Kim made a note of this , for he began to understand where examinations led . Then came the holidays from August to October -- the long holidays imposed by the heat and the Rains . Kim was informed that he would go north to some station in the hills behind Umballa , where Father Victor would arrange for him . ' A barrack-school ? ' said Kim , who had asked many questions and thought more . ` Yes , I suppose so , ' said the master . ` It will not do you any harm to keep you out of mischief . You can go up with young De Castro as far as Delhi . ' Kim considered it in every possible light . He had been diligent , even as the Colonel advised . A boy 's holiday was his own property -- of so much the talk of his companions had advised him , -- and a barrack-school would be torment after St Xavier 's . Moreover -- this was magic worth anything else -- he could write . In three months he had discovered how men can speak to each other without a third party , at the cost of half an anna and a little knowledge . No word had come from the lama , but there remained the Road . Kim yearned for the caress of soft mud squishing up between the toes , as his mouth watered for mutton stewed with butter and cabbages , for rice speckled with strong scented cardamoms , for the saffron-tinted rice , garlic and onions , and the forbidden greasy sweetmeats of the bazars . They would feed him raw beef on a platter at the barrack-school , and he must smoke by stealth . But again , he was a Sahib and was at St Xavier 's , and that pig Mahbub Ali ... No , he would not test Mahbub 's hospitality -- and yet ... He thought it out alone in the dormitory , and came to the conclusion he had been unjust to Mahbub . The school was empty ; nearly all the masters had gone away ; Colonel Creighton 's railway pass lay in his hand , and Kim puffed himself that he had not spent Colonel Creighton 's or Mahbub 's money in riotous living . He was still lord of two rupees seven annas . His new bullock-trunk , marked ` K. O ` H. ' , and bedding-roll lay in the empty sleeping-room .
` Sahibs are always tied to their baggage , ' said XXXXX , nodding at them .
Castro Kim Mahbub Umballa barrack-school bazars cabbages cardamoms lama months