` Ask anyone in the big bazar . ' The Colonel walked on . ` He has forgotten his cheroot-case , ' said Kim , returning . ' I must bring it to him this evening . That is all my letter except , thrice over , Come to me ! Come to me ! Come to me ! Now I will pay for a stamp and put it in the post . He rose to go , and as an afterthought asked : ` Who is that angry-faced Sahib who lost the cheroot-case ? ' ` Oh , he is only Creighton Sahib -- a very foolish Sahib , who is a Colonel Sahib without a regiment . ' ` What is his business ? ' ` God knows . He is always buying horses which he can not ride , and asking riddles about the works of God -- such as plants and stones and the customs of people . The dealers call him the father of fools , because he is so easily cheated about a horse . Mahbub Ali says he is madder than most other Sahibs . ' ` Oh ! ' said Kim , and departed . His training had given him some small knowledge of character , and he argued that fools are not given information which leads to calling out eight thousand men besides guns . The Commander-in-Chief of all India does not talk , as Kim had heard him talk , to fools . Nor would Mahbub Ali 's tone have changed , as it did every time he mentioned the Colonel 's name , if the Colonel had been a fool .
Consequently -- and this set XXXXX to skipping -- there was a mystery somewhere , and Mahbub Ali probably spied for the Colonel much as Kim had spied for Mahbub .
Ali India Kim Sahib Sahibs bazar business cheroot-case evening training