` It is more , chela . Thou hast loosed an Act upon the world , and as a stone thrown into a pool so spread the consequences thou canst not tell how far . ' This ignorance was well both for Kim 's vanity and for the lama 's peace of mind , when we think that there was then being handed in at Simla a code-wire reporting the arrival of E23 at Delhi , and , more important , the whereabouts of a letter he had been commissioned to -- abstract . Incidentally , an over-zealous policeman had arrested , on charge of murder done in a far southern State , a horribly indignant Ajmir cotton-broker , who was explaining himself to a Mr Strickland on Delhi platform , while E23 was paddling through byways into the locked heart of Delhi city . In two hours several telegrams had reached the angry minister of a southern State reporting that all trace of a somewhat bruised Mahratta had been lost ; and by the time the leisurely train halted at Saharunpore the last ripple of the stone Kim had helped to heave was lapping against the steps of a mosque in far-away Roum -- where it disturbed a pious man at prayers . The lama made his in ample form near the dewy bougainvillea-trellis near the platform , cheered by the clear sunshine and the presence of his disciple . ` We will put these things behind us , ' he said , indicating the brazen engine and the gleaming track . ` The jolting of the te-rain -- though a wonderful thing -- has turned my bones to water . We will use clean air henceforward . ' ` Let us go to the Kulu woman 's house ' said Kim , and stepped forth cheerily under the bundles . Early morning Saharunpore-way is clean and well scented . He thought of the other mornings at St Xavier 's , and it topped his already thrice-heaped contentment . ` Where is this new haste born from ? Wise men do not run about like chickens in the sun . We have come hundreds upon hundreds of koss already , and , till now , I have scarcely been alone with thee an instant . How canst thou receive instruction all jostled of crowds ? How can I , whelmed by a flux of talk , meditate upon the Way ? ' ` Her tongue grows no shorter with the years , then ? ' the disciple smiled . ` Nor her desire for charms .
I remember once when I spoke of the Wheel of Life ' -- the XXXXX fumbled in his bosom for his latest copy -- ` she was only curious about the devils that besiege children .
E23 Kim byways chela cotton-broker henceforward koss lama murder years