`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？’