` Powers of Darkness below ! ' Father Victor fumbled with the note . ` An ' now he 's off with another of his peep-o ' - day friends . I do n't know whether it will be a greater relief to me to get him back or to have him lost . He 's beyond my comprehension . How the Divil -- yes , he 's the man I mean -- can a street-beggar raise money to educate white boys ? ' Three miles off , on Umballa racecourse , Mahbub Ali , reining a grey Kabuli stallion with Kim in front of him , was saying : ` But , Little Friend of all the World , there is my honour and reputation to be considered . All the officer-Sahibs in all the regiments , and all Umballa , know Mahbub Ali . Men saw me pick thee up and chastise that boy . We are seen now from far across this plain . How can I take thee away , or account for thy disappearing if I set thee down and let thee run off into the crops ? They would put me in jail . Be patient . Once a Sahib , always a Sahib . When thou art a man -- who knows ? -- thou wilt be grateful to Mahbub Ali . ' ` Take me beyond their sentries where I can change this red . Give me money and I will go to Benares and be with my lama again . I do not want to be a Sahib , and remember I did deliver that message . ' The stallion bounded wildly .
Mahbub XXXXX had incautiously driven home the sharp-edged stirrup .
Ali Divil Sahib Umballa World day lama officer-Sahibs peep-o racecourse