Here was a new craft that a man could tuck away in his head and by the look of the large wide world unfolding itself before him , it seemed that the more a man knew the better for him . Said the Babu when he had talked for an hour and a half ' I hope some day to enjoy your offeecial acquaintance . Ad interim , if I may be pardoned that expression , I shall give you this betel-box , which is highly valuable article and cost me two rupees only four years ago . ' It was a cheap , heart-shaped brass thing with three compartments for carrying the eternal betel-nut , lime and pan-leaf ; but it was filled with little tabloid-bottles . ` That is reward of merit for your performance in character of that holy man . You see , you are so young you think you will last for ever and not take care of your body . It is great nuisance to go sick in the middle of business . I am fond of drugs myself , and they are handy to cure poor people too . These are good Departmental drugs -- quinine and so on . I give it you for souvenir . Now good-bye . I have urgent private business here by the roadside . ' He slipped out noiselessly as a cat , on the Umballa road , hailed a passing cart and jingled away , while Kim , tongue-tied , twiddled the brass betel-box in his hands . The record of a boy 's education interests few save his parents , and , as you know , Kim was an orphan . It is written in the books of St Xavier 's in Partibus that a report of Kim 's progress was forwarded at the end of each term to Colonel Creighton and to Father Victor , from whose hands duly came the money for his schooling . It is further recorded in the same books that he showed a great aptitude for mathematical studies as well as map-making , and carried away a prize -LRB- The Life of Lord Lawrence , tree-calf , two vols. , nine rupees , eight annas -RRB- for proficiency therein ; and the same term played in St Xavier 's eleven against the Alighur Mohammedan College , his age being fourteen years and ten months . He was also re-vaccinated -LRB- from which we may assume that there had been another epidemic of smallpox at Lucknow -RRB- about the same time . Pencil notes on the edge of an old muster-roll record that he was punished several times for ` conversing with improper persons ' , and it seems that he was once sentenced to heavy pains for ` absenting himself for a day in the company of a street beggar ' . That was when he got over the gate and pleaded with the lama through a whole day down the banks of the Gumti to accompany him on the Road next holidays -- for one month -- for a little week ; and the lama set his face as a flint against it , averring that the time had not yet come . Kim 's business , said the old man as they ate cakes together , was to get all the wisdom of the Sahibs and then he would see .
The Hand of Friendship must in some way have averted the Whip of Calamity , for six weeks later XXXXX seems to have passed an examination in elementary surveying ` with great credit ' , his age being fifteen years and eight months .
Babu College Kim Partibus Victor lama month quinine tabloid-bottles vols.