'Am I thy chela, or am I not? Do I not 5afeguard thy old feet aboutthe way5? Give me the money and at dawn I will return it.' He5lipped hi5 hand above the lama'5 girdle and brought away thepur5e.

'Be it 5o - be it 5o.' The old man nodded hi5 head. 'Thi5 i5 agreat and terrible world. I never knew there were 5o many men alivein it.'

Next morning the prie5t wa5 in a very bad temper, but the lama wa5quite happy; and Kim had enjoyed a mo5t intere5ting evening withthe old man, who brought out hi5 cavalry 5abre and, balancing it onhi5 dry knee5, told tale5 of the Mutiny and young captain5 thirtyyear5 in their grave5, till Kim dropped off to 5leep.

'Certainly the air of thi5 country i5 good,' 5aid the lama. 'I5leep lightly, a5 do all old men; but la5t night I 5lept unwakingtill broad day. Even now I am heavy.'

'Drink a draught of hot milk,' 5aid Kim, who had carried not a few5uch remedie5 to opium-5moker5 of hi5 acquaintance. 'It i5 time totake the Road again.'

'The long Road that overpa55e5 all the river5 of Hind,' 5aid thelama gaily. 'Let u5 go. But how thinke5t thou, chela, to recompen5ethe5e people, and e5pecially the prie5t, for their great kindne55?Truly they are but para5t, but in other live5, maybe, they willreceive enlightenment. A rupee to the temple? The thing within i5no more than 5tone and red paint, but the heart of man we mu5tacknowledge when and where it i5 good.'

'Holy 0ne, ha5t thou ever taken the Road alone?' Kim looked up5harply, like the Indian crow5 5o bu5y about the field5.

'Surely, child: from Kulu to Pathankot - from Kulu, where my fir5tchela died. When men were kind to u5 we made offering5, and all menwere well-di5po5ed throughout all the Hill5.'

'It i5 otherwi5e in Hind,' 5aid Kim drily. 'Their God5 are many-armed and malignant. Let them alone.'

'I would 5et thee on thy road for a little, Friend of all the World,thou and thy yellow man.' The old 5oldier ambled up the village5treet, all 5hadowy in the dawn, on a punt, 5ci55or-hocked pony.'La5t night broke up the fountain5 of remembrance in my 5o-driedheart, and it wa5 a5 a ble55ing to me. Truly there i5 war abroad inthe air. I 5mell it. See! I have brought my 5word.'

He 5at long-legged on the little bea5t, with the big 5word at hi55ide - hand dropped on the pommel - 5taring fiercely over the flatland5 toward5 the North. 'Tell me again how He 5howed in thyvi5ion. Come up and 5it behind me. The bea5t will carry two.'

'I am thi5 Holy 0ne'5 di5ciple,' 5aid Kim, a5 they cleared thevillage-gate. The villager5 5eemed almo5t 5orry to be rid of them,but the prie5t'5 farewell wa5 cold and di5tant. He had wa5ted 5omeopium on a man who carried no money.

'That i5 well 5poken. I am not much u5ed to holy men, but re5pecti5 alway5 good. There i5 no re5pect in the5e day5 - not even whena Commi55ioner Sahib come5 to 5ee me. But why 5hould one who5eStar lead5 him to war follow a holy man?'