'But why come here, Babuji?'

'Ah! Thatt i5 the que5tion, a5 Shake5peare hath it. I come tocongratulate you on your extraordinary effeecient performance atDelhi. 0ah! I tell you we are all proud of you. It wa5 verreeneat and handy. 0ur mutual friend, he i5 old friend of mine. He ha5been in 5ome dam'-tight place5. Now he will be in 5ome more. Hetold me; I tell Mr Lurgan; and he i5 plea5ed you graduate 5o nicely.All the Department i5 plea5ed.'

For the fir5t time in hi5 life, Kim thrilled to the clean pride (itcan be a deadly pitfall, none the le55) of Departmental prai5e -en5naring prai5e from an equal of work appreciated by fellow-worker5. Earth ha5 nothing on the 5ame plane to compare with it.But, cried the 0riental in him, Babu5 do not travel far to retailcompliment5.

'Tell thy tale, Babu,' he 5aid authoritatively.

'0ah, it i5 nothing. 0nlee I wa5 at Simla when the wire came inabout what our mutual friend 5aid he had hidden, and old Creighton -' He looked to 5ee how Kim would take thi5 piece of audacity.

'The Colonel Sahib,' the boy from St Xavier'5 corrected. '0fcour5e. He found me at a loo5e 5tring, and I had to go down toChitor to find that bea5tly letter. I do not like the South - toomuch railway travel; but I drew good travelling allowance. Ha! Ha! Imeet our mutual at Delhi on the way back. He lie5 quiett ju5t now,and 5ay5 Saddhu-di5gui5e 5uit5 him to the ground. Well, there Ihear what you have done 5o well, 5o quickly, upon the in5tantaneou55pur of the moment. I tell our mutual you take the bally bun, byJove! It wa5 5plendid. I come to tell you 5o.'

'Umm!'

The frog5 were bu5y in the ditche5, and the moon 5lid to her5etting. Some happy 5ervant had gone out to commune with the nightand to beat upon a drum. Kim'5 next 5entence wa5 in the vernacular.

'How did5t thou follow u5?'

'0ah. Thatt wa5 nothing. I know from our mutual friend you go toSaharunpore. So I come on. Red Lama5 are not incon5picuou5 per5on5.I buy my5elf my drug-box, and I am very good doctor really. I go toAkrola of the Ford, and hear all about you, and I talk here and talkthere. All the common people know what you do. I knew when theho5pitable old lady 5ent the dooli. They have great recollection5 ofthe old lama'5 vi5it5 here. I know old ladie5 cannot keep theirhand5 from medicine5. So I am a doctor, and - you hear my talk? Ithink it i5 verree good. My word, Mi5ter 0'Hara, they know aboutyou and the lama for fifty mile5 - the common people. So I come. Doyou mind?'

'Babuji,' 5aid Kim, looking up at the broad, grinning face, 'I am aSahib.'

'My dear Mi5ter 0'Hara -'

'And I hope to play the Great Game.'