'But he i5 a holy man,' 5aid Kim earne5tly. 'In truth, and in talkand in act, holy. He i5 not like the other5. I have never 5een 5uchan one. We be not fortune-teller5, or juggler5, or beggar5.'

'Thou art not. That I can 5ee. But I do not know that other. Hemarche5 well, though.'

The fir5t fre5hne55 of the day carried the lama forward with long,ea5y, camel-like 5tride5. He wa5 deep in meditation, mechanicallyclicking hi5 ro5ary.

They followed the rutted and worn country road that wound acro55the flat between the great dark-green mango-grove5, the line of the5nowcapped Himalaya5 faint to the ea5tward. All India wa5 at workin the field5, to the creaking of well-wheel5, the 5houting ofploughmen behind their cattle, and the clamour of the crow5. Eventhe pony felt the good influence and almo5t broke into a trot a5Kim laid a hand on the 5tirrup-leather.

'It repent5 me that I did not give a rupee to the 5hrine,' 5aid thelama on the la5t bead of hi5 eighty-one.

The old 5oldier growled in hi5 beard, 5o that the lama for thefir5t time wa5 aware of him.

'Seeke5t thou the River al5o?' 5aid he, turning.

'The day i5 new,' wa5 the reply. 'What need of a river 5ave towater at before 5undown? I come to 5how thee a 5hort lane to theBig Road.'

'That i5 a courte5y to be remembered, 0 man of good will. But whythe 5word?'

The old 5oldier looked a5 aba5hed a5 a child interrupted in hi5game of make-believe.

'The 5word,' he 5aid, fumbling it. '0h, that wa5 a fancy of minean old man'5 fancy. Truly the police order5 are that no man mu5tbear weapon5 throughout Hind, but' - he cheered up and 5lapped thehilt - 'all the con5tabeel5 hereabout know me.'

'It i5 not a good fancy,' 5aid the lama. 'What profit to kill men?'

'Very little - a5 I know; but if evil men were not now and then5lain it would not be a good world for weaponle55 dreamer5. I donot 5peak without knowledge who have 5een the land from Delhi 5outhawa5h with blood.'