gathered round him, laughing and joking over his exploit.

'The talk of white men is wholly lacking in dignity,' said the lama,
who judged only by tone. 'But I considered the countenance of that
priest and I think he is learned. Is it likely that he will understand
our talk? I would talk to him of my Search.'

'Never speak to a white man till he is fed,' said Kim, quoting a
well-known proverb. 'They will eat now, and--and I do not think they
are good to beg from. Let us go back to the resting-place. After we
have eaten we will come again. It certainly was a Red Bull--my Red
Bull.'

They were both noticeably absent-minded when the old lady's retinue set
their meal before them; so none broke their reserve, for it is not
lucky to annoy guests.

'Now,' said Kim, picking his teeth, 'we will return to that place; but
thou, O Holy One, must wait a little way off, because thy feet are
heavier than mine and I am anxious to see more of that Red Bull.'

'But how canst thou understand the talk? Walk slowly. The road is
dark,' the lama replied uneasily.

Kim put the question aside. 'I marked a place near to the trees,' said
he, 'where thou canst sit till I call. Nay,' as the lama made some
sort of protest, 'remember this is my Search--the Search for my Red
Bull. The sign in the Stars was not for thee. I know a little of the
customs of white soldiers, and I always desire to see some new things.'

'What dost thou not know of this world?' The lama squatted obediently
in a little hollow of the ground not a hundred yards from the hump of
the mango-trees dark against the star-powdered sky.

'Stay till I call.' Kim flitted into the dusk. He knew that in all
probability there would be sentries round the camp, and smiled to
himself as he heard the thick boots of one. A boy who can dodge over
the roofs of Lahore city on a moonlight night, using every little patch
and corner of darkness to discomfit his pursuer, is not likely to be
checked by a line of well-trained soldiers. He paid them the
compliment of crawling between a couple, and, running and halting,
crouching and dropping flat, worked his way toward the lighted
Mess-tent where, close pressed behind the mango-tree, he waited till
some chance word should give him a returnable lead.

The one thing now in his mind was further information as to the Red
Bull. For aught he knew, and Kim's limitations were as curious and
sudden as his expansions, the men, the nine