They come to hunt for me . Thou hast saved my head . ' A group of yellow-trousered Punjab policemen , headed by a hot and perspiring young Englishman , parted the crowd about the carriages . Behind them , inconspicuous as a cat , ambled a small fat person who looked like a lawyer 's tout . ` See the young Sahib reading from a paper . My description is in his hand , ' said E23 . ` Thev go carriage by carriage , like fisher-folk netting a pool . ' When the procession reached their compartment , E23 was counting his beads with a steady jerk of the wrist ; while Kim jeered at him for being so drugged as to have lost the ringed fire-tongs which are the Saddhu 's distinguishing mark . The lama , deep in meditation , stared straight before him ; and the farmer , glancing furtively , gathered up his belongings . ` Nothing here but a parcel of holy-bolies , ' said the Englishman aloud , and passed on amid a ripple of uneasiness ; for native police mean extortion to the native all India over . ` The trouble now , ' whispered E23 , ` lies in sending a wire as to the place where I hid that letter I was sent to find . I can not go to the tar-office in this guise . ' ` Is it not enough I have saved thy neck ? ' ` Not if the work be left unfinished . Did never the healer of sick pearls tell thee so ? Comes another Sahib ! Ah ! ' This was a tallish , sallowish District Superintendent of Police -- belt , helmet , polished spurs and all -- strutting and twirling his dark moustache . ` What fools are these Police Sahibs ! ' said Kim genially .
XXXXX glanced up under his eyelids .
E23 Englishman India Kim Saddhu Sahib Thev holy-bolies lama tar-office