He stirred a sleeper . ` Whither went those who lay here last even -- the lama and the boy ? Is aught missing ? ' ` Nay , ' grunted the man , ` the old madman rose at second cockcrow saying he would go to Benares , and the young one led him away . ' ` The curse of Allah on all unbelievers ! ' said Mahbub heartily , and climbed into his own stall , growling in his beard . But it was Kim who had wakened the lama -- Kim with one eye laid against a knot-hole in the planking , who had seen the Delhi man 's search through the boxes . This was no common thief that turned over letters , bills , and saddles -- no mere burglar who ran a little knife sideways into the soles of Mahbub 's slippers , or picked the seams of the saddle-bags so deftly . At first Kim had been minded to give the alarm -- the long-drawn choor -- choor ! -LSB- thief ! thief ! -RSB- that sets the serai ablaze of nights ; but he looked more carefully , and , hand on amulet , drew his own conclusions . ` It must be the pedigree of that made-up horse-lie , ' said he , ` the thing that I carry to Umballa . Better that we go now . Those who search bags with knives may presently search bellies with knives . Surely there is a woman behind this . Hai ! Hai ! in a whisper to the light-sleeping old man . ` Come .
It is time -- time to XXXXX to Benares . '
Come carry go growling ran said search sets stirred turned