Kim Page #7

Where did the fat man say

he could be reached?

He said he could be reached

at the usual place.

He'll be found at the northernmost house

in the village of Camba.

- Do you know it?

- Oh, yes, sir.

Two days journey on the Grand

Trunk Road and a half a day to the south.

Right.

Can you remember a difficult message?

Well, I think so, sir.

Listen carefully.

Blue follows the green.

The gray is under the blue.

The red is to the right of the green.

The gray must go five leagues

to the point of eight...

and then return seven leagues

to meet the red.

Repeat.

"The blue follows the green.

"The gray is under the blue.

"The red is to the right of the green.

"The gray must go five leagues

to the point of eight...

"then return seven leagues

to meet the red. "

Lurgan spoke very well of you.

- He was not exaggerating.

- Thank you, sir.

Now I'll tell you a real message.

I want you to go to the fat man and say...

that the two Europeans

who are surveying the Khyber Pass...

are not the geologists they claim to be.

Tell him to go with all haste

and investigate.

And, if possible,

to secure for our information...

any maps or data

they may have accumulated.

- Can you do this?

- Oh, yes, sir.

But what about my holy man?

Will he stay here?

No. You'll take your lama

with you to Camba.

As the chela of a holy man,

you will look less conspicuous.

But he might harm him, sir.

Why not leave that to me, Kim?

Now, you go meet your lama as arranged.

Oh, and just one thing:

I want you to give me

your word of honor...

that you'll be at St. Xavier's

in three weeks time...

at the opening of term.

Yes, sir.

And when you've finished at St. Xavier's...

this is yours.

Thank you, sir.

Now run along, and good luck.

Did any of you see the theft?

Sahib, with my own eyes,

I saw his thieving hand...

reach into thy honorable pocket.

We've got our evidence.

Take him to the police station

and hold him as a witness.

You cannot arrest me! You cannot!

I came as soon as I got your message.

R3 is dead.

- The fat one?

- Strangled by a rope.

There was one

with the heart of a full-blooded stallion.

A brain, too, as big as his belly.

There will be a reckoning.

I sent a message to him

to go to the Khyber Pass...

and investigate the two Europeans

who are surveying in the Himalayas.

You must take his place.

- Did he receive your message before...

- I don't know.

There's been no word from Kim

since he carried it.

I've inquired everywhere,

including the school.

He's completely disappeared.

I am terribly worried about the boy.

Did he carry your message

to the fat one in writing?

No. By word.

I felt I could trust him.

You, too, are thinking perhaps

that he was also...

I am thinking only that perhaps

a boy has gone upon a man's mission.

- We waste time.

- Mahbub Ali, our ranks grow thinner.

Have a care.

Sahib, I am a man of peace.

Thank you, boy.

For only four annas, O sahib princes...

a skin full of milk.

Four annas, sahibs. The man is a thief.

But it's fresh milk. We need it.

Are you bankers to pay such a price?

Here. Buy the milk.

What sort of milk can you offer?

Never have I seen such a mangy herd

or such a thieving herder.

Mudhead. Thy mother was born

under a basket.

- Three annas.

- Bury thy head in a dung heap.

We do not ask the price of the herd.

One anna.

Son of 10,000 maggots!

Two annas.

Save thy slimy voice. One anna!

- Two!

- One!

- One and one half annas!

- One anna!

Oh, you drive a harder bargain

than a horse trader from Lahore!

One anna.

That one.

For one anna, I will pick the goat.

Mahbub Ali.

So...

for such as thee, I sacrificed my beard.

If we were not watched,

I would lash you until my arm wearied.

Then I'd take you to Colonel Creighton,

who'd lash you with his tongue.

But am I not playing the Great Game?

The first order is to obey orders.

It's a miracle your throat isn't slit...

and that which we're looking for, lost.

Turn your head to the last pack animal.

What we seek is in that kilta

with the red top.

They draw maps and plans

of fortified places.

And chart where landslides

might be dangerous.

At each spot with the passing arrows...

they plan a fort just to be held

by a handful of soldiers.

I've seen it marked so.

Do you know when the soldiers will come?

No. They speak together in a language

my holy man called Russian.

Now the pattern is clear on the loom.

The northern tribes

were the ones that brought war.

This time the Imperial Czar

prods them in the backside.

But am I not playing the Great Game?

Could the fat one or even Mahbub Ali

have done so much?

Tonight, when they sleep...

you and the holy one

will go down to the plains.

But they trust me.

I've made myself useful.

They love me like a brother.

I could get ahold of those maps.

From now on, you'll obey orders!

One anna.

May the milk sour in your belly, skinflint!

Good boy. Thank you.

Milk.

You skinflint!

Did the holy one hear what they said

in the strange tongue?

Their hearts are glad because someone

they expected approaches up the pass.

Did they say who it was?

Yes. Even at this distance,

they recognize him...

by the sign he carries upon his umbrella.

Boy, our fire. Hurry with it.

Tonight you cook well, very well.

- A visitor is coming.

- A visitor, sahib?

We have wine. Cool it in the stream.

With such complete preparations,

this time we cannot fail.

And if our fighting tribesmen

could be joined...

by some of your master's soldiers...

There is peace between my country

and England. It is not possible.

Our imperial master will help

with guns, ammunition...

We're expecting hourly the arrival here

of several men...

- some of our best staff officers.

- Excellent.

You'll conduct these officers

to your headquarters...

where they'll be at your service

during the campaign.

If their identity were ever discovered...

my government would be compelled

to repudiate them.

To be less conspicuous, they travel

in the costume of your countrymen.

Your pardon, sahibs.

The milk of the goat soothes the belly

and brings sound sleep.

Our bellies are still full of your good food.

Where did the sahibs find the boy?

He is young, but very attentive.

We did not find him. He found us.

Attached himself to us

the very next morning...

- after our bearers...

- The superstitious fools.

After our bearers deserted us...

because something frightened them

in the night.

The boy was journeying

in the hills with a lama.

A religious fanatic...

- searching for a sacred river.

- Yes, some mythical river.

Searching for a river in the hills?

- Yes.

- The old man is mad, quite mad.

And yet he can speak with us

in our own language.

These lamas have

the gift of many tongues.

Strange meeting.

It smells strongly.

Boy, bring back the goat's milk.

Here. Catch.

Oh, I am sorry, sir! I am very clumsy.

Look down at the cup.

Look down!

It will come together, piece by piece.

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