rug-box, took his
patent-leather shoes of ceremony in one hand, a gay blue-and-white
umbrella in the other, and set off northwards to the Doon, where, he
said, he was in demand among the lesser kings of those parts.

'We will go in the cool of the evening, chela,' said the lama. 'That
doctor, learned in physic and courtesy, affirms that the people among
these lower hills are devout, generous, and much in need of a teacher.
In a very short time--so says the hakim--we come to cool air and the
smell of pines.'

'Ye go to the Hills? And by Kulu road? Oh, thrice happy!' shrilled
the old lady. 'But that I am a little pressed with the care of the
homestead I would take palanquin ... but that would be shameless, and
my reputation would be cracked. Ho! Ho! I know the road--every march
of the road I know. Ye will find charity throughout--it is not denied
to the well-looking. I will give orders for provision. A servant to
set you forth upon your journey? No ... Then I will at least cook ye
good food.'

'What a woman is the Sahiba!' said the white-bearded Oorya, when a
tumult rose by the kitchen quarters. 'She has never forgotten a
friend: she has never forgotten an enemy in all her years. And her
cookery--wah!' He rubbed his slim stomach.

There were cakes, there were sweetmeats, there was cold fowl stewed to
rags with rice and prunes--enough to burden Kim like a mule.

'I am old and useless,' she said. 'None now love me--and none
respect--but there are few to compare with me when I call on the Gods
and squat to my cooking-pots. Come again, O people of good will. Holy
One and disciple, come again. The room is always prepared; the welcome
is always ready ... See the women do not follow thy chela too openly.
I know the women of Kulu. Take heed, chela, lest he run away when he
smells his Hills again ... Hai! Do not tilt the rice-bag upside down
... Bless the household, Holy One, and forgive thy servant her
stupidities.'

She wiped her red old eyes on a corner of her veil, and clucked
throatily.

'Women talk,' said the lama at last, 'but that is a woman's infirmity.
I gave her a charm. She is upon the Wheel and wholly given over to the
shows of this life, but none the less, chela, she is virtuous, kindly,
hospitable--of a whole and zealous heart. Who shall say she does not
acquire merit?'

'Not I, Holy One,' said Kim, reslinging the bountiful provision on his
shoulders. 'In my mind--behind my