` Ohe ' , Mahbub Ali , ' he whispered , ` have a care ! ' The horse was reined back almost on its haunches , and forced towards the culvert . ` Never again , ' said Mahbub , ` will I take a shod horse for night-work . They pick up all the bones and nails in the city . ' He stooped to lift its forefoot , and that brought his head within a foot of Kim 's . ` Down -- keep down , ' he muttered . ` The night is full of eyes . ' ` Two men wait thy coming behind the horse-trucks . They will shoot thee at thy lying down , because there is a price on thy head . I heard , sleeping near the horses . ' ` Didst thou see them ? ... Hold still , Sire of Devils ! ' This furiously to the horse . ` No . ' ` Was one dressed belike as a fakir ? ' ` One said to the other , `` What manner of fakir art thou , to shiver at a little watching ? '' ' ` Good . Go back to the camp and lie down . I do not die tonight . ' Mahbub wheeled his horse and vanished .
XXXXX tore back down the ditch till he reached a point opposite his second resting-place , slipped across the road like a weasel , and re-coiled himself in the blanket .
Ali Devils Kim Mahbub Ohe fakir forefoot horse-trucks night night-work