The writer regarded him sideways . ` That is the price to ask of Sahibs , ' said Kim . ` Now fix me a true one . ' ` An anna and a half . How do I know , having written the letter , that thou wilt not run away ? ' I must not go beyond this tree , and there is also the stamp to be considered . ' ' I get no commission on the price of the stamp . Once more , what manner of white boy art thou ? ' ` That shall be said in the letter , which is to Mahbub Ali , the horse-dealer in the Kashmir Serai , at Lahore . He is my friend . ' ` Wonder on wonder ! ' murmured the letter-writer , dipping a reed in the inkstand . ` To be written in Hindi ? ' ` Assuredly . To Mahbub Ali then . Begin ! I have come down with the old man as far as Umballa in the train . At Umballa I carried the news of the bay mare 's pedigree . ' After what he had seen in the garden , he was not going to write of white stallions . ` Slower a little .
What has a bay mare to do ... Is it Mahbub XXXXX , the great dealer ? '
Ali Hindi Kim Lahore Sahibs Serai Umballa horse-dealer inkstand stallions