Hour upon hour he lay deeper than sleep . Towards evening , when the dust of returning kine made all the horizons smoke , came the lama and Mahbub Ali , both afoot , walking cautiously , for the house had told them where he had gone . ` Allah ! What a fool 's trick to play in open country ! ' muttered the horse-dealer . ` He could be shot a hundred times -- but this is not the Border . ' ` And , ' said the lama , repeating a many-times-told tale , ` never was such a chela . Temperate , kindly , wise , of ungrudging disposition , a merry heart upon the road , never forgetting , learned , truthful , courteous . Great is his reward ! ' ' I know the boy -- as I have said . ' ` And he was all those things ? ' ` Some of them -- but I have not yet found a Red Hat 's charm for making him overly truthful . He has certainly been well nursed . ' ` The Sahiba is a heart of gold , ' said the lama earnestly . ` She looks upon him as her son . ' ` Hmph ! Half Hind seems that way disposed . I only wished to see that the boy had come to no harm and was a free agent . As thou knowest , he and I were old friends in the first days of your pilgrimage together . ' ` That is a bond between us . '
The XXXXX sat down .
Ali Hmph Sahiba chela days evening horse-dealer hour kine lama