The San Francisco call., 1901-10-27
Z The Kessaldar.
Lee.wood Kiplirg.

through three phases-frst. with kim as
he is introduced to the reader. little boy
seated astrlde # the gun Zam-Zammea1
near the Lahore museum meeting the old
lama a pilgrim in the footsteps Of Bud
dha: second. as a schoolboy at st. IA
vier's, trying TO learn the wisdom of the
Sahihs; third. as the budding secret SER
vice man.
The book is equally interesting in al
three of it's phases. for each and every
one Of them is India through the eyes
of the Oriental. and not those of thu
casual visitor.
Kim from his elevated perch on Fam
Zammeah becomes intensely interested, in
The lama and his proposed search for tn,
River of the Arrow whose waters are t)
cleanse his soul. SO he sets out with the
cld man as a che.a or disciple.
Kim has q prize of his own that he is
trying to find.
His father in his opiun dreams dwelc
upon the fact that a red bull on a green
background should prove the fortune o.
his son-meaning, of course the flag OF
his own regiment. To the boy, brought
up by a haIf-cGste woman such matters
have been impressed on his mind as so
much magic for Of course he does not
understand the purport of his father
regimental papers that hang in the anu
let around his neck.
By chance Kim and his lama happen t.
run right into the old regiment of hi;
father. Kim has recognized the flag with
the red bull on the green background,
and is doing a little spying to find his
fortune when is seized by the reSi-
mental pastor for thief. search foi-
lows and through the papers on Kim
neck he is recognized as the son of the
old color sergeant, Kimball O'Hara.
Although the lama makes his pilgrim
age as a beggar, still he is really rich
man, and though it almost breaks his old
heart to give UP his devoted chela he IN
siSts that Kim shall go, as the English
men wish and study in the schools; more
over the lama insists upon paying for his
tuition
kim has already proved himself
apt pupil in the Great Game as spying
in the secret service of India is called, and
has won for his friend a certain horse
dealer. Mahbub Ali, whose service num-
Der is &C %" The horse dealer enlists
the sympathy and help of his superior,
Colonel Creighton who, in short time,
is a interested in the future of kim" as
are his Indian friends.
Every holiday kim is either allowed
free rein of else is educated more par
ticularly and directly in the intricacies of
the Great Game" He finally becomes so
expert and trustworthy that he even
of the service who appear on the register
merely under letter and a number.
The most notable of these excursions is
the last adventure in the book, where
Kim and Hurree Babu outwit with true
Oriental cunning Frenchman and a Rus
sian. who have come into the hill country
estensibly to shoot goats, but really to
make surveys and pave the way for the
enemy
Beyond little bit of passing sentiment
between kim and the woman of Sham
legh there is nothing of u love story. The
absolute and lasting devotion of Kim to
his old friend the lama is beautifully
drawn however, and more than compen-
safes for the lack of that romance of
strong mon and lovely women that is
made the whole stock in trade in nearly
every modern fiction. Old fat and fear
full Hurree Babu, with his longing TO
eventually become a Fellow of the Royal
Society, is a splendid bit of character
work and makes a perfect type to illus
trate the odd and wondrous effect of Eu-
ropean teaching on an Oriental nature.
In fact, every one of the Indian charac-
ters that figure in the book is perfect
as only Kipling can make them.
1t seems unfortunate. in a way, that the
Kipling fad is on the wane; and yet it is
all for the best for Kim will be read
only by those who can appreciate and not
by those who read merely to say, II have
read it and isn't it simply splendid"
kim" is published by Doubleday, Page
& Co., New York. Price 81 90
B. G.. IATHROP