` He is come , ' said the boy , in a voice little louder than a sigh , and vanished . Kim felt sure that the boy had been posted to guide him from the first , but , putting a bold face on it , parted the curtain . A black-bearded man , with a green shade over his eyes , sat at a table , and , one by one , with short , white hands , picked up globules of light from a tray before him , threaded them on a glancing silken string , and hummed to himself the while . Kim was conscious that beyond the circle of light the room was full of things that smelt like all the temples of all the East . A whiff of musk , a puff of sandal-wood , and a breath of sickly jessamine-oil caught his opened nostrils . ' I am here , ' said Kim at last , speaking in the vernacular : the smells made him forget that he was to be a Sahib . ` Seventy-nine , eighty , eighty-one , ' the man counted to himself , stringing pearl after pearl so quickly that Kim could scarcely follow his fingers . He slid off the green shade and looked fixedly at Kim for a full half-minute . The pupils of the eye dilated and closed to pin-pricks , as if at will . There was a fakir by the Taksali Gate who had just this gift and made money by it , especially when cursing silly women . Kim stared with interest . His disreputable friend could further twitch his ears , almost like a goat , and Kim was disappointed that this new man could not imitate him . ` Do not be afraid , ' said Lurgan Sahib suddenly . ` Why should I fear ? ' ` Thou wilt sleep here tonight , and stay with me till it is time to go again to Nucklao . It is an order . ' ` It is an order , ' Kim repeated . ` But where shall I sleep ? ' ` Here , in this room . ' Lurgan Sahib waved his hand towards the darkness behind him .
` So be it , ' said XXXXX composedly .
Gate Kim Sahib fakir first globules half-minute jessamine-oil musk sandal-wood