Here can ye hold the road against an army '' -- the very roads for which I paid out the rupees monthly . The Government knows , but does nothing . The three other Kings , who were not paid for guarding the Passes , tell them by runner of the bad faith of Bunar and Hilas . When all the evil is done , look you -- when these two strangers with the levels and the compasses make the Five Kings to believe that a great army will sweep the Passes tomorrow or the next day -- Hill-people are all fools -- comes the order to me , Hurree Babu , `` Go North and see what those strangers do . '' I say to Creighton Sahib , `` This is not a lawsuit , that we go about to collect evidence . '' ' Hurree returned to his English with a jerk : '' ` By Jove , '' I said , `` why the dooce do you not issue demi-offeecial orders to some brave man to poison them , for an example ? It is , if you permit the observation , most reprehensible laxity on your part . '' And Colonel Creighton , he laughed at me ! It is all your beastly English pride . You think no one dare conspire ! That is all tommy-rott . ' Kim smoked slowly , revolving the business , so far as he understood it , in his quick mind . ` Then thou goest forth to follow the strangers ? ' ` No . To meet them . They are coming in to Simla to send down their horns and heads to be dressed at Calcutta . They are exclusively sporting gentlemen , and they are allowed special faceelities by the Government . Of course , we always do that . It is our British pride . ' ` Then what is to fear from them ? '
` By XXXXX , they are not black people .
Babu British Hill-people Hurree Jove Sahib Simla compasses dooce tommy-rott