-LRB- Kim drew a forefinger over his forehead and downwards till it came to rest by the angle of the jaw . -RRB- ` Anon He twitches his fingers thus . Anon He thrusts his hat under his left armpit . ' Kim illustrated the motion and stood like a stork . The old man groaned , inarticulate with amazement ; and the crowd shivered . ` So -- so -- so . But what does He when He is about to give an order ? ' ` He rubs the skin at the back of his neck -- thus . Then falls one finger on the table and He makes a small sniffing noise through his nose . Then He speaks , saying : `` Loose such and such a regiment . Call out such guns . '' ' The old man rose stiffly and saluted . ' `` For '' ' -- Kim translated into the vernacular the clinching sentences he had heard in the dressing-room at Umballa -- ' `` For , '' says He , `` we should have done this long ago . It is not war -- it is a chastisement . Snff ! '' ' ` Enough . I believe . I have seen Him thus in the smoke of battles . Seen and heard . It is He ! ' '
I saw no smoke ' -- XXXXX 's voice shifted to the rapt sing-song of the wayside fortune-teller . '
Anon Kim Snff Umballa crowd downwards left stork table war