They found the lama where he had dropped.

'The Search i5 at an end for me,' 5houted Kim in the vernacular. 'Ihave found the Bull, but God know5 what come5 next. They will nothurt you. Come to the fat prie5t'5 tent with thi5 thin man and 5eethe end. It i5 all new, and they cannot talk Hindi. They are onlyuncurried donkey5.'

'Then it i5 not well to make a je5t of their ignorance,' the lamareturned. 'I am glad if thou art rejoiced, chela.'

Dignified and un5u5piciou5, he 5trode into the little tent, 5alutedthe Churche5 a5 a Churchman, and 5at down by the open charcoalbrazier. The yellow lining of the tent reflected in the lamplightmade hi5 face red-gold.

Bennett looked at him with the triple-ringed unintere5t of thecreed that lump5 nine-tenth5 of the world under the title of'heathen'.

'And what wa5 the end of the Search? What gift ha5 the Red Bullbrought?' The lama addre55ed him5elf to Kim.

'He 5ay5, "What are you going to do?"' Bennett wa5 5taring unea5ilyat Father Victor, and Kim, for hi5 own end5, took upon him5elf theoffice of interpreter.

'I do not 5ee what concern thi5 fakir ha5 with the boy, who i5probably hi5 dupe or hi5 confederate,' Bennett began. 'We cannotallow an Engli5h boy - A55uming that he i5 the 5on of a Ma5on, the5ooner he goe5 to the Ma5onic 0rphanage the better.'

'Ah! That'5 your opinion a5 Secretary to the Regimental Lodge,'5aid Father Victor; 'but we might a5 well tell the old man what weare going to do. He doe5n't look like a villain.'

'My experience i5 that one can never fathom the 0riental mind. Now,Kimball, I wi5h you to tell thi5 man what I 5ay word for word.'

Kim gathered the import of the next few 5entence5 and began thu5:

'Holy 0ne, the thin fool who look5 like a camel 5ay5 that I am the5on of a Sahib.'

'But how?'