It is a great and terrible world . ' Kim stole out and away , as unremarkable a figure as ever carried his own and a few score thousand other folk 's fate slung round his neck . Mahbub Ali 's directions left him little doubt of the house in which his Englishman lived ; and a groom , bringing a dog-cart home from the Club , made him quite sure . It remained only to identify his man , and Kim slipped through the garden hedge and hid in a clump of plumed grass close to the veranda . The house blazed with lights , and servants moved about tables dressed with flowers , glass , and silver . Presently forth came an Englishman , dressed in black and white , humming a tune . It was too dark to see his face , so Kim , beggar-wise , tried an old experiment . ` Protector of the Poor ! ' The man backed towards the voice . ` Mahbub Ali says -- ' ` Hah ! What says Mahbub Ali ? ' He made no attempt to look for the speaker , and that showed Kim that he knew . ` The pedigree of the white stallion is fully established . ' ` What proof is there ? ' The Englishman switched at the rose-hedge in the side of the drive . ` Mahbub Ali has given me this proof . ' Kim flipped the wad of folded paper into the air , and it fell in the path beside the man , who put his foot on it as a gardener came round the corner . When the servant passed he picked it up , dropped a rupee -- Kim could hear the clink -- and strode into the house , never turning round . Swiftly Kim took up the money ; but for all his training , he was Irish enough by birth to reckon silver the least part of any game . What he desired was the visible effect of action ; so , instead of slinking away , he lay close in the grass and wormed nearer to the house .
He saw -- Indian bungalows are open through and through -- the Englishman return to a small dressing-room , in a comer of the veranda , that was half office , littered with papers and despatch-boxes , and sit down to study Mahbub XXXXX 's message .
Ali Club Englishman Hah Irish Kim Protector left rose-hedge wad