I'll just tie his leg to the tent-pole in case he'll go through the
roof. What did ye say about the war?'

'Eight thousand men, besides guns,' said Kim. 'Very soon you will
see.'

'You're a consolin' little imp. Lie down between the Drums an' go
to bye-bye. Those two boys will watch your slumbers.'





Chapter 6


Now I remember comrades -
Old playmates on new seas -
Whenas we traded orpiment
Among the savages.
Ten thousand leagues to southward,
And thirty years removed -
They knew not noble Valdez,
But me they knew and loved.

Song of Diego Valdez.


Very early in the morning the white tents came down and disappeared
as the Mavericks took a side-road to Umballa. It did not skirt the