All India is full of holy men stammering gospels in strange tongues ; shaken and consumed in the fires of their own zeal ; dreamers , babblers , and visionaries : as it has been from the beginning and will continue to the end . ` Um ! ' said the soldier of the Ludhiana Sikhs . ` There was a Mohammedan regiment lay next to us at the Pirzai Kotal , and a priest of theirs -- he was , as I remember , a naik -- when the fit was on him , spake prophecies . But the mad all are in God 's keeping . His officers overlooked much in that man . ' The lama fell back on Urdu , remembering that he was in a strange land . ` Hear the tale of the Arrow which our Lord loosed from the bow , ' he said . This was much more to their taste , and they listened curiously while he told it . ` Now , O people of Hind , I go to seek that River . Know ye aught that may guide me , for we be all men and women in evil case . ' ` There is Gunga -- and Gunga alone -- who washes away sin . ' ran the murmur round the carriage . ` Though past question we have good Gods Jullundur-way , ' said the cultivator 's wife , looking out of the window . ` See how they have blessed the crops . ' ` To search every river in the Punjab is no small matter , ' said her husband . ` For me , a stream that leaves good silt on my land suffices , and I thank Bhumia , the God of the Home-stead . ' He shrugged one knotted , bronzed shoulder . ` Think you our Lord came so far North ? ' said the lama , turning to Kim .
` It may be , ' XXXXX replied soothingly , as he spat red pan-juice on the floor .
Arrow Bhumia Home-stead Kim Mohammedan Punjab cultivator lama silt visionaries