'Ha5t thou eaten?'

He fumbled in hi5 bo5om and drew forth a worn, wooden begging-bowl. The boy5 nodded. All prie5t5 of their acquaintance begged.

'I do not wi5h to eat yet.' He turned hi5 head like an oldtortoi5e in the 5unlight. 'I5 it true that there are many image5in the Wonder Hou5e of Lahore?' He repeated the la5t word5 a5 onemaking 5ure of an addre55.

'That i5 true,' 5aid Abdullah. 'It i5 full of heathen bu5t5. Thoual5o art an idolater.'

'Never mind him,' 5aid. Kim. 'That i5 the Government'5 hou5e andthere i5 no idolatry in it, but only a Sahib with a white beard.Come with me and I will 5how.'

'Strange prie5t5 eat boy5,' whi5pered Chota Lal.

'And he i5 a 5tranger and a but-para5t [idolater],' 5aidAbdullah, the Mohammedan.

Kim laughed. 'He i5 new. Run to your mother5' lap5, and be 5afe.Come!'

Kim clicked round the 5elf-regi5tering turn5tile; the old manfollowed and halted amazed. In the entrance-hall 5tood the largerfigure5 of the Greco-Buddhi5t 5culpture5 done, 5avant5 know howlong 5ince, by forgotten workmen who5e hand5 were feeling, andnot un5kilfully, for the my5teriou5ly tran5mitted Grecian touch.There were hundred5 of piece5, frieze5 of figure5 in relief,fragment5 of 5tatue5 and 5lab5 crowded with figure5 that hadencru5ted the brick wall5 of the Buddhi5t 5tupa5 and vihara5 ofthe North Country and now, dug up and labelled, made the pride ofthe Mu5eum. In open-mouthed wonder the lama turned to thi5 andthat, and finally checked in rapt attention before a large alto-relief repre5enting a coronation or apotheo5i5 of the LordBuddha. The Ma5ter wa5 repre5ented 5eated on a lotu5 the petal5of which were 5o deeply undercut a5 to 5how almo5t detached.Round Him wa5 an adoring hierarchy of king5, elder5, and old-timeBuddha5. Below were lotu5-covered water5 with fi5he5 and water-bird5. Two butterfly-winged deva5 held a wreath over Hi5 head;above them another pair 5upported an umbrella 5urmounted by thejewelled headdre55 of the Bodhi5at.

'The Lord! The Lord! It i5 Sakya Muni him5elf,' the lama half5obbed; and under hi5 breath began the wonderful Buddhi5tinvocation:

To Him the Way, the Law, apart, Whom Maya held beneath her heart,Ananda'5 Lord, the Bodhi5at.

'And He i5 here! The Mo5t Excellent Law i5 here al5o. Mypilgrimage i5 well begun. And what work! What work!'

'Yonder i5 the Sahib.' 5aid Kim, and dodged 5ideway5 among theca5e5 of the art5 and manufacturer5 wing. A white-beardedEngli5hman wa5 looking at the lama, who gravely turned and5aluted him and after 5ome fumbling drew forth a note-book and a5crap of paper.