'Come under a tree, out of the wet, and tell.'

'I stayed for a
while with an old man near Umballa; anon with a household of my
acquaintance in Umballa. With one of these I went as far as Delhi
to the southward. That is a wondrous city. Then I drove a bullock
for a teli [an oilman] coming north; but I heard of a great feast
forward in Patiala, and thither went I in the company of a
firework-maker. It was a great feast' (Kim rubbed his stomach). 'I
saw Rajahs, and elephants with gold and silver trappings; and they
lit all the fireworks at once, whereby eleven men were killed, my
fire-work-maker among them, and I was blown across a tent but took
no harm. Then I came back to the rel with a Sikh horseman, to whom
I was groom for my bread; and so here.'

'Shabash!' said Mahbub Ali.

'But what does the Colonel Sahib say? I do not wish to be beaten.'

'The Hand of Friendship has averted the Whip of Calamity; but
another time, when thou takest the Road it will be with me. This is
too early.'

'Late enough for me. I have learned to read and to write English a
little at the madrissah. I shall soon be altogether a Sahib.'

'Hear him!' laughed Mahbub, looking at the little drenched figure
dancing in the wet. 'Salaam - Sahib,' and he saluted ironically.