ersonally, he believed in
Brahmins, though, like all natives, he was acutely aware of their
cunning and their greed. Still, when Brahmins but irritated with
begging demands the mother of his master's wife, and when she sent them
away so angry that they cursed the whole retinue (which was the real
reason of the second off-side bullock going lame, and of the pole
breaking the night before), he was prepared to accept any priest of any
other denomination in or out of India. To this Kim assented with wise
nods, and bade the Oorya observe that the lama took no money, and that
the cost of his and Kim's food would be repaid a hundred times in the
good luck that would attend the caravan henceforward. He also told
stories of Lahore city, and sang a song or two which made the escort
laugh. As a town-mouse well acquainted with the latest songs by the
most fashionable composers--they are women for the most part--Kim had a
distinct advantage over men from a little fruit-village behind
Saharunpore, but he let that advantage be inferred.

At noon they turned aside to eat, and the meal was good, plentiful, and
well-served on plates of clean leaves, in decency, out of drift of the
dust. They gave the scraps to certain beggars, that all requirements
might be fulfilled, and sat down to a long, luxurious smoke. The old
lady had retreated behind her curtains, but mixed most freely in the
talk, her servants arguing with and contradicting her as servants do
throughout the East. She compared the cool and the pines of the Kangra
and Kulu hills with the dust and the mangoes of the South; she told a
tale of some old local Gods at the edge of her husband's territory; she
roundly abused the tobacco which she was then smoking, reviled all
Brahmins, and speculated without reserve on the coming of many
grandsons.

Chapter 5

Here come I to my own again
Fed, forgiven, and known again
Claimed by bone of my bone again,
And sib to flesh of my flesh!
The fatted calf is dressed for me,
But the husks have greater zest for me ...
I think my pigs will be best for me,
So I'm off to the styes afresh.

The Prodigal Son.

Once more the lazy, string-tied, shuffling procession got under way,
and she slept till they reached the next halting-stage. It was a very
short march, and time lacked an hour to sundown, so Kim cast about for
means of amusement.

'But why not sit and rest?' said one of the escort. 'Only the devils