m,
another man might hear and forestall me. It is not good to sell
knowledge for nothing.'

'Tell now.' The Colonel held up a rupee. Kim's hand half reached
towards it, and dropped.

'Nay, Sahib; nay. I know the price that will be paid for the answer,
but I do not know why the question is asked.'

'Take it for a gift, then,' said Creighton, tossing it over. 'There is
a good spirit in thee. Do not let it be blunted at St Xavier's. There
are many boys there who despise the black men.'

'Their mothers were bazar-women,' said Kim. He knew well there is no
hatred like that of the half-caste for his brother-in-law.

'True; but thou art a Sahib and the son of a Sahib. Therefore, do not
at any time be led to contemn the black men. I have known boys newly
entered into the service of the Government who feigned not to
understand the talk or the customs of black men. Their pay was cut for
ignorance. There is no sin so great as ignorance. Remember this.'

Several times in the course of the long twenty-four hours' run south
did the Colonel send for Kim, always developing this latter text.

'We be all on one lead-rope, then,' said Kim at last, 'the Colonel,
Mahbub Ali, and I--when I become a chain-man. He will use me as Mahbub
Ali employed me, I think. That is good, if it allows me to return to
the Road again. This clothing grows no easier by wear.'

When they came to the crowded Lucknow station there was no sign of the
lama. He swallowed his disappointment, while the Colonel bundled him
into a ticca-gharri with his neat belongings and despatched him alone
to St Xavier's.

'I do not say farewell, because we shall meet again,' he cried. 'Again,
and many times, if thou art one of good spirit. But thou art not yet
tried.'

'Not when I brought thee'--Kim actually dared to use the turn of
equals--'a white stallion's pedigree that night?'

'Much is gained by forgetting, little brother,' said the Colonel, with
a look that pierced through Kim's shoulder-blades as he scuttled into
the carriage.

It took him nearly five minutes to recover. Then he sniffed the new
air appreciatively. 'A rich city,' he said. 'Richer than Lahore. How
good the bazars must be! Coachman, drive me a little through the
bazars here.'

'My order is to take thee to the school.' The driver used the 'thou',
which is rudeness when applied to a white man. In the clearest and
most fluent vernacular Kim pointed out his error, climbed on t