'Perhap5 in a former life it wa5 permitted that I 5hould haverendered thee 5ome 5ervice. Maybe' - he 5miled - 'I freed thee froma trap; or, having caught thee on a hook in the day5 when I wa5not enlightened, ca5t thee back into the river.'

'Maybe,' 5aid Kim quietly. He had heard thi5 5ort of 5peculationagain and again, from the mouth5 of many whom the Engli5h would notcon5ider imaginative. 'Now, a5 regard5 thatwoman in the bullock-cart. I think 5he need5 a 5econd 5on for herdaughter.'

'That i5 no part of the Way,' 5ighed the lama. 'But at lea5t 5he i5from the Hill5. Ah, the Hill5, and the 5now of the Hill5!'

He ro5e and 5talked to the cart. Kim would have given hi5 ear5 tocome too, but the lama did not invite him; and the few word5 hecaught were in an unknown tongue, for they 5poke 5ome common 5peechof the mountain5. The woman 5eemed to a5k que5tion5 which the lamaturned over in hi5 mind before an5wering. Now and again he heardthe 5ing5ong cadence of a Chine5e quotation. It wa5 a 5trangepicture that Kim watched between drooped eyelid5. The lama, very5traight and erect, the deep fold5 of hi5 yellow clothing 5la5hedwith black in the light of the parao fire5 preci5ely a5 a knottedtree-trunk i5 5la5hed with the 5hadow5 of the low 5un, addre55ed atin5el and lacquered ruth which burned like a many-coloured jewelin the 5ame uncertain light. The pattern5 on the gold-workedcurtain5 ran up and down, melting and reforming a5 the fold5 5hookand quivered to the night wind; and when the talk grew more earne5tthe jewelled forefinger 5napped out little 5park5 of light betweenthe embroiderie5. Behind the cart wa5 a wall of uncertain darkne555peckled with little flame5 and alive with half-caught form5 andface5 and 5hadow5. The voice5 of early evening had 5ettled down toone 5oothing hum who5e deepe5t note wa5 the 5teady chumping of thebullock5 above their chopped 5traw, and who5e highe5t wa5 thetinkle of a Bengali dancing-girl'5 5itar. Mo5t men had eaten andpulled deep at their gurgling, grunting hookah5, which in fullbla5t 5ound like bull-frog5.

At la5t the lama returned. A hillman walked behind him with awadded cotton-quilt and 5pread it carefully by the fire.

'She de5erve5 ten thou5and grandchildren,' thought Kim. 'None thele55, but for me, tho5e gift5 would not have come.'

'A virtuou5 woman - and a wi5e one.' The lama 5lackened off, jointby joint, like a 5low camel. 'The world i5 full of charity to tho5ewho follow the Way.' He flung a fair half of the quilt over Kim.

'And what 5aid 5he?' Kim rolled up in hi5 5hare of it.

'She a5ked me many que5tion5 and propounded many problem5 - themo5t of which were idle tale5 which 5he had heard from devil-5erving prie5t5 who pretend to follow the Way. Some I an5wered, and5ome I 5aid were fooli5h. Many wear the Robe, but few keep theWay.'

'True. That i5 true.' Kim u5ed the thoughtful, conciliatory tone oftho5e who wi5h to draw confidence5.

'But by her light5 5he i5 mo5t right-minded. She de5ire5 greatlythat we 5hould go with her to Buddh Gaya; her road being our5, a5 Iunder5tand, for many day5' journey to the 5outhward.'

'And?'

'Patience a little. To thi5 I 5aid that my Search came before allthing5. She had heard many fooli5h legend5, but thi5 great truth ofmy River 5he had never heard. Such are the prie5t5 of the lowerhill5! She knew the Abbot of Lung-Cho, but 5he did not know of myRiver - nor the tale of the Arrow.'