Sahib asked Kim who he thought the man might be. - -'God knows!' said Kim cheerily. The tone might almost have deceived -Mahbub Ali, but it failed entirely with the healer of sick pearls. - -'That is true. God, He knows; but I wish to know what you think.' - -Kim glanced sideways at his companion, whose eye had a way of -compelling truth. - -'I - I think he will want me when I come from the school, but' - -confidentially, as Lurgan Sahib nodded approval - 'I do not -understand how he can wear many dresses and talk many tongues.' - -'Thou wilt understand many things later. He is a writer of tales -for a certain Colonel. His honour is great only in Simla, and it is -noticeable that he has no name, but only a number and a letter - -that is a custom among us.' - -'And is there a price upon his head too - as upon Mah - all the -others?' - -'Not yet; but if a boy rose up who is now sitting here and went - -look, the door is open! - as far as a certain house with a red- -painted veranda, behind that which was the old theatre in the Lower -Bazar, and whispered through the shutters: "Hurree Chunder -Mookerjee bore the bad news of last month", that boy might take -away a belt full of rupees.' - -'How many?' said Kim promptly. - -'Five hundred - a thousand - as many as he might ask for.' - -'Good. And for how long might such a boy live after the news was -told?' He smiled merrily at Lurgan's Sahib's very beard. - -'Ah! That is to be well thought of. Perhaps if he were very clever, -he might live out the day - but not the night. By no means the -night.' - -'Then what is the Babu's pay if so much is put upon his head?' - -'Eighty - perhaps a hundred - perhaps a hundred and fifty rupees; -but the pay is the least part of the work. From time to time, -God causes men to be born - and thou art one of them -who have a -lust to go abroad at the risk of their lives and discover news - -today it may be of far-off things, tomorrow of some hidden mountain, -and the next day of some near-by men who have done a foolishness -against the State. These souls are very few; and of these few, not -more than ten are of the best. Among these ten I count the Babu, -and that is curious. How great, therefore, and desirable must be a -business that brazens the heart of a Bengali!' - -'True. But the days go slowly for me. I am yet a boy, and it is only -within two months I learned to write Angrezi. Even now I cannot -read it well. And there are yet years and years and long years -before I can be even a chain-man.' - -'Have patience, Friend of all the World' - Kim started at the title. -'Would I had a few of the years that so irk thee. I have proved thee -in several small ways. This will not be forgotten when I make my -report to the Colonel Sahib.' Then, changing suddenly into English -with a deep laugh: - -'By Jove! O'Hara, I think there is a great deal in you; but you must -not become proud and you must not talk. You must go back to Lucknow -and be a good little boy and mind your book, as the English say, and -perhaps, next holidays if you care, you can come back to me!' Kim's -face fell. 'Oh, I mean if you like. I know where you want to go.' - -Four days later a seat was booked for Kim and his small trunk at the -rear of a Kalka tonga. His companion was the whale-like Babu, who, -with a fringed shawl wrapped round his head, and his fat openwork- -stockinged left leg tucked under him, shivered and grunted in the -morning chill. - -'How comes it that this man is one of us?' thought Kim considering -the jelly back as they jolted down the road; and the reflection -threw him into most pleasant day-dreams. Lurgan Sahib had given him -five rupees - a splendid sum - as well as the assurance of his -protection if he worked. Unlike Mahbub, Lurgan Sahib had spoken most -explicitly of the reward that would follow obedience, and Kim was -content. If only, like the Babu, he could enjoy the dignity of a -letter and a number - and a price upon his head! Some day he would -be all that and more. Some day he might be almost as great as Mahbub -Ali! The housetops of his search should be half India; he would -follow Kings and Ministers, as in the old days he had followed -vakils and lawyers' touts across Lahore city for Mahbub Ali's sake. -Meantime, there was the present, and not at all unpleasant, fact of -St Xavier's immediately before him. There would be new boys to -condescend to, and there would be tales of holiday adventures to -hear. Young Martin, son of the tea-planter at Manipur, had boasted -that he would go to war, with a rifle, against the head-hunters. - -That might be, but it was certain young Martin had not been blown -half across the forecourt of a Patiala palace by an explosion of -fireworks; nor had he... Kim fell to telling himself the story of -his own adventures through the last three months. He could paralyse -St Xavier's - even the biggest boys who shaved - with the recital, -were that permitted. But it was, of course, out of the question. -There would be a price upon his head in good time, as Lurgan Sahib -had assured him; and if he talked foolishly now, not only would that -price never be set, but Colonel Creighton would cast him off - and -he would be left to the wrath of Lurgan Sahib and Mahbub Ali - for -the short space of life that would remain to him. - -'So I should lose Delhi for the sake of a fish,' was his proverbial -philosophy. It behoved him to forget his holidays (there would -always remain the fun of inventing imaginary adventures) and, as -Lurgan Sahib had said, to work. Of all the boys hurrying back to St -Xavier's, from Sukkur in the sands to Galle beneath the palms, none -was so filled with virtue as Kimball O'Hara, jiggeting down to -Umballa behind Hurree Chunder Mookerjee, whose name on the books of -one section of the Ethnological Survey was R.17. - -And if additional spur were needed, the Babu supplied it. After a -huge meal at Kalka, he spoke uninterruptedly. Was Kim going to -school? Then he, an M A of Calcutta University, would explain the -advantages of education. There were marks to be gained by due -attention to Latin and Wordsworth's Excursion (all this was Greek to -Kim). French, too was vital, and the best was to be picked up in -Chandernagore a few miles from Calcutta. Also a man might go far, as -he himself had done, by strict attention to plays called Lear and -Julius Caesar, both much in demand by examiners. Lear was not so -full of historical allusions as Julius Caesar; the book cost four -annas, but could be bought second-hand in Bow Bazar for two. Still -more important than Wordsworth, or the eminent authors, Burke and -Hare, was the art and science of mensuration. A boy who had passed -his examination in these branches - for which, by the way, there -were no cram-books - could, by merely marching over a country with a -compass and a level and a straight eye, carry away a picture of that -country which might be sold for large sums in coined silver. But as -it was occasionally inexpedient to carry about measuring-chains a -boy would do well to know the precise length of his own foot-pace, -so that when he was deprived of what Hurree Chunder called -adventitious aids' he might still tread his distances. To keep count -of thousands of paces, Hurree Chunder's experience had shown him -nothing more valuable than a rosary of eighty-one or a hundred and -eight beads, for 'it was divisible and sub-divisible into many -multiples and sub-multiples'. Through the volleying drifts of -English, Kim caught the general trend of the talk, and it interested -him very much. Here was a new craft that a man could tuck away in -his head and by the look of the large wide world unfolding itself -before him, it seemed that the more a man knew the better for him. - -Said the Babu when he had talked for an hour and a half 'I hope some -day to enjoy your offeecial acquaintance. Ad interim, if I may be -pardoned that expression, I shall give you this betel-box, which is -highly valuable article and cost me two rupees only four years ago.' -It was a cheap, heart-shaped brass thing with three compartments for -carrying the eternal betel-nut, lime and pan-leaf; but it was filled -with little tabloid-bottles. 'That is reward of merit for your -performance in character of that holy man. You see, you are so young -you think you will last for ever and not take care of your body. It -is great nuisance to go sick in the middle of business. I am fond of -drugs myself, and they are handy to cure poor people too. These are -good Departmental drugs - quinine and so on. I give it you for -souvenir. Now good-bye. I have urgent private business here by the -roadside.' - -He slipped out noiselessly as a cat, on the Umballa road, hailed a -passing cart and jingled away, while Kim, tongue-tied, twiddled the -brass betel-box in his hands. - -The record of a boy's education interests few save his parents, and, -as you know, Kim was an orphan. It is written in the books of St -Xavier's in Partibus that a report of Kim's progress was forwarded -at the end of each term to Colonel Creighton and to Father Victor, -from whose hands duly came the money for his schooling. It is -further recorded in the same books that he showed a great aptitude -for mathematical studies as well as map-making, and carried away a -prize (The Life of Lord Lawrence, tree-calf, two vols., nine rupees, -eight annas) for proficiency therein; and the same term played in St -Xavier's eleven against the Alighur Mohammedan College, his age -being fourteen years and ten months. He was also re-vaccinated (from -which we may assume that there had been another epidemic of smallpox -at Lucknow) about the same time. Pencil notes on the edge of an old -muster-roll record that he was punished several times for -'conversing with improper persons', and it seems that he was once -sentenced to heavy pains for 'absenting himself for a day in the -company of a street beggar'. That was when he got over the gate and -pleaded with the lama through a whole day down the banks of the -Gumti to accompany him on the Road next holidays - for one month - -for a little week; and the lama set his face as a flint against it, -averring that the time had not yet come. Kim's business, said the -old man as they ate cakes together, was to get all the wisdom of the -Sahibs and then he would see. The Hand of Friendship must in some -way have averted the Whip of Calamity, for six weeks later Kim seems -to have passed an examination in elementary surveying 'with great -credit', his age being fifteen years and eight months. From this -date the record is silent. His name does not appear in the year's -batch of those who entered for the subordinate Survey of India, but -against it stand the words 'removed on appointment. - -Several times in those three years, cast up at the Temple of the -Tirthankars in Benares the lama, a little thinner and a shade -yellower, if that were possible, but gentle and untainted as ever. -Sometimes it was from the South that he came - from south of -Tuticorin, whence the wonderful fire-boats go to Ceylon where are -priests who know Pali; sometimes it was from the wet green West and -the thousand cotton-factory chimneys that ring Bombay; and once from -the North, where he had doubled back eight hundred miles to talk for -a day with the Keeper of the Images in the Wonder House. He would -stride to his cell in the cool, cut marble - the priests of the -Temple were good to the old man, - wash off the dust of travel, make -prayer, and depart for Lucknow, well accustomed now to the way of -the rail, in a third-class carriage. Returning, it was noticeable, -as his friend the Seeker pointed out to the head-priest, that he -ceased for a while to mourn the loss of his River, or to draw -wondrous pictures of the Wheel of Life, but preferred to talk of the -beauty and wisdom of a certain mysterious chela whom no man of the -Temple had ever seen. Yes, he had followed the traces of the Blessed -Feet throughout all India. (The Curator has still in his possession -a most marvellous account of his wanderings and meditations.) There -remained nothing more in life but to find the River of the Arrow. -Yet it was shown to him in dreams that it was a matter not to be -undertaken with any hope of success unless that seeker had with him -the one chela appointed to bring the event to a happy issue, and -versed in great wisdom - such wisdom as white-haired Keepers of -Images possess. For example (here came out the snuff-gourd, and the -kindly Jain priests made haste to be silent): - -'Long and long ago, when Devadatta was King of Benares -let all -listen to theTataka! - an elephant was captured for a time by the -king's hunters and ere he broke free, beringed with a grievous -legiron. This he strove to remove with hate and frenzy in his heart, -and hurrying up and down the forests, besought his brother-elephants -to wrench it asunder. One by one, with their strong trunks, they -tried and failed. At the last they gave it as their opinion that the -ring was not to be broken by any bestial power. And in a thicket, -new-born, wet with moisture of birth, lay a day-old calf of the herd -whose mother had died. The fettered elephant, forgetting his own -agony, said: "If I do not help this suckling it will perish under -our feet." So he stood above the young thing, making his legs -buttresses against the uneasily moving herd; and he begged milk of a -virtuous cow, and the calf throve, and the ringed elephant was the -calf's guide and defence. Now the days of an elephant - let all -listen to the Tataka! - are thirty-five years to his full strength, -and through thirty-five Rains the ringed elephant befriended the -younger, and all the while the fetter ate into the flesh. - -'Then one day the young elephant saw the half-buried iron, and -turning to the elder said: "What is this?" "It is even my sorrow," -said he who had befriended him. Then that other put out his trunk -and in the twinkling of an eyelash abolished the ring, saying: "The -appointed time has come." So the virtuous elephant who had waited -temperately and done kind acts was relieved, at the appointed time, -by the very calf whom he had turned aside to cherish - let all -listen to the Tataka! for the Elephant was Ananda, and the Calf -that broke the ring was none other than The Lord Himself...' - -Then he would shake his head benignly, and over the ever-clicking -rosary point out how free that elephant-calf was from the sin of -pride. He was as humble as a chela who, seeing his master sitting in -the dust outside the Gates of Learning, over-leapt the gates (though -they were locked) and took his master to his heart in the presence -of the proud-stomached city. Rich would be the reward of such a -master and such a chela when the time came for them to seek freedom -together! - -So did the lama speak, coming and going across India as softly as a -bat. A sharp-tongued old woman in a house among the fruit-trees -behind Saharunpore honoured him as the woman honoured the prophet, -but his chamber was by no means upon the wall. In an apartment of -the forecourt overlooked by cooing doves he would sit, while she -laid aside her useless veil and chattered of spirits and fiends of -Kulu, of grandchildren unborn, and of the free-tongued brat who had -talked to her in the resting-place. Once, too, he strayed alone from -the Grand Trunk Road below Umballa to the very village whose priest -had tried to drug him; but the kind Heaven that guards lamas sent -him at twilight through the crops, absorbed and unsuspicious, to the -Rissaldar's door. Here was like to have been a grave -misunderstanding, for the old soldier asked him why the Friend of -the Stars had gone that way only six days before. - -'That may not be,' said the lama. 'He has gone back to his own -people.' - -'He sat in that corner telling a hundred merry tales five nights -ago,' his host insisted. 'True, he vanished somewhat suddenly in the -dawn after foolish talk with my granddaughter. He grows apace, but -he is the same Friend of the Stars as brought me true word of the -war. Have ye parted?' - -'Yes - and no,' the lama replied. 'We - we have not altogether -parted, but the time is not ripe that we should take the Road -together. He acquires wisdom in another place. We must wait.' - -'All one - but if it were not the boy how did he come to speak so -continually of thee?' - -'And what said he?' asked the lama eagerly. - -'Sweet words - an hundred thousand - that thou art his father and -mother and such all. Pity that he does not take the Qpeen's service. -He is fearless.' - -This news amazed the lama, who did not then know how religiously Kim -kept to the contract made with Mahbub Ali, and perforce ratified by -Colonel Creighton... - -'There is no holding the young pony from the game,' said the horse- -dealer when the Colonel pointed out that vagabonding over India in -holiday time was absurd. 'If permission be refused to go and come as -he chooses, he will make light of the refusal. Then who is to catch -him? Colonel Sahib, only once in a thousand years is a horse born so -well fitted for the game as this our colt. And we need men.' - - - - - -Chapter 10 - - -Your tiercel's too long at hack, Sire. He's no eyass -But a passage-hawk that footed ere we caught him, -Dangerously free o' the air. Faith! were he mine -(As mine's the glove he binds to for his tirings) -I'd fly him with a make-hawk. He's in yarak -Plumed to the very point - so manned, so weathered ... -Give him the firmament God made him for, -And what shall take the air of him? - -Gow's Watch - - - -Lurgan Sahib did not use as direct speech, but his advice tallied -with Mahbub's; and the upshot was good for Kim. He knew better now -than to leave Lucknow city in native garb, and if Mahbub were -anywhere within reach of a letter, it was to Mahbub's camp he -headed, and made his change under the Pathan's wary eye. Could -the little Survey paint-box that he used for map-tinting in term- -time have found a tongue to tell of holiday doings, he might have -been expelled. Once Mahbub and he went together as far as the -beautiful city of Bombay, with three truckloads of tram-horses, and -Mahbub nearly melted when Kim proposed a sail in a dhow across the -Indian Ocean to buy Gulf Arabs, which, he understood from a hanger- -on of the dealer Abdul Rahman, fetched better prices than mere -Kabulis. - -He dipped his hand into the dish with that great trader when Mahbub -and a few co-religionists were invited to a big Haj dinner. They -came back by way of Karachi by sea, when Kim took his first -experience of sea-sickness sitting on the fore-hatch of a coasting- -steamer, well persuaded he had been poisoned. The Babu's famous -drug-box proved useless, though Kim had restocked it at Bombay. -Mahbub had business at Quetta, and there Kim, as Mahbub admitted, -earned his keep, and perhaps a little over, by spending four curious -days as scullion in the house of a fat Commissariat sergeant, from -whose office-box, in an auspicious moment, he removed a little -vellum ledger which he copied out - it seemed to deal entirely with -cattle and camel sales - by moonlight, lying behind an outhouse, all -through one hot night. Then he returned the ledger to its place, -and, at Mahbub's word, left that service unpaid, rejoining him six -miles down the road, the clean copy in his bosom. - -'That soldier is a small fish,' Mahbub Ali explained, 'but in time -we shall catch the larger one. He only sells oxen at two prices - -one for himself and one for the Government which I do not think is -a sin.' - -'Why could not I take away the little book and be done with it?' - -Then he would have been frightened, and he would have told his -master. Then we should miss, perhaps, a great number of new rifles -which seek their way up from Quetta to the North. The Game is so -large that one sees but a little at a time.' - -'Oho!' said Kim, and held his tongue. That was in the monsoon -holidays, after he had taken the prize for mathematics. The -Christmas holidays he spent - deducting ten days for private -amusements - with Lurgan Sahib, where he sat for the most part in -front of a roaring wood-fire - Jakko road was four feet deep in snow -that year - and - the small Hindu had gone away to be married - -helped Lurgan to thread pearls. He made Kim learn whole chapters of -the Koran by heart, till he could deliver them with the very roll -and cadence of a mullah. Moreover, he told Kim the names and -properties of many native drugs, as well as the runes proper to -recite when you administer them. And in the evenings he wrote charms -on parchment - elaborate pentagrams crowned with the names of devils -- Murra, and Awan the Companion of Kings - all fantastically written -in the corners. More to the point, he advised Kim as to the care of -his own body, the cure of fever-fits, and simple remedies of the -Road. A week before it was time to go down, Colonel Creighton Sahib -- this was unfair - sent Kim a written examination paper that -concerned itself solely with rods and chains and links and angles. - -Next holidays he was out with Mahbub, and here, by the way, he -nearly died of thirst, plodding through the sand on a camel to the -mysterious city of Bikanir, where the wells are four hundred feet -deep, and lined throughout with camel-bone. It was not an amusing -trip from Kim's point of view, because - in defiance of the contract -- the Colonel ordered him to make a map of that wild, walled city; -and since Mohammedan horse-boys and pipe-tenders are not expected to -drag Survey-chains round the capital of an independent Native State, -Kim was forced to pace all his distances by means of a bead rosary. -He used the compass for bearings as occasion served - after dark -chiefly, when the camels had been fed - and by the help of his -little Survey paint-box of six colour-cakes and three brushes, he -achieved something not remotely unlike the city of Jeysulmir. Mahbub -laughed a great deal, and advised him to make up a written report as -well; and in the back of the big account-book that lay under the -flap of Mahbub's pet saddle Kim fell to work.. - -'It must hold everything that thou hast seen or touched or -considered. Write as though the Jung-i-Lat Sahib himself had come by -stealth with a vast army outsetting to war.' - -'How great an army?' - -'Oh, half a lakh of men.' - -'Folly! Remember how few and bad were the wells in the sand. Not a -thousand thirsty men could come near by here.' - -'Then write that down - also all the old breaches in the walls and -whence the firewood is cut - and what is the temper and disposition -of the King. I stay here till all my horses are sold. I will hire a -room by the gateway, and thou shalt be my accountant. There is a -good lock to the door.' - -The report in its unmistakable St Xavier's running script, and the -brown, yellow, and lake-daubed map, was on hand a few years ago (a -careless clerk filed it with the rough notes of E's second Seistan -survey), but by now the pencil characters must be almost illegible. -Kim translated it, sweating under the light of an oil-lamp, to -Mahbub, the second day of their return-journey. - -The Pathan rose and stooped over his dappled saddle-bags. - -'I knew it would be worthy a dress of honour, and so I made one -ready,' he said, smiling. 'Were I Amir of Afghanistan (and some day -we may see him), I would fill thy mouth with gold.' He laid the -garments formally at Kim's feet. There was a gold-embroidered -Peshawur turban-cap, rising to a cone, and a big turban-cloth ending -in a broad fringe of gold. There was a Delhi embroidered waistcoat -to slip over a milky white shirt, fastening to the right, ample and -flowing; green pyjamas with twisted silk waist-string; and that -nothing might be lacking, russia-leather slippers, smelling -divinely, with arrogantly curled tips. - -'Upon a Wednesday, and in the morning, to put on new clothes is -auspicious,' said Mahbub solemnly. 'But we must not forget the -wicked folk in the world. So!' - -He capped all the splendour, that was taking Kim's delighted breath -away, with a mother-of-pearl, nickel-plated, self-extracting .450 -revolver. - -'I had thought of a smaller bore, but reflected that this takes -Government bullets. A man can always come by those - especially -across the Border. Stand up and let me look.' He clapped Kim on the -shoulder. 'May you never be tired, Pathan! Oh, the hearts to be -broken! Oh, the eyes under the eyelashes, looking sideways!' - -Kim turned about, pointed his toes, stretched, and felt mechanically -for the moustache that was just beginning. Then he stooped towards -Mahbub's feet to make proper acknowledgment with fluttering, quick- -patting hands; his heart too full for words. Mahbub forestalled and -embraced him. - -'My son, said he, 'what need of words between us? But is not the -little gun a delight? All six cartridges come out at one twist. It -is borne in the bosom next the skin, which, as it were, keeps it -oiled. Never put it elsewhere, and please God, thou shalt some day -kill a man with it.' - -'Hai mai!' said Kim ruefully. 'If a Sahib kills a man he is hanged -in the jail.' - -'True: but one pace beyond the Border, men are wiser. Put it away; -but fill it first. Of what use is a gun unfed?' - - -'When I go back to the madrissah I must return it. They do not allow -little guns. Thou wilt keep it for me?' - - -'Son, I am wearied of that madrissah, where they take the best years -of a man to teach him what he can only learn upon the Road. The -folly of the Sahibs has neither top nor bottom. No matter. Maybe thy -written report shall save thee further bondage; and God He knows we -need men more and more in the Game.' - -They marched, jaw-bound against blowing sand, across the salt desert -to Jodhpur, where Mahbub and his handsome nephew Habib Ullah did -much trading; and then sorrowfully, in European clothes, which he -was fast outgrowing, Kim went second-class to St Xavier's. Three -weeks later, Colonel Creighton, pricing Tibetan ghost-daggers at -Lurgan's shop, faced Mahbub Ali openly mutinous. Lurgan Sahib -operated as support in reserve. - -'The pony is made - finished - mouthed and paced, Sahib! From now -on, day by day, he will lose his manners if he is kept at tricks. -Drop the rein on his back and let go,' said the horse-dealer. 'We -need him.' - -'But he is so young, Mahbub - not more than sixteen - is he?' - -'When I was fifteen, I had shot my man and begot my man, Sahib.' - -'You impenitent old heathen!' Creighton turned to Lurgan. The black -beard nodded assent to the wisdom of the Afghan's dyed scarlet. - -'I should have used him long ago,' said Lurgan. 'The younger the -better. That is why I always have my really valuable jewels watched -by a child. You sent him to me to try. I tried him in every way: he -is the only boy I could not make to see things.' - -'In the crystal - in the ink-pool?' demanded Mahbub. - -'No. Under my hand, as I told you. That has never happened before. -It means that he is strong enough - but you think it skittles, -Colonel Creighton - to make anyone do anything he wants. And that is -three years ago. I have taught him a good deal since, Colonel -Creighton. I think you waste him now.' - -'Hmm! Maybe you're right. But, as you know, there is no Survey work -for him at present.' - -'Let him out let him go,' Mahbub interrupted. 'Who expects any colt -to carry heavy weight at first? Let him run with the caravans - like -our white camel-colts - for luck. I would take him myself, but -, - -'There is a little business where he would be most useful - in the -South,' said Lurgan, with peculiar suavity, dropping his heavy blued -eyelids. - -'E.23 has that in hand,' said Creighton quickly. 'He must not go down -there. Besides, he knows no Turki.' - -'Only tell him the shape and the smell of the letters we want and he -will bring them back,' Lurgan insisted. - -'No. That is a man's job,' said Creighton. - -It was a wry-necked matter of unauthorized and incendiary -correspondence between a person who claimed to be the ultimate -authority in all matters of the Mohammedan religion throughout the -world, and a younger member of a royal house who had been brought to -book for kidnapping women within British territory. The Moslem -Archbishop had been emphatic and over-arrogant; the young prince was -merely sulky at the curtailment of his privileges, but there was no -need he should continue a correspondence which might some day -compromise him. One letter indeed had been procured, but the finder -was later found dead by the roadside in the habit of an Arab trader, -as E.23, taking up the work, duly reported. - -These facts, and a few others not to be published, made both Mahbub -and Creighton shake their heads. - -'Let him go out with his Red Lama,' said the horse-dealer with -visible effort. 'He is fond of the old man. He can learn his paces -by the rosary at least.' - -'I have had some dealings with the old man - by letter,' said -Colonel Creighton, smiling to himself. 'Whither goes he?' - -'Up and down the land, as he has these three years. He seeks a River -of Healing. God's curse upon all -' Mahbub checked himself. 'He beds -down at the Temple of the Tirthankars or at Buddh Gaya when he is in -from the Road. Then he goes to see the boy at the madrissah, as we -know for the boy was punished for it twice or thrice. He is quite -mad, but a peaceful man. I have met him. The Babu also has had -dealings with him. We have watched him for three years. Red Lamas -are not so common in Hind that one loses track.' - -'Babus are very curious,' said Lurgan meditatively. 'Do you know -what Hurree Babu really wants? He wants to be made a member of the -Royal Society by taking ethnological notes. I tell you, I tell him -about the lama everything which Mahbub and the boy have told me. -Hurree Babu goes down to Benares - at his own expense, I think.' - -'I don't,' said Creighton briefly. He had paid Hurree's travelling -expenses, out of a most lively curiosity to learn what the lama -might be. - -'And he applies to the lama for information on lamaism, and devil- -dances, and spells and charms, several times in these few years. -Holy Virgin! I could have told him all that yeears ago. I think -Hurree Babu is getting too old for the Road. He likes better to -collect manners and customs information. Yes, he wants to be an FRS. - -'Hurree thinks well of the boy, doesn't he?' - -'Oh, very indeed - we have had some pleasant evenings at my little -place - but I think it would be waste to throw him away with Hurree -on the Ethnological side.' - -'Not for a first experience. How does that strike you, Mahbub? Let -the boy run with the lama for six months. After that we can see. He -will get experience.' - -'He has it already, Sahib - as a fish controls the water he swims -in. But for every reason it will be well to loose him from the -school.' - -'Very good, then,' said Creighton, half to himself. 'He can go with -the lama, and if Hurree Babu cares to keep an eye on them so much -the better. He won't lead the boy into any danger as Mahbub would. -Curious - his wish to be an F R S. Very human, too. He is best on -the Ethnological side - Hurree.' - -No money and no preferment would have drawn Creighton from his work -on the Indian Survey, but deep in his heart also lay the ambition to -write 'F R S' after his name. Honours of a sort he knew could be -obtained by ingenuity and the help of friends, but, to the best of -his belief, nothing save work -papers representing a life of it - -took a man into the Society which he had bombarded for years with -monographs on strange Asiatic cults and unknown customs. Nine men -out of ten would flee from a Royal Society soiree in extremity of -boredom; but Creighton was the tenth, and at times his soul yearned -for the crowded rooms in easy London where silver-haired, bald- -headed gentlemen who know nothing of the Army move among -spectroscopic experiments, the lesser plants of the frozen tundras, -electric flight-measuring machines, and apparatus for slicing into -fractional millimetres the left eye of the female mosquito. By all -right and reason, it was the Royal Geographical that should have -appealed to him, but men are as chancy as children in their choice -of playthings. So Creighton smiled, and thought the better of Hurree -Babu, moved by like desire. - -He dropped the ghost-dagger and looked up at Mahbub. - -'How soon can we get the colt from the stable?' said the horse- -dealer, reading his eyes. - -'Hmm! If I withdraw him by order now - what will he do, think you? I -have never before assisted at the teaching of such an one.' - -'He will come to me,' said Mahbub promptly. 'Lurgan Sahib and I will -prepare him for the Road.' - -'So be it, then. For six months he shall run at his choice. But who -will be his sponsor?' - -Lurgan slightly inclined his head. 'He will not tell anything, if -that is what you are afraid of, Colonel Creighton.' - -'It's only a boy, after all.' - -'Ye-es; but first, he has nothing to tell; and secondly, he knows -what would happen. Also, he is very fond of Mahbub, and of me a -little.' - -'Will he draw pay?' demanded the practical horse-dealer. - -'Food and water allowance only. Twenty rupees a month.' - -One advantage of the Secret Service is that it has no worrying -audit. That Service is ludicrously starved, of course, but the funds -are administered by a few men who do not call for vouchers or -present itemized accounts. Mahbub's eyes lighted with almost a -Sikh's love of money. Even Lurgan's impassive face changed. He -considered the years to come when Kim would have been entered and -made to the Great Game that never ceases day and night, throughout -India. He foresaw honour and credit in the mouths of a chosen few, -coming to him from his pupil. Lurgan Sahib had made E.23 what E.23 was, -out of a bewildered, impertinent, lying, little North-West Province -man. - -But the joy of these masters was pale and smoky beside the joy of -Kim when St Xavier's Head called him aside, with word that Colonel -Creighton had sent for him. - -'I understand, O'Hara, that he has found you a place as an assistant -chain-man in the Canal Department: that comes of taking up -mathematics. It is great luck for you, for you are only sixteen; but -of course you understand that you do not become pukka [permanent] -till you have passed the autumn examination. So you must not think -you are going out into the world to enjoy yourself, or that your -fortune is made. There is a great deal of hard work before you. -Only, if you succeed in becoming pukka, you can rise, you know, to -four hundred and fifty a month.' Whereat the Principal gave him much -good advice as to his conduct, and his manners, and his morals; and -others, his elders, who had not been wafted into billets, talked as -only Anglo-Indian lads can, of favouritism and corruption. Indeed, -young Cazalet, whose father was a pensioner at Chunar, hinted very -broadly that Colonel Creighton's interest in Kim was directly -paternal; and Kim, instead of retaliating, did not even use -language. He was thinking of the immense fun to come, of Mahbub's -letter of the day before, all neatly written in English, making -appointment for that afternoon in a house the very name of which -would have crisped the Principal's hair with horror... - -Said Kim to Mahbub in Lucknow railway station that evening, above -the luggage-scales: 'I feared lest at the last, the roof would fall -upon me and cheat me. It is indeed all finished, O my father?' - -Mahbub snapped his fingers to show the utterness of that end, and -his eyes blazed like red coals. - -'Then where is the pistol that I may wear it?' - -'Softly! A half-year, to run without heel-ropes. I begged that much -from Colonel Creighton Sahib. At twenty rupees a month. Old Red Hat -knows that thou art coming.' - -'I will pay thee dustoorie [commission] on my pay for three months,' -said Kim gravely. 'Yea, two rupees a month. But first we must get -rid of these.' He plucked his thin linen trousers and dragged at his -collar. 'I have brought with me all that I need on the Road. My -trunk has gone up to Lurgan Sahib's.' - -'Who sends his salaams to thee - Sahib.' - -'Lurgan Sahib is a very clever man. But what dost thou do?' - -'I go North again, upon the Great Game. What else? Is thy mind still -set on following old Red Hat?' - -'Do not forget he made me that I am - though he did not know it. -Year by year, he sent the money that taught me.' - -'I would have done as much - had it struck my thick head,' Mahbub -growled. 'Come away. The lamps are lit now, and none will mark thee -in the bazar. We go to Huneefa's house.' - -On the way thither, Mahbub gave him much the same sort of advice as -his mother gave to Lemuel, and curiously enough, Mahbub was exact to -point out how Huneefa and her likes destroyed kings. - -'And I remember,' he quoted maliciously, 'one who said, "Trust a -snake before an harlot, and an harlot before a Pathan, Mahbub Ali." -Now, excepting as to Pathans, of whom I am one, all that is true. -Most true is it in the Great Game, for it is by means of women that -all plans come to ruin and we lie out in the dawning with our -throats cut. So it happened to such a one.' He gave the reddest -particulars. - -'Then why -?' Kim paused before a filthy staircase that climbed to -the warm darkness of an upper chamber, in the ward that is behind -Azim Ullah's tobacco-shop. Those who know it call it The Birdcage - -it is so full of whisperings and whistlings and chirrupings. - -The room, with its dirty cushions and half-smoked hookahs, smelt -abominably of stale tobacco. In one corner lay a huge and shapeless -woman clad in greenish gauzes, and decked, brow, nose, ear, neck, -wrist, arm, waist, and ankle with heavy native jewellery. When she -turned it was like the clashing of copper pots. A lean cat in the -balcony outside the window mewed hungrily. Kim checked, bewildered, -at the door-curtain. - -'Is that the new stuff, Mahbub?' said Huneefa lazily, scarce -troubling to remove the mouthpiece from her lips. 'O Buktanoos!' - -like most of her kind, she swore by the Djinns - 'O Buktanoos! He is -very good to look upon.' - -'That is part of the selling of the horse,' Mahbub explained to Kim, -who laughed. - -'I have heard that talk since my Sixth Day,' he replied, squatting -by the light. 'Whither does it lead?' - -'To protection. Tonight we change thy colour. This sleeping under -roofs has blanched thee like an almond. But Huneefa has the secret -of a colour that catches. No painting of a day or two. Also, we -fortify thee against the chances of the Road. That is my gift to -thee, my son. Take out all metals on thee and lay them here. Make -ready, Huneefa.' - -Kim dragged forth his compass, Survey paint-box, and the new-filled -medicine-box. They had all accompanied his travels, and boylike he -valued them immensely. - -The woman rose slowly and moved with her hands a little spread -before her. Then Kim saw that she was blind. 'No, no,' she muttered, -'the Pathan speaks truth - my colour does not go in a week or a -month, and those whom I protect are under strong guard.' - -'When one is far off and alone, it would not be well to grow -blotched and leprous of a sudden,' said Mahbub. 'When thou wast with -me I could oversee the matter. Besides, a Pathan is a fair-skin. -Strip to the waist now and look how thou art whitened.' Huneefa felt -her way back from an inner room. 'It is no matter, she cannot see.' -He took a pewter bowl from her ringed hand. - -The dye-stuff showed blue and gummy. Kim experimented on the back of -his wrist, with a dab of cotton-wool; but Huneefa heard him. - -'No, no,' she cried, 'the thing is not done thus, but with the -proper ceremonies. The colouring is the least part. I give thee the -full protection of the Road.' - -'Tadoo? [magic],'said Kim, with a half start. He did not like the -white, sightless eyes. Mahbub's hand on his neck bowed him to the -floor, nose within an inch of the boards. - -'Be still. No harm comes to thee, my son. I am thy sacrifice!' - -He could not see what the woman was about, but heard the dish-clash -of her jewellery for many minutes. A match lit up the darkness; he -caught the well-known purr and fizzle of grains of incense. Then the -room filled with smoke - heavy aromatic, and stupefying. Through -growing drowse he heard the names of devils - of Zulbazan, Son of -Eblis, who lives in bazars and paraos, making all the sudden lewd -wickedness of wayside halts; of Dulhan, invisible about mosques, -the dweller among the slippers of the faithful, who hinders folk -from their prayers; and Musboot, Lord of lies and panic. Huneefa, -now whispering in his ear, now talking as from an immense distance, -touched him with horrible soft fingers, but Mahbub's grip never -shifted from his neck till, relaxing with a sigh, the boy lost his -senses. - -'Allah! How he fought! We should never have done it but for the -drugs. That was his white blood, I take it,' said Mahbub testily. -'Go on with the dawut [invocation]. Give him full Protection.' - -'O Hearer! Thou that hearest with ears, be present. Listen, O -Hearer!' Huneefa moaned, her dead eyes turned to the west. The dark -room filled with moanings and snortings. - -From the outer balcony, a ponderous figure raised a round bullet -head and coughed nervously. - -'Do not interrupt this ventriloquial necromanciss, my friend,' it -said in English. 'I opine that it is very disturbing to you, but no -enlightened observer is jolly-well upset.' - -'..........I will lay a plot for their ruin! O Prophet, bear with -the unbelievers. Let them alone awhile!' Huneefa's face, turned to -the northward, worked horribly, and it was as though voices from the -ceiling answered her. - -Hurree Babu returned to his note-book, balanced on the window-sill, -but his hand shook. Huneefa, in some sort of drugged ecstasy, -wrenched herself to and fro as she sat cross-legged by Kim's still -head, and called upon devil after devil, in the ancient order of the -ritual, binding them to avoid the boy's every action. - -'With Him are the keys of the Secret Things! None knoweth them -besides Himself He knoweth that which is in the dry land and in the -sea!' Again broke out the unearthly whistling responses. - -'I - I apprehend it is not at all malignant in its operation?' said -the Babu, watching the throat-muscles quiver and jerk as Huneefa -spoke with tongues. 'It - it is not likely that she has killed the -boy? If so, I decline to be witness at the trial .....What was the -last hypothetical devil mentioned?' - -'Babuji,' said Mahbub in the vernacular. 'I have no regard for the -devils of Hind, but the Sons of Eblis are far otherwise, and whether -they be jumalee [well-affected] or jullalee [terrible) they love not -Kafirs.' - -'Then you think I had better go?' said Hurree Babu, half rising. -'They are, of course, dematerialized phenomena. Spencer says ' - -Huneefa's crisis passed, as these things must, in a paroxysm of -howling, with a touch of froth at the lips. She lay spent and -motionless beside Kim, and the crazy voices ceased. - -'Wah! That work is done. May the boy be better for it; and Huneefa -is surely a mistress of dawut. Help haul her aside, Babu. Do not be -afraid.' - -'How am I to fear the absolutely non-existent?' said Hurree Babu, -talking English to reassure himself. It is an awful thing still to -dread the magic that you contemptuously investigate -to collect -folk-lore for the Royal Society with a lively belief in all Powers -of Darkness. - -Mahbub chuckled. He had been out with Hurree on the Road ere now. -'Let us finish the colouring,' said he. 'The boy is well protected -if - if the Lords of the Air have ears to hear. I am a Sufi [free- -thinker), but when one can get blind-sides of a woman, a stallion, -or a devil, why go round to invite a kick? Set him upon the way, -Babu, and see that old Red Hat does not lead him beyond our reach. I -must get back to my horses.' - -'All raight,' said Hurree Babu. 'He is at present curious -spectacle.' - -About third cockcrow, Kim woke after a sleep of thousands of years. -Huneefa, in her corner, snored heavily, but Mahbub was gone. - -'I hope you were not frightened,' said an oily voice at his elbow. -'I superintended entire operation, which was most interesting from -ethnological point of view. It was high-class dawut.' - -'Huh!' said Kim, recognizing Hurree Babu, who smiled ingratiatingly. - -'And also I had honour to bring down from Lurgan your present -costume. I am not in the habit offeecially of carrying such gauds to -subordinates, but' - he giggled - 'your case is noted as exceptional -on the books. I hope Mr Lurgan will note my action.' - -Kim yawned and stretched himself. It was good to turn and twist -within loose clothes once again. - -'What is this?' He looked curiously at the heavy duffle-stuff loaded -with the scents of the far North. - -'Oho! That is inconspicuous dress of chela attached to service of -lamaistic lama. Complete in every particular,' said Hurree Babu, -rolling into the balcony to clean his teeth at a goglet. 'I am of -opeenion it is not your old gentleman's precise releegion, but -rather sub-variant of same. I have contributed rejected notes To -Whom It May Concern: Asiatic Quarterly Review on these subjects. Now -it is curious that the old gentleman himself is totally devoid of -releegiosity. He is not a dam' particular.' - -'Do you know him?' - -Hurree Babu held up his hand to show he was engaged in the -prescribed rites that accompany tooth-cleaning and such things among -decently bred Bengalis. Then he recited in English an Arya-Somaj -prayer of a theistical nature, and stuffed his mouth with pan and -betel. - -'Oah yes. I have met him several times at Benares, and also at Buddh -Gaya, to interrogate him on releegious points and devil-worship. He -is pure agnostic - same as me.' - -Huneefa stirred in her sleep, and Hurree Babu jumped nervously to -the copper incense-burner, all black and discoloured in morning- -light, rubbed a finger in the accumulated lamp-black, and drew it -diagonally across his face. - -'Who has died in thy house?' asked Kim in the vernacular. - -'None. But she may have the Evil Eye - that sorceress,' the Babu -replied. - -'What dost thou do now, then?' - -'I will set thee on thy way to Benares, if thou goest thither, and -tell thee what must be known by Us.' - -'I go. At what hour runs the te-rain?' He rose to his feet, looked -round the desolate chamber and at the yellow-wax face of Huneefa as -the low sun stole across the floor. 'Is there money to be paid that -witch?' - -'No. She has charmed thee against all devils and all dangers in the -name of her devils. It was Mahbub's desire.' In English: 'He is -highly obsolete, I think, to indulge in such supersteetion. Why, it -is all ventriloquy. Belly-speak - eh?' - -Kim snapped his fingers mechanically to avert whatever evil - -Mahbub, he knew, meditated none - might have crept in through -Huneefa's ministrations; and Hurree giggled once more. But as he -crossed the room he was careful not to step in Huneefa's blotched, -squat shadow on the boards. Witches -when their time is on them - -can lay hold of the heels of a man's soul if he does that. - -'Now you must well listen,' said the Babu when they were in the -fresh air. 'Part of these ceremonies which we witnessed they include -supply of effeecient amulet to those of our Department. If you feel -in your neck you will find one small silver amulet, verree cheap. -That is ours. Do you understand?' - -'Oah yes, hawa-dilli [a heart-lifter],' said Kim, feeling at his -neck. - -'Huneefa she makes them for two rupees twelve annas with - oh, all -sorts of exorcisms. They are quite common, except they are partially -black enamel, and there is a paper inside each one full of names of -local saints and such things. Thatt is Huneefa's look-out, you see? -Huneefa makes them onlee for us, but in case she does not, when we -get them we put in, before issue, one small piece of turquoise. Mr -Lurgan he gives them. There is no other source of supply; but it was -me invented all this. It is strictly unoffeecial of course, but -convenient for subordinates. Colonel Creighton he does not know. He -is European. The turquoise is wrapped in the paper . . . Yes, that -is road to railway station . . . Now suppose you go with the lama, -or with me, I hope, some day, or with Mahbub. Suppose we get into a -dam'-tight place. I am a fearful man - most fearful - but I tell you -I have been in dam'-tight places more than hairs on my head. You -say: "I am Son of the Charm." Verree good.' - -'I do not understand quite. We must not be heard talking English -here.' - -'That is all raight. I am only Babu showing off my English to you. -All we Babus talk English to show off;' said Hurree, flinging his -shoulder-cloth jauntily. 'As I was about to say, "Son of the Charm" -means that you may be member of the Sat Bhai - the Seven Brothers, -which is Hindi and Tantric. It is popularly supposed to be extinct -Society, but I have written notes to show it is still extant. You -see, it is all my invention. Verree good. Sat Bhai has many members, -and perhaps before they jolly-well-cut-your-throat they may give you -just a chance of life. That is useful, anyhow. And moreover, these -foolish natives - if they are not too excited - they always stop to -think before they kill a man who says he belongs to any speecific -organization. You see? You say then when you are in tight place, "I -am Son of the Charm", and you get - perhaps - ah -your second wind. -That is only in extreme instances, or to open negotiations with a -stranger. Can you quite see? Verree good. But suppose now, I, or any -one of the Department, come to you dressed quite different. You -would not know me at all unless I choose, I bet you. Some day I will -prove it. I come as Ladakhi trader - oh, anything - and I say to -you: "You want to buy precious stones?" You say: "Do I look like a -man who buys precious stones?" Then I say: "Even verree poor man can -buy a turquoise or tarkeean." ' - -'That is kichree - vegetable curry,' said Kim. - -'Of course it is. You say: "Let me see the tarkeean." Then I say: -"It was cooked by a woman, and perhaps it is bad for your caste." -Then you say: "There is no caste when men go to - look for -tarkeean." You stop a little between those words, "to - look". That -is thee whole secret. The little stop before the words.' - -Kim repeated the test-sentence. - -'That is all right. Then I will show you my turquoise if there is -time, and then you know who I am, and then we exchange views and -documents and those-all things. And so it is with any other man of -us. We talk sometimes about turquoises and sometimes about tarkeean, -but always with that little stop in the words. It is verree easy. -First, "Son of the Charm", if you are in a tight place. Perhaps that -may help you - perhaps not. Then what I have told you about the -tarkeean, if you want to transact offeecial business with a strange -man. Of course, at present, you have no offeecial business. You are -- ah ha! - supernumerary on probation. Quite unique specimen. If you -were Asiatic of birth you might be employed right off; but this -half-year of leave is to make you de~Englishized, you see? The lama -he expects you, because I have demi-offeecially informed him you -have passed all your examinations, and will soon obtain Government -appointment. Oh ho! You are on acting-allowance, you see: so if you -are called upon to help Sons of the Charm mind you jolly-well try. -Now I shall say good-bye, my dear fellow, and I hope you - ah - will -come out top-side all raight.' - -Hurree Babu stepped back a pace or two into the crowd at the -entrance of Lucknow station and -- was gone. Kim drew a deep breath -and hugged himself all over. The nickel-plated revolver he could -feel in the bosom of his sad-coloured robe, the amulet was on his -neck; begging-gourd, rosary, and ghost-dagger (Mr Lurgan had -forgotten nothing) were all to hand, with medicine, paint-box, and -compass, and in a worn old purse-belt embroidered with porcupine- -quill patterns lay a month's pay. Kings could be no richer. He -bought sweetmeats in a leaf-cup from a Hindu trader, and ate them -with glad rapture till a policeman ordered him off the steps. - - - - - -Chapter ll - - -Give the man who is not made -To his trade -Swords to fling and catch again, -Coins to ring and snatch again, -Men to harm and cure again, -Snakes to charm and lure again - -He'll be hurt by his own blade, -By his serpents disobeyed, -By his clumsiness bewrayed,' -By the people mocked to scorn - -So 'tis not with juggler born! -Pinch of dust or withered flower, -Chance-flung fruit or borrowed staff, -Serve his need and shore his power, -Bind the spell, or loose the laugh! -But a man who, etc. - - The Juggler's Song, op. 15 - - -Followed a sudden natural reaction. - -'Now am I alone all alone,' he thought. 'In all India is no one so -alone as I! If I die today, who shall bring the news -and to whom? -If I live and God is good, there will be a price upon my head, for I -am a Son of the Charm - I, Kim.' - -A very few white people, but many Asiatics, can throw themselves -into a mazement as it were by repeating their own names over and -over again to themselves, letting the mind go free upon speculation -as to what is called personal identity. When one grows older, the -power, usually, departs, but while it lasts it may descend upon a man -at any moment. - -'Who is Kim - Kim - Kim?' - -He squatted in a corner of the clanging waiting-room, rapt from all -other thoughts; hands folded in lap, and pupils contracted to pin- -points. In a minute - in another half-second - he felt he would -arrive at the solution of the tremendous puzzle; but here, as always -happens, his mind dropped away from those heights with a rush of a -wounded bird, and passing his hand before his eyes, he shook his -head. - -A long-haired Hindu bairagi [holy man], who had just bought a -ticket, halted before him at that moment and stared intently. - -'I also have lost it,' he said sadly. 'It is one of the Gates to the -Way, but for me it has been shut many years.' - -'What is the talk?' said Kim, abashed. - -'Thou wast wondering there in thy spirit what manner of thing thy -soul might be. The seizure came of a sudden. I know. Who should know -but I? Whither goest thou?' - -'Toward Kashi [Benares].' - -'There are no Gods there. I have proved them. I go to Prayag -[Allahabad] for the fifth time - seeking the Road to Enlightenment. -Of what faith art thou?' - -'I too am a Seeker,' said Kim, using one of the lama's pet words. -'Though'- he forgot his Northern dress for the moment - 'though -Allah alone knoweth what I seek.' - -The old fellow slipped the bairagi's crutch under his armpit and sat -down on a patch of ruddy leopard's skin as Kim rose at the call for -the Benares train. - -'Go in hope, little brother,' he said. 'It is a long road to the -feet of the One; but thither do we all travel.' - -Kim did not feel so lonely after this, and ere he had sat out twenty -miles in the crowded compartment, was cheering his neighbours with a -string of most wonderful yarns about his own and his master's -magical gifts. - -Benares struck him as a peculiarly filthy city, though it was -pleasant to find how his cloth was respected. At least one-third of - the population prays eternally to some group or other of the many -million deities, and so reveres every sort of holy man. Kim was -guided to the Temple of the Tirthankars, about a mile outside the -city, near Sarnath, by a chance-met Punjabi farmer - a Kamboh from -Jullundur-way who had appealed in vain to every God of his homestead -to cure his small son, and was trying Benares as a last resort. - -'Thou art from the North?' he asked, shouldering through the press -of the narrow, stinking streets much like his own pet bull at home. - -'Ay, I know the Punjab. My mother was a pahareen, but my father came -from Amritzar - by Jandiala,' said Kim, oiling his ready tongue for -the needs of the Road. - -'Jandiala - Jullundur? Oho! Then we be neighbours in some sort, as -it were.' He nodded tenderly to the wailing child in his arms. 'Whom -dost thou serve?' - -'A most holy man at the Temple of the Tirthankers.' - -'They are all most holy and - most greedy,' said the Jat with -bitterness. 'I have walked the pillars and trodden the temples till -my feet are flayed, and the child is no whit better. And the mother -being sick too ... Hush, then, little one ... We changed his name -when the fever came. We put him into girl's clothes. There was -nothing we did not do, except - I said to his mother when she -bundled me off to Benares -she should have come with me - I said -Sakhi Sarwar Sultan would serve us best. We know His generosity, but -these down-country Gods are strangers.' - -The child turned on the cushion of the huge corded arms and looked -at Kim through heavy eyelids. - -'And was it all worthless?' Kim asked, with easy interest. - -'All worthless - all worthless,' said the child, lips cracking with -fever. - -'The Gods have given him a good mind, at least' said the father -proudly. 'To think he should have listened so cleverly. Yonder is -thy Temple. Now I am a poor man - many priests have dealt with me - -but my son is my son, and if a gift to thy master can cure him - I -am at my very wits' end.' - -Kim considered for a while, tingling with pride. Three years ago he -would have made prompt profit on the situation and gone his way -without a thought; but now, the very respect the Jat paid him proved -that he was a man. Moreover, he had tasted fever once or twice -already, and knew enough to recognize starvation when he saw it. - -'Call him forth and I will give him a bond on my best yoke, so that -the child is cured.' - -Kim halted at the carved outer door of the temple. A white-clad -Oswal banker from Ajmir, his sins of usury new wiped out, asked -him what he did. - -'I am chela to Teshoo Lama, an Holy One from Bhotiyal -within there. -He bade me come. I wait. Tell him.' - -'Do not forget the child,' cried the importunate Jat over his -shoulder, and then bellowed in Punjabi; 'O Holy One - O disciple of -the Holy One - O Gods above all the Worlds -behold affliction -sitting at the gate!' That cry is so common in Benares that the -passers never turned their heads. - -The Oswal, at peace with mankind, carried the message into the -darkness behind him, and the easy, uncounted Eastern minutes slid -by; for the lama was asleep in his cell, and no priest would wake -him. When the click of his rosary again broke the hush of the inner -court where the calm images of the Arhats stand, a novice whispered, -'Thy chela is here,' and the old man strode forth, forgetting the -end of that prayer. - -Hardly had the tall figure shown in the doorway than the Jat ran -before him, and, lifting up the child, cried: 'Look upon this, Holy -One; and if the Gods will, he lives - he lives!' - -He fumbled in his waist-belt and drew out a small silver coin. - -'What is now?' The lama's eyes turned to Kim. It was noticeable he -spoke far clearer Urdu than long ago, under ZamZammah; but -father would allow no private talk. - -'It is no more than a fever,' said Kim. 'The child is not well fed.' - -'He sickens at everything, and his mother is not here.' - -'If it be permitted, I may cure, Holy One.' - -'What! Have they made thee a healer? Wait here,' said the lama, and -he sat down by the Jat upon the lowest step of the temple, while -Kim, looking out of the corner of his eyes, slowly opened the little -betel-box. He had dreamed dreams at school of returning to the lama -as a Sahib - of chaffing the old man before he revealed himself - -boy's dreams all. There was more drama in this abstracted, brow- -puckered search through the tabloid-bottles, with a pause here and -there for thought and a muttered invocation between whiles. Quinine -he had in tablets, and dark brown meat-lozenges - beef most -probably, but that was not his business. The little thing would not -eat, but it sucked at a lozenge greedily, and said it liked the salt -taste. - -'Take then these six.' Kim handed them to the man. 'Praise the Gods, -and boil three in milk; other three in water. After he has drunk the -milk give him this' (it was the half of a quinine pill), 'and wrap -him warm. Give him the water of the other three, and the other half -of this white pill when he wakes. Meantime, here is another brown -medicine that he may suck at on the way home.' - -'Gods, what wisdom!' said the Kamboh, snatching. - -It was as much as Kim could remember of his own treatment in a bout -of autumn malaria - if you except the patter that he added to -impress the lama. - -'Now go! Come again in the morning.' - -'But the price - the price,' said the Jat, and threw back his sturdy -shoulders. 'My son is my son. Now that he will be whole again, how -shall I go back to his mother and say I took help by the wayside and -did not even give a bowl of curds in return?' - -'They are alike, these Jats,' said Kim softly. 'The Jat stood on his -dunghill and the King's elephants went by. "O driver," said he, -"what will you sell those little donkeys for?"' - -The Jat burst into a roar of laughter, stifled with apologies to the -lama. 'It is the saying of my own country the very talk of it. So -are we Jats all. I will come tomorrow with the child; and the -blessing of the Gods of the Homesteads - who are good little Gods - -be on you both ... Now, son, we grow strong again. Do not spit it -out, little Princeling! King of my Heart, do not spit it out, and we -shall be strong men, wrestlers and club-wielders, by morning.' - -He moved away, crooning and mumbling. The lama turned to Kim, and -all the loving old soul of him looked out through his narrow eyes. - -'To heal the sick is to acquire merit; but first one gets knowledge. -That was wisely done, O Friend of all the World.' - -'I was made wise by thee, Holy One,' said Kim, forgetting the little -play just ended; forgetting St Xavier's; forgetting his white blood; -forgetting even the Great Game as he stooped, Mohammedan-fashion, to -touch his master's feet in the dust of the Jain temple. 'My teaching -I owe to thee. I have eaten thy bread three years. My time is -finished. I am loosed from the schools. I come to thee.' - -'Herein is my reward. Enter! Enter! And is all well?' They passed to -the inner court, where the afternoon sun sloped golden across. -'Stand that I may see. So!' He peered critically. 'It is no longer a -child, but a man, ripened in wisdom, walking as a physician. I did -well - I did well when I gave thee up to the armed men on that black -night. Dost thou remember our first day under Zam-Zammah?' - -'Ay,' said Kim. 'Dost thou remember when I leapt off the carriage -the first day I went to -' - -'The Gates of Learning? Truly. And the day that we ate the cakes -together at the back of the river by Nucklao. Aha! Many times hast -thou begged for me, but that day I begged for thee.' - -'Good reason,' quoth Kim. 'I was then a scholar in the Gates of -Learning, and attired as a Sahib. Do not forget, Holy One,' he went -on playfully. 'I am still a Sahib - by thy favour.' - -'True. And a Sahib in most high esteem. Come to my cell, chela.' - -'How is that known to thee?' - -The lama smiled. 'First by means of letters from the kindly priest -whom we met in the camp of armed men; but he is now gone to his own -country, and I sent the money to his brother.' Colonel Creighton, -who had succeeded to the trusteeship when Father Victor went to -England with the Mavericks, was hardly the Chaplain's brother. 'But -I do not well understand Sahibs' letters. They must be interpreted -to me. I chose a surer way. Many times when I returned from my -Search to this Temple, which has always been a nest to me, there -came one seeking Enlightenment - a man from Leh - that had been, he -said, a Hindu, but wearied of all those Gods.' The lama pointed to -the Arhats. - -'A fat man?' said Kim, a twinkle in his eye. - -'Very fat; but I perceived in a little his mind was wholly given up -to useless things - such as devils and charms and the form and -fashion of our tea-drinkings in the monasteries, and by what road we -initiated the novices. A man abounding in questions; but he was a -friend of thine, chela. He told me that thou wast on the road to -much honour as a scribe. And I see thou art a physician.' - -'Yes, that am I - a scribe, when I am a Sahib, but it is set aside -when I come as thy disciple. I have accomplished the years appointed -for a Sahib.' - -'As it were a novice?' said the lama, nodding his head. 'Art thou -freed from the schools? I would not have thee unripe.' - -'I am all free. In due time I take service under the Government as a -scribe -' - -'Not as a warrior. That is well.' - -'But first I come to wander with thee. Therefore I am here. Who -begs for thee, these days?' he went on quickly. The ice was thin. - -'Very often I beg myself; but, as thou knowest, I am seldom here, -except when I come to look again at my disciple. From one end to -another of Hind have I travelled afoot and in the te-rain. A great -and a wonderful land! But here, when I put in, is as though I were -in mv own Bhotiyal.' - -He looked round the little clean cell complacently. A low cushion -gave him a seat, on which he had disposed himself in the cross- -legged attitude of the Bodhisat emerging from meditation; a black -teak-wood table, not twenty inches high, set with copper tea-cups, -was before him. In one corner stood a tiny altar, also of heavily -carved teak, bearing a copper-gilt image of the seated Buddha and -fronted by a lamp, an incense-holder, and a pair of copper flower- -pots. - -'The Keeper of the Images in the Wonder House acquired merit by -giving me these a year since,' he said, following Kim's eye. 'When -one is far from one's own land such things carry remembrance; and we -must reverence the Lord for that He showed the Way. See!' He pointed -to a curiously-built mound of coloured rice crowned with a fantastic -metal ornament. 'When I was Abbot in my own place - before I came to -better knowledge I made that offering daily. It is the Sacrifice of -the Universe to the Lord. Thus do we of Bhotiyal offer all the world -daily to the Excellent Law. And I do it even now, though I know that -the Excellent One is beyond all pinchings and pattings.' He snuffed -from his gourd. - -'It is well done, Holy One,' Kim murmured, sinking at ease on the -cushions, very happy and rather tired. - -'And also,' the old man chuckled, 'I write pictures of the Wheel of -Life. Three days to a picture. I was busied on it - or it may be I -shut my eyes a little - when they brought word of thee. It is good -to have thee here: I will show thee my art - not for pride's sake, -but because thou must learn. The Sahibs have not all this world's -wisdom.' - -He drew from under the table a sheet of strangely scented yellow -Chinese paper, the brushes, and slab of Indian ink. In cleanest, -severest outline he had traced the Great Wheel with its six spokes, -whose centre is the conjoined Hog, Snake, and Dove (Ignorance, -Anger, and Lust), and whose compartments are all the Heavens and -Hells, and all the chances of human life. Men say that the Bodhisat -Himself first drew it with grains of rice upon dust, to teach His -disciples the cause of things. Many ages have crystallized it into a -most wonderful convention crowded with hundreds of little figures -whose every line carries a meaning. Few can translate the picture- -parable; there are not twenty in all the world who can draw it -surely without a copy: of those who can both draw and expound are -but three. - -'I have a little learned to draw,' said Kim. 'But this is a marvel -beyond marvels.' - -'I have written it for many years,' said the lama. 'Time was when I -could write it all between one lamp-lighting and the next. I will -teach thee the art - after due preparation; and I will show thee the -meaning of the Wheel.' - -'We take the Road, then?' - -'The Road and our Search. I was but waiting for thee. It was made -plain to me in a hundred dreams - notably one that came upon the -night of the day that the Gates of Learning first shut that without -thee I should never find my River. Again and again, as thou knowest, -I put this from me, fearing an illusion. Therefore I would not take -thee with me that day at Lucknow, when we ate the cakes. I would not -take thee till the. time was ripe and auspicious. From the Hills to -the Sea, from the Sea to the Hills have I gone, but it was vain. -Then I remembered the Tataka.' - -He told Kim the story of the elephant with the leg-iron, as he had -told it so often to the Jam priests. - -'Further testimony is not needed,' he ended serenely. 'Thou wast -sent for an aid. That aid removed, my Search came to naught. -Therefore we will go out again together, and our Search sure.' - -'Whither go we?' - -'What matters, Friend of all the World? The Search, I say, is sure. -If need be, the River will break from the ground before us. I -acquired merit when I sent thee to the Gates of Learning, and gave -thee the jewel that is Wisdom. Thou didst return, I saw even now, a -follower of Sakyamuni, the Physician, whose altars are many in -Bhotiyal. It is sufficient. We are together, and all things are as -they were - Friend of all the World -Friend of the Stars - my -chela!' - -Then they talked of matters secular; but it was noticeable that the -lama never demanded any details of life at St Xavier's, nor showed -the faintest curiosity as to the manners and customs of Sahibs. His -mind moved all in the past, and he revived every step of their -wonderful first journey together, rubbing his hands and chuckling, -till it pleased him to curl himself up into the sudden sleep of old -age. - -Kim watched the last dusty sunshine fade out of the court, and -played with his ghost-dagger and rosary. The clamour of Benares, -oldest of all earth's cities awake before the Gods, day and night, - beat round the walls as the sea's roar round a breakwater. Now and -again, a Jain priest crossed the court, with some small offering to -the images, and swept the path about him lest by chance he should -take the life of a living thing. A lamp twinkled, and there followed -the sound of a prayer. Kim watched the stars as they rose one after -another in the still, sticky dark, till he fell asleep at the foot -of the altar. That night he dreamed in Hindustani, with never an -English word... - -'Holy One, there is the child to whom we gave the medicine,' he -said, about three o'clock in the morning, when the lama, also waking -from dreams, would have fared forth on pilgrimage. 'The Jat will be -here at the light.' - -'I am well answered. In my haste I would have done a wrong.' He sat -down on the cushions and returned to his rosary. 'Surely old folk -are as children,' he said pathetically. 'They desire a matter - -behold, it must be done at once, or they fret and weep! Many times -when I was upon the Road I have been ready to stamp with my feet at -the hindrance of an ox-cart in the way, or a mere cloud of dust. -It was not so when I was a man - a long time ago. None the less it -is wrongful -' - -'But thou art indeed old, Holy One.' - -'The thing was done. A Cause was put out into the world, and, old or -young, sick or sound, knowing or unknowing, who can rein in the -effect of that Cause? Does the Wheel hang still if a child spin it - -or a drunkard? Chela, this is a great and a terrible world.' - -'I think it good,' Kim yawned. 'What is there to eat? I have not -eaten since yesterday even.' - -'I had forgotten thy need. Yonder is good Bhotiyal tea and cold -rice.' - -'We cannot walk far on such stuff.' Kim felt all the European's lust -for flesh-meat, which is not accessible in a Jain temple. Yet, -instead of going out at once with the begging-bowl, he stayed his -stomach on slabs of cold rice till the full dawn. It brought the -farmer, voluble, stuttering with gratitude. - -'In the night the fever broke and the sweat came, he cried. 'Feel -here - his skin is fresh and new! He esteemed the salt lozenges, and -took milk with greed.' He drew the cloth from the child's face, and -it smiled sleepily at Kim. A little knot of Jain priests, silent -but all-observant, gathered by the temple door. They knew, and Kim -knew that they knew, how the old lama had met his disciple. Being -courteous folk, they had not obtruded themselves overnight by -presence, word, or gesture. Wherefore Kim repaid them as the sun -rose. - -'Thank the Gods of the Jains, brother,' he said, not knowing how -those Gods were named. 'The fever is indeed broken.' - -'Look! See!' The lama beamed in the background upon his hosts of -three years. 'Was there ever such a chela? He follows our Lord the -Healer.' - -Now the Jains officially recognize all the Gods of the Hindu creed, -as well as the Lingam and the Snake. They wear the Brahminical -thread; they adhere to every claim of Hindu caste-law. But, because -they knew and loved the lama, because he was an old man, because he -sought the Way, because he was their guest, and because he collogued -long of nights with the head-priest - as free-thinking a -metaphysician as ever split one hair into seventy - they murmured -assent. - -'Remember,' - Kim bent over the child -. 'this trouble may come -again. - -'Not if thou hast the proper spell,' said the father. - -'But in a little while we go away.' - -'True,' said the lama to all the Jains. 'We go now together upon the -Search whereof I have often spoken. I waited till my chela was ripe. -Behold him! We go North. Never again shall I look upon this place of -my rest, O people of good will.' - -'But I am not a beggar.' The cultivator rose to his feet, clutching -the child. - -'Be still. Do not trouble the Holy One,' a priest cried. - -'Go,' Kim whispered. 'Meet us again under the big railway bridge, -and for the sake of all the Gods of our Punjab, bring food - curry, -pulse, cakes fried in fat, and sweetmeats. Specially sweetmeats. Be -swift!' - -The pallor of hunger suited Kim very well as he stood, tall and -slim, in his sand-coloured, sweeping robes, one hand on his rosary -and the other in the attitude of benediction, faithfully copied from -the lama. An English observer might have said that he looked rather -like the young saint of a stained-glass window, whereas he was but a -growing lad faint with emptiness. - -Long and formal were the farewells, thrice ended and thrice renewed. - The Seeker - he who had invited the lama to that haven from far- -away Tibet, a silver-faced, hairless ascetic -took no part in it, -but meditated, as always, alone among the images. The others were -very human; pressing small comforts upon the old man - a betel-box, -a fine new iron pencase, a food-bag, and such-like - warning him -against the dangers of the world without, and prophesying a happy -end to the Search. Meantime Kim, lonelier than ever, squatted on the -steps, and swore to himself in the language of St Xavier's. - -'But it is my own fault,' he concluded. 'With Mahbub, I ate Mahbub's -bread, or Lurgan Sahib's. At St Xavier's, three meals a day. Here I -must jolly-well look out for myself. Besides, I am not in good -training. How I could eat a plate of beef now! ... Is it finished, -Holy One?' - -The lama, both hands raised, intoned a final blessing in ornate -Chinese. 'I must lean on thy shoulder,' said he, as the temple gates -closed. 'We grow stiff, I think.' - -The weight of a six-foot man is not light to steady through miles of -crowded streets, and Kim, loaded down with bundles and packages for -the way, was glad to reach the shadow of the railway bridge. - -'Here we eat,' he said resolutely, as the Kamboh, blue-robed and -smiling, hove in sight, a basket in one hand and the child in the -other. - -'Fall to, Holy Ones!' he cried from fifty yards. (They were by the -shoal under the first bridge-span, out of sight of hungry priests.) -'Rice and good curry, cakes all warm and well scented with hing -[asafoetida], curds and sugar. King of my fields,' -this to the -small son - 'let us show these holy men that we Jats of Jullundur -can pay a service . . . I had heard the Jains would eat nothing that -they had not cooked, but truly' - he looked away politely over the -broad river - 'where there is no eye there is no caste.' - -'And we,' said Kim, turning his back and heaping a leafplatter for -the lama, 'are beyond all castes.' - -They gorged themselves on the good food in silence. Nor till he had -licked the last of the sticky sweetstuff from his little finger did -Kim note that the Kamboh too was girt for travel. - -'If our roads lie together,' he said roughly, 'I go with thee. One -does not often find a worker of miracles, and the child is still -weak. But I am not altogether a reed.' He picked up his lathi - a -five-foot male-bamboo ringed with bands of polished iron - and -flourished it in the air. 'The Jats are called quarrel-some, but -that is not true. Except when we are crossed, we are like our own -buffaloes.' - -'So be it,' said Kim. 'A good stick is a good reason.' - -The lama gazed placidly up-stream, where in long, smudged -perspective the ceaseless columns of smoke go up from the burning- -ghats by the river. Now and again, despite all municipal -regulations, the fragment of a half-burned body bobbed by on the -full current. - -'But for thee,' said the Kamboh to Kim, drawing the child into his -hairy breast, 'I might today have gone thither - with this one. The -priests tell us that Benares is holy - which none doubt - and -desirable to die in. But I do not know their Gods, and they ask for -money; and when one has done one worship a shaved-head vows it is of -none effect except one do another. Wash here! Wash there! Pour, -drink, lave, and scatter flowers -but always pay the priests. No, -the Punjab for me, and the soil of the Jullundur-doab for the best -soil in it. - -'I have said many times - in the Temple, I think - that if need be, -the River will open at our feet. We will therefore go North,' said -the lama, rising. 'I remember a pleasant place, set about with -fruit-trees, where one can walk in meditation - and the air is -cooler there. It comes from the Hills and the snow of the Hills.' - -'What is the name?' said Kim. - -'How should I know? Didst thou not - no, that was after the Army -rose out of the earth and took thee away. I abode there in -meditation in a room against the dovecot - except when she talked -eternally.' - -'Oho! the woman from Kulu. That is by Saharunpore.' Kim laughed. - -'How does the spirit move thy master? Does he go afoot, for the sake -of past sins?' the Jat demanded cautiously. 'It is a far cry to -Delhi.' - -'No,' said Kim. 'I will beg a tikkut for the te-rain.' One does not -own to the possession of money in India. - -'Then, in the name of the Gods, let us take the fire-carriage. My -son is best in his mother's arms. The Government has brought on us -many taxes, but it gives us one good thing - the te-rain that joins -friends and unites the anxious. A wonderful matter is the te-rain.' - -They all piled into it a couple of hours later, and slept through -the heat of the day. The Kamboh plied Kim with ten thousand -questions as to the lama's walk and work in life, and received some -curious answers. Kim was content to be where he was, to look out -upon the flat North-Western landscape, and to talk to the -changing mob of fellow-passengers. Even today, tickets and ticket- -clipping are dark oppression to Indian rustics. They do not -understand why, when they have paid for a magic piece of paper, -strangers should punch great pieces out of the charm. So, long and -furious are the debates between travellers and Eurasian ticket- -collectors. Kim assisted at two or three with grave advice, meant to -darken counsel and to show off his wisdom before the lama and the -admiring Kamboh. But at Somna Road the Fates sent him a matter to -think upon. There tumbled into the compartment, as the train was -moving off, a mean, lean little person - a Mahratta, so far as Kim -could judge by the cock of the tight turban. His face was cut, his -muslin upper-garment was badly torn, and one leg was bandaged. He -told them that a country-cart had upset and nearlv slain him: he -was going to Delhi, where his son lived. Kim watched him closely. -If, as he asserted, he had been rolled over and over on the earth, -there should have been signs of gravel-rash on the skin. But all his -injuries seemed clean cuts, and a mere fall from a cart could not -cast a man into such extremity of terror. As, with shaking fingers, -he knotted up the torn cloth about his neck he laid bare an amulet -of the kind called a keeper-up of the heart. Now, amulets are common -enough, but they are not generally strung on square-plaited copper -wire, and still fewer amulets bear black enamel on silver. There -were none except the Kamboh and the lama in the compartment, which, -luckily, was of an old type with solid ends. Kim made as to scratch -in his bosom, and thereby lifted his own amulet. The Mahratta's face -changed altogether at the sight, and he disposed the amulet fairly on -his breast. - -'Yes,' he went on to the Kamboh, 'I was in haste, and the cart, -driven by a bastard, bound its wheel in a water-cut, and besides the -harm done to me there was lost a full dish of tarkeean. I was not a -Son of the Charm [a lucky man] that day.' - -'That was a great loss,' said the Kamboh, withdrawing interest. His -experience of Benares had made him suspicious. - -'Who cooked it?' said Kim. - -'A woman.' The Mahratta raised his eyes. - -'But all women can cook tarkeean,' said the Kamboh. 'It is a good -curry, as I know.' - -'Oh yes, it is a good curry,' said the Mahratta. - -'And cheap,' said Kim. 'But what about caste?' - -'Oh, there is no caste where men go to - look for tarkeean,' the -Mahratta replied, in the prescribed cadence. 'Of whose service art -thou?' - -'Of the service of this Holy One.' Kim pointed to the happy, drowsy -lama, who woke with a jerk at the well-loved word. - -'Ah, he was sent from Heaven to aid me. He is called the Friend of -all the World. He is also called the Friend of the Stars. He walks -as a physician - his time being ripe. Great is his wisdom.' - -'And a Son of the Charm,' said Kim under his breath, as the Kamboh -made haste to prepare a pipe lest the Mahratta should beg. - -'And who is that?' the Mahratta asked, glancing sideways nervously. - -'One whose child I - we have cured, who lies under great debt to us. -Sit by the window, man from Jullundur. Here is a sick one.' - -'Humph! I have no desire to mix with chance-met wastrels. My ears -are not long. I am not a woman wishing to overhear secrets.' The Jat -slid himself heavily into a far corner. - -'Art thou anything of a healer? I am ten leagues deep in calamity,' -cried the Mahratta, picking up the cue. - -'This man is cut and bruised all over. I go about to cure him,' Kim -retorted. 'None interfered between thy babe and me.' - -'I am rebuked,' said the Kamboh meekly. 'I am thy debtor for the -life of my son. Thou art a miracle-worker - I know it.' - -'Show me the cuts.' Kim bent over the Mahratta's neck, his heart -nearly choking him; for this was the Great Game with a vengeance. -'Now, tell thy tale swiftly, brother, while I say a charm.' - -'I come from the South, where my work lay. One of us they slew by -the roadside. Hast thou heard?' Kim shook his head. He, of course, -knew nothing of E's predecessor, slain down South in the habit of an -Arab trader. 'Having found a certain letter which I was sent to -seek, I came away. I escaped from the city and ran to Mhow. So sure -was I that none knew, I did not change my face. At Mhow a woman -brought charge against me of theft of jewellery in that city which I -had left. Then I saw the cry was out against me. I ran from Mhow by -night, bribing the police, who had been bribed to hand me over -without question to my enemies in the South. Then I lay in old -Chitor city a week, a penitent in a temple, but I could not get rid -of the letter which was my charge. I buried it under the Queen's -Stone, at Chitor, in the place known to us all.' - -Kim did not know, but not for worlds would he have broken the -thread. - -'At Chitor, look you, I was all in Kings' country; for Kotah to the -east is beyond the Queen's law, and east again lie Jaipur and -Gwalior. Neither love spies, and there is no justice. I was hunted -like a wet jackal; but I broke through at Bandakui, where I heard -there was a charge against me of murder in the city I had left - of -the murder of a boy. They have both the corpse and the witnesses -waiting.' - -'But cannot the Government protect?' - -'We of the Game are beyond protection. If we die, we die. Our names -are blotted from the book. That is all. At Bandakui, where lives one -of Us, I thought to slip the scent by changing my face, and so made -me a Mahratta. Then I came to Agra, and would have turned back to -Chitor to recover the letter. So sure I was I had slipped them. -Therefore I did not send a tar [telegram] to any one saying where -the letter lay. I wished the credit of it all.' - -Kim nodded. He understood that feeling well. - -'But at Agra, walking in the streets, a man cried a debt against me, -and approaching with many witnesses, would hale me to the courts -then and there. Oh, they are clever in the South! He recognized me -as his agent for cotton. May he burn in Hell for it!' - -'And wast thou?' - -'O fool! I was the man they sought for the matter of the letter! I -ran into the Fleshers' Ward and came out by the House of the Jew, -who feared a riot and pushed me forth. I came afoot to Somna Road - -I had only money for my tikkut to Delhi - and there, while I lay in -a ditch with a fever, one sprang out of the bushes and beat me and -cut me and searched me from head to foot. Within earshot of the te- -rain it was!' - -'Why did he not slay thee out of hand?' - -'They are not so foolish. If I am taken in Delhi at the instance of -lawyers, upon a proven charge of murder, my body is handed over to -the State that desires it. I go back guarded, and then - I die -slowly for an example to the rest of Us. The South is not my -country. I run in circles - like a goat with one eye. I have not -eaten for two days. I am marked' - he touched the filthy bandage on -his leg - 'so that they will know me at Delhi.' - -'Thou art safe in the te-rain, at least.' - -'Live a year at the Great Game and tell me that again! The wires -will be out against me at Delhi, describing every tear and rag upon -me. Twenty - a hundred, if need be - will have seen me slay that -boy. And thou art useless!' - -Kim knew enough of native methods of attack not to doubt that the -case would be deadly complete - even to the corpse. The Mahratta -twitched his fingers with pain from time to time. The Kamboh in his -corner glared sullenly; the lama was busy over his beads; and Kim, -fumbling doctor-fashion at the man's neck, thought out his plan -between invocations. - -'Hast thou a charm to change my shape? Else I am dead. Five - ten -minutes alone, if I had not been so pressed, and I might -' - -'Is he cured yet, miracle-worker?' said the Kamboh jealously. 'Thou -hast chanted long enough.' - -'Nay. There is no cure for his hurts, as I see, except he sit for -three days in the habit of a bairagi.' This is a common penance, -often imposed on a fat trader by his spiritual teacher. - -'One priest always goes about to make another priest,' was the -retort. Like most grossly superstitious folk, the Kamboh could not -keep his tongue from deriding his Church. - -'Will thy son be a priest, then? It is time he took more of my -quinine.' - -'We Jats are all buffaloes,' said the Kamboh, softening anew. - -Kim rubbed a finger-tip of bitterness on the child's trusting little -lips. 'I have asked for nothing,' he said sternly to the father, -'except food. Dost thou grudge me that? I go to heal another man. -Have I thy leave - Prince?' - -Up flew the man's huge paws in supplication. 'Nay - nay. Do not mock -me thus.' - -'It pleases me to cure this sick one. Thou shalt acquire merit by -aiding. What colour ash is there in thy pipe-bowl? White. That is -auspicious. Was there raw turmeric among thy foodstuffs?' - -'I - I -' - -'Open thy bundle!' - -It was the usual collection of small oddments: bits of cloth, quack -medicines, cheap fairings, a clothful of atta - greyish, rough- -ground native flour - twists of down-country tobacco, tawdry pipe- -stems, and a packet of curry-stuff, all wrapped in. a quilt. Kim -turned it over with the air of a wise warlock, muttering a -Mohammedan invocation. - -'This is wisdom I learned from the Sahibs,' he whispered to the -lama; and here, when one thinks of his training at Lurgan's, he -spoke no more than the truth. 'There is a great evil in this man's -fortune, as shown by the Stars, which - which troubles him. Shall I -take it away?' - -'Friend of the Stars, thou hast done well in all things. Let it be -at thy pleasure. Is it another healing?' - -'Quick! Be quick!' gasped the Mahratta. 'The train may stop.' - -'A healing against the shadow of death,' said Kim, mixing the -Kamboh's flour with the mingled charcoal and tobacco ash in the red- -earth bowl of the pipe. E, without a word, slipped off his turban -and shook down his long black hair. - - -'That is my food - priest,' the jat growled. - -'A buffalo in the temple! Hast thou dared to look even thus far?' -said Kim. 'I must do mysteries before fools; but have a care for -thine eyes. Is there a film before them already? I save the babe, -and for return thou - oh, shameless!' The man flinched at the direct -gaze, for Kim was wholly in earnest. - -'Shall I curse thee, or shall I -' He picked up the outer cloth of -the bundle and threw it over the bowed head. 'Dare so much as to -think a wish to see, and - and - even I cannot save thee. Sit! - -Be dumb!' - -'I am blind - dumb. Forbear to curse! Co - come, child; we will -play a game of hiding. Do not, for my sake, look from under the -cloth.' - -'I see hope,' said E23. 'What is thy scheme?' - -'This comes next,' said Kim, plucking the thin body-shirt. E23 -hesitated, with all a North-West man's dislike of baring his body. - -'What is caste to a cut throat?' said Kim, rending it to the waist. -'We must make thee a yellow Saddhu all over. Strip - strip -swiftly, and shake thy hair over thine eyes while I scatter the ash. -Now, a caste-mark on thy forehead.' He drew from his bosom the -little Survey paint-box and a cake of crimson lake. - -'Art thou only a beginner?' said E23, labouring literally for the -dear life, as he slid out of his body-wrappings and stood clear in -the loin-cloth while Kim splashed in a noble caste-mark on the ash- -smeared brow. - -'But two days entered to the Game, brother,' Kim replied. 'Smear -more ash on the bosom.' - -'Hast thou met - a physician of sick pearls?' He switched out his -long, tight-rolled turban-cloth and, with swiftest hands, rolled it -over and under about his loins into the intricate devices of a -Saddhu's cincture. - -'Hah! Dost thou know his touch, then? He was my teacher for a -while. We must bar thy legs. Ash cures wounds. Smear it again.' - -'I was his pride once, but thou art almost better. The Gods are -kind to us! Give me that.' - -It was a tin box of opium pills among the rubbish of the Jat's -bundle. E23 gulped down a half handful. 'They are good against -hunger, fear, and chill. And they make the eyes red too,' he -explained. 'Now I shall have heart to play the Game. We lack only -a Saddhu's tongs. What of the old clothes?' - -Kim rolled them small, and stuffed them into the slack folds of his -tunic. With a yellow-ochre paint cake he smeared the legs and the -breast, great streaks against the background of flour, ash, and -turmeric. - -'The blood on them is enough to hang thee, brother.' - -'Maybe; but no need to throw them out of the window ... It is -finished.' His voice thrilled with a boy's pure delight in the Game. -'Turn and look, O jat!' - -'The Gods protect us,' said the hooded Kamboh, emerging like a -buffalo from the reeds. 'But - whither went the Mahratta? What hast -thou done?' - -Kim had been trained by Lurgan Sahib; E23, by virtue of his -business, was no bad actor. In place of the tremulous, shrinking -trader there lolled against the corner an all but naked, ash- -smeared, ochre-barred, dusty-haired Saddhu, his swollen eyes - opium -takes quick effect on an empty stomach - luminous with insolence and -bestial lust, his legs crossed under him, Kim's brown rosary round -his neck, and a scant yard of worn, flowered chintz on his -shoulders. The child buried his face in his amazed father's arms. - -'Look up, Princeling! We travel with warlocks, but they will not -hurt thee. Oh, do not cry ... What is the sense of curing a child -one day and killing him with fright the next?' - -'The child will be fortunate all his life. He has seen a great -healing. When I was a child I made clay men and horses.' - -'I have made them too. Sir Banas, he comes in the night and makes -them all alive at the back of our kitchen-midden,' piped the child. - -'And so thou art not frightened at anything. Eh, Prince?' - -'I was frightened because my father was frightened. I felt his arms -shake.' - -'Oh, chicken-man!' said Kim, and even the abashed Jat laughed. 'I -have done a healing on this poor trader. He must forsake his gains -and his account-books, and sit by the wayside three nights to -overcome the malignity of his enemies. The Stars are against him.' - -'The fewer money-lenders the better, say I; but, Saddhu or no -Saddhu, he should pay for my stuff on his shoulders.' - -'So? But that is thy child on thy shoulder - given over to the -burning-ghat not two days ago. There remains one thing more. I did -this charm in thy presence because need was great. I changed his -shape and his soul. None the less, if, by any chance, O man from -Jullundur, thou rememberest what thou hast seen, either among the -elders sitting under the village tree, or in thine own house, or in -company of thy priest when he blesses thy cattle, a murrain will -come among the buffaloes, and a fire in thy thatch, and rats in the -corn-bins, and the curse of our Gods upon thy fields that they may -be barren before thy feet and after thy ploughshare.' This was part -of an old curse picked up from a fakir by the Taksali Gate in the -days of Kim's innocence. It lost nothing by repetition. - -'Cease, Holy One! In mercy, cease!' cried the Jat. 'Do not curse -the household. I saw nothing! I heard nothing! I am thy cow!' and -he made to grab at Kim's bare foot beating rhythmically on the -carriage floor. 'But since thou hast been permitted to aid me in the -matter of a pinch of flour and a little opium and such trifles as I -have honoured by using in my art, so will the Gods return a -blessing,' and he gave it at length, to the man's immense relief. It -was one that he had learned from Lurgan Sahib. - -The lama stared through his spectacles as he had not stared at the -business of disguisement. 'Friend of the Stars,' he said at last, -'thou hast acquired great wisdom. Beware that it do not give birth -to pride. No man having the Law before his eyes speaks hastily of -any matter which he has seen or encountered.' - -'No - no - no, indeed,' cried the farmer, fearful lest the master -should be minded to improve on the pupil. E23, with relaxed mouth, -gave himself up to the opium that is meat, tobacco, and medicine to -the spent Asiatic. - -So, in a silence of awe and great miscomprehension, they slid into -Delhi about lamp-lighting time. - - - - - -Chapter 12 - - -Who hath desired the Sea - the sight of salt-water unbounded? -The heave and the halt and the hurl and the crash of the comber -wind-hounded? -The sleek-barrelled swell before storm - grey, foamless, enormous, -and growing? -Stark calm on the lap of the Line - or the crazy-eyed hurricane -blowing? -His Sea in no showing the same - his Sea and the same 'neath all -showing - -His Sea that his being fulfils? -So and no otherwise - so and no otherwise hill-men desire their -Hills! - -The Sea and the Hills. - - - -'I have found my heart again,' said E23, under cover of the -platform's tumult. 'Hunger and fear make men dazed, or I might have -thought of this escape before. I was right. They come to hunt for -me. Thou hast saved my head.' - -A group of yellow-trousered Punjab policemen, headed by a hot and -perspiring young Englishman, parted the crowd about the carriages. -Behind them, inconspicuous as a cat, ambled a small fat person who -looked like a lawyer's tout. - -'See the young Sahib reading from a paper. My description is in his -hand,' said E23. 'Thev go carriage by carriage, like fisher-folk -netting a pool.' - -When the procession reached their compartment, E23 was counting his -beads with a steady jerk of the wrist; while Kim jeered at him for -being so drugged as to have lost the ringed fire-tongs which are the -Saddhu's distinguishing mark. The lama, deep in meditation, stared -straight before him; and the farmer, glancing furtively, gathered up -his belongings. - -'Nothing here but a parcel of holy-bolies,' said the Englishman -aloud, and passed on amid a ripple of uneasiness; for native police -mean extortion to the native all India over. - -'The trouble now, ' whispered E23, 'lies in sending a wire as to the -place where I hid that letter I was sent to find. I cannot go to the -tar-office in this guise.' - -'Is it not enough I have saved thy neck?' - -'Not if the work be left unfinished. Did never the healer of sick -pearls tell thee so? Comes another Sahib! Ah!' - -This was a tallish, sallowish District Superintendent of Police - -belt, helmet, polished spurs and all - strutting and twirling his -dark moustache. - -'What fools are these Police Sahibs!' said Kim genially. - -E23 glanced up under his eyelids. 'It is well said,' he muttered in -a changed voice. 'I go to drink water. Keep my place.' - -He blundered out almost into the Englishman's arms, and was bad- -worded in clumsy Urdu. - -'Tum mut? You drunk? You mustn't bang about as though Delhi -station belonged to you, my friend.' - -E23, not moving a muscle of his countenance, answered with a stream -of the filthiest abuse, at which Kim naturally rejoiced. It reminded -him of the drummer-boys and the barrack- sweepers at Umballa in the -terrible time of his first schooling. - -'My good fool,' the Englishman drawled. 'Nickle-jao! Go back to -your carriage.' - -Step by step, withdrawing deferentially and dropping his voice, the -yellow Saddhu clomb back to the carriage, cursing the D.S.P. to -remotest posterity, by - here Kim almost jumped - by the curse of -the Queen's Stone, by the writing under the Queen's Stone, and by an -assortment of Gods "with wholly, new names. - -'I don't know what you're saving,' - the Englishman flushed angrily -- 'but it's some piece of blasted impertinence. Come out of that!' - -E23, affecting to misunderstand, gravely produced his ticket, which -the Englishman wrenched angrily from his hand. - -'Oh, zoolum! What oppression!' growled the Jat from his corner. -'All for the sake of a jest too.' He had been grinning at the -freedom of the Saddhu's tongue. 'Thy charms do not work well today, -Holy One!' - -The Saddhu followed the policeman, fawning and supplicating. The -ruck of passengers, busy, with their babies andtheir bundles, had -not noticed the affair. Kim slipped outbehind him; for it flashed -through his head that he had heardthis angry, stupid Sahib -discoursing loud personalities to an oldlady near Umballa three -years ago. - -'It is well', the Saddhu whispered, jammed in the calling, -shouting, bewildered press - a Persian greyhound between his feet -and a cageful of yelling hawks under charge of a Rajput falconer in -the small of his back. 'He has gone now to send word of the letter -which I hid. Thev told me he was in Peshawur. I might have known -that he is like the crocodile - always at the other ford. He has -saved me from present calamity, but I owe my life to thee.' - -'Is he also one of Us?' Kim ducked under a Mewar camel-driver's -greasy armpit and cannoned off a covey of jabbering Sikh matrons. - -'Not less than the greatest. We are both fortunate! I will make -report to him of what thou hast done. I am safe under his -protection.' - -He bored through the edge of the crowd besieging the carriages, and -squatted by the bench near the telegraph-office. - -'Return, or they take thy place! Have no fear for the work, brother -- or my life. Thou hast given me breathing-space, and Strickland -Sahib has pulled me to land. We may work together at the Game yet. -Farewell!' - -Kim hurried to his carriage: elated, bewildered, but a little -nettled in that he had no key to the secrets about him. - -'I am only a beginner at the Game, that is sure. I could not have -leaped into safety as did the Saddhu. He knew it was darkest under -the lamp. I could not have thought to tell news under pretence of -cursing ... and how clever was the Sahib! No matter, I savcd the -life of one ... Where is the Kamboh gone, Holy One?' he whispered, -as he took his seat in the now crowded compartment. - -'A fear gripped him,' the lama replied, with a touch of tender -malice. 'He saw thee change the Mahratta to a Saddhu in the -twinkling of an eye, as a protection against evil. That shook him. -Then he saw the Saddhu fall sheer into the hands of the polis - all -the effect of thy art. Then he gathered up his son and fled; for he -said that thou didst change a quiet trader into an impudent bandier -of words with the Sahibs, and he feared a like fate. Where is the -Saddhu?' - -'With the polis,' said Kim . . . 'Yet I saved the Kamboh's child.' - -The lama snuffed blandly. - -'Ah, chela, see how thou art overtaken! Thou didst cure the -Kamboh's child solely to acquire merit. But thou didst put a spell -on the Mahratta with prideful workings - I watched thee - and with -sidelong glances to bewilder an old old man and a foolish farmer: -whence calamity and suspicion.' - -Kim controlled himself with an effort beyond his years. Not more -than any other youngster did he like to eat dirt or to be misjudged, -but he saw himself in a cleft stick. The train rolled out of Delhi -into the night. - -'It is true,' he murmured. 'Where I have offended thee I have done -wrong.' - -'It is more, chela. Thou hast loosed an Act upon the world, and as -a stone thrown into a pool so spread the consequences thou canst not -tell how far.' - -This ignorance was well both for Kim's vanity and for the lama's -peace of mind, when we think that there was then being handed in at -Simla a code-wire reporting the arrival of E23 at Delhi, and, more -important, the whereabouts of a letter he had been commissioned to - -abstract. Incidentally, an over-zealous policeman had arrested, on -charge of murder done in a far southern State, a horribly indignant -Ajmir cotton-broker, who was explaining himself to a Mr Strickland -on Delhi platform, while E23 was paddling through byways into the -locked heart of Delhi city. In two hours several telegrams had -reached the angry minister of a southern State reporting that all -trace of a somewhat bruised Mahratta had been lost; and by the time -the leisurely train halted at Saharunpore the last ripple of the -stone Kim had helped to heave was lapping against the steps of a -mosque in far-away Roum - where it disturbed a pious man at prayers. - -The lama made his in ample form near the dewy bougainvillea-trellis -near the platform, cheered by the clear sunshine and the presence of -his disciple. 'We will put these things behind us,' he said, -indicating the brazen engine and the gleaming track. 'The jolting of -the te-rain - though a wonderful thing - has turned my bones to -water. We will use clean air henceforward.' - -'Let us go to the Kulu woman's house' said Kim, and stepped forth -cheerily under the bundles. Early morning Saharunpore-way is clean -and well scented. He thought of the other mornings at St Xavier's, -and it topped his already thrice-heaped contentment. - -'Where is this new haste born from? Wise men do not run about like -chickens in the sun. We have come hundreds upon hundreds of koss -already, and, till now, I have scarcely been alone with thee an -instant. How canst thou receive instruction all jostled of crowds? -How can I, whelmed by a flux of talk, meditate upon the Way?' - -'Her tongue grows no shorter with the years, then?' the disciple -smiled. - -'Nor her desire for charms. I remember once when I spoke of the -Wheel of Life' - the lama fumbled in his bosom for his latest copy - -'she was only curious about the devils that besiege children. She -shall acquire merit by entertaining us - in a little while - at an -after-occasion - softly, softly. Now we will wander loose-foot, -waiting upon the Chain of Things. The Search is sure.' - -So they travelled very easily across and among the broad bloomful -fruit-gardens - by way of Aminabad, Sahaigunge, Akrola of the Ford, -and little Phulesa - the line of the Siwaliks always to the north, -and behind them again the snows. After long, sweet sleep under the -dry stars came the lordly, leisurely passage through a waking -village - begging-bowl held forth in silence, but eyes roving in -defiance of the Law from sky's edge to sky's edge. Then would Kim -return soft-footed through the soft dust to his master under the -shadow of a mango-tree or the thinner shade of a white Doon siris, -to eat and drink at ease. At mid-day, after talk and a little -wayfaring, they slept; meeting the world refreshed when the air was -cooler. Night found them adventuring into new territory - some -chosen village spied three hours before across the fat land, and -much discussed upon the road. - -There they told their tale - a new one each evening so far as Kim -was concerned - and there were they made welcome, either by priest -or headman, after the custom of the kindly East. - -When the shadows shortened and the lama leaned more heavily upon -Kim, there was always the Wheel of Life to draw forth, to hold flat -under wiped stones, and with a long straw to expound cycle by cycle. -Here sat the Gods on high - and they were dreams of dreams. Here was -our Heaven and the world of the demi-Gods - horsemen fighting among -the hills. Here were the agonies done upon the beasts, souls -ascending or descending the ladder and therefore not to be -interfered with. Here were the Hells, hot and cold, and the abodes -of tormented ghosts. Let the chela study the troubles that come from -over-eating - bloated stomach and burning bowels. Obediently, then, -with bowed head and brown finger alert to follow the pointer, did -the chela study; but when they came to the Human World, busy and -profitless, that is just above the Hells, his mind was distracted; -for by the roadside trundled the very Wheel itself, eating, -drinking, trading, marrying, and quarrelling - all warmly alive. -Often the lama made the living pictures the matter of his text, -bidding Kim - too ready - note how the flesh takes a thousand -shapes, desirable or detestable as men reckon, but in truth of no -account either way; and how the stupid spirit, bond-slave to the -Hog, the Dove, and the Serpent - lusting after betel-nut, a new yoke -of oxen, women, or the favour of kings - is bound to follow the body -through all the Heavens and all the Hells, and strictly round again. -Sometimes a woman or a poor man, watching the ritual - it was -nothing less - when the great yellow chart was unfolded, would throw -a few flowers or a handful of cowries upon its edge. It sufficed -these humble ones that they had met a Holy One who might be moved to -remember them in his prayers. - -'Cure them if they are sick,' said the lama, when Kim's sporting -instincts woke. 'Cure them if they have fever, but by no means work -charms. Remember what befell the Mahratta.' - -'Then all Doing is evil?' Kim replied, lying out under a big tree at -the fork of the Doon road, watching the little ants run over his -hand. - -'To abstain from action is well - except to acquire merit.' - -'At the Gates of Learning we were taught that to abstain from action -was unbefitting a Sahib. And I am a Sahib.' - -'Friend of all the World,' - the lama looked directly at Kim - 'I am -an old man - pleased with shows as are children. To those who -follow the Way there is neither black nor white, Hind nor Bhotiyal. -We be all souls seeking escape. No matter what thy wisdom learned -among Sahibs, when we come to my River thou wilt be freed from all -illusion - at my side. Hai! My bones ache for that River, as they -ached in the te-rain; but my spirit sits above my bones, waiting. -The Search is sure!' - -'I am answered. Is it permitted to ask a question?' - -The lama inclined his stately head. - -'I ate thy bread for three years - as thou knowest. Holy One, -whence came -?' - -'There is much wealth, as men count it, in Bhotiyal,' the lama -returned with composure. 'In my own place I have the illusion of -honour. I ask for that I need. I am not concerned with the account. -That is for my monastery. Ai! The black high seats in the -monastery, and novices all in order!' - -And he told stories, tracing with a finger in the dust, of the -immense and sumptuous ritual of avalanche-guarded cathedrals; of -processions and devil-dances; of the changing of monks and nuns into -swine; of holy cities fifteen thousand feet in the air; of intrigue -between monastery and monastery; of voices among the hills, and of -that mysterious mirage that dances on dry snow. He spoke even of -Lhassa and of the Dalai Lama, whom he had seen and adored. - -Each long, perfect day rose behind Kim for a barrier to cut him off -from his race and his mother-tongue. He slipped back to thinking -and dreaming in the vernacular, and mechanically followed the lama's -ceremonial observances at eating, drinking, and the like. The old -man's mind turned more and more to his monastery as his eyes turned -to the steadfast snows. His River troubled him nothing. Now and -again, indeed, he would gaze long and long at a tuft or a twig, -expecting, he said, the earth to cleave and deliver its blessing; -but he was content to be with his disciple, at ease in the temperate -wind that comes down from the Doon. This was not Ceylon, nor Buddh -Gaya, nor Bombay, nor some grass-tangled ruins that he seemed to -have stumbled upon two years ago. He spoke of those places as a -scholar removed from vanity, as a Seeker walking in humility, as an -old man, wise and temperate, illumining knowledge with brilliant -insight. Bit by bit, disconnectedly, each tale called up by some -wayside thing, he spoke of all his wanderings up and down Hind; till -Kim, who had loved him without reason, now loved him for fifty good -reasons. So they enjoyed themselves in high felicity, abstaining, -as the Rule demands, from evil words, covetous desires; not over- -eating, not lying on high beds, nor wearing rich clothes. Their -stomachs told them the time, and the people brought them their food, -as the saying is. They were lords of the villages of Aminabad, -Sahaigunge, Akrola of the Ford, and little Phulesa, where Kim gave -the soulless woman a blessing. - -But news travels fast in India, and too soon shuffled across the -crop-land, bearing a basket of fruits with a box of Kabul grapes and -gilt oranges, a white-whiskered servitor - a lean, dry Oorya - -begging them to bring the honour of their presence to his mistress, -distressed in her mind that the lama had neglected her so long. - -'Now do I remember' - the lama spoke as though it were a wholly new -proposition. 'She is virtuous, but an inordinate talker.' - -Kim was sitting on the edge of a cow's manger, telling stories to a -village smith's children. - -'She will only ask for another son for her daughter. I have not -forgotten her,' he said. 'Let her acquire merit. Send word that we -will come.' - -They covered eleven miles through the fields in two days, and were -overwhelmed with attentions at the end; for the old lady held a fine -tradition of hospitality, to which she forced her son-in-law, who -was under the thumb of his women-folk and bought peace by borrowing -of the money-lender. Age had not weakened her tongue or her memory, -and from a discreetly barred upper window, in the hearing of not -less than a dozen servants, she paid Kim compliments that would have -flung European audiences into unclean dismay. - -'But thou art still the shameless beggar-brat of the parao,' she -shrilled. 'I have not forgotten thee. Wash ye and eat. The father of -my daughter's son is gone away awhile. So we poor women are dumb and -useless.' - -For proof, she harangued the entire household unsparingly till food -and drink were brought; and in the evening - the smoke-scented -evening, copper-dun and turquoise across the fields - it pleased her -to order her palanquin to be set down in the untidy forecourt by -smoky torchlight; and there, behind not too closely drawn curtains, -she gossiped. - -'Had the Holy One come alone, I should have received him otherwise; -but with this rogue, who can be too careful?' - -'Maharanee,' said Kim, choosing as always the amplest title, 'is it -my fault that none other than a Sahib - a polis-Sahib - called the -Maharanee whose face he -' 'Chutt! That was on the pilgrimage. -When we travel - thou knowest the proverb.' - -'Called the Maharanee a Breaker of Hearts and a Dispenser of -Delights?' - -'To remember that! It was true. So he did. That was in the time of -the bloom of my beauty.' She chuckled like a contented parrot above -the sugar lump. 'Now tell me of thy goings and comings - as much as -may be without shame. How many maids, and whose wives, hang upon -thine eyelashes? Ye hail from Benares? I would have gone there again -this year, but my daughter - we have only two sons. Phaii! Such is -the effect of these low plains. Now in Kulu men are elephants. But I -would ask thy Holy One - stand aside, rogue - a charm against most -lamentable windy colics that in mango-time overtake my daughter's -eldest. Two years back he gave me a powerful spell.' - -'Oh, Holy One!' said Kim, bubbling with mirth at the lama's rueful -face. - -'It is true. I gave her one against wind.' - -'Teeth - teeth - teeth, ' snapped the old woman. - -"'Cure them if they are sick,"' Kim quoted relishingly, "'but by no -means work charms. Remember what befell the Mahratta."' - -'That was two Rains ago; she wearied me with her continual -importunity.' The lama groaned as the Unjust judge had groaned -before him. 'Thus it comes - take note, my chela - that even those -who would follow the Way are thrust aside by idle women. Three days -through, when the child was sick, she talked to me.' - -'Arre! and to whom else should I talk? The boy's mother knew -nothing, and the father - in the nights of the cold weather it was - -"Pray to the Gods," said he, forsooth, and turning over, snored!' - -'I gave her the charm. What is an old man to do?' - -"'To abstain from action is well - except to acquire merit."' - -'Ah chela, if thou desertest me, I am all alone.' - -'He found his milk-teeth easily at any rate,' said the old lady. -'But all priests are alike.' - -Kim coughed severely. Being young, he did not approve of her -flippancy. 'To importune the wise out of season is to invite -calamitv.' - -'There is a talking mynah' - the thrust came back with the well- -remembered snap of the jewelled fore-finger - 'over the stables -which has picked up the very tone of the family priest. Maybe I -forget honour to my guests, but if ye had seen him double his fists -into his belly, which was like a half-grown gourd, and cry: "Here is -the pain!" ye would forgive. I am half minded to take the hakim's -medicine. He sells it cheap, and certainly it makes him fat as -Shiv's own bull. He does not deny remedies, but I doubted for the -child because of the in-auspicious colour of the bottles.' - -The lama, under cover of the monologue, had faded out into the -darkness towards the room prepared. - -'Thou hast angered him, belike,' said Kim. - -'Not he. He is wearied, and I forgot, being a grandmother. (None -but a grandmother should ever oversee a child. Mothers are only fit -for bearing.) Tomorrow, when he sees how my daughter's son is grown, -he will write the charm. Then, too, he can judge of the new hakim's -drugs.' - -'Who is the hakim, Maharanee?' - -'A wanderer, as thou art, but a most sober Bengali from Dacca - a -master of medicine. He relieved me of an oppression after meat by -means of a small pill that wrought like a devil unchained. He -travels about now, vending preparations of great value. He has even -papers, printed in Angrezi, telling what things he has done for -weak-backed men and slack women. He has been here four days; but -hearing ye were coming (hakims and priests are snake and tiger the -world over) he has, as I take it, gone to cover.' - -While she drew breath after this volley, the ancient servant, -sitting unrebuked on the edge of the torchlight, muttered: 'This -house is a cattle-pound, as it were, for all charlatans and - -priests. Let the boy stop eating mangoes ... but who can argue with -a grandmother?' He raised his voice respectfully: 'Sahiba, the hakim -sleeps after his meat. He is in the quarters behind the dovecote' - -Kim bristled like an expectant terrier. To outface and down- talk a -Calcutta-taught Bengali, a voluble Dacca drug-vendor, would be a -good game. It was not seemly that the lama, and incidentally -himself, should be thrown aside for such an one. He knew those -curious bastard English advertisements at the backs of native -newspapers. St Xavier's boys sometimes brought them in by stealth to -snigger over among their mates; for the language of the grateful -patient recounting his symptoms is most simple and revealing. The -Oorya, not unanxious to play off one parasite against the other, -slunk away towards the dovecote - -'Yes,' said Kim, with measured scorn. 'Their stock-in-trade is a -little coloured water and a very great shamelessness. Their prey are -broken-down kings and overfed Bengalis. Their profit is in children -- who are not born.' The old lady chuckled. 'Do not be envious. -Charms are better, eh? I never gainsaid it. See that thy Holy One -writes me a good amulet by the morning.' - -'None but the ignorant deny' - a thick, heavy voice boomed through -the darkness, as a figure came to rest squatting - 'None but the -ignorant deny the value of charms. None but the ignorant deny the -value of medicines.' - -'A rat found a piece of turmeric. Said he: "I will open a grocer's -shop,"' Kim retorted. - -Battle was fairly joined now, and they heard the old lady stiffen to -attention. - -'The priest's son knows the names of his nurse and three Gods. Says -he: "Hear me, or I will curse you by the three million Great Ones."' -Decidedly this invisible had an arrow or two in his quiver. He went -on: 'I am but a teacher of the alphabet. I have learned all the -wisdom of the Sahibs.' - -'The Sahibs never grow old. They dance and they play like children -when they are grandfathers. A strong-backed breed,' piped the voice -inside the palanquin. - -'I have, too, our drugs which loosen humours of the head in hot and -angry men. Sina well compounded when the moon stands in the proper -House; yellow earths I have - arplan from China that makes a man -renew his youth and astonish his household; saffron from Kashmir, -and the best salep of Kabul. Many people have died before -' - -'That I surely believe,' said Kim. - -'They knew the value of my drugs. I do not give my sick the mere -ink in which a charm is written, but hot and rending drugs which -descend and wrestle with the evil.' - -'Very mightily they do so,' sighed the old lady. - -The voice launched into an immense tale of misfortune and -bankruptcy, studded with plentiful petitions to the Government. 'But -for my fate, which overrules all, I had been now in Government -employ. I bear a degree from the great school at Calcutta - whither, -maybe, the son of this House shall go.' - -'He shall indeed. If our neighbour's brat can in a few years be -made an F A' (First Arts - she used the English word, of which she -had heard so often), 'how much more shall children clever as some -that I know bear away prizes at rich Calcutta.' - -'Never,' said the voice, 'have I seen such a child! Born in an -auspicious hour, and - but for that colic which, alas! turning into -black cholers, may carry him off like a pigeon - destined to many -years, he is enviable.' - -'Hai mai!' said the old lady. 'To praise children is inauspicious, -or I could listen to this talk. But the back of the house is -unguarded, and even in this soft air men think themselves to be men, -and women we know ... The child's father is away too, and I must be -chowkedar [watchman] in my old age. Up! Up! Take up the palanquin. -Let the hakim and the young priest settle between them whether -charms or medicine most avail. Ho! worthless people, fetch tobacco -for the guests, and - round the homestead go I!' - -The palanquin reeled off, followed by straggling torches and a horde -of dogs. Twenty villages knew the Sahiba - her failings, her tongue, -and her large charity. Twenty villages cheated her after immemorial -custom, but no man would have stolen or robbed within her -jurisdiction for any gift under heaven. None the less, she made -great parade of her formal inspections, the riot of which could be -heard half-way to Mussoorie. - -Kim relaxed, as one augur must when he meets another. The hakim, -still squatting, slid over his hookah with a friendly foot, and Kim -pulled at the good weed. The hangers-on expected grave professional -debate, and perhaps a little free doctoring. - -'To discuss medicine before the ignorant is of one piece with -teaching the peacock to sing,' said the hakim. - -'True courtesy,' Kim echoed, 'is very often inattention.' - -These, be it understood, were company-manners, designed to impress. - -'Hi! I have an ulcer on my leg,' cried a scullion. 'Look at it!' - -'Get hence! Remove!' said the hakim. 'Is it the habit of the place -to pester honoured guests? Ye crowd in like buffaloes.' - -'If the Sahiba knew -' Kim began. - -'Ai! Ai! Come away. They are meat for our mistress. When her young -Shaitan's colics are cured perhaps we poor people may be suffered to --' - -'The mistress fed thy wife when thou wast in jail for breaking the -money-lender's head. Who speaks against her?' The old servitor -curled his white moustaches savagely in the young moonlight. 'I am -responsible for the honour of this house. Go!' and he drove the -underlings before him. - -Said the hakim, hardly more than shaping the words with his lips: -'How do you do, Mister O'Hara? I am jolly glad to see you again.' - -Kim's hand clenched about the pipe-stem. Anywhere on the open road, -perhaps, he would not have been astonished; but here, in this quiet -backwater of life, he was not prepared for Hurree Babu. It annoyed -him, too, that he had been hoodwinked. - -'Ah ha! I told you at Lucknow - resurgam - I shall rise again and -you shall not know me. How much did you bet - eh?' - -He chewed leisurely upon a few cardamom seeds, but he breathed -uneasily. - -'But why come here, Babuji?' - -'Ah! Thatt is the question, as Shakespeare hath it. I come to -congratulate you on your extraordinary effeecient performance at -Delhi. Oah! I tell you we are all proud of you. It was verree -neat and handy. Our mutual friend, he is old friend of mine. He has -been in some dam'-tight places. Now he will be in some more. He -told me; I tell Mr Lurgan; and he is pleased you graduate so nicely. -All the Department is pleased.' - -For the first time in his life, Kim thrilled to the clean pride (it -can be a deadly pitfall, none the less) of Departmental praise - -ensnaring praise from an equal of work appreciated by fellow- -workers. Earth has nothing on the same plane to compare with it. -But, cried the Oriental in him, Babus do not travel far to retail -compliments. - -'Tell thy tale, Babu,' he said authoritatively. - -'Oah, it is nothing. Onlee I was at Simla when the wire came in -about what our mutual friend said he had hidden, and old Creighton - -' He looked to see how Kim would take this piece of audacity. - -'The Colonel Sahib,' the boy from St Xavier's corrected. 'Of -course. He found me at a loose string, and I had to go down to -Chitor to find that beastly letter. I do not like the South - too -much railway travel; but I drew good travelling allowance. Ha! Ha! I -meet our mutual at Delhi on the way back. He lies quiett just now, -and says Saddhu-disguise suits him to the ground. Well, there I -hear what you have done so well, so quickly, upon the instantaneous -spur of the moment. I tell our mutual you take the bally bun, by -Jove! It was splendid. I come to tell you so.' - -'Umm!' - -The frogs were busy in the ditches, and the moon slid to her -setting. Some happy servant had gone out to commune with the night -and to beat upon a drum. Kim's next sentence was in the vernacular. - -'How didst thou follow us?' - -'Oah. Thatt was nothing. I know from our mutual friend you go to -Saharunpore. So I come on. Red Lamas are not inconspicuous persons. -I buy myself my drug-box, and I am very good doctor really. I go to -Akrola of the Ford, and hear all about you, and I talk here and talk -there. All the common people know what you do. I knew when the -hospitable old lady sent the dooli. They have great recollections of -the old lama's visits here. I know old ladies cannot keep their -hands from medicines. So I am a doctor, and - you hear my talk? I -think it is verree good. My word, Mister O'Hara, they know about -you and the lama for fifty miles - the common people. So I come. Do -you mind?' - -'Babuji,' said Kim, looking up at the broad, grinning face, 'I am a -Sahib.' - -'My dear Mister O'Hara - -'And I hope to play the Great Game.' - -'You are subordinate to me departmentally at present.' - -'Then why talk like an ape in a tree? Men do not come after one from -Simla and change their dress, for the sake of a few sweet words. I -am not a child. Talk Hindi and let us get to the yolk of the egg. -Thou art here - speaking not one word of truth in ten. Why art thou -here? Give a straight answer.' - -'That is so verree disconcerting of the Europeans, Mister O'Hara. -you should know a heap better at your time of life.' - -'But I want to know,' said Kim, laughing. 'If it is the Game, I may -help. How can I do anything if you bukh [babble] all round the -shop?' - -Hurree Babu reached for the pipe, and sucked it till it guggled -again. - -'Now I will speak vernacular. You sit tight, Mister O'Hara . . . It -concerns the pedigree of a white stallion.' - -'Still? That was finished long ago.' - -'When everyone is dead the Great Game is finished. Not before. -Listen to me till the end. There were Five Kings who prepared a -sudden war three years ago, when thou wast given the stallion's -pedigree by Mahbub Ali. Upon them, because of that news, and ere -they were ready, fell our Army.' - -'Ay - eight thousand men with guns. I remember that night.' - -'But the war was not pushed. That is the Government custom. The -troops were recalled because the Government believed the Five Kings -were cowed; and it is not cheap to feed men among the high Passes. -HilaS and Bunar - Rajahs with guns - undertook for a price to guard -the Passes against all coming from the North. They protested both -fear and friendship.' He broke off with a giggle into English: "Of -course, I tell you this unoffeecialiv to elucidate political -situation, Mister O'Hara. Offeecially, I am debarred from -criticizing any action of superiors. Now I go on. - This pleased the -Government, anxious to avoid expense, and a bond was made for so -many rupees a month that Hilas and Bunar should guard the Passes as -soon as the State's troops were withdrawn. At that time - it was -after we two met - I, who had been selling tea in Leh, became a -clerk of accounts in the Army. When the troops were withdrawn, I -was left behind to pay the coolies who made new roads in the Hills. -This road-making was part of the bond between Bunar, Hilas, and the -Government.' - -'So? And then?' - -'I tell you, it was jolly-beastly cold up there too, after summer,' -said Hurree Babu confidentially. 'I was afraid these Bunar men would -cut my throat every night for thee pay-chest. My native sepoy-guard, -they laughed at me! By Jove! I was such a fearful man. Nevar mind -thatt. I go on colloquially ... I send word many times that these -two Kings were sold to the North; and Mahbub Ali, who was yet -farther North, amply confirmed it. Nothing was done. Only my feet -were frozen, and a toe dropped off. I sent word that the roads for -which I was paying money to the diggers were being made for the feet -of strangers and enemies.' - -'For?' - -'For the Russians. The thing was an open jest among the coolies. -Then I was called down to tell what I knew by speech of tongue. -Mahbub came South too. See the end! Over the Passes this year after -snow-melting' - he shivered afresh - come two strangers under cover -of shooting wild goats. They bear guns, but they bear also chains -and levels and compasses.' - -'Oho! The thing gets clearer.' - -'They are well received by Hilas and Bunar. They make great -promises; they speak as the mouthpiece of a Kaisar with gifts. Up -the valleys, down the valleys go they, saying, "Here is a place to -build a breastwork; here can ye pitch a fort. Here can ye hold the -road against an army" - the very roads for which I paid out the -rupees monthly. The Government knows', but does nothing. The three -other Kings, who were not paid for guarding the Passes, tell them by -runner of the bad faith of Bunar and Hilas. When all the evil is -done, look you - when these two strangers with the levels and the -compasses make the Five Kings to believe that a great army will -sweep the Passes tomorrow or the next day - Hill-people are all -fools - comes the order to me, Hurree Babu, "Go North and see what -those strangers do." I say to Creighton Sahib, "This is not a -lawsuit, that we go about to collect evidence."'Hurree returned to -his English with a jerk: "'By Jove," I said, "why the dooce do you -not issue demi-offeecial orders to some brave man to poison them, -for an example? It is, if you permit the observation, most -reprehensible laxity on your part." And Colonel Creighton, he -laughed at me! It is all your beastly English pride. You think no -one dare conspire! That is all tommy-rott.' - -Kim smoked slowly, revolving the business, so far as he understood -it, in his quick mind. - -'Then thou goest forth to follow the strangers?' - -'No. To meet them. They are coming in to Simla to send down their -horns and heads to be dressed at Calcutta. They are exclusively -sporting gentlemen, and they are allowed special faceelities by the -Government. Of course, we always do that. It is our British pride.' - -'Then what is to fear from them?' - -'By Jove, they are not black people. I can do all sorts of things -with black people, of course. They are Russians, and highly -unscrupulous people. I - I do not want to consort with them without -a witness.' - -'Will they kill thee?' - -'Oah, thatt is nothing. I am good enough Herbert Spencerian, I -trust, to meet little thing like death, which is all in my fate, you -know. But - but they may beat me.' - -'Why?' - -Hurree Babu snapped his fingers with irritation. 'Of course I shall -affeeliate myself to their camp in supernumerary capacity as perhaps -interpreter, or person mentally impotent and hungree, or some such -thing. And then I must pick up what I can, I suppose. That is as -easy for me as playing Mister Doctor to the old lady. Onlee - onlee -- you see, Mister O'Hara, I am unfortunately Asiatic, which is -serious detriment in some respects. And all-so I am Bengali - a -fearful man.' - -'God made the Hare and the Bengali. What shame?' said Kim, quoting -the proverb. - -'It was process of Evolution, I think, from Primal Necessity, but -the fact remains in all the cui bono. I am, oh, awfully fearful! - I -remember once they wanted to cut off my head on the road to Lhassa. -(No, I have never reached to Lhassa.) I sat down and cried, Mister -O'Hara, anticipating Chinese tortures. I do not suppose these two -gentlemen will torture me, but I like to provide for possible -contingency with European assistance in emergency.' He coughed and -spat out the cardamoms. 'It is purely unoffeecial indent, to which -you can say "No, Babu". If you have no pressing engagement with your -old man - perhaps you might divert him; perhaps I can seduce his -fancies - I should like you to keep in Departmental touch with me -till I find those sporting coves. I have great opeenion of you -since I met my friend at Delhi. And also I will embody your name in -my offeecial report when matter is finally adjudicated. It will be -a great feather in your cap. That is why I come really. - -'Humph! The end of the tale, I think, is true; but what of the -fore-part?' - -'About the Five Kings? Oah! there is ever so much truth in it. A -lots more than you would suppose,' said Hurree earnestly. 'You come -- eh? I go from here straight into the Doon. It is verree verdant -and painted meads. I shall go to Mussoorie to good old Munsoorie -Pahar, as the gentlemen and ladies say. Then by Rampur into Chini. -That is the only way they can come. I do not like waiting in the -cold, but we must wait for them. I want to walk with them to Simla. -You see, one Russian is a Frenchman, and I know my French pretty -well. I have friends in Chandernagore.' - -'He would certainly rejoice to see the Hills again,' said Kim -meditatively. 'All his speech these ten days past has been of little -else. If we go together -' - -'Oah! We can be quite strangers on the road, if your lama prefers. I -shall just be four or five miles ahead. There is no hurry for Hurree -- that is an Europe pun, ha! ha! - and you come after. There is -plenty of time; they will plot and survey and map, of course. I -shall go tomorrow, and you the next day, if you choose. Eh? You go -think on it till morning. By Jove, it is near morning now.' He -yawned ponderously, and with never a civil word lumbered off to his -sleeping-place. But Kim slept little, and his thoughts ran in -Hindustani: - -'Well is the Game called great! I was four days a scullion at -Quetta, waiting on the wife of the man whose book I stole. And that -was part of the Great Game! From the South - God knows how far - -came up the Mahratta, playing the Great Game in fear of his life. -Now I shall go far and far into the North playing the Great Game. -Truly, it runs like a shuttle throughout all Hind. And my share and -my joy' - he smiled to the darkness-'I owe to the lama here. Also to -Mahbub Ali - also to Creighton Sahib, but chiefly to the Holy One. -He is right - a great and a wonderful world - and I am Kim - Kim - -Kim - alone - one person - in the middle of it all. But I will see -these strangers with their levels and chains . . .' - -'What was the upshot of last night's babble?' said the lama, after -his orisons - -'There came a strolling seller of drugs - a hanger-on of the -Sahiba's. Him I abolished by arguments and prayers, proving that -our charms are worthier than his coloured waters.' - -'Alas, my charms! Is the virtuous woman still bent upon a new one?' - -'Very strictly.' - -'Then it must be written, or she will deafen me with her clamour.' -He fumbled at his pencase. - -'In the Plains,' said Kim, 'are always too many people. In the -Hills, as I understand, there are fewer.' - -'Oh! the Hills, and the snows upon the Hills.' The lami tore off a -tiny square of paper fit to go in an amulet. 'But what dost thou -know of the Hills?' - -'They are very close.' Kim thrust open the door and looked at the -long, peaceful line of the Himalayas flushed in morning- gold. -'Except in the dress of a Sahib, I have never set foot among them.' - -The lama snuffed the wind wistfully. - -'If we go North,' - Kim put the question to the waking sunrise - -'would not much mid-day heat be avoided by walking among the lower -hills at least? ... Is the charm made, Holy One?' - -'I have written the names of seven silly devils - not one of whom is -worth a grain of dust in the eye. Thus do foolish women drag us -from the Way!' - -Hurree Babu came out from behind the dovecote washing his teeth with -ostentatious ritual. Full-fleshed, heavy-haunched, bull-necked, and -deep-voiced, he did not look like 'a fearful man'. Kim signed -almost imperceptibly that matters were in good train, and when the -morning toilet was over, Hurree Babu, in flowery speech, came to do -honour to the lama. They ate, of course, apart, and afterwards the -old lady, more or less veiled behind a window, returned to the vital -business of green-mango colics in the young. The lama's knowledge of -medicine "was, of course, sympathetic only. He believed that the -dung of a black horse, mixed with sulphur, and carried in a snake- -skin, was a sound remedy for cholera; but the symbolism interested -him far more than the science. Hurree Babu deferred to these views -with enchanting politeness, so that the lama called him a courteous -physician. Hurree Babu replied that he was no more than an inexpert -dabbler in the mysteries; but at least - he thanked the Gods -therefore - he knew when he sat in the presence of a master. He -himself had been taught by the Sahibs, who do not consider expense, -in the lordly halls of Calcutta; but, as he was ever first to -acknowledge, there lay a wisdom behind earthly wisdom - the high and -lonely lore of meditation. Kim looked on with envy. The Hurree Babu -of his knowledge - oily, effusive, and nervous - was gone; gone, -too, was the brazen drug-vendor of overnight. There remained - -polished, polite, attentive - a sober, learned son of experience and -adversity, gathering wisdom from the lama's lips. The old lady -confided to Kim that these rare levels were beyond her. She liked -charms with plenty of ink that one could wash off in water, swallow, -and be done with. Else what was the use of the Gods? She liked men -and women, and she spoke of them - of kinglets she had known in the -past; of her own youth and beauty; of the depredations of leopards -and the eccentricities of love Asiatic; of the incidence of -taxation, rack-renting, funeral ceremonies, her son-in-law (this by -allusion, easy to be followed), the care of the young, and the age's -lack of decency. And Kim, as interested in the life of this world as -she soon to leave it, squatted with his feet under the hem of his -robe, drinking all in, while the lama demolished one after another -every theory of body-curing put forward by Hurree Babu. - -At noon the Babu strapped up his brass-bound drug-box, took his -patent-leather shoes of ceremony in one hand, a gay blue-and-white -umbrella in the other, and set off northwards to the Doon, where, he -said, he was in demand among the lesser kings of those parts. - -'We will go in the cool of the evening, chela,' said the lama. 'That -doctor, learned in physic and courtesy, affirms that the people -among these lower hills are devout, generous, and much in need of a -teacher. In a very short time - so says the hakim - we come to cool -air and the smell of pines.' - -'Ye go to the Hills? And by Kulu road? Oh, thrice happy!' shrilled -the old lady. 'But that I am a little pressed with the care of the -homestead I would take palanquin ... but that would be shameless, -and my reputation would be cracked. Ho! Ho! I know the road - every -march of the road I know. Ye will find charity throughout - it is -not denied to the well-looking. I will give orders for provision. A -servant to set you forth upon your journey? No ... Then I will at -least cook ye good food.' - -'What a woman is the Sahiba!' said the white-bearded Oorya, when a -tumult rose by the kitchen quarters. 'She has never forgotten a -friend: she has never forgotten an enemy in all her years. And her -cookery - wah!' He rubbed his slim stomach. - -There were cakes, there were sweetmeats, there was cold fowl stewed -to rags with rice and prunes - enough to burden Kim like a mule. - -'I am old and useless,' she said. 'None now love me - and none -respect - but there are few to compare with me when I call on the -Gods and squat to my cooking-pots. Come again, O people of good -will. Holy One and disciple, come again. The room is always -prepared; the welcome is always ready ... See the women do not -follow thy chela too openly. I know the women of Kulu. Take heed, -chela, lest he run away when he smells his Hills again ... Hai! Do -not tilt the rice-bag upside down ... Bless the household, Holy One, -and forgive thy servant her stupidities.' - -She wiped her red old eyes on a corner of her veil, and clucked -throatily. - -'Women talk,' said the lama at last, 'but that is a woman's -infirmity. I gave her a charm. She is upon the Wheel and wholly -given over to the shows of this life, but none the less, chela, she -is virtuous, kindly, hospitable - of a whole and zealous heart. Who -shall say she does not acquire merit?' - -'Not I, Holy One,' said Kim, reslinging the bountiful provision on -his shoulders. 'In my mind - behind my eyes - I have tried to -picture such an one altogether freed from the Wheel - desiring -nothing, causing nothing - a nun, as it were' - -'And, O imp?' The lama almost laughed aloud. - -'I cannot make the picture.' - -'Nor I. But there are many, many millions of lives before her. She -will get wisdom a little, it may be, in each one.' - -'And will she forget how to make stews with saffron upon that road?' - -'Thy mind is set on things unworthy. But she has skill. I am -refreshed all over. When we reach the lower hills I shall be yet -stronger. The hakim spoke truly to me this morn when he said a -breath from the snows blows away twenty years from the life of a -man. We will go up into the Hills - the high hills - up to the -sound of snow-waters and the sound of the trees - for a little -while. The hakim said that at any time we may return to the Plains, -for we do no more than skirt the pleasant places. The hakim is full -of learning; but he is in no way proud. I spoke to him - when thou -wast talking to the Sahiba - of a certain dizziness that lays hold -upon the back of my neck in the night, and he said it rose from -excessive heat - to be cured by cool air. Upon consideration, I -marvelled that I had not thought of such a simple remedy.' - -'Didst thou tell him of thy Search?' said Kim, a little jealously. -He preferred to sway the lama by his own speech - not through the -wiles of Hurree Babu. - -'Assuredly. I told him of my dream, and of the manner by which I had -acquired merit by causing thee to be taught wisdom.' - -'Thou didst not say I was a Sahib?' - -'What need? I have told thee many times we be but two souls seeking -escape. He said - and he is just herein - that the River of Healing -will break forth even as I dreamed - at my feet, if need be. Having -found the Way, seest thou, that shall free me from the Wheel, need I -trouble to find a way about the mere fields of earth - which are -illusion? That were senseless. I have my dreams, night upon night -repeated; I have Jataka; and I have thee, Friend of all the World. -It was written in thy horoscope that a Red Bull on a green field - I -have not forgotten - should bring thee to honour. Who but I saw that -prophecy accomplished? Indeed, I was the instrument. Thou shalt find -me my River, being in return the instrument. The Search is sure!' - -He set his ivory-yellow face, serene and untroubled, towards the -beckoning Hills; his shadow shouldering far before him in the dust. - - - - - -Chapter 13 - - -Who hath desired the Sea - the immense and contemptuous surges? -The shudder, the stumble, the swerve ere the star-stabbing bowsprit -merges - -The orderly clouds of the Trades and the ridged roaring -sapphire thereunder - -Unheralded cliff-lurking flaws and the head-sails' low-volleying -thunder? -His Sea in no wonder the same - his Sea and the same in each wonder -- -His Sea that his being fulfils? -So and no otherwise - so and no otherwise hill-men desire their -hills! - -The Sea and the Hills. - - - -'Who goes to the hills goes to his mother.' - -They had crossed the Siwaliks and the half-tropical Doon, left -Mussoorie behind them, and headed north along the narrow hill-roads. -Day after day they struck deeper into the huddled mountains, and day -after day Kim watched the lama return to a man's strength. Among the -terraces of the Doon he had leaned on the boy's shoulder, ready to -profit by wayside halts. Under the great ramp to Mussoorie he drew -himself together as an old hunter faces a well-remembered bank, and -where he should have sunk exhausted swung his long draperies about -him, drew a deep double-lungful of the diamond air, and walked as -only a hillman can. Kim, plains-bred and plains-fed, sweated and -panted astonished. 'This is my country,' said the lama. 'Beside -Such-zen, this is flatter than a rice-field'; and with steady, -driving strokes from the loins he strode upwards. But it was on the -steep downhill marches, three thousand feet in three hours, that he -went utterly away from Kim, whose back ached with holding back, and -whose big toe was nigh cut off by his grass sandal-string. Through -the speckled shadow of the great deodar-forests; through oak -feathered and plumed with ferns; birch, ilex, rhododendron, and -pine, out on to the bare hillsides' slippery sunburnt grass, and -back into the woodlands' coolth again, till oak gave way to bamboo -and palm of the valley, the lama swung untiring. - -Glancing back in the twilight at the huge ridges behind him and the -faint, thin line of the road whereby they had come, he would lay -out, with a hillman's generous breadth of vision, fresh marches for -the morrow; or, halting in the neck of some uplifted pass that gave -on Spiti and Kulu, would stretch out his hands yearningly towards -the high snows of the horizon. In the dawns they flared windy-red -above stark blue, as Kedar- nath and Badrinath - kings of that -wilderness - took the first sunlight. All day long they lay like -molten silver under the sun, and at evening put on their jewels -again. At first they breathed temperately upon the travellers, winds -good to meet when one crawled over some gigantic hog's-back; but in -a few days, at a height of nine or ten thousand feet, those breezes -bit; and Kim kindly allowed a village of hillmen to acquire merit by -giving him a rough blanket-coat. The lama was mildly surprised that -anyone should object to the knife-edged breezes which had cut the -years off his shoulders. - -'These are but the lower hills, chela. There is no cold till we come -to the true Hills.' - -'Air and water are good, and the people are devout enough, but the -food is very bad,' Kim growled; 'and we walk as though we were mad - -or English. It freezes at night, too.' - -'A little, maybe; but only enough to make old bones rejoice in the -sun. We must not always delight in soft beds and rich food.' - -'We might at least keep to the road.' - -Kim had all a plainsman's affection for the well-trodden track, not -six feet wide, that snaked among the mountains; but the lama, being -Tibetan, could not refrain from short cuts over spurs and the rims -of gravel-strewn slopes. As he explained to his limping disciple, a -man bred among mountains can prophesy the course of a mountain-road, -and though low-lying clouds might be a hindrance to a short-cutting -stranger, they made no earthly difference to a thoughtful man. Thus, -after long hours of what would be reckoned very fair mountaineering -in civilized countries, they would pant over a saddle-back, sidle -past a few landslips, and drop through forest at an angle of forty- -five onto the road again. Along their track lay the villages of the -hillfolk - mud and earth huts, timbers now and then rudely carved -with an axe - clinging like swallows' nests against the steeps, -huddled on tiny flats half-way down a three-thousand-foot glissade; -jammed into a corner between cliffs that funnelled and focused every -wandering blast; or, for the sake of summer pasture, cowering down -on a neck that in winter would be ten feet deep in snow. And the -people - the sallow, greasy, duffle- clad people, with short bare -legs and faces almost Esquimaux - would flock out and adore. The -Plains - kindly and gentle - had treated the lama as a holy man -among holy men. But the Hills worshipped him as one in the -confidence of all their devils. Theirs was an almost obliterated -Buddhism, overlaid with a nature-worship fantastic as their own -landscapes, elaborate as the terracing of their tiny fields; but -they recognized the big hat, the clicking rosary, and the rare -Chinese texts for great authority; and they respected the man -beneath the hat. - -'We saw thee come down over the black Breasts of Eua,' said a Betah -who gave them cheese, sour milk, and stone-hard bread one evening. -'We do not use that often - except when calving cows stray in -summer. There is a sudden wind among those stones that casts men -down on the stillest day. But what should such folk care for the -Devil of Eua!' - -Then did Kim, aching in every fibre, dizzy with looking down, -footsore with cramping desperate toes into inadequate crannies, take -joy in the day's march - such joy as a boy of St Xavier's who had -won the quarter-mile on the flat might take in the praises of his -friends. The hills sweated the ghi and sugar suet off his bones; -the dry air, taken sobbingly at the head of cruel passes, firmed and -built out his upper ribs; and the tilted levels put new hard muscles -into calf and thigh. - -They meditated often on the Wheel of Life - the more so since, as -the lama said, they were freed from its visible temptations. Except -the grey eagle and an occasional far-seen bear grubbing and rooting -on the hillside; a vision of a furious painted leopard met at dawn -in a still valley devouring a goat; and now and again a bright- -coloured bird, they were alone with the winds and the grass singing -under the wind. The women of the smoky huts over whose roofs the -two walked as they descended the mountains, were unlovely and -unclean, wives of many husbands, and afflicted with goitre. The men -were woodcutters when they were not farmers - meek, and of an -incredible simplicity. But that suitable discourse might not fail, -Fate sent them, overtaking and overtaken upon the road, the -courteous Dacca physician, who paid for his food in ointments good -for goitre and counsels that restore peace between men and women. He -seemed to know these hills as well as he knew the hill dialects, and -gave the lama the lie of the land towards Ladakh and Tibet. He said -they could return to the Plains at any moment. Meantime, for such as -loved mountains, yonder road might amuse. This was not all revealed -in a breath, but at evening encounters on the stone threshing- -floors, when, patients disposed of, the doctor would smoke and the -lama snuff, while Kim watched the wee cows grazing on the housetops, -or threw his soul after his eyes across the deep blue gulfs between -range and range. And there were talks apart in the dark woods, when -the doctor would seek herbs, and Kim, as budding physician, must -accompany him. - -'You see, Mister O'Hara, I do not know what the deuce-an'- all I -shall do when I find our sporting friends; but if you will kindly -keep within sight of my umbrella, which is fine fixed point for -cadastral survey, I shall feel much better.' - -Kim looked out across the jungle of peaks. 'This is not my country, -hakim. Easier, I think, to find one louse in a bear-skin.' - -'Oah, thatt is my strong points. There is no hurry for Hurree. They -were at Leh not so long ago. They said they had come down from the -Karakorum with their heads and horns and all. I am onlee afraid they -will have sent back all their letters and compromising things from -Leh into Russian territoree. Of course they will walk away as far to -the East as possible - just to show that they were never among the -Western States. You do not know the Hills?' He scratched with a twig -on the earth. 'Look! They should have come in by Srinagar or -Abbottabad. Thatt is their short road - down the river by Bunji and -Astor. But they have made mischief in the West. So' - he drew a -furrow from left to right - 'they march and they march away East to -Leh (ah! it is cold there), and down the Indus to Hanle (I know that -road), and then down, you see, to Bushahr and Chini valley. That is -ascertained by process of elimination, and also by asking questions -from people that I cure so well. Our friends have been a long time -playing about and producing impressions. So they are well known from -far off. You will see me catch them somewhere in Chini valley. -Please keep your eye on the umbrella.' - -It nodded like a wind-blown harebell down the valleys and round the -mountain sides, and in due time the lama and Kim, who steered by -compass, would overhaul it, vending ointments and powders at -eventide. 'We came by such and such a way!' The lama would throw a -careless finger backward at the ridges, and the umbrella would -expend itself in compliments. - -They crossed a snowy pass in cold moonlight, when the lama, mildly -chaffing Kim, went through up to his knees, like a Bactrian camel - -the snow-bred, shag-haired sort that came into the Kashmir Serai. -They dipped across beds of light snow and snow-powdered shale, where -they took refuge from a gale in a camp of Tibetans hurrying down -tiny sheep, each laden with a bag of borax. They came out upon -grassy shoulders still snow-speckled, and through forest, to grass -anew. For all their marchings, Kedarnath and Badrinath were not -impressed; and it was only after days of travel that Kim, uplifted -upon some insignificant ten-thousand-foot hummock, could see that a -shoulder-knot or horn of the two great lords had - ever so slightly -- changed outline. - -At last they entered a world within a world - a valley of leagues -where the high hills were fashioned of a mere rubble and refuse from -off the knees of the mountains. Here one day's march carried them no -farther, it seemed, than a dreamer's clogged pace bears him in a -nightmare. They skirted a shoulder painfully for hours, and, -behold, it was but an outlying boss in an outlying buttress of the -main pile! A rounded meadow revealed itself, when they had reached -it, for a vast tableland running far into the valley. Three days -later, it was a dim fold in the earth to southward. - -'Surely the Gods live here!' said Kim, beaten down by the silence -and the appalling sweep and dispersal of the cloud-shadows after -rain. 'This is no place for men!' - -'Long and long ago,' said the lama, as to himself, 'it was asked of -the Lord whether the world were everlasting. o this the Excellent -One returned no answer ... When I was in Ceylon, a wise Seeker -confirmed that from the gospel which is written in Pali. Certainly, -since we know the way to Freedom, the question were unprofitable, -but - look, and know illusion, chela! These- are the true Hills! -They are like my hills by Suchzen. Never were such hills!' - -Above them, still enormously above them, earth towered away towards -the snow-line, where from east to west across hundreds of miles, -ruled as with a ruler, the last of the bold birches stopped. Above -that, in scarps and blocks upheaved, the rocks strove to fight their -heads above the white smother. Above these again, changeless since -the world's beginning, but changing to every mood of sun and cloud, -lay out the eternal snow. They could see blots and blurs on its face -where storm and wandering wullie-wa got up to dance. Below them, as -they stood, the forest slid away in a sheet of blue-green for mile -upon mile; below the forest was a village in its sprinkle of -terraced fields and steep grazing-grounds. Below the village they -knew, though a thunderstorm worried and growled there for the -moment, a pitch of twelve or fifteen hundred feet gave to the moist -valley where the streams gather that are the mothers of young -Sutluj. - -As usual, the lama had led Kim by cow-track and by-road, far from -the main route along which Hurree Babu, that 'fearful man', had -bucketed three days before through a storm to which nine Englishmen -out of ten would have given full right of way. Hurree was no game- -shot - the snick of a trigger made him change colour - but, as he -himself would have said, he was 'fairly effeecient stalker', and he -had raked the huge valley with a pair of cheap binoculars to some -purpose. Moreover, the white of worn canvas tents against green -carries far. Hurree Babu had seen all he wanted to see when he sat -on the threshing-floor of Ziglaur, twenty miles away as the eagle -flies, and forty by road - that is to say, two small dots which one -day were just below the snow-line, and the next had moved downward -perhaps six inches on the hillside. Once cleaned out and set to the -work, his fat bare legs could cover a surprising amount of ground, -and this was the reason why, while Kim and the lama lay in a leaky -hut at Ziglaur till the storm should be over-past, an oily, wet, but -always smiling Bengali, talking the best of English with the vilest -of phrases, was ingratiating himself with two sodden and rather -rheumatic foreigners. He had arrived, revolving many wild schemes, -on the heels of a thunderstorm which had split a pine over against -their camp, and so convinced a dozen or two forcibly impressed -baggage-coolies the day was inauspicious for farther travel that -with one accord they had thrown down their loads and jibbed. They -were subjects of a Hill Rajah who farmed out their services, as is -the custom, for his private gain; and, to add to their personal -distresses, the strange Sahibs had already threatened them with -rifles. The most of them knew rifles and Sahibs of old: they were -trackers and shikarris of the Northern valleys, keen after bear and -wild goat; but they had never been thus treated in their lives. So -the forest took them to her bosom, and, for all oaths and clamour, -refused to restore. There was no need to feign madness or - the Babu -had thought of another means of securing a welcome. He wrung out his -wet clothes, slipped on his patent-leather shoes, opened the blue- -and-white umbrella, and with mincing gait and a heart beating -against his tonsils appeared as 'agent for His Royal Highness, the -Rajah of Rampur, gentlemen. What can I do for you, please?' - -The gentlemen were delighted. One was visibly French, the other -Russian, but they spoke English not much inferior to the Babu's. -They begged his kind offices. Their native servants had gone sick at -Leh. They had hurried on because they were anxious to bring the -spoils of the chase to Simla ere the skins grew moth-eaten. They -bore a general letter of introduction (the Babu salaamed to it -orientally) to all Government officials. No, they had not met any -other shooting-parties en route. They did for themselves. They had -plenty of supplies. They only wished to push on as soon as might be. -At this he waylaid a cowering hillman among the trees, and after -three minutes' talk and a little silver (one cannot be economical -upon State service, though Hurree's heart bled at the waste) the -eleven coolies and the three hangers-on reappeared. At least the -Babu would be a witness to their oppression. - -'My royal master, he will be much annoyed, but these people are -onlee common people and grossly ignorant. If your honours will -kindly overlook unfortunate affair, I shall be much pleased. In a -little while rain will stop and we can then proceed. You have been -shooting, eh? That is fine performance!' - -He skipped nimbly from one kilta to the next, making pretence to -adjust each conical basket. The Englishman is not, as a rule, -familiar with the Asiatic, but he would not strike across the wrist -a kindly Babu who had accidentally upset a kilta with a red oilskin -top. On the other hand, he would not press drink upon a Babu were -he never so friendly, nor would he invite him to meat. The -strangers did all these things, and asked many questions - about -women mostly - to which Hurree returned gay and unstudied answers. -They gave him a glass of whitish fluid like to gin, and then more; -and in a little time his gravity departed from him. He became -thickly treasonous, and spoke in terms of sweeping indecency of a -Government which had forced upon him a white man's education and -neglected to supply him with a white man's salary. He babbled tales -of oppression and wrong till the tears ran down his cheeks for the -miseries of his land. Then he staggered off, singing love-songs of -Lower Bengal, and collapsed upon a wet tree-trunk. Never was so -unfortunate a product of English rule in India more unhappily thrust -upon aliens. - -'They are all just of that pattern,' said one sportsman to the other -in French. 'When we get into India proper thou wilt see. I should -like to visit his Rajah. One might speak the good word there. It is -possible that he has heard of us and wishes to signify his good- -will.' - -'We have not time. We must get into Simla as soon as may be,' his -companion replied. 'For my own part, I wish our reports had been -sent back from Hilas, or even Leh.' - -'The English post is better and safer. Remember we are given all -facilities - and Name of God! - they give them to us too! Is it -unbelievable stupidity?' - -'It is pride - pride that deserves and will receive punishment.' - -'Yes! To fight a fellow-Continental in our game is something. There -is a risk attached, but these people - bah! It is too easy.' - -'Pride - all pride, my friend.' - -'Now what the deuce is good of Chandernagore being so close to -Calcutta and all,' said Hurree, snoring open-mouthed on the sodden -moss, 'if I cannot understand their French? They talk so -particularly fast! It would have been much better to cut their -beastly throats.' - -When he presented himself again he was racked with a headache - -penitent, and volubly afraid that in his drunkenness he might have -been indiscreet. He loved the British Government - it was the source -of all prosperity and honour, and his master at Rampur held the very -same opinion. Upon this the men began to deride him and to quote -past words, till step by step, with deprecating smirks, oily grins, -and leers of infinite cunning, the poor Babu was beaten out of his -defences and forced to speak - truth. When Lurgan was told the tale -later, he mourned aloud that he could not have been in the place of -the stubborn, inattentive coolies, who with grass mats over their -heads and the raindrops puddling in their footprints, waited on the -wea- ther. All the Sahibs of their acquaintance - rough-clad men -joyously returning year after year to their chosen gullies - had -servants and cooks and orderlies, very often hillmen. These Sahibs -travelled without any retinue. Therefore they were poor Sahibs, and -ignorant; for no Sahib in his senses would follow a Bengali's -advice. But the Bengali, appearing from somewhere, had given them -money, and could make shift with their dialect. Used to -comprehensive ill-treatment from their own colour, they suspected a -trap somewhere, and stood by to run if occasion offered. - -Then through the new-washed air, steaming with delicious earth- -smells, the Babu led the way down the slopes - walking ahead of the -coolies in pride; walking behind the foreigners in humility. His -thoughts were many and various. The least of them would have -interested his companions beyond words. But he was an agreeable -guide, ever keen to point out the beauties of his royal master's -domain. He peopled the hills with anything thev had a mind to slay - -thar, ibex, or markhor, and bear by Elisha's allowance. He -discoursed of botany and ethnology with unimpeachable inaccuracy, -and his store of local legends - he had been a trusted agent of the -State for fifteen years, remember - was inexhaustible. - -'Decidedly this fellow is an original,' said the taller of the two -foreigners. 'He is like the nightmare of a Viennese courier.' - -'He represents in little India in transition - the monstrous -hybridism of East and West,' the Russian replied. 'It is we who can -deal with Orientals.' - -'He has lost his own country and has not acquired any other. But he -has a most complete hatred of his conquerors. Listen. He confided to -me last night,' said the other. - -Under the striped umbrella Hurree Babu was straining ear and brain -to follow the quick-poured French, and keeping both eyes on a kilta -full of maps and documents - an extra-large one with a double red -oil-skin cover. He did not wish to steal anything. He only desired -to know what to steal, and, incidentally, how to get away when he -had stolen it. He thanked all the Gods of Hindustan, and Herbert -Spencer, that there remained some valuables to steal. - -On the second dav the road rose steeply to a grass spur above the -forest; and it was here, about sunset, that they came across an aged -lama - but they called him a bonze - sitting cross-legged above a -mysterious chart held down by stones, which he was explaining to a -young man, evidently a neophyte, of singular, though unwashen, -beauty. The striped umbrella had been sighted half a march away, and -Kim had suggested a halt till it came up to them. - -'Ha!' said Hurree Babu, resourceful as Puss-in-Boots. 'That is -eminent local holy man. Probably subject of my royal master.' - -'What is he doing? It is very curious.' - -'He is expounding holy picture - all hand-worked.' - -The two men stood bareheaded in the wash of the afternoon sunlight -low across the gold-coloured grass. The sullen coolies, glad of the -check, halted and slid down their loads. - -'Look!' said the Frenchman. 'It is like a picture for the birth of a -religion - the first teacher and the first disciple. Is he a -Buddhist?' - -'Of some debased kind,' the other answered. 'There are no true -Buddhists among the Hills. But look at the folds of the drapery. -Look at his eyes - how insolent! Why does this make one feel that we -are so young a people?' The speaker struck passionately at a tall -weed. 'We have nowhere left our mark yet. Nowhere! That, do you -understand, is what disquiets me.' He scowled at the placid face, -and the monumental calm of the pose. - -'Have patience. We shall make your mark together - we and you young -people. Meantime, draw his picture.' - -The Babu advanced loftily; his back out of all keeping with his -deferential speech, or his wink towards Kim. - -'Holy One, these be Sahibs. My medicines cured one of a flux, and I -go into Simla to oversee his recovery. They wish to see thy picture --' - -'To heal the sick is always good. This is the Wheel of Life,' said -the lama, 'the same I showed thee in the hut at Ziglaur when the -rain fell.' - -'And to hear thee expound it.' - -The lama's eyes lighted at the prospect of new listeners. 'To -expound the Most Excellent Way is good. Have they any knowledge of -Hindi, such as had the Keeper of Images?' - -'A little, maybe.' - -Hereat, simply as a child engrossed with a new game, the lama threw -back his head and began the full-throated invocation of the Doctor -of Divinity ere he opens the full doctrine. The strangers leaned on -their alpenstocks and listened. Kim, squatting humbly, watched the -red sunlight on their faces, and the blend and parting of their long -shadows. They wore un-English leggings and curious girt-in belts -that reminded him hazily of the pictures in a book in St Xavier's -library "The Adventures of a Young Naturalist in Mexico" was its -name. Yes, they looked very like the wonderful M. Sumichrast of that -tale, and very unlike the 'highly unscrupulous folk' of Hurree -Babu's imagining. The coolies, earth-coloured and mute, crouched -reverently some twenty or thirty yards away, and the Babu, the slack -of his thin gear snapping like a marking-flag in the chill breeze, -stood by with an air of happy proprietorship. - -'These are the men,' Hurree whispered, as the ritual went on and the -two whites followed the grass-blade sweeping from Hell to Heaven and -back again. 'All their books are in the large kilta with the reddish -top - books and reports and maps - and I have seen a King's letter -that either Hilas or Bunar has written. They guard it most -carefully. They have sent nothing back from Hilas or Leh. That is -sure.' - -'Who is with them?' - -'Only the beegar-coolies. They have no servants. They are so close -they cook their own food.' - -'But what am I to do?' - -'Wait and see. Only if any chance comes to me thou wilt know where -to seek for the papers.' - -'This were better in Mahbub Ali's hands than a Bengali's,' said Kim -scornfully. - -'There are more ways of getting to a sweetheart than butting down a -wall.' - -'See here the Hell appointed for avarice and greed. Flanked upon the -one side by Desire and on the other by Weariness.' The lama warmed -to his work, and one of the strangers sketched him in the quick- -fading light. - -'That is enough,' the man said at last brusquely. 'I cannot -understand him, but I want that picture. He is a better artist than -I. Ask him if he will sell it.' - -'He says "No, sar,"' the Babu replied. The lama, of course, would no -more have parted with his chart to a casual wayfarer than an -archbishop would pawn the holy vessels of his cathedral. All Tibet -is full of cheap reproductions of the Wheel; but the lama was an -artist, as well as a wealthy Abbot in his own place. - -'Perhaps in three days, or four, or ten, if I perceive that the -Sahib is a Seeker and of good understanding, I may myself draw him -another. But this was used for the initiation of a novice. Tell him -so, hakim.' - -'He wishes it now - for money.' - -The lama shook his head slowly and began to fold up the Wheel. The -Russian, on his side, saw no more than an unclean old man haggling -over a dirty piece of paper. He drew out a handful of rupees, and -snatched half-jestingly at the chart, which tore in the lama's grip. -A low murmur of horror went up from the coolies - some of whom were -Spiti men and, by their lights, good Buddhists. The lama rose at the -insult; his hand went to the heavy iron pencase that is the priest's -weapon, and the Babu danced in agony. - -'Now you see - you see why I wanted witnesses. They are highly -unscrupulous people. Oh, sar! sar! You must not hit holyman!' - -'Chela! He has defiled the Written Word!' - -It was too late. Before Kim could ward him off, the Russian struck -the old man full on the face. Next instant he was rolling over and -over downhill with Kim at his throat. The blow had waked every -unknown Irish devil in the boy's blood, and the sudden fall of his -enemy did the rest. The lama dropped to his knees, half-stunned; the -coolies under their loads fled up the hill as fast as plainsmen run -aross the level. They had seen sacrilege unspeakable, and it behoved -them to get away before the Gods and devils of the hills took -vengeance. The Frenchman ran towards the lama, fumbling at his -revolver with some notion of making him a hostage for his companion. -A shower of cutting stones - hillmen are very straight shots - drove -him away, and a coolie from Ao-chung snatched the lama into the -stampede. All came about as swiftly as the sudden mountain-darkness. - -'They have taken the baggage and all the guns,' yelled the -Frenchman, firing blindly into the twilight. - -'All right, sar! All right! Don't shoot. I go to rescue,' and -Hurree, pounding down the slope, cast himself bodily upon the -delighted and astonished Kim, who was banging his breathless foe's -head against a boulder. - -'Go back to the coolies,' whispered the Babu in his ear. 'They have -the baggage. The papers are in the kilta with the red top, but look -through all. Take their papers, and specially the murasla [King's -letter]. Go! The other man comes!' - -Kim tore uphill. A revolver-bullet rang on a rock by his side, and -he cowered partridge-wise. - -'If you shoot,' shouted Hurree, 'they will descend and annihilate -us. I have rescued the gentleman, sar. This is particularly -dangerous.' - -'By Jove!' Kim was thinking hard in English. 'This is dam'-tight -place, but I think it is self-defence.' He felt in his bosom for -Mahbub's gift, and uncertainly - save for a few practice shots in -the Bikanir desert, he had never used the little gun -pulled the -trigger. - -'What did I say, sar!' The Babu seemed to be in tears. 'Come down -here and assist to resuscitate. We are all up a tree, I tell you.' - -The shots ceased. There was a sound of stumbling feet, and Kim -hurried upward through the gloom, swearing like a cat - or a -country-bred. - -'Did they wound thee, chela?' called the lama above him. - -'No. And thou?' He dived into a clump of stunted firs. - -'Unhurt. Come away. We go with these folk to Shamlegh-under-the- -Snow.' - -'But not before we have done justice,' a voice cried. 'I have got -the Sahibs' guns - all four. Let us go down.' - -'He struck the Holy One - we saw it! Our cattle will be barren- our -wives will cease to bear! The snows will slide upon us as we go home -... Atop of all other oppression too!' - -The little fir-clump filled with clamouring coolies - panic- -stricken, and in their terror capable of anything. The man from -Ao-chung clicked the breech-bolt of his gun impatiently, and made as -to go downhill. - -'Wait a little, Holy One; they cannot go far. Wait till I return,' -said he. - -'It is this person who has suffered wrong,' said the lama, his hand -over his brow. - -'For that very reason,' was the reply. - -'If this person overlooks it, your hands are clean. Moreover, ye -acquire merit by obedience.' - -'Wait, and we will all go to Shamlegh together,' the man insisted. - -For a moment, for just so long as it needs to stuff a cartridge into -a breech-loader, the lama hesitated. Then he rose to his feet, and -laid a finger on the man's shoulder. - -'Hast thou heard? I say there shall be no killing - I who was Abbot -of Such-zen. Is it any lust of thine to be re-born as a rat,or a -snake under the eaves - a worm in the belly of the most mean beast? -Is it thy wish to -' - -The man from Ao-chung fell to his knees, for the voice boomed like a -Tibetan devil-gong. - -'Ai! ai!' cried the Spiti men.'Do not curse us - do not curse him. -It was but his zeal, Holy One! . . . Put down the rifle, fool!' - -'Anger on anger! Evil on evil! There will be no killing. Let the -priest-beaters go in bondage to their own acts. Just and sure is the -Wheel, swerving not a hair! They will be born many times - in -torment.' His head drooped, and he leaned heavily on Kim's shoulder. - -'I have come near to great evil, chela,' he whispered in that dead -hush under the pines. 'I was tempted to loose the bullet; and truly, -in Tibet there would have been a heavy and a slow death for them ... -He struck me across the face ... upon the flesh ...' He slid to the -ground, breathing heavily, and Kim could hear the over-driven heart -bump and check. - -'Have they hurt him to the death?' said the Ao-chung man, while the -others stood mute. - -Kim knelt over the body in deadly fear. 'Nay,' he cried -passionately, 'this is only a weakness.' Then he remembered that he -was a white man, with a white man's camp-fittings at his service. -'Open the kiltas! The Sahibs may have a medicine.' - -'Oho! Then I know it,' said the Ao-chung man with a laugh. 'Not for -five years was I Yankling Sahib's shikarri without knowing that -medicine. I too have tasted it. Behold!' - -He drew from his breast a bottle of cheap whisky - such as is sold -to explorers at Leh - and cleverly forced a little between the -lama's teeth. - -'So I did when Yankling Sahib twisted his foot beyond Astor. Aha! I -have already looked into their baskets - but we will make fair -division at Shamlegh. Give him a little more. It is good medicine. -Feel! His heart goes better now. Lay his head down and rub a little -on the chest. If he had waited quietly while I accounted for the -Sahibs this would never have come. But perhaps the Sahibs may chase -us here. Then it would not be wrong to shoot them with their own -guns, heh?' - -'One is paid, I think, already,' said Kim between his teeth. 'I -kicked him in the groin as we went downhill. Would I had killed -him!' - -'It is well to be brave when one does not live in Rampur,' said one -whose hut lay within a few miles of the Rajah's rickety palace. 'If -we get a bad name among the Sahibs, none will employ us as shikarris -any more.' - -'Oh, but these are not Angrezi Sahibs - not merry-minded men like -Fostum Sahib or Yankling Sahib. They are foreigners - they cannot -speak Angrezi as do Sahibs.' - -Here the lama coughed and sat up, groping for the rosary. - -'There shall be no killing,' he murmured. 'Just is the Wheel! Evil -on evil -' - -'Nay, Holy One. We are all here.' The Ao-chung man timidly patted -his feet. 'Except by thy order, no one shall be slain. Rest awhile. -We will make a little camp here, and later, as the moon rises, we go -to Shamlegh-under-the-Snow.' - -'After a blow, ' said a Spiti man sententiously, 'it is best to -sleep.' - -'There is, as it were, a dizziness at the back of my neck, and a -pinching in it. Let me lay my head on thy lap, chela. I am an old -man, but not free from passion . . . We must think of the Cause of -Things.' - -'Give him a blanket. We dare not light a fire lest the Sahibs see.' - -'Better get away to Shamlegh. None will follow us to Shamlegh.' - -This was the nervous Rampur man. - -'I have been Fostum Sahib's shikarri, and I am Yankling Sahib's -shikarri. I should have been with Yankling Sahib now but for this -cursed beegar [the corvee]. Let two men watch below with the guns -lest the Sahibs do more foolishness. I shall not leave this Holy -One.' - -They sat down a little apart from the lama, and, after listening -awhile, passed round a water-pipe whose receiver was an old Day and -Martin blacking-bottle. The glow of the red charcoal as it went from -hand to hand lit up the narrow, blinking eyes, the high Chinese -cheek-bones, and the bull-throats that melted away into the dark -duffle folds round the shoulders. They looked like kobolds from some -magic mine - gnomes of the hills in conclave. And while they talked, -the voices of the snow-waters round them diminished one by one as -the night- frost choked and clogged the runnels.' - -'How he stood up against us!' said a Spiti man admiring. 'I remember -an old ibex, out Ladakh-way, that Dupont Sahib missed on a shoulder- -shot, seven seasons back, standing up just like him. Dupont Sahib -was a good shikarri.' - -'Not as good as Yankling Sahib.' The Ao-chung man took a pull at the -whisky-bottle and passed it over. 'Now hear me - unless any other -man thinks he knows more.' - -The challenge was not taken up. - -'We go to Shamlegh when the moon rises. There we will fairly divide -the baggage between us. I am content with this new little rifle and -all its cartridges.' - -'Are the bears only bad on thy holding? said a mate, sucking at the -pipe. - -'No; but musk-pods are worth six rupees apiece now, and thy women -can have the canvas of the tents and some of the cooking-gear. We -will do all that at Shamlegh before dawn. Then we all go our ways, -remembering that we have never seen or taken service with these -Sahibs, who may, indeed, say that we have stolen their baggage.' - -'That is well for thee, but what will our Rajah say?' - -'Who is to tell him? Those Sahibs, who cannot speak our talk, or -the Babu, who for his own ends gave us money? Will he lead an army -against us? What evidence will remain? That we do not need we shall -throw on Shamlegh-midden, where no man has yet set foot.' - -'Who is at Shamlegh this summer?' The place was only a grazing centre -of three or four huts. - -'The Woman of Shamlegh. She has no love for Sahibs, as we know. The -others can be pleased with little presents; and here is enough for -us all.' He patted the fat sides of the nearest basket. - -'But - but -' - -'I have said they are not true Sahibs. All their skins and heads -were bought in the bazar at Leh. I know the marks. I showed them to -ye last march.' - -'True. They were all bought skins and heads. Some had even the moth -in them.' - -That was a shrewd argument, and the Ao-chung man knew his fellows. - -'If the worst comes to the worst, I shall tell Yankling Sahib, who -is a man of a merry mind, and he will laugh. We are not doing any -wrong to any Sahibs whom we know. They are priest-beaters. They -frightened us. We fled! Who knows where we dropped the baggage? Do -ye think Yankling Sahib will permit down-country police to wander -all over the hills, disturbing his game? It is a far cry from Simla -to Chini, and farther from Shamlegh to Shamlegh-midden.' - -'So be it, but I carry the big kilta. The basket with the red top -that the Sahibs pack themselves every morning.' - -'Thus it is proved,' said the Shamlegh man adroitly, 'that they are -Sahibs of no account. Who ever heard of Fostum Sahib, or Yankling -Sahib, or even the little Peel Sahib that sits up of nights to shoot -serow - I say, who, ever heard of these Sahibs coming into the hills -without a down-country cook, and a bearer, and - and all manner of -well-paid, high-handed and oppressive folk in their tail? How can -they make trouble? What of the kilta?' - -'Nothing, but that it is full of the Written Word - books and papers -in which they wrote, and strange instruments, as of worship.' - -'Shamlegh-midden will take them all.' - -'True! But how if we insult the Sahibs' Gods thereby! I do not like -to handle the Written Word in that fashion. And their brass idols -are beyond my comprehension. It is no plunder for simple hill-folk.' - -'The old man still sleeps. Hst! We will ask his chela.' The Ao-chung -man refreshed himself, and swelled with pride of leadership. - -'We have here,' he whispered, 'a kilta whose nature we do not know.' - -'But I do,' said Kim cautiously. The lama drew breath in natural, -easy sleep, and Kim had been thinking of Hurree's last words. As a -player of the Great Game, he was disposed just then to reverence the -Babu. 'It is a kilta with a red top full of very wonderful things, -not to be handled by fools.' - -'I said it; I said it,' cried the bearer of that burden. 'Thinkest -thou it will betray us?' - -'Not if it be given to me. I can draw out its magic. Otherwise it -will do great harm.' - -'A priest always takes his share.' Whisky was demoralizing the Ao- -chung man. - -'It is no matter to me.' Kim answered, with the craft of his mother- -country. 'Share it among you, and see what comes!' - -'Not I. I was only jesting. Give the order. There is more than -enough for us all. We go our way from Shamlegh in the dawn.' - -They arranged and re-arranged their artless little plans for another -hour, while Kim shivered with cold and pride. The humour of the -situation tickled the Irish and the Oriental in his soul. Here were -the emissaries of the dread Power of the North, very possibly as -great in their own land as Mahbub or Colonel Creighton, suddenly -smitten helpless. One of them, he privately knew, would be lame for -a time. They had made promises to Kings. Tonight they lay out -somewhere below him, chartless, foodless, tentless, gunless - except -for Hurree Babu, guideless. And this collapse of their Great Game -(Kim wondered to whom they would report it), this panicky bolt into -the night, had come about through no craft of Hurree's or -contrivance of Kim's, but simply, beautifully, and inevitably as the -capture of Mahbub's fakir-friends by the zealous young policeman at - Umballa. - -'They are there - with nothing; and, by Jove, it is cold! I am here -with all their things. Oh, they will be angry! I am sorry for Hurree -Babu.' - -Kim might have saved his pity, for though at that moment the Bengali -suffered acutely in the flesh, his soul was puffed and lofty. A mile -down the hill, on the edge of the pine-forest, two half-frozen men - -one powerfully sick at intervals - were varying mutual -recriminations with the most poignant abuse of the Babu, who seemed -distraught with terror. They demanded a plan of action. He -explained that they were very lucky to be alive; that their coolies, -if not then stalking them, had passed beyond recall; that the Rajah, -his master, was ninety miles away, and, so far from lending them -money and a retinue for the Simla journey, would surely cast them -into prison if he heard that they had hit a priest. He enlarged on -this sin and its consequences till they bade him change the subject. -Their one hope, said he, was unostentatious flight from village to -village till they reached civilization; and, for the hundredth time -dissolved in tears, he demanded of the high stars why the Sahibs -'had beaten holy man'. - -Ten steps would have taken Hurree into the creaking gloom utterly -beyond their reach - to the shelter and food of the nearest village, -where glib-tongued doctors were scarce. But he preferred to endure -cold, belly-pinch, bad words, and occasional blows in the company of -his honoured employers. Crouched against a tree-trunk, he sniffed -dolefully. - -'And have you thought,' said the uninjured man hotly, 'what sort of -spectacle we shall present wandering through these hills among these -aborigines?' - -Hurree Babu had thought of little else for some hours, but the -remark was not to his address. - -'We cannot wander! I can hardly walk,' groaned Kim's victim. - -'Perhaps the holy man will be merciful in loving-kindness, sar, -otherwise -' - -'I promise myself a peculiar pleasure in emptying my revolver into -that young bonze when next we meet,' was the unchristian answer. - -'Revolvers! Vengeance! Bonzes!' Hurree crouched lower. The war was -breaking out afresh. 'Have you no consideration for our loss? The -baggage! The baggage!' He could hear the speaker literally dancing -on the grass. 'Everything we bore! Everything we have secured! Our -gains! Eight months' work! Do you know what that means? "Decidedly -it is we who can deal with Orientals!" Oh, you have done well.' - -They fell to it in several tongues, and Hurree smiled. Kim was with -the kiltas, and in the kiltas lay eight months of good diplomacy. -There was no means of communicating with the boy, but he could be -trusted. For the rest, Hurree could so stage-manage the journey -through the hills that Hilas, Bunar, and four hundred miles of hill- -roads should tell the tale for a generation. Men who cannot control -their own coolies are little respected in the Hills, and the hillman -has a very keen sense of humour. - -'If I had done it myself,' thought Hurree, 'it would not have been -better; and, by Jove, now I think of it, of course I arranged it -myself. How quick I have been! Just when I ran downhill I thought -it! Thee outrage was accidental, but onlee me could have worked it - -ah - for all it was dam'-well worth. Consider the moral effect upon -these ignorant peoples! No treaties - no papers - no written -documents at all - and me to interpret for them. How I shall laugh -with the Colonel! I wish I had their papers also: but you cannot -occupy two places in space simultaneously. Thatt is axiomatic.' - - - - - -Chapter 14 - - -My brother kneels (so saith Kabir) -To stone and brass in heathen wise, -But in my brother's voice I hear -My own unanswered agonies. -His God is as his Fates assign - -His prayer is all the world's - and mine. - -The Prayer. - - -At moonrise the cautious coolies got under way. The lama, refreshed -by his sleep and the spirit, needed no more than Kim's shoulder to -bear him along - a silent, swift-striding man. They held the shale- -sprinkled grass for an hour, swept round the shoulder of an immortal -cliff, and climbed into a new country entirely blocked off from all -sight of Chini valley. A huge pasture-ground ran up fan-shaped to -the living snow. At its base was perhaps half an acre of flat land, -on which stood a few soil and timber huts. Behind them - for, hill- -fashion, they were perched on the edge of all things - the ground -fell sheer two thousand feet to Shamlegh-midden, where never yet man -has set foot. - -The men made no motion to divide the plunder till they had seen the -lama bedded down in the best room of the place, with Kim shampooing -his feet, Mohammedan-fashion. - -'We will send food, ' said the Ao-chung man, 'and the red- topped -kilta. By dawn there will be none to give evidence, one way or the -other. If anything is not needed in the kilta - see here!' - -He pointed through the window - opening into space that was filled -with moonlight reflected from the snow - and threw out an empty -whisky-bottle. - -'No need to listen for the fall. This is the world's end,' he said, -and went out. The lama looked forth, a hand on either sill, with -eyes that shone like yellow opals. From the enormous pit before him -white peaks lifted themselves yearning to the moonlight. The rest -was as the darkness of interstellar space. - -'These,' he said slowly, 'are indeed my Hills. Thus should a man -abide, perched above the world, separated from delights, considering -vast matters.' - -'Yes; if he has a chela to prepare tea for him, and to fold a -blanket for his head, and to chase out calving cows.' - -A smoky lamp burned in a niche, but the full moonlight beat it down; -and by the mixed light, stooping above the food-bag and cups, Kim -moved like a tall ghost. - -'Ai! But now I have let the blood cool, my head still beats and -drums, and there is a cord round the back of my neck.' - -'No wonder. It was a strong blow. May he who dealt it -' - -'But for my own passions there would have been no evil.' - -'What evil? Thou hast saved the Sahibs from the death they deserved -a hundred times.' - -'The lesson is not well learnt, chela.' The lama came to rest on a -folded blanket, as Kim went forward with his evening routine. 'The -blow was but a shadow upon a shadow. Evil in itself - my legs weary -apace these latter days! - it met evil in me anger, rage, and a lust -to return evil. These wrought in my blood, woke tumult in my -stomach, and dazzled my ears.' Here he drank scalding block-tea -ceremonially, taking the hot cup from Kim's hand. 'Had I been -passionless, the evil blow would have done only bodily evil - a -scar, or a bruise - which is illusion. But my mind was not -abstracted, for rushed in straightway a lust to let the Spiti men -kill. In fighting that lust, my soul was torn and wrenched beyond a -thousand blows. Not till I had repeated the Blessings' (he meant the -Buddhist Beatitudes) 'did I achieve calm. But the evil planted in -me by that moment's carelessness works out to its end. Just is the -Wheel, swerving not a hair! Learn the lesson, chela.' - -'It is too high for me,' Kim muttered. 'I am still all shaken. I am -glad I hurt the man.' - -'I felt that, sleeping upon thy knees, in the wood below. It -disquieted me in my dreams - the evil in thy soul working through to -mine. Yet on the other hand' - he loosed his rosary -'I have -acquired merit by saving two lives - the lives of those that wronged -me. Now I must see into the Cause of Things. The boat of my soul -staggers.' - -'Sleep, and be strong. That is wisest.' - -'I meditate. There is a need greater than thou knowest.' - -Till the dawn, hour after hour, as the moonlight paled on the high -peaks, and that which had been belted blackness on the sides of the -far hills showed as tender green forest, the lama stared fixedly at -the wall. From time to time he groaned. Outside the barred door, -where discomfited kine came to ask for their old stable, Shamlegh -and the coolies gave itself up to plunder and riotous living. The -Ao-chung man was their leader, and once they had opened the Sahibs' -tinned foods and found that they were very good they dared not turn -back. Shamlegh kitchen-midden took the dunnage. - -When Kim, after a night of bad dreams, stole forth to brush his -teeth in the morning chill, a fair-coloured woman with turquoise- -studded headgear drew him aside. - -'The others have gone. They left thee this kilta as the promise was. -I do not love Sahibs, but thou wilt make us a charm in return for -it. We do not wish little Shamlegh to get a bad name on account of -the - accident. I am the Woman of Shamlegh.' She looked him over -with bold, bright eyes, unlike the usual furtive glance of -hillwomen. - -'Assuredly. But it must be done in secret.' - -She raised the heavy kilta like a toy and slung it into her own hut. - -'Out and bar the door! Let none come near till it is finished,' -said Kim. - -'But afterwards - we may talk?' - -Kim tilted the kilta on the floor - a cascade of Survey-instruments, -books, diaries, letters, maps, and queerly scented native -correspondence. At the very bottom was an embroidered bag covering a -sealed, gilded, and illuminated document such as one King sends to -another. Kim caught his breath with delight, and reviewed the -situation from a Sahib's point of view. - -'The books I do not want. Besides, they are logarithms - Survey, I -suppose.' He laid them aside. 'The letters I do not understand, but -Colonel Creighton will. They must all be kept. The maps - they draw -better maps than me - of course. All the native letters - oho! - and -particularly the murasla.' He sniffed the embroidered bag. 'That -must be from Hilas or Bunar, and Hurree Babu spoke truth. By Jove! -It is a fine haul. I wish Hurree could know . . . The rest must go -out of the window.' He fingered a superb prismatic compass and the -shiny top of a theodolite. But after all, a Sahib cannot very well -steal, and the things might be inconvenient evidence later. He -sorted out every scrap of manuscript, every map, and the native -letters. They made one softish slab. The three locked ferril-backed - books, with five worn pocket-books, he put aside. - -'The letters and the murasla I must carry inside my coat and under -my belt, and the hand-written books I must put into the food-bag. It -will be very heavy. No. I do not think there is anything more. If -there is, the coolies have thrown it down the khud, so thatt is all -right. Now you go too.' He repacked the kilta with all he meant to -lose, and hove it up on to the windowsill. A thousand feet below lay -a long, lazy, round-shouldered bank of mist, as yet untouched by the -morning sun. A thousand feet below that was a hundred-year-old pine- -forest. He could see the green tops looking like a bed of moss when -a wind-eddy thinned the cloud. - -'No! I don't think any one will go after you!' - -The wheeling basket vomited its contents as it dropped. The -theodolite hit a jutting cliff-ledge and exploded like a shell; the -books, inkstands, paint-boxes, compasses, and rulers showed for a -few seconds like a swarm of bees. Then they vanished; and, though -Kim, hanging half out of the window, strained his young ears, never -a sound came up from the gulf. - -'Five hundred - a thousand rupees could not buy them,' he thought -sorrowfully. 'It was verree wasteful, but I have all their other -stuff - everything they did - I hope. Now how the deuce am I to tell -Hurree Babu, and whatt the deuce am I to do? And my old man is sick. -I must tie up the letters in oilskin. That is something to do first -- else they will get all sweated ... And I am all alone!' He bound -them into a neat packet, swedging down the stiff, sticky oilskin at -the comers, for his roving life had made him as methodical as an old -hunter in matters of the road. Then with double care he packed away -the books at the bottom of the food-bag. - -The woman rapped at the door. - -'But thou hast made no charm,' she said, looking about. - -'There is no need.' Kim had completely overlooked the necessity for -a little patter-talk. The woman laughed at his confusion -irreverently. - -'None - for thee. Thou canst cast a spell by the mere winking of an -eye. But think of us poor people when thou art gone. They were all -too drunk last night to hear a woman. Thou art not drunk?' - -'I am a priest.' Kim had recovered himself, and, the woman being -aught but unlovely, thought best to stand on his office. - -'I warned them that the Sahibs will be angry and will make an -inquisition and a report to the Rajah. There is also the Babu with -them. Clerks have long tongues.' - -'Is that all thy trouble?' The plan rose fully formed in Kim's mind, -and he smiled ravishingly. - -'Not all,' quoth the woman, putting out a hard brown hand all -covered with turquoises set in silver. - -'I can finish that in a breath,' he went on quickly. 'The Babu is -the very hakim (thou hast heard of him?) who was wandering among the -hills by Ziglaur. I know him.' - -'He will tell for the sake of a reward. Sahibs cannot distinguish -one hillman from another, but Babus have eyes for men - and women.' - -'Carry a word to him from me.' - -'There is nothing I would not do for thee.' - -He accepted the compliment calmly, as men must in lands where women -make the love, tore a leaf from a note-book, and with a patent -indelible pencil wrote in gross Shikast - the script that bad little -boys use when they write dirt on walls: 'I have everything that they -have written: their pictures of the country, and many letters. -Especially the murasla. Tell me what to do. I am at Shamlegh-under- -the-Snow. The old man is sick.' - -"Take this to him. It will altogether shut his mouth. He cannot have -gone far.' - -'Indeed no. They are still in the forest across the spur. Our -children went to watch them when the light came, and have cried the -news as they moved.' - -Kim looked his astonishment; but from the edge of the sheep-pasture -floated a shrill, kite-like trill. A child tending cattle had picked -it up from a brother or sister on the far side of the slope that -commanded Chini valley, - -'My husbands are also out there gathering wood.' She drew a handful -of walnuts from her bosom, split one neatly, and began to eat. Kim -affected blank ignorance. - -'Dost thou not know the meaning of the walnut -- priest?' she said -coyly, and handed him the half-shells. - -'Well thought of.' He slipped the piece of paper between them -quickly. 'Hast thou a little wax to close them on this letter?' - -The woman sighed aloud, and Kim relented. - -'There is no payment till service has been rendered. Carry this to -the Babu, and say it was sent by the Son of the Charm.' - -'Al! Truly! Truly! By a magician - who is like a Sahib.' - -'Nay, a Son of the Charm: and ask if there be any answer.' - -'But if he offer a rudeness? I - I am afraid.' - -Kim laughed. 'He is, I have no doubt, very tired and very hungry. -The Hills make cold bedfellows. Hai, my' - it was on the tip of his -tongue to say Mother, but he turned it to Sister -'thou art a wise -and witty woman. By this time all the villages know what has -befallen the Sahibs - eh?' - -'True. News was at Ziglaur by midnight, and by tomorrow should be at -Kotgarh. The villages are both afraid and angry.' - -'No need. Tell the villages to feed the Sahibs and pass them on, in -peace. We must get them quietly away from our valleys. To steal is -one thing - to kill another. The Babu will understand, and there -will be no after-complaints. Be swift. I must tend my master when he -wakes.' - -'So be it. After service - thou hast said? - comes the reward. I am -the Woman of Shamlegh, and I hold from the Rajah. I am no common -bearer of babes. Shamlegh is thine: hoof and horn and hide, milk and -butter. Take or leave.' - -She turned resolutely uphill, her silver necklaces clicking on her -broad breast, to meet the morning sun fifteen hundred feet above -them. This time Kim thought in the vernacular as he waxed down the -oilskin edges of the packets. - -'How can a man follow the Way or the Great Game when he is so-always -pestered by women? There was that girl at Akrola of the Ford; and -there was the scullion's wife behind the dovecot - not counting the -others - and now comes this one! When I was a child it was well -enough, but now I am a man and they will not regard me as a man. -Walnuts, indeed! Ho! ho! It is almonds in the Plains!' - -He went out to levy on the village - not with a begging-bowl, which -might do for down-country, but in the manner of a prince. Shamlegh's -summer population is only three families - four women and eight or -nine men. They were all full of tinned meats and mixed drinks, from -ammoniated quinine to white vodka, for they had taken their full -share in the overnight loot. The neat Continental tents had been cut -up and shared long ago, and there were patent aluminium saucepans -abroad. - -But they considered the lama's presence a perfect safeguard against -all consequences, and impenitently brought Kim of their best - even -to a drink of chang - the barley-beer that comes from Ladakh-way. -Then they thawed out in the sun, and sat with their legs hanging -over infinite abysses, chattering, laughing, and smoking. They -judged India and its Government solely from their experience of -wandering Sahibs who had employed them or their friends as -shikarris. Kim heard tales of shots missed upon ibex, serow, or -markhor, by Sahibs twenty years in their graves - every detail -lighted from behind like twigs on tree-tops seen against lightning. -They told him of their little diseases, and, more important, the -diseases of their tiny, sure-footed cattle; of trips as far as -Kotgarh, where the strange missionaries live, and beyond even to -marvellous Simla, where the streets are paved with silver, and -anyone, look you, can get service with the Sahibs, who ride about in -two-wheeled carts and spend money with a spade. Presently, grave -and aloof, walking very heavily, the lama joined himself to the -chatter under the eaves, and they gave him great room. The thin air -refreshed him, and he sat on the edge of precipices with the best of -them, and, when talk languished, flung pebbles into the void. Thirty -miles away, as the eagle flies, lay the next range, seamed and -channelled and pitted with little patches of brush - forests, each a -day's dark march. Behind the village, Shamlegh hill itself cut off -all view to southward. It was like sitting in a swallow's nest -under the eaves of the roof of the world. - -From time to time the lama stretched out his hand, and with a little -low-voiced prompting would point out the road to Spiti and north -across the Parungla. - -'Beyond, where the hills lie thickest, lies De-ch'en' (he meant -Han-le'), 'the great Monastery. s'Tag-stan-ras-ch'en built it,and of -him there runs this tale.' Whereupon he told it: a fantastic piled -narrative of bewitchment and miracles that set Shamlegh a-gasping. -Turning west a little, he speered for the green hills of Kulu, and -sought Kailung under the glaciers.'For thither came I in the old, -old days. From Leh I came, over the Baralachi.' - -'Yes, yes; we know it,' said the far-faring people of Shamlegh. - -'And I slept two nights with the priests of Kailung. These are the -Hills of my delight! Shadows blessed above all other shadows! There -my eyes opened on this world; there my eyes were opened to this -world; there I found Enlightenment; and there I girt my loins for my -Search. Out of the Hills I came - the high Hills and the strong -winds. Oh, just is the Wheel!' He blessed them in detail - the great -glaciers, the naked rocks, the piled moraines and tumbled shale; dry -upland, hidden salt-lake, age-old timber and fruitful water-shot -valley one after the other, as a dying man blesses his folk; and Kim -marvelled at his passion. - -'Yes - yes. There is no place like our Hills,' said the people of -Shamlegh. And they fell to wondering how a man could live in the hot -terrible Plains where the cattle run as big as elephants, unfit to -plough on a hillside; where village touches village, they had heard, -for a hundred miles; where folk went about stealing in gangs, and -what the robbers spared the Police carried utterly away. - -So the still forenoon wore through, and at the end of it Kim's -messenger dropped from the steep pasture as unbreathed as when she -had set out. - -'I sent a word to the hakim,' Kim explained, while she made -reverence. - -'He joined himself to the idolaters? Nay, I remember he did a -healing upon one of them. He has acquired merit, though the healed -employed his strength for evil. Just is the Wheel! What of the -hakim?' - -'I feared that thou hadst been bruised and - and I knew he was -wise.' Kim took the waxed walnut-shell and read in English on the -back of his note: Your favour received. Cannot get away from present -company at present, but shall take them into Simla. After which, -hope to rejoin you. Inexpedient to follow angry gentlemen. Return by -same road you came, and will overtake. Highly gratified about -correspondence due to my forethought. 'He says, Holy One, that he -will escape from the idolaters, and will return to us. Shall we wait -awhile at Shamlegh, then?' - -The lama looked long and lovingly upon the hills and shook his head. - -'That may not be, chela. From my bones outward I do desire it, but -it is forbidden. I have seen the Cause of Things.' - -'Why? When the Hills give thee back thy strength day by day? -Remember we were weak and fainting down below there in the Doon.' - -'I became strong to do evil and to forget. A brawler and a -swashbuckler upon the hillsides was I.' Kim bit back a smile. 'Just -and perfect is the Wheel, swerving not a hair. When I was a man - a -long time ago - I did pilgrimage to Guru Ch'wan among the poplars' -(he pointed Bhotanwards), 'where they keep the Sacred Horse.' - -'Quiet, be quiet!' said Shamlegh, all arow. 'He speaks of Jam-lin- -nin-k'or, the Horse That Can Go Round The World In a Day.' - -'I speak to my chela only,' said the lama, in gentle reproof, and -they scattered like frost on south eaves of a morning. 'I did not -seek truth in those days, but the talk of doctrine. All illusion! I -drank the beer and ate the bread of Guru Ch'wan. Next day one said: -"We go out to fight Sangor Gutok down the valley to discover" (mark -again how Lust is tied to Anger!) "which Abbot shall bear rule in -the valley and take the profit of the prayers they print at Sangor -Gutok." I went, and we fought a day.' - -'But how, Holy One?' - -'With our long pencases as I could have shown . . . I say, we -fought under the poplars, both Abbots and all the monks, and one -laid open my forehead to the bone. See!' He tilted back his cap and -showed a puckered silvery scar. 'Just and perfect is the Wheel! -Yesterday the scar itched, and after fifty years I recalled how it -was dealt and the face of him who dealt it; dwelling a little in -illusion. Followed that which thou didst see - strife and stupidity. -Just is the Wheel! The idolater's blow fell upon the scar. Then I -was shaken in my soul: my soul was darkened, and the boat of my soul -rocked upon the waters of illusion. Not till I came to Shamlegh -could I meditate upon the Cause of Things, or trace the running -grass-roots of Evil. I strove all the long night.' - -'But', Holy One, thou art innocent of all evil. May I be thy -sacrifice!' - -Kim was genuinely distressed at the old man's sorrow, and Mahbub -Ali's phrase slipped out unawares. - -'In the dawn,' the lama went on more gravely, ready rosary clicking -between the slow sentences, 'came enlightenment. It is here ... I am -an old man . . . hill-bred, hill-fed, never to sit down among my -Hills. Three years I travelled through Hind, but - can earth be -stronger than Mother Earth? My stupid body yearned to the Hills and -the snows of the Hills, from below there. I said, and it is true, -my Search is sure. So, at the Kulu woman's house I turned hillward, -over-persuaded by myself. There is no blame to the hakim. He - -following Desire - foretold that the Hills would make me strong. -They strengthened me to do evil, to forget my Search. I delighted in -life and the lust of life. I desired strong slopes to climb. I cast -about to find them. I measured the strength of my body, which is -evil, against the high Hills, I made a mock of thee when thy breath -came short under Jamnotri. I jested when thou wouldst not face the -snow of the pass.' - -'But what harm? I was afraid. It was just. I am not a hillman; and I -loved thee for thy new strength.' - -'More than once I remember' - he rested his cheek dolefully on his -hand - 'I sought thy praise and the hakim's for the mere strength of -my legs. Thus evil followed evil till the cup was full. Just is the -Wheel! All Hind for three years did me all honour. From the Fountain -of Wisdom in the Wonder House to' - he smiled -'a little child -playing by a big gun - the world prepared my road. And why?' - -'Because we loved thee. It is only the fever of the blow. I myself -am still sick and shaken.' - -'No! It was because I was upon the Way - tuned as are si-nen -[cymbals] to the purpose of the Law. I departed from that ordinance. -The tune was broken: followed the punishment. In my own Hills, on -the edge of my own country, in the very place of my evil desire, -comes the buffet - here!' (He touched his brow.) 'As a novice is -beaten when he misplaces the cups, so am I beaten, who was Abbot of -Such-zen. No word, look you, but a blow, chela.' - -'But the Sahibs did not know thee, Holy One?' - -'We were well matched. Ignorance and Lust met Ignorance and Lust -upon the road, and they begat Anger. The blow was a sign to me, who -am no better than a strayed yak, that my place is not here. Who can -read the Cause of an act is halfway to Freedom! "Back to the path," -says the Blow. "The Hills are not for thee. Thou canst not choose -Freedom and go in bondage to the delight of life."' - -'Would we had never met that cursed Russian!' - -'Our Lord Himself cannot make the Wheel swing backward. And for my -merit that I had acquired I gain yet another sign.' He put his hand -in his bosom, and drew forth the Wheel of Life. 'Look! I considered -this after I had meditated. There remains untorn by the idolater no -more than the breadth of my fingernail.' - -'I see.' - -'So much, then, is the span of my life in this body. I have served -the Wheel all my days. Now the Wheel serves me. But for the merit I -have acquired in guiding thee upon the Way, there would have been -added to me yet another life ere I had found my River. Is it plain, -chela?' - -Kim stared at the brutally disfigured chart. From left to right -diagonally the rent ran - from the Eleventh House where Desire gives -birth to the Child (as it is drawn by Tibetans) - across the human -and animal worlds, to the Fifth House - the empty House of the -Senses. The logic was unanswerable. - -'Before our Lord won Enlightenment' - the lama folded all away with -reverence - 'He was tempted. I too have been tempted, but it is -finished. The Arrow fell in the Plains - not in the Hills. -Therefore, what make we here?' - -'Shall we at least wait for the hakim?' - -'I know how long I shall live in this body. What can a hakim do?' - -'But thou art all sick and shaken. Thou canst not walk.' - -'How can I be sick if I see Freedom?' He rose unsteadily to his -feet. - -'Then I must get food from the village. Oh, the weary Road!' Kim -felt that he too needed rest. - -'That is lawful. Let us eat and go. he Arrow fell in the Plains ... -but I yielded to Desire. Make ready, chela.' - -Kim turned to the woman with the turquoise headgear who had been -idly pitching pebbles over the cliff. She smiled very kindly. - -'I found him like a strayed buffalo in a cornfield - the Babu; -snorting and sneezing with cold. He was so hungry that he forgot his -dignity and gave me sweet words. The Sahibs have nothing.' She flung -out an empty palm. 'One is very sick about the stomach. Thy work?' - -Kim nodded, with a bright eye. - -'I spoke to the Bengali first - and to the people of a near-by -village after. The Sahibs will be given food as they need it - nor -will the people ask money. The plunder is already distributed. The -Babu makes lying speeches to the Sahibs. Why does he not leave -them?' - -'Out of the greatness of his heart.' - -"Was never a Bengali yet had one bigger than a dried walnut. But it -is no matter ... Now as to walnuts. After service comes reward. I -have said the village is thine.' - -'It is my loss,' Kim began. 'Even now I had planned desirable things -in my heart which' - there is no need to go through the compliments -proper to these occasions. He sighed deeply . . . 'But my master, -led by a vision -' - -'Huh! What can old eyes see except a full begging-bowl?' - -'- turns from this village to the Plains again.' - -'Bid him stay.' - -Kim shook his head. 'I know my Holy One, and his rage if he be -crossed,' he replied impressively. 'His curses shake the Hills.' - -'Pity they did not save him from a broken head! I heard that thou -wast the tiger-hearted one who smote the Sahib. Let him dream a -little longer. Stay!' - -'Hillwoman,' said Kim, with austerity that could not harden the -outlines of his young oval face, 'these matters are too high for -thee.' - -'The Gods be good to us! Since when have men and women been other -than men and women?' - -'A priest is a priest. He says he will go upon this hour. I am his -chela, and I go with him. We need food for the Road. He is an -honoured guest in all the villages, but' - he broke into a pure -boy's grin - 'the food here is good. Give me some.' - -'What if I do not give it thee? I am the woman of this village.' - -'Then I curse thee - a little - not greatly, but enough to -remember.' He could not help smiling. - -'Thou hast cursed me already by the down-dropped eyelash and the -uplifted chin. Curses? What should I care for mere words?' She -clenched her hands upon her bosom . . . 'But I would not have thee -to go in anger, thinking hardly of me - a gatherer of cow-dung and -grass at Shamlegh, but still a woman of substance.' - -'I think nothing,' said Kim, 'but that I am grieved to go, for I am -very weary; and that we need food. Here is the bag.' - -The woman snatched it angrily. 'I was foolish,' said she. 'Who is -thy woman in the Plains? Fair or black? I was fair once. Laughest -thou? Once, long ago, if thou canst believe, a Sahib looked on me -with favour. Once, long ago, I wore European clothes at the Mission- -house yonder.' She pointed towards Kotgarh. 'Once, long ago. I was -Ker-lis-ti-an and spoke English - as the Sahibs speak it. Yes. My -Sahib said he would return and wed me - yes, wed me. He went away - -I had nursed him when he was sick - but he never returned. Then I -saw that the Gods of the Kerlistians lied, and I went back to my own -people . . . I have never set eyes on a Sahib since. (Do not laugh -at me. The fit is past, little priestling.) Thy face and thy walk -and thy fashion of speech put me in mind of my Sahib, though thou -art only a wandering mendicant to whom I give a dole. Curse me? Thou -canst neither curse nor bless!' She set her hands on her hips and -laughed bitterly. 'Thy Gods are lies; thy works are lies; thy words -are lies. There are no Gods under all the Heavens. I know it ... But -for awhile I thought it was my Sahib come back, and he was my God. -Yes, once I made music on a pianno in the Mission-house at Kotgarh. -Now I give alms to priests who are heatthen.' She wound up with the -English word, and tied the mouth of the brimming bag. - -'I wait for thee, chela, ' said the lama, leaning against the door- -post. - -The woman swept the tall figure with her eyes. 'He walk! He cannot -cover half a mile. Whither would old bones go?' - -At this Kim, already perplexed by the lama's collapse and foreseeing -the weight of the bag, fairly lost his temper. - -'What is it to thee, woman of ill-omen, where he goes?' - -'Nothing - but something to thee, priest with a Sahib's face. Wilt -thou carry him on thy shoulders?' - -'I go to the Plains. None must hinder my return. I have wrestled -with my soul till I am strengthless. The stupid body is spent, and -we are far from the Plains.' - -'Behold!' she said simply, and drew aside to let Kim see his own -utter helplessness. 'Curse me. Maybe it will give him strength. Make -a charm! Call on thy great God. Thou art a priest.' She turned away. - -The lama had squatted limply, still holding by the door-post. One -cannot strike down an old man that he recovers again like a boy in -the night. Weakness bowed him to the earth, but his eyes that hung -on Kim were alive and imploring. - -'It is all well,' said Kim. 'It is the thin air that weakens thee. -In a little while we go! It is the mountain-sickness. I too am a -little sick at stomach,' ... and he knelt and comforted with such -poor words as came first to his lips. Then the woman returned, more -erect than ever. - -'Thy Gods useless, heh? Try mine. I am the Woman of Shamlegh.' She -hailed hoarsely, and there came out of a cow-pen her two husbands -and three others with a dooli, the rude native litter of the Hills, -that they use for carrying the sick and for visits of state. 'These -cattle' - she did not condescend to look at them - 'are thine for so -long as thou shalt need.' - -'But we will not go Simla-way. We will not go near the Sahibs,' -cried the first husband. - -'They will not run away as the others did, nor will they steal -baggage. Two I know for weaklings. Stand to the rear-pole, Sonoo and -Taree.' They obeyed swiftly. 'Lower now, and lift in that holy man. -I will see to the village and your virtuous wives till ye return.' - -'When will that be?' - -'Ask the priests. Do not pester me. Lay the food-bag at the foot, it -balances better so.' - -'Oh, Holy One, thy Hills are kinder than our Plains!' cried Kim, -relieved, as the lama tottered to the litter. 'It is a very king's -bed - a place of honour and ease. And we owe it to -' - -'A woman of ill-omen. I need thy blessings as much as I do thy -curses. It is my order and none of thine. Lift and away! Here! Hast -thou money for the road?' - -She beckoned Kim to her hut, and stooped above a battered English -cash-box under her cot. - -'I do not need anything,' said Kim, angered where he should have -been grateful. 'I am already rudely loaded with favours.' - -She looked up with a curious smile and laid a hand on his shoulder. -'At least, thank me. I am foul-faced and a hillwoman, but, as thy -talk goes, I have acquired merit. Shall I show thee how the Sahibs -render thanks?' and her hard eyes softened. - -'I am but a wandering priest,' said Kim, his eyes lighting in -answer. 'Thou needest neither my blessings nor my curses.' - -'Nay. But for one little moment - thou canst overtake the dooli in -ten strides - if thou wast a Sahib, shall I show thee what thou -wouldst do?' - - -'How if I guess, though?' said Kim, and putting his arm round her -waist, he kissed her on the cheek, adding in English: 'Thank you -verree much, my dear.' - -Kissing is practically unknown among Asiatics, which may have been -the reason that she leaned back with wide-open eyes and a face of -panic. - -'Next time,' Kim went on, 'you must not be so sure of your heatthen -priests. Now I say good-bye.' He held out his hand English-fashion. -She took it mechanically. 'Good-bye, my dear.' - -'Good-bye, and - and' - she was remembering her English words one by -one -'you will come back again? Good-bye, and - thee God bless you.' - -Half an hour later, as the creaking litter jolted up the hill path -that leads south-easterly from Shamlegh, Kim saw a tiny figure at -the hut door waving a white rag. - -'She has acquired merit beyond all others,' said the lama. 'For to -set a man upon the way to Freedom is half as great as though she had -herself found it.' - -'Umm,' said Kim thoughtfully, considering the past. 'It may be that -I have acquired merit also ... At least she did not treat me like a -child.' He hitched the front of his robe, where lay the slab of -documents and maps, re-stowed the precious food-bag at the lama's -feet, laid his hand on the litter's edge, and buckled down to the -slow pace of the grunting husbands. - -'These also acquire merit,' said the lama after three miles. - -'More than that, they shall be paid in silver,' quoth Kim. The Woman -of Shamlegh had given it to him; and it was only fair, he argued, -that her men should earn it back again. - - - - - -Chapter 15 - - -I'd not give room for an Emperor - -I'd hold my road for a King. -To the Triple Crown I'd not bow down - -But this is a different thing! -I'll not fight with the Powers of Air - -Sentry, pass him through! -Drawbridge let fall - He's the Lord of us all - -The Dreamer whose dream came true! - -The Siege of the Fairies. - - -Two hundred miles north of Chini, on the blue shale of Ladakh, lies -Yankling Sahib, the merry-minded man, spy-glassing wrathfully across -the ridges for some sign of his pet tracker - a man from Ao-chung. -But that renegade, with a new Mannlicher rifle and two hundred -cartridges, is elsewhere, shooting musk-deer for the market, and -Yankling Sahib will learn next season how very ill he has been. - -Up the valleys of Bushahr - the far-beholding eagles of the -Himalayas swerve at his new blue-and-white gored umbrella - hurries -a Bengali, once fat and well-looking, now lean and weather-worn. He -has received the thanks of two foreigners of distinction, piloted -not unskilfully to Mashobra tunnel, which leads to the great and gay -capital of India. It was not his fault that, blanketed by wet mists, -he conveyed them past the telegraph-station and European colony of -Kotgarh. It was not his fault, but that of the Gods, of whom he -discoursed so engagingly, that he led them into the borders of -Nahan, where the Rahah of that State mistook them for deserting -British soldiery. Hurree Babu explained the greatness and glory, in -their own country, of his companions, till the drowsy kinglet -smiled. He explained it to everyone who asked - many times - aloud - -variously. He begged food, arranged accommodation, proved a skilful -leech for an injury of the groin - such a blow as one may receive -rolling down a rock-covered hillside in the dark - and in all things -indispensable. The reason of his friendliness did him credit. With -millions of fellow-serfs, he had learned to look upon Russia as the -great deliverer from the North. He was a fearful man. He had been -afraid that he could not save his illustrious employers from the -anger of an excited peasantry. He himself would just as lief hit a -holy man as not, but ... He was deeply grateful and sincerely -rejoiced that he had done his 'little possible' towards bringing -their venture to - barring the lost baggage - a successful issue, he -had forgotten the blows; denied that any blows had been dealt that -unseemly first night under the pines. He asked neither pension nor -retaining fee, but, if they deemed him worthy, would they write him -a testimonial? It might be useful to him later, if others, their -friends, came over the Passes. He begged them to remember him in -their future greatnesses, for he 'opined subtly' that he, even he, -Mohendro Lal Dutt, MA of Calcutta, had 'done the State some -service'. - -They gave him a certificate praising his courtesy, helpfulness, and -unerring skill as a guide. He put it in his waist-belt and sobbed -with emotion; they had endured so many dangers together. He led them -at high noon along crowded Simla Mall to the Alliance Bank of Simla, -where they wished to establish their identity. Thence he vanished -like a dawn-cloud on Jakko. - -Behold him, too fine-drawn to sweat, too pressed to vaunt the drugs -in his little brass-bound box, ascending Shamlegh slope, a just man -made perfect. Watch him, all Babudom laid aside, smoking at noon on -a cot, while a woman with turquoise-studded headgear points south- -easterly across the bare grass. Litters, she says, do not travel as -fast as single men, but his birds should now be in the Plains. The -holy man would not stay though Lispeth pressed him. The Babu groans -heavily, girds up his huge loins, and is off again. He does not care -to travel after dusk; but his days' marches - there is none to enter -them in a book - would astonish folk who mock at his race. Kindly -villagers, remembering the Dacca drug-vendor of two months ago, give -him shelter against evil spirits of the wood. He dreams of Bengali -Gods, University text-books of education, and the Royal Society, -London, England. Next dawn the bobbing blue-and-white umbrella goes -forward. - -On the edge of the Doon, Mussoorie well behind them and the Plains -spread out in golden dust before, rests a worn litter in which - all -the Hills know it - lies a sick lama who seeks a River for his -healing. Villages have almost come to blows over the honour of -bearing it, for not only has the lama given them blessings, but his -disciple good money - full one-third Sahibs' prices. Twelve miles a -day has the dooli travelled, as the greasy, rubbed pole-ends show, -and by roads that few Sahibs use. Over the Nilang Pass in storm when -the driven snow-dust filled every fold of the impassive lama's -drapery; between the black horns of Raieng where they heard the -whistle of the wild goats through the clouds; pitching and strained -on the shale below; hard-held between shoulder and clenched jaw when -they rounded the hideous curves of the Cut Road under Bhagirati; -swinging and creaking to the steady jog-trot of the descent into the -Valley of the Waters; pressed along the steamy levels of that locked -valley; up, up and out again, to meet the roaring gusts off -Kedarnath; set down of mid-days in the dun gloom of kindly oak- -forests; passed from village to village in dawn-chill, when even -devotees may be forgiven for swearing at impatient holy men; or by -torchlight, when the least fearful think of ghosts - the dooli has -reached her last stage. The little hill-folk sweat in the modified -heat of the lower Siwaliks, and gather round the priests for their -blessing and their wage. - -'Ye have acquired merit,' says the lama. 'Merit greater than your -knowing. And ye will return to the Hills,' he sighs. - -'Surely. The high Hills as soon as may be.' The bearer rubs his -shoulder, drinks water, spits it out again, and readjusts his grass -sandal. Kim - his face is drawn and tired - pays very small silver -from his belt', heaves out the food-bag, crams an oilskin packet - -they are holy writings - into his bosom, and helps the lama to his -feet. The peace has come again into the old man's eyes, and he does -not look for the hills to fall down and crush him as he did that -terrible night when they were delayed by the flooded river. - -The men pick up the dooli and swing out of sight between the scrub -clumps. - -The lama raises a hand toward the rampart of the Himalayas. 'Not -with you, O blessed among all hills, fell the Arrow of Our Lord! And -never shall I breathe your airs again!' - -'But thou art ten times the stronger man in this good air,' says -Kim, for to his wearied soul appeal the well-cropped, kindly Plains. -'Here, or hereabouts, fell the Arrow, yes. We will go very softly, -perhaps, a koss a day, for the Search is sure. But the bag weighs -heavy.' - -'Ay, our Search is sure. I have come out of great temptation.' - -It was never more than a couple of miles a day now, and Kim's -shoulders bore all the weight of it - the burden of an old man, the -burden of the heavy food-bag with the locked books, the load of the -writings on his heart, and the details of the daily routine. He -begged in the dawn, set blankets for the lama's meditation, held the -weary head on his lap through the noonday heats, fanning away the -flies till his wrists ached, begged again in the evenings, and -rubbed the lama's feet, who rewarded him with promise of Freedom - -today, tomorrow, or, at furthest, the next day. - -'Never was such a chela. I doubt at times whether Ananda more -faithfully nursed Our Lord. And thou art a Sahib? When I was a man - -a long time ago - I forgot that. Now I look upon thee often, and -every time I remember that thou art a Sahib. It is strange.' - -'Thou hast said there is neither black nor white. Why plague me with -this talk, Holy One? Let me rub the other foot. It vexes me. I am -not a Sahib. I am thy chela, and my head is heavy on my shoulders.' - -'Patience a little! We reach Freedom together. Then thou and I, upon -the far bank of the River, will look back upon our lives as in the -Hills we saw our days' marches laid out behind us. Perhaps I was once -a Sahib.' - -"Was -never a Sahib like thee, I swear it.' - -'I am certain the Keeper of the Images in the Wonder House was in -past life a very wise Abbot. But even his spectacles do not make my -eyes see. There fall shadows when I would look steadily. No matter - -we know the tricks of the poor stupid carcass - shadow changing to -another shadow. I am bound by the illusion of Time and Space. How -far came we today in the flesh?' - -'Perhaps half a koss.' (Three quarters of a mile, and it was a - weary march.) - -'Half a koss. Ha! I went ten thousand thousand in the spirit. How, -we are all lapped and swathed and swaddled in these senseless -things.' He looked at his thin blue-veined hand that found the beads -so heavy. 'Chela, hast thou never a wish to leave me?' - -Kim thought of the oilskin packet and the books in the food- bag. If -someone duly authorized would only take delivery of them the Great -Game might play itself for aught he then cared. He was tired and hot -in his head, and a cough that came from the stomach worried him. - -'No.' he said almost sternly. 'I am not a dog or a snake to bite -when I have learned to love.' - -'Thou art too tender towards me.' - -'Not that either. I have moved in one matter without consulting -thee. I have sent a message to the Kulu woman by that woman who gave -us the goat's milk this morn, saying that thou wast a little feeble -and wouldst need a litter. I beat myself in mv mind that I did not -do it when we entered the Doon. We stay in this place till the -litter returns.' - -'I am content. She is a woman with a heart of gold, as thou sayest, -but a talker - something of a talker.' - -'She will not weary thee. I have looked to that also. Holy One, my -heart is very heavy for my many carelessnesses towards thee.' An -hysterical catch rose in his throat. 'I have walked thee too far: I -have not picked good food always for thee; I have not considered the -heat; I have talked to people on the road and left thee alone ... I -have - I have ... Hai mai! But I love thee ... and it is all too -late ... I was a child . . . Oh, why was I not a man? . . .' -Overborne by strain, fatigue, and the weight beyond his years, Kim -broke down and sobbed at the lama's feet. - -'What a to-do is here!' said the old man gently. 'Thou hast never -stepped a hair's breadth from the Way of Obedience. Neglect me? -Child, I have lived on thy strength as an old tree lives on the lime -of a new wall. Day by day, since Shamlegh down, I have stolen -strength from thee. Therefore, not through any sin of thine, art -thou weakened. It is the Body - the silly, stupid Body - that speaks -now. Not the assured Soul. Be comforted! Know at least the devils -that thou fightest. They are earth-born - children of illusion. We -will go to the woman from Kulu. She shall acquire merit in housing -us, and specially in tending me. Thou shalt run free till strength -returns. I had forgotten the stupid Body. If there be any blame, I -bear it. But we are too close to the Gates of Deliverance to weigh -blame. I could praise thee, but what need? In a little - in a very -little - we shall sit beyond all needs.' - -And so he petted and comforted Kim with wise saws and grave texts on -that little-understood beast, our Body, who, being but a delusion, -insists on posing as the Soul, to the darkening of the Way, and the -immense multiplication of unnecessary devils. - -'Hai! hai! Let us talk of the woman from Kulu. Think you she will -ask another charm for her grandsons? When I was a young man, a very -long time ago, I was plagued with these vapours - and some others - -and I went to an Abbot - a very holy man and a seeker after truth, -though then I knew it not. Sit up and listen, child of my soul! My -tale was told. Said he to me, "Chela, know this. There are many lies -in the world, and not a few liars, but there are no liars like our -bodies, except it be the sensations of our bodies." Considering this -I was comforted, and of his great favour he suffered me to drink tea -In his presence. Suffer me now to drink tea, for I am thirsty.' - -With a laugh across his tears, Kim kissed the lama's feet, and set -about the tea-making. - -'Thou leanest on me in the body, Holy One, but I lean on thee for -some other things. Dost know it?' - -'I have guessed maybe,' and the lama's eyes twinkled. 'We must -change that.' - -So, when with scufflings and scrapings and a hot air of importance, -paddled up nothing less than the Sahiba's pet palanquin sent twenty -miles, with that same grizzled old Oorya servant in charge, and when -they reached the disorderly order of the long white rambling house -behind Saharunpore, the lama took his own measures. - -Said the Sahiba cheerily from an upper window, after compliments: -'What is the good of an old woman's advice to an old man? I told -thee - I told thee, Holy One, to keep an eye upon the chela. How -didst thou do it? Never answer me! I know. He has been running among -the women. Look at his eyes - hollow and sunk - and the Betraying -Line from the nose down! He has been sifted out! Fie! Fie! And a -priest, too!' - -Kim looked up, over-weary to smile, shaking his head in denial. - -'Do not jest,' said the lama. 'That time is done. We are here upon -great matters. A sickness of soul took me in the Hills, and him a -sickness of the body. Since then I have lived upon his strength - -eating him.' - -'Children together - young and old,' she sniffed, but forbore to -make any new jokes. 'May this present hospitality restore ye! Hold -awhile and I will come to gossip of the high good Hills.' - -At evening time - her son-in-law was returned, so she did not need -to go on inspection round the farm - she won to the meat of the -matter, explained low-voicedly by the lama. The two old heads nodded -wisely together. Kim had reeled to a room with a cot in it, and was -dozing soddenly. The lama had forbidden him to set blankets or get -food. - -'I know - I know. Who but I?' she cackled. 'We who go down to the -burning-ghats clutch at the hands of those coming up from the River -of Life with full water-jars - yes, brimming water-jars. I did the -boy wrong. He lent thee his strength? It is true that the old eat -the young daily. Stands now we must restore him.' - -'Thou hast many times acquired merit -' - -'My merit. What is it? Old bag of bones making curries for men -who do not ask "Who cooked this?" Now if it were stored up for my -grandson -' - -'He that had the belly-pain?' - -'To think the Holy One remembers that! I must tell his mother. It is -most singular honour! "He that had the belly-pain" - straightway the -Holy One remembered. She will be proud.' - -'My chela is to me as is a son to the unenlightened.' - -'Say grandson, rather. Mothers have not the wisdom of our years. If -a child cries they say the heavens are falling. Now a grandmother is -far enough separated from the pain of bearing and the pleasure of -giving the breast to consider whether a cry is wickedness pure or -the wind. And since thou speakest once again of wind, when last the -Holy One was here, maybe I offended in pressing for charms.' - -'Sister,' said the lama, using that form of address a Buddhist monk -may sometimes employ towards a nun, 'if charms comfort thee -' - -'They are better than ten thousand doctors.' - -'I say, if they comfort thee, I who was Abbot of Such-zen, will make -as many as thou mayest desire. I have never seen thy face -' - -'That even the monkeys who steal our loquats count for again. Hee! -hee!' - -'But as he who sleeps there said,' - he nodded at the shut door of -the guest-chamber across the forecourt - 'thou hast a heart of gold -... And he is in the spirit my very "grandson" to me' - -'Good! I am the Holy One's cow." This was pure Hinduism, but the -lama never heeded. 'I am old. I have borne sons in the body. Oh, -once I could please men! Now I can cure them.' He heard her armlets -tinkle as though she bared arms for action. 'I will take over the -boy and dose him, and stuff him, and make him all whole. Hat! hai'! -We old people know something yet.' - -Wherefore when Kim, aching in every bone, opened his eyes, and would -go to the cook-house to get his master's food, he found strong -coercion about him, and a veiled old figure at the door, flanked by -the grizzled manservant, who told him very precisely the things that -he was on no account to do. - -'Thou must have? Thou shalt have nothing. What? A locked box in -which to keep holy books? Oh, that is another matter. Heavens -forbid I should come between a priest and his prayers! It shall be -brought, and thou shalt keep the key.' - -They pushed the coffer under his cot, and Kim shut away Mahbub's -pistol, the oilskin packet of letters, and the locked books and -diaries, with a groan of relief. For some absurd reason their weight -on his shoulders was nothing to their weight on his poor mind. His -neck ached under it of nights. - -'Thine is a sickness uncommon in youth these days: since young folk -have given up tending their betters. The remedy is sleep, and -certain drugs,' said the Sahiba; and he was glad to give himself up -to the blankness that half menaced and half soothed him. - -She brewed drinks, in some mysterious Asiatic equivalent to the -still-room - drenches that smelt pestilently and tasted worse. She -stood over Kim till they went down, and inquired exhaustively after -they had come up. She laid a taboo upon the forecourt, and enforced -it by means of an armed man. It is true he was seventy odd, that his -scabbarded sword ceased at the hilt; but he represented the -authority of the Sahiba, and loaded wains, chattering servants, -calves, dogs, hens, and the like, fetched a wide compass by those -parts. Best of all, when the body was cleared, she cut out from the -mass of poor relations that crowded the back of the buildings - -house-hold dogs, we name them - a cousin's widow, skilled in what -Europeans, who know nothing about it, call massage. And the two of -them, laying him east and west, that the mysterious earth-currents -which thrill the clay of our bodies might help and not hinder, took -him to pieces all one long afternoon - bone by bone, muscle by -muscle, ligament by ligament, and lastly, nerve by nerve. Kneaded to -irresponsible pulp, half hypnotized by the perpetual flick and -readjustment of the uneasy chudders that veiled their eyes, Kim slid -ten thousand miles into slumber - thirty-six hours of it - sleep -that soaked like rain after drought. - -Then she fed him, and the house spun to her clamour. She caused -fowls to be slain; she sent for vegetables, and the sober, slow- -thinking gardener, nigh as old as she, sweated for it; she took -spices, and milk, and onion, with little fish from the brooks - anon -limes for sherbets, fat quails from the pits, then chicken-livers -upon a skewer, with sliced ginger between. - -'I have seen something of this world,' she said over the crowded -trays, 'and there are but two sorts of women in it -those who take -the strength out of a man and those who put it back. Once I was that -one, and now I am this. Nay - do not play the priestling with me. -Mine was but a jest. If it does not hold good now, it will when thou -takest the road again. Cousin,' - this to the poor relation, never -wearied of extolling her patroness's charity -'he is getting a bloom -on the skin of a new-curried horse. Our work is like polishing -jewels to be thrown to a dance-girl - eh?' - -Kim sat up and smiled. The terrible weakness had dropped from him -like an old shoe. His tongue itched for free speech again, and but a -week back the lightest word clogged it like ashes. The pain in his -neck (he must have caught it from the lama) had gone with the heavy -dengue-aches and the evil taste in the mouth. The two old women, a -little, but not much, more careful about their veils now, clucked as -merrily as the hens that had entered pecking through the open door. - -'Where is my Holy One?' he demanded. - -'Hear him! Thy Holy One is well,' she snapped viciously. 'Though -that is none of his merit., Knew I a charm to make him wise, I'd -sell my jewels and buy it. To refuse good food that I cooked myself -- and go roving into the fields for two nights on an empty belly - -and to tumble into a brook at the end of it - call you that -holiness? Then, when he has nearly broken what thou hast left of my -heart with anxiety, he tells me that he has acquired merit. Oh, how -like are all men! No, that was not it - he tells me that he is freed -from all sin. I could have told him that before he wetted himself -all over. He is well now - this happened a week ago - but burn me -such holiness! A babe of three would do better. Do not fret thyself -for the Holy One. He keeps both eyes on thee when he is not wading -our brooks.' - -'I do not remember to have seen him. I remember that the days and -nights passed like bars of white and black, opening and shutting. I -was not sick: I was but tired." - -'A lethargy that comes by right some few score years later. But it is -done now.' - -'Maharanee,' Kim began, but led by the look in her eye, changed it -to the title of plain love - 'Mother, I owe my life to thee. How -shall I make thanks? Ten thousand blessings upon thy house and -' - -'The house be unblessed!' (It is impossible to give exactly the old -lady's word.) 'Thank the Gods as a priest if thou wilt, but thank -me, if thou carest, as a son. Heavens above! Have I shifted thee and -lifted thee and slapped and twisted thy ten toes to find texts flung -at my head? Somewhere a mother must have borne thee to break her -heart. What used thou to her - son?' - -'I had no mother, my mother,' said Kim. 'She died, they tell me, -when I was young.' - -'Hai mai! Then none can say I have robbed her of any right if - when -thou takest the road again and this house is but one of a thousand -used for shelter and forgotten, after an easy-flung blessing. No -matter. I need no blessings, but - but -' She stamped her foot at -the poor relation. 'Take up the trays to the house. What is the good -of stale food in the room, O woman of ill-omen?' - -'I ha - have borne a son in my time too, but he died,' whimpered the -bowed sister-figure behind the chudder. 'Thou knowest he died! I -only waited for the order to take away the, tray.' - -'It is I that am the woman of ill-omen,' cried the old lady -penitently. 'We that go down to the chattris [the big umbrellas -above the burning-ghats where the priests take their last dues] -clutch hard at the bearers of the chattis [water-jars - young folk -full of the pride of life, she meant; but the pun is clumsy].When -one cannot dance in the festival one must e'en look out of the -window, and grandmothering takes all a woman's time. Thy master -gives me all the charms I now desire for my daughter's eldest, by -reason - is it? - that he is wholly free from sin. The hakim is -brought very low these days. He goes about poisoning my servants for -lack of their betters.' - -'What hakim, mother?' - -'That very Dacca man who gave me the pill which rent me in three -pieces. He cast up like a strayed camel a week ago, vowing that he -and thou had been blood-brothers together up Kulu-way, and feigning -great anxiety for thy health. He was very thin and hungry, so I gave -orders to have him stuffed too - him and his anxiety!' - -'I would see him if he is here.' - -'He eats five times a day, and lances boils for my hinds to save -himself from an apoplexy. He is so full of anxiety for thy health -that he sticks to the cook-house door and stays himself with scraps. -He will keep. We shall never get rid of him.' - -'Send him here, mother' - the twinkle returned to Kim's eye for a -flash - 'and I will try.' - -'I'll send him, but to chase him off is an ill turn. At least he had -the sense to fish the Holy One out of the brook; thus, as the Holy -One did not say, acquiring merit.' - -'He is a very wise hakim. Send him, mother.' - -'Priest praising priest? A miracle! If he is any friend of thine (ye -squabbled at your last meeting) I'll hale him here with horse-ropes -and - and give him a caste-dinner afterwards, my son ... Get up and -see the world! This lying abed is the mother of seventy devils ... -my son! my son!' - -She trotted forth to raise a typhoon off the cook-house, and almost -on her shadow rolled in the Babu, robed as to the shoulders like a -Roman emperor, jowled like Titus, bare-headed, with new patent- -leather shoes, in highest condition of fat, exuding joy and -salutations. - -'By Jove, Mister O'Hara, but I are jolly-glad to see you. I will -kindly shut the door. It is a pity you are sick. Are you very sick?' - -'The papers - the papers from the kilta. The maps and the murasla!' -He held out the key impatiently; for the present need on his soul -was to get rid of the loot. - -'You are quite right. That is correct Departmental view to take. You -have got everything?' - -'All that was handwritten in the kilta I took. The rest I threw down -the hill.' He could hear the key's grate in the lock, the sticky -pull of the slow-rending oilskin, and a quick shuffling of papers. -He had been annoyed out of all reason by the knowledge that they lay -below him through the sick idle days - a burden incommunicable. For -that reason the blood tingled through his body, when Hurree, -skipping elephantinely, shook hands again. - -'This is fine! This is finest! Mister O'Hara! you have - ha! ha! -swiped the whole bag of tricks - locks, stocks, and barrels. They -told me it was eight months' work gone up the spouts! By Jove, how -they beat me! ... Look, here is the letter from Hilas!' He intoned a -line or two of Court Persian, which is the language of authorized -and unauthorized diplomacy. 'Mister Rajah Sahib has just about put -his foot in the holes. He will have to explain offeecially how the -deuce-an'-all he is writing love-letters to the Czar. And they are -very clever maps ... and there is three or four Prime Ministers of -these parts implicated by the correspondence. By Gad, sar! The -British Government will change the succession in Hilas and Bunar, -and nominate new heirs to the throne. "Trea-son most base" ... but -you do not understand? Eh?' - -'Are they in thy hands?' said Kim. It was all he cared for. - -'Just you jolly-well bet yourself they are.' He stowed the entire -trove about his body, as only Orientals can. 'They are going up to -the office, too. The old lady thinks I am permanent fixture here, -but I shall go away with these straight off - immediately. Mr Lurgan -will be proud man. You are offeecially subordinate to me, but I -shall embody your name in my verbal report. It is a pity we are not -allowed written reports. We Bengalis excel in thee exact science.' -He tossed back the key and showed the box empty. - -'Good. That is good. I was very tired. My Holy One was sick, too. -And did he fall into -' - -'Oah yess. I am his good friend, I tell you. He was behaving very -strange when I came down after you, and I thought perhaps he might -have the papers. I followed him on his meditations, and to discuss -ethnological points also. You see, I am verree small person here -nowadays, in comparison with all his charms. By Jove, O'Hara, do you -know, he is afflicted with infirmity of fits. Yess, I tell you. -Cataleptic, too, if not also epileptic. I found him in such a state -under a tree in articulo mortem, and he jumped up and walked into a -brook and he was nearly drowned but for me. I pulled him out.' - -'Because I was not there!' said Kim. 'He might have died.' - -'Yes, he might have died, but he is dry now, and asserts he has -undergone transfiguration.' The Babu tapped his forehead knowingly. -'I took notes of his statements for Royal Society - in posse. You -must make haste and be quite well and come back to Simla, and I will -tell you all my tale at Lurgan's. It was splendid. The bottoms of -their trousers were quite torn, and old Nahan Rajah, he thought they -were European soldiers deserting.' - -'Oh, the Russians? How long were they with thee?' - -'One was a Frenchman. Oh, days and days and days! Now all the hill- -people believe all Russians are all beggars. By Jove! they had not -one dam'-thing that I did not get them. And I told the common people -- oah, such tales and anecdotes! -I will tell you at old Lurgan's -when you come up. We will have - ah - a night out! It is feather in -both our caps! Yess, and they gave me a certificate. That is -creaming joke. You should have seen them at the Alliance Bank -identifying themselves! And thank Almighty God you got their papers -so well! You do not laugh verree much, but you shall laugh when you -are well. Now I will go straight to the railway and get out. You -shall have all sorts of credits for your game. When do you come -along? We are very proud of you though you gave us great frights. -And especially Mahbub.' - -'Ay, Mahbub. And where is he?' - -'Selling horses in this vi-cinity, of course.' - -'Here! Why? Speak slowly. There is a thickness in my head still.' - -The Babu looked shyly down his nose. 'Well, you see, I am fearful -man, and I do not like responsibility. You were sick, you see, and I -did not know where deuce-an'-all the papers were, and if so, how -many. So when I had come down here I slipped in private wire to -Mahbub - he was at Meerut for races - and I tell him how case -stands. He comes up with his men and he consorts with the lama, and -then he calls me a fool, and is very rude -' - -'But wherefore - wherefore?' - -'That is what I ask. I only suggest that if anyone steals the papers -I should like some good strong, brave men to rob them back again. -You see, they are vitally important, and Mahbub Ali he did not know -where you were.' - -'Mahbub Ali to rob the Sahiba's house? Thou art mad, Babu,' said -Kim with indignation. - -'I wanted the papers. Suppose she had stole them? It was only -practical suggestion, I think. You are not pleased, eh?' - -A native proverb - unquotable - showed the blackness of Kim's -disapproval. - -'Well,' - Hurree shrugged his shoulders - 'there is no accounting -for thee taste. Mahbub was angry too. He has sold horses all about -here, and he says old lady is pukka [thorough] old lady and would -not condescend to such ungentlemanly things. I do not care. I have -got the papers, and I was very glad of moral support from Mahbub. I -tell you, I am fearful man, but, somehow or other, the more fearful -I am the more dam'-tight places I get into. So I was glad you came -with me to Chini, and I am glad Mahbub was close by. The old lady -she is sometimes very rude to me and my beautiful pills.' - -'Allah be merciful!' said Kim on his elbow, rejoicing. 'What a beast -of wonder is a Babu! And that man walked alone - if he did walk - -with robbed and angry foreigners!' - -'Oah, thatt was nothing, after they had done beating me; but if I -lost the papers it was pretty-jolly serious. Mahbub he nearly beat -me too, and he went and consorted with the lama no end. I shall -stick to ethnological investigations henceforwards. Now good-bye, -Mister O'Hara. I can catch 4.25 p.m. to Umballa if I am quick. It -will be good times when we all tell thee tale up at Mr Lurgan's. I -shall report you offeecially better. Good-bye, my dear fallow, and -when next you are under thee emotions please do not use the -Mohammedan terms with the Tibetan dress.' - -He shook hands twice - a Babu to his boot-heels - and opened the -door. With the fall of the sunlight upon his still triumphant face -he returned to the humble Dacca quack. - -'He robbed them,' thought Kim, forgetting his own share in the game. -'He tricked them. He lied to them like a Bengali. They give him a -chit [a testimonial]. He makes them a mock at the risk of his life - -I never would have gone down to them after the pistol-shots - and -then he says he is a fearful man ... And he is a fearful man. I must -get into the world again.' - -At first his legs bent like bad pipe-stems, and the flood and rush -of the sunlit air dazzled him. He squatted by the white wall, the -mind rummaging among the incidents of the long dooli journey, the -lama's weaknesses, and, now that the stimulus of talk was removed, -his own self-pity, of which, like the sick, he had great store. The -unnerved brain edged away from all the outside, as a raw horse, once -rowelled, sidles from the spur. It was enough, amply enough, that -the spoil of the kilta was away - off his hands - out of his -possession. He tried to think of the lama - to wonder why he had -tumbled into a brook - but the bigness of the world, seen between -the forecourt gates, swept linked thought aside. Then he looked upon -the trees and the broad fields, with the thatched huts hidden among -crops - looked with strange eyes unable to take up the size and -proportion and use of things - stared for a still half-hour. All -that while he felt, though he could not put it into words, that his -soul was out of gear with its surroundings - a cog-wheel -unconnected with any machinery, just like the idle cog-wheel of a -cheap Beheea sugar-crusher laid by in a corner. The breezes fanned -over him, the parrots shrieked at him, the noises of the populated -house behind - squabbles, orders, and reproofs - hit on dead ears. - -'I am Kim. I am Kim. And what is Kim?' His soul repeated it again -and again. - -He did not want to cry - had never felt less like crying in his life -- but of a sudden easy, stupid tears trickled down his nose, and -with an almost audible click he felt the wheels of his being lock up -anew on the world without. Things that rode meaningless on the -eyeball an instant before slid into proper proportion. Roads were -meant to be walked upon, houses to belived in, cattle to be driven, -fields to be tilled, and men and women to be talked to. They were -all real and true - solidly planted upon the feet - perfectly -comprehensible - clay of his clay, neither more nor less. He shook -himself like a dog with a flea in his ear, and rambled out of the -gate. Said the Sahiba, to whom watchful eyes reported this move: -'Let him go. I have done my share. Mother Earth must do the rest. -When the Holy One comes back from meditation, tell him.' - -There stood an empty bullock-cart on a little knoll half a mile -away, with a young banyan tree behind - a look-out, as it were, -above some new-ploughed levels; and his eyelids, bathed in soft air, -grew heavy as he neared it. The ground was good clean dust - no new -herbage that, living, is half-way to death already, but the hopeful -dust that holds the seeds of all life. He felt it between his toes, -patted it with his palms, and joint by joint, sighing luxuriously, -laid him down full length along in the shadow of the wooden-pinned -cart. And Mother Earth was as faithful as the Sahiba. She breathed -through him to restore the poise he had lost lying so long on a cot -cut off from her good currents. His head lay powerless upon her -breast, and his opened hands surrendered to her strength. The many- -rooted tree above him, and even the dead manhandled wood beside, -knew what he sought, as he himself did not know. Hour upon hour he -lay deeper than sleep. - -Towards evening, when the dust of returning kine made all the -horizons smoke, came the lama and Mahbub Ali, both afoot, walking -cautiously, for the house had told them where he had gone. - -'Allah! What a fool's trick to play in open country!' muttered the -horse-dealer. 'He could be shot a hundred times - but this is not -the Border.' - -'And,' said the lama, repeating a many-times-told tale, 'never was -such a chela. Temperate, kindly, wise, of ungrudging disposition, a -merry heart upon the road, never forgetting, learned, truthful, -courteous. Great is his reward!' - -'I know the boy - as I have said.' - -'And he was all those things?' - -'Some of them - but I have not yet found a Red Hat's charm for -making him overly truthful. He has certainly been well nursed.' - -'The Sahiba is a heart of gold,' said the lama earnestly. 'She looks -upon him as her son.' - -'Hmph! Half Hind seems that way disposed. I only wished to see that -the boy had come to no harm and was a free agent. As thou knowest, -he and I were old friends in the first days of your pilgrimage -together.' - -'That is a bond between us.' The lama sat down. 'We are at the end -of the pilgrimage.' - -'No thanks to thee thine was not cut off for good and all a week -back. I heard what the Sahiba said to thee when we bore thee up on -the cot.' Mahbub laughed, and tugged his newly dyed beard. - -'I was meditating upon other matters that tide. It was the hakim -from Dacca broke my meditations.' - -'Otherwise' - this was in Pushtu for decency's sake -'thou wouldst -have ended thy meditations upon the sultry side of Hell - being an -unbeliever and an idolater for all thy child's simplicity. But now, -Red Hat, what is to be done?' - -'This very night,' - the words came slowly, vibrating with triumph - -'this very night he will be as free as I am from all taint of sin - -assured as I am, when he quits this body, of Freedom from the Wheel -of Things. I have a sign' - he laid his hand above the torn chart in -his bosom -'that my time is short; but I shall have safeguarded him -throughout the years. Remember, I have reached Knowledge, as I told -thee only three nights back.' - -'It must be true, as the Tirah priest said when I stole his cousin's -wife, that I am a Sufi [a free-thinker]; for here I sit, I said -Mahbub to himself, 'drinking in blasphemy unthinkable ... I remember -the tale. On that, then, he goes to Fannatu l'Adn [the Gardens of -Eden]. But how? Wilt thou slay him or drown him in that wonderful -river from which the Babu dragged thee?' - -'I was dragged from no river,' said the lama simply. 'Thou hast -forgotten what befell. I found it by Knowledge.' - -'Oh, ay. True,' stammered Mahbub, divided between high indignation -and enormous mirth. 'I had forgotten the exact run of what happened. -Thou didst find it knowingly.' - -'And to say that I would take life is - not a sin, but a madness -simple. My chela aided me to the River. It is his right to be -cleansed from sin - with me.' - -'Ay, he needs cleansing. But afterwards, old man - afterwards?' - -'What matter under all the Heavens? He is sure of Nibban - -enlightened - as I am.' - -'Well said. I had a fear he might mount Mohammed's Horse and fly -away.' - -'Nay - he must go forth as a teacher.' - -'Aha! Now I see! That is the right gait for the colt. Certainly he -must go forth as a teacher. He is somewhat urgently needed as a -scribe by the State, for instance.' - -'To that end he was prepared. I acquired merit in that I gave alms -for his sake. A good deed does not die. He aided me in my Search. I -aided him in his. Just is the Wheel, O horse-seller from the North. -Let him be a teacher; let him be a scribe - what matter? He will -have attained Freedom at the end. The rest is illusion.' - -'What matter? When I must have him with me beyond Balkh in six -months! I come up with ten lame horses and three strong-backed men - -thanks to that chicken of a Babu - to break a sick boy by force out -of an old trot's house. It seems that I stand by while a young Sahib -is hoisted into Allah knows what of an idolater's Heaven by means of -old Red Hat. And I am reckoned something of a player of the Game -myself! But the madman is fond of the boy; and I must be very -reasonably mad too.' - -'What is the prayer?' said the lama, as the rough Pushtu rumbled -into the red beard. - -'No matter at all; but now I understand that the boy, sure of -Paradise, can yet enter Government service, my mind is easier. I -must get to my horses. It grows dark. Do not wake him. I have no -wish to hear him call thee master.' - -'But he is my disciple. What else?' - -'He has told me.' Mahbub choked down his touch of spleen and rose -laughing. 'I am not altogether of thy faith, Red Hat - if so small a -matter concern thee.' - -'It is nothing, said the lama. - -'I thought not. Therefore it will not move thee, sinless, new- -washed and three parts drowned to boot, when I call thee a good man -- a very good man. We have talked together some four or five -evenings now, and for all I am a horse-coper I can still, as the -saying is, see holiness beyond the legs of a horse. Yea, can see, -too, how our Friend of all the World put his hand in thine at the -first. Use him well, and suffer him to return to the world as a -teacher, when thou hast - bathed his legs, if that be the proper -medicine for the colt.' - -'Why not follow the Way thyself, and so accompany the boy?' - -Mahbub stared stupefied at the magnificent insolence of the demand, -which across the Border he would have paid with more than a blow. -Then the humour of it touched his worldly soul. - -'Softly - softly - one foot at a time, as the lame gelding went over -the Umballa jumps. I may come to Paradise later - I have workings -that way - great motions - and I owe them to thy simplicity. Thou -hast never lied?' - -'What need?' - -'O Allah, hear him! "What need" in this Thy world! Nor ever harmed a -man?' - -'Once - with a pencase - before I was wise.' - -'So? I think the better of thee. Thy teachings are good. Thou hast -turned one man that I know from the path of strife.' He laughed -immensely. 'He came here open-minded to commit a dacoity [a house- -robbery with violence]. Yes, to cut, rob, kill, and carry off what -he desired.' - -'A great foolishness!' - -'Oh! black shame too. So he thought after he had seen thee - and a -few others, male and female. So he abandoned it; and now he goes to -beat a big fat Babu man.' - -'I do not understand.' - -'Allah forbid it! Some men are strong in knowledge, Red Hat. Thy -strength is stronger still. Keep it - I think thou wilt. If the boy -be not a good servant, pull his ears off.' - -With a hitch of his broad Bokhariot belt the Pathan swaggered off -into the gloaming, and the lama came down from his clouds so far as -to look at the broad back. - -'That person lacks courtesy, and is deceived by the shadow of -appearances. But he spoke well of my chela, who now enters upon his -reward. Let me make the prayer! ... Wake, O fortunate above all born -of women. Wake! It is found!' - -Kim came up from those deep wells, and the lama attended his yawning -pleasure; duly snapping fingers to head off evil spirits. - -'I have slept a hundred years. Where -? Holy One, hast thou been -here long? I went out to look for thee, but' - he laughed drowsily - -'I slept by the way. I am all well now. Hast thou eaten? Let us go -to the house. It is many days since I tended thee. And the Sahiba -fed thee well? Who shampooed thy legs? What of the weaknesses - the -belly and the neck, and the beating in the ears?' - -'Gone - all gone. Dost thou not know?' - -'I know nothing, but that I have not seen thee in a monkey's age. -Know what?' - -'Strange the knowledge did not reach out to thee, when all my -thoughts were theeward.' - -'I cannot see the face, but the voice is like a gong. Has the Sahiba -made a young man of thee by her cookery?' - -He peered at the cross-legged figure, outlined jet-black against the -lemon-coloured drift of light. So does the stone Bodhisat sit who -looks down upon the patent self-registering turnstiles of the Lahore -Museum. - -The lama held his peace. Except for the click of the rosary and a -faint clop-clop of Mahbub's retreating feet, the soft, smoky silence -of evening in India wrapped them close. - -'Hear me! I bring news.' - -'But let us -' - -Out shot the long yellow hand compelling silence. Kim tucked his -feet under his robe-edge obediently. - -'Hear me! I bring news! The Search is finished. Comes now the Reward -... Thus. When we were among the Hills, I lived on thy strength till -the young branch bowed and nigh broke. When we came out of the -Hills, I was troubled for thee and for other matters which I held in -my heart. The boat of my soul lacked direction; I could not see into -the Cause of Things. So I gave thee over to the virtuous woman -altogether. I took no food. I drank no water. Still I saw not the -Way. They pressed food upon me and cried at my shut door. So I -removed myself to a hollow under a tree. I took no food. I took no -water. I sat in meditation two days and two nights, abstracting my -mind; inbreathing and outbreathing in the required manner . . . Upon -the second night - so great was my reward - the wise Soul loosed -itself from the silly Body and went free. This I have never before -attained, though I have stood on the threshold of it. Consider, for -it is a marvel!' - -'A marvel indeed. Two days and two nights without food! Where was -the Sahiba?' said Kim under his breath. - -'Yea, my Soul went free, and, wheeling like an eagle, saw indeed -that there was no Teshoo Lama nor any other soul. As a drop draws to -water, so my Soul drew near to the Great Soul which is beyond all -things. At that point, exalted in contemplation, I saw all Hind, -from Ceylon in the sea to the Hills, and my own Painted Rocks at -Such-zen; I saw every camp and village, to the least, where we have -ever rested. I saw them at one time and in one place; for they were -within the Soul. By this I knew the Soul had passed beyond the -illusion of Time and Space and of Things. By this I knew that I was -free. I saw thee lying in thy cot, and I saw thee falling downhill -under the idolater - at one time, in one place, in my Soul, which, -as I say, had touched the Great Soul. Also I saw the stupid body of -Teshoo Lama lying down, and the hakim from Dacca kneeled beside, -shouting in its ear. Then my Soul was all alone, and I saw nothing, -for I was all things, having reached the Great Soul. And I meditated -a thousand thousand years, passionless, well aware of the Causes of -all Things. Then a voice cried: "What shall come to the boy if thou -art dead?" and I was shaken back and forth in myself with pity for -thee; and I said: "I will return to my chela, lest he miss the Way." -Upon this my Soul, which is the Soul of Teshoo Lama, withdrew itself -from the Great Soul with strivings and yearnings and retchings and -agonies not to be told. As the egg from the fish, as the fish from -the water, as the water from the cloud, as the cloud from the thick -air, so put forth, so leaped out, so drew away, so fumed up the Soul -of Teshoo Lama from the Great Soul. Then a voice cried: "The River! -Take heed to the River!" and I looked down upon all the world, which -was as I had seen it before - one in time, one in place - and I saw -plainly the River of the Arrow at my feet. At that hour my Soul was -hampered by some evil or other whereof I was not wholly cleansed, -and it lay upon my arms and coiled round my waist; but I put it -aside, and I cast forth as an eagle in my flight for the very place -of the River. I pushed aside world upon world for thy sake. I saw -the River below me - the River of the Arrow - and, descending, the -waters of it closed over me; and behold I was again in the body of -Teshoo Lama, but free from sin, and the hakim from Decca bore up my -head in the waters of the River. It is here! It is behind the mango- -tope here - even here!' - -'Allah kerim! Oh, well that the Babu was by! Wast thou very wet?' - -'Why should I regard? I remember the hakim was concerned for the -body of Teshoo Lama. He haled it out of the holy water in his hands, -and there came afterwards thy horse-seller from the North with a cot -and men, and they put the body on the cot and bore it up to the -Sahiba's house.' - -'What said the Sahiba?' - -'I was meditating in that body, and did not hear. So thus the Search -is ended. For the merit that I have acquired, the River of the Arrow -is here. It broke forth at our feet, as I have said. I have found -it. Son of my Soul, I have wrenched my Soul back from the Threshold -of Freedom to free thee from all sin - as I am free, and sinless! -Just is the Wheel! Certain is our deliverance! Come!' - -He crossed his hands on his lap and smiled, as a man may who has won -salvation for himself and his beloved. - - -End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of Kim, by Rudyard Kipling |