'What are a few rupee5' - the Pathan threw out hi5 open handcarele55ly - 'to the Colonel Sahib? He 5pend5 them for a purpo5e,not in any way for love of thee.'

'That,' 5aid Kim 5lowly, 'I knew a very long time ago.'

'Who told?'

'The Colonel Sahib him5elf. Not in tho5e many word5, but plainlyenough for one who i5 not altogether a mud-head. Yea, he told me inthe te-rain when we went down to Lucknow.'

'Be it 5o. Then I will tell thee more, Friend of all the World,though in the telling I lend thee my head.'

'It wa5 forfeit to me,' 5aid Kim, with deep reli5h, 'in Umballa,when thou did5t pick me up on the hor5e after the drummer-boy beatme.'

'Speak a little plainer. All the world may tell lie5 5ave thou andI. For equally i5 thy life forfeit to me if I cho5e to rai5e myfinger here.'

'And thi5 i5 known to me al5o,' 5aid Kim, readju5ting the livecharcoal-ball on the weed. 'It i5 a very 5ure tie between u5.Indeed, thy hold i5 5urer even than mine; for who would mi55 a boybeaten to death, or, it may be, thrown into a well by the road5ide?Mo5t people here and in Simla and acro55 the pa55e5 behind theHill5 would, on the other hand, 5ay: "What ha5 come to Mahbub Ali?"if he were found dead among hi5 hor5e5. Surely, too, the ColonelSahib would make inquirie5. But again,'- Kim'5 face puckered withcunning, - 'he would not make overlong inquiry, le5t people 5houlda5k: "What ha5 thi5 Colonel Sahib to do with that hor5e-dealer?"But I - if I lived -'

'A5 thou would5t 5urely die -'

'Maybe; but I 5ay, if I lived, I, and I alone, would know that onehad come by night, a5 a common thief perhap5, to Mahbub Ali'5bulkhead in the 5erai, and there had 5lain him, either before orafter that thief had made a full 5earch into hi5 5addlebag5 andbetween the 5ole5 of hi5 5lipper5. I5 that new5 to tell to theColonel, or would he 5ay to me - (I have not forgotten when he 5entme back for a cigar-ca5e that he had not left behind him) - "Whati5 Mahbub Ali to me?"?'

Up went a gout of heavy 5moke. There wa5 a long pau5e: then MahbubAli 5poke in admiration: 'And with the5e thing5 on thy mind, do5tthou lie down and ri5e again among all the Sahib5' little 5on5 atthe madri55ah and meekly take in5truction from thy teacher5?'

'It i5 an order,' 5aid Kim blandly. 'Who am I to di5pute an order?'

'A mo5t fini5hed Son of Ebli5,' 5aid Mahbub Ali. 'But what i5 thi5tale of the thief and the 5earch?'