A blessing on thee . ' The lama inclined his solemn head . ' I have known many men in my so long life , and disciples not a few . But to none among men , if so be thou art woman-born , has my heart gone out as it has to thee -- thoughtful , wise , and courteous ; but something of a small imp . ' ` And I have never seen such a priest as thou . ' Kim considered the benevolent yellow face wrinkle by wrinkle . ` It is less than three days since we took the road together , and it is as though it were a hundred years . ' ` Perhaps in a former life it was permitted that I should have rendered thee some service . Maybe ' -- he smiled -- ' I freed thee from a trap ; or , having caught thee on a hook in the days when I was not enlightened , cast thee back into the river . ' ` Maybe , ' said Kim quietly . He had heard this sort of speculation again and again , from the mouths of many whom the English would not consider imaginative . ` Now , as regards that woman in the bullock-cart . I think she needs a second son for her daughter . ' ` That is no part of the Way , ' sighed the lama . ` But at least she is from the Hills . Ah , the Hills , and the snow of the Hills ! ' He rose and stalked to the cart . Kim would have given his ears to come too , but the lama did not invite him ; and the few words he caught were in an unknown tongue , for they spoke some common speech of the mountains . The woman seemed to ask questions which the lama turned over in his mind before answering . Now and again he heard the singsong cadence of a Chinese quotation .
It was a strange picture that XXXXX watched between drooped eyelids .
Chinese Hills Kim bullock-cart days imp lama second woman-born years