They gorged themselves on the good food in silence . Nor till he had licked the last of the sticky sweetstuff from his little finger did Kim note that the Kamboh too was girt for travel . ` If our roads lie together , ' he said roughly , ' I go with thee . One does not often find a worker of miracles , and the child is still weak . But I am not altogether a reed . ' He picked up his lathi -- a five-foot male-bamboo ringed with bands of polished iron -- and flourished it in the air . ` The Jats are called quarrel-some , but that is not true . Except when we are crossed , we are like our own buffaloes . ' ` So be it , ' said Kim . ' A good stick is a good reason . ' The lama gazed placidly up-stream , where in long , smudged perspective the ceaseless columns of smoke go up from the burning-ghats by the river . Now and again , despite all municipal regulations , the fragment of a half-burned body bobbed by on the full current . ` But for thee , ' said the Kamboh to Kim , drawing the child into his hairy breast , ' I might today have gone thither -- with this one . The priests tell us that Benares is holy -- which none doubt -- and desirable to die in . But I do not know their Gods , and they ask for money ; and when one has done one worship a shaved-head vows it is of none effect except one do another . Wash here ! Wash there ! Pour , drink , lave , and scatter flowers -- but always pay the priests . No , the Punjab for me , and the soil of the Jullundur-doab for the best soil in it . ' ' I have said many times -- in the Temple , I think -- that if need be , the River will open at our feet .
We will therefore go North , ' said the XXXXX , rising . '
Benares Gods Jats Kamboh Punjab River lama lathi lave sweetstuff