`Whatwasyoubukkin’tothatniggerabout？’saidthedrummer-boywhenKimreturnedtotheveranda。`Iwaswatchin’you。’
`Iwasonlytalkin’tohim。’
`Youtalkthesameasanigger，don’tyou？’
`No-ah！No-ah！Ionleespeakalittle。Whatshallwedonow？’
`Thebugles’llgofordinnerinarfaminute。MyGawd！IwishI’dgoneuptotheFrontwiththeRegiment。It’sawfuldoin’nothin’butschooldown`ere。Don’tyou`ateit？’
`Oahyess！’
`I’drunawayifIknewwheretogoto，but，asthemensay，inthisbloomin’Injiayou’reonlyaprisoneratlarge。Youcan’tdesertwithoutbein’tookbackatonce。I’mfairsickofit。’
`YouhavebeeninBe-England？’
`W’y，Ionlycomeoutlasttroopin’seasonwithmymother。IshouldthinkI’avebeeninEngland。Whataignorantlittlebeggaryouare！Youwasbroughtupinthegutter，wasn’tyou？’
`Oahyess。TellmesomethingaboutEngland。Myfatherhecamefromthere。’
Thoughhewouldnotsayso，Kimofcoursedisbelievedeverywordthedrummer-boyspokeabouttheLiverpoolsuburbwhichwashisEngland。Itpassedtheheavytimetilldinner-amostunappetizingmealservedtotheboysandafewinvalidsinacornerofabarrack-room。ButthathehadwrittentoMahbubAli，Kimwouldhavebeenalmostdepressed。Theindifferenceofnativecrowdshewasusedto；butthisstronglonelinessamongwhitemenpreyedonhim。Hewasgratefulwhen，inthecourseoftheafternoon，abigsoldiertookhimovertoFatherVictor，wholivedinanotherwingacrossanotherdustyparade-ground。ThepriestwasreadinganEnglishletterwritteninpurpleink。HelookedatKimmorecuriouslythanever。
`An’howdoyoulikeit，myson，asfarasyou’vegone？Notmuch，eh？
Itmustbehard-veryhardonawildanimal。Listennow。I’veanamazin’
epistlefromyourfriend。’
`Whereishe？Ishewell？Oah！Ifheknowstowritemeletters，itisallright。’
`You’refondofhimthen？’
`OfcourseIamfondofhim。Hewasfondofme。’
`Itseemssobythelookofthis。Hecan’twriteEnglish，canhe？’
`Oahno。NotthatIknow，butofcoursehefoundaletter-writerwhocanwriteEnglishverreewell，andsohewrote。Idohopeyouunderstand。’
`Thataccountsforit。D’youknowanythingabouthismoneyaffairs？’
Kim’sfaceshowedthathedidnot。
`HowcanItell？’
`That’swhatI’maskin’。Nowlistenifyoucanmakeheadortailo’
this。We’llskipthefirstpart……It’swrittenfromJagadhirRoad……Sittingonwaysideingravemeditation，trustingtobefavouredwithyourHonour’sapplauseofpresentstep，whichrecommendyourHonourtoexecuteforAlmightyGod’ssake。Educationisgreatestblessingifofbestsorts。Otherwisenoearthlyuse。’Faith，theoldman’shitthebull’s-eyethattime！IfyourHonourcondescendinggivingmyboybesteducationsXavierIsupposethat’sStXavier’sinPartibusintermsofourconversationdatedinyourtent15thinstantabusiness-liketouchthere！thenAlmightyGodblessingyourHonour’ssucceedingstothirdan’fourthgenerationand-nowlisten！-confideinyourHonour’shumbleservantforadequateremunerationperhoondiperannumthreehundredrupeesayeartooneexpensiveeducationStXavier，Lucknow，andallowsmalltimetoforwardsameperhoondisenttoanypartofIndiaasyourHonourshalladdressyourself。
ThisservantofyourHonourhaspresentlynoplacetolaycrownofhishead，butgoingtoBenaresbytrainonaccountofpersecutionofoldwomantalkingsomuchandunanxiousresidingSaharunporeinanydomesticcapacity。Nowwhatintheworlddoesthatmean？’
`Shehasaskedhimtobeherpuro-herclergyman-atSaharunpore，Ithink。HewouldnotdothatonaccountofhisRiver。Shedidtalk。’
`It’scleartoyou，isit？Itbeatsmealtogether。SogoingtoBenares，wherewillfindaddressandforwardrupeesforboywhoisappleofeye，andforAlmightyGod’ssakeexecutethiseducation，andyourpetitionerasindutyboundshalleverawfullypray。WrittenbySobraoSatai，FailedEntranceAllahabadUniversity，forVenerableTeshooLamathepriestofSuch-zenlookingforaRiver，addresscareofTirthankars’
Temple，Benares。P。M-Pleasenoteboyisappleofeye，andrupeesshallbesentperhoondithreehundredperannum。ForGodAlmighty’ssake。Now，isthatravin’lunacyorabusinessproposition？Iaskyou，becauseI’mfairlyatmywits’end。’
`Hesayshewillgivemethreehundredrupeesayear？Sohewillgivemethem。’
`Oh，that’sthewayyoulookatit，isit？’
`Ofcourse。Ifhesaysso！’
Thepriestwhistled；thenheaddressedKimasanequal。
`Idon’tbelieveit；butwe’llsee。Youweregoin’offtodaytotheMilitaryOrphanageatSanawar，wheretheRegimentwouldkeepyoutillyouwereoldenoughtoenlist。Ye’dbebroughtuptotheChurchofEngland。
Bennettarrangedforthat。Ontheotherhand，ifyegotoStXavier’sye’llgetabettereducationan’-an’canhavethereligion。D’yeseemydilemma？’
Kimsawnothingsaveavisionofthelamagoingsouthinatrainwithnonetobegforhim。
`Likemostpeople，I’mgoingtotemporize。IfyourfriendsendsthemoneyfromBenares-PowersofDarknessbelow，where’sastreet-beggartoraisethreehundredrupees？-ye’llgodowntoLucknowandI’llpayyourfare，becauseIcan’ttouchthesubscription-moneyifIintend，asIdo，tomakeyeaCatholic。Ifhedoesn’t，ye’llgototheMilitaryOrphanageattheRegiment’sexpense。I’llallowhimthreedays’grace，thoughIdon’tbelieveitatall。Eventhen，ifhefailsinhispaymentslateron……butit’sbeyondme。Wecanonlywalkonestepatatimeinthisworld，praiseGod！An’theysentBennetttotheFrontan’leftmebehind。Bennettcan’texpecteverything。’
`Oahyess，’saidKimvaguely。
Thepriestleanedforward。`I’dgiveamonth’spaytofindwhat’sgoin’
oninsidethatlittleroundheadofyours。’
`Thereisnothing，’saidKim，andscratchedit。HewaswonderingwhetherMahbubAliwouldsendhimasmuchasawholerupee。Thenhecouldpaytheletter-writerandwriteletterstothelamaatBenares。PerhapsMahbubAliwouldvisithimnexttimehecamesouthwithhorses。SurelyhemustknowthatKim’sdeliveryofthelettertotheofficeratUmballahadcausedthegreatwarwhichthemenandboyshaddiscussedsoloudlyoverthebarrackdinner-tables。ButifMahbubAlididnotknowthis，itwouldbeveryunsafetotellhimso。MahbubAliwasharduponboyswhoknew，orthoughttheyknew，toomuch。
`Well，tillIgetfurthernews’-FatherVictor’svoiceinterruptedthereverie。`Yecanrunalongnowandplaywiththeotherboys。They’llteachyesomething-butIdon’tthinkye’lllikeit。’
Thedaydraggedtoitswearyend。Whenhewishedtosleephewasinstructedhowtofolduphisclothesandsetouthisboots；theotherboysderiding。
Bugleswakedhiminthedawn；theschoolmastercaughthimafterbreakfast，thrustapageofmeaninglesscharactersunderhisnose，gavethemsenselessnames，andwhackedhimwithoutreason。Kimmeditatedpoisoninghimwithopiumborrowedfromabarrack-sweeper，butreflectedthat，astheyallateatonetableinpublicthiswaspeculiarlyrevoltingtoKim，whopreferredtoturnhisbackontheworldatmeals，thestrokemightbedangerous。
Thenheattemptedrunningofftothevillagewherethepriesthadtriedtodrugthelama-thevillagewheretheoldsoldierlived。Butfar-seeingsentriesateveryexitheadedbackthelittlescarletfigure。Trousersandjacketcrippledbodyandmindalike，soheabandonedtheprojectandfellback，Oriental-fashion，ontimeandchance。Threedaysoftormentpassedinthebig，echoingwhiterooms。Hewalkedoutofafternoonsunderescortofthedrummer-boy，andallheheardfromhiscompanionswerethefewuselesswordswhichseemedtomaketwo-thirdsofthewhiteman’sabuse。
Kimknewanddespisedthemalllongago。Theboyresentedhissilenceandlackofinterestbybeatinghim，aswasonlynatural。Hedidnotcareforanyofthebazarswhichwereinbounds。Hestyledallnatives`niggers’；
yetservantsandsweeperscalledhimabominablenamestohisface，and，misledbytheirdeferentialattitude，heneverunderstood。ThissomewhatconsoledKimforthebeatings。
Onthemorningofthefourthdayajudgementovertookthatdrummer。
TheyhadgoneouttogethertowardsUmballaracecourse。Hereturnedalone，weeping，withnewsthatyoungO’Hara，towhomhehadbeendoingnothinginparticular，hadhailedascarlet-beardedniggeronhorseback；thattheniggerhadthenandtherelaidintohimwithapeculiarlyadhesivequirt，pickedupyoungO’Hara，andbornehimoffatfullgallop。ThesetidingscametoFatherVictor，andhedrewdownhislongupperlip。HewasalreadysufficientlystartledbyaletterfromtheTempleoftheTirthankarsatBenares，enclosinganativebanker’snoteofhandforthreehundredrupees，andanamazingprayertoAlmightyGod。Thelamawouldhavebeenmoreannoyedthanthepriesthadheknownhowthebazarletter-writerhadtranslatedhisphrasetoacquiremerit。
`PowersofDarknessbelow！’FatherVictorfumbledwiththenote。`An’
nowhe’soffwithanotherofhispeep-o’-dayfriends。Idon’tknowwhetheritwillbeagreaterrelieftometogethimbackortohavehimlost。
He’sbeyondmycomprehension。HowtheDivil-yes，he’sthemanImean-canastreet-beggarraisemoneytoeducatewhiteboys？’