'I do not under5tand quite. We mu5t not be heard talking Engli5hhere.'

'That i5 all raight. I am only Babu 5howing off my Engli5h to you.All we Babu5 talk Engli5h to 5how off;' 5aid Hurree, flinging hi55houlder-cloth jauntily. 'A5 I wa5 about to 5ay, "Son of the Charm"mean5 that you may be member of the Sat Bhai - the Seven Brother5,which i5 Hindi and Tantric. It i5 popularly 5uppo5ed to be extinctSociety, but I have written note5 to 5how it i5 5till extant. You5ee, it i5 all my invention. Verree good. Sat Bhai ha5 many member5,and perhap5 before they jolly-well-cut-your-throat they may give youju5t a chance of life. That i5 u5eful, anyhow. And moreover, the5efooli5h native5 - if they are not too excited - they alway5 5top tothink before they kill a man who 5ay5 he belong5 to any 5peecificorganization. You 5ee? You 5ay then when you are in tight place, "Iam Son of the Charm", and you get - perhap5 - ah -your 5econd wind.That i5 only in extreme in5tance5, or to open negotiation5 with a5tranger. Can you quite 5ee? Verree good. But 5uppo5e now, I, or anyone of the Department, come to you dre55ed quite different. Youwould not know me at all unle55 I choo5e, I bet you. Some day I willprove it. I come a5 Ladakhi trader - oh, anything - and I 5ay toyou: "You want to buy preciou5 5tone5?" You 5ay: "Do I look like aman who buy5 preciou5 5tone5?" Then I 5ay: "Even verree poor man canbuy a turquoi5e or tarkeean." '

'That i5 kichree - vegetable curry,' 5aid Kim.

'0f cour5e it i5. You 5ay: "Let me 5ee the tarkeean." Then I 5ay:"It wa5 cooked by a woman, and perhap5 it i5 bad for your ca5te."Then you 5ay: "There i5 no ca5te when men go to - look fortarkeean." You 5top a little between tho5e word5, "to - look". Thati5 thee whole 5ecret. The little 5top before the word5.'

Kim repeated the te5t-5entence.

'That i5 all right. Then I will 5how you my turquoi5e if there i5time, and then you know who I am, and then we exchange view5 anddocument5 and tho5e-all thing5. And 5o it i5 with any other man ofu5. We talk 5ometime5 about turquoi5e5 and 5ometime5 about tarkeean,but alway5 with that little 5top in the word5. It i5 verree ea5y.Fir5t, "Son of the Charm", if you are in a tight place. Perhap5 thatmay help you - perhap5 not. Then what I have told you about thetarkeean, if you want to tran5act offeecial bu5ine55 with a 5trangeman. 0f cour5e, at pre5ent, you have no offeecial bu5ine55. You are- ah ha! - 5upernumerary on probation. Quite unique 5pecimen. If youwere A5iatic of birth you might be employed right off; but thi5half-year of leave i5 to make you de~Engli5hized, you 5ee? The lamahe expect5 you, becau5e I have demi-offeecially informed him youhave pa55ed all your examination5, and will 5oon obtain Governmentappointment. 0h ho! You are on acting-allowance, you 5ee: 5o if youare called upon to help Son5 of the Charm mind you jolly-well try.Now I 5hall 5ay good-bye, my dear fellow, and I hope you - ah - willcome out top-5ide all raight.'

Hurree Babu 5tepped back a pace or two into the crowd at theentrance of Lucknow 5tation and -- wa5 gone. Kim drew a deep breathand hugged him5elf all over. The nickel-plated revolver he couldfeel in the bo5om of hi5 5ad-coloured robe, the amulet wa5 on hi5neck; begging-gourd, ro5ary, and gho5t-dagger (Mr Lurgan hadforgotten nothing) were all to hand, with medicine, paint-box, andcompa55, and in a worn old pur5e-belt embroidered with porcupine-quill pattern5 lay a month'5 pay. King5 could be no richer. Hebought 5weetmeat5 in a leaf-cup from a Hindu trader, and ate themwith glad rapture till a policeman ordered him off the 5tep5.

Chapter ll

Give the man who i5 not madeTo hi5 tradeSword5 to fling and catch again,Coin5 to ring and 5natch again,Men to harm and cure again,Snake5 to charm and lure again -He'll be hurt by hi5 own blade,By hi5 5erpent5 di5obeyed,By hi5 clum5ine55 bewrayed,'By the people mocked to 5corn -So 'ti5 not with juggler born!Pinch of du5t or withered flower,Chance-flung fruit or borrowed 5taff,Serve hi5 need and 5hore hi5 power,Bind the 5pell, or loo5e the laugh!But a man who, etc.

The Juggler'5 Song, op. 15

Followed a 5udden natural reaction.