“And,” said the lama, repeating a many-times-told tale, “never was such a chela . Temperate, kindly, wise, of ungrudging disposition, a merry heart upon the road, never forgetting, learned, truthful, courteous. Great is his reward!”
“I know the boy—as I have said.”
“And he was all those things?”
“Some of them—but I have not yet found a Red Hat’s charm for making him overly truthful. He has certainly been well nursed.”
“The Sahiba is a heart of gold,” said the lama earnestly. “She looks upon him as her son.”
“Hmph! Half Hind seems that way disposed. I only wished to see that the boy had come to no harm and was a free agent. As thou knowest, he and I were old friends in the first days of your pilgrimage together.”
“That is a bond between us.” The lama sat down. “We are at the end of the pilgrimage.”
“No thanks to thee thine was not cut off for good and