He has certainly been well nursed . ' ` The Sahiba is a heart of gold , ' said the lama earnestly . ` She looks upon him as her son . ' ` Hmph ! Half Hind seems that way disposed . I only wished to see that the boy had come to no harm and was a free agent . As thou knowest , he and I were old friends in the first days of your pilgrimage together . ' ` That is a bond between us . ' The lama sat down . ` We are at the end of the pilgrimage . ' ` No thanks to thee thine was not cut off for good and all a week back . I heard what the Sahiba said to thee when we bore thee up on the cot . ' Mahbub laughed , and tugged his newly dyed beard . ' I was meditating upon other matters that tide . It was the hakim from Dacca broke my meditations . ' ` Otherwise ' -- this was in Pushtu for decency 's sake -- ` thou wouldst have ended thy meditations upon the sultry side of Hell -- being an unbeliever and an idolater for all thy child 's simplicity . But now , Red Hat , what is to be done ? ' ` This very night , ' -- the words came slowly , vibrating with triumph -- ` this very night he will be as free as I am from all taint of sin -- assured as I am , when he quits this body , of Freedom from the Wheel of Things . I have a sign ' -- he laid his hand above the torn chart in his bosom -- ` that my time is short ; but I shall have safeguarded him throughout the years . Remember , I have reached Knowledge , as I told thee only three nights back . '
` It must be true , as the Tirah priest said when I stole his cousin 's wife , that I am a Sufi -LSB- a free-thinker -RSB- ; for here I sit , ' said XXXXX to himself , ` drinking in blasphemy unthinkable ... I remember the tale .
Dacca Hat Hmph Mahbub cot days idolater lama night nights