Have wired two thousand rupees your credit Luchman Narain 's bank -- ' This was entirely in the way of trade , but every one of those telegrams was discussed and rediscussed , by parties who conceived themselves to be interested , before they went over to the railway station in charge of a foolish Balti , who allowed all sorts of people to read them on the road . When , in Mahbub 's own picturesque language , he had muddied the wells of inquiry with the stick of precaution , Kim had dropped on him , sent from Heaven ; and , being as prompt as he was unscrupulous , Mahbub Ali used to taking all sorts of gusty chances , pressed him into service on the spot . A wandering lama with a low-caste boy-servant might attract a moment 's interest as they wandered about India , the land of pilgrims ; but no one would suspect them or , what was more to the point , rob . He called for a new light-ball to his hookah , and considered the case . If the worst came to the worst , and the boy came to harm , the paper would incriminate nobody . And he would go up to Umballa leisurely and -- at a certain risk of exciting fresh suspicion -- repeat his tale by word of mouth to the people concerned . But R17 's report was the kernel of the whole affair , and it would be distinctly inconvenient if that failed to come to hand . However , God was great , and Mahbub Ali felt he had done all he could for the time being . Kim was the one soul in the world who had never told him a lie . That would have been a fatal blot on Kim 's character if Mahbub had not known that to others , for his own ends or Mahbub 's business , Kim could lie like an Oriental . Then Mahbub Ali rolled across the serai to the Gate of the Harpies who paint their eyes and trap the stranger , and was at some pains to call on the one girl who , he had reason to believe , was a particular friend of a smooth-faced Kashmiri pundit who had waylaid his simple Balti in the matter of the telegrams . It was an utterly foolish thing to do ; because they fell to drinking perfumed brandy against the Law of the Prophet , and Mahbub grew wonderfully drunk , and the gates of his mouth were loosened , and he pursued the Flower of Delight with the feet of intoxication till he fell flat among the cushions , where the Flower of Delight , aided by a smooth-faced Kashmiri pundit , searched him from head to foot most thoroughly . About the same hour Kim heard soft feet in Mahbub 's deserted stall . The horse-trader , curiously enough , had left his door unlocked , and his men were busy celebrating their return to India with a whole sheep of Mahbub 's bounty . A sleek young gentleman from Delhi , armed with a bunch of keys which the Flower had unshackled from the senseless one 's belt , went through every single box , bundle , mat , and saddle-bag in Mahbub 's possession even more systematically than the Flower and the pundit were searching the owner . ` And I think . ' said the Flower scornfully an hour later , one rounded elbow on the snoring carcass , ` that he is no more than a pig of an Afghan horse-dealer , with no thought except women and horses . Moreover , he may have sent it away by now -- if ever there were such a thing . ' ` Nay -- in a matter touching Five Kings it would be next his black heart , ' said the pundit . ` Was there nothing ? '
The XXXXX man laughed and resettled his turban as he entered . '
Delhi Delight India Mahbub Prophet horse-dealer horse-trader intoxication lama serai