Hurree Babu deferred to these views with enchanting politeness, so that the lama called him a courteous physician.

Hurree Babu replied that he was no more than an inexpert dabbler in the mysteries; but at least--he thanked the Gods therefore--he knew when he sat in the presence of a master.

He himself had been taught by the Sahibs, who do not consider expense, in the lordly halls of Calcutta; but, as he was ever first to acknowledge, there lay a wisdom behind earthly wisdom--the high and lonely lore of meditation.

Kim looked on with envy.

The Hurree Babu of his knowledge--oily, effusive, and nervous--was gone; gone, too, was the brazen drug-vendor of overnight.
There remained--polished, polite, attentive--a sober, learned son of experience and adversity, gathering wisdom from the lama's lips.