` Know ye not that there is a takkus of two annas a head , which is four annas , on those who enter the Road from this side-road ? It is the order of the Sirkar , and the money is spent for the planting of trees and the beautification of the ways . ' ` And the bellies of the police , ' said Kim , slipping out of arm 's reach . ` Consider for a while , man with a mud head . Think you we came from the nearest pond like the frog , thy father-in-law ? Hast thou ever heard the name of thy brother ? ' ` And who was he ? Leave the boy alone , ' cried a senior constable , immensely delighted , as he squatted down to smoke his pipe in the veranda . ` He took a label from a bottle of belaitee-pani -LSB- soda-water -RSB- , and , affixing it to a bridge , collected taxes for a month from those who passed , saying that it was the Sirkar 's order . Then came an Englishman and broke his head . Ah , brother , I am a town-crow , not a village-crow ! ' The policeman drew back abashed , and Kim hooted at him all down the road . ` Was there ever such a disciple as I ? ' he cried merrily to the lama . ` All earth would have picked thy bones within ten mile of Lahore city if I had not guarded thee . ' ' I consider in my own mind whether thou art a spirit , sometimes , or sometimes an evil imp , ' said the lama , smiling slowly . ' I am thy chela . ' Kim dropped into step at his side -- that indescribable gait of the long-distance tramp all the world over . ` Now let us walk , ' muttered the lama , and to the click of his rosary they walked in silence mile upon mile . The lama as usual , was deep in meditation , but Kim 's bright eyes were open wide .
This broad , smiling river of life , he considered , was a vast improvement on the cramped and crowded XXXXX streets .
Kim Lahore beautification father-in-law imp lama month soda-water takkus village-crow