As soon as his voice could carry he cursed him volubly . ` First I will take my pay , ' the letter-writer said . ` Bad words have made the price higher . But who art thou , dressed in that fashion , to speak in this fashion ? ' ` Aha ! That is in the letter which thou shalt write . Never was such a tale . But I am in no haste . Another writer will serve me . Umballa city is as full of them as is Lahore . ' ` Four annas , ' said the writer , sitting down and spreading his cloth in the shade of a deserted barrack-wing . Mechanically Kim squatted beside him -- squatted as only the natives can -- in spite of the abominable clinging trousers . The writer regarded him sideways . ` That is the price to ask of Sahibs , ' said Kim . ` Now fix me a true one . ' ` An anna and a half . How do I know , having written the letter , that thou wilt not run away ? ' I must not go beyond this tree , and there is also the stamp to be considered . ' ' I get no commission on the price of the stamp . Once more , what manner of white boy art thou ? '
` That shall be XXXXX in the letter , which is to Mahbub Ali , the horse-dealer in the Kashmir Serai , at Lahore .
art ask carry considered deserted dressed fix made said squatted