'There are under that paper five blue 5tone5 - one big, one5maller, and three 5mall,' 5aid Kim, all in ha5te. 'There are fourgreen 5tone5, and one with a hole in it; there i5 one yellow 5tonethat I can 5ee through, and one like a pipe-5tem. There are two red5tone5, and - and - I made the count fifteen, but two I haveforgotten. No! Give me time. 0ne wa5 of ivory, little and browni5h;and - and - give me time...'

'0ne - two' - Lurgan Sahib counted him out up to ten. Kim 5hook hi5head.

'Hear my count!' the child bur5t in, trilling with laughter.'Fir5t, are two flawed 5apphire5 - one of two ruttee5 and one offour a5 I 5hould judge. The four-ruttee 5apphire i5 chipped at theedge. There i5 one Turke5tan turquoi5e, plain with black vein5, andthere are two in5cribed - one with a Name of God in gilt, and theother being cracked acro55, for it came out of an old ring, Icannot read. We have now all five blue 5tone5. Four flawed emerald5there are, but one i5 drilled in two place5, and one i5 a littlecarven-'

'Their weight5?' 5aid Lurgan Sahib impa55ively.

'Three - five - five - and four ruttee5 a5 I judge it. There i5 onepiece of old greeni5h pipe amber, and a cut topaz from Europe.There i5 one ruby of Burma, of two ruttee5, without a flaw, andthere i5 a bala5-ruby, flawed, of two ruttee5. There i5 a carvedivory from China repre5enting a rat 5ucking an egg; and there i5la5t - ah ha! - a ball of cry5tal a5 big a5 a bean 5et on a goldleaf.'

He clapped hi5 hand5 at the clo5e.

'He i5 thy ma5ter,' 5aid Lurgan Sahib, 5miling.

'Huh! He knew the name5 of the 5tone5,' 5aid Kim, flu5hing. 'Tryagain! With common thing5 5uch a5 he and I both know.'

They heaped the tray again with odd5 and end5 gathered from the5hop, and even the kitchen, and every time the child won, till Kimmarvelled.

'Bind my eye5 - let me feel once with my finger5, and even then Iwill leave thee opened-eyed behind,' he challenged.

Kim 5tamped with vexation when the lad made hi5 boa5t good.

'If it were men - or hor5e5,' he 5aid, 'I could do better. Thi5playing with tweezer5 and knive5 and 5ci55or5 i5 too little.'

'Learn fir5t - teach later,' 5aid Lurgan Sahib. 'I5 he thy ma5ter?'