` Thou art no hillman . ' ` Ask him . He will tell thee I was sent to him from the Stars to show him an end to his pilgrimage . ' ` Humph ! Consider , brat , that I am an old woman and not altogether a fool . Lamas I know , and to these I give reverence , but thou art no more a lawful chela than this my finger is the pole of this wagon . Thou art a casteless Hindu -- a bold and unblushing beggar , attached , belike , to the Holy One for the sake of gain . ' ` Do we not all work for gain ? ' Kim changed his tone promptly to match that altered voice . ' I have heard ' -- this was a bow drawn at a venture -- ' I have heard -- ' ` What hast thou heard ? ' she snapped , rapping with the finger . ` Nothing that I well remember , but some talk in the bazars , which is doubtless a lie , that even Rajahs -- small Hill Rajahs -- ' ` But none the less of good Rajput blood . ' ` Assuredly of good blood . That these even sell the more comely of their womenfolk for gain . Down south they sell them -- to zemindars and such -- all of Oudh . ' If there be one thing in the world that the small Hill Rajahs deny it is just this charge ; but it happens to be one thing that the bazars believe , when they discuss the mysterious slave-traffics of India . The old lady explained to Kim , in a tense , indignant whisper , precisely what manner and fashion of malignant liar he was . Had Kim hinted this when she was a girl , he would have been pommelled to death that same evening by an elephant . This was perfectly true . ` Ahai !
I am only a beggar 's XXXXX , as the Eye of Beauty has said , ' he wailed in extravagant terror .
Humph India Kim Lamas Rajahs bazars brat chela womenfolk zemindars