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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/38881-8.txt b/38881-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..df28c63 --- /dev/null +++ b/38881-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5807 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, In Kali's Country, by Emily Churchill +Thompson Sheets, Illustrated by Elma McNeal Childs + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: In Kali's Country + Tales from Sunny India + + +Author: Emily Churchill Thompson Sheets + + + +Release Date: February 14, 2012 [eBook #38881] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN KALI'S COUNTRY*** + + +E-text prepared by Dave Hobart, Suzanne Shell, and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made +available by Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries +(http://www.archive.org/details/toronto) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 38881-h.htm or 38881-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38881/38881-h/38881-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38881/38881-h.zip) + + + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries. See + http://www.archive.org/details/rsinkaliscountry00sheeuoft + + +Transcriber's note: + + Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). + + Text enclosed by equal signs is in bold face (=bold=). + + + +IN KALI'S COUNTRY + +[Illustration: Ox drawn wagon] + +[Illustration: "Mundra had been one of the happy bejewelled girls of +this very town"] + + +IN KALI'S COUNTRY + +Tales from Sunny India + +by + +EMILY T. SHEETS + +Illustrations from drawings by Elma McNeal Childs + + + + + + + +[Illustration: Publisher's logo] + +New York Chicago Toronto +Fleming H. Revell Company +London and Edinburgh + +Copyright, 1910, by +Fleming H. Revell Company + +[Illustration: Onion domed gazebo hung with bells] + +New York: 158 Fifth Avenue +Chicago: 80 Wabash Avenue +Toronto: 25 Richmond Street, W. +London: 21 Paternoster Square +Edinburgh: 100 Princes Street + + + + +_This book is dedicated to +My Mother +Jane Churchill Thompson +and +My Father +William H. Thompson, Jr._ + +[Illustration: Indian lady in doorway] + + + + +Contents + + + I. KALIGHAT 9 + + II. SHAMA SAHAI 22 + + III. OLD SARAH 34 + + IV. A SON OF THE LAW 53 + + V. MUNDRA 68 + + VI. OF THE TRIBE OF HAUNAMON 78 + + VII. IN WAYS MYSTERIOUS 96 + + VIII. THE WAY TO HAPPINESS 114 + + IX. BACHELOR DREAMS 129 + + X. THE COST 142 + + XI. AMONG THE CLOUDS 161 + + XII. THE INFIDEL 174 + +[Illustration: Indian in turban] + +[Illustration: Gazebo] + + + + +Illustrations + + + "Mundra had been one of the happy, bejewelled + girls of this very town" _Frontispiece_ + + "Shama Sahai was not happy" _Facing page_ 22 + + "It was only a glimpse" " " 54 + + "For a few moments she managed to keep + up the straining movement" " " 68 + + "I have a beautiful wife, as fair as your + own, Sahib" " " 96 + + "The humblest of them frequently rises to + acts of great courage and chivalry" " " 112 + + "You are an American, aren't you?" " " 142 + + "Oh, Allah, Allah, hear the cry of the + faithful!" " " 174 + + + + +Glossary + + + Anna--Indian coin, value about two cents. + + Ayah--a nurse. + + Bearer--body servant or personal attendant. + + Chapati--the common bread of India. + + Charpoy--a cot-bed. + + Chokidar--night watchman. + + Chota hazri--light, early breakfast. + + Dhersy--the Indian man who does the family sewing. + + Durbar--official levee of an Indian prince or ruler. + + Ekka--a two-wheeled, springless conveyance. + + Gari or gharry--a four-wheeled, closed carriage. + + Gariwala--driver of a gari. + + Ghat--sacred stairway on river bank adjoining a temple. + + Hookah--a water pipe. + + Kusti--sacred girdle of the Parsis. + + Memsahib--Indian name for European lady. + + Pan or pawn--Indian substitute for chewing-gum or tobacco, made by + wrapping bits of nuts and lime in the leaves of the betel. + + Pice--small Indian coin, value about one-half cent. + + Punkah--a large screen-like fan swung from the ceiling. + + Purdah--curtain hung for the seclusion of women. "In purdah"--in + seclusion. + + Rupee--silver coin, value about thirty-three and one-third cents. + + Sahib--Indian name for European gentleman. + + Sari--a long piece of cloth constituting the principal garment of + the Indian woman. + + Topi--a sola--a pith hat. + + + + +I + +Kalighat + + +"The five years will be up to-morrow. When the sun rises next upon +the festival of Kali I shall have completed my vow." + +Scarcely had the holy man been able to say his prayers or repeat his +sacred texts the whole day long, for there had been constantly +before his mind the knowledge that this was the last day of his +self-imposed sacrifices and that the next day he would be free from +all restraints to do--what? Over and over had the thought repeated +itself in the man's mind until now, unconsciously, he had given +utterance to it and the stout, sleek priest of Kali who chanced to +be standing beside his shelter, looked down upon him in surprise. + +"What vow, most holy one?" he courteously inquired. "For many years +thou hast sat here at the ghat, the most honoured and revered of all +the holy men this side the temple of our Goddess Kali. Was this thy +vow--to sit thus in ashes?" + +The fakir started at the priest's voice, for his own remarks had +been unconscious, and, looking up at his interrogator, he seemed +slowly to comprehend that he had spoken aloud and that the priest +had heard his words. + +"Yes, Priest of Kali," he said, dropping his eyes and poking the +little fire before him with his sacred tongs. + +"Perhaps you of the holy priesthood can answer a question for me," +he added slowly after a moment, without looking up. + +The fat, half-naked priest, not loath to take advantage of any +opportunity to do nothing, especially when at the same time he was +being religious by talking with a holy man, dropped lazily to the +pavement beside the fakir's rude shelter of a bit of thatch on four +poles and, waving for a hookah from the rest-house across the narrow +street, settled himself to listen in comfort. + +But before the holy man propounded his question, for a few minutes +he seemed to have forgotten about it. His keen, dark eyes, after +turning thoughtfully from one side to the other of the small paved +square in front of him, looked across the sluggish brown stream at +the foot of the steps to the opposite bank where a few people were +bathing in the water, and beyond to where were crowded close +together the small mud houses of the native section of a great +Indian city. While he gazed thus, the young priest took several +puffs at the long pipe, leering lazily the while at two pretty girls +who had come from the street into the square and, pausing before the +fakir, timidly had placed a few pice on the dirty cloth spread out +before him, but, seeing the leer of the priest, hastened to pull +their saris over their faces and pass hurriedly down the steps to +the sacred Ganges. + +The holy man had not noticed the girls, nor did he seem to see the +rest of the crowd of people who walked back and forth through the +little square, having come to throw flowers upon the river or to +bathe in its waters or, having bathed, to lie down and rest in +Indian fashion in the roofed verandas charitably provided by rich +and merit-seeking Hindus. He did not seem to see any of them, +although so many of them brought their offerings of fruit and pice +to him that his begging cloth was almost overflowing. Nor did he +notice the presence of an American tourist who had stepped into the +square and who, with a Murray under one arm and an umbrella under +the other, was endeavouring to keep an immense sola, topi, from +falling over on his nose while he took a picture of the "freak"; for +how else could a globe-trotting American classify a man who, naked +all but for a small loin cloth, sat cross-legged upon a deer's +skin, his long hair, matted with filth into ropes, wound in a +scraggy knot upon his head and his body smeared with ashes from the +small fire that burned before him, the marks of white upon his +forehead, intelligible only to the Hindu, making his bearded face +almost frightful. + +Nor did the fakir heed the naked children who trotted across the +pavement at the heels of their mothers, going to perform the sacred +rites at the river and to secure their children from all harm by a +dip in its holy waters. The old woman, too, who, scarcely able to +hobble along, had placed a little brass bowl of the dirty, foul +water beside him (for the piece of water near Kali's temple is only +a slip of the Ganges itself and is, therefore, particularly filthy) +received not her usual blessing in return and sank down near by to +wait until the holy man should notice her. + +"Yes, Priest of Kali," the holy one turned from his gazing, "I have +a question that waits an answer. Listen to my story. I was once a +wealthy man, trained in all the learning of Brahminism. I did only +what our religion allowed; I did all that it required, in sacrifices +to the gods, in presents to their priests, and even in pilgrimages. +But I was wretched within. I had no peace." As he spoke he laid his +hand upon his heart and his eyes were heavy. "On the day of the +great feast five years ago, on this very spot, after having made my +offering to Jaganauth and to Haunamon and the other gods there," and +he indicated with his dirty hand a little stone building at his left +which contained a shrine to the legless, armless, hideous god, +Jaganauth, and to the red, shapeless figure known as Haunamon, "I +came to this spot to present my offering to the old man who had sat +here ever since I could remember. But he was not here. He was gone. +They told me that they had found him that morning lying dead on the +steps there with his feet in the Ganges and that already his body +had been burnt in the burning-ghat near by. 'What a reward!' I +thought, 'to have died by the side of Mother Gunga. Surely he must +have found peace.' + +"'Can I not find peace by following his example?' The thought came +to me suddenly as I stood here gazing upon his empty shelter and his +neglected fire. I determined at least to try, for, at any cost, I +must find peace! In my zeal and eagerness at once I stripped off my +clothing and smeared myself with ashes from the fire which the holy +man had kindled but the day before. Leaving my clothes on the ground +underneath this little roof near the heap of ashes, as a sign that +the dead man's place had been taken, to warn off other possible +devotees from the spot, immediately I passed down the little street +there between the stalls where are sold the articles needed in the +worship of your goddess. At one I bought the little lamp; at +another, garlands; at another, oil and a brass bowl; and at the +street there I turned aside to buy, with my last annas, a black kid +as a sacrifice for Kali. + +"Through the narrow passage between the houses that surround the +temple of Kali I went in haste, drawing the bleating kid behind me +by a rope. When I reached the little paved courtyard before that +small but most sacred shrine where dwells the goddess herself I gave +the animal over to the priest. Then I watched eagerly as he put the +little creature's neck between the posts so that he could not get +away, and, with but one blow of the knife, severed the head from the +body, letting the blood pour forth. I hastened to catch the precious +blood in my brass bowl. I daubed it upon my forehead. I touched the +sacred slaughter posts with it. I gladly stepped where it had flowed +upon the pavement and reddened my feet in the sacred flood. Then, as +the priest carried the carcass away and other sacrificers thronged +in, I took my bowl and, mounting the steps of the holy place where +no unclean foot has ever trod, I saw the door of the shrine open and +before me stood the Goddess Kali in her black majesty, with human +skulls for a necklace and human arms for a girdle, her protruding +tongue thirsting for blood. I poured my offering of blood upon her +and with prayers and presentation of flowers and incense, I invoked +her blessing upon me and declared to her a vow that for five years I +would sit at the ghat day and night; that I would follow all the +customs of the holy men:--wear no clothes but ashes, eat no food but +fruit, drink no water but that of the sacred Ganges, and pray +without ceasing; and that every anna that I received as alms I would +give to her. + +"Now, Priest of this most revered goddess, all this have I done. I +have never left this spot since returning from offering my vow to +her five years ago; I did not even go home to tell my family, who +after several days traced me here; but I was so changed that they +did not recognize me. Now they mourn me as dead. Here I have sat for +five years upon this skin. See my legs, how withered they are! See +my body; there is not a clean spot on it! See, I have drunk nothing +but this water," and he held up the jar of muddy liquid which the +old woman had set down at his side. "I eat nothing but fruit; I +think of nothing but my beads and my sacred book; I give every pice +to your temple. I have kept my vow. But I am not satisfied. I have +not found peace. What shall I do? Priest of Kali! What can I do to +find peace?" + +The sad heart of the holy man was in his eyes as he looked at the +priest and his voice was pleading. "If thou dost know, tell me!" + +The priest, who had been dulled by his bestiality so that he was not +able to comprehend the soul-longings of the man before him, had +already become weary of the fakir's earnestness and importunity. +Lazily he pulled himself to his feet, after a last long suck at the +pipe. "Come and be a priest of Kali," was his only answer as he +turned down the lane towards the temple of his goddess, with lustful +eyes fixed upon a pretty woman, who, attracted by the unusual +animation of the holy man, had been standing near by until the +priest arose. + +The fakir, worn out by the eagerness with which he had spoken and +the unappreciativeness of his listener, turned wearily to his holy +book and his prayers. He knew the priesthood of Kali; in his five +years at the Kalighat he had heard and seen strange things which as +a Hindu he could not condemn, but which he knew would not bring +peace to him, even as a priest of Kali, for in his young manhood he +had tried them and had not been at rest. "I was, indeed, foolish to +have talked to the priest at all," he murmured. + +"Pardon me, holy one," a voice interrupted his thoughts, the voice +of a young man who had been standing for some time with an open book +in his hand, not reading, but listening to the words of the fakir. +"I heard thy conversation. Hast thou ever tried the pursuit of +wisdom? Study, learn, become the wisest of men and surely thou wilt +become the most happy. I am a follower of that way." + +The holy man, turning, looked fixedly for some time at the young +man. "Son, what means the sad look in your eyes? Are you yourself +happy? Tell me truly!" + +The young man's intelligent but undeniably sad face was turned full +towards the fakir. For a few moments he seemed to hesitate to reply. +At last he said, "No, holy man, I have not found peace yet. I have +not found happiness yet, but I am only a student. I am seeking. I +study and read at all times--but even while I read my heart is not +at rest, I must confess." He turned as he finished speaking and with +bowed head, unmindful of the noise and confusion of the square about +him, went down the lane. + +The fakir sighed. "Peace is not found in that way, poor youth! For I +have tried it. I was a Hindu scholar of note before I became this," +and he gazed at his dirty hands and body with evident loathing. + +The old woman, who had waited all this time for her blessing, said +timidly, holding out her hand towards him, "Holy man, most holy man! +Give me thy blessing, for my son is ill. Tell me how he can be +healed, my only son." + +Mechanically the holy man muttered a blessing, and taking a pinch of +ashes from the fire before him, with a mumbled prayer, dropped them +into her hand. "Put these upon his tongue. Bathe his head in the +holy Gunga water and forget not to offer a kid to Kali." + +"But I cannot offer a kid. I have no money! I have no money! My son +will die! My son will die!" sobbed the woman. + +The holy man looked at her fixedly for a full minute, realizing her +grief and her need. Then with a quick glance about him he leaned +forward. He swept up the pile of coins on the offering cloth before +him and thrusting them into the woman's hands whispered: "Go and +buy! Go and buy!" + +The woman went quickly, wiping her eyes with her sari. + +The fakir's face became radiant. "Surely that sweet feeling was +peace! Blessed peace! Is this the end of my quest? Has my soul at +last found rest?" + +As suddenly his face darkened. "Yet, yet--I should have given that +money to the goddess. I promised in my vow that every anna, above +the cost of my fruit and of the wood for my fire, should be given to +her." + +He bowed his head upon his hands. + +"I have broken my vow--on the last day of the five years I have +broken my vow! I am unholy! I am unholy!" + +After a few minutes he raised his bowed head and seemed to be +thinking aloud. "Peace could not have come in cheating the gods. +That strange feeling when I gave to the woman to relieve her sorrow +could not have been peace--but it was sweet, very sweet!" He paused +with a half smile which soon, however, was overcast, for all the joy +went out of his face again as he said, "It must be that I have not +denied myself enough, have not made enough sacrifices. And I have +been unholy! Surely there is peace for the truly holy. I will try +again.--I will swear another vow. Take me to Kali!" He called the +last sentence loudly, but ere the people in the square understood +his wish, he remembered that he had no money, no offering to take; +even he, a "holy man," could not go to Kali's temple to make a vow +without an offering. He must wait until the people should fill his +empty begging cloth. + +"After all, it is best thus," he thought. It would have been useless +for him to have gone to the temple without having planned what new +form of self-torture he must add to his present life, in his search +for peace. "I must plan my vow," he said. + +In the meantime the sun had set and the people were leaving the +ghat. Involuntarily the fakir pulled a cotton sheet around him and +started to add a stick to his fire, for it was beginning to get +chilly. But suddenly he stopped, dropped the stick from his hand and +threw the cloth from his shoulders, proclaiming in a loud voice: +"For the next five years I will have no fire at night, nor will I +put more clothing about my body; but I will have a fire by day when +the sun is hot. Moreover I will eat but once a day and but once a +day will I drink water, no matter how parching the heat. And--and--I +will hold my arms above my head all the night! Surely," his +voice sank, "surely these sacrifices will bring me peace. +Surely--they--will--bring--me--peace. To-morrow will be the day to +begin my new vow, but," he paused, "perchance I can gain my desire +sooner if I begin now. Now, to-night, I will begin to keep my vow." + +In haste the holy man beat out his fire with the sacred tongs; he +threw his cotton sheet towards a beggar shivering on a step near +by; and with his eyes turned towards the waters of the sacred +Ganges, just visible in the dim twilight, he raised his arms high +above his head. + + + + +II + +Shama Sahai + + +A little company of pilgrims were trudging along the hot, dusty +road. Where a large tree offered a resting place, there for a few +minutes, squatting in the shade, the little company would stop while +the mother, taking her naked baby from her hip, astride of which he +had been carried during the journey, would let him stand beside her, +and the father would take a fresh chew of pan, spitting out the red +juice upon the roadside. But the young girl of the party would sit +apparently unwearied, with bright, eager eyes fixed upon the road +and with caressing fingers fondling the bracelets which adorned her +arms. + +It was an unusual thing for Shama Sahai to be clad in a gay sari, to +have necklaces of beads about her neck, a glass-set stud in her +nose, pretty, brass rings in her ears, bracelets upon her arms, +metal circlets upon her fingers, large anklets upon her feet, and +rings even on her toes. But most unusual was it for her to be +leaving her village home of mud huts and with her parents-in-law and +baby brother to be taking a journey; for from early childhood Shama +Sahai had been but a despised and neglected widow in the home of +her dead Hindu husband. She knew that they were going to some place +afar off to worship the god Krishna and that some special blessing +was coming to them for making this journey. She knew that her father +and mother and she herself had worked hard in the fields that they +might earn the money needed to pay the visit to the sacred city. She +knew, too, that a large portion of this money had been spent upon +her own adornment. So she felt very proud and very happy, but most +of all very eager to reach the wonderful place to which they were +going. Shama Sahai was young and strong, accustomed for many of her +sixteen years to the heat of the noonday sun in the fields. To make +greater haste she would offer to carry the baby and settling more +comfortably the bundle which she carried upon her head, she would +take the baby astride upon her hip and start off at an energetic +pace. + +[Illustration: "Shama Sahai was not happy"] + +For several days they journeyed thus, at night sleeping by the +roadside, each wrapped in an extra covering which Shama carried in +the bundle on her head during the day. Often they met other +pilgrims, or sacred fakirs who, each with a pair of tongs in his +hand, would be measuring their length along the road with naked, +ash-smeared bodies, seeking by such self-torture to win rest for +their souls. Sometimes they would meet ox-carts loaded with produce +for the city market; at other times, bands of coolies carrying +sugar-cane or bundles of fuel cakes upon their heads. It was all of +interest to Shama Sahai, who, pulling her sari down over her face, +would peep out between its folds and eagerly watch every passer-by. +Sometimes, however, she would be frightened as a "chug-chug" would +sound upon the air and a great motor car would whiz by and all she +could see would be a cloud of dust whirling along before her. + +On the long journey before they could reach Kamadabad Shama was +afraid that her pretty finery would be spoilt, because her sari soon +began to get wrinkled and one of the stones in her prettiest finger +ring fell out. Therefore, every evening, when just at sundown they +stopped in front of a little wayside temple, the names of whose gods +she did not know, and lost an hour of travelling before dark while +they put flowers upon the necks of the idols, poured a little oil +upon their bodies, and lighted tiny lamps before them, she begrudged +the time. She was not interested either in the terrible din, the +beating upon gongs and the ringing of bells with which the Hindu +priests awakened their gods for worship. Her thoughts were of +Kamadabad and the wonders that awaited her there. + +At last on a bright morning they reached the city with its narrow, +black streets lined with dirty-white, plastered houses and tiny +shops. As the streets were full of people crowding this way and +that, Shama Sahai kept as close to her parents as she could. At once +the little company hurried to the great temple which was by far the +most wonderful building that Shama had ever seen. It was enclosed by +high walls and above the gate was a tower tapering upward many +stories, on each story of which stood figures of gods, many of whom +the girl knew and feared, but others whom she had never seen before. +Passing under this tower they entered a court and from there went +under another tower to another court and on until, entering a +covered building in the centre, they found the god, a great black +figure, reeking with oil and garlanded with flowers. All around were +young girls, no older than Shama herself, who, with faces +shamelessly uncovered, stood there alone, without their parents. +Priests, almost naked, were going through ceremonies before the +idol. So dark and weird did it all seem and so many strange looking +people were passing back and forth that Shama Sahai was half +frightened. + +After the little company had presented its offerings to the gods and +the father had spoken aside to a big fat priest who kept looking at +Shama Sahai, the mother announced that they must bathe in the +sacred pool. So they returned to the outer court of the temple where +was a tank about two hundred feet square containing foul and slimy, +but none the less exceedingly sacred, water. Into this tank they +stepped and with prayers and the reciting of charms bathed with the +throng of worshippers. Carefully they washed out their mouths with +the filthy water and then drank of it. During all this time the fat +priest kept close to them and it seemed to Shama that his eyes were +always upon her. His were not attractive eyes nor was his face +pleasing and the girl was thoroughly frightened when, after the +cleansing ceremony, he bade them good-bye with a caressing hand upon +her shoulder while a bestial smile distorted his face. + +That night Shama Sahai was not happy although she had reached the +place where she had so longed to be. The memory of the priest's face +haunted her and she could not keep from thinking of those girls in +the temple. Towards morning her mother was taken ill. And the groans +of the woman kept her awake. She stole out upon the door-step, but +the sounds of the city were so strange that, little country girl +that she was, she drew back and preferred to lie down again beside +her moaning mother. + +The mother was no better in the morning. Then the man of whom they +rented the lodging suggested that Shama Sahai should go up to the +house of a white memsahib who could make people well and ask for +help. The memsahib could do wonderful things, the man said, and +without doubt would cure the sick woman. Although very timid, Shama +could not refuse to go for her mother's sake. So, taking her baby +brother on her hip and guided by the landlord's child, she took her +way along the narrow streets until she came to a high brick wall +with a large open gateway. Within she saw a number of people +standing before a long, low building. The boy, her guide, having +pointed to that building and by so doing having done his whole duty, +set himself to the pleasant task of chasing some chickens which were +running at large in the compound. Shama Sahai had to approach the +building alone. As she came nearer the little knot of people, she +noticed that every one of them looked ill and almost every one +carried a little bottle in his hand. Through the open door of the +building she could see a white memsahib in a blue striped dress, +sitting at a little table, writing slips of paper and handing them +out to the sick people. Occasionally the lady would touch one of the +patients and he would run out his tongue. It was all very queer but +interesting to Shama and even the baby watched quietly. When +Shama's turn came to enter, she was so embarrassed that she could +hardly speak, but, encouraged by the memsahib's speaking kindly to +her in her own tongue, she finally stammered out a brief but none +too lucid account of her mother's illness. But the lady seemed to +understand. After writing in a book and speaking to a native woman +who stood behind a sort of table near by, with more kind words she +put a small bottle of medicine into the girl's hands. Assured that +her mother would soon be well and with orders to come the next day +and report the condition of the patient, Shama Sahai went home very +much pleased. + +But the mother did not get well at once and for several days the +girl paid a daily visit to the dispensary, each time losing a little +of her timidity and each time being more attracted by the white lady +who was so kind to her and called her by name and who, one day when +there had been but a few patients and Shama Sahai had lingered +behind, had told her beautiful stories about a new god that was not +an ugly black image. + +However, after a while the mother did get so much better that she +could go to the temple again and Shama Sahai's visits to the +dispensary ceased. She hoped that they would soon go home. By this +time so frightened had the girl become in the great city that she +was almost as anxious to leave Kamadabad as she had been to reach +there. + +One night as she lay, apparently asleep, in her corner of the room +near the outside door, she heard her father and mother talking as +they came up on the door-step. She opened her eyes and listened. + +"We'll go home to-morrow. I made final arrangements with the priest +to-day. My, but he's a hard one to drive a bargain with! We will +settle the money part in the morning so that we can get a good start +before night," said her father. + +Shama Sahai gave a sigh of relief at the prospects of an early start +for home and was about to close her eyes so that she might sleep and +be rested for the journey, when she heard her mother say: "Where are +we to leave her?" + +"The priest said to take her to the inner court of the red temple +with the offerings. He will perform the necessary ceremonies in a +short time and we can leave her there," answered the man. "I wanted +it done to-day so that we could get off on the road in the cool of +the morning, but he would not have it so." + +"Have you bought our food yet? We won't need so much rice without +Shama, you know," said the mother. + +"I haven't forgotten that when that's just what we are getting rid +of her for, you may be sure. Yes, I bought it this afternoon. We'll +miss the girl in carrying the load, I suppose, but you can carry it +and the baby too just as well as not. How much better it is to get +rid of a widow in this way and have one less to feed than to have +the cursed creature always around in the way. We'll not go hungry +now. A good business we've done here at Kamadabad, old woman, +although you did waste a lot of time and money by being sick, for of +course we had to pay extra for the longer stay. That old +rupee-snatcher of a landlord wouldn't give in an anna because you +had been sick. He said that he really ought to have charged more, +for when people are sick they lie down longer and so wear out his +floor more quickly. You were a fine one, you were, to get sick!" the +man snarled. + +"Yes, but you wouldn't have been here at all or have thought of +bringing the girl, if I hadn't suggested it," snapped the old woman +in her turn. + +Shama Sahai lay perfectly quiet as the couple, still mumbling unkind +remarks at each other, came in and lay down on the floor. She +scarcely breathed for fear that they should find out that she was +awake. But when she knew that they were asleep, she crept +out-of-doors and darting around a corner sank down upon some steps. +She knew from what she had overheard that her parents-in-law were +planning to go home in the morning without her and that the priest +was to have her. As she remembered the evil, swollen face of the man +who had watched her that first day at the temple, she shuddered and, +drawing her sari more closely about her, crept farther back into the +doorway. + +Only one thought would come--she must run away where the priest +could not get her and she must go at once. Peeping out from the +doorway, she looked up and down the street. No one was astir; only a +quiet form here and there on the little porches could be seen in the +dim light of the street lamps. She would go to the white memsahib. +The memsahib and the new god would surely save her. + +Like a spirit the girl took her flight through the streets, the +lightness of her footfall awaking not the most restless of the +sleepers. + +When she reached the familiar compound, she did not hesitate, but, +running up to the veranda, shook the sleeping chokidar. + +"Where is the memsahib? Quick, tell me, quick!" + +The watchman, ashamed at having been caught asleep and thinking it +nothing strange that a girl should call the doctor in the night, +hastened to show Shama Sahai the stairs leading to the roof of the +bungalow. + +"You'll find her up there. She always sleeps on the roof in the hot +weather." + +The girl was soon beside the doctor's cot and with frightened sobs +was telling her story. "I've come to you and you must save me," were +her final words. + +Events happen quickly sometimes, especially when an energetic woman +is helping them along. As the earliest morning train pulled out from +Kamadabad for Mattera, a native Christian woman with a Hindu girl, +disguised in the slightly different garb of a Christian, was on +board, and the white doctor-memsahib was taking her chota hazri with +fear in her heart. + +What would be the fate of the poor young girl who had fled to her +for refuge? That was the question which was troubling the doctor +that morning. Although she was used to witnessing crises in people's +lives with real, professional calm, this morning her outward +calmness was assumed, for this was a case which her degree of M. D. +had, perhaps, not qualified her to handle. + +Throughout the long day the doctor waited expecting searchers for +the girl, but no one came to make any inquiries of her. As she was +leaving her compound gate towards evening for her daily exercise, +she met a man and a woman, the latter carrying on her hip a baby +whom the doctor recognized. The man was saying in Hindustani to the +woman: + +"The priest stole her. I know he stole her! Well, it's much the same +after all, I suppose, for we're rid of her anyway. Of course he +pretended he had not seen her and was angry because I had not +brought her. Well, well; it's hard to deal with the priests." + +"Whoever has her, may bad luck go with her!" exclaimed the woman. + +But the woman's malediction did not bring fear to the doctor who, +stopping short in her walk, could scarcely restrain a shout of joy. +For this man and woman were Shama Sahai's parents-in-law going home +without her, believing that the priest had stolen the girl. Instead +of going on to the river for her usual evening constitutional, the +doctor-memsahib hastened to the station where she caught the last +afternoon train for Mattera that she might tell Shama Sahai that she +was safe. + + + + +III + +Old Sarah + + +"Here comes Old Sarah!" A shrill voice shouted the news through the +open door into the mud house where the small boy's mother squatted +at work, with one long, rounded stone crushing the curry seeds upon +another large, flat stone that stood on the mud floor. At the call +the mother dropped the long stone from her hand and, springing to +her feet, hastily followed her naked boy out upon the street of the +village. Old Sarah was a new friend who recently had come often to +the village, telling the people stories and singing songs to them. +But she never had come oftener than twice a week and she had been +there only the day before. So the woman wondered what could have +brought her back so soon. + +The boy, meantime, had been running up and down the short street, +clapping his hands and shouting, "Old Sarah has come! Old Sarah has +come!" as Old Sarah herself had taught him to do at her arrival so +that the people might know at once that she had come and she might +not have to wait for an audience. + +"Where is she?" called the mother after the running child, for she +had looked up and down the road and failed to see the old woman. + +"Why, there she is!" said the boy coming up. "Don't you see her +sitting there by the road?" + +"That's not Old Sarah! I never saw her sitting by the road like +that." + +"Yes it is! Yes it is!" and the boy danced off in the direction of +the sitting figure, kicking up the dust with his bare feet in his +eagerness to reach the side of the old lady who always had some +sweet for him hidden away in her bag. His mother followed after him +and several other people, also, who had come from their homes at his +familiar call. + +"Why, it is Old Sarah, sure enough! What can be the matter with +her?" exclaimed the woman to a neighbour as they approached. + +The exclamation was not unnatural, for the usually active old lady +who, unwearied, had come trudging into their village week after +week, after a walk of five miles, now sat all bent over on the +ground with her sari-covered head bowed upon her arms. + +The noise of the little crowd as it drew near aroused the old woman, +who, letting the sari slide back from a head well sprinkled with +gray, raised to them a face white and drawn. The people were +astounded, for never in their acquaintance had she shown them aught +but a face full of life and joy. Now she looked weak and haggard. + +"I am sick," she said, answering the unasked question which she saw +in their faces. "You are my good friends; so I came to you for +help." + +"Oh, let me help her!" cried one. + +"Bring her to my house!" called another. + +"I will care for her myself," said the child's mother as several +women stepped up to raise the old woman to her feet. + +They had helped her along some little way and the children were +following close behind or crowding ahead to tell the rest of the +villagers, when the head man met them. + +Looking at the old woman, he said sharply, "What is the matter with +her?" + +The crowd stopped, out of respect to the head man, and each looked +at the other, not knowing what to say. Then the old woman herself +looked up. With a feeble attempt at the usual gay salaam with which +she always greeted the chief, she answered his question. + +"It is the cholera," she said. + +"The cholera!" frightened voices screamed. + +The hands that had so tenderly been guiding the woman's feeble steps +were suddenly withdrawn. The women fled from her, dragging their +children with them while the larger youngsters ran down the street, +crying, "Old Sarah has the cholera! Old Sarah has the cholera!" + +The cry was passed on from one person to another for miles along the +road, for never are the roads of India, except in the hottest part +of the day, without a throng of travellers. + +The old woman, who, thus suddenly left unsupported, had fallen in a +limp heap in the middle of the road, lay there for some time until +the sun became unendurable and made its rays felt even in her acute +suffering. She raised her head. Not a person was in sight. The +little village was deserted. It consisted only of a few palm-leaf +huts on each side of the street, shaded by cocoanut trees, and could +be taken in at a glance. Old Sarah's head fell upon her hands. What +could she do? If she stayed in the road her suffering would be more +intense; although she expected to die now that her friends had +deserted her, still she wanted to die with as little torture as +possible. + +About six feet away from her was the open door of a tiny hut. The +shade within looked very inviting. Summoning all the strength she +had, Old Sarah crawled upon her hands and knees, slowly, painfully, +to the door and dropped at full length on the hard mud floor. It was +cool there but, oh, how lonely! No one to care for her! no one to +supply her wants! no one to be with her when she should die! and no +one to give her body Christian burial before the pariah dogs should +tear it to pieces! She heard a noise at the door. With a flash of +joy in her heart to think that some one had returned to help her, +painfully turning her head, she saw--only the sacred bull of the +village sticking an inquiring nose into the door. Perhaps there +might be something within that he might feed upon, for he, according +to Hindu custom, was privileged to help himself to whatever he could +find anywhere. With disappointed heart, Old Sarah let her head roll +back and closed her eyes, although the thought passed through her +mind that the bull might enter the house and trample upon her in his +search for food in the tiny room; but if he should, it would bring +her only a quick release from her pain. Then the pain and suffering +became so great that she could not even think. The bull, however, +evidently seeing nothing to please his appetite within the hut, +turned away from the door and went on down the street, nosing along +the front of every house until he reached the last one where a woman +in her haste to flee from the cholera had overturned a basket of +pea-pods and left them in a heap on the mud floor of the porch +before the house--a fine meal for a hungry bull. + +The minutes flew by and became hours; only the moaning from the +house near the middle of the street disturbed the hot hush of the +midday. + +A cat crept into the hut and sniffed at the woman's feet; a dog +peered in at the dark object on the floor; but no human being came +near. + +When the sun was no more than an hour from setting, there sounded +the rumble of wheels. A wooden ox-cart, driven by a scantily-clad, +very dark native, and drawn by a pair of the gray, humped bullocks +of the district, entered the street at the head of the village. The +bullocks were brought to a halt at once and a woman's head appeared +from under the rounded straw covering of the cart. + +"Where is she? Do you see her?" she asked the man. + +"There is no one in sight," he replied. "But, hark, I hear a moan!" + +"She must be in that house there," he added after listening a +moment, pointing as he spoke with a thin, black finger to the house +into which Old Sarah had crawled. + +He drove his bullocks on down the narrow street until he pulled up +in front of the hut. Then the young woman, for it was a young Tamil +woman in the cart, with beautiful face and straight, lithe figure, +leapt to the ground and ran into the house, her pretty red sari +fluttering behind her. The man in the cart sat still, watching the +open door, the eternal sadness of the Hindu in his face. + +The woman was gone for some time but, finally, looked out of the +door. "I have done all I can for her. She is very bad. I think we +had better take her to the hospital in the city, for there they may +be able to save her life. Get the cart ready," she called. + +As she disappeared again, the man got down slowly from the front of +the cart and, having got in at the back, arranged some blankets so +as to make it as comfortable as possible for the sick woman. Then he +went into the house with another blanket in his arms. And in a few +minutes the two came out again, carrying Old Sarah in the blanket +between them, and they laid her as carefully as they could in the +cart. + +All this was not done in silence, for all of the time the young +woman kept talking, sometimes addressing the sufferer, sometimes the +driver, and sometimes herself. "Poor old woman!" she said. "To think +that the cowards all ran away and left her like this after the +kindness she had shown them. She has walked those five miles, really +ten, there and back, day after day, to tell them about her new +religion and to help them; for she never came that she did not help +the women in their work, or bring the children some sweets, or teach +the people something new. Dear old soul! And after all the love you +have given them, just in your hour of need they all forsook you! +Just wait until I get a chance and I'll tell them what I think about +such actions; indeed, what every decent person would think! They +pretended to be so fond of her too; she really thought they loved +her as much as if she had been their mother. That's the way with +these black heathen!" + +"Why didn't she come to you?" asked the man as they got the old +woman settled with her head on the young woman's lap and he had +climbed up in front to prod the bullocks to a start. + +"Poor old soul, I never gave her any reason to think that I believed +her preachings although she has come faithfully every week to visit +me. I liked to tease her and hear her funny answers. I liked to ask +her hard questions about her new religion. She would pucker her face +all up and think and think until she had answered every one. Alas, I +never let her know that her religion touched my heart and that I +believe in Jesus Christ! I never even let her know that I loved her. +Of course she would not come to me for help. But I do love her. She +was so funny and so full of life and odd sayings that I just had to +tease her, that was all. Now, now I fear it is too late to tell +her!" she ended with a sob. + +"I don't believe she will live, do you?" she asked the servant a +moment later as he had turned around to look at the old woman and +they both were gazing down upon her face, drawn and haggard, with +lips parted in a moan. + +"I fear not," said the man. "Have you given her from the bottle?" + +"Yes, the very medicine she brought me a month ago when the cholera +threatened our village." She pulled a bottle from the bosom of her +sari. "I'll give her another dose now; surely if one dose is good, +two will be better." + +She tipped the bottle to the old woman's lips who mechanically +swallowed a very little. It seemed to revive her for she opened her +eyes and murmured: "Who is this? Where am I?" + +The other, bending over her, answered, "This is Jessa. Don't you +know Jessa? I've come to take care of you. You will be all right +soon." + +"Jessa! Who is Jessa?" the weak voice asked while the big eyes +stared up at the girl, unseeing. + +"Don't you know Jessa, the girl at Bindy, the chief's daughter whom +you go to teach every week?" + +"Yes, but she wouldn't come to help me. She doesn't love me and she +makes fun of my God." + +"Sarah, dear Old Sarah!" the young woman raised the old woman's head +from her lap and, gazing into her eyes, seemed to draw her back to +sight. "Sarah, it is Jessa and she loves you, and--and--Sarah," the +girl added softly, "she loves your God." + +A brightness as of renewed life suffused the face of the old woman. +"God be thanked!" she tried to shout, but the shout fell away into a +murmur and the hands, which she had tried to clap as was her custom +when overjoyed, fell back at her sides. But although she became +again unconscious, the smile of joy remained upon her face and +lighted up the thin, dark features surrounded by the straggling gray +locks and made her face beautiful, as beautiful for the moment as +the face, young and perfect of feature, that bent over her. + +"She is dying!" said the man. Stopping his bullocks as he spoke he +slid from his seat and began to fumble under the blankets. + +"What are you doing, Nado?" called the girl. + +"Here is a shrine. I will pray for the life of the old woman and +offer a handful of rice to the god." + +"Nado," a slim brown hand was laid on his big black one and +prevented him from opening the rice bag, "Nado, she is a Christian. +I, too, am a Christian now. We cannot pray for her life at a +heathen shrine. Sit in your place, Nado, and I will pray to our +God." + +The man did not get up into his place but stood and with wide, +interested eyes watched the girl as, laying the old woman's head +gently back in her lap, she freed her hands and clasping them to +heaven, raised her eyes and prayed. The words were the words of the +young girl herself but the gestures were copied from Old Sarah as +she had prayed many, many times in the girl's presence. One, not +impressed by the solemnity of the moment, would have laughed at the +grotesque motions of her hands and head as she prayed. + +"Oh, most great God, most great of all the gods," said the girl. +"Let Old Sarah live. She is a good woman. Never has she harmed any +one. Her whole life has been given to helping others. Save Old +Sarah's life, I pray. I will bring Thee an offering of the best I +have, if Thou wilt spare her life and let her live. Take the awful +pain away from her. Let her sleep and let her rest and do, oh God, +let her live. I will bring Thee cocoanuts and sweets, rice and a +young kid, if Thou wilt spare her life. For Jesus Christ's sake. +Amen!" + +The girl, unconscious of the absurd way that she had mixed the ideas +of her old heathenism with the words and thoughts of the new +religion she had learned from the old woman, unclasped her hands +and with a smile looked down upon the face in her lap. Already it +seemed to her that her prayer was being answered, for the sick +woman's breath seemed to come more easily and the moaning had +ceased. As the girl was absorbed in watching the effect of her +prayer, the man took a handful of rice from the bag, without +attracting attention, and slipped to the side of the road where +under a tree stood a wayside shrine. Pouring out the rice before the +ugly image and bowing three times in front of it, he hurriedly +muttered some unintelligible words and climbed back into the wagon. +There was a gleam of satisfaction on his face as he started the +bullocks again, for he had done what he could to save the life of +the old woman whom he, as a respected servant in the family of the +chief, had seen often about their home but to whose preaching he had +never had time to listen. + +To the city and then through the city to the hospital was a long +ride in the lumbering ox-cart but it was not a particularly hard +ride to any of the three, for native Indians prefer hard seats and +hard beds to springs and cushions. And already the old woman was +resting so quietly that the girl thought her prayer had been +answered and the man felt that his offering had been accepted. + +At the hospital a nurse took charge of the sick woman but she would +not let the girl enter. So the latter quietly placed a kiss upon the +old woman's forehead and turned away, confident that in a short time +she would see Old Sarah again in her own village, for she had +prayed. + +As it was night and the oxen were tired, the girl could not return +to her village at once. Besides there was one thing more that she +must do in the city. Therefore they turned aside to the marketplace +where the farmers slept under their carts. There they made +themselves comfortable for the night, after the driver had cooked +them a little meal at a fire of twigs and dung-cakes. The girl kept +in the cart with her sari drawn up over her face, for such was her +custom in the big city. But later, when she was rolled up in the +blankets, she felt very secure with Nado asleep under the pole of +the cart and the bullocks chewing their cuds beside him. + +When morning came, when the bullocks had been yoked up again and all +things were ready for the start, she said: + +"Nado, we must tell Old Sarah's mistress. I don't know where she is +but we must find her. She lives in a big house and takes care of a +lot of little orphan children, for Sarah has often told me about +them and her." + +It was strange, but in only a few minutes they had found the place +where the little orphan children lived, for the natives seemed to +know the compound well. And a few minutes later Jessa stood before a +sweet-faced English woman, but so embarrassed by the memsahib's +presence that she scarcely dared raise her eyes. Only thoughts of +Old Sarah and her love for this white lady gave her courage. + +"Memsahib," she said in a timid voice, "Old Sarah is very ill with +the cholera. We have taken her to the hospital." + +"Old Sarah ill with cholera!" the English woman exclaimed in +amazement. "She has been gone since day before yesterday. She never +was gone so long alone before and we have been worried; but I did +not dream of cholera! She is in the hospital?" + +"Yes, Memsahib. But I think she will get well," the girl added +hastily as she saw the lady's anxiety. "I am sure she will get well, +for I--I--prayed," she faltered. + +"And I gave an offering to the gods," said the man servant in a +pleased tone to himself, for he was listening interestedly, having +followed the girl to the door. + +"Get my topi, boy, and order the gari quickly," the memsahib called +to her bearer. "I must go to Old Sarah at once. Where did you find +her, child?" + +So while the memsahib waited for her topi and the gari, Jessa told +her the story of how Old Sarah had gone to the village to her +friends for help but how they had fled from her and left her to die; +how one of the frightened people had come to the village of which +her father was head man and had told them; and how she herself, +because she loved Old Sarah on account of the loving teaching she +had received from her, how she had taken her servant and cart and +gone to save the old woman's life. She told the lady, too, of the +condition in which she had found Old Sarah, of the journey to the +city, and of the reception at the hospital. As she finished telling +her story, she repeated her assurance that the old woman would live +because she, Jessa, had prayed to God. + +The memsahib praised the girl for her bravery and thanked her for +her kindness to Old Sarah who was very dear to the English lady's +heart. And as the gari came up just then she urged them to remain +until her return from the hospital, but the girl felt that she must +hurry back, since she knew that Old Sarah would be all right now. So +they said good-bye and Jessa, having climbed into the cart, was +trundled away by the faithful bullocks and the still more faithful +Nado, whose gentle prodding of the bullocks was essential to their +progress. + +Meantime the memsahib had entered her gari and was being driven as +fast as the ponies could take her to the hospital. There she was met +by a nurse who said that she knew nothing of the case that the lady +spoke of. Another nurse was called who knew nothing of such a woman +as Old Sarah. The lady, however, would not be turned aside; the +records must be searched. And searched they were. The nurses +discovered that a cholera case had been brought in late the evening +before, that the woman had died towards morning, and that already +her body had been for some time in the hospital morgue. + +"You must get her out at once," said the lady, "for she is not +dead." + +The nurses who had been uninterested until that moment then looked +at the English lady in mild amazement, for how could a person who +had been in the dead-house for several hours be still alive? But the +lady was well known to them by reputation and they yielded to her +wishes. At her demand they called the head nurse who, because she, +too, knew much about this lady, revoked all hospital rules and +permitted her to enter the morgue with them. + +There lay Old Sarah's form, covered with a sheet, upon the floor +with other corpses. The familiar gray hair drew the memsahib's eyes +at once. She pulled back the sheet and felt for the heart. + +"We'll work over her. I do not think she is dead." + +With incredulity not only in their hearts but written plainly upon +their faces, the nurses had the body removed to an empty room. And +then, because the little memsahib was a woman of such mighty spirit, +they fell to work. + +Old Sarah was not dead, although she had been for several hours +numbered among the dead. Gradually circulation was restored. When +the signs of life became unmistakable the nurses worked zealously to +make up for the awful wrong that had almost been done. In a big, +busy hospital, especially during times of stress, things sometimes +are done in a hurry and mistakes are sometimes made. + +The memsahib did not leave for several hours. When the dear old eyes +opened at last, they looked around in wonder until they rested upon +the memsahib's face. Then a glad light shone from them and an eager +voice whispered: "Oh, Memsahib, is this heaven?" + +"No, Sarah, this is not heaven. You are still on earth with me, +thank God!" + +"I didn't think it looked exactly like heaven," the old woman added +a little later as she looked around at the bare walls, "but with +Jesus and you, Memsahib, it would be heaven in any kind of place. + +"I thought I was dead," she kept murmuring, evidently unable to get +the idea out of her head. + +"No, Sarah," the memsahib finally assured her, "you are very much +alive and just to convince you I will scold you a little. Why, oh, +why, Sarah, did you not come to me when you were taken ill?" + +"Memsahib, Old Sarah knew she had the cholera and she could not +expose the memsahib and the dear, little orphan children to it; so +she just took her burial clothes and went away, thinking that her +friends at Yenna, for whom she had travelled so many, many miles in +her old age to tell them about Jesus, would take her in. But they +ran away and left Old Sarah to die all alone." + +"Were you not sorry then that you had not told me?" urged her +mistress. + +"No, Memsahib, not even then, for it was better that Old Sarah +should die all alone than that the memsahib and the dear, orphan +children should die too." + +"You precious old woman!" The memsahib, sinking on her knees by the +bed with her arms around the thin, brown shoulders, implanted a kiss +upon the gray hair. "That is more than a white person would have +done!" she said under her breath. + +And as the English woman looked upon Old Sarah's happy face and +remembered the happy, trustful face of the young girl who had saved +this life and declared that the old woman would live because of +prayer, the memsahib realized that no hearts in the world were +whiter before God than those of these brown people who loved Him +well enough to be willing to lay down their lives for others. In +beauty of form and feature these brown people often surpass the +white races and she felt that with the love of the true God in their +hearts they might surpass the white races, also, in the beauty of +their lives and of their love. + + + + +IV + +A Son of the Law + + +On an afternoon in the early days of the British occupancy of India, +Blackmore-Sahib sat alone at the big desk in his study, in his hand +a report which had just reached him from one of his districts. At +his elbow the tea tray was untouched, although at this hour of the +afternoon he was usually stretched out in a rattan chair in the +living-room with the punkah swinging over him, the latest magazine, +three months old at that, in his hand, and the tea tray already +replaced on the small table beside his chair by the cigar service +holding cigarettes all neatly rolled ready for his match. It was not +because the report was urgent that he had forsaken his accustomed +ease to prove it up; nor was it that he was particularly interested +in the task, for apparently he was forcing himself to go over the +lines of type and up and down the columns of figures. As his pencil +reached the bottom of a column it would almost drop from his +listless fingers until, with a start, he would begin upon the next +row as if in great haste. + +The bearer, entering the room noiselessly, saw the untouched tea +tray standing just as he had left it a half hour before and looked +anxiously at his master's face. But without disturbing his master he +removed it and turned to the side table where stood the tobacco +service. Not a cigarette was rolled! He clumsily attempted to +prepare some but none of his efforts were really successful. +However, he put several bulky ones in a saucer and placed them near +his master's hand. Still in silence but with many backward glances +at the man bending over the slowly-moving pencil, the boy left the +room. + +As the boy closed the door, the man dropped the pencil upon the +desk, put his hand to his head for a second, and then arose. He +walked to the door into the living-room and seemed to listen for an +instant; then he went back to the desk. + +The servant, evidently having heard his master's step, entered with +fresh tea and toast. + +"Is she better?" + +As the boy set the tray down he replied hesitatingly, "No, Sahib, +she is still groaning." + +"You fool, don't you suppose I can hear that? She has groaned +incessantly since last night." + +"What can I do?" The man asked the question of himself as he turned +half around towards the veranda door. + +[Illustration: "It was only a glimpse"] + +"Won't the Sahib have some tea?" suggested the boy timidly, for +like every native-born this man feared his stalwart English master. + +Blackmore-Sahib held out his hand without turning back from the +door. "Yes, I will take a cup. Perhaps it will steady me a bit." + +"Poor little Nona!" he sighed as he took the cup. + +He gulped down the tea hurriedly and reached for a cigarette. But as +his eyes fell on the clumsy ones in the saucer, they filled with +tears and he walked quickly out upon the veranda without taking one. + +Up and down he paced unheeding the streaks of sunshine which found +their way in through the vines and fell upon his unprotected head. + +"Poor Nona! Poor little girl!" he groaned. How skillfully she had +always rolled his cigarettes, just to his taste! how daintily she +had served his cup of tea! and how quietly she had sat every +afternoon beside him, never disturbing his nap or reading! "Poor +little Nona!" he sighed, for she might never sit beside him again. +He could hear her groans now from the bedroom at the other side of +the great living-room. Pitiable, heart-breaking little groans they +were! He could not trust himself even to go to the door and look in +upon her. + +And yet he did not really love her. Nona had made Blackmore-Sahib's +life very comfortable for the last ten years and he could not bear +to think that she was suffering and probably would die. He did not +want to lose his little Indian wife and her affectionate care for +him, though of course she was his "wife" only according to the +customs of many white men in dark lands. As he paced up and down he +remembered how, when he had been sent by the government to this city +in the heart of India away from every European association, he had +rebelled until, seeing a pair of black eyes peeping from the doorway +of a certain mud house, he had become very much interested in that +section of the city although it belonged to a low caste of Hindus. +He remembered how for several evenings he had taken his evening walk +in that locality and furtively watched that house door in which he +again saw framed for a second a beautiful Indian face and a slender, +lithe Indian figure in a red sari. After a few more visits he had +several conversations with the men of the neighbourhood and had +learned that the man who lived in that house was, as they all were, +of low caste and desperately poor. Finally he had met the man +himself whom he heard loudly lamenting because he could not afford +to marry off his beautiful daughters. "Why, a wedding costs many +rupees nowadays!" he had heard him say. + +So the sahib by a little courteous inquiry had learned that the man +had three unmarried daughters. By further courteous and diplomatic +conversation he had conveyed to the father the idea that if he, the +sahib, could have his choice of the three girls he would pay a dowry +for one of them. After several evenings of discussion and bargaining +the old man slowly and cautiously had consented, but the matter of +giving the sahib his choice had been a trifle difficult even among +the low caste. But, finally, having bidden the sahib stand at the +other corner of the street where he could see without being +particularly noticeable, on the evening the bargain was sealed, the +old man had called his daughters one at a time to the door of the +house on some trifling pretext. It had been only a glimpse, but as +the third girl disappeared from the doorway, Blackmore-Sahib had +been satisfied. On the very next evening, having promised to pay a +sufficient number of rupees to marry off both of the other +daughters, the Englishman had had the satisfaction of seeing a +little draped figure enter a covered ekka and be driven away towards +his bungalow. + +He could remember, even after ten years, how the ekka had driven up +to his door and how he, having reached the door before her arrival, +would not pay the promised money until the girl's veil had been +lifted and he had seen for himself that no trickery had been played +upon him and that this was the one of his choice. She had been very +young, very timid, and very beautiful. He remembered that, cross, +burly chap though he was, he had delighted to tease her out of her +shyness and teach her the little ways by which she could make him +happy and his bungalow a home. She had been an ignorant native girl, +as the majority of Indian girls are, but she had soon learned to +love him and she had always been beautiful to look upon. + +They had not been married. That was not necessary in those days in +the East. He had given her a good home and in doing that he had done +his whole duty. Yet he had never mentioned her in his letters to +England, for "they would not understand." Indeed, he had half +expected until the last two years to go back to England and marry a +fine girl whom he had known in boyhood. But when the time had drawn +near he had decided to stay here as he was;--for what would become +of Nona? He could not keep her, too, for even he did not think that +way of living right. He sometimes longed for the green meadows and +the hawthorne bush and the skylark, nevertheless he remained in +India, for he could not take Nona and he could not leave her. + +But now it seemed as if Nona were going to leave him. If she should +die, he would be free to go to England to marry his childhood +friend, for a recent letter from his brother had told him that +Elizabeth was still unmarried and mistress of her own estate. But +now, of a sudden, he did not want to go; he did not want to marry. +Indeed, he did not want anything but to stay here with Nona. He +wanted Nona! She must not die! He needed her. + +"Sahib!" A soft voice arrested his step and Nona's ayah besought +him: "Sahib, she is no better. May I get the memsahib? I think she +can help her." + +"What memsahib?" he asked, his voice gruff with emotion. + +"The missionary memsahib, master. Please let me get her." + +"A missionary! Would a missionary come to my house?" he asked in +scorn. + +Blackmore-Sahib had seen the missionary lady often, for she was one +of the very few Europeans in the city, but he never had spoken to +her. He knew missionary principles and he felt that he and Nona in +her eyes were worse than the Hindus "in their blindness." He had +always avoided a missionary's path; now he would not ask for help! +Even if he should humble his pride and do so, he felt that no +Christian would come to him, for were not he and Nona without the +law? + +"No, she would not come," he said emphatically. + +"Yes, master, she will come. I know she will come. See how ill my +mistress is! Hear her moans!" and the faithful ayah wrung her hands +in grief. "Oh, let me go to get her." + +"Is she a doctor?" he asked. "Does she give medicine?" he went on, +trying to make the native woman understand. + +"No, she is not a doctor, but she gives medicines," the woman +replied enigmatically. + +There was no doctor within reach. If this woman could help Nona, had +he any right to let his pride keep him from at least asking for her +help? Blackmore-Sahib reasoned it out slowly. Although he was sure +that she would not come, he must do all that he could to help the +sick woman and so he must ask the missionary to come. + +"Go!" he said finally to the ayah and as she sped down the road he +continued his pacing and his thoughts. His thoughts turned +strangely, after the interruption, to his boyhood home and his +boyhood days when even a lie, a wrong word, or an unkind deed had +hurt him almost as much as his mother. But his mother had died when +he was only a lad and after that had come school and then India +and--Nona. + +The change from the rigid morality of a well-trained boy living +under the eye of a law-abiding people, to the moral thoughtlessness +and neglect of a man far away from the reign of aught but the law of +the conqueror among an inferior people; the change from the +conventional obedience to the social customs of a Christian land, to +the unconventional disregard of all Christian customs in a heathen +land, had come so gradually that Blackmore-Sahib had never before +realized how different he was in moral integrity from what he had +been in that boyhood home and how different he must be in reality +from what his mother had imagined that he would be in her fond +dreams about the future. Had India by her enervating climate, by the +ease with which she gratifies the sensual side of man's nature, and +by the intellectual loneliness in which she makes her foreign rulers +live--had India by these means warped his moral sense? Or had his +good life in Christian England been a foolish fanaticism and was his +life here the true living of a free soul? + +Blackmore-Sahib was startled at the presence of such questionings in +a mind which heretofore had accepted his conduct and life +unquestioned. But at that moment there stole upon him the memory of +a sweet white face, drawn with pain and the sound of a low but +earnest voice saying, "My boy, I am going away--to leave you alone. +Be strong and brave and good." These memories as they mingled in +his mind and ears with the picture of a beautiful, dark face full of +suffering into which he had looked that very morning and the sound +of sharp moans still coming through the half-closed bungalow door, +worked strange havoc within him. + +Although his thoughts had carried him far, only a few moments had +actually passed when, hearing quick steps beyond the compound wall, +he came to a halt and saw an English woman hurry in at the gate, +followed by the panting ayah. + +"Good-afternoon, Mr. Blackmore," spoke a pleasant English voice. "I +am not a physician, but I'll do the best I can." + +Blackmore-Sahib followed clumsily, as a man does in a house of +illness, after the energetic little figure that went straight to +Nona's room. There the missionary spent much time examining her +patient and it was with anxious eyes that she finally looked at the +man as he sat near the door. + +"It is a serious case. I have seen just one like it before," she +said. "But since it is impossible to get a real physician I will do +the best I can. Will you kindly send me a couple more servants and +order several tubs of hot water got ready? Then, please, go away for +a gallop and do not come back for several hours. I don't believe you +know much about sickness and a good ride will brace you up, for you +will have to watch with her to-night, I think." The last was said +with a smile as she started quickly and quietly about her +preparations. + +At the end of two hours he met her at the bedroom door. + +"She is more comfortable, but it will be a hard fight. I shall stay +here to-night. I don't dare trust the case to any one else yet." + +In the morning, when at five o'clock he was wakened from a fitful +sleep by a rap at his door, the same voice said, "She is resting +now. Will you come and watch her while I go home for a short time? I +cannot leave her alone with the servants, for they are either too +tired or too stupid to obey instructions this morning." + +About seven she returned and all day long, sometimes by turns, +sometimes together, they watched and waited, doing all they could to +help Nature bring back peace to the poor suffering body. + +About the middle of the morning he asked her how she had gained her +medical skill. Then she told him of her life in India and how she +had found that by helping the sick she could most easily reach the +hearts of the people. She told of spending one furlough in a +hospital at home for training. Seeing that the conversation did not +annoy the patient and that it seemed to interest the man, she went +on telling about her work and the joys and sorrows that she had +experienced as a missionary. Not one word of preaching! She simply +told of her life as if talking to an old friend. There was not a +sign that she had recognized anything unusual in this household or +seen anything to condemn. He began to wonder if she knew and yet he +felt that she did know. She talked about England and the home she +had hoped to go to the next year; but no one had been found to take +her place and she could not go until there was some one to work for +her people. He was surprised at the light in her eyes when she said: +"I'll not leave them without some one to care for them even if I +have to put off my home-going all my life." + +She talked of Christ so freely and of her own religious beliefs so +naturally that he felt that her speech grew out of her life and he +did not resent the personal religious element in her conversation +which he had always avoided and resented in others. + +But while she was talking in low tones or listening to him as he, in +turn, told of his home in England, she kept a keen eye on her +patient. About eight o'clock at night a change came. The moaning +stopped; the restless brown hands grew still; the breath came +regularly; and Nona slept a quiet, restful sleep. The memsahib, on +her knees beside the bed, looked up at the big, burly, white man +standing on the other side of the narrow couch. "She will get well," +she said simply. "And now--now"--she stammered with difficulty, "you +will marry her, won't you?" + +As the astonished man gazed into her wistful, earnest face a slow +resolve grew in his own. The coming of this strong, wholesome woman +into his life, the revival of the memories of his boyhood, the face +of his mother, never entirely forgotten, and now clear and vivid +before his very eyes, and, more even than all these, the dawning +consciousness of the Presence in which his life had been lived and +was now being judged cleared away all his ethical confusion, +revealed to him the evil of his past life and begat in him a great +desire for cleansing and a high purpose to make amends for the past. + +And so when the missionary memsahib said to him, "You will marry +her, won't you?" his astonishment slowly gave way to a sense of high +moral purpose. After a silence which revealed the struggle within, +he replied in a firm voice, "I will! and may God bless you." + +With these words the man dropped upon his knees on the other side of +the bed and his head rested for a moment on the pillow very close to +the beautiful brown face there. Then, without asking permission, +the missionary prayed a simple prayer of thanksgiving for the life +of the woman and a request for a blessing upon her English brother +and herself that they might shape their lives after the character of +Christ and live according to Christian laws. + +Then the missionary slipped quietly out of the room, for the danger +was over and the servants could take as good care of their mistress +as could she. But she promised the anxious ayah as she went away +that she would come in from time to time for a few days to see that +all went well. + + * * * * * + +Two weeks from that day an Englishman stood with a Hindu woman by +his side in a missionary's parlour and there a quiet wedding +ceremony was performed. To the bride it meant nothing, but to the +bridegroom it meant an entire change in his life and heart. + + * * * * * + +Several years later an English gentleman bore unflinchingly the +embarrassment--and worse--of introducing an Indian wife to his +English family at home. Tenderly he sheltered her from all +annoyances and apparently with pride he took her from place to place +in the homeland. Only one person, a missionary from India, home on a +long-delayed furlough, guessed that the journey was one prolonged +torture to the man who, from a high sense of duty to a woman who +could not even comprehend it, was making her all amends in his power +for a wrong which, also, she did not comprehend. + +"I don't understand why he married a native," one of the +Englishman's relatives remarked to a friend. "Otherwise he is a +perfect Christian gentleman and an honour to the family." + +The missionary, who chanced to overhear the remark, in her mind +erased the "otherwise." + + + + +V + +Mundra + + +"Mundra!" a harsh voice screamed from the door of the mud house. +"Mundra, child of the devil, come here. Where are you, spending all +your life in laziness and I working hard to put rice into the mouth +of a god-cursed creature like you!" + +There would have been no need for more than the first call, if the +old woman had simply wanted the child to come to her, for at the +first sound of the voice the little thing had started up from the +dirt of the road where she had been lying and, gathering the sari, +in which she had been wrapped, up around her hips and waist, had +moved hastily towards the speaker. But the woman seemed to be giving +vent to her own ill nature in an evidently customary and certainly +vivid way. + +"You vile object of the gods' wrath! To be sleeping when every +decent creature is at work! + +"Bring water," the old woman commanded fiercely and with a thrust of +her foot sent the child, who had reached the door by that time, +reeling in the direction of a large brass water pot which stood in a +corner of the mud porch. + +[Illustration: "For a few moments she managed to keep up the +straining movement"] + +Evidently too wise and too tired for words, the little creature, +recovering her balance, quietly but not without great difficulty, +lifted the big, brass jar and, putting it upon her head, started off +down the village street. + +The small, dark, thin figure walked very straight because of the jar +on the head, not from any sense of pride, for what had Mundra to be +proud of? Not a single ornament so dear to the hearts of India's +women did the child wear; her sari was but a dirty cloth; and her +head was shaven. Little girls of her own age with clinking anklets +and glistening jewels drew away their gay garments from any possible +contact with hers as she came near and stepped to one side of the +street with their water jars. The men who came towards her along the +road carefully turned away so as to avoid her shadow as she passed +them. And no one addressed her except as a small boy now and then +pointed a finger at her and called out the same words which the men +muttered to themselves as she passed them--"Cursed of the gods." + +As she paused to rest for a moment under the shade of the great +peepul tree which protects the emblems most sacred to the Hindu +villager, even the priest, who tended the various small shrines +beneath the great tree, muttered a curse and moved quickly to the +other side of the gnarled trunk where a coolie, clad only in soiled +white loin cloth and dirty pink turban, was winding a garland of +marigolds about one of the sacred stones. The worshipper's +attention, attracted by the sudden movement of the priest, was drawn +to Mundra and he in turn, muttering, paused in his acts of worship +until the contaminating presence should be withdrawn. + +When the child reached the well, she had to wait at a distance until +all the others there had filled their vessels and gone. Then she +filled her own and, without assistance, although it took a dreadful +struggle, raised it to the necessary position on her head. + +But the child was so accustomed to all this treatment and so tired +that she scarcely noticed how the people acted. Her body ached all +over, from hard work and blows, even to her very heart, which really +ached hardest of all. Just one short year before Mundra had been one +of the happy, bejewelled girls of this very town and everybody had +smiled at her and passers-by had called her "Blest of the gods." But +now how different! Her father had been of the weaver caste and when +she had been about ten years old, no native ever knows his exact +age, she had been married to a man in the same caste. And at that +time, less than one year before, she had gone to her husband's home +a welcomed bride, the very home to which she was now returning in +disgrace, and her mother-in-law had been pleased with her and +greeted her with kind words, the very same woman who but a few +moments before had kicked her away with curses. + +At the time of Mundra's wedding the people had been anxious because +rain had not come and the crops were dying. Therefore, with grain +still at famine prices from the year before, conditions had been bad +in the district where she lived. So it had not been a surprise when, +soon after the wedding, among these ill-fed natives had come the +ever-expected and ever-dreaded cholera. In the early days of the +scourge Mundra's father and mother had died. At first their death +had meant little to the child for she was no longer a part of their +household. But soon death did take one whose going meant at once +more to her, almost more, than the loss of her own life. One morning +her husband, a strong man of about thirty, was stricken. By +nightfall another body had been placed upon the funeral pyre and +Mundra was a widow. + +Mundra, and she alone, had caused the death of her husband; so +thought every one in the village and so thought the child herself, +brought up in Hinduism. Now she realized the death of her parents, +for had they been alive she would have been sent back to them at +once. But since they were dead she had to be kept as a despised +member of the household of her mother-in-law, practically a slave +there, with all the hardships and abuse usually attendant upon the +lot of such an one. Her hair had been cut off; her pretty jewelry +had been taken from her; her coloured saris had been sold to a +neighbour; and in place of all these belongings she had been given a +few yards of white cotton to wrap about her and part of a ragged +blanket for a bed. But Mundra could have stood all this hard +treatment, hard as it had been, and even gladly would have slept on +the mud porch with the cattle or in the street with the dogs, if +only every one had not hated her and shunned her as foul and +unclean, if only some one had loved her, if only some one had even +spoken kindly to her sometimes or smiled upon her. + +"Late as usual, you foul creature of the dust! If you have touched +that water with your unclean hands, may the next drop which you take +into your accursed mouth choke you! To your work there at once, you +abomination in the sight of all that's holy! May the moon blast you! +May the sun smite you! May your food poison you! And may the gods +damn you, you devil-bought murderer of men!" + +This was the greeting the child received as she staggered upon the +porch and almost fell as she set the brass jar in the corner. But +not one moment's rest was there for her. + +"To your work, I say!" shrieked the woman again, pointing a brown, +bony finger towards the grinding-stones in the opposite corner of +the porch where sat a strong young girl, about sixteen years of age, +with her hand already upon the handle of the stones waiting for +Mundra to help her. This girl was well dressed, an honoured +daughter-in-law in the family, who must do a share of the household +work, as all Indian women, except the rich, must, but who was well +fed, strong, and able to work. + +Mundra sank down on the floor beside the mill and, placing her small +hand on the handle above the other's big one, threw all the strength +she could muster into her thin arm to make the one great stone +revolve upon the other beneath and crush to flour the grain which by +handfuls with her free hand the older girl was pouring into the +opening at the top of the stone. + +Meanwhile the mother-in-law had lighted a fire in the tiny mud stove +beside them, the home-made mud stove, found even in the kitchens of +the rich, a small, hollow, semicircular mound of mud about eight +inches high, upon which a kettle could be set and within which a +fire could be lighted and replenished through the opening in front. +Upon this stove, instead of a kettle, the woman had put a large, +flat, iron griddle, upon which, after having patted and rolled out +some flour, she threw a flat cake, about eight inches in diameter. +This cake she turned with a pair of long, iron tongs. After it had +browned a little, she thrust it over the coals in the fire to let it +puff out and when it was just right to suit her Indian taste, with +the iron tongs she tossed it, the hot chapati, the common bread of +India, into a basket by her side. This process she had repeated +until her basket was nearly full. + +The old woman was not so busily engaged with this task, however, as +to be unable to give her attention to other things. When Mundra's +tired hand relaxed its hold upon the handle of the grinding-stones +and the strength in her little body gave out, with one swing of the +arm, down upon the child's bare back came the hot tongs. + +"To work, you accursed creature!" screamed the mother-in-law. + +A sharp cry of agony followed the blow, but Mundra, although her +body was quivering with pain, resumed her work. For a few minutes +she managed to keep up the straining movement of the arm. Then, in +spite of all her gathered will, her fingers slipped again. Down came +the hot tongs a second time upon the tender, though dark, skin and +Mundra fell in a faint beside the mill. + +When the child regained consciousness she was still lying beside the +mill. She could hear the family within eating their evening meal of +chapatis, rice, and curry. She could hear their talk of the coming +rain, of the tiger that had been seen in the jungle near the river, +of the preparations for the festival of Ram, and of the offerings of +rice and flowers which must be taken to the god before the day of +the great procession. Dimly she heard it all. No one mentioned her +or seemed to have noticed her lying there in the corner of the +porch. She hoped that they had not; if they would only forget her +and torture her no more for a little while she would be so glad! + +The smell of the fresh chapatis, however, made her long for food, +for as a widow she had had no meal since morning and could have +nothing more until the next day. The pain in her back almost made +her cry out at times, but she restrained herself and lay still, +unheeded, in the corner behind the mill, until darkness came and the +lump of clay in the little shrine across the street under the red +flag had been propitiated by offerings of rice and chapatis, and +the people of the household had rolled themselves in their blankets +and gone to sleep. + +Then Mundra dragged herself to the edge of the porch and looked +about. All was dark except a tiny spot in front of the shrine +opposite, which was still lighted by a small wick burning in a +shallow dish of oil. The priest had not yet come for the offering. + +All was quiet. + +An old blue rag, the remnants of a sari, lay on the floor near her. +Mundra picked it up quickly. As quickly and silently she slipped +across the street, and--unholy act! worthy of one "cursed of the +gods"!--she emptied the dish of rice which stood there before the +idol into the piece of blue cloth; then laying the chapatis upon the +rice, hurriedly tied the whole into a bundle. For a moment she stood +looking up and down the street. In both directions all was still +quiet and dark. But she did not hesitate long. Towards the river, +where the jungle lay, the tiger might be; down towards the well, +where the village street joined the public highroad, there might +be--the child did not know what, except that somewhere in that +direction lay the great city. + +She turned towards the highroad. Creeping along, half walking, half +crawling, she reached the well. There beside it she tore off her own +dirty white covering, and, having changed the rice from the blue +cloth into a piece of the white, she wrapped the ragged blue sari +around her and drew it up over her shaven head. + +Having, with the shrewdness of the native, placed her old clothes on +the brink of the well, Mundra, now no longer in the garb of a widow, +turned down the main road towards the great city. She knew not what +might await her there, but, childlike, she had faith to believe that +even unknown people would not treat a beggar more cruelly than she, +a widow, had been treated by her own. + + + + +VI + +Of the Tribe of Haunamon + + +The great bungalow, set far back in the grassy compound and shaded +by mango trees, looked peaceful and sleepy in the afternoon +sunlight. The very roses in the carefully rounded beds in the centre +of the lawn before the house were nodding as if resting in the shade +after the blaze of an Indian noonday sun. The only human creature in +sight, a dhersy, sitting cross-legged on the little side porch, was +asleep over his sewing. Between the rows of potted ferns and palms +along the front veranda appeared glimpses of white as if the +occupants of the bungalow might be taking their siestas on the open +rattan couches in preference to the warmer curtained beds within, +one of which could be seen through an open bedroom door. A mongoose, +tied to a post of the veranda, had, for a moment, ceased to fret at +his bondage and gone to sleep. Even several lizards half-way across +the gravel path from one grassy hunting ground to another had +stopped as if too exhausted to pursue the never-ending chase. Only +the shadows moved, little by little lengthening out, creeping +towards the compound wall, as the never-sleeping sun continued his +ceaseless journeying towards the west. + +Still one hundred and twenty by the thermometer which on the wall +behind the sleeping dhersy caught the direct rays of the sun! At +three o'clock of an afternoon in India after a morning's combat with +the heat how could Nature do aught but sleep in whatever shade she +could find for her weary head? But even in sleepy, dreamy India +there are the exceptions that prove the rules. Suddenly a wail arose +upon the sleepy air and a most terrified cry broke up all quiet and +repose. + +The dhersy, startled from his stolen slumber, looking up guiltily, +quickly began to turn the wheel of the hand-sewing machine beside +him. The mongoose tugged at his cord. And a frightened woman started +up from her couch on the front veranda, as a little white figure +with flying feet and topiless curly head came running from behind +the bungalow with the usual cry of childhood's terror: + +"Mother! Mother! Oh, mother!" + +Even the ayah, who was trying to keep up with the child but having a +hard time to run in her long, tightly-drawn sari, looked frightened. +An ugly chattering, sounding from behind the house, kept up for some +moments as the mother, having gathered the child up in her arms, sat +down again with her, soothing and quieting her as only a mother +can, while the ayah dropped panting on the floor beside them. + +"There, dear, what is the matter? Tell mother quickly." + +"Oh, mother! The monkeys! The monkeys!" sobbed the child. + +"There, there, dear, don't cry. You are here with mother now and the +monkeys cannot hurt you. Tell mother what happened." + +However, before the little girl could calm herself enough to tell +the story, the ayah began it for her. + +"Baby woke early from her nap to-day, Memsahib, and would not go to +sleep again and so I dressed her and brought her down for her bread +and milk. She ate it like the good little girl that she is and so I +gave her a piece of cake. I had just turned to put the plate back in +the cupboard, when I heard a scrambling noise behind me and there +was a monkey. He grabbed the cake from baby's hand and ran up a +tree, chattering. He was a great, big fellow, the biggest one I ever +saw. He looked very fierce and chattered terribly. Of course baby +was frightened most to death and she ran at once for you." The ayah +looked fearfully over her shoulder. "I'm afraid to go back there +again myself." + +"Hush, ayah!" whispered the mother over the child's head. "Don't +frighten her any more. And you were giving her cake, too, when I +have told you that she must not have any for a few days now as she +really hasn't been feeling very well." + +"Oh, mother!" interrupted the child, who had got the better of her +sobs. "The monkey looked so ugly and grabbed the cake right out of +my hand just as I was going to take a bite. His paw almost touched +my face. Will he come again?" + +"No, dear," replied the mother as she hugged the little girl close +in her arms. "Father comes home to-night. We will tell him and he +will send the monkeys away. Something has got to be done, for we +cannot have the naughty monkeys stealing our baby's food right out +of her mouth," she added playfully. + +"Look, dear," she said in a moment to the child whose fright was +soon over. "See how your curls are mussed! And, dearie," she looked +at the little girl very reproachfully, "you ran all the way around +in the sun without your topi. Go into the house now and let ayah fix +your hair and wash your face. Then you can come out again and we +will watch for father together, for he will surely come soon. Won't +it be nice to have father home again?" And she kissed the child as +she set her down on the floor. "A week isn't very long, but it seems +a month since he went away this time." + +"Yes, the naughty monkeys have been so bad!" nodded the little girl +as she hopped along into the bungalow before her native nurse, +forgetful of her fear, for her father was coming home and he was to +her omnipotent. Nothing, not even a monkey, could harm her while he +was near. + +For a moment after the child had gone, the mother remained standing +by one of the veranda pillars, looking down the road in the +direction of the railway station. But soon she retreated to a chair +near the door, for the branches of the biggest tree near the porch +had begun to sway and she could see distinctly at least one pair of +bright eyes peering out from among the shining green leaves. + +"Something must be done!" she said aloud as she sank into the chair, +at the same time instinctively taking up in her hand a paper weight +which lay on the table beside her. "We just cannot stand being thus +bothered and frightened by these animals, and such horrid looking +ones too!" + +The Burbanks had been in Sindabad only two weeks and had scarcely +got settled in their bungalow when Mr. Burbanks had been called away +on business. He had felt very secure about leaving his family +because of the location of their new home which was about half a +mile from the native city and very close to the other few European +residences. To him the bungalow had appeared to be far enough away +from the native quarter to be free from all unpleasant sights, +odours, and visitors, the usual unpleasant associations of too close +proximity to one of the sacred cities of India. Disagreeable sounds +he had expected they would hear, for the hideous sounds, especially +of night in a Hindu city, carry far. But after a residence of five +years in India he did not think his family would be particularly +annoyed by them. + +So Mr. Burbanks had been perfectly satisfied with his new residence +and its location until just before he left he and his wife had been +obliged to drive through the native city on some errand. It had been +with great disgust that they had seen the filth of the place, the +usual filth of a native city, but here augmented by a horde of +hideous monkeys that, unrestrained, wandered about the streets, over +the houses, in and out of the windows, apparently the most respected +denizens of this most holy city. To kill a monkey is a most heinous +sin in the eyes of a Hindu! Did not Haunamon and his monkeys help +the great god Ram and rescue his wife Sita when she had been carried +off by his rival? Besides, these animals are surely some Hindu's +beloved dead. Therefore no one in Sindabad ever touched or harmed a +monkey. When, however, the creatures got so thick that life became +unendurable, the people would entice a crowd of them into a great +basket and carry them off to the forest and let them loose there. +But this did not happen often, because the native of India will put +up with well-nigh unendurable conditions rather than break through +established custom and perform an unusual task. + +As they had looked upon the monkey-infested city, Mrs. Burbanks had +wondered aloud if the animals would venture as far as their +bungalow, but her husband had assured her that they were much too +far from the city and the bazaars for that. But the sight of the +animals had taken off the keen edge of their satisfaction in their +new home and womanlike Mrs. Burbanks had worried about the matter +until a week had passed without the appearance of any such company +in the compound. Then she had felt better and both of them had +forgotten all about the monkeys. However, the very next morning +after her husband's departure a strange running and jumping on the +roof had awakened Mrs. Burbanks, who, peering cautiously from the +window of her roof-bedroom, a room which the most fortunate of +India's foreign residents consider a requisite of their bungalows +for the hot weather, she had seen a couple of big monkeys sporting +across the roof. And from that moment it had kept up: monkeys here; +monkeys there; monkeys everywhere, poking their inquisitive fingers +and noses into everything in the compound except the house itself. +Into the house they had not ventured and even on the verandas the +family had felt secure from intrusion until now; but now one had +actually jumped into the rear veranda and stolen a piece of cake +from Marjory's hand. + +"This is too much! Something must be done!" said Mrs. Burbanks again +aloud but in a more decided tone, as she saw three of the brown +creatures playing tag across the rose-bed. + +Just then the sound of horses' feet upon the road came to her ears; +the monkeys vanished; and Mrs. Burbanks forgot her annoyance in +greeting her husband as he drove up in a covered gari, shunning the +light even of the setting sun. + +Mr. Burbanks looked tired as he superintended the carrying in of his +luggage and the paying of the gariwala, who, of course, tried to +insist upon a larger fare than the correct one handed him. He seemed +glad to stretch out at once in a big chair and take a cup of tea +from his wife's hand, while he listened drowsily to her account of +the happenings of the week of separation. Little Marjory came out +for her petting soon and clambered upon the arm of his chair. +Smoothing his hair, she wove admiring remarks upon her father's +appearance and her gladness at his return into an account of her +recent experience with the monkey. + +"Father dear," she said, turning his head with a chubby hand on each +side of his chin. "Father dear, I'm so glad you have come home. Now +you must look right at me for I've something very 'portant to tell +you. Father, a monkey"--her eyes got big and round, "a monkey jumped +down from the tree---- Oh, father! What funny eyes you've got!" and +she stopped her story with a little squeal to look at his eyes which +he had made very round in imitation of her own when she had +mentioned the monkey. Then not satisfied with just looking at such +"funny" eyes, Marjory pulled them up at the corners to see how they +would look that way. After a moment's critical survey, she shook her +head and went on with her story. "The monkey jumped down from a +tree. Ayah had just given me a piece of cake and---- Why, father, +what a pretty necktie you've got! I never saw that one before." With +pats and pulls she spent some time endeavouring to arrange the +"pretty necktie" before going on with her story. "And,"--she began +again with a lingering look at her last twist at the tie, "that +monkey jumped down from the tree right at me and grabbed my cake and +ran away." + +She paused again and inspected her sleepy looking father. "I +b'lieve," she said as her eye ran slowly up and down her father's +white-clad figure, "I b'lieve I'd like monkeys better if they wore +white. Do monkeys ride on railway trains? Did they keep you awake +last night as they did mother? You look so sleepy, father dear, that +I am sure they did." + +Mr. Burbanks, somewhat awakened by the incongruous remarks of his +daughter, laughed and said, "I've never met a monkey on a railway +train yet. But weren't you afraid of the one you saw?" + +"Oh, yes. I cried and ran to mother but I'm not afraid any more now +for mother said you wouldn't let them hurt me." And Marjory cuddled +down in his arms. + +"See, there is one in that tree there now and I'm not afraid," she +said after a moment and, raising her head from his arm, pointed +towards a tree a little to the right, where was a large monkey +jumping from bough to bough with a tiny baby monkey clinging +fearlessly beneath her. + +The father and the little girl watched the monkey and her baby with +great interest until the ayah came and took Marjory in to bed. + +Throughout dinner and the evening Mrs. Burbanks told of their +troubles with the monkeys during her husband's absence and urged him +to do something to drive them away. + +But at the close of the evening all the satisfaction she received +was this very masculine reply to all of her urgings: "You are simply +nervous over them. I don't believe they will do any harm. In fact +they seem to me to be rather interesting creatures. That one out +there on the lawn this afternoon appeared perfectly harmless and +playful. Besides they are sacred animals and we might make the +Hindus very angry if we should touch them." And with a yawn Mr. +Burbanks started for bed. + +When Mrs. Burbanks saw that all of her conversation had not +impressed her husband with the urgency of the situation, unusual +woman that she was, she said no more, but wisely left the matter to +time. Even when they were awakened at an early hour the next +morning, she did not say a word, but listened with relish to the +remarks which issued from the curtained bed beside her own. + +Since Mr. Burbanks' departure his wife had paid no attention to his +office, as her servants could be trusted to keep things clean and in +order. Therefore, when he came to her a little later in the morning +with complaints about the condition of his desk, she was extremely +annoyed. His inkstand had been tipped over; his blotting-pad was +torn; his pens were lying scattered about the room; and the books on +the table were all in confusion. The servants declared that all had +been in perfect order the night before. The ayah said that Marjory +had not entered the room. So Mrs. Burbanks, after inspecting the +strange confusion, was about to leave the room in perplexity when +she chanced to glance at one of the high windows. Quickly, with a +smile upon her lips and a twinkle in her eye, she motioned to her +husband to come from the veranda where he had retired after finding +the disorder in his study. His eyes followed hers to the window and +there he saw a monkey watching them intently from the small window +sill. + +"Don't stare at him or he may spring at you," cautioned Mrs. +Burbanks. "Monkeys are just the opposite to most animals. You cannot +treat one or control him in the same way, for it angers him to have +you look him in the eye. The servants all tell me that." + +As they turned away, the bearer entered the room. To his wife's +amusement, Mr. Burbanks addressed him fretfully. "Boy, can't you +drive these monkeys away? They are beginning to be a nuisance." + +"Me touch a monkey!" The usually obedient boy raised his hands in +horror. + +During the dialogue the monkey had scuttled away. So the high window +was closed by the long bamboo pole, for--"The monkeys must be kept +out even if the ventilation is interfered with," said the head of +the house. + +After breakfast the post brought a package of home letters and, +although it was the middle of the morning, Mr. Burbanks took a while +off, after his week of strenuous work, to listen to home news. He +laid himself in a comfortable chair preparatory to listening to his +wife's reading, for he always preferred to hear her comments and +exclamations as she read aloud than to read the letters himself. +Mrs. Burbanks seated herself at the table beside him and, although a +young woman, put out her hand to take up the reading glasses which +invariably lay by her sewing basket. + +"Why, my glasses aren't here!" she exclaimed in a tone of annoyance. + +A search followed but no glasses could be found. After a while, in +despair, Mrs. Burbanks handed the letters to her husband and +prepared to be herself the listener, a situation which neither +really enjoyed. But scarcely had Mr. Burbanks reached the second +page of the first letter when an exclamation of surprise from his +wife stopped the reading and he found her looking with laughing eyes +at a spot high up on the wall. There, hanging by the bows from the +moulding, were the spectacles. With one voice the two exclaimed: "A +monkey!" + +The boy was called and the spectacles were soon rescued from the +dangerous place where they had evidently been hung with great care, +for they were uninjured. + +Although this was but a trifling incident, Mr. Burbanks was +disturbed by the impertinence of the "ugly beasts." But his wife +made no comments on the encounters of the morning, going on with her +work in silence, although she had to hang her head to hide her +smiling lips at some of his muttered remarks when he returned from +an attempt to clear up the papers on his office desk. One valuable +document was badly blotted with ink and a letter of the greatest +importance he had been able to read only after patching together the +torn bits gathered from the rug. + +Mr. Burbanks was plainly annoyed but his annoyance grew to fear in +the early afternoon when, in passing by the dining-room door, he +happened to look in. Marjory had slipped into her mother's chair and +with a big napkin around her neck was about to eat a luscious guava +which lay on the plate before her. Mr. Burbanks was just on the +point of calling out something in play to his little daughter, when +a quick motion on the wall behind her attracted his attention. +Afraid to move or speak for fear of bringing greater danger to the +child, the father watched in silence. An immense monkey slid down +the wall and jumped into the chair beside the little girl, with his +eye on the fruit before her. The child, frightened, shooed with her +handkerchief at the beast, who, turning his eyes upon her, showed +his teeth and snarled. The man held his breath; but the child, +shoving the plate of fruit towards the animal quickly slipped from +her chair and ran, unharmed, out of the room. In a second the monkey +had seized the guava and was gone through the high window. + +That was the last straw. No one could live in such danger! Mr. +Burbanks went back to his study and called the boy, but he did not +tell his wife what he had seen. + +"Can you drive the monkeys away?" he asked the boy again. + +"Me no touch monkeys. Me afraid. Monkeys belong gods," was the reply +he received. + +The gentleman could see that no help was to be had from his servants +and he realized that he himself must move cautiously or he might +bring the wrath of the Hindu city upon him. Therefore he thought the +matter over carefully and decided that first of all after it had +become dark he would fire off his pistol and perhaps frighten the +monkeys away without harming them. So, as soon as night had come and +all were in bed, he told his wife what he intended to do. She was +overjoyed at his quick conversion to her views, for she did not know +even then of Marjory's experience, as the child, soon forgetting it +in her play, had not mentioned it to her mother. + +Mr. Burbanks stepped out upon the roof and after a moment's pause +fired his pistol into a clump of trees at a little distance from the +bungalow. A sharp, shrill, almost human cry came from the tree and +then all was still. Even the chokidar, already asleep, did not seem +to have heard the shot. + +"Well, I've killed one, I guess," Mr. Burbanks said as he came back +into the room. "That is too bad! I hope the natives won't mind. But +it is over now and we need not worry. If they do make a fuss we will +just have to face the music, that's all. Probably it will drive the +animals away effectually, if one of them is killed. I most sincerely +hope so." + +There was quiet throughout the night, although Mrs. Burbanks lay +awake listening for trouble as women will. But in the early morning, +just as she had at last fallen into a light sleep, they were both +awakened by the usual noise of running and jumping on the roof. With +an exclamation of great annoyance Mr. Burbanks sprang up and opened +the shutters of the door. He stood there in silence for a minute +before he spoke again and then he called his wife softly to come and +look out. There, on the roof, stood a female monkey and before her +lay a tiny, baby monkey, dead, with a hole in its breast. The mother +patted it with her paw; she stroked it; then she ran around it and +jumped up and down as if to attract its attention. Then she took it +up and put its arms about her and started to spring away, evidently +expecting it to cling beneath her as it had always done; but the +little thing fell limply back upon the roof. Again and again the +mother tried, with the infinite patience of a mother. But finally, +with a cry of despair, she picked the baby up in her arms and, +squatting down, rocked to and fro, moaning and moaning. The servant, +bringing up the chota hazri, made a noise at the foot of the stairs. +The monkey, with an almost human look of woe, glanced around at the +sound and the Burbanks, watching from the shuttered door, saw the +agonized expression on her face, as she sprang to her feet and with +the dead baby still clasped tightly in her arms leaped away among +the tree tops. + +With tears in her eyes Mrs. Burbanks turned to her husband. "You +won't shoot another, will you?" + +"No, my dear, we'll move before I use the gun again. But it seemed +to be a choice between her baby and mine and, of course, I am glad +that it was hers," Mr. Burbanks replied. Then he told his wife of +Marjory's experience. + +But the Burbanks did not have to move, for the monkeys disappeared. +Since her parents never told Marjory why they had gone, she watched +for them for a long time and ate her cakes in haste lest "a naughty +monkey might snatch 'em." + +One day a short time after their disappearance Marjory received a +present from her father of a little black dog. When she playfully +asked him why he had bought her the dog, expecting that he would say +because she had been such a good girl, he said, "Because monkeys are +afraid of dogs." + +"Why, how funny!" she exclaimed. "You bought me a mongoose because +snakes are afraid of mongooses and now I have a dog because monkeys +are afraid of dogs. What pet will you buy me next, father dear?" + +"I will have to live in India a little longer before I can answer +that question, my daughter." And, wondering what unexpected danger +would next assail his child in this strange land, he swung her up on +his shoulder and, as it was sunset, carried her tenderly into the +house to her waiting ayah, followed by the dog--a tiny, but +sufficient guard against the encroachments of the tribe of +Haunamon. + + + + +VII + +In Ways Mysterious + + +I + +The bare audience room of old Boyle Avenue Church was almost empty; +only a few of those who had been present at the afternoon service +still lingered, one little knot by the door, another near the altar +rail. This is not the church where the real Europeans meet to +worship God, you know, nor is it even one of the worshipping places +of the semi-European population of Bombay. It is the oldest building +of our mission property and belongs to our native church. It is, +therefore, all the church home to-day that three separate +congregations can boast, our Marathi, Gujarati, and Hindustani +congregations. + +It is a big, barn-like building situated in a thickly populated part +of the city which, just now, is largely occupied by Parsis. But +although it is old and bare and far away from most of our native +converts, they travel the long distances from their various quarters +and attend its services faithfully. + +[Illustration: "I have a beautiful wife, as fair as your own, +Sahib"] + +I tell you my heart glowed that afternoon as I sat upon the platform +and saw that room filled to overflowing. Not only were the wooden +benches crowded, but people sat in the aisles and stood around the +walls. Our Sunday afternoon congregation is usually just the +Marathis only, and does not occupy more than a third of the room, +but this day it was a union service of all our people to be +conducted in two languages only, as the Marathi and Hindustani +languages are near enough alike to be intelligible to both. And why +was this great meeting held? That was what thrilled me I suppose and +broke me all up so that when it came my turn to speak, I really just +couldn't and stood there like a big baby and cried. But the folk +were kind to me and joined me in my tears and when all I could +falter was, "Good-bye, God bless you all!" they just fell upon their +knees and such prayers went up for my speedy restoration to health +and return to India that by the time we rose from our knees I felt +better already. + +They did not ask me to say anything more from the platform, but at +the close of the service men, women, and children gathered about me +for a last personal word. You see my health had failed because of +the climate of Northwest India and because of the burdens that each +of our missionaries has to bear (this isn't complaint, but just +fact) and so I had been ordered home. That part wasn't bad, for the +prospects of seeing home again, that meant America, looked pretty +good to me! Think of seeing a snow-bank after the one hundred and +twenty degrees in the shade in which I had scorched for years! Think +of drinking cool, unboiled water right from the tap, and all you +wanted of it! Think of being able to eat fresh, uncooked vegetables +without fear of cholera! Think of being able to do all those things +which are so delectable at home but so foolhardy in India! The going +home part was all right but the part that wasn't all right---- It's +hard to talk about that part. The doctors said that I probably could +never go back to India! Never go back to India again! Never go back +to the people and work I loved! I tell you it took all the manhood I +had to meet that blow with a smiling face and turn the other cheek. + +But I started to tell you, not about myself at all, but about Shama +Bhana. As I sat on the platform that afternoon I singled out his +face among those of the men standing by the windows at the right +nearest the altar. Shama Bhana is a Brahmin and when I have said +that I have told you that he is a man of proud, distinguished +appearance and with an intellectual capacity of the highest order +that India boasts. I have neglected to say that Shama Bhana is a +rich Brahmin. + +I had known this man for several years and we were good friends. I +had talked religion with him by the hour and I felt that he believed +in Christ and in our faith. But I had never been able to bring him +one inch, as it seemed to me, towards forsaking his old faith and +accepting ours publicly. As I saw his face there that afternoon and +knew that he had come to say good-bye to me, perhaps forever, I +longed to hear him confess Christ before I left India. I longed to +know that he had thrown his wonderful powers upon the side of our +warfare in that country where his influence would be so great. + +The meeting came to an end at last and the crowd that had gathered +to say good-bye to the sahib and to wish him "Godspeed" had done so +and were gone to their homes, all but two little companies of people +still gathered in the church, as I have said before. + +In all my farewells I kept my eye on Shama Bhana and I noticed that +he was still in the little group by the door. Finally I managed to +separate myself from the company near the altar rail and started +towards the door. Shama Bhana did not come to meet me but I saw him +step a little aside from the others as if giving me a chance to +speak to him privately. I availed myself of the opportunity at once. + +I went directly to him, holding out my hand, and, Brahmin though he +was, he took it, his eyes full of tears. + +"Sahib, it breaks our hearts to have you go," he said simply. + +"Shama Bhana," I replied, "it breaks my heart to go without having +heard you confess the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour." + +He looked at me without a start or quiver just as if he had been +expecting me to say that very thing. "Shama Bhana," I went on, +looking straight into his face and into his eyes, which steadily +returned my look, "Shama Bhana, you do believe in Jesus Christ, do +you not?" + +"Sahib, no longer will I refuse to answer that question to you, +since you are going away from us, perhaps forever. Sahib, I believe +in Jesus Christ. There is nothing in Hinduism or Brahminism that can +compare with His life and character. There is nothing that can +compare with His teachings. I believe in God, the Father, and in +Jesus Christ, the Son; and I love them, as you, Sahib, have taught +me to do." + +My heart swelled with joy and gratitude. + +"Then will you confess your faith and your love?" I asked him, +hoping that I might see him baptized before I sailed for I coveted +him for the work in Bombay. + +His face clouded. "That, Sahib, I cannot do. I have confessed to +you, knowing that you will not tell what I have told you here in +India. But I cannot acknowledge my faith to any one else." + +Could it be that I had put too great confidence in this man's +courage and strength? I was disappointed but I could scarcely credit +my own disappointment and I probed deeper. + +"Is it that you fear to lose your material possessions, Shama Bhana, +that you fail to claim the spiritual ones?" I asked him. + +He drew himself up and looked at me in righteous scorn. "Yes, if I +should confess my belief in Christ, I would lose my wealth, and it +is great; but what would I care for that! I am young. I am strong. I +could earn my way and my family would not starve. No, Sahib, it is +not the fear of the loss of money that hinders me." But as he saw +the troubled look upon my face, he added, "I will tell all, Sahib, +and then you yourself shall judge if I could act otherwise. + +"Sahib, I have a mother. You have never seen her for you cannot +enter our homes as your wives can, but the memsahib has met her. +That mother knows that I have talked long and earnestly with you. +She knows that I have read much of the doctrine. She knows, too, +that I no longer make offerings to the idols, and she fears that my +heart inclines to this new creed. Sahib, my mother a short time ago +took me out into our courtyard and pointed to the well that is in +the middle of the square. She said to me, 'Shama Bhana, my son, the +day you become a Christian, that day I will throw myself down that +well.' And, Sahib, she would do it!" + +And I knew that she would. I could say nothing. I could only look at +him with love and sympathy in my heart. + +"And, Sahib, that is not all," he continued. "I have a beautiful +wife and a son, as fair as your own, Sahib. I love my wife. I love +my son. But, Sahib, the day I confess Christ publicly these two, +whom I love more than life, will be taken from me and I shall never +see them again. + +"Sahib, would Jesus Christ wish me to cause the suicide of my mother +and the separation from me forever of my wife and child? It is these +two things and these only that keep me from public confession and +baptism." + +I could answer nothing. I could only hold his hand and say, "Pray, +Shama Bhana; Christ alone can tell you your duty. And He will make +it plain to you, if you leave it all to Him. I will pray for you too +as long as I live or, if it may please God to permit it, until I see +you again here in Bombay." + +With the hand-clasp of brothers we parted: he, a Christian in heart +but a Brahmin by profession, went home to his wife and boy and the +old mother, strong in her faith; and I came to the homeland. I +haven't told you his real name nor can I and keep faith with him, +for, although Bombay is thousands of miles away, words when once +spoken may travel far. But I have told you a true story. May I add a +happy conclusion to at least one part of the theme? I am going back +to India! Thank God! My health has been restored. When I reach +Bombay shall I find Shama Bhana still a Brahmin or a confessed +follower of Christ? That is the question that is on my heart. + + +II + +Well, well, well! To think that I should actually have you with me +here in Bombay! Why, I can hardly believe it is real! Don't I look +well and strong? That doctor at home almost worked miracles for me +with his medicines. My, but it's good to be back in the harness +again! The pull has to be long and steady and sometimes the straps +rub or the collar galls or the load drags heavily, but it's great +work. I am keeping well, too, and I'm happier than three years ago I +thought I would ever be again in this world. + +What, man, you've only one day to give me in Bombay? And then you've +got to race on or that business venture will fall through! Oh, +these globe-encircling Americans who try to see the world and its +sight as do birds on the wing! Why, this is only an aggravation, +Dick! I'd almost rather you wouldn't have come at all than to give +me just one day. + +No, you aren't going back either! You know that I didn't really mean +what I said, for just the sight of your face has done me a world of +good already and before the day is over I will show you some sights +which I dare say will do your heart good. But in the meantime, I +warn you, I shall talk every minute of the time to make up for all +the days that I can't have you. + +Let me see--we'll go first to visit our day-schools and call upon +our preachers; then we'll drop into Boyle Avenue Church for a +prayer-meeting; then we'll go to see Shama Bhana; and this evening +I'll take you to a street service. It all sounds prosaic, perhaps, +because I've used hackneyed American terms, but for a man who has +been but one day in India there won't be anything prosaic about it. + +Do you remember, Dick, what I told you men back home last year about +Shama Bhana, the man we're going to see this afternoon? + +It will be quite a long story to tell you how it came out but I +will, for we've got quite a little car ride ahead of us to reach +Parel where we are going first to see such a school as you never +laid eyes on before, half-naked children in a palm-leaf hut. But let +me tell you, those children know more Scripture than your boy and +girl do, I am sure. + +Well, about Shama Bhana. You know I told you that before I left for +home he had confessed to me privately that he believed in Christ but +he could not be baptized because his mother threatened to commit +suicide on the day he should become a Christian and because on that +same day his wife and child would be taken from him forever. All I +could do was to tell him to continue in prayer and that God would +lead him. + +About six months after I had left Bombay, very suddenly Shama +Bhana's mother died. That very day, before the funeral rites had +been performed, Shama Bhana appeared at Deal's door and asked for +baptism. Of course Deal did not know much about the case, as his +work is largely with the Marathis; so he had to go all over the +situation with the Brahmin and make proof of his belief and +sincerity. + +His belief seemed genuine and when it came to a proof of his +sincerity, Shama Bhana told his story. "Now my mother is dead," he +concluded. "I could not come before, for it would have been murder +and that is forbidden in the Bible. She died but an hour ago and I +came at once." + +"Will you lose your property now?" asked Deal. + +"Oh, yes. I will not have an anna above what I now carry in my +purse. But that is no hardship." + +"Will they turn you out of the household at once?" Deal went on, +needlessly probing deeper into the fresh wounds in the man's heart, +but poor Deal did not seem to understand. + +"That is practically done already, Sahib," the Brahmin answered. "As +soon as I heard that my mother was dead this morning, I kissed my +wife and baby good-bye while they still slept and came to you, for I +know that when I return they will be withheld from my sight and I +shall never see them more." Shama Bhana was overcome for a moment, +Deal said, and then he went on quietly. "Christ says that whoever +will not leave wife and child for His sake is not worthy of Him. I +could not bring them with me for you know the way the Hindu +oftentimes takes vengeance; for a few days all would have gone well; +then suddenly they would have sickened and died a mysterious death. +Sahib, I love them too well to bring death to them and so I left +them. Indeed, I have left all for Christ, Sahib. Will you not +baptize me?" + +Deal baptized him at once and then asked what he could do to help +him. + +Shama Bhana replied, "Nothing, thank you kindly, Sahib. I will find +work at once. I will not starve. Yes, Sahib, there is something you +can do for me. Pray! Pray that some day I may get my wife and child +back again." + +Then Shama Bhana went away. He was a rich man, the son of great +possessions, as I have told you. The news of his baptism spread fast +and the fury of his father was unrestrained. Shama Bhana was +declared to be dead and his effigy was burned with his mother's body +on the funeral pyre. His wife was proclaimed a widow and treated as +such; her head was shaved and her jewels and beautiful garments were +taken from her. + +But Shama Bhana's Brahmin training stood him in good stead, for he +went on his way apparently unmoved by all the indignities that were +being heaped upon him and his. He is a remarkably bright man and so +without much difficulty, for he procured it the very day of his +baptism, he got a fair position as clerk in a big English office in +the city. His family later did everything they could to get him +ousted, by fair means and foul, but he had proved his worth before +they began their work against him and so he was kept. + +That was the situation I found when I returned from America. At my +request Shama Bhana came to live with me, but we saw little of each +other, for every moment when he was not in the office he was out +preaching or teaching and with power. But in the brief intervals +that I did see him I knew that his heart was sore. I had left my own +family in America, you know, and he would look at their picture upon +my dresser. "Your wife is a Christian," he would say. "And you will +probably see them again in a couple of years. But my wife is a Hindu +widow!" Then he would turn at once into his own room and I knew he +had gone to his knees in prayer. I would pray, too, both for him and +his and for my own. Though his case was, of course, immeasurably +harder than mine, still I thought I was pretty badly off with +thousands of miles of ocean rolling between my family and me and +with no definite knowledge as to when we would see each other again, +for the kiddies must be educated, you know. + +Well, what if I am blowing my nose violently! Man, they aren't here +yet and what's more, they aren't coming for another year. + +Well,--then came the pestilence; not the plague or the cholera or +any of those Asiatic diseases which you folk over there hear so much +about and really know so little of; but the plain smallpox with +which you are at least so familiar that you run away as soon as you +hear the word pronounced. The smallpox is usually with us here, +more or less, all the time; but somehow this season it was here in +tenfold fury. It swept over the city, but was worst in the section +where Shama Bhana's family lived. Several of our native church +workers had tried in vain to get entrance into his house since the +trouble had happened, but now they walked right in and took +possession unhindered, for the father himself and every member of +the family were down with the disease and the servants had all fled. +Shama Bhana's wife, whom they found in a dark chamber in the +servants' quarters, had the worst form of the disease because of the +hunger and ill treatment she had suffered since she had become a +mock-widow. Shama Bhana who had given up his place at the office as +soon as he heard of the situation came at once to his wife's side, +for there was no one to object. And as day after day our faithful +Hindustani preacher and his wife worked over that household, they +preached Christ as they worked whenever a mind was free enough from +pain to receive the message. + +Three of the sons died, but the rest of the family soon began to +show signs of recovery. The old father, since his case had been the +lightest, as he had been vaccinated once years before in an English +hospital, recovered first. As he, in his weakness, lay and watched +the loving ministrations of the two Christians and listened to +their words, his heart seemed to be touched. + +"Why do you do all this for me?" he asked one day. "Are you immune?" + +The preacher's wife stood nearest him and she replied, "I have had +the disease but my husband never has. We are doing it for Christ's +sake, you know." + +Later he called the preacher to him. "Where is Shama Bhana?" he +whispered. "Has he had it yet?" + +The preacher replied, "He is here just now with his wife who is very +ill. The night that you were the worst he spent at your side. He has +not had the awful disease yet. Shall I call him to you?" + +The preacher wondered how his words would be received and feared +that a violent rage would bring back the old man's fever. But he +only smiled faintly and to the question shook his head and said, "It +is the wrath of Shama Bhana's God." + +He steadfastly refused to see his son and yet he did not seem to be +angry nor did he order him from the home. In a few days when his +strength had returned nearly in full measure, he called the preacher +to him again and asked him to walk with him through the house. So, +leaning on the patient preacher's arm, he went from room to room. +In every room with his feeble hands he tore down every sign of +Hinduism. The gods he took himself from their shelves and ordered +them to be thrown into the well. When all the rooms except the +servants' quarters had been thus cleared he turned to the amazed +pastor and said: + +"Now call my son Shama Bhana and let me be baptized in his presence, +for now I believe as he has taught me and from now on we will stand +as Christians together and our household shall be a Christian +household." + +But when the preacher went to summon Shama Bhana and to tell him the +good news, he found that young man on the floor beside his wife's +cot burning with a high fever and showing every symptom of the dread +disease. So the baptismal service was postponed while they worked to +save Shama Bhana's life. Two days later the pastor himself came +down. But as soon as I learned that the old man had been converted I +went at once to Shama Bhana. Before very long we had there a +household of well people, and such a happy household! Words cannot +describe it. + +And so together since that time Shama Bhana, his father, and not of +less importance, his wife, have faced the Hinduism of Bombay in a +small but solid phalanx for Christ. The influence of the conversion +of that rich, strong Brahmin family has been marvellous, as you can +imagine, and is increasing every day. + +We will go there this afternoon and see them all. Even Shama Bhana's +wife will greet you, for there is no purdah in that home now and she +will meet you as modestly, graciously, and courteously as any lady +in America. God's ways are wonderful, aren't they? But the most +wonderful thing about it all in my mind is that He always lets us +poor, insignificant men help in bringing His ways to pass. Had our +simple, faithful Hindustani pastor and his wife not been willing to +risk their lives for their love for Christ, probably Shama Bhana's +father would still be a Brahmin, his wife, most likely, dead, and +Shama Bhana himself still an outcast. + +These are the romances of our work and they serve to throw out +against the dark background of Hindustani life and social customs +the capacity of our Hindu cousins for an appreciative interpretation +of the Oriental Christ and their willingness to share His life of +heroic sacrifice on behalf of others. The humblest of them +frequently rises to acts of great courage and chivalry. + +[Illustration: "The humblest of them frequently rises to acts of +great courage and chivalry"] + +Well, here we are! You didn't just expect to see grass huts under +palm trees as a suburb of the great city of Bombay, did you? And +there are the children gathered around the door of the schoolhouse +waiting for us. Aren't they beauties? Hadn't you better take a +picture of them to show to your boy at home? Their dress isn't +exactly American in style, that is true; but it is comfortable, if +it is rather exaggerated in abbreviation. + +Salaam, boys! Salaam! Salaam! + + + + +VIII + +The Way to Happiness + + +With a shrill whistle and a clanging of her engine bell, the train +for Calcutta pulled into the station at M----. "Coolie, coolie!" +with a decided accent on the second syllable, came the well-known +call as scantily-clothed men, falling in beside the train, ran from +the end of the platform to the station entrance, with hands upon the +first and second-class carriage doors, lest other coolies might get +the jobs of carrying the heavy trunks and earn the anna or two anna +bits that they might have had. + +With a cloth about the loins for decency's sake and a turban on the +head as a pad for heavy boxes, otherwise naked, the brown coolie +took possession of the upper class compartments and in a minute or +so scores of them were filing away through the station with heads +laden with trunks, boxes, hat-boxes, rolls of bedding, lunch-baskets, +baskets of fruit, and every conceivable sort of parcel that an +Anglo-Indian or a tourist carries with him in the compartment of an +Indian train; for, although luggage vans are run on these trains, the +charge for excess luggage is so great that people crowd as much under +the seats, on the seats, and over the seats as possible. As an +individual rarely travels with less than ten parcels the platform +swarmed with carriers. + +While the first and second class passengers in topis and linen suits +were thus being taken out of their carriages and a fresh lot, also +in topis and linen, were being put in, in no undue haste, for all +Indian trains stop fifteen minutes everywhere; while that end of the +platform, therefore, was in comparative calm, the other end where +the third-class carriages stood was in an uproar. + +Railroad travel is cheaper nowhere in the world than in India. The +traveller can ride in a compartment for twelve persons by day, six +by night, on leather cushions, with toilet conveniences including +even a shower bath at close hand, for the matter of one cent a mile; +or he can pay about two cents a mile and ride on cushions a little +softer, with a trifle more floor space for stacking his bird-cages +and bandboxes and with furnishings a little glossier--first class; +or he can have a ride for almost nothing, if he will be content to +herd with the natives in a coach with wooden seats, a coach that +accommodates from twenty to fifty, the number depending on the +packing. + +Since the fare is so small and since the Hindu religion, as also +the Mohammedan, teaches the efficacy of pilgrimages, the people now +make their pilgrimages, as far as possible and wherever possible, by +train. Their religions have thus so accustomed the natives to the +trains that they seem to be always travelling. The richer ones may +go first or second class. But the majority of them go third and, +since the first person in gets the best seat in these third-class +cars while others crowd in as long as there is an inch to spare, +there is a mad scramble for first, second, third, fourth, and fifth +place at the third-class carriage doors. + +So it was as the Calcutta train pulled into M----. Men with bundles +and women with babies, more bundles, water jars, and bags of food +swarmed into the third-class coaches. In a remarkably short time, +however, the people who had wanted to get off were gone with their +bundles, trailing women, and dangling children, and the lot going +towards Calcutta had stowed away inside the carriages, on top of +each other or anywhere that they could, their bundles, their +clinging women, and their crying children; and still there were +several minutes before time for the train to pull out. Then the +through passengers, since, as the newcomers were settled, their own +seats were secure, could get out upon the platform. A bearded +Mohammedan with flowing robes and turbaned head, spreading a mat on +the platform beside the car and slipping out of his shoes, knelt +three times and said his prayers towards Mecca, unmindful of the +crowd around him. At the hydrant a good Hindu carefully washed out +his mouth preparatory to partaking of his noonday meal; while men of +all castes walked up and down beside the cars, resting their cramped +limbs. From the car windows many a braceleted arm reached out a +brass water jar to be filled by the Mohammedan water-carrier. And at +other windows Hindu women waited for the Hindu water-carrier to fill +their jars so that they might have water for the journey. + +The sweetmeat venders were unusually busy, for it was just about +noon and Indian sweets are to native Indians really a staple article +of diet instead of a confection as in other countries. They are made +of wholesome food stuffs; sometimes they are shaped like pretzels; +sometimes, rolled into balls; sometimes, chopped into flakes. But +all kinds are well liked and the boy, passing along the trainside +with the flat basket of sweets upon his head, just in range of the +carriage windows, was kept busy dealing out his wares until he had a +light load left and a hand full of coppers. The baskets of the +pretty green pan were also many packages lighter when the gong on +the platform sounded. + +At the sound of the gong the through passengers scrambled back into +their places; all but the Mohammedan faithful, who, having +deliberately slipped his feet back into his shoes, carefully folded +up his prayer mat, and with no loss of dignity climbed slowly into +his compartment. + +The guard raised his hand. + +The train started. + +But in the ladies' compartment of the third class the confusion +continued after the start, for three naked babies were climbing over +their mothers and crying; an old woman was rummaging over her +treasures which had been tied up in a white cloth and raising a wild +lamentation because she had lost an anna; and two young beauties in +gay saris, with jangling bracelets, clanking anklets, and flashing +necklaces, were chewing pan very vigorously and chattering in shrill +voices, displaying as they did so mouths most beautifully reddened +with the pan juice and teeth most artistically blackened by the same +delicacy. + +But after a short time the babies, either satisfied with their +natural diet or at least appeased with cold chapatis or bits of +sweets handed out by tired mothers, became quiet. The old woman, +exhausted by her unavailing search and grief, was reduced to a quiet +mumbling and a hopeless picking at her bundle. And the two young +women became less noisy in a close comparing of jewels. There was +enough of calm, therefore, so that the travellers could get a +glimpse of each other and see what sort of company each was in. + +It was a motley crowd and one that broke many of the laws of caste. +It showed plainly how much the railroad is doing to rid India of +that curse. In one corner sat a Brahmin woman, distinguishable by +the refined features of her class rather than the caste mark upon +her forehead, but too poor for the greater privacy of a second +compartment. Next to her, a proximity which would have broken her +caste at one time, sat a Chumar woman. Next was a lady with the +white head-cloth and one-coloured sari of the Parsi. And beside the +Parsi was a tiny high caste girl, most bejewelled and bedecked, +wearing the necklace which showed that although she was but eight or +nine years old she was married. Evidently the child-wife was taking +the journey with her mother-in-law, for the woman next beyond her, +apparently of the same caste, would occasionally jerk the little +girl into her seat and scold her roundly when she ventured to lean +over to look out of the window. + +When the train approached a way-station, the blinds were drawn +quickly lest a man should look upon the women within, for, although +none of them were keeping purdah strictly, still most of these women +were careful in public not to subject themselves unduly to the +glances of men. + +As the blinds were lifted after the train left the first small +station, the light disclosed, huddled into a far corner seat, a +young woman wrapped in the coarsest of white garments, with scarcely +an ornament upon her body and no caste mark upon her forehead. Her +face was shaded by the sari which she had drawn close over her head, +but out of the shadow peered a pair of sad, wistful eyes. Her face +was thin and her hands, which clasped tightly upon her lap a +carefully wrapped bundle, were thin and rough as if with toil. Her +eyes were anxiously examining the faces in the carriage. At every +unusual noise or sudden jolt, they would look frightened and she +would clasp still more closely the bundle in her lap. It was a +bundle about eighteen inches long, tied and double knotted most +carefully in a piece of coarse but clean white cloth. The girl's +white sari was also as clean as most Indian white clothes ever look, +washed in dirty water and dried on the ground as they are. She was +evidently on some important journey and, as evidently, for the first +time on a train. The bundle which she carried would not have been +noticeable among such a myriad of bundles as the carriage held, had +she not guarded it so closely, and, when any one changed a seat or +passed by her, shielded it with her arms. + +After comparative peace had reigned a little while, the frightened +look left the young woman's eyes and, untying one corner of the +bundle, which opening showed still another wrapping within, she drew +out a cold chapati and ate it slowly as if to make it last a long +time. As she ate, her eyes met those of a sociable looking, old, +gray-haired woman, evidently of low caste, who, sitting opposite +between two high caste women, was apparently longing to talk to some +one. As their eyes met, the older woman leaned across the aisle and +said to the young girl in Hindustani: + +"Where are you going?" + +The girl looked alarmed, as the question was addressed her, but +answered timidly, "To Benares. Are you going there?" + +"No, but I am going almost as far as that. You see I have been ayah +to master's little boy and they moved away and now they have sent +for me to come and I am going to be his ayah again." The old woman's +face beamed as she chattered. "I might have gone long ago when they +went, for they always called me a fine ayah and always praised me to +all of their guests, but when they moved away to Allahabad I did not +want to leave my family. But my boy went off to the city +and--and--my little girl died; so now I am glad to go." Her eyes had +filled with tears as she said that her little girl had died and at +the words the young woman involuntarily clutched at the bundle in +her lap. + +Just then the Brahmin woman in the corner opposite got up to arrange +her dress and moved about in the aisle so that the conversation was +interrupted. And the two women got no further chance to talk until +the train pulled into a station and some of the passengers getting +out gave the old lady an opportunity to slip into the seat beside +the girl. + +"Where are you from?" she asked, resuming the conversation at once. + +"From C----," the girl answered. + +"Are you a sweeper?" the old lady continued her catechism. "Do you +work at it?" she went on without waiting for an answer. "There is +lots of money in that work, isn't there? I never had to work at it, +you know." + +The young girl looked at her frankly. "I don't think so. I got two +annas a day." + +"Oh, my! I get ten rupees a month!" + +The girl opened her eyes in surprise. "And what do you do?" she +questioned in return. + +"I am an ayah, I told you. All I have to do is to take care of the +little boy. He is a dear, good boy. I dress him in the morning and +give him his breakfast and watch him at play. I get his tiffin and +then put him to sleep. After he wakes up I dress him all up fine and +take him out in the compound in the carriage and usually his mother +walks with us a little and then I give him an early supper and put +him to bed and sit in the room with him until his mother comes +up-stairs. Wouldn't you like to do that? It just isn't work at all +and yet I get ten rupees a month for it." + +"Oh, I would like to! But I'd never get a chance to do that," the +girl said sadly. + +"Were you ever in a sahib's house?" the old woman ambled on, seeing +that the girl was really interested and impressed. "It is a great, +big place, as big as that station almost," and the old woman pointed +out to a station at which they were just stopping. + +"My husband used to go to one sometimes," said the girl, and, +clutching at her bundle, her face grew sad again. + +"You are a widow?" asked the other, although she must have known +from the girl's dress that she was. + +"Yes, my husband has been dead two years." She paused a moment and +then as if she could restrain herself no longer, as if the flood of +her speech had been loosened, she went on rapidly in a low but +intense tone. "Yes, for two years he has been dead. He was not sick +long. I was but a girl. I did not know very much about it except +that he was sick and that they made offerings to the gods and did +all they could to cure him. But one day my mother-in-law came to me +and called me terrible names and told me that if my husband died I +would be to blame and that awful things would happen to me. She +frightened me terribly and told me that I must not let him die. So I +crept away to the temple. I had no offering to make except as I +stole a handful of rice in the bazaar and took that. I prayed and +prayed. At one temple the priests said that they would cure him for +ten rupees but I had no money and I was afraid to go and tell my +mother-in-law. A priest at another shrine said that a little Ganges +water might help my husband and, as I turned away in despair, for I +did not know where the Ganges was, I heard him say to a man standing +there, 'When I die I am going to the Ganges and die there so that my +bones may be thrown into the river and Mother Gunga may hold them +upon her bosom; then shall I be forever happy.' But I had done all I +could by my prayers and so I crept back home to find my +husband--dead.--But I remembered what the priest had said. + +"My mother-in-law beat me. She took my jewels away from me. She +shaved my head and drove me from the house. But I got work as a +sweeper and for two years I have swept up the scrapings in the +streets and made fuel cakes. I never went back to my husband's +home." + +Her story told, to which the old woman had listened with sympathy, +the girl covered her face with her sari and, clasping her bundle in +her arms, sat silent, shaking occasionally as with sobs. + +Finally the other woman put her hand upon the girl's arm to soothe +her. "What are you going to Benares for?" she asked. + +"I am going to Benares," was the only answer the girl made. + +Most of the women had left the carriage by this time and night was +coming on. The old lady leaned over to the window and peered out +through the semi-darkness. + +"There is the Ganges River--Holy Mother Gunga!" she cried. + +The girl started up and eagerly looked from the window, too. "Is +that the Ganges River?" she asked and looked and looked until the +last gleam of the water was lost as the train sped on. + +"What are you going to Benares for?" the old woman asked again. + +"I am going to Benares," the girl answered again with a frightened +stare, clutching her bundle. + +As there were but few passengers left, the two women soon lay down +at full length on the hard benches and went to sleep. But the girl +did not use her bundle for a pillow as her companion had suggested +but lay with it in her arms. + +Before the sun was up the next morning, the younger woman was awake +and staring out with frightened eyes as the train ran through a +country entirely strange to her. And when the old woman woke up and +announced that soon she must be getting off, the girl's fear seemed +to increase. + +"Is the Ganges River near here, too?" she asked. + +"Why, I think so," the old woman replied and her statement was +confirmed by another woman in the next seat. + +"Then I'll get off here with you," announced the girl with a +brighter look. "If the Ganges River is here, this place should do as +well as Benares, I think." + +The older woman looked astonished but offered no objections to the +girl's sudden change of plan. + +In a few minutes the train stopped at Allahabad and again arose the +mad confusion of a large railway station at train time. But the old +woman got out safely, followed closely by the girl, holding her +bundle tightly in her arms. + +They stepped aside from the crowd and the old woman looked at the +younger in curiosity as to what she would do here in Allahabad. The +appearance of the latter had suddenly changed. Her face was eager +and her eyes were bright. + +"Take me to the Ganges River quickly," she demanded, "for I must +throw these into the sacred river," and she held out her bundle. + +"What is in it?" asked the old lady, eyeing the strange bundle with +a frightened look such as the girl herself had worn until the +excitement of being near her goal had driven it from her face. + +"I must throw them into the Ganges River," repeated the girl. "They +are my husband's bones," she whispered eagerly, lowering her voice. +"When they burned his body I crept along and after all had left I +picked them out of the pile of ashes and here they are!" she +exclaimed triumphantly. "For two years I have kept them near me day +and night and saved all my money to come to Benares to throw them +into the Ganges River that I might be forgiven for his death and +that he might have life and happiness as the priest said. But if the +Ganges River is here, surely this place will do as well as Benares. +I am so tired! I am so tired of being a cursed woman!" she sobbed, +her excitement giving way to tears. "I want to be happy. Take me to +the Ganges River!" + +The old woman's expression had turned from fright to astonishment as +she heard what the bundle contained; but at the girl's sobs her face +grew sweet with a motherly tenderness. She turned away as if to +think, murmuring to herself, "The memsahib will surely forgive me if +I come a little late. She would like to have me help this poor +child, I know, and perhaps she might make her an ayah like me if I +take her with me. That would make the girl happy, indeed. Yes, I +will help her." + +Then she turned back to the girl. Tenderly taking her free hand, for +one still tightly clasped the precious bundle, the old woman said, +"Come, we will find the way to the sacred river." + +Quickly the two went down the platform, now somewhat thinned of the +earlier crowd, and passed through the station gate, the old woman +still holding the girl's hand and the girl still tightly holding the +bundle which was to be the price of life and happiness to her. + + + + +IX + +Bachelor Dreams + + +Caldwell-Sahib, opening his eyes, let his head roll slowly over on +his pillow. As the veranda door came within his line of vision the +delicious drowsiness which had held him was suddenly disturbed, for +there stood, looking out across the rows of potted plants to the dry +lawn beyond, a woman whom he had never seen. For several moments he +simply stared in weakness. Then, trying to brush away the strange, +sickly haze which enveloped his brain, he let his eyes rove over the +room as far as he could without physical effort. There in the corner +was his desk. There, hanging above it, was the picture of the Taj +which he had bought when Parsons had paid him a flying visit from +England and they had gone to Agra together. Just to the right, out +of the edge of his eye, he could see the foot of his steamer chair +and, extending from beneath it, the hand-woven rug which he himself +had spent a week in buying from a native dealer in Delhi, holding +grimly to his first bid each day as he had passed the shop on his +constitutional until a bargain had been struck the very day his +train pulled out. Those things certainly belonged to him, but the +woman did not. Where had she come from? For there she was still as +his eyes again reached the door. + +His strangely tired mind was just getting to the point of realizing +what she looked like--that she was tall and fair--when the woman +turned her face towards him and with a smile came to the bed. + +"So you are awake and better. That's good! You will be all right +now. Let me feel your pulse, please," and pulling the omnipresent +mosquito netting aside, she laid a cool hand upon his wrist. "That +is all right too. Your pulse is normal. Isn't that splendid! + +"Now, listen to me," she continued after a deft fluffing of his +pillows and a careful tucking in of the netting. "I'm sorry, but +you've got to be your own nurse now. Your boy is frightened to +death, but he'll stay with you and do your bidding. You'll be all +right. I must go. Take one teaspoonful of this every hour," and she +lifted a tumbler from the table. "At seven o'clock take half of this +in the cup here," and she brought a flowered teacup into view. +"Don't get up until you really feel strong enough to. Have your boy +give you broths to-morrow, an egg the next day, and so on, getting +back to your regular diet by degrees. I guess you are used to being +your own nurse." + +She turned towards the door. "I'll get your boy in but you will have +to make him stay. I can't wait to do that." + +She left the room, but soon returned followed slowly and reluctantly +by his "boy," only a boy in Anglo-Indian nomenclature, for he was a +tiny native man about forty years of age, who was bowing and +salaaming but keeping as near to the door as possible. + +"Come," said the lady in a low but compelling tone. "Come. Come +along quickly," she added a trifle sharply as he lagged behind. +"Aren't you ashamed to have left your master when he was sick! Now," +for he had reached the bed by this time, "lift the netting and take +hold of the sahib's hand." + +"There!" she exclaimed as he touched the Englishman's hand and took +his own quickly away. "There! You see it didn't hurt you. You +haven't caught the cholera. Now, do as your master tells you; take +good care of him and behave as a boy should," and she was gone. + +Ah! Cholera! That explained it all to Caldwell. So he had had the +cholera, he--Caldwell--who had served the government for fifteen +years in India, had taken every risk, and had considered himself +immune! That explained his extreme weakness, his befuddled brain, +and the unusual soreness of his muscles. That explained the terror +of his boy. But it did not explain the woman. Where had she come +from? Who was she? + +For some time Caldwell thought over this interesting matter, for it +was easier just to think than to question the shivering boy who was +still crouching as close to the outside door as possible. Who was +she? She was tall and thin; her face was very fine-featured and +intelligent. And she was an American. He knew that last fact from +her speech and from her appearance, too, for although Caldwell never +had looked at ladies in his life, especially American ladies, except +when politeness absolutely compelled him to, yet even he could not +mistake the something in the appearance that marks every American +girl, and,--yes, secretly approve, although his English nature would +not let him acknowledge it. And she wasn't very old either! + +Suddenly a thought struck him, so suddenly and such a thought that +he almost started up in spite of his weakness. There was only one +other European in Baihar besides himself and that was a missionary, +a woman,--a doctor, he had understood, and--an American. + +"Boy," as strong a voice as a usually strong Englishman could +command after a fit of cholera demanded, "was that the missionary?" + +"Yes, Sahib, I got her. She's a doctor-memsahib, master." + +"Boy, did you run away and leave me?" Caldwell continued, +remembering the words of the woman to the boy and making his tone as +sepulchral as possible in order to frighten the man still more. + +"I ran to get the doctor-memsahib, master," shivered out the unhappy +fellow, ignoring in his reply his later entire disappearance while +the doctor-memsahib was left for five hours to struggle alone for +Caldwell-Sahib's life. + +But Caldwell-Sahib, although suspecting the truth, was in no state +just then either by chastisement or preaching to teach the beauty of +courage and self-sacrifice. So he sank back upon his pillow and gave +himself to thought. + +During the next few days, while his strength was returning, +Caldwell-Sahib had plenty of time to think and, for the first time +in his bachelor life, his thoughts centred about a woman--for he +knew cholera and he knew that the doctor-memsahib had saved his +life. + +The boy, emboldened by feeling no symptoms of the dread disease in +his own system, gradually took up his accustomed duties and cared +for his master's wants in the quick, noiseless, and perfect way of +the well-trained Indian servant that soothes a man's soul. So for +several days with the punkah swinging over him the convalescent lay +stretched out upon his steamer chair, the very picture of comfort +and pleasant dreams. To have one's life saved by a woman and a +good-looking one, too, touches even a crusty heart. But to find that +this was the very woman whom for a whole month he had thought of +only with contempt and disgust broke clear through the crustiness of +Caldwell-Sahib's heart and added a little pleasurable anxiety to the +tenderness engendered within. + +One month before this time very suddenly the government had sent him +up to Baihar to look after some matters which would consume about a +year's time. So having taken possession of the bungalow built by the +government for such official visits and having moved up enough of +his belongings to be comfortable, Caldwell-Sahib had settled down +for a "dead" year such as so many government officials live through +in parts of India, as in duty bound. Baihar, a city of about ten +thousand inhabitants, is a purely religious city, where no business +is transacted but religious business and where no pleasures are +indulged in but those of religion; those of the Hindu religion being +so vile that "Baihar" is almost another name for Hell. Caldwell had +expected to be the only European in that whole city of blackest +Hinduism; so the prospects of a year alone in such a place had been, +indeed, anything but inviting to an Englishman who despised the +natives and who could find no pleasure in Indian life apart from the +sports of a large cantonment or the resources of a well-stocked +library. + +However, after he had been in Baihar but a few days, he had heard +that there was another European in the city, a woman, an American +missionary, who for six years had lived alone in that horrible place +in order to bring Christian, medical help to the poor women of that +city, especially to the four thousand Hindu widows devoted to temple +worship and the lusts of the priests. To say that Caldwell-Sahib had +been horrified at the thought of a lone woman in that place would +have put it too strongly, for he was simply disgusted. He said that +she must be mad, certainly far beyond the realm of sense, let alone +common sense, to have undertaken such a thing. This woman's presence +in Baihar would not make any difference with the beastly dullness of +the life ahead of him, that was certain, for he would have nothing +to do with her and he did not even want to see her; for he hated +women in general and this one must be an especially objectionable +specimen of the species. + +But now Caldwell-Sahib had seen her and she was sweet and wholesome +to look upon. Now this very woman had saved his life. If she had not +been there engaged in her foolish work, he would have died. +Therefore, he was full of regret for his former unkind thoughts and +he was, moreover, exceedingly grateful, for he put considerable +value on his life, did Caldwell-Sahib, and to be less than grateful +to her who had saved it would be to prove himself less than a man. + +During the days of convalescence the Englishman's thoughts turned +often to the probable experiences of the six years that this sweet +American woman had spent alone in this "Hell." Even his stout +English heart recoiled at the mental pictures his mind conjured up. +He could see her threading her way alone through the crowded bazaars +where vile Hindu priests, dirty shopkeepers, men red-faced with +smallpox, or hideous lepers must again and again have jostled rudely +against her. He saw her, unattended, with difficulty passing the +frenzied religious processions which accompany the silver car of the +great god as it makes its sacred rounds, or being pushed to the wall +by a surging mass of religious devotees, eager to reach the sacred +river to bathe in its holy waters. But the worst picture to him was +of the nights of those six years when unprotected she must have +crouched within her chamber in fright at the awful and unholy +confusion of night in a Hindu city. + +"My----!" He pulled himself up short. "I must not swear, for she is +a missionary, but by--by--by Oliver Cromwell, I'll save her from all +that." + +The instinct of gratitude will assert itself and it is easy for +gratitude to pass over into affection and enduring devotion. When +the rescuer is a beautiful and capable woman, who can measure the +consequences? All of Caldwell-Sahib's philosophy of life was thrown +into confusion. His complex nature would no longer run according to +his will. Staid, cold, hard, matter-of-fact Englishman though he +was, his imagination played fantastic tricks with him and so through +all these days while his body was regaining its lost strength, her +face lived in his memory and the memory gave him a warm and +comforting sensation about the heart, a sensation intensified in its +delight by the thought that she was probably thinking about him, for +so the old romance has run since the beginning of the human drama. + +As soon as Caldwell-Sahib was able to get out, he inquired his way +to her home. He had an easy time finding it, for everybody seemed to +know where she lived and every face brightened at her name. But when +he reached the compound and through the gate saw the plain but +comfortable bungalow within, his courage gave way and he turned back +home. However, he got into the habit of strolling around that way +towards nightfall and standing a few minutes at the point of the +wall nearest to what he thought her window and watching the people +who came and went from her compound; but never on these occasions +did he catch a glimpse of her. As a courageous and polite +Englishman, he should have gone in and thanked the good American +lady for having saved his life, but he had grown to feel that there +was only one way in which he wanted to thank her and he had not yet +reached the height of courage where he could tell her how she had +wrecked his philosophy of life. So he lingered around outside the +compound walls and watched the natives; "lucky beggars" he called +them to himself, as they came and went from a small, low building at +one side of the compound which he knew from appearance must be her +dispensary. Those who passed him were lame and halt and, yes, even +blind. But they were all "lucky" in his sight because they had been +in her presence and had been speaking to her. + +He overheard their remarks occasionally and now it was: "It hurt +awfully but she put her hand on my head and took all the pain away;" +or "She gave me the worst medicine to take, but since she said +'Take it!' I will;" and even the blind man said as he passed, a +strange light in his face, "She says to come to-morrow and she will +cut something in my eyes and then she thinks I shall see again. +Since she says it will be all right, I am coming back to-morrow, but +I wouldn't believe any one else." + +Caldwell-Sahib's heart ached for the sweet, clean American woman who +must touch, heal, and minister to such foul, dirty creatures. Every +night as he watched them he felt that he ought to go in and tell her +of his love and take her away from such a dreadful life at once. +Possibly she was wondering why he had not come. How cruel he was to +delay! But every night home he would go again and put off the visit, +bachelor-like, until the next day. + +However fate took a hand in the affair at last. One day a couple of +months after his illness, as Caldwell-Sahib was standing in the +narrow bazaar with, for a wonder, very few people about, he saw a +lady's topi above some sari-covered heads turn into the street at +the corner. + +Caldwell-Sahib could not conceal from himself that his heart was +beating with strangely quickened throbs. This sight of the woman who +had saved his life and for weeks had filled his thoughts now brought +to him an overwhelming consciousness that his bachelor dreams were +at an end, that his hour had come, the happiest of a man's life; for +when a man sees for the first time the light of love in the eyes of +the woman whom he loves, that is the happiest hour of life. She came +nearer. He could hear her voice, low in Hindustani, addressing a +young native girl at her side. + +For a blissful moment he watched her approach, saw the grace of her +carriage, the pretty bend of her head as she talked with the girl, +the slender, strong hands which had ministered to him and saved his +life. He saw also, in anticipation, the light in her eyes and the +blush upon her cheek when she should see him. + +He stammered a good-morning. Strange how his lips seemed to tremble! + +She glanced up. + +With unrecognizing eyes turned upon him, slightly bowing a greeting +in return, she passed on. + +As Caldwell-Sahib stared stupidly after her, he heard the girl say: +"That was the Inspector-Sahib whose life you saved when he had the +cholera," for apparently the girl was astonished at the lady's +uninterested manner in the presence of such an important official. + +Caldwell-Sahib did not hear the lady's reply, as she and the young +Hindu girl passed on. + +"Oh, is that he? I had forgotten about him. I had such a good laugh +afterwards at the surprised expression on his face when he saw me in +his house the morning he regained consciousness that I ought to have +remembered him. We must turn here, my dear, for I must get back to +my work at once." + +So the two turned down a side street which led to the doctor's +office where at least thirty dirty, but well-remembered and beloved +native patients were waiting for the tender treatments daily +administered by the missionary's skillful hands. + +The Englishman still stared. + + + + +X + +The Cost + + +Yes, that is a Bible. Oh, yes, I speak English. I've spoken it ever +since I was a young girl. Nearly every Parsi, you know, learns to +speak English as soon as possible. We admire English people in a +great many ways and try to emulate them in some things, although we +are proud enough to think that we are superior to them in some +others. + +Yes, I'm a Parsi--that is--I'm a Parsi in race but not in religion. +This Bible shows you what I am in belief. Yes, I'm a Christian, but +not one of long standing, for I was baptized only one year ago. + +You're an American, aren't you? I thought so, for in many ways you +are like my dear Miss Miller. Won't you have this pillow at your +back? Even second-class carriages are not any too comfortable. If +you will let me pull that leather bag out a little from under the +seat so that you can put your feet upon it, you will rest more +easily. A second-class carriage is a luxury for me nowadays, since I +became a Christian. I really can't afford to travel any other way +than third, but I've been a little ill the last few weeks and Miss +Miller insisted upon my coming second this time. You look so much +like Miss Miller that you must excuse me, if I have stared at you a +little impolitely since we left Grand Avenue Station. + +[Illustration: "You are an American, aren't you?"] + +Oh, an American is privileged to do that, you know, to watch us +closely, for he is here to see a new people and to find out all he +can about them. I don't mind that at all. We really expect it. We +have so many Americans in Bombay that I have got quite used to it +and don't notice it any more. At first I used to get embarrassed and +think that they were looking at me, but I soon found out that it was +only my clothes and my manners that they were interested in and that +they couldn't distinguish me from any other Parsi lady; we were only +a sort of curiosity to them. It wasn't exactly flattering to find it +out, but still it made one feel more comfortable on the streets. + +Oh, I've got quite accustomed to it now, I assure you. But you do +resemble Miss Miller, if you don't mind my saying so; only she wears +her hair quite plain and always dresses in gray. + +She is my teacher. + +Here we are at A----. I'm just selfish enough to hope that no other +lady will want to get into this compartment. Since each of us has a +whole seat to herself we can be pretty comfortable. + +There is an unusual crowd of third-class passengers to-day, though +there are always crowds here for that matter. I don't see where they +get the money for all the travelling they do. Since so many +pilgrimages are required in their religion the people seem to work +very hard for a long time and then spend every anna that they have +saved on a pilgrimage somewhere. But to-day is a special feast day +at N----. That is another reason why Miss Miller insisted upon my +coming second class this time, for the third was terribly crowded +when we came down this noon. She is so good! She left her work just +to come down and see me off, because I have been ill. + +No, thank you. I don't care for a cup of tea now, for I shall reach +my destination in time for tea. Oh, yes, the tea at these stations +is quite safe. But I would not take the milk if I were you, for Miss +Miller never does. + +Oh, yes. We stop here about ten minutes. You'll have plenty of time +to drink it and the man will come back with his tray and get your +cup before the train starts. It is two annas a cup. Don't you want a +piece of cake with it? Here, boy! + +Yes, some of the stations have very good food. + +The new passengers are nearly all located now and no one seems to +be going to get in with us. I am so glad! Now we can be nice and +comfortable. + +Yes, they do keep the plants nicely watered and well taken care of +at these stations. If they were not so dreadfully noisy and confused +at train times, they would be pretty enough places to live in. + +There goes the bell! Here comes your boy. I'll hand it to him. + +Two annas. That's right. I suppose it is hard for you to get +accustomed to our money; I believe it is quite different from yours, +is it not? + +Oh, is that some of your American money? How interesting! It is +worth about three-quarters of a rupee, you say? I am so glad to have +seen it. What do you call it? + +A quarter! See, I'll use that word in speaking to Miss Miller some +time. Won't that surprise her! She will wonder where I have learned +it. + +Now we are off and there isn't another station for half an hour at +least. Isn't that nice? Now we can rest. Wouldn't you rather lie +down? + +That is very kind of you, for I do feel just like talking this +afternoon. This little trip is a holiday for me, you see, and has +quite excited me, almost as much as it would my little girl. But I +expect that she is excited, too, this afternoon, for she knows I am +coming to see her. + +One little girl. I am a widow and have been so for several years. + +She is in school down here at A----. And since I've been ill, Miss +Miller had me come down to see her for a rest. + +Indeed, I'll be glad to tell you about myself, especially about my +becoming a Christian, if you would like to hear, for I love to tell +that story. You Christians in America are so good to send teachers +to us! + +You are not a Christian! But I thought all Americans were +Christians! + +Don't you believe in God? + +You suppose there is a God but you've never thought much about it! +How strange! Don't you believe in Christ? + +No? Why, how can that be possible when He has done so much for you +people in America and is doing so much for us here? + +Do I believe in Christ? Why, of course I do. Do you think I would be +here, a penniless woman, going to see my daughter, kept in school by +charity, if I did not believe in Jesus Christ; if I did not know Him +personally and if I had not confessed my belief before my family and +friends? + +I can't understand why you do not believe in Christ, unless--yes, it +must be so--you have been too busy to think about Him and you have +not really needed His help yet. You never have had any trouble and +felt all alone in the big world, without any one to help you, have +you? Until that time comes I suppose people are too busy having a +good time to think about religion. I have noticed that here in my +teaching among my own people, but I did not suppose it was so in +America, for I thought everybody believed there. Here I have seen +that when people are kept quiet for a time because of sickness or +sorrow, when they have time to think and when earthly friends cannot +help, then Christ most easily makes Himself known to them. I know +this is so for I have proved it myself. And I know Christ! + +Yes, it does make me very happy! + +Oh, I had forgotten this station. But we will stop here only a few +minutes and as it is a small station I don't think any one else will +get on. Here comes a gentleman to the window. + +Thank you. An orange would taste good and refresh me. Although this +is our cold season, it does get pretty warm in the middle of the +day. + +Your husband? You are taking a trip around the world for pleasure. +What interesting things you must have seen! Your husband is a +lecturer. Oh, I see, and he is taking pictures with his camera for +his lectures, I suppose. He is going to take that boy with his pan +of sweets. See? + +There is the bell! He got the picture just in time. + +Shall I go on with my story? But, please, don't let me tire you. + +No, I'll save my orange a little while for I cannot eat when I have +a chance to talk on this subject. Do you know much about the Parsis? + +Well, I'll tell you a little so that you can understand my +situation. We Parsis are Persians; but when the Mohammedans came +into our country and began to persecute us, gained political +control, and tried to make us accept their religion by force, many +of us fled to India, most of whom are now settled around Bombay. + +The women all dress about as I do with a little cotton waist, you +see, and a one-coloured sari; delicate pinks and blues are favourite +colours, edged with fancy embroidered borders, often of pure gold or +silver. We wear stockings and slippers, the latter usually more +elaborately embroidered than mine. We wear, also, this peculiar +head-binder, a white cloth drawn tightly around the head, covering +the hair under the sari. Our men invariably dress as Europeans these +days, for that dress is so convenient, but they may be recognized by +an oddly shaped cap which Miss Miller says looks as if it were made +of what you in America call black oilcloth, I think it is. Of course +the sacred emblems of Parsiism are worn under the clothing and do +not show, the shirt and the kusti. + +Our people have lived in India for many generations, but they have +kept themselves separate from the other peoples. There has been very +little intermarriage; we have kept our own religion; and we are +practically a distinct people. Of course in our religion and our +social customs we have been somewhat influenced by the Hindus and +Mohammedans among whom we have lived so long; but we differ from +them greatly. We believe in education and begin to teach our +children early in life. We believe in monogamy and a happy family +life. We are industrious, keen, and honest in business; and I am not +overstating facts when I tell you that we are the bankers and most +important business people in India. Of course we are not many in +number compared with the dense population of this great land, but we +are scattered throughout the whole of it, and hold, as a rule, the +places of greatest influence. + +Let me throw your orange peel out of this window which is already +open. You've let your husband take your satchel into his compartment +and you haven't a towel? That's too bad! I have a perfectly clean +one in my bag; won't you please use it? + +Oh, please don't mention it. I assure you it is a pleasure to me. I +suppose you are more accustomed to the first-class lavatories, but, +really, our second-class accommodations are comfortable; don't you +think so? + +No, indeed. I don't mind interruptions in my story. I'll rearrange +my bag while you are gone, for I packed in a hurry and I don't just +know where my things are. + +It is convenient to have a lavatory for every compartment. Isn't it +so in America? You don't have compartments at all! Why, how funny! I +can't imagine what your trains must be like. Miss Miller says that +she will take me to America with her some time. But I don't believe +I'd like to leave India even for a little while, interesting as +America must be. + +Yes, I'll go on with my story. Well, I was the daughter of a wealthy +Parsi in Bombay and we had a beautiful home in a part of the city +which is now not quite so pleasant, for Bombay as it has grown +towards one million in population has changed very much. I had a +governess and even at ten I began the study of English in connection +with my regular lessons and music. When I was about thirteen, my +father, who was really a little more advanced than the average +Parsi, decided to have English only spoken in our household. Knowing +the value of the language in commercial relations he considered it a +very important part of an education. + +But I must tell you about our, that is the Parsi, religion. We are +the followers of Zoroaster, you know, and we believe that God is +represented by fire. Therefore fire is sacred and in our temples a +fire is always kept burning, with an order of priesthood to care for +it. You can see how this belief might degenerate and become a +worship of fire itself, as I fear it has with many people. Even the +fires in our homes have to be cared for with ceremonies of various +kinds. We are taught that one should be faithful to his wife; that +every one should be charitable. But we do believe in demons and must +go through all sorts of rites to keep them away. You see I can't +give you more than the briefest account of our belief, for it is +more or less complicated as all beliefs are, but I wanted you to see +that in almost every way it is superior to the other religions of +India, but still lacking the vital elements of Christianity. One +strange thing about our teaching is that we are not told to try to +get converts; indeed, the Parsis do not want any new believers. +Isn't that strange? Really, I must confess that I think we are a +very self-satisfied people in every respect. + +At first we did not believe in early marriages, but in that respect +we have been gradually influenced by the Hindus. So at fourteen I +was married to the son of a rich merchant. Of course my husband was +chosen for me, but he proved to be a fine young man and we were very +happy together. Part of the wedding ceremonies took place, as our +weddings usually do, in the large public wedding hall which probably +you saw in Bombay. Really, the customs have got to be so elaborate +that a poor Parsi can hardly marry off a child without being in debt +for the rest of his life. Fortunately our family, as I have said, +did not lack for money and everything was beautiful. It was, indeed, +a very happy and joyous occasion, a prophecy of our life together. +For we were very, very happy for eight years. My husband was an +unusual young man and gave promise of surpassing his father in +business sagacity and literary ability. Our little girl came after +two years of marriage and she was dearly beloved by him, although, +of course, he would have liked a son. We were happy, oh, so happy! +After he died it used to hurt me so to think about it that for two +years I never spoke of my married life to any one, but since I have +found Jesus, I love to think about it and speak of it. + +But one day our joy was turned to sadness and our gladness to grief, +for my husband was smitten with enteric fever. You know how +prevalent that is here in India and how often fatal. He had been +overworking at his office and in the study. Our family was too +enlightened to believe that the illness was caused by demons, as +most of our people do, and he was not neglected as most of our sick +people are, but he had the best of English medical attention and the +most tender nursing from us. He was young and strong and we fought +hard, but after six weeks of deepest anxiety and all the devotion I +could lavish upon him, I saw him sink away and leave me. + +They took me from him while they prepared him for our peculiar +funeral rites and while I myself had to go through certain +ceremonies of purification. You have been to the Towers of Silence +in Bombay? No? But you are going back next week. Well, when you +stand upon the terrace and look across to those great towers, black +around the tops with ugly vultures, think of me as on that day three +years ago I stood and watched.--Please excuse my tears, but I don't +usually tell this part of my story; it is too sacred; but I don't +think you could understand the rest without knowing these customs of +ours. You know that the elements, earth, air, fire, and water, are +sacred in the sight of the Parsis and cannot be defiled by the dead; +therefore we cannot bury our dead; we cannot burn them; nor can we +throw their corpses into the river to be carried away by its +current. So our ancestors devised the plan which we now use. Our +dead are exposed upon high towers and vultures are allowed to tear +away the flesh, leaving the bones to crumble. So we Parsis in Bombay +have, upon a hill overlooking the harbour, really the most beautiful +spot in the city, a park in which at the top of the hill are located +five white towers between twenty-five and fifty feet high. The park +is well cared for and contains a shrine where fire is always +burning. A high terrace looks out towards the towers, about five +hundred feet away, which are never approached except by the officers +of the dead. + +Yes, visitors are admitted to the garden by permit before nine in +the morning. After that time the grounds are kept clear for funerals +and mourners who come to pray for the dead. + +I need not tell you of the long, sorrowful approach to the gardens +on that day three years ago, or how, standing upon the terrace, I +saw that dear body borne to the tower to become the prey of the ugly +birds swarming about the gardens. I need not tell you either of my +loneliness in our home or of my return to my father's house with +only one desire in life, to bring up my child so that she should be +an honour to her father. + +For a year my life was very bare and my heart very heavy. I had +plenty of money; I wanted for nothing; I was tenderly cared for by +my family, for, you know, the Parsis do not treat their widows after +the customs of the Hindus; but nothing seemed to make me even one +tiny bit happier. Then one day a white lady called at our home. She +was very pleasant and kind. She showed us a book of a new religion +which she wanted us to read and she offered to come and read it with +us every day; but my mother did not care to hear about any other +religion than our own. Then the lady showed us some beautiful +embroidery which we did not know how to do. When my mother expressed +a wish to learn the new work, the lady offered to teach her if she +might also read from the Bible at every lesson. I, too, liked to +keep my fingers busy and when my mother, who excelled at needlework, +could not resist the temptation and consented to let Miss Miller +come, for it was indeed she, I was glad. + +Once a week she came and for an hour at a time taught us various +kinds of stitches and read and explained the Bible to us. My mother, +after a short time, became ill and could not attend the lessons, but +as I seemed to enjoy them and my mind was somewhat diverted by them +from my sorrow, she still continued to allow Miss Miller to come. So +I, who had become very much interested in the Bible, much more so +than in the sewing, used to let my embroidery lie untouched while +sometimes we would talk for a couple of hours of this Christ +religion. What a beautiful religion it seemed to me! What a +comforting religion! I would have something to live for and +something to work for if I were a Christian. I thought of my +husband's death with less bitterness, for this religion taught that +I would surely see him again if I did God's will. Finally one day, +one year ago, Christ spoke to my heart. I believed. I knew that +Christ not only had lived but that He still lives. I cried for joy, +but Miss Miller thought it was with grief and started to console me. +But when I looked up with a shining face, her face shone too. + +"You have found Jesus!" she said. + +I answered eagerly, "I have." + +And right there in my own chamber where she had been coming since my +mother's illness, we knelt and prayed. + +When we arose, I said, "I want to be baptized and become a +Christian." + +"You are a Christian now, my dear," she said. + +"But I want the world to know it," I affirmed. + +"That is right and brave," she answered, "but you must count the +cost first." + +Then she sat down beside me and gently told me what I would have to +bear if I publicly took the name of Christ. She said that there were +not more than twenty-five Parsi Christians in the whole world. She +said that probably I would be turned out of my home, that my +relatives would count me as dead, that all my wealth would be taken +from me and that I would not have one anna for myself or my child. + +"Think of your child! Think of yourself! I cannot urge you to do it. +You must decide for yourself." + +I answered quickly, "I have thought of myself. I have thought of my +child. She must be a Christian and be brought up as such. Miss +Miller, I have decided for myself. Jesus will take care of us. I +know it in my heart for He tells me so." + +So I made my decision and she said no more, but I knew she was +pleased by the smile that she gave me. I would not wait for one +instant lest influences might be brought to bear which I could not +resist and I might be prevented from declaring my desire and +fulfilling it. I took Miss Miller's hand and we went at once to my +mother's room. She was not dangerously ill. When she heard my +determination to become a Christian, she sent for my father from his +study. Together they listened as I told all again. + +"Is that decision final, my daughter?" asked my father at last, a +man always of few words. + +"It is," I answered with a heart yearning towards them but firm. + +"Then you must go from our home, from our family. You and yours can +no longer be a part of us in any way. You will receive nothing from +us for your support.--You are dead to us.--If you repent of this +folly," he added, turning back from the door towards which he had +started with bowed head, "communicate with me and half of my fortune +will be yours. But if you persist in this strange conduct," his +voice grew very stern, "in ten minutes you and yours must be gone +from this house." + +I tried to kiss my mother good-bye but her face was turned from me +towards the wall. + +I returned to my apartment, took my child, my belongings and a few +relics of my husband and our happy life together and within ten +minutes I had left my home, perhaps forever,--but I don't think so. +I believe that some day God will send me back to them at their own +request; for they will yet believe as I do, I feel assured. + +Miss Miller took me to her own home and trained me. I have been a +Bible woman for six months now and Christians in America pay my +salary. By a scholarship they also help me support and educate my +daughter in a Christian school. + +Am I not sorry? Look at me! I used to ride always in the first-class +carriage; my saris were of silk and my borders embroidered with +gold; but there was sorrow in my heart. Now, I may sit on a hard +bench, crowded by dirty Hindus and my clothes may be of the cheapest +cotton, but I am happy, for Christ has put joy into my life and into +the life to come. He has also given me something important to do for +Him. The lives of most of our Indian women are so empty! In the +first-class carriage I used to have few fellow travellers; now in +the third I have many, sad, needy women to whom I can tell the great +story of which my own story is only a dim reflection. And to some of +these women in the last six months God has given me the joy of +revealing His love through Jesus Christ. + +Well, if here isn't our station! Hasn't the time flown! + +I hope I haven't wearied you. + +Thank you very much! Kind words stay in one's memory such a long +time and come back to strengthen in lonely or hard hours. I am so +glad that you enjoyed my story. Won't you take time to think a +little about Jesus yourself? I don't understand how an American +woman, with all God has given her, can say that she does not believe +in Him and love Him and His Son! + +There is my little girl and here is your husband! Good-bye! + +Oh, you are going to get off here too! Will I come up to the hotel +some time and see you? Indeed, I shall be delighted to! And will I +bring my little girl? How happy she will be to come! You must excuse +my excitement for I haven't seen her for two months, you know. +There, she sees me! How well and happy she looks! Will I bring my +Bible with me when I come? Yes, dear lady, most gladly will I. Here, +dear, this way! Good-bye! Good-bye! + + + + +XI + +Among the Clouds + + +The conversation had drifted by mysterious and unexplained +associations of ideas from the unusual excellence of the sweets +served at the end of dinner upon this line of steamers, to the most +grewsome tales of adventure which the narrators themselves had +experienced. Gladys, who by the most special of special permissions +and the kind favour of the captain, because she was an only child, +well behaved at table, and--because it was off season--had been +permitted to take Sunday dinner with her parents, sat beside the +captain in the gorgeous first cabin saloon with round eyes fixed +upon the story-tellers. + +There was present at dinner the usual shipboard mixture of society: +at the captain's right, a man whose extensive business interests +called him often into these waters; next, a gentleman and his wife, +travelling for their united healths; third, a government official +returning to India after a brief holiday; on the opposite side, two +globe-trotters, an American lady from Southern India, Gladys' +father, and finally Gladys herself. The chair between the little +girl and her father was vacant, for Gladys' mother, who had been at +dinner, feeling the slight roll of the boat, had retired early to +her cabin, leaving the child to the father's care. + +If her mother had been there Gladys would not have been permitted to +listen to the stories which had been told and enjoy the delicious +sensations of fear which she had experienced as she had heard the +accounts of awful dangers and marvellous escapes. The merchant had +obliged this little dinner company to spend five days with him +without food on a desert island and, after a thrilling rescue, had +made them watch him fall seventy feet from the masthead of a ship to +become the ship-surgeon's pet patient with twenty bones to set. +Gladys had felt herself wasting away with starvation as he had told +of his sufferings and, when he had cheerfully reached his second +story, she could hear her own bones grate as if broken asunder, as +she moved her legs under the table. + +Soon it came the turn of the lady from Southern India to tell a +story. + +"Well, I have had one thrilling experience which I don't mind +telling you, if my courage will support me through the recital," she +said. + +Gladys listened with all her ears, for the lady from Southern India +had become her best friend on shipboard. She did not want to miss a +single word. + +"You know that I have been a resident of Southern India for many +years," the lady began. "I could tell many dreadful stories of +pestilence and disaster in that region, but the most awful +experience that I have ever had myself took place in Northern India, +in Darjeeling. Of course you all know Darjeeling." + +But in spite of her own assurance that they did, the lady did not +seem to be able to resist, as no one who loves the Himalayas can, +telling again of that city among the clouds, seven thousand feet +above the sea, looking directly across the depths to where, when the +sun permits, shine forth the snowy peaks of Kinchenjunga. The little +city on the sheer mountainside is to the world only another proof of +the audacity of man who dares to invade regions so exalted and, in +the hope of drenching his lungs, parched by the heat of the Indian +plains, with the cool air from the never-melting snows of the +mountain peaks, dares to build his summer cottage on the overhanging +rock and trust to Providence that it will not tumble headlong into +the clouds below or, rained on from the clouds above, be carried +down the mountainside and buried in unknown depths by the débris of +an ever-possible landslip. Clinging to the edges of the crest of +this mountain height or perched upon the very crest itself, the +summer homes of the "sahibs" peer out through their enclosures of +shrubbery and trees to the snow-capped heights where even their +masters dare not venture, but from looking upon which these men gain +courage to go down again to the plains to take up their heavy tasks, +"the white man's burden." + +In her ardour the lady from Southern India described even the ascent +of the foot-hills to this resort among the mountains: the wide views +appearing first on one side, then on the other, as the little train +winds its way up the mountainside, sometimes making complete circles +to reach the higher grades and at other times shunting backwards to +save a long détour. The tea-gardens on the hillsides, the luxuriance +of the vegetation in the wooded glens, the waterfalls, the odd +little native villages along the road, descriptions of all these the +table company listened to with pleasure, for they deserved +attention, coming from the lips of one who was very familiar with +the scenes of which she spoke and who loved them. Even Gladys, who +was afraid of mountains, because "they look so big and black," +wished she might have been there by the time the lady had reached +the beginning of her story. + +"It was on my first visit to Darjeeling, when I knew nothing of the +place or the hill people, that I had the experience I am going to +tell you about," the lady continued. "I had often heard before I +started on the journey, and again on the way up, and yet again as +soon as I reached the city itself, that there was one trip which +every visitor must take in order to see the full glory of the +Himalayas and to get a peep at Mt. Everest, the highest mountain in +the world. As my stay there with an old college friend was to be +brief, since Darjeeling is a long way from Madras and vacation days +do not last forever, it was to my dismay that I found my hostess too +ill to accompany me on any excursion. She could only plan my visit +and direct her servants to carry out her plans. + +"As clouds and mists are apt to hide the mountains and no one can +tell when the 'sublime' heights will be visible, it is wise to take +the trip I had heard so much about as soon as possible and to repeat +it until one gets a clear view. Therefore I felt that I must take +the first opportunity and, although I could find no one to accompany +me, I decided that I must go the very next morning after my arrival, +even alone. The plan of the trip was this: to leave at 3:30 A. M. +and in a dandy, a sort of chair borne by four hillmen, to be carried +five miles to Tiger Hill, one thousand feet higher than Darjeeling; +to reach there just as the sun should rise and throw its morning +splendours upon Mt. Everest. It was decided that I should take an +alarm clock to my room and, arising at 3 A. M., be ready in all the +heavy clothing I could assemble for my before-sunrise excursion. The +dandy and dandywalas were ordered and a light lunch was set ready to +serve as my chota hazri. + +"It had not occurred to me that it would be a trying excursion as +well as an early one until at 3:30 the next morning, lighted by my +bedroom lamp as far as the outside door, I opened it and saw in the +dimness of the light four figures emerge from the darkness beyond +and stand about some object on the ground which I supposed must be +the dandy. There was no one to say good-bye to me or give me a last +word of counsel or warning. I put out the light, closed the door +behind me, and took a few steps in the direction where I thought the +dandy was. Then I stopped, for accustomed to speak to the natives in +their own tongue, it had not occurred to me until that moment that +these hill people spoke a different language from the one I was +familiar with and so I could not hope to make them understand a +word. I remembered, too, that they were of Mongolian descent, very +different from the Indian people whom I knew. What were their +characteristics? They might be treacherous and prone to rob for all +I knew. But after a moment's hesitation I made up my mind that all +these thoughts were foolish, for certainly my friend would not have +planned this trip for me if she had not considered it perfectly +safe. I saw that I must go on or that I should never hear the last +of my cowardice from my co-workers in India who are very fond of a +good joke on any of their fellows. + +"My eyes had become more accustomed to the darkness while I had been +cogitating thus, and so, taking my rugs and my life, as it seemed to +me, in my hands, I stepped resolutely towards the dandy which was +placed ready for me. I spread out one rug carefully and arranged my +pillows upon it for comfort, just as calmly as if I had made the +trip often. Then I sat down and pulled the other rug over me. When I +appeared to be all ready, the four men, just black shapes in the +darkness, with a queer united grunt, took hold of the chair poles, +two in front and two behind, and, lifting the dandy to their +shoulders, started at a slow pace up the hill behind the house. + +"I was pretty high up in the world it seemed to me and as they were +carrying me up backwards I had a view before me of all the +mountainside that was visible in the starlight, for the stars were +very bright overhead, and the street lights of the city twinkled +here and there below. I tried to forget that my destination was five +miles away and that the paths might lead through lonely solitudes. +I tried to concentrate my thoughts upon the scene before me, the +city, as it were, beside the sea; for so the clouds looked in the +dimness with the lighted streets resembling long piers running out +into the cloud sea. Near by an occasional house loomed up darkly in +the shadows, and the overhanging trees from the slope above looked +like impenetrable forests in the darkness. Far to the left a dim +light, I felt sure, marked the spot where a terrible landslip had +occurred but shortly before and several English people had lost +their lives. I had been anxious to visit the spot since reading an +account of the disaster, but somehow in the darkness, even at that +distance, although I could not see the place, a sort of horror of it +took possession of me and I seemed to see the white faces upturned +towards the sky as they were being carried down the mountainside by +the relentless torrent of rocks and earth. Just then I heard a noise +as of a person moving stealthily along the narrow roadway and I +positively shook with fear; but a nearer approach revealed to me +that it was only a night watchman aroused by our passing. The gleam +of a policeman's badge in these mountain wilds relieved my anxiety +for a moment and made me ashamed of my fears. + +"I tried to forget my foolish thoughts and to feel soothed by the +gentle motion of the dandy as the men swung up the hillside by a +circuitous roadway. I tried not to remember what strange, stolid +faces the hillmen had had whom I had seen at the station the day +before. I tried not to see as we passed under a street lamp, +outlined under the coat of the right hand man in front of me what +certainly looked like a revolver. I tried, as I looked up at the +tall trees almost meeting over my head, to imagine how beautiful +this road would appear by daylight. Once one of the front bearers +missed his footing by stepping into an unexpected hole near the edge +of the road. That gave me a shock; but the physical shock was not so +great as the mental one I received when, as he recovered himself, I +thought I saw a knife at his belt. + +"Soon, at a low call from one of them, the four men fell into a trot +and I found myself being borne, none too smoothly, along a bit of +down grade. In a moment the grade became still steeper and, +apparently at another signal, I was whirled about in my chair and +carried face forwards. As they toiled up another slope and we +appeared to have passed out of the city, they began a weird +antiphonal; the men in front would chant a few words and the men +behind would finish the phrase. Over and over it sounded--the same +tones. It seemed to me that the first two were saying, 'Kill her +now. Kill her now!' and the others were answering, 'It is not time +yet. It is not time yet!' + +"On we went with the stars watching overhead but clearly at such a +distance that their presence gave me but little comfort. 'Of course +these men are not saying such awful things,' I tried to reassure +myself. + +"My teeth were chattering both with fear and cold, for it was cold +at four o'clock in the morning seven thousand feet above the sea. +Suddenly the thought came to me to bribe these men with money, but +my shaking fingers discovered that I had left my purse at home. So I +could do nothing but just wait and let them take their will. + +"On we went, up and up, away from the city, farther and farther +away, at the same swinging pace and to the same accompaniment of +murderous refrain. Before long I could see that we were approaching +a fog and very soon we were in it. At another time I should have +rejoiced at the experience of passing through a cloud on the +mountainside, but now my only joy was in a light that shone through +it. It might be a street light and we might be coming to a village! +We were; but so small was the village and so quickly did we pass +through it that I had no time to think of getting help there. And to +cheer me on my way, from the last dark house I heard the wail of a +suffering child. + +"We were soon again in the deep woods and we must have been about an +hour from our starting point--it had seemed a century to me and I +knew that my hair had whitened with the passing of those years--when +we came to a spot where the road broadened. There, in silence, the +men set my chair down and withdrew to one side of the road. I could +see their figures close together and I could hear their voices as if +in discussion. I knew very well that my time had come. Oh, why had I +ventured alone on this journey, just for pleasure! What would become +of my work and my dear people in Madras, if these men murdered me, +as they surely would when they found I had no money at all! + +"I thought of running off into the dark woods, but how could I hope +for safety there where the wild beasts preyed? I thought of shouting +in the hope that my voice might reach the village which we had +passed, but before help could come from there I knew that I would +surely be dead. So I did nothing. My eyes remained fixed upon the +men and, although I thought it would be pleasanter not to see death +coming, I could not turn away. I could see the men motioning with +their arms. One man who was walking up and down behind the others, +stopped once or twice and pointed towards me. I sat frozen, but not +with the cold. + +"At last this man stepped out from behind the others and came +towards me. He came straight to the side of the dandy and, raising +his hands to my throat---- Why, look at that poor child!" + +At that exclamation the company turned towards Gladys whose eyes +were fairly popping out with terror. + +"Gladys! Dear child! I should not have told such a thing when you +were here to frighten you so. How wrong of me! Mr. Bixby, you should +not have allowed the child to hear all this nonsense." + +The good lady from Southern India was out of her chair with the +little girl in her arms by this time. + +"What--what did the man do?" sobbed the child. + +"Why, dearest, he did nothing but pull my steamer rug up around my +neck and tuck me in nice and warm. They were good, harmless men and +had only stopped to rest after their long climb. I was a foolish, +easily frightened woman. And do you know, dear, the song they had +been singing? I found out afterwards that it was simply this, +variations of which they chant to every passenger: 'Such a big lady! +Such a big lady!' the first two sang and the answer from the other +two was, 'Such a big present! Such a big present!' + +"And I did give them a good big present when I got safely home, you +may be sure, because I was so greatly pleased to find all my trouble +had been in my own mind, as almost all of my troubles have always +been. + +"Now, for bed, little girl, and I'll tell you a really nice story to +go to sleep on." + +And the lady from Southern India bore Gladys away to her stateroom +before the rest of the company had time to make any comments upon +her narration. + + + + +XII + +The Infidel + + +"Night is coming! The wildness of desolation will soon be upon us! +Oh, Allah, Allah, hear the cry of the faithful!" + +The old man, in Arab dress, arose unsteadily from his knees, stuck +his feet into his heelless slippers, and stood with scraggy, gray +head bowed upon his hands. + +"It is not the hour for prayer. Why do I thus involuntarily fall +upon my knees and call upon the sacred name of Allah? What nameless +fear is this which has clutched at my heart all this day and finally +brought me to my knees in the guest room of a stranger to whose home +I have come on a message for the Faith? + +"I cannot explain it," he continued in a quavering voice as he +straightened himself up and began to walk back and forth in the +narrow guest room. "Something terrible will soon come to pass. I +know it! I feel it! But I am bound. If I could but leave this city +to-night and start back to my home, I feel that I would be safe. But +I am bound! By the law of the Prophet I am bound and I cannot go." + +[Illustration: "Oh, Allah, Allah, hear the cry of the faithful!"] + +"Night is coming! The wildness of desolation will soon be upon us!" +he repeated over and over again as he walked back and forth from the +edge of the court to the plastered wall, back and forth. + +The old man's voice had sunk to a murmur but he was still repeating +the same words and walking restlessly to and fro when a noise beyond +the door across the narrow, stone-paved court attracted his +attention and he sank down upon the reception cushions on the floor +in the conventional attitude of the Arab guest. A sackcloth curtain +was lifted at the doorway across the court and a man entered, a +native of India, with the clear-cut features of the Aryan, but the +heavy black beard and rich robes of a prosperous Mohammedan. Every +step as he crossed the court betrayed the pride and dignity of this +follower of the Prophet. On his head was the green turban marking +the successful, faithful pilgrim to Mecca. + +The old man arose to prostrate himself before his host, as with "The +peace of Allah be thine!" upon his lips the younger man stepped up +from the court into the open guest room and came towards him. But +although his lips murmured the conventional words of greeting, the +old man's eyes did not seem to be looking at his host but out +across the court as if he saw something startling there and his +figure seemed to be all a-tremble. It was only after the host had +politely urged him to resume his seat upon the cushions and had +himself sat down, that the old man seemed to recover himself. +Without accepting the proffered seat, however, he spoke. + +"Ben Emeal, I come to thee as a messenger of the Prophet." + +"And as a messenger of the Prophet thou art most welcome, oh, +brother, whose name has not been revealed to me," quickly responded +the other, rising as he saw that the guest would not be seated. + +"My name does not matter, oh, faithful Believer, so long as I come +on the business of the Faith. Ben Emeal, I have something to tell +thee which I know will fill thee with amaze and thy heart with anger +and thy mind with plans of cunning." As the old man talked his fear +seemed to leave him and he became the proud, fearless messenger of +the Faith. + +"Ben Emeal, I have come, I have come all the way from the land of +the Holy Prophet himself, to warn thee that the infidel is rife in +the land, that the infidel has entered the very strongholds of the +Deccan, that the infidel"--the old man stepped nearer and fairly +hissed into the face of the other, "approaches--thee!" + +The old man drew himself erect and looked with the proud superiority +of wisdom upon the other who was gazing back in evident +bewilderment. + +"Brother, what meanest thou?" the host asked. "I am faithful, as +thou must know. No man in this great city has been more faithful +than I and I hate the infidel with the hatred of the Prophet!" At +the word "hate," Ben Emeal's strong hand had dropped to the sword +hilt at his side. + +The old man again brought his face close to the other's and the +words came whistling from his toothless mouth. "Yes, thou, oh, Ben +Emeal, art faithful, but watch thou thy household! Watch thou thy +household! Watch! I shall be at the crossing of the Sidar Ways; for +three days only I shall be there. Watch and come to me for help. I +have delivered my message; now I go!" + +As the last words fell from his lips and he turned towards the +courtyard, all the proud fearlessness left his face; the expression +as of one doomed returned; and with his hands raised above his head, +the old man staggered from the court, crying, "Night is coming! The +wildness of desolation is upon us! Oh, Allah, Allah, hear the cry of +the faithful!" + +The younger man, left alone, sank upon the cushions of the guest +room and seemed lost in thought. What meant this strange warning? +His women were faithful, Ben Emeal knew, for they had not the +brains nor the courage nor, indeed, the opportunity to listen to the +preaching of any faith but that of their master and lord. His +servants--they really mattered not to him--but he knew that they +were faithful, too, as he had but recently taken them to account on +the subject as a true follower of the Prophet should. His +children----? They were too young, all--but---- He did not even +repeat the name to himself, for from the first word of accusation +his mind had guessed the one involved, but his heart had sturdily +driven his mind to seek in every other direction before it should +turn to the one being in all the world whom Ben Emeal loved, but no +less the one being in all his household who, he knew, would dare to +question or oppose the established order of things. This was a +serious charge and no one realized the seriousness of it, coming +from one of the wise men of the Faith, more than did Ben Emeal; yet +his love for his only son and his confidence in his own ability to +deal with such a subject in connection with that son, led him to +have little anxiety, in spite of the warning. + +It was not possible that Ahmed could have met the infidel! Where +could he even have heard of anything different from the doctrine of +his father's Faith? It was absurd! Of late Ben Emeal had noticed a +tendency in his son to question him upon subjects of life and +religion; and, too, he had seen the boy several times sitting quiet +as if in deep thought, an unusual attitude for a healthy, hearty +youth; but he had supposed these things only the passing freaks of +young manhood. For some time past Ahmed had sought to avoid marriage +and he had never seemed to care for the pleasures of the harem; +these things, too, were unusual, but Ben Emeal recognized in his +idolized son the beginnings of an unusual man and was proud of him +accordingly. + +A merry voice just beyond the purdah suddenly interrupted the +father's thoughts and the curtain was lifted to admit a young man +about eighteen years of age, of striking build and comeliness. With +a gay and winning greeting the young fellow dropped upon the +cushions beside the older man and soon Ben Emeal had forgotten his +doubts in a lively discussion of the approaching durbar and the +ceremonies attendant upon that function. + +But, after a pleasant hour together, just as they were about to +separate for a brief siesta, Ahmed turned to his father with a +slight frown and said: + +"Just before I came in this afternoon I met out here in the street +before our house the strangest old man! He wore that dress that you +call Arabian, I think, and he had on the green of our Prophet's +kin, but he was staggering along the street muttering, 'The night is +coming! Desolation is coming upon us!' or something like that. I +went up to him to see if I could help him, and, also, to see if a +kin of our Prophet could really have been drinking of the accursed +cup; but I found no signs of intoxication about him, only signs of +intense fear as he cowered against the wall, repeating his cry of +desolation. Adjed, the silversmith, came up just then and took him +in charge or I should have found out more about him. Strange, wasn't +it? It really gave me an uncanny feeling as if it were a premonition +of some danger," and the young man shook himself as if to shake off +a lingering feeling of fear. + +Ben Emeal's face, as his son spoke, resumed the troubled expression +which had been driven away by Ahmed's former lively conversation and +he said to the lad very solemnly as they both rose and he put a hand +on the youth's shoulder: + +"My son, you never forget, do you, that first of all in this world +you are a follower of the true Prophet and that your first business +in life is to convert or destroy the infidel?" + +The son did not reply except with another question. "Father, can I +not go to the university at Aligarh to learn more of our Faith?" + +"I will see; I will see, my son," replied the father genially and +his face cleared as if the question had put his fears at rest. + +"I will see, my son," he said again as he turned to the door leading +to his own apartment where he would take a few pulls at the hookah +before he should give himself up to his afternoon rest. + +Ahmed went to his mother's chamber where with his head upon her +knee, her proud eyes gazing down upon the handsome face of her son, +the dearest possession of an Indian woman's life, and her loving +fingers smoothing his rich, dark hair back from his brow, he fell +very soon into the refreshing sleep of youth. + + * * * * * + +When Ahmed awoke from his restful sleep, he found his mother still +supporting his head and still gazing fondly down into his face. For +a few moments he lay, returning her smiles. Suddenly his face +clouded. + +"Mother, why is it that you can never leave this house, this +walled-in courtyard; why is it that you cannot ride out with me in +the open and look upon the trees and the grass and the blue sky? It +does not seem right that I should be allowed to look upon all these +things and you not." + +"Hush, my son!" answered his mother. "It is the law of the Prophet. +What he commands must be right. But, see, there is the blue sky, and +here are my green tree and my grass and sometimes I even may ride +out in an ekka and peep through the curtains, and once, my son, many +years ago, I rode on a railway train and saw through the shutters +miles and miles of green grass and flowers and so many, many +beautiful things that I shall always be happy because of that +sight." + +Ahmed looked from the beautiful but sad face of his mother up at the +patch of sky bounded by the four gray, brick walls; he looked at the +lone, gray-green tree trying to grow in a foot or two of garden in +the middle of the paved courtyard, and at the grass, already giving +up its struggle for life, about its roots, and his heart ached for +this lonely woman. For he knew that although she was his father's +only wife at present, because she had borne him, Ahmed, to Ben +Emeal, he knew that she saw little of his father, for there were +many concubines in the home who not only usurped her place in her +husband's life but who, also, in many, many ways made her life far +from happy in the home. He knew that really he himself was her only +joy and comfort and he rebelled. Ahmed had been taught that a woman +has no soul. Did he doubt the words of his teachers as he gazed into +his mother's eyes? + +"Mother, why are you called 'Ahmed's mother' instead of your own +name when the people of the household speak to you? Why are you so +'blest in' me as they say?" + +"Because, my son--surely you must know by this time that a woman is +no better than a beast; 'a cow' the Prophet calls her; and that she +can only enjoy life through the son that she bears. Ah, how rich I +am in you! But suppose you had not come to me, Ahmed, my son!" and +her face became drawn with the thought. "Suppose I had been as my +sister who has no son!" + +The youth could not bear to add to his mother's unhappiness by +having her dwell upon such thoughts and so he playfully pulled down +her face and kissed her and teased her to show him the wedding +garments which she was embroidering for him. + +"When is it to be?" he asked. + +"After the month of fasting, my son." + +"Is she beautiful?" + +"I know not, my son. But surely she must be for such a handsome man +as thou art." + +"Dost thou want me to have a wife, mother?" + +The mother's face was crossed with a spasm of pain at the question, +for when his wedding came, she felt that she would have lost her +son, her only joy in life. She knew that she had such a son as few +mothers in all India and she knew that their loving relationship and +companionship was very unusual. But he must marry and as a woman she +must not show grief; in fact, being a woman, she had no grief. So +she mastered her pain in a second and replied, but not so quickly +that it deceived Ahmed: + +"Yes, my son, as every true follower of the Prophet must, so must +thou marry and beget sons. But thou canst still love thy mother a +little," she added shyly. + +"That I will," affirmed the son blithely. "But," he went on crossly, +"I don't want to marry and be bothered with a wife. Mother, I'll +tell you what I really want to do. I want to go to our university at +Aligarh where I can learn all about our Faith and about everything +else, mother. I want to be a great man." + +"Not a great man, my son, but a great follower of the Prophet! Why, +the sky has clouded and there comes some rain!" + +"Oh, ho! I must get me up and away, for I promised a friend I would +come and read with him for a time." + +"Is it The Book, my son?" + +"No, mother, it is something new which some one gave him one time on +the train. We have been reading it together for months now. It is +very beautiful, all about Jesus who is coming at the end of the +world, you know." + +"Yes, I know, my son, for I have read The Book----" + +"It is strange, mother, that you can read, for Elid's mother cannot, +nor can any woman in Ajar's household, he says, nor can any other +woman in this," interrupted the son. "And besides, mother, the other +young men I know never seem to spend any time with their mothers at +all or talk to them or even love them, it seems to me." + +"Yes, my son, it is strange, for ours is not the ordinary life, nor +has my lot been the ordinary lot of woman here. My father taught me +to read when I was a little child, for he became blind and then I +could read to him, for I was quicker and more willing to do it than +the boys. My father was a great scholar and I know The Book by +heart, but little joy has come to me since my marriage for my +knowledge," she sighed. "Your father respects me no more than he +does his latest concubine. I have respect here only because of you, +my son," and her eyes feasted upon his fair countenance. "Go now, my +son, to thy friend, but beware of new things, for what is new often +offends the Faith." With these words she left Ahmed as he lifted the +purdah, having followed him as far as her woman's feet were +permitted to go. + +But Ahmed trod on through the narrow streets, although the rain was +pouring, for he did not want to miss the reading which was giving +him such a different outlook upon life. Why, really, it was a +"blasphemous thought," but this new book seemed to him to be greater +than the Koran. It had given him such a new vision. Never had he +thought much about his mother's life and position before reading +this book, but now his mind was quickened to understand her +condition. This book said, "Honour thy father and thy mother," and +it did not seem to exclude woman from any joys, even those of +Paradise. He was so eager to know more, especially since the +conversation with his mother that afternoon, that he wondered if his +friend would let him take the book home with him to study by +himself. + +As Ahmed went on in the rain his thoughts turned from the new book +to a man whom he had met several times the past year outside the +walls of Hyderabad on the big bridge. The man's peculiar bearing of +kindness towards any one in trouble and his happy face had attracted +the youth. They had talked together once or twice and the man whom +Ahmed supposed to be a Hindu had told him that he was a Hindu no +longer, but a follower of the "Jesus Doctrine." The boy had +wondered what it could mean, for never had he been so drawn to a +stranger as he had to that man whose whole thought had seemed to be +how he could help some one else. One day Ahmed saw this man actually +help a woman place her water jar on her head and a moment later get +down in the dust of the road and help a coolie pile up again a mass +of fuel dung-cakes which had been knocked over by a passing cart; +and yet this man was a scholar, as Ahmed knew by his conversation, +and no outcast. The boy wondered as he thought it over now if the +new book which he had been reading could have any connection with +what this man had called the "Jesus Doctrine." The more he thought +about it the more it seemed to him that that man's actions had been +the carrying out of the precepts of the new book. + +Ahmed had not paid much heed to his steps as he had splashed along +in the rain, trying as far as possible to keep under the protection +of the buildings from the rain which seemed to be coming in torrents +from the south. He was wrapped in his thoughts. + +But suddenly his steps were stayed, for he heard a weird, awful cry, +and in a corner of the porch of the house that he was passing he saw +a figure on its knees in prayer. The attitude was conventional and +in no way terrifying, but the words and voice had startled him. + +"Night is coming! The wildness of desolation will soon be upon us! +Oh, Allah, Allah, hear the cry of the faithful!" + +The voice was that of one whose soul was in mortal agony, and as +Ahmed stooped to look more closely, he recognized the old man whose +voice he had heard a few hours before in front of his own door. He +recognized, too, that the place where he was standing was the +crossing of the Sidar Ways, a place a long distance from the road he +had thought he was taking. + +He wondered what could have alarmed the old man, but, really +frightened at the repetition of the awful words and the tone of the +agonized voice, the young fellow did not go to the man's side, but +hastened to find a return way to his friend's, whose home he had +missed in the rain and the preoccupation of his thoughts. As he +turned, for the first time he noticed that another man was standing +close behind him. In the semi-darkness, he did not recognize him, +but gave him the greeting of the Faith and hurried on. As he reached +his friend's door, it gave the boy a queer, uncomfortable feeling to +perceive that this same man was still behind him. + +An hour or so later Ahmed emerged from the house with the precious +book concealed in his clothing, for his friend had warned him that +he feared that a good Mohammedan would not read it and that he +believed that it was the book of another faith. As such his friend +had decided that he would read it no more. But Ahmed had said that +it mattered not to him what faith it was, he thought it beautiful +and he wanted to read it still more. So instead of permitting his +friend to burn it as he had wanted to do, Ahmed had insisted upon +taking it to his home for further study. + +He did not notice as he left Elid's house that a man slipped out +from the shadows and followed him to his own door. Nor did he know +that this man turned as soon as he had entered the house and made +haste back to the crossing of the Sidar Ways where he aroused the +strange old man from his paroxysm of fear and talked earnestly with +him for some time. + +Within his mother's room by the light of the oil lamp Ahmed read and +read, while his mother watched him and sewed on the wedding +garments. Too engrossed to read aloud or even talk about what he was +reading, he read on and on. Long after his mother had given up her +vain efforts to get him to go to rest and had rolled herself in her +blanket, he still bent over the book. He read until sleep finally +blurred his mind and closed his eyes and the lamp burned out at his +side. + +But Ahmed had noticed before he slept a name on the first page of +the book, "Mission Press, Bangalore, India." It must be that those +people could explain to him what this book meant. If he could only +go to them! Never had words written or spoken stirred his heart as +it had been stirred by this book. It must be of Allah and yet in all +he had read he had found no mention of the Prophet. Since Elid's +warning Ahmed seemed to feel that perhaps in reading this book and +thinking these thoughts he was betraying the Faith, and yet, if all +this he had been reading were true, it was better than the Faith and +he could no longer believe as he had before. + +Could he in any way get to that "Mission Press" in Bangalore? Ahmed +had never been but a few miles from Hyderabad; indeed, that was one +reason why he had wanted to go to the university at Aligarh and +another reason was that in the last few months he had begun to be +dissatisfied with the Faith and thought that there they could +certainly explain all to him. But now he preferred to go to +Bangalore. It seemed as if he must go there: but instinctively he +felt that he must conceal his reason for wishing to go. And so with +his mind confused by these thoughts and the new ideas which the new +book had brought him, ideas utterly foreign to all he had known +before, he fell into a restless sleep. + + * * * * * + +It seemed to Ahmed as if some unseen force were ordering events when +early on the next day he was called to his father's presence to find +him unexpectedly ill and so ill that it would be impossible for him +to leave the city and go to Bangalore on a very important matter of +business. Ben Emeal could trust the business to no assistant and yet +it had to be attended to on the next day. The only person whom he +could trust was his son and that son until then had been not only +ignorant of all business matters but also of travel, having never +made a journey alone on a railway train. But when Ben Emeal saw that +there was no other way to save to his name several thousands of +rupees, he decided to give his son a rather hurried and, indeed, +trying initiation into commercial life. The old Arab's warning +against the infidel had not been forgotten, but the father did not +think the risk too great to send his son away alone for the first +time, as he thought the novelty of the journey and of assisting in +business affairs for the first time would keep Ahmed's mind from +dangerous thoughts, and besides,--it was a matter of much money. + +So Ahmed had been summoned to his father's presence and instructed +in all the matters needful to the transaction of the business. When +Ben Emeal saw the delight and eagerness with which the boy undertook +the journey and the task given him he did not consider it necessary +even to warn him against the possible meeting with the infidel in +Bangalore. + +So Ahmed had started for the very place of all others that he wanted +to visit, sent by his father--such a strange answer to the longings +of the night before that he was filled with a feeling of awe. So +impressed with the religious importance of this journey and with a +divine ordering of it was he that he scarcely appreciated its +novelty. Because of his ignorance of travel, his father had directed +him to go first class; therefore, he had the compartment to himself +for the whole journey and, since this was so, instead of gazing from +the window and enjoying the new sights as he would have done a few +days before, now he pulled out the new book and read the whole +journey through. + +Although Ahmed had but one desire when he reached Bangalore, that of +finding the "Mission Press," he went first, as he knew was right, +and transacted the business entrusted to him. When that was over, +then he began his search for the people who were responsible for +"The Book." No longer did that title in Ahmed's mind belong to the +Koran and for some reason or other he did not seek these people to +be told that what The Book said was true; for he seemed to know +himself that it was true, but he sought them for more knowledge and +for an explanation of many things that he could not understand, and +especially to find out the relation of the Prophet to it all, as +Mohammed was not mentioned in The Book. + +Ahmed found the Mission Press to be a large brick building set back +in a grassy compound. When, with a desire for secrecy which he could +not exactly explain, he dismissed his gari at some distance from the +gate and made the approach on foot, he was surprised to see another +Mohammedan stop at the gate, but he did not recognize in him the man +who had followed him from the crossing of the Sidar Ways to his +friend's house the night before in Hyderabad. + +So without anxiety other than that which possessed him to learn of +the new book, Ahmed entered the big building. Never having seen a +press and not exactly knowing what the word implied, he was amazed +at the whirring machinery and the offices of busy clerks. At a +window he told his errand in a simple, straightforward way, pointing +to the name of the press on the title page of The Book which he had +drawn from under his clothing. The converted Hindu at the window at +once led the boy to a small room within, where sat an American +gentleman literally buried in manuscripts, proof sheets, and +correspondence. But a quick resurrection took place at the clerk's +whispered words and the American, a missionary, arose to greet the +youth. + +For several hours they talked and prayed, each moment separating +Ahmed farther from the faith of his father and drawing him closer to +the faith taught by a stranger. Since the boy was not to return to +Hyderabad until the next day, when the press closed for the night he +went home to the mission compound with the missionary. And so +engrossed was he in conversing with his new friend that he did not +see that a man followed them all the way from the press building, +indeed, the same man whom he had seen at the gate. + +It was not late in the evening when in the midst of their +conversation, Ahmed turned abruptly to his missionary host and said, +"I believe. I want to be a Christian. What must I do?" + +The missionary explained to him that the next step after belief was +testimony, a testimony usually given by baptism, but that Ahmed +could not think of being baptized until he had prayed long and +earnestly over the matter. Indeed, it might mean death to him, for +he himself must surely know the bitterness of the Prophet's +followers. It would probably mean at the very least disinheritance +and banishment from his father's home. + +"But I believe," cried Ahmed, "and if testimony is necessary for +believers of this 'Jesus Doctrine,' then I must testify; I must be +baptized." + +But the missionary was firm and although his heart glowed at the +courage of the young man, little more than a boy, he would not yield +but sent Ahmed to the guest-chamber with the counsel to pray about +it. + +And for hours that night did Ahmed pray. + +When, in the early morning, he met the missionary in the +drawing-room, his resolve was unchanged and his request of the +evening before was repeated. "Baptize me now. I must be baptized for +I must testify to the world that I believe," he said. His face shone +with such a happy light as he pleaded that the missionary felt that +no longer could he refuse to administer the sacrament asked for. + +"But it may mean death," again he urged. + +"Jesus died for me; you yourself have told me," replied Ahmed. + +"You will certainly lose your inheritance and be an exile from your +family." + +"He gave up His inheritance in the skies and took exile upon +Himself that He might bring life to me; can I not do as much in +testifying for Him?" + +How the lad had learned so much of the Gospel and the very words of +the Bible in such a short time was a marvel to the American +preacher, but he did not know with what intensity the hungry heart +of the youth had been studying the sacred pages. + +It seemed to the missionary, therefore, that it must be God's will +that the young Mohammedan should be baptized. But he wanted it to be +done in the presence of the congregation. + +"When could that be?" asked Ahmed. + +"Not for three days," replied the preacher. + +"But I must go to my home to-day!" exclaimed the young man. + +"Ahmed," the missionary's eyes were filled with perplexity and +suffering, "Ahmed, it will be sure death if you go back to +Hyderabad, I know. Will you not let me send you north where you can +probably escape from notice until you have studied and are ready to +preach the Gospel? Then you can come back and perhaps preach in +safety to your people," he urged. "Wait here in secret in my home +until the Sabbath. Then after the public service and public baptism +before the congregation, I will spirit you away and you will be +safe." + +The young man drew himself to his full height and his eyes glowed. +"My father expects me to start for home to-night. I must obey. He +has given me his trust. But more than that, I must hasten to tell +them of what I have found--to tell my mother of a God who loves her +and that she is not lost, but can be saved by believing in Jesus. I +know that I shall die, but before then I shall have lived enough, if +I succeed in taking the message to them. Can I not be baptized now, +at once?" + +It was not in the missionary's province to detain such a messenger. +With a tap of the bell he assembled the family for morning prayers, +the heathen as well as the Christian servants attending, and in +their presence he baptized Ahmed, the young Mohammedan, no longer a +follower of the Prophet but of the Christ. + +As the missionary with his hand upon Ahmed's bowed head repeated the +words in Hindustani, "I baptize thee in the name of the Father and +of the Son and of the Holy Ghost," a Mohammedan glided from behind +the draperies of a side window, through the half-opened shutters, +and passed quickly and noiselessly down the driveway and through the +compound gate. + + * * * * * + +Just before the gates of the city closed for the night the train +from Bangalore deposited Ahmed at the station and he was safe +within the walls of Hyderabad. He hastened through the narrow, dark +streets to his own home, shunning the crowded bazaars and picking +out the winding byways that lead between the high walls of the +residence portion of the city near the river. A foreigner would not +have imagined that the walls confining the dirty lanes within their +narrow limits were the walls of the homes of some of the rich and +influential Mohammedans of the great city. But so it was, for the +barren, outward appearance of an oriental residence does not reveal +the luxury within; and, besides, many of these Eastern people seem +to prefer the luxury of costly jewels and raiment to that of +beautiful surroundings and live on in the plain ways of the poorer +natives with only the number of servants, the elegance of their +dress, their indolence, and their indulgence in pleasures showing +their wealth. + +Such was the home of Ahmed, plain, satisfying only the requirements +of a simple native life. It covered much ground, for the number of +servants and concubines demanded considerable room even for plain +housing. But there was little display of wealth within except in the +wearing of gold-embroidered robes and precious jewels. Only a +succession of bare paved courtyards, with open and closed rooms at +the sides, made up the house all practically unadorned except one +in the centre of the house which was gorgeous in carving and inlaid +work and faced a tiny, open mosque, also richly ornamented. The +mosque was a most beautiful example of Indian skill in carving and +stone work and about the niche which pointed towards Mecca were many +passages from the Koran, inlaid in the marble with precious stones +in a most delicate and marvellous way. Before the niche upon the +marble floor were spread prayer rugs of great price. This was the +private mosque of Ben Emeal and his household and he had thought the +expenditure of thousands of rupees not too much for the adornment of +his place of prayer. + +When Ahmed reached home, the servants told him that his father was +at prayer in the mosque and did not wish to be disturbed before +morning. Ahmed wondered what unusual happening could have called his +father to a whole night of prayer. When he asked the servant more +particularly about his father's health, he found that Ben Emeal had +seemed much better until in the afternoon a strange old Arab had +been admitted to his presence and since then he had been much worse, +depressed in mind as well as body, and at times greatly agitated. + +Ahmed, feeling that he must not interrupt his father at such a time +and wondering if it could be possible that his father's agitated +condition could have come from a premonition of what he himself had +done, hastened to his mother's apartment. Finding her asleep, he +spent several hours in prayer for help and guidance for the coming +day, for he knew that he could not and would not put off the +revelation of his break with his father's faith longer than that, +unless Ben Emeal's illness should grow more alarming. + +Meantime the rain had come again, even harder than upon the night +that Ahmed had been abroad. In floods it was pouring down upon the +city of Hyderabad and brimming the banks of the river. In a small +house near the great bridge that spanned the river at the crossing +of the Sidar Ways two men were sitting. One was the man who had been +following the doings of Ahmed; the other, the old man from Arabia, +whose face now reflected no terror, only the glow of a fanatic +Faith. + +"He was baptized?" As he almost shouted the question, the old man +leaned forward in his excitement. "I warned the father again this +day in a manner that stirred him to the depths, but I did not really +expect this so soon. Are you sure? Have you told our brothers of the +council?" + +The other replied, "Why, of course I am sure, for I saw the act +myself. Yes, I have reported to Ben Isah and he bade me tell you +that just before noon we are to assemble with Ben Emeal and support +his arm and his faith as followers of the Prophet. Of course the boy +will recant and repudiate all this nonsense, he says, but he must be +taught a severe lesson. 'There must be no trifling with the +infidel,' were his very words." + +As the man ceased speaking a gust of wind bore the rain like sleet +against the door of the house and the old man looked up with a +hunted expression and his lips moved as if in prayer. The younger +man looked at him in contempt and without another word threw himself +upon a charpoy in the corner of the room and fell asleep, but the +old man sank on his knees and remained in that position until dawn. + + * * * * * + +Ahmed's first thought with the coming of the new day was to tell his +mother the good news and bring joy to her sad heart. Then he had +determined that he would face his father and leave the rest in God's +hands. His mother might lose her son, but she would gain far more in +what this Jesus Doctrine would bring. So he greeted her with a happy +heart. + +He told her all: of his own experience, his growing dissatisfaction +with Mohammedanism, of his growing belief in the religion of the new +book which he had studied for so many months, of his occasional +meetings with the Christian man at the bridge, and, finally, of what +he had done at Bangalore. Words could not come fast enough as he +went on to explain the new faith to her and told her what it would +mean for her, if she should believe. But, although it sounded very +beautiful to her, she could not accept any doctrine in such a short +time and she was listening to his words as yet with only a glad +wonder in her heart, when a messenger suddenly summoned him to his +father. + +Ahmed had almost forgotten his father in his eagerness to talk to +his mother and bring her the good news; so he was remorseful when +suddenly he realized that he had not even asked about his father's +health since the night before, nor gone to him to report on the +business matter which he had arranged in Bangalore. He went quickly +after the messenger, for the moment again forgetful of the unwelcome +news that he must bring to his father soon. He was surprised when he +learned from the servant that Ben Emeal was still in the mosque and +awaited him there. But his surprise became amazement when on +entering the mosque he perceived a circle of the most influential +Mohammedans of Hyderabad seated about his father on the floor. So +accustomed was Ahmed to the habits of the faithful that without +thought of its being a violation of his new faith, he slipped his +feet from his shoes as he entered the mosque. + +As Ahmed approached the group he noticed at one side of his father +the old Arab whom he had seen in such terror upon the street and at +the other side the man whom he had met at the gate of the Mission +Press in Bangalore. In a flash, as his eyes met those of the man who +had spied upon him and saw the light of success in them, Ahmed +understood the reason for this assemblage and for his being summoned +thus as it were before a tribunal of the faithful. Instinctively his +eyes sought his father and the drawn, haggard look upon that face, +usually so strong and firm, rent his heart. Their eyes met and in a +second each had read the message that the other loved him, come what +might. Then the eyes of both fell and the lad awaited the charge. + +"Ben Isah," the voice of the man who had dogged Ahmed's footsteps +demanded, "is it seemly that an infidel should stand within the +sacred precincts of a house of prayer?" + +"Ben Idrahi," replied the most dignified and grave gentleman of the +company as if he were a judge in a court and repeating the formulas +of that august body;--and, indeed, he was a judge in a court that +controlled life and death; "Ben Idrahi, whom accuseth thou of being +an infidel? Are not all of us before you true followers of the +Prophet and upholders of the only true Faith? Whom accuseth thou +with such a terrible accusation?" + +"Ben Isah," the man rose and said slowly, "I have proof; I have +proof, I say, that the youth, Ahmed, son of Ben Emeal, is no longer +a follower of the Prophet; that in the city of Bangalore yesterday +in the early morning he was baptized into the hell-filling creed, +the name of which I will not defile my lips with. And now, Brothers +of the Faith, he stands before you an avowed infidel." + +As the man announced the fact of his baptism in Bangalore, although +Ahmed dared not look at his father, he felt that an involuntary +shudder passed over Ben Emeal's frame. But at those words his own +heart leaped and yearned towards these men. Then and there he longed +to tell them the wonderful story of the God revealed through Jesus +Christ, but he restrained himself. + +Ben Isah had turned towards him and all eyes except his father's +were upon him, as the older man said: + +"Ahmed, son of Ben Emeal, is this, that this man accuseth thee of, +is this true?" + +Ahmed could restrain himself no longer. This was his opportunity to +testify and to men who probably would never hear the message from +other lips. He took the opportunity with a skill and wisdom beyond +his years. + +The words poured from his lips, even as the rain was pouring from +the heavens into the courtyard of the mosque. His face glowed and +his eyes shone with a light brighter than that of the clouded sun. +Not a man moved. They listened, held by the fascination of the +youth, as with a tempestuousness that seemed born of the very storm +without and with a courage not born of man, he told them the truth +as they would never hear it again. + +As he spoke his eyes were upon his father's face, who looked as if +he were beholding a miracle. When he had finished, his hands still +outstretched, his voice still ringing in their ears as he +said,--"All that this man says is true. I am an infidel, as you say, +for I have been baptized. I am a Christian,"--Ben Isah stumbled to +his feet and with shaking hand held out, cried in agitated voice: +"Stop! Stop him! This must cease! This must cease! Lay hands upon +him! Take him from the mosque!" + +Confusion reigned as a couple of men seized Ahmed's arms and dragged +him from the mosque while the other men raved at him in rage and +hate because in spite of themselves they had listened to a +blasphemer and the teachings of the infidel. The lad was carried to +a side chamber where the two men stood over him, giving him no +chance to escape. But Ahmed was not seeking that; his head was bowed +in prayer. + +As they watched and waited the two men talked of the storm without, +for the rain still fell in torrents and the wind blew; while above +the sound of the wind and rain could be heard continuously the voice +of the gorged and angry river. + +"If this continues, there will be trouble," said one, "for this +morning the water was five feet higher than yesterday, they told +me." + +"Yes," replied the other, "when I crossed the bridge a few hours ago +the river was up to the first buttress; but there can't be any real +danger, can there?" + +"It must be a warning to the infidel," answered the first, looking +significantly at Ahmed, but he was unconscious of what they were +saying. + +Soon the summons came and the lad was led into a large guest-chamber +where his father received visitors of state. The men sat as before +in the mosque, but their faces were dark and their eyes downcast. + +Again Ben Isah spoke, "Young man, because of thy youth, and for thy +father's sake, we will give thee one chance, one only, to recant and +unsay all thou hast said. Wilt thou take back thy words, repudiate +this infidelity, and once more accept the true and only Faith?" + +Before Ahmed could reply Ben Emeal was upon his feet. "My son," he +said in slow, restrained tones, "think well before thou speakest. +Remember thou art my only son; remember that all my fortune will be +thine. Thou canst go to the University at Aligarh; thou canst have +thy heart's desire in everything, if thou wilt only recant!" He +ended hurriedly. + +"If thou dost not, Ahmed, son of Emeal," shrilled the old Arab, +rising to his feet, "thou shalt die. Choose thou and choose +quickly!" + +The son looked at the father. Just then in the distance, through the +downfall of the rain, there sounded dimly: + +"Allah is most great! Allah is most great! Allah is most great! +Allah is most great! I bear witness that there is no god but Allah! +I bear witness that there is no god but Allah! I bear witness that +Mohammed is the Apostle of Allah! I bear witness that Mohammed is +the Apostle of Allah! Come to prayer, come to prayer! Come to the +Refuge, come to the Refuge! Allah is most great! Allah is most +great! There is no god but Allah!" + +It was the Moslem's call to prayer and every man in the room fell +upon his knees except Ahmed. + +Ahmed remained standing with bowed head. He made no effort to escape +while the others were upon their knees. But as soon as they had +finished their devotions, he stepped forward and in a clear, full +voice said simply, "I choose death." + +A silence as of death itself fell upon the company. No one spoke. +The boy remained standing with his hands out as he had spoken. At a +motion from Ben Isah a servant stole to Ben Emeal's side and +noiselessly placed a cup in his hands. The latter arose and stepped +towards his son. + +With a stern, tense voice Ben Emeal broke the silence: "The infidel +must die! This is the cup of death. Drink!" + +As he touched the cup to his son's lips a thunder as of mighty +waters rose. + +"Night is coming! The wildness of desolation is upon us! Fly, fly!" +shrieked the voice of the old Arab. But even as he cried a wave of +water burst into the room through the open door. + + * * * * * + +The river rose sixty feet above the bridge they say and at least ten +thousand of the inhabitants of Hyderabad were drowned in that one +day. + +In one room in the house that had been Ben Emeal's, when the water +subsided, they found as many as fifteen or twenty bodies and since +most of them wore the Mohammedan rosary, all were given decent +burial according to the customs of the followers of the Prophet. +Thus an infidel was interred in holy ground and allowed to sleep +beside his father. + + + + +IN OTHER LANDS + + +=Poland, the Knight Among Nations= + +With Introduction by Helena Modjeska. + + Illustrated, Cloth, $1.50 net. =LOUIS E. VAN NORMAN= + +Poland is worth knowing--it is interesting. How could it be +otherwise when it gave us Copernicus, Kosciusko, Chopra, Paderewski +and Sienkiewicz. Not much has been known about the people because +they have been hard to get at. Mr. Van Norman went to Cracow, won +the hearts of the people, was treated like a guest of the nation and +stayed till he knew his hosts well, and he here conveys an extensive +array of information. + + +=The Continent of Opportunity:= South America + + Profusely illustrated, $1.50 net. =FRANCIS E. CLARK= + +Dr. Clark writes from a thorough-going tour of examination, covering +practically every centre of importance in the South American continent, +Panama, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Argentine, Brazil, Paraguay and +Uruguay. Dr. Clark's prime object has been to collect information of +every sort that will help to understand the problems facing +Civilization in our sister Continent. + + +=China and America To-day= + + 12mo, Cloth, $1.25 net. =ARTHUR H. SMITH= + +Dr. Smith is one of America's ablest representatives at foreign +courts. He is not so accredited by the government of this country, +but rather chooses to be known as a missionary to China. In this +capacity he has learned much of China which in another relation +might be denied him. Being a statesman by instinct and genius, he +has taken a broad survey of conditions and opportunities and here +presents his criticisms of America's strength and weakness abroad. + + +=Ancient Jerusalem= + + Illustrated. In press. =HON. SELAH MERRILL= + +This work will immediately be recognized as authoritative and well +nigh final. Dr. Merrill, as the American Consul, has lived at +Jerusalem for many years, and has given thirty-five years of +thorough, accurate study and exploration to this exhaustive effort. +It contains more than one hundred maps, charts, and photographs. + + +=Palestine Through the Eyes of a Native= + + Illustrated, $1.00 net. =GAMAHLIEL WAD-EL-WARD= + +The author, a native of Palestine, has been heard and appreciated in +many parts of this country in his popular lectures upon the land in +which so large a part of his life was spent. His interpretation of +many obscure scriptural passages by means of native manners and +customs and traditions is particularly helpful and informing. + + + + +MISSIONARY + + +=The World Missionary Conference= + +The Report of the Ecumenical Conference held in Edinburgh in 1910. +In nine volumes, each, net 75c.; the complete set of nine volumes, +net $5.00. + +A whole missionary library by experts and wrought up to the day and +hour. The Conference has been called a modern council of Nicea and +the report the greatest missionary publication ever made. + + Vol. 1. Carrying the Gospel. + Vol. 2. The Church in the Mission Field. + Vol. 3. Christian Education. + Vol. 4. The Missionary Message. + Vol. 5. Preparation of Missionaries. + Vol. 6. The Home Base. + Vol. 7. Missions and Governments. + Vol. 8. Co-operation and Unity. + Vol. 9. History, Records and Addresses. + + +=Echoes from Edinburgh, 1910= + + By W. H. T. GAIRDNER, _author of "D. M. Thornton."_ 12mo, cloth, net +$1.00. + +The popular story of the Conference--its preparation--its +management--its effect and forecast of its influence on the church +at home and the work abroad. An official publication in no way +conflicting with the larger work--which it rather supplements. + + +_HENRY H. JESSUP'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY_ + +=Fifty-three Years in Syria= + + Introduction by James S. Dennis. Two volumes, illustrated, 8vo, +cloth, boxed, net $5.00. + +"A rich mine of information for the historian, the ethnologist and +the student of human nature apart from the labors to which the +author devoted his life. A thoroughly interesting book that will +yield endless pickings."--_N. Y. Sun_. + + +_ROBERT E. SPEER_ + +=Christianity and the Nations= +The Duff Lectures for 1910. + + 8vo, cloth, net $2.00. + +Among the many notable volumes that have resulted from the +well-known Duff foundation Lectureship this new work embodying the +series given by Mr. Robert E. Speer in Edinburgh, Glasgow and +Aberdeen, will rank among the most important. The general theme, +"The Reflex Influence of Missions Upon the Nations," suggests a +large, important, and most interesting work. + + +_G. T. B. DAVIS_ + +=Korea for Christ= + + _In press._ + +An effective report of the recent revivals in Korea told by an eye +witness, who himself participated in the work. + + +_JULIUS RICHTER_ + +=A History of Protestant Missions in the Near East= + + 8vo, cloth, net $2.50. + +A companion volume to "A History of Missions in India," by this +great authority. The progress of the gospel is traced in Asia Minor, +Persia, Arabia, Syria, and Egypt. Non-sectarian in spirit, +thoroughly comprehensive in scope. + + +_JOHN P. JONES, D. D._ + +=The Modern Missionary Challenge= +_Yale Lectures, 1910._ + + 12mo, cloth, net $1.50. + +These lectures, by the author of "India's Problem, Krishna or +Christ?" are a re-survey of the demand of missions in the light of +progress made, in their relation to human thought. The new +difficulties, the new incentives, are considered by one whose +experience in the field and as a writer, entitle him to +consideration. + + +_ALONZO BUNKER, D. D._ + +=Sketches from the Karen Hills= + + Illustrated, 12mo. Cloth, net $1.00. + +These descriptive chapters from a missionary's life in Burma are of +exceptional vividness and rich in an appreciation for color. His pen +pictures give not only a splendid insight into native life, +missionary work, but have a distinctive literary charm which +characterizes his "Soo Thah." + + +_JAMES F. LOVE_ + +=The Unique Message and Universal Mission of Christianity= + + 12mo, cloth, net $1.25. + +A volume dealing with the philosophy of missions at once penetrating +and unusual. It is perhaps one of the most original and valuable +contributions to the subject yet made. + + +_WILLIAM EDWARD GARDNER_ + +=Winners of the World During Twenty Centuries= +Adapted for Boys and Girls. + +A Story and a Study of Missionary Effort from the Time of Paul to +the Present Day. Cloth, net 60c.; paper, net 30c. + + +=Children's Missionary Series= + + _Illustrated in Colors, Cloth, Decorated, each, net 60c._ + + =Children of Africa.= James B. Baird. + =Children of Arabia.= John C. Young. + =Children of China.= C. Campbell Brown. + =Children of India.= Janet Harvey Kelman. + + +=The Foreign Missionary= +An Incarnation of the World Movement + + 12mo, Cloth, $1.50 net. =ARTHUR J. BROWN= + +Dr. Brown, out of a long and intimate experience deals with such +questions as: Who is the Missionary? What are his motives, aims and +methods? His dealings with proud and ancient peoples. His relation +to his own and other governments? His real difficulties. Do results +justify the expenditures? How are the Mission Boards conducted? +etc., etc. The book is most intelligently informing. + + +=The Conquest of the Cross in China= + + =JACOB SPEICHER= + + With Chart and Illustrations, 12mo, Cloth, $1.50 net. + +The contents of this book were first delivered as lectures to the +students at Colgate University. Mr. Speicher has the true instinct +of the news bringer. He has lived in South China long enough to know +it thoroughly. He is distinguished by common sense in his judgments, +made palatable by a free literary style. + + +=China in Legend and Story= + + 12mo, Cloth, $1.25 net. =C. CAMPBELL BROWN= + +By one of the C. M. S. best known missionaries. It consists of +seventeen stories, true to legend or to fact, ten of them studies of +the Chinese people as they are when heathen, and seven of them of +the same people when they become Christians. The stories cover a +wide range of social life, representing every class in the +community, from mandarins to thieves and beggars. As Mr. Campbell +Brown is a keen observer, and wields a graceful pen, the book is +unusually interesting and valuable. + + +=A Typical Mission in China= + + 12mo, Cloth, $1.50 net. =W. E. SOOTHILL= + +"The book is comprehensive, instructive, well written, interesting +and valuable in every way. Those who read it will get such a glimpse +into Chinese life and methods as they may never have had, and will +certainly be edified and stimulated to a new zeal in the work of +missions."--_Herald and Presbyter._ + + +=Robert Clark of the Panjab= +Pioneer and Missionary Statesman + + 8vo, Cloth, $1.75 net. =HENRY MARTYN CLARK= + +"The record of one of the makers of Christian India: as fascinating +as a novel, and immensely more profitable. The more widely this book +is circulated and read, the better it will be for the missionary +enterprise. A book of this character is the best apologetic that can +be written."--_Missionary Intelligencer._ + + + + +MISSIONS, BIOGRAPHICAL + + +_DR. GEORGE BROWN_ + +=The Life of Dr. George Brown= +Pioneer, Explorer and Missionary. + + An Autobiography, with 111 illustrations and map. 8vo, Cloth, net +$3.50. + +"Since the appearance of John G. Paton's Autobiography we have read +no work of such entrancing interest. It is a narrative of this +pioneer missionary's forty-eight years of residence and travel in +Samoa, New Britain, New Ireland, New Guinea, and the Solomon +Islands."--_British Weekly._ + + +_JESSE PAGE, F. R. G. S._ + +=The Black Bishop= +The Life of Samuel Adjai Crowther. + + Preface by Eugene Stock, D. C. L., with frontispiece, sixteen +illustrations and map. 8vo, Cloth, net $2.00. + +"The simple life-story, told mainly by himself, of a West African +who was a kidnapped slave when a boy of fifteen and forty-three +years later became the first negro bishop of the Church of England. +Much information is given beside the biographical details, about the +problems presented by the Nigerian peoples to their white rulers and +particularly of the extent, influence and probable future of the +Mohammedan invasion."--_Nation._ + + +_W. H. T. GAIRDNER, B. A._ + +=D. M. Thornton= +A Study in Missionary Ideals and Methods. + + Nine illustrations, 12mo. Cloth, net $1.25. + +"The Student Movement" says: "It is likely to dominate the thoughts +of the missionary thinker for many years." Devoted largely to +experiences in Egypt and lessons gathered on this field--it tells of +a man who devoted his intellectual powers to thinking out the wider +problems of the evangelization of the world and the spread of +Christian institutions in Mission lands. + + +_GEORGE HAWKER_ + +=The Life of George Grenfell,= +Congo Missionary and Explorer + + Illustrated, 8vo, Cloth, net $2.00. + +"This may be regarded as a companion volume to Sir Harry Johnston's +'George Grenfell and the Congo'--it was, indeed, originally arranged +that Sir Harry Johnston and Mr. Hawker should collaborate in a +single volume as a memorial to one of the greatest names in the +annals of equatorial Africa."--_London Times._ + + +_REV. JAMES WELLS, D. D._ + +=Stewart of Lovedale= + + The Romance of Missions in Africa told in the Life of James Stewart, +D. A., M. D., F. R. G. S. With forty-two illustrations and two maps. +8vo, Cloth, net $1.50. + +"We may heartily congratulate Dr. Wells on having written a book +that will live, and more than that, a book that will create life +wherever it is read."--_Dr. Robertson Nicoll, in the British +Weekly._ + + + + +TRAVEL, MISSIONARY + + +_H. G. UNDERWOOD_ + +=The Call of Korea= + + _New Popular Edition._ Paper, net 35c. Regular Edition, 12mo, cloth, +net 75c. + +"As attractive as a novel--packed with information. Dr. Underwood +knows Korea, its territory, its people, and its needs, and his book +has special value which attaches to expert judgment. Particularly +well suited to serve as a guide to young people in the study of +missions."--_Examiner._ + + +_WILLIAM O. CARVER_ + +=Missions in the Plan of the Ages= +Bible Studies and Missions. + + 12mo, cloth, net $1.25. + +As Professor of Comparative Religion and Missions in the Southern +Baptist Theological Seminary at Louisville, Dr. Carver has prepared +in these chapters the fruit of many years' study. His aim is to show +that the foundation principles of the Christian task of world +conquest are found in the Bible not so much in the guise of a +commanded duty as in the very life of the Christian faith. + + +_ANNIE L. A. BAIRD_ + +=Daybreak in Korea= + + Illustrated, 16mo, cloth, net 60c. + +There can never be too many missionary books like this. A story +written with literary skill, the story of a girl's life in Korea, +her unhappy marriage and how the old, old story transformed her +home. It reads like a novel and most of all teaches one, on every +page, just what the Gospel means to the far eastern homes. + + +_ISABELLA RIGGS WILLIAMS_ + +=By the Great Wall= + + Selected Correspondence of Isabella Riggs Williams, Missionary of +the American Board to China, 1866-1897. With an introduction by +Arthur H. Smith. Illustrated, 12mo, cloth, net $1.50. + +"This volume is a little window opened into the life and work of an +exceptionally equipped missionary. It was at Kalgan, the northern +gateway of China, that a mission station was begun amid a people +hard and unimpressible. It was here that Mrs. Williams won the +hearts of Chinese women and girls; here that she showed what a +Christian home may be, and how the children of such a home can be +trained for wide and unselfish usefulness wherever their lot is +cast. No object-lesson is more needed in the Celestial Empire than +this. Many glimpses of that patient and tireless missionary activity +which makes itself all things to all men are given."--_Arthur H. +Smith, Author of Chinese Characteristics, Etc._ + + + + + * * * * * + + + + +Transcriber's note: + +Minor punctuation errors have been corrected without note. + +The phrase 'dung cake' was changed to 'dung-cake' in The Infidel: +"mass of fuel dung-cakes" to make it consistent with Old Sarah: "at +a fire of twigs and dung-cakes". + +Where the use/non-use of the hyphen is either not clear, or used in +a consistent way, these have not been changed. These are +'dirty-white', 'well-known', 'first-class', 'second-class', +'third-class'. + +Changed '--' to ',' in "beautiful wife, as fair" in the list of +illustrations for consistency with the caption and the text. + +Inserted 'the' in the notes relating to The Continent of +Opportunity: South America-"of importance in _the_ South American +continent". + +Replaced Krisha with Krishna in notes relating to the Modern +Missionary Challenge-"India's Problem, _Krishna_ or Christ?". + +James Stewart's qualifications were actually D. D., M. D., F. R. G. S., +see: The Romance of Missions in Africa told in the Life of James +Stewart, D. A., M. D., F. R. G. S. (not corrected). + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN KALI'S COUNTRY*** + + +******* This file should be named 38881-8.txt or 38881-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/8/8/8/38881 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: In Kali's Country</p> +<p> Tales from Sunny India</p> +<p>Author: Emily Churchill Thompson Sheets</p> +<p>Release Date: February 14, 2012 [eBook #38881]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN KALI'S COUNTRY***</p> +<p> </p> +<h4>E-text prepared by Dave Hobart, Suzanne Shell,<br /> + and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + (<a href="http://www.pgdp.net">http://www.pgdp.net</a>)<br /> + from page images generously made available by<br /> + Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries<br /> + (<a href="http://www.archive.org/details/toronto">http://www.archive.org/details/toronto</a>)</h4> +<p> </p> +<table border="0" style="background-color: #ccccff;margin: 0 auto;" cellpadding="10"> + <tr> + <td valign="top"> + Note: + </td> + <td> + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries. See + <a href="http://www.archive.org/details/rsinkaliscountry00sheeuoft"> + http://www.archive.org/details/rsinkaliscountry00sheeuoft</a> + </td> + </tr> +</table> +<p> </p> +<hr class="pg" /> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<p class="title">IN KALI'S COUNTRY</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> + <a href="images/illus01.png"> + <img src="images/illus01-tb.png" width="400" height="292" alt="Ox drawn covered wagon" title="" /> + </a> +</div> + +<p class="pagebreak"><br /><br /></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> + <a name="illus02" id="illus02" href="images/illus02.jpg"> + <img src="images/illus02-tb.jpg" width="400" height="266" alt="Village scene with woman carrying water vase on head" /> + </a> + <br /> + <span class="caption">"MUNDRA HAD BEEN ONE OF THE HAPPY BEJEWELLED GIRLS +OF THIS VERY TOWN"</span> +</div> + +<p class="pagebreak"><br /></p> + +<h1>In Kali's Country</h1> +<p class="h2nopagebreak"> Tales from Sunny India<br /> +<span style="font-weight:normal;">By</span><br /> +EMILY T. SHEETS</p> + +<p class="center">Illustrations from drawings by<br /> +ELMA McNEAL CHILDS</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 100px;"> + <img src="images/tp-illus.png" width="100" height="158" alt="Publisher's Logo" /> +</div> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">New York Chicago Toronto</span><br /> +Fleming H. Revell Company<br /> +<span class="smcap">London and Edinburgh</span> +</p> + +<p class="centerpb"><br /><br /><br />Copyright, 1910, by<br /> +FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 241px;"> + <a href="images/illus03.png"> + <img src="images/illus03-tb.png" width="241" height="400" alt="Onion domed gazebo hung with bells" /> + </a> +</div> + +<p class="center">New York: 158 Fifth Avenue<br /> +Chicago: 80 Wabash Avenue<br /> +Toronto: 25 Richmond Street, W.<br /> +London: 21 Paternoster Square<br /> +Edinburgh: 100 Princes Street +</p> + +<p class="centerpb"><br /><br /><br /> +<i>This book is dedicated to<br /> +My Mother<br /> +Jane Churchill Thompson<br /> +and<br /> +My Father<br /> +William H. Thompson, Jr.</i><br /> +</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 190px;"> + <a href="images/illus04.png"> + <img src="images/illus04-tb.png" width="190" height="400" alt="Indian lady in doorway" /> + </a> +</div> + +<h2><a name="Contents" id="Contents"></a>Contents</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Table of contents"> +<tr><td align="left"><abbr title="1">I.</abbr></td><td align="left"><a href="#I"><span class="smcap">Kalighat</span></a></td><td align="right">9</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><abbr title="2">II.</abbr></td><td align="left"><a href="#II"><span class="smcap">Shama Sahai</span></a></td><td align="right">22</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><abbr title="3">III.</abbr></td><td align="left"><a href="#III"><span class="smcap">Old Sarah</span></a></td><td align="right">34</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><abbr title="4">IV.</abbr></td><td align="left"><a href="#IV"><span class="smcap">A Son of the Law</span></a></td><td align="right">53</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><abbr title="5">V.</abbr></td><td align="left"><a href="#V"><span class="smcap">Mundra</span></a></td><td align="right">68</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><abbr title="6">VI.</abbr></td><td align="left"><a href="#VI"><span class="smcap">Of the Tribe of Haunamon</span></a></td><td align="right">78</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><abbr title="7">VII.</abbr></td><td align="left"><a href="#VII"><span class="smcap">In Ways Mysterious</span></a></td><td align="right">96</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><abbr title="8">VIII.</abbr></td><td align="left"><a href="#VIII"><span class="smcap">The Way to Happiness</span></a></td><td align="right">114</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><abbr title="9">IX.</abbr></td><td align="left"><a href="#IX"><span class="smcap">Bachelor Dreams</span></a></td><td align="right">129</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><abbr title="10">X.</abbr></td><td align="left"><a href="#X"><span class="smcap">The Cost</span></a></td><td align="right">142</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><abbr title="11">XI.</abbr></td><td align="left"><a href="#XI"><span class="smcap">Among the Clouds</span></a></td><td align="right">161</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><abbr title="12">XII.</abbr></td><td align="left"><a href="#XII"><span class="smcap">The Infidel</span></a></td><td align="right">174</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p><br /><br /></p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 243px;"> + <a href="images/illus05.png"> + <img src="images/illus05-tb.png" width="243" height="400" alt="Indian in turban" title="" /> + </a> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> + <a href="images/illus06.png"> + <img src="images/illus06-tb.png" width="400" height="315" alt="Gazebo" /> + </a> +</div> + +<h2><a name="Illustrations" id="Illustrations"></a>Illustrations</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="List of illustrations"> +<tr><td align="left"><a href="#illus02">"Mundra had been one of the happy, bejewelled girls of this very town"</a></td><td align="right"><i>Frontispiece</i></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right"><i>Facing page</i></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><a href="#illus07">"Shama Sahai was not happy"</a></td><td align="right">22</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><a href="#illus08">"It was only a glimpse"</a></td><td align="right">54</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><a href="#illus09">"For a few moments she managed to keep up the straining movement"</a></td><td align="right">68</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><a href="#illus10">"I have a beautiful wife, as fair as your own, Sahib"</a></td><td align="right">96</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><a href="#illus11">"The humblest of them frequently rises to acts of great courage and chivalry"</a></td><td align="right">112</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><a href="#illus12">"You are an American, aren't you?"</a></td><td align="right">142</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><a href="#illus13">"Oh, Allah, Allah, hear the cry of the faithful!"</a></td><td align="right">174</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<h2><a name="Glossary" id="Glossary"></a>Glossary</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Glossary"> +<tr><td align="left">Anna—Indian coin, value about two cents.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Ayah—a nurse.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Bearer—body servant or personal attendant.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Chapati—the common bread of India.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Charpoy—a cot-bed.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Chokidar—night watchman.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Chota hazri—light, early breakfast.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Dhersy—the Indian man who does the family sewing.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Durbar—official levee of an Indian prince or ruler.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Ekka—a two-wheeled, springless conveyance.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Gari or gharry—a four-wheeled, closed carriage.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Gariwala—driver of a gari.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Ghat—sacred stairway on river bank adjoining a temple.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Hookah—a water pipe.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Kusti—sacred girdle of the Parsis.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Memsahib—Indian name for European lady.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Pan or pawn—Indian substitute for chewing-gum or tobacco, +made by wrapping bits of nuts and lime in the leaves of the betel.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Pice—small Indian coin, value about one-half cent.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Punkah—a large screen-like fan swung from the ceiling.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Purdah—curtain hung for the seclusion of women. "In purdah"—in +seclusion.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Rupee—silver coin, value about thirty-three and one-third cents.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Sahib—Indian name for European gentleman.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Sari—a long piece of cloth constituting the principal garment +of the Indian woman.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Topi—a sola—a pith hat.</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9"></a></span></p><h2 class="story"><a name="I" id="I"></a><abbr title="1">I</abbr><br /> +Kalighat</h2> + +<p>"The five years will be up to-morrow. +When the sun rises next upon the festival +of Kali I shall have completed my +vow."</p> + +<p>Scarcely had the holy man been able to say his +prayers or repeat his sacred texts the whole day +long, for there had been constantly before his mind +the knowledge that this was the last day of his self-imposed +sacrifices and that the next day he would +be free from all restraints to do—what? Over and +over had the thought repeated itself in the man's +mind until now, unconsciously, he had given utterance +to it and the stout, sleek priest of Kali +who chanced to be standing beside his shelter, looked +down upon him in surprise.</p> + +<p>"What vow, most holy one?" he courteously inquired. +"For many years thou hast sat here at the +ghat, the most honoured and revered of all the holy +men this side the temple of our Goddess Kali. Was +this thy vow—to sit thus in ashes?"</p> + +<p>The fakir started at the priest's voice, for his own +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10"></a></span>remarks had been unconscious, and, looking up at +his interrogator, he seemed slowly to comprehend +that he had spoken aloud and that the priest had +heard his words.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Priest of Kali," he said, dropping his eyes +and poking the little fire before him with his sacred +tongs.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps you of the holy priesthood can answer +a question for me," he added slowly after a moment, +without looking up.</p> + +<p>The fat, half-naked priest, not loath to take advantage +of any opportunity to do nothing, especially +when at the same time he was being religious by +talking with a holy man, dropped lazily to the pavement +beside the fakir's rude shelter of a bit of thatch +on four poles and, waving for a hookah from the +rest-house across the narrow street, settled himself to +listen in comfort.</p> + +<p>But before the holy man propounded his question, +for a few minutes he seemed to have forgotten about +it. His keen, dark eyes, after turning thoughtfully +from one side to the other of the small paved square +in front of him, looked across the sluggish brown +stream at the foot of the steps to the opposite bank +where a few people were bathing in the water, and +beyond to where were crowded close together the +small mud houses of the native section of a great +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11"></a></span>Indian city. While he gazed thus, the young priest +took several puffs at the long pipe, leering lazily the +while at two pretty girls who had come from the +street into the square and, pausing before the fakir, +timidly had placed a few pice on the dirty cloth +spread out before him, but, seeing the leer of the +priest, hastened to pull their saris over their faces +and pass hurriedly down the steps to the sacred +Ganges.</p> + +<p>The holy man had not noticed the girls, nor did +he seem to see the rest of the crowd of people who +walked back and forth through the little square, +having come to throw flowers upon the river or to +bathe in its waters or, having bathed, to lie down +and rest in Indian fashion in the roofed verandas +charitably provided by rich and merit-seeking Hindus. +He did not seem to see any of them, although so +many of them brought their offerings of fruit and +pice to him that his begging cloth was almost overflowing. +Nor did he notice the presence of an +American tourist who had stepped into the square +and who, with a Murray under one arm and an +umbrella under the other, was endeavouring to keep +an immense sola, topi, from falling over on his nose +while he took a picture of the "freak"; for how +else could a globe-trotting American classify a man +who, naked all but for a small loin cloth, sat cross-legged +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12"></a></span>upon a deer's skin, his long hair, matted with +filth into ropes, wound in a scraggy knot upon his +head and his body smeared with ashes from the +small fire that burned before him, the marks of white +upon his forehead, intelligible only to the Hindu, +making his bearded face almost frightful.</p> + +<p>Nor did the fakir heed the naked children who +trotted across the pavement at the heels of their +mothers, going to perform the sacred rites at the +river and to secure their children from all harm by a +dip in its holy waters. The old woman, too, who, +scarcely able to hobble along, had placed a little +brass bowl of the dirty, foul water beside him (for +the piece of water near Kali's temple is only a slip of +the Ganges itself and is, therefore, particularly filthy) +received not her usual blessing in return and sank +down near by to wait until the holy man should +notice her.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Priest of Kali," the holy one turned from +his gazing, "I have a question that waits an answer. +Listen to my story. I was once a wealthy man, +trained in all the learning of Brahminism. I did +only what our religion allowed; I did all that it required, +in sacrifices to the gods, in presents to their +priests, and even in pilgrimages. But I was wretched +within. I had no peace." As he spoke he laid his +hand upon his heart and his eyes were heavy.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13"></a></span> "On +the day of the great feast five years ago, on this very +spot, after having made my offering to Jaganauth +and to Haunamon and the other gods there," and he +indicated with his dirty hand a little stone building +at his left which contained a shrine to the legless, +armless, hideous god, Jaganauth, and to the red, +shapeless figure known as Haunamon, "I came to +this spot to present my offering to the old man who +had sat here ever since I could remember. But he +was not here. He was gone. They told me that +they had found him that morning lying dead on the +steps there with his feet in the Ganges and that already +his body had been burnt in the burning-ghat +near by. 'What a reward!' I thought, 'to have +died by the side of Mother Gunga. Surely he must +have found peace.'</p> + +<p>"'Can I not find peace by following his example?' +The thought came to me suddenly as I +stood here gazing upon his empty shelter and his +neglected fire. I determined at least to try, for, at +any cost, I must find peace! In my zeal and eagerness +at once I stripped off my clothing and smeared +myself with ashes from the fire which the holy man +had kindled but the day before. Leaving my +clothes on the ground underneath this little roof +near the heap of ashes, as a sign that the dead man's +place had been taken, to warn off other possible +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14"></a></span>devotees from the spot, immediately I passed down +the little street there between the stalls where are +sold the articles needed in the worship of your +goddess. At one I bought the little lamp; at another, +garlands; at another, oil and a brass bowl; +and at the street there I turned aside to buy, +with my last annas, a black kid as a sacrifice for +Kali.</p> + +<p>"Through the narrow passage between the houses +that surround the temple of Kali I went in haste, +drawing the bleating kid behind me by a rope. +When I reached the little paved courtyard before +that small but most sacred shrine where dwells the +goddess herself I gave the animal over to the priest. +Then I watched eagerly as he put the little creature's +neck between the posts so that he could not get +away, and, with but one blow of the knife, severed +the head from the body, letting the blood pour forth. +I hastened to catch the precious blood in my brass +bowl. I daubed it upon my forehead. I touched +the sacred slaughter posts with it. I gladly stepped +where it had flowed upon the pavement and reddened +my feet in the sacred flood. Then, as the priest +carried the carcass away and other sacrificers +thronged in, I took my bowl and, mounting the +steps of the holy place where no unclean foot has +ever trod, I saw the door of the shrine open and before +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15"></a></span>me stood the Goddess Kali in her black majesty, +with human skulls for a necklace and human arms +for a girdle, her protruding tongue thirsting for +blood. I poured my offering of blood upon her and +with prayers and presentation of flowers and incense, +I invoked her blessing upon me and declared to her +a vow that for five years I would sit at the ghat day +and night; that I would follow all the customs of the +holy men:—wear no clothes but ashes, eat no food +but fruit, drink no water but that of the sacred +Ganges, and pray without ceasing; and that every +anna that I received as alms I would give to her.</p> + +<p>"Now, Priest of this most revered goddess, all this +have I done. I have never left this spot since returning +from offering my vow to her five years ago; I did +not even go home to tell my family, who after several +days traced me here; but I was so changed that +they did not recognize me. Now they mourn me as +dead. Here I have sat for five years upon this skin. +See my legs, how withered they are! See my +body; there is not a clean spot on it! See, I have +drunk nothing but this water," and he held up the +jar of muddy liquid which the old woman had set +down at his side. "I eat nothing but fruit; I think +of nothing but my beads and my sacred book; I +give every pice to your temple. I have kept my +vow. But I am not satisfied. I have not found +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16"></a></span>peace. What shall I do? Priest of Kali! What +can I do to find peace?"</p> + +<p>The sad heart of the holy man was in his eyes as +he looked at the priest and his voice was pleading. +"If thou dost know, tell me!"</p> + +<p>The priest, who had been dulled by his bestiality +so that he was not able to comprehend the soul-longings +of the man before him, had already become +weary of the fakir's earnestness and importunity. +Lazily he pulled himself to his feet, after a last long +suck at the pipe. "Come and be a priest of Kali," +was his only answer as he turned down the lane +towards the temple of his goddess, with lustful eyes +fixed upon a pretty woman, who, attracted by the +unusual animation of the holy man, had been standing +near by until the priest arose.</p> + +<p>The fakir, worn out by the eagerness with which +he had spoken and the unappreciativeness of his listener, +turned wearily to his holy book and his +prayers. He knew the priesthood of Kali; in his +five years at the Kalighat he had heard and seen +strange things which as a Hindu he could not condemn, +but which he knew would not bring peace to +him, even as a priest of Kali, for in his young manhood +he had tried them and had not been at rest. +"I was, indeed, foolish to have talked to the priest +at all," he murmured.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17"></a></span></p><p>"Pardon me, holy one," a voice interrupted his +thoughts, the voice of a young man who had been +standing for some time with an open book in his +hand, not reading, but listening to the words of the +fakir. "I heard thy conversation. Hast thou ever +tried the pursuit of wisdom? Study, learn, become +the wisest of men and surely thou wilt become the +most happy. I am a follower of that way."</p> + +<p>The holy man, turning, looked fixedly for some +time at the young man. "Son, what means the sad +look in your eyes? Are you yourself happy? Tell +me truly!"</p> + +<p>The young man's intelligent but undeniably sad +face was turned full towards the fakir. For a few +moments he seemed to hesitate to reply. At last he +said, "No, holy man, I have not found peace yet. +I have not found happiness yet, but I am only a +student. I am seeking. I study and read at all +times—but even while I read my heart is not at rest, +I must confess." He turned as he finished speaking +and with bowed head, unmindful of the noise and +confusion of the square about him, went down the lane.</p> + +<p>The fakir sighed. "Peace is not found in that +way, poor youth! For I have tried it. I was a +Hindu scholar of note before I became this," and he +gazed at his dirty hands and body with evident +loathing.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18"></a></span></p><p>The old woman, who had waited all this time for +her blessing, said timidly, holding out her hand +towards him, "Holy man, most holy man! Give me +thy blessing, for my son is ill. Tell me how he can +be healed, my only son."</p> + +<p>Mechanically the holy man muttered a blessing, +and taking a pinch of ashes from the fire before him, +with a mumbled prayer, dropped them into her hand. +"Put these upon his tongue. Bathe his head in the +holy Gunga water and forget not to offer a kid to +Kali."</p> + +<p>"But I cannot offer a kid. I have no money! I +have no money! My son will die! My son will +die!" sobbed the woman.</p> + +<p>The holy man looked at her fixedly for a full minute, +realizing her grief and her need. Then with a +quick glance about him he leaned forward. He +swept up the pile of coins on the offering cloth +before him and thrusting them into the woman's +hands whispered: "Go and buy! Go and +buy!"</p> + +<p>The woman went quickly, wiping her eyes with +her sari.</p> + +<p>The fakir's face became radiant. "Surely that +sweet feeling was peace! Blessed peace! Is this +the end of my quest? Has my soul at last found +rest?"</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19"></a></span></p><p>As suddenly his face darkened. "Yet, yet—I +should have given that money to the goddess. I +promised in my vow that every anna, above the cost +of my fruit and of the wood for my fire, should be +given to her."</p> + +<p>He bowed his head upon his hands.</p> + +<p>"I have broken my vow—on the last day of the +five years I have broken my vow! I am unholy! I +am unholy!"</p> + +<p>After a few minutes he raised his bowed head and +seemed to be thinking aloud. "Peace could not +have come in cheating the gods. That strange feeling +when I gave to the woman to relieve her sorrow +could not have been peace—but it was sweet, very +sweet!" He paused with a half smile which soon, +however, was overcast, for all the joy went out of his +face again as he said, "It must be that I have not +denied myself enough, have not made enough sacrifices. +And I have been unholy! Surely there is +peace for the truly holy. I will try again.—I will +swear another vow. Take me to Kali!" He called +the last sentence loudly, but ere the people in the +square understood his wish, he remembered that he +had no money, no offering to take; even he, a "holy +man," could not go to Kali's temple to make a vow +without an offering. He must wait until the people +should fill his empty begging cloth.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20"></a></span></p><p>"After all, it is best thus," he thought. It +would have been useless for him to have gone to +the temple without having planned what new form +of self-torture he must add to his present life, in +his search for peace. "I must plan my vow," he +said.</p> + +<p>In the meantime the sun had set and the people +were leaving the ghat. Involuntarily the fakir pulled +a cotton sheet around him and started to add a stick +to his fire, for it was beginning to get chilly. But +suddenly he stopped, dropped the stick from his +hand and threw the cloth from his shoulders, proclaiming +in a loud voice: "For the next five years I +will have no fire at night, nor will I put more clothing +about my body; but I will have a fire by day +when the sun is hot. Moreover I will eat but once +a day and but once a day will I drink water, no matter +how parching the heat. And—and—I will hold +my arms above my head all the night! Surely," his +voice sank, "surely these sacrifices will bring me +peace. Surely—they—will—bring—me—peace. To-morrow +will be the day to begin my new vow, but," +he paused, "perchance I can gain my desire sooner +if I begin now. Now, to-night, I will begin to keep +my vow."</p> + +<p>In haste the holy man beat out his fire with the +sacred tongs; he threw his cotton sheet towards a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21"></a></span>beggar shivering on a step near by; and with his +eyes turned towards the waters of the sacred Ganges, +just visible in the dim twilight, he raised his arms +high above his head.</p><hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22"></a></span></p><h2 class="story"><a name="II" id="II"></a><abbr title="2">II</abbr><br /> +Shama Sahai</h2> + +<p>A little company of pilgrims were trudging +along the hot, dusty road. Where a +large tree offered a resting place, there for a +few minutes, squatting in the shade, the little company +would stop while the mother, taking her naked +baby from her hip, astride of which he had been carried +during the journey, would let him stand beside +her, and the father would take a fresh chew of pan, +spitting out the red juice upon the roadside. But +the young girl of the party would sit apparently unwearied, +with bright, eager eyes fixed upon the road +and with caressing fingers fondling the bracelets +which adorned her arms.</p> + +<p>It was an unusual thing for Shama Sahai to be +clad in a gay sari, to have necklaces of beads about +her neck, a glass-set stud in her nose, pretty, brass +rings in her ears, bracelets upon her arms, metal +circlets upon her fingers, large anklets upon her feet, +and rings even on her toes. But most unusual was +it for her to be leaving her village home of mud huts +and with her parents-in-law and baby brother to be +taking a journey; for from early childhood Shama +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23"></a></span>Sahai had been but a despised and neglected widow +in the home of her dead Hindu husband. She knew +that they were going to some place afar off to worship +the god Krishna and that some special blessing +was coming to them for making this journey. She +knew that her father and mother and she herself had +worked hard in the fields that they might earn the +money needed to pay the visit to the sacred city. +She knew, too, that a large portion of this money had +been spent upon her own adornment. So she felt +very proud and very happy, but most of all very +eager to reach the wonderful place to which they +were going. Shama Sahai was young and strong, +accustomed for many of her sixteen years to the heat +of the noonday sun in the fields. To make greater +haste she would offer to carry the baby and settling +more comfortably the bundle which she carried upon +her head, she would take the baby astride upon her +hip and start off at an energetic pace.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 295px;"> + <a name="illus07" id="illus07" href="images/illus07.png"> + <img src="images/illus07-tb.png" width="295" height="400" alt="Indian girl" /> + </a> + <br /> + <span class="caption">"SHAMA SAHAI WAS NOT HAPPY"</span> +</div> + +<p>For several days they journeyed thus, at night +sleeping by the roadside, each wrapped in an extra +covering which Shama carried in the bundle on her +head during the day. Often they met other pilgrims, +or sacred fakirs who, each with a pair of tongs +in his hand, would be measuring their length along +the road with naked, ash-smeared bodies, seeking by +such self-torture to win rest for their souls. Sometimes +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24"></a></span>they would meet ox-carts loaded with produce +for the city market; at other times, bands of +coolies carrying sugar-cane or bundles of fuel cakes +upon their heads. It was all of interest to Shama +Sahai, who, pulling her sari down over her face, +would peep out between its folds and eagerly +watch every passer-by. Sometimes, however, she +would be frightened as a "chug-chug" would sound +upon the air and a great motor car would whiz by +and all she could see would be a cloud of dust whirling +along before her.</p> + +<p>On the long journey before they could reach +Kamadabad Shama was afraid that her pretty finery +would be spoilt, because her sari soon began to get +wrinkled and one of the stones in her prettiest finger +ring fell out. Therefore, every evening, when just +at sundown they stopped in front of a little wayside +temple, the names of whose gods she did not know, +and lost an hour of travelling before dark while they +put flowers upon the necks of the idols, poured a little +oil upon their bodies, and lighted tiny lamps before them, +she begrudged the time. She was not interested +either in the terrible din, the beating upon +gongs and the ringing of bells with which the Hindu +priests awakened their gods for worship. Her +thoughts were of Kamadabad and the wonders that +awaited her there.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25"></a></span></p><p>At last on a bright morning they reached the city +with its narrow, black streets lined with dirty-white, +plastered houses and tiny shops. As the streets were +full of people crowding this way and that, Shama +Sahai kept as close to her parents as she could. At +once the little company hurried to the great temple +which was by far the most wonderful building that +Shama had ever seen. It was enclosed by high +walls and above the gate was a tower tapering upward +many stories, on each story of which stood +figures of gods, many of whom the girl knew and +feared, but others whom she had never seen before. +Passing under this tower they entered a court +and from there went under another tower to another +court and on until, entering a covered building in +the centre, they found the god, a great black figure, +reeking with oil and garlanded with flowers. All +around were young girls, no older than Shama herself, +who, with faces shamelessly uncovered, stood +there alone, without their parents. Priests, almost +naked, were going through ceremonies before the +idol. So dark and weird did it all seem and so many +strange looking people were passing back and forth +that Shama Sahai was half frightened.</p> + +<p>After the little company had presented its offerings +to the gods and the father had spoken aside to a +big fat priest who kept looking at Shama Sahai, the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26"></a></span>mother announced that they must bathe in the +sacred pool. So they returned to the outer court of +the temple where was a tank about two hundred feet +square containing foul and slimy, but none the less +exceedingly sacred, water. Into this tank they +stepped and with prayers and the reciting of charms +bathed with the throng of worshippers. Carefully +they washed out their mouths with the filthy water +and then drank of it. During all this time the fat +priest kept close to them and it seemed to Shama +that his eyes were always upon her. His were not +attractive eyes nor was his face pleasing and the girl +was thoroughly frightened when, after the cleansing +ceremony, he bade them good-bye with a caressing +hand upon her shoulder while a bestial smile distorted +his face.</p> + +<p>That night Shama Sahai was not happy although +she had reached the place where she had so longed +to be. The memory of the priest's face haunted her +and she could not keep from thinking of those girls +in the temple. Towards morning her mother was +taken ill. And the groans of the woman kept her +awake. She stole out upon the door-step, but the +sounds of the city were so strange that, little country +girl that she was, she drew back and preferred to lie +down again beside her moaning mother.</p> + +<p>The mother was no better in the morning. Then +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27"></a></span>the man of whom they rented the lodging suggested +that Shama Sahai should go up to the house of a +white memsahib who could make people well and +ask for help. The memsahib could do wonderful +things, the man said, and without doubt would cure +the sick woman. Although very timid, Shama could +not refuse to go for her mother's sake. So, taking +her baby brother on her hip and guided by the landlord's +child, she took her way along the narrow +streets until she came to a high brick wall with a +large open gateway. Within she saw a number of +people standing before a long, low building. The +boy, her guide, having pointed to that building and +by so doing having done his whole duty, set himself +to the pleasant task of chasing some chickens which +were running at large in the compound. Shama +Sahai had to approach the building alone. As she +came nearer the little knot of people, she noticed +that every one of them looked ill and almost every +one carried a little bottle in his hand. Through the +open door of the building she could see a white +memsahib in a blue striped dress, sitting at a little +table, writing slips of paper and handing them out to +the sick people. Occasionally the lady would touch +one of the patients and he would run out his tongue. +It was all very queer but interesting to Shama and +even the baby watched quietly. When Shama's +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28"></a></span>turn came to enter, she was so embarrassed that she +could hardly speak, but, encouraged by the memsahib's +speaking kindly to her in her own tongue, +she finally stammered out a brief but none too lucid +account of her mother's illness. But the lady seemed +to understand. After writing in a book and speaking +to a native woman who stood behind a sort of +table near by, with more kind words she put a small +bottle of medicine into the girl's hands. Assured +that her mother would soon be well and with orders +to come the next day and report the condition of +the patient, Shama Sahai went home very much +pleased.</p> + +<p>But the mother did not get well at once and for +several days the girl paid a daily visit to the dispensary, +each time losing a little of her timidity and each +time being more attracted by the white lady who +was so kind to her and called her by name and who, +one day when there had been but a few patients and +Shama Sahai had lingered behind, had told her beautiful +stories about a new god that was not an ugly +black image.</p> + +<p>However, after a while the mother did get so much +better that she could go to the temple again and +Shama Sahai's visits to the dispensary ceased. +She hoped that they would soon go home. By this +time so frightened had the girl become in the great +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29"></a></span>city that she was almost as anxious to leave Kamadabad +as she had been to reach there.</p> + +<p>One night as she lay, apparently asleep, in her +corner of the room near the outside door, she heard +her father and mother talking as they came up on +the door-step. She opened her eyes and listened.</p> + +<p>"We'll go home to-morrow. I made final arrangements +with the priest to-day. My, but he's a +hard one to drive a bargain with! We will settle +the money part in the morning so that we can get a +good start before night," said her father.</p> + +<p>Shama Sahai gave a sigh of relief at the prospects +of an early start for home and was about to close her +eyes so that she might sleep and be rested for the +journey, when she heard her mother say: "Where +are we to leave her?"</p> + +<p>"The priest said to take her to the inner court of +the red temple with the offerings. He will perform +the necessary ceremonies in a short time and we can +leave her there," answered the man. "I wanted it +done to-day so that we could get off on the road in +the cool of the morning, but he would not have it +so."</p> + +<p>"Have you bought our food yet? We won't +need so much rice without Shama, you know," said +the mother.</p> + +<p>"I haven't forgotten that when that's just what we +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30"></a></span>are getting rid of her for, you may be sure. Yes, I +bought it this afternoon. We'll miss the girl in carrying +the load, I suppose, but you can carry it and +the baby too just as well as not. How much better +it is to get rid of a widow in this way and have one +less to feed than to have the cursed creature always +around in the way. We'll not go hungry now. A +good business we've done here at Kamadabad, old +woman, although you did waste a lot of time and +money by being sick, for of course we had to pay +extra for the longer stay. That old rupee-snatcher +of a landlord wouldn't give in an anna because you +had been sick. He said that he really ought to have +charged more, for when people are sick they lie +down longer and so wear out his floor more quickly. +You were a fine one, you were, to get sick!" the +man snarled.</p> + +<p>"Yes, but you wouldn't have been here at all or +have thought of bringing the girl, if I hadn't suggested +it," snapped the old woman in her turn.</p> + +<p>Shama Sahai lay perfectly quiet as the couple, +still mumbling unkind remarks at each other, came +in and lay down on the floor. She scarcely breathed +for fear that they should find out that she was awake. +But when she knew that they were asleep, she crept +out-of-doors and darting around a corner sank down +upon some steps. She knew from what she had +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31"></a></span>overheard that her parents-in-law were planning to +go home in the morning without her and that the +priest was to have her. As she remembered the evil, +swollen face of the man who had watched her that +first day at the temple, she shuddered and, drawing +her sari more closely about her, crept farther back +into the doorway.</p> + +<p>Only one thought would come—she must run +away where the priest could not get her and she must +go at once. Peeping out from the doorway, she +looked up and down the street. No one was astir; +only a quiet form here and there on the little porches +could be seen in the dim light of the street lamps. +She would go to the white memsahib. The memsahib +and the new god would surely save her.</p> + +<p>Like a spirit the girl took her flight through the +streets, the lightness of her footfall awaking not the +most restless of the sleepers.</p> + +<p>When she reached the familiar compound, she did +not hesitate, but, running up to the veranda, shook +the sleeping chokidar.</p> + +<p>"Where is the memsahib? Quick, tell me, quick!"</p> + +<p>The watchman, ashamed at having been caught +asleep and thinking it nothing strange that a girl +should call the doctor in the night, hastened to show +Shama Sahai the stairs leading to the roof of the +bungalow.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32"></a></span></p><p>"You'll find her up there. She always sleeps on +the roof in the hot weather."</p> + +<p>The girl was soon beside the doctor's cot and with +frightened sobs was telling her story. "I've come +to you and you must save me," were her final +words.</p> + +<p>Events happen quickly sometimes, especially when +an energetic woman is helping them along. As the +earliest morning train pulled out from Kamadabad +for Mattera, a native Christian woman with a Hindu +girl, disguised in the slightly different garb of a +Christian, was on board, and the white doctor-memsahib +was taking her chota hazri with fear in her +heart.</p> + +<p>What would be the fate of the poor young girl +who had fled to her for refuge? That was the question +which was troubling the doctor that morning. +Although she was used to witnessing crises in people's +lives with real, professional calm, this morning +her outward calmness was assumed, for this was a +case which her degree of M. D. had, perhaps, not +qualified her to handle.</p> + +<p>Throughout the long day the doctor waited expecting +searchers for the girl, but no one came to +make any inquiries of her. As she was leaving her +compound gate towards evening for her daily exercise, +she met a man and a woman, the latter carrying +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33"></a></span>on her hip a baby whom the doctor recognized. +The man was saying in Hindustani to the woman:</p> + +<p>"The priest stole her. I know he stole her! +Well, it's much the same after all, I suppose, for +we're rid of her anyway. Of course he pretended +he had not seen her and was angry because I had +not brought her. Well, well; it's hard to deal with +the priests."</p> + +<p>"Whoever has her, may bad luck go with her!" +exclaimed the woman.</p> + +<p>But the woman's malediction did not bring fear to +the doctor who, stopping short in her walk, could +scarcely restrain a shout of joy. For this man and +woman were Shama Sahai's parents-in-law going +home without her, believing that the priest had +stolen the girl. Instead of going on to the river for +her usual evening constitutional, the doctor-memsahib +hastened to the station where she caught the last +afternoon train for Mattera that she might tell Shama +Sahai that she was safe.</p><hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34"></a></span></p><h2 class="story"><a name="III" id="III"></a><abbr title="3">III</abbr><br /> +Old Sarah</h2> + +<p>"Here comes Old Sarah!" A shrill voice +shouted the news through the open door +into the mud house where the small +boy's mother squatted at work, with one long, +rounded stone crushing the curry seeds upon another +large, flat stone that stood on the mud floor. At the +call the mother dropped the long stone from her +hand and, springing to her feet, hastily followed her +naked boy out upon the street of the village. Old +Sarah was a new friend who recently had come often +to the village, telling the people stories and singing +songs to them. But she never had come oftener +than twice a week and she had been there only the +day before. So the woman wondered what could +have brought her back so soon.</p> + +<p>The boy, meantime, had been running up and +down the short street, clapping his hands and shouting, +"Old Sarah has come! Old Sarah has come!" +as Old Sarah herself had taught him to do at her arrival +so that the people might know at once that she +had come and she might not have to wait for an +audience.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35"></a></span></p><p>"Where is she?" called the mother after the running +child, for she had looked up and down the road +and failed to see the old woman.</p> + +<p>"Why, there she is!" said the boy coming up. +"Don't you see her sitting there by the road?"</p> + +<p>"That's not Old Sarah! I never saw her sitting +by the road like that."</p> + +<p>"Yes it is! Yes it is!" and the boy danced off in +the direction of the sitting figure, kicking up the +dust with his bare feet in his eagerness to reach the +side of the old lady who always had some sweet +for him hidden away in her bag. His mother followed +after him and several other people, also, who +had come from their homes at his familiar call.</p> + +<p>"Why, it is Old Sarah, sure enough! What can +be the matter with her?" exclaimed the woman to a +neighbour as they approached.</p> + +<p>The exclamation was not unnatural, for the usually +active old lady who, unwearied, had come trudging +into their village week after week, after a walk of +five miles, now sat all bent over on the ground with +her sari-covered head bowed upon her arms.</p> + +<p>The noise of the little crowd as it drew near +aroused the old woman, who, letting the sari slide +back from a head well sprinkled with gray, raised +to them a face white and drawn. The people were +astounded, for never in their acquaintance had she +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36"></a></span>shown them aught but a face full of life and joy. +Now she looked weak and haggard.</p> + +<p>"I am sick," she said, answering the unasked +question which she saw in their faces. "You are +my good friends; so I came to you for help."</p> + +<p>"Oh, let me help her!" cried one.</p> + +<p>"Bring her to my house!" called another.</p> + +<p>"I will care for her myself," said the child's +mother as several women stepped up to raise the old +woman to her feet.</p> + +<p>They had helped her along some little way and +the children were following close behind or crowding +ahead to tell the rest of the villagers, when the +head man met them.</p> + +<p>Looking at the old woman, he said sharply, +"What is the matter with her?"</p> + +<p>The crowd stopped, out of respect to the head +man, and each looked at the other, not knowing +what to say. Then the old woman herself looked up. +With a feeble attempt at the usual gay salaam with +which she always greeted the chief, she answered his +question.</p> + +<p>"It is the cholera," she said.</p> + +<p>"The cholera!" frightened voices screamed.</p> + +<p>The hands that had so tenderly been guiding the +woman's feeble steps were suddenly withdrawn. +The women fled from her, dragging their children +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37"></a></span>with them while the larger youngsters ran down the +street, crying, "Old Sarah has the cholera! Old +Sarah has the cholera!"</p> + +<p>The cry was passed on from one person to another +for miles along the road, for never are the roads of +India, except in the hottest part of the day, without +a throng of travellers.</p> + +<p>The old woman, who, thus suddenly left unsupported, +had fallen in a limp heap in the middle of the +road, lay there for some time until the sun became +unendurable and made its rays felt even in her acute +suffering. She raised her head. Not a person was +in sight. The little village was deserted. It consisted +only of a few palm-leaf huts on each side of the street, +shaded by cocoanut trees, and could be taken in at a +glance. Old Sarah's head fell upon her hands. +What could she do? If she stayed in the road her +suffering would be more intense; although she expected +to die now that her friends had deserted her, +still she wanted to die with as little torture as possible.</p> + +<p>About six feet away from her was the open door +of a tiny hut. The shade within looked very inviting. +Summoning all the strength she had, Old +Sarah crawled upon her hands and knees, slowly, +painfully, to the door and dropped at full length on +the hard mud floor. It was cool there but, oh, how +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38"></a></span>lonely! No one to care for her! no one to supply +her wants! no one to be with her when she should +die! and no one to give her body Christian burial +before the pariah dogs should tear it to pieces! +She heard a noise at the door. With a flash of joy +in her heart to think that some one had returned to +help her, painfully turning her head, she saw—only +the sacred bull of the village sticking an inquiring +nose into the door. Perhaps there might be something +within that he might feed upon, for he, according +to Hindu custom, was privileged to help +himself to whatever he could find anywhere. With +disappointed heart, Old Sarah let her head roll back +and closed her eyes, although the thought passed +through her mind that the bull might enter the +house and trample upon her in his search for food in +the tiny room; but if he should, it would bring her +only a quick release from her pain. Then the pain +and suffering became so great that she could not even +think. The bull, however, evidently seeing nothing to +please his appetite within the hut, turned away from +the door and went on down the street, nosing along +the front of every house until he reached the last +one where a woman in her haste to flee from the +cholera had overturned a basket of pea-pods and left +them in a heap on the mud floor of the porch before +the house—a fine meal for a hungry bull.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39"></a></span></p><p>The minutes flew by and became hours; only the +moaning from the house near the middle of the +street disturbed the hot hush of the midday.</p> + +<p>A cat crept into the hut and sniffed at the +woman's feet; a dog peered in at the dark object on +the floor; but no human being came near.</p> + +<p>When the sun was no more than an hour from +setting, there sounded the rumble of wheels. A +wooden ox-cart, driven by a scantily-clad, very dark +native, and drawn by a pair of the gray, humped +bullocks of the district, entered the street at the head +of the village. The bullocks were brought to a halt +at once and a woman's head appeared from under +the rounded straw covering of the cart.</p> + +<p>"Where is she? Do you see her?" she asked the +man.</p> + +<p>"There is no one in sight," he replied. "But, +hark, I hear a moan!"</p> + +<p>"She must be in that house there," he added after +listening a moment, pointing as he spoke with a +thin, black finger to the house into which Old Sarah +had crawled.</p> + +<p>He drove his bullocks on down the narrow street +until he pulled up in front of the hut. Then the +young woman, for it was a young Tamil woman in +the cart, with beautiful face and straight, lithe figure, +leapt to the ground and ran into the house, her +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40"></a></span>pretty red sari fluttering behind her. The man in +the cart sat still, watching the open door, the eternal +sadness of the Hindu in his face.</p> + +<p>The woman was gone for some time but, finally, +looked out of the door. "I have done all I +can for her. She is very bad. I think we had better +take her to the hospital in the city, for there +they may be able to save her life. Get the cart +ready," she called.</p> + +<p>As she disappeared again, the man got down +slowly from the front of the cart and, having got in +at the back, arranged some blankets so as to make it +as comfortable as possible for the sick woman. Then +he went into the house with another blanket in his +arms. And in a few minutes the two came out +again, carrying Old Sarah in the blanket between +them, and they laid her as carefully as they could in +the cart.</p> + +<p>All this was not done in silence, for all of the time +the young woman kept talking, sometimes addressing +the sufferer, sometimes the driver, and sometimes +herself. "Poor old woman!" she said. "To think +that the cowards all ran away and left her like this +after the kindness she had shown them. She has +walked those five miles, really ten, there and back, +day after day, to tell them about her new religion +and to help them; for she never came that she did +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41"></a></span>not help the women in their work, or bring the children +some sweets, or teach the people something +new. Dear old soul! And after all the love you +have given them, just in your hour of need they all +forsook you! Just wait until I get a chance and I'll +tell them what I think about such actions; indeed, +what every decent person would think! They +pretended to be so fond of her too; she really +thought they loved her as much as if she had been +their mother. That's the way with these black +heathen!"</p> + +<p>"Why didn't she come to you?" asked the man +as they got the old woman settled with her head on +the young woman's lap and he had climbed up in +front to prod the bullocks to a start.</p> + +<p>"Poor old soul, I never gave her any reason to +think that I believed her preachings although she +has come faithfully every week to visit me. I liked +to tease her and hear her funny answers. I liked to +ask her hard questions about her new religion. She +would pucker her face all up and think and think +until she had answered every one. Alas, I never let +her know that her religion touched my heart and +that I believe in Jesus Christ! I never even let her +know that I loved her. Of course she would not +come to me for help. But I do love her. She was +so funny and so full of life and odd sayings that I +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42"></a></span>just had to tease her, that was all. Now, now I fear +it is too late to tell her!" she ended with a sob.</p> + +<p>"I don't believe she will live, do you?" she asked +the servant a moment later as he had turned around +to look at the old woman and they both were gazing +down upon her face, drawn and haggard, with lips +parted in a moan.</p> + +<p>"I fear not," said the man. "Have you given her +from the bottle?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, the very medicine she brought me a month +ago when the cholera threatened our village." She +pulled a bottle from the bosom of her sari. "I'll +give her another dose now; surely if one dose is +good, two will be better."</p> + +<p>She tipped the bottle to the old woman's lips who +mechanically swallowed a very little. It seemed to +revive her for she opened her eyes and murmured: +"Who is this? Where am I?"</p> + +<p>The other, bending over her, answered, "This is +Jessa. Don't you know Jessa? I've come to take +care of you. You will be all right soon."</p> + +<p>"Jessa! Who is Jessa?" the weak voice asked +while the big eyes stared up at the girl, unseeing.</p> + +<p>"Don't you know Jessa, the girl at Bindy, the +chief's daughter whom you go to teach every week?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, but she wouldn't come to help me. She +doesn't love me and she makes fun of my God."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43"></a></span></p><p>"Sarah, dear Old Sarah!" the young woman +raised the old woman's head from her lap and, gazing +into her eyes, seemed to draw her back to sight. +"Sarah, it is Jessa and she loves you, and—and—Sarah," +the girl added softly, "she loves your +God."</p> + +<p>A brightness as of renewed life suffused the face +of the old woman. "God be thanked!" she tried to +shout, but the shout fell away into a murmur and +the hands, which she had tried to clap as was her +custom when overjoyed, fell back at her sides. But +although she became again unconscious, the smile +of joy remained upon her face and lighted up the +thin, dark features surrounded by the straggling +gray locks and made her face beautiful, as beautiful +for the moment as the face, young and perfect of +feature, that bent over her.</p> + +<p>"She is dying!" said the man. Stopping his bullocks +as he spoke he slid from his seat and began to +fumble under the blankets.</p> + +<p>"What are you doing, Nado?" called the girl.</p> + +<p>"Here is a shrine. I will pray for the life of the +old woman and offer a handful of rice to the god."</p> + +<p>"Nado," a slim brown hand was laid on his big +black one and prevented him from opening the rice +bag, "Nado, she is a Christian. I, too, am a Christian +now. We cannot pray for her life at a heathen +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44"></a></span>shrine. Sit in your place, Nado, and I will pray to +our God."</p> + +<p>The man did not get up into his place but stood +and with wide, interested eyes watched the girl as, +laying the old woman's head gently back in her +lap, she freed her hands and clasping them to +heaven, raised her eyes and prayed. The words +were the words of the young girl herself but the +gestures were copied from Old Sarah as she had +prayed many, many times in the girl's presence. +One, not impressed by the solemnity of the moment, +would have laughed at the grotesque motions of her +hands and head as she prayed.</p> + +<p>"Oh, most great God, most great of all the gods," +said the girl. "Let Old Sarah live. She is a good +woman. Never has she harmed any one. Her +whole life has been given to helping others. Save +Old Sarah's life, I pray. I will bring Thee an offering +of the best I have, if Thou wilt spare her life and +let her live. Take the awful pain away from her. +Let her sleep and let her rest and do, oh God, let +her live. I will bring Thee cocoanuts and sweets, +rice and a young kid, if Thou wilt spare her life. +For Jesus Christ's sake. Amen!"</p> + +<p>The girl, unconscious of the absurd way that she +had mixed the ideas of her old heathenism with the +words and thoughts of the new religion she had +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45"></a></span>learned from the old woman, unclasped her hands +and with a smile looked down upon the face in her +lap. Already it seemed to her that her prayer was +being answered, for the sick woman's breath seemed +to come more easily and the moaning had ceased. +As the girl was absorbed in watching the effect of +her prayer, the man took a handful of rice from the +bag, without attracting attention, and slipped to the +side of the road where under a tree stood a wayside +shrine. Pouring out the rice before the ugly +image and bowing three times in front of it, he +hurriedly muttered some unintelligible words and +climbed back into the wagon. There was a gleam +of satisfaction on his face as he started the bullocks +again, for he had done what he could to save the life +of the old woman whom he, as a respected servant +in the family of the chief, had seen often about their +home but to whose preaching he had never had time +to listen.</p> + +<p>To the city and then through the city to the +hospital was a long ride in the lumbering ox-cart +but it was not a particularly hard ride to any of the +three, for native Indians prefer hard seats and hard +beds to springs and cushions. And already the old +woman was resting so quietly that the girl thought +her prayer had been answered and the man felt that +his offering had been accepted.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46"></a></span></p><p>At the hospital a nurse took charge of the sick +woman but she would not let the girl enter. So the +latter quietly placed a kiss upon the old woman's +forehead and turned away, confident that in a short +time she would see Old Sarah again in her own +village, for she had prayed.</p> + +<p>As it was night and the oxen were tired, the girl +could not return to her village at once. Besides +there was one thing more that she must do in the +city. Therefore they turned aside to the marketplace +where the farmers slept under their carts. +There they made themselves comfortable for the +night, after the driver had cooked them a little meal +at a fire of twigs and dung-cakes. The girl kept in +the cart with her sari drawn up over her face, for +such was her custom in the big city. But later, +when she was rolled up in the blankets, she felt very +secure with Nado asleep under the pole of the cart +and the bullocks chewing their cuds beside him.</p> + +<p>When morning came, when the bullocks had been +yoked up again and all things were ready for the +start, she said:</p> + +<p>"Nado, we must tell Old Sarah's mistress. I don't +know where she is but we must find her. She lives +in a big house and takes care of a lot of little orphan +children, for Sarah has often told me about them and +her."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47"></a></span></p><p>It was strange, but in only a few minutes they had +found the place where the little orphan children +lived, for the natives seemed to know the compound +well. And a few minutes later Jessa stood before a +sweet-faced English woman, but so embarrassed by +the memsahib's presence that she scarcely dared +raise her eyes. Only thoughts of Old Sarah and her +love for this white lady gave her courage.</p> + +<p>"Memsahib," she said in a timid voice, "Old +Sarah is very ill with the cholera. We have taken +her to the hospital."</p> + +<p>"Old Sarah ill with cholera!" the English woman +exclaimed in amazement. "She has been gone since +day before yesterday. She never was gone so long +alone before and we have been worried; but I did +not dream of cholera! She is in the hospital?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Memsahib. But I think she will get well," +the girl added hastily as she saw the lady's anxiety. +"I am sure she will get well, for I—I—prayed," she +faltered.</p> + +<p>"And I gave an offering to the gods," said the +man servant in a pleased tone to himself, for he was +listening interestedly, having followed the girl to the +door.</p> + +<p>"Get my topi, boy, and order the gari quickly," +the memsahib called to her bearer. "I must go to +Old Sarah at once. Where did you find her, child?"</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48"></a></span></p><p>So while the memsahib waited for her topi and +the gari, Jessa told her the story of how Old Sarah +had gone to the village to her friends for help but +how they had fled from her and left her to die; how +one of the frightened people had come to the village +of which her father was head man and had told +them; and how she herself, because she loved Old +Sarah on account of the loving teaching she had received +from her, how she had taken her servant and +cart and gone to save the old woman's life. She +told the lady, too, of the condition in which she had +found Old Sarah, of the journey to the city, and of +the reception at the hospital. As she finished telling +her story, she repeated her assurance that the +old woman would live because she, Jessa, had prayed +to God.</p> + +<p>The memsahib praised the girl for her bravery and +thanked her for her kindness to Old Sarah who was +very dear to the English lady's heart. And as the +gari came up just then she urged them to remain +until her return from the hospital, but the girl felt +that she must hurry back, since she knew that Old +Sarah would be all right now. So they said good-bye +and Jessa, having climbed into the cart, was +trundled away by the faithful bullocks and the still +more faithful Nado, whose gentle prodding of the +bullocks was essential to their progress.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49"></a></span></p><p>Meantime the memsahib had entered her gari and +was being driven as fast as the ponies could take +her to the hospital. There she was met by a nurse +who said that she knew nothing of the case that the +lady spoke of. Another nurse was called who knew +nothing of such a woman as Old Sarah. The lady, +however, would not be turned aside; the records +must be searched. And searched they were. The +nurses discovered that a cholera case had been +brought in late the evening before, that the woman +had died towards morning, and that already her body +had been for some time in the hospital morgue.</p> + +<p>"You must get her out at once," said the lady, +"for she is not dead."</p> + +<p>The nurses who had been uninterested until that +moment then looked at the English lady in mild +amazement, for how could a person who had been in +the dead-house for several hours be still alive? But +the lady was well known to them by reputation and +they yielded to her wishes. At her demand they +called the head nurse who, because she, too, knew +much about this lady, revoked all hospital rules and +permitted her to enter the morgue with them.</p> + +<p>There lay Old Sarah's form, covered with a sheet, +upon the floor with other corpses. The familiar +gray hair drew the memsahib's eyes at once. She +pulled back the sheet and felt for the heart.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50"></a></span></p><p>"We'll work over her. I do not think she is +dead."</p> + +<p>With incredulity not only in their hearts but +written plainly upon their faces, the nurses had the +body removed to an empty room. And then, because +the little memsahib was a woman of such +mighty spirit, they fell to work.</p> + +<p>Old Sarah was not dead, although she had been for +several hours numbered among the dead. Gradually +circulation was restored. When the signs of life +became unmistakable the nurses worked zealously to +make up for the awful wrong that had almost been +done. In a big, busy hospital, especially during times +of stress, things sometimes are done in a hurry and +mistakes are sometimes made.</p> + +<p>The memsahib did not leave for several hours. +When the dear old eyes opened at last, they looked +around in wonder until they rested upon the memsahib's +face. Then a glad light shone from them +and an eager voice whispered: "Oh, Memsahib, is +this heaven?"</p> + +<p>"No, Sarah, this is not heaven. You are still on +earth with me, thank God!"</p> + +<p>"I didn't think it looked exactly like heaven," +the old woman added a little later as she looked +around at the bare walls, "but with Jesus and you, +Memsahib, it would be heaven in any kind of place.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51"></a></span></p><p>"I thought I was dead," she kept murmuring, +evidently unable to get the idea out of her head.</p> + +<p>"No, Sarah," the memsahib finally assured her, +"you are very much alive and just to convince you +I will scold you a little. Why, oh, why, Sarah, did +you not come to me when you were taken ill?"</p> + +<p>"Memsahib, Old Sarah knew she had the cholera +and she could not expose the memsahib and the dear, +little orphan children to it; so she just took her +burial clothes and went away, thinking that her +friends at Yenna, for whom she had travelled so +many, many miles in her old age to tell them about +Jesus, would take her in. But they ran away and +left Old Sarah to die all alone."</p> + +<p>"Were you not sorry then that you had not told +me?" urged her mistress.</p> + +<p>"No, Memsahib, not even then, for it was better +that Old Sarah should die all alone than that the +memsahib and the dear, orphan children should die +too."</p> + +<p>"You precious old woman!" The memsahib, +sinking on her knees by the bed with her arms +around the thin, brown shoulders, implanted a kiss +upon the gray hair. "That is more than a white +person would have done!" she said under her breath.</p> + +<p>And as the English woman looked upon Old +Sarah's happy face and remembered the happy, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52"></a></span>trustful face of the young girl who had saved this +life and declared that the old woman would live +because of prayer, the memsahib realized that no +hearts in the world were whiter before God than +those of these brown people who loved Him well +enough to be willing to lay down their lives for +others. In beauty of form and feature these brown +people often surpass the white races and she felt that +with the love of the true God in their hearts they +might surpass the white races, also, in the beauty of +their lives and of their love.</p><hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53"></a></span></p><h2 class="story"><a name="IV" id="IV"></a><abbr title="4">IV</abbr><br /> +A Son of the Law</h2> + +<p>On an afternoon in the early days of the +British occupancy of India, Blackmore-Sahib +sat alone at the big desk in his study, +in his hand a report which had just reached him from +one of his districts. At his elbow the tea tray was +untouched, although at this hour of the afternoon he +was usually stretched out in a rattan chair in the +living-room with the punkah swinging over him, the +latest magazine, three months old at that, in his +hand, and the tea tray already replaced on the small +table beside his chair by the cigar service holding +cigarettes all neatly rolled ready for his match. It +was not because the report was urgent that he had +forsaken his accustomed ease to prove it up; nor was +it that he was particularly interested in the task, for +apparently he was forcing himself to go over the lines +of type and up and down the columns of figures. +As his pencil reached the bottom of a column it +would almost drop from his listless fingers until, with +a start, he would begin upon the next row as if in +great haste.</p> + +<p>The bearer, entering the room noiselessly, saw the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54"></a></span>untouched tea tray standing just as he had left it a +half hour before and looked anxiously at his master's +face. But without disturbing his master he removed +it and turned to the side table where stood the tobacco +service. Not a cigarette was rolled! He +clumsily attempted to prepare some but none of his +efforts were really successful. However, he put +several bulky ones in a saucer and placed them near +his master's hand. Still in silence but with many +backward glances at the man bending over the +slowly-moving pencil, the boy left the room.</p> + +<p>As the boy closed the door, the man dropped the +pencil upon the desk, put his hand to his head for a +second, and then arose. He walked to the door into +the living-room and seemed to listen for an instant; +then he went back to the desk.</p> + +<p>The servant, evidently having heard his master's +step, entered with fresh tea and toast.</p> + +<p>"Is she better?"</p> + +<p>As the boy set the tray down he replied hesitatingly, +"No, Sahib, she is still groaning."</p> + +<p>"You fool, don't you suppose I can hear that? +She has groaned incessantly since last night."</p> + +<p>"What can I do?" The man asked the question +of himself as he turned half around towards the +veranda door.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> + <a name="illus08" id="illus08" href="images/illus08.jpg"> + <img src="images/illus08-tb.jpg" width="400" height="303" alt="English gent in shop seeing Indian lady" /> + </a> + <br /> + <span class="caption">"IT WAS ONLY A GLIMPSE"</span> +</div> + +<p>"Won't the Sahib have some tea?" suggested the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55"></a></span>boy timidly, for like every native-born this man +feared his stalwart English master.</p> + +<p>Blackmore-Sahib held out his hand without turning +back from the door. "Yes, I will take a cup. +Perhaps it will steady me a bit."</p> + +<p>"Poor little Nona!" he sighed as he took the +cup.</p> + +<p>He gulped down the tea hurriedly and reached for +a cigarette. But as his eyes fell on the clumsy ones +in the saucer, they filled with tears and he walked +quickly out upon the veranda without taking one.</p> + +<p>Up and down he paced unheeding the streaks of +sunshine which found their way in through the vines +and fell upon his unprotected head.</p> + +<p>"Poor Nona! Poor little girl!" he groaned. +How skillfully she had always rolled his cigarettes, +just to his taste! how daintily she had served his cup +of tea! and how quietly she had sat every afternoon +beside him, never disturbing his nap or reading! +"Poor little Nona!" he sighed, for she might never +sit beside him again. He could hear her groans now +from the bedroom at the other side of the great living-room. +Pitiable, heart-breaking little groans they +were! He could not trust himself even to go to the +door and look in upon her.</p> + +<p>And yet he did not really love her. Nona had +made Blackmore-Sahib's life very comfortable for +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56"></a></span>the last ten years and he could not bear to think that +she was suffering and probably would die. He did +not want to lose his little Indian wife and her affectionate +care for him, though of course she was his +"wife" only according to the customs of many white +men in dark lands. As he paced up and down he +remembered how, when he had been sent by the +government to this city in the heart of India away +from every European association, he had rebelled +until, seeing a pair of black eyes peeping from the +doorway of a certain mud house, he had become very +much interested in that section of the city although +it belonged to a low caste of Hindus. He remembered +how for several evenings he had taken his +evening walk in that locality and furtively watched +that house door in which he again saw framed for a +second a beautiful Indian face and a slender, lithe +Indian figure in a red sari. After a few more visits +he had several conversations with the men of the +neighbourhood and had learned that the man who +lived in that house was, as they all were, of low +caste and desperately poor. Finally he had met the +man himself whom he heard loudly lamenting because +he could not afford to marry off his beautiful +daughters. "Why, a wedding costs many rupees +nowadays!" he had heard him say.</p> + +<p>So the sahib by a little courteous inquiry had +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57"></a></span>learned that the man had three unmarried daughters. +By further courteous and diplomatic conversation he +had conveyed to the father the idea that if he, the +sahib, could have his choice of the three girls he +would pay a dowry for one of them. After several +evenings of discussion and bargaining the old man +slowly and cautiously had consented, but the matter +of giving the sahib his choice had been a trifle difficult +even among the low caste. But, finally, having +bidden the sahib stand at the other corner of the +street where he could see without being particularly +noticeable, on the evening the bargain was sealed, the +old man had called his daughters one at a time to the +door of the house on some trifling pretext. It had +been only a glimpse, but as the third girl disappeared +from the doorway, Blackmore-Sahib had been satisfied. +On the very next evening, having promised to +pay a sufficient number of rupees to marry off both +of the other daughters, the Englishman had had the +satisfaction of seeing a little draped figure enter a +covered ekka and be driven away towards his bungalow.</p> + +<p>He could remember, even after ten years, how the +ekka had driven up to his door and how he, having +reached the door before her arrival, would not pay +the promised money until the girl's veil had been +lifted and he had seen for himself that no trickery +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58"></a></span>had been played upon him and that this was the one +of his choice. She had been very young, very +timid, and very beautiful. He remembered that, +cross, burly chap though he was, he had delighted to +tease her out of her shyness and teach her the little +ways by which she could make him happy and his +bungalow a home. She had been an ignorant native +girl, as the majority of Indian girls are, but she had +soon learned to love him and she had always been +beautiful to look upon.</p> + +<p>They had not been married. That was not necessary +in those days in the East. He had given her a +good home and in doing that he had done his whole +duty. Yet he had never mentioned her in his letters +to England, for "they would not understand." Indeed, +he had half expected until the last two years +to go back to England and marry a fine girl whom +he had known in boyhood. But when the time had +drawn near he had decided to stay here as he was;—for +what would become of Nona? He could not +keep her, too, for even he did not think that way of +living right. He sometimes longed for the green +meadows and the hawthorne bush and the skylark, +nevertheless he remained in India, for he could not +take Nona and he could not leave her.</p> + +<p>But now it seemed as if Nona were going to leave +him. If she should die, he would be free to go to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59"></a></span>England to marry his childhood friend, for a recent +letter from his brother had told him that Elizabeth +was still unmarried and mistress of her own estate. +But now, of a sudden, he did not want to go; he did +not want to marry. Indeed, he did not want anything +but to stay here with Nona. He wanted +Nona! She must not die! He needed her.</p> + +<p>"Sahib!" A soft voice arrested his step and +Nona's ayah besought him: "Sahib, she is no +better. May I get the memsahib? I think she can +help her."</p> + +<p>"What memsahib?" he asked, his voice gruff with +emotion.</p> + +<p>"The missionary memsahib, master. Please let +me get her."</p> + +<p>"A missionary! Would a missionary come to +my house?" he asked in scorn.</p> + +<p>Blackmore-Sahib had seen the missionary lady +often, for she was one of the very few Europeans in +the city, but he never had spoken to her. He knew +missionary principles and he felt that he and Nona +in her eyes were worse than the Hindus "in their +blindness." He had always avoided a missionary's +path; now he would not ask for help! Even if he +should humble his pride and do so, he felt that no +Christian would come to him, for were not he and +Nona without the law?</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60"></a></span></p><p>"No, she would not come," he said emphatically.</p> + +<p>"Yes, master, she will come. I know she will +come. See how ill my mistress is! Hear her +moans!" and the faithful ayah wrung her hands in +grief. "Oh, let me go to get her."</p> + +<p>"Is she a doctor?" he asked. "Does she give +medicine?" he went on, trying to make the native +woman understand.</p> + +<p>"No, she is not a doctor, but she gives medicines," +the woman replied enigmatically.</p> + +<p>There was no doctor within reach. If this woman +could help Nona, had he any right to let his pride +keep him from at least asking for her help? Blackmore-Sahib +reasoned it out slowly. Although he +was sure that she would not come, he must do all +that he could to help the sick woman and so he +must ask the missionary to come.</p> + +<p>"Go!" he said finally to the ayah and as she sped +down the road he continued his pacing and his +thoughts. His thoughts turned strangely, after the +interruption, to his boyhood home and his boyhood +days when even a lie, a wrong word, or an unkind +deed had hurt him almost as much as his mother. +But his mother had died when he was only a lad +and after that had come school and then India and—Nona.</p> + +<p>The change from the rigid morality of a well-trained +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61"></a></span>boy living under the eye of a law-abiding +people, to the moral thoughtlessness and neglect of a +man far away from the reign of aught but the law of +the conqueror among an inferior people; the change +from the conventional obedience to the social customs +of a Christian land, to the unconventional disregard +of all Christian customs in a heathen land, +had come so gradually that Blackmore-Sahib had +never before realized how different he was in moral +integrity from what he had been in that boyhood +home and how different he must be in reality from +what his mother had imagined that he would be in +her fond dreams about the future. Had India by +her enervating climate, by the ease with which she +gratifies the sensual side of man's nature, and by the +intellectual loneliness in which she makes her foreign +rulers live—had India by these means warped his +moral sense? Or had his good life in Christian +England been a foolish fanaticism and was his life +here the true living of a free soul?</p> + +<p>Blackmore-Sahib was startled at the presence of +such questionings in a mind which heretofore had +accepted his conduct and life unquestioned. But at +that moment there stole upon him the memory of a +sweet white face, drawn with pain and the sound of +a low but earnest voice saying, "My boy, I am +going away—to leave you alone. Be strong and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62"></a></span>brave and good." These memories as they mingled +in his mind and ears with the picture of a beautiful, +dark face full of suffering into which he had looked +that very morning and the sound of sharp moans +still coming through the half-closed bungalow door, +worked strange havoc within him.</p> + +<p>Although his thoughts had carried him far, only a +few moments had actually passed when, hearing +quick steps beyond the compound wall, he came to +a halt and saw an English woman hurry in at the +gate, followed by the panting ayah.</p> + +<p>"Good-afternoon, Mr. Blackmore," spoke a pleasant +English voice. "I am not a physician, but I'll do +the best I can."</p> + +<p>Blackmore-Sahib followed clumsily, as a man does +in a house of illness, after the energetic little figure +that went straight to Nona's room. There the missionary +spent much time examining her patient and +it was with anxious eyes that she finally looked at +the man as he sat near the door.</p> + +<p>"It is a serious case. I have seen just one like it +before," she said. "But since it is impossible to get a +real physician I will do the best I can. Will you +kindly send me a couple more servants and order +several tubs of hot water got ready? Then, please, +go away for a gallop and do not come back for several +hours. I don't believe you know much about +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63"></a></span>sickness and a good ride will brace you up, for you +will have to watch with her to-night, I think." The +last was said with a smile as she started quickly and +quietly about her preparations.</p> + +<p>At the end of two hours he met her at the bedroom +door.</p> + +<p>"She is more comfortable, but it will be a hard +fight. I shall stay here to-night. I don't dare trust +the case to any one else yet."</p> + +<p>In the morning, when at five o'clock he was wakened +from a fitful sleep by a rap at his door, the +same voice said, "She is resting now. Will you +come and watch her while I go home for a short +time? I cannot leave her alone with the servants, +for they are either too tired or too stupid to obey instructions +this morning."</p> + +<p>About seven she returned and all day long, sometimes +by turns, sometimes together, they watched +and waited, doing all they could to help Nature +bring back peace to the poor suffering body.</p> + +<p>About the middle of the morning he asked her +how she had gained her medical skill. Then she +told him of her life in India and how she had found +that by helping the sick she could most easily reach +the hearts of the people. She told of spending one +furlough in a hospital at home for training. Seeing +that the conversation did not annoy the patient and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64"></a></span>that it seemed to interest the man, she went on telling +about her work and the joys and sorrows that +she had experienced as a missionary. Not one word +of preaching! She simply told of her life as if talking +to an old friend. There was not a sign that she had +recognized anything unusual in this household or +seen anything to condemn. He began to wonder if +she knew and yet he felt that she did know. She +talked about England and the home she had hoped +to go to the next year; but no one had been found +to take her place and she could not go until there +was some one to work for her people. He was surprised +at the light in her eyes when she said: "I'll +not leave them without some one to care for them +even if I have to put off my home-going all my life."</p> + +<p>She talked of Christ so freely and of her own religious +beliefs so naturally that he felt that her speech +grew out of her life and he did not resent the personal +religious element in her conversation which he +had always avoided and resented in others.</p> + +<p>But while she was talking in low tones or listening +to him as he, in turn, told of his home in England, +she kept a keen eye on her patient. About +eight o'clock at night a change came. The moaning +stopped; the restless brown hands grew still; +the breath came regularly; and Nona slept a quiet, +restful sleep. The memsahib, on her knees beside +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65"></a></span>the bed, looked up at the big, burly, white man +standing on the other side of the narrow couch. +"She will get well," she said simply. "And now—now"—she +stammered with difficulty, "you will +marry her, won't you?"</p> + +<p>As the astonished man gazed into her wistful, +earnest face a slow resolve grew in his own. The +coming of this strong, wholesome woman into his +life, the revival of the memories of his boyhood, the +face of his mother, never entirely forgotten, and now +clear and vivid before his very eyes, and, more even +than all these, the dawning consciousness of the Presence +in which his life had been lived and was now +being judged cleared away all his ethical confusion, +revealed to him the evil of his past life and begat in +him a great desire for cleansing and a high purpose +to make amends for the past.</p> + +<p>And so when the missionary memsahib said to +him, "You will marry her, won't you?" his astonishment +slowly gave way to a sense of high moral +purpose. After a silence which revealed the struggle +within, he replied in a firm voice, "I will! and +may God bless you."</p> + +<p>With these words the man dropped upon his +knees on the other side of the bed and his head +rested for a moment on the pillow very close to the +beautiful brown face there. Then, without asking +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66"></a></span>permission, the missionary prayed a simple prayer of +thanksgiving for the life of the woman and a request +for a blessing upon her English brother and herself +that they might shape their lives after the character +of Christ and live according to Christian laws.</p> + +<p>Then the missionary slipped quietly out of the +room, for the danger was over and the servants +could take as good care of their mistress as could +she. But she promised the anxious ayah as she +went away that she would come in from time to time +for a few days to see that all went well.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>Two weeks from that day an Englishman stood +with a Hindu woman by his side in a missionary's +parlour and there a quiet wedding ceremony was performed. +To the bride it meant nothing, but to the +bridegroom it meant an entire change in his life and +heart.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>Several years later an English gentleman bore +unflinchingly the embarrassment—and worse—of +introducing an Indian wife to his English family at +home. Tenderly he sheltered her from all annoyances +and apparently with pride he took her from +place to place in the homeland. Only one person, a +missionary from India, home on a long-delayed +furlough, guessed that the journey was one prolonged +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67"></a></span>torture to the man who, from a high sense of duty +to a woman who could not even comprehend it, was +making her all amends in his power for a wrong +which, also, she did not comprehend.</p> + +<p>"I don't understand why he married a native," +one of the Englishman's relatives remarked to a +friend. "Otherwise he is a perfect Christian gentleman +and an honour to the family."</p> + +<p>The missionary, who chanced to overhear the +remark, in her mind erased the "otherwise."</p><hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68"></a></span></p><h2 class="story"><a name="V" id="V"></a><abbr title="5">V</abbr><br /> +Mundra</h2> + +<p>"Mundra!" a harsh voice screamed from +the door of the mud house. "Mundra, +child of the devil, come here. Where +are you, spending all your life in laziness and I working +hard to put rice into the mouth of a god-cursed +creature like you!"</p> + +<p>There would have been no need for more than the +first call, if the old woman had simply wanted the +child to come to her, for at the first sound of the +voice the little thing had started up from the dirt of +the road where she had been lying and, gathering the +sari, in which she had been wrapped, up around her +hips and waist, had moved hastily towards the +speaker. But the woman seemed to be giving vent +to her own ill nature in an evidently customary and +certainly vivid way.</p> + +<p>"You vile object of the gods' wrath! To be +sleeping when every decent creature is at work!</p> + +<p>"Bring water," the old woman commanded fiercely +and with a thrust of her foot sent the child, who had +reached the door by that time, reeling in the direction +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69"></a></span>of a large brass water pot which stood in a corner of +the mud porch.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> + <a name="illus09" id="illus09" href="images/illus09.jpg"> + <img src="images/illus09-tb.jpg" width="400" height="281" alt="Woman and girl working at the grinding-stones" /> + </a> + <br /> + <span class="caption">"FOR A FEW MOMENTS SHE MANAGED TO KEEP UP THE STRAINING MOVEMENT"</span> +</div> + +<p>Evidently too wise and too tired for words, the +little creature, recovering her balance, quietly but +not without great difficulty, lifted the big, brass jar +and, putting it upon her head, started off down the +village street.</p> + +<p>The small, dark, thin figure walked very straight +because of the jar on the head, not from any sense +of pride, for what had Mundra to be proud of? Not +a single ornament so dear to the hearts of India's +women did the child wear; her sari was but a dirty +cloth; and her head was shaven. Little girls of her +own age with clinking anklets and glistening jewels +drew away their gay garments from any possible +contact with hers as she came near and stepped to +one side of the street with their water jars. The +men who came towards her along the road carefully +turned away so as to avoid her shadow as she passed +them. And no one addressed her except as a small +boy now and then pointed a finger at her and called +out the same words which the men muttered to +themselves as she passed them—"Cursed of the +gods."</p> + +<p>As she paused to rest for a moment under the +shade of the great peepul tree which protects the +emblems most sacred to the Hindu villager, even the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70"></a></span>priest, who tended the various small shrines beneath +the great tree, muttered a curse and moved quickly +to the other side of the gnarled trunk where a coolie, +clad only in soiled white loin cloth and dirty pink +turban, was winding a garland of marigolds about +one of the sacred stones. The worshipper's attention, +attracted by the sudden movement of the priest, was +drawn to Mundra and he in turn, muttering, paused +in his acts of worship until the contaminating +presence should be withdrawn.</p> + +<p>When the child reached the well, she had to wait +at a distance until all the others there had filled their +vessels and gone. Then she filled her own and, +without assistance, although it took a dreadful +struggle, raised it to the necessary position on her +head.</p> + +<p>But the child was so accustomed to all this treatment +and so tired that she scarcely noticed how the +people acted. Her body ached all over, from hard +work and blows, even to her very heart, which really +ached hardest of all. Just one short year before +Mundra had been one of the happy, bejewelled girls +of this very town and everybody had smiled at her +and passers-by had called her "Blest of the gods." +But now how different! Her father had been of the +weaver caste and when she had been about ten years +old, no native ever knows his exact age, she had been +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71"></a></span>married to a man in the same caste. And at that +time, less than one year before, she had gone to her +husband's home a welcomed bride, the very home +to which she was now returning in disgrace, and her +mother-in-law had been pleased with her and greeted +her with kind words, the very same woman who but +a few moments before had kicked her away with +curses.</p> + +<p>At the time of Mundra's wedding the people had +been anxious because rain had not come and the +crops were dying. Therefore, with grain still at famine +prices from the year before, conditions had been +bad in the district where she lived. So it had not +been a surprise when, soon after the wedding, among +these ill-fed natives had come the ever-expected and +ever-dreaded cholera. In the early days of the +scourge Mundra's father and mother had died. At +first their death had meant little to the child for she +was no longer a part of their household. But soon +death did take one whose going meant at once more +to her, almost more, than the loss of her own life. +One morning her husband, a strong man of about +thirty, was stricken. By nightfall another body had +been placed upon the funeral pyre and Mundra was +a widow.</p> + +<p>Mundra, and she alone, had caused the death of +her husband; so thought every one in the village +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72"></a></span>and so thought the child herself, brought up in Hinduism. +Now she realized the death of her parents, +for had they been alive she would have been sent +back to them at once. But since they were dead she +had to be kept as a despised member of the household +of her mother-in-law, practically a slave there, +with all the hardships and abuse usually attendant +upon the lot of such an one. Her hair had been cut +off; her pretty jewelry had been taken from her; +her coloured saris had been sold to a neighbour; and +in place of all these belongings she had been given a +few yards of white cotton to wrap about her and part +of a ragged blanket for a bed. But Mundra could +have stood all this hard treatment, hard as it had been, +and even gladly would have slept on the mud porch +with the cattle or in the street with the dogs, if only +every one had not hated her and shunned her as foul +and unclean, if only some one had loved her, if only +some one had even spoken kindly to her sometimes +or smiled upon her.</p> + +<p>"Late as usual, you foul creature of the dust! If +you have touched that water with your unclean +hands, may the next drop which you take into your +accursed mouth choke you! To your work there +at once, you abomination in the sight of all that's +holy! May the moon blast you! May the sun +smite you! May your food poison you! And may +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73"></a></span>the gods damn you, you devil-bought murderer of +men!"</p> + +<p>This was the greeting the child received as she +staggered upon the porch and almost fell as she +set the brass jar in the corner. But not one moment's +rest was there for her.</p> + +<p>"To your work, I say!" shrieked the woman +again, pointing a brown, bony finger towards the +grinding-stones in the opposite corner of the porch +where sat a strong young girl, about sixteen years of +age, with her hand already upon the handle of the +stones waiting for Mundra to help her. This girl +was well dressed, an honoured daughter-in-law in the +family, who must do a share of the household work, +as all Indian women, except the rich, must, but who +was well fed, strong, and able to work.</p> + +<p>Mundra sank down on the floor beside the mill +and, placing her small hand on the handle above the +other's big one, threw all the strength she could +muster into her thin arm to make the one great stone +revolve upon the other beneath and crush to flour +the grain which by handfuls with her free hand the +older girl was pouring into the opening at the top of +the stone.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the mother-in-law had lighted a fire in +the tiny mud stove beside them, the home-made +mud stove, found even in the kitchens of the rich, a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74"></a></span>small, hollow, semicircular mound of mud about +eight inches high, upon which a kettle could be set +and within which a fire could be lighted and replenished +through the opening in front. Upon this stove, +instead of a kettle, the woman had put a large, flat, +iron griddle, upon which, after having patted and +rolled out some flour, she threw a flat cake, about +eight inches in diameter. This cake she turned with +a pair of long, iron tongs. After it had browned a +little, she thrust it over the coals in the fire to let it +puff out and when it was just right to suit her Indian +taste, with the iron tongs she tossed it, the hot +chapati, the common bread of India, into a basket +by her side. This process she had repeated until +her basket was nearly full.</p> + +<p>The old woman was not so busily engaged with +this task, however, as to be unable to give her attention +to other things. When Mundra's tired hand +relaxed its hold upon the handle of the grinding-stones +and the strength in her little body gave out, +with one swing of the arm, down upon the child's +bare back came the hot tongs.</p> + +<p>"To work, you accursed creature!" screamed the +mother-in-law.</p> + +<p>A sharp cry of agony followed the blow, but +Mundra, although her body was quivering with pain, +resumed her work. For a few minutes she managed +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75"></a></span>to keep up the straining movement of the arm. +Then, in spite of all her gathered will, her fingers +slipped again. Down came the hot tongs a second +time upon the tender, though dark, skin and Mundra +fell in a faint beside the mill.</p> + +<p>When the child regained consciousness she was +still lying beside the mill. She could hear the family +within eating their evening meal of chapatis, rice, +and curry. She could hear their talk of the coming +rain, of the tiger that had been seen in the jungle +near the river, of the preparations for the festival of +Ram, and of the offerings of rice and flowers which +must be taken to the god before the day of the great +procession. Dimly she heard it all. No one mentioned +her or seemed to have noticed her lying there +in the corner of the porch. She hoped that they +had not; if they would only forget her and torture +her no more for a little while she would be so glad!</p> + +<p>The smell of the fresh chapatis, however, made +her long for food, for as a widow she had had no +meal since morning and could have nothing more +until the next day. The pain in her back almost +made her cry out at times, but she restrained herself +and lay still, unheeded, in the corner behind the +mill, until darkness came and the lump of clay in the +little shrine across the street under the red flag had +been propitiated by offerings of rice and chapatis, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76"></a></span>and the people of the household had rolled themselves +in their blankets and gone to sleep.</p> + +<p>Then Mundra dragged herself to the edge of the +porch and looked about. All was dark except a +tiny spot in front of the shrine opposite, which was +still lighted by a small wick burning in a shallow +dish of oil. The priest had not yet come for the +offering.</p> + +<p>All was quiet.</p> + +<p>An old blue rag, the remnants of a sari, lay on the +floor near her. Mundra picked it up quickly. As +quickly and silently she slipped across the street, and—unholy +act! worthy of one "cursed of the gods"!—she +emptied the dish of rice which stood there +before the idol into the piece of blue cloth; then +laying the chapatis upon the rice, hurriedly tied the +whole into a bundle. For a moment she stood looking +up and down the street. In both directions all +was still quiet and dark. But she did not hesitate +long. Towards the river, where the jungle lay, the +tiger might be; down towards the well, where the +village street joined the public highroad, there +might be—the child did not know what, except +that somewhere in that direction lay the great city.</p> + +<p>She turned towards the highroad. Creeping +along, half walking, half crawling, she reached the +well. There beside it she tore off her own dirty +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77"></a></span>white covering, and, having changed the rice from +the blue cloth into a piece of the white, she wrapped +the ragged blue sari around her and drew it up over +her shaven head.</p> + +<p>Having, with the shrewdness of the native, placed +her old clothes on the brink of the well, Mundra, +now no longer in the garb of a widow, turned down +the main road towards the great city. She knew +not what might await her there, but, childlike, she +had faith to believe that even unknown people would +not treat a beggar more cruelly than she, a widow, +had been treated by her own.</p><hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78"></a></span></p><h2 class="story"><a name="VI" id="VI"></a><abbr title="6">VI</abbr><br /> +Of the Tribe of Haunamon</h2> + +<p>The great bungalow, set far back in the +grassy compound and shaded by mango +trees, looked peaceful and sleepy in the +afternoon sunlight. The very roses in the carefully +rounded beds in the centre of the lawn before the +house were nodding as if resting in the shade after +the blaze of an Indian noonday sun. The only +human creature in sight, a dhersy, sitting cross-legged +on the little side porch, was asleep over his +sewing. Between the rows of potted ferns and +palms along the front veranda appeared glimpses of +white as if the occupants of the bungalow might be +taking their siestas on the open rattan couches in +preference to the warmer curtained beds within, one +of which could be seen through an open bedroom +door. A mongoose, tied to a post of the veranda, +had, for a moment, ceased to fret at his bondage and +gone to sleep. Even several lizards half-way across +the gravel path from one grassy hunting ground to +another had stopped as if too exhausted to pursue +the never-ending chase. Only the shadows moved, +little by little lengthening out, creeping towards the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79"></a></span>compound wall, as the never-sleeping sun continued +his ceaseless journeying towards the west.</p> + +<p>Still one hundred and twenty by the thermometer +which on the wall behind the sleeping dhersy caught +the direct rays of the sun! At three o'clock of an +afternoon in India after a morning's combat with the +heat how could Nature do aught but sleep in whatever +shade she could find for her weary head? But +even in sleepy, dreamy India there are the exceptions +that prove the rules. Suddenly a wail arose +upon the sleepy air and a most terrified cry broke up +all quiet and repose.</p> + +<p>The dhersy, startled from his stolen slumber, looking +up guiltily, quickly began to turn the wheel of +the hand-sewing machine beside him. The mongoose +tugged at his cord. And a frightened woman +started up from her couch on the front veranda, as a +little white figure with flying feet and topiless curly +head came running from behind the bungalow with +the usual cry of childhood's terror:</p> + +<p>"Mother! Mother! Oh, mother!"</p> + +<p>Even the ayah, who was trying to keep up with +the child but having a hard time to run in her long, +tightly-drawn sari, looked frightened. An ugly chattering, +sounding from behind the house, kept up for +some moments as the mother, having gathered the +child up in her arms, sat down again with her, soothing +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80"></a></span>and quieting her as only a mother can, while the +ayah dropped panting on the floor beside them.</p> + +<p>"There, dear, what is the matter? Tell mother +quickly."</p> + +<p>"Oh, mother! The monkeys! The monkeys!" +sobbed the child.</p> + +<p>"There, there, dear, don't cry. You are here +with mother now and the monkeys cannot hurt you. +Tell mother what happened."</p> + +<p>However, before the little girl could calm herself +enough to tell the story, the ayah began it for her.</p> + +<p>"Baby woke early from her nap to-day, Memsahib, +and would not go to sleep again and so I +dressed her and brought her down for her bread and +milk. She ate it like the good little girl that she is and +so I gave her a piece of cake. I had just turned to +put the plate back in the cupboard, when I heard a +scrambling noise behind me and there was a monkey. +He grabbed the cake from baby's hand and ran up a +tree, chattering. He was a great, big fellow, the +biggest one I ever saw. He looked very fierce and +chattered terribly. Of course baby was frightened +most to death and she ran at once for you." The +ayah looked fearfully over her shoulder. "I'm afraid +to go back there again myself."</p> + +<p>"Hush, ayah!" whispered the mother over the +child's head. "Don't frighten her any more. And +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81"></a></span>you were giving her cake, too, when I have told you +that she must not have any for a few days now as she +really hasn't been feeling very well."</p> + +<p>"Oh, mother!" interrupted the child, who had +got the better of her sobs. "The monkey looked so +ugly and grabbed the cake right out of my hand just +as I was going to take a bite. His paw almost +touched my face. Will he come again?"</p> + +<p>"No, dear," replied the mother as she hugged the +little girl close in her arms. "Father comes home +to-night. We will tell him and he will send the +monkeys away. Something has got to be done, for +we cannot have the naughty monkeys stealing our +baby's food right out of her mouth," she added +playfully.</p> + +<p>"Look, dear," she said in a moment to the child +whose fright was soon over. "See how your curls +are mussed! And, dearie," she looked at the little +girl very reproachfully, "you ran all the way around +in the sun without your topi. Go into the house +now and let ayah fix your hair and wash your face. +Then you can come out again and we will watch for +father together, for he will surely come soon. Won't +it be nice to have father home again?" And she +kissed the child as she set her down on the floor. +"A week isn't very long, but it seems a month since +he went away this time."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82"></a></span></p><p>"Yes, the naughty monkeys have been so bad!" +nodded the little girl as she hopped along into the +bungalow before her native nurse, forgetful of her +fear, for her father was coming home and he was to +her omnipotent. Nothing, not even a monkey, +could harm her while he was near.</p> + +<p>For a moment after the child had gone, the mother +remained standing by one of the veranda pillars, +looking down the road in the direction of the railway +station. But soon she retreated to a chair near the +door, for the branches of the biggest tree near the +porch had begun to sway and she could see distinctly +at least one pair of bright eyes peering out +from among the shining green leaves.</p> + +<p>"Something must be done!" she said aloud as +she sank into the chair, at the same time instinctively +taking up in her hand a paper weight which lay on +the table beside her. "We just cannot stand being +thus bothered and frightened by these animals, and +such horrid looking ones too!"</p> + +<p>The Burbanks had been in Sindabad only two +weeks and had scarcely got settled in their bungalow +when Mr. Burbanks had been called away on business. +He had felt very secure about leaving his family because +of the location of their new home which was +about half a mile from the native city and very close +to the other few European residences. To him the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83"></a></span>bungalow had appeared to be far enough away from +the native quarter to be free from all unpleasant sights, +odours, and visitors, the usual unpleasant associations +of too close proximity to one of the sacred cities of +India. Disagreeable sounds he had expected they +would hear, for the hideous sounds, especially of +night in a Hindu city, carry far. But after a residence +of five years in India he did not think his +family would be particularly annoyed by them.</p> + +<p>So Mr. Burbanks had been perfectly satisfied with +his new residence and its location until just before he +left he and his wife had been obliged to drive +through the native city on some errand. It had +been with great disgust that they had seen the filth +of the place, the usual filth of a native city, but here +augmented by a horde of hideous monkeys that, +unrestrained, wandered about the streets, over the +houses, in and out of the windows, apparently the +most respected denizens of this most holy city. To +kill a monkey is a most heinous sin in the eyes of a +Hindu! Did not Haunamon and his monkeys help +the great god Ram and rescue his wife Sita when +she had been carried off by his rival? Besides, +these animals are surely some Hindu's beloved dead. +Therefore no one in Sindabad ever touched or +harmed a monkey. When, however, the creatures +got so thick that life became unendurable, the people +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84"></a></span>would entice a crowd of them into a great basket +and carry them off to the forest and let them +loose there. But this did not happen often, because +the native of India will put up with well-nigh unendurable +conditions rather than break through +established custom and perform an unusual task.</p> + +<p>As they had looked upon the monkey-infested +city, Mrs. Burbanks had wondered aloud if the +animals would venture as far as their bungalow, but +her husband had assured her that they were much +too far from the city and the bazaars for that. But +the sight of the animals had taken off the keen edge +of their satisfaction in their new home and womanlike +Mrs. Burbanks had worried about the matter +until a week had passed without the appearance of +any such company in the compound. Then she had +felt better and both of them had forgotten all about +the monkeys. However, the very next morning +after her husband's departure a strange running and +jumping on the roof had awakened Mrs. Burbanks, +who, peering cautiously from the window of her +roof-bedroom, a room which the most fortunate of +India's foreign residents consider a requisite of their +bungalows for the hot weather, she had seen a couple +of big monkeys sporting across the roof. And from +that moment it had kept up: monkeys here; +monkeys there; monkeys everywhere, poking their +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85"></a></span>inquisitive fingers and noses into everything in the +compound except the house itself. Into the house +they had not ventured and even on the verandas the +family had felt secure from intrusion until now; +but now one had actually jumped into the rear +veranda and stolen a piece of cake from Marjory's +hand.</p> + +<p>"This is too much! Something must be done!" +said Mrs. Burbanks again aloud but in a more decided +tone, as she saw three of the brown creatures +playing tag across the rose-bed.</p> + +<p>Just then the sound of horses' feet upon the road +came to her ears; the monkeys vanished; and Mrs. +Burbanks forgot her annoyance in greeting her +husband as he drove up in a covered gari, shunning +the light even of the setting sun.</p> + +<p>Mr. Burbanks looked tired as he superintended the +carrying in of his luggage and the paying of the +gariwala, who, of course, tried to insist upon a larger +fare than the correct one handed him. He seemed +glad to stretch out at once in a big chair and take a +cup of tea from his wife's hand, while he listened +drowsily to her account of the happenings of the +week of separation. Little Marjory came out for her +petting soon and clambered upon the arm of his +chair. Smoothing his hair, she wove admiring +remarks upon her father's appearance and her gladness +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86"></a></span>at his return into an account of her recent experience +with the monkey.</p> + +<p>"Father dear," she said, turning his head with a +chubby hand on each side of his chin. "Father +dear, I'm so glad you have come home. Now you +must look right at me for I've something very +'portant to tell you. Father, a monkey"—her eyes +got big and round, "a monkey jumped down from +the tree—— Oh, father! What funny eyes you've +got!" and she stopped her story with a little squeal +to look at his eyes which he had made very round in +imitation of her own when she had mentioned the +monkey. Then not satisfied with just looking at +such "funny" eyes, Marjory pulled them up at the +corners to see how they would look that way. After +a moment's critical survey, she shook her head and +went on with her story. "The monkey jumped +down from a tree. Ayah had just given me a piece +of cake and—— Why, father, what a pretty +necktie you've got! I never saw that one before." +With pats and pulls she spent some time endeavouring +to arrange the "pretty necktie" before going on +with her story. "And"—she began again with a +lingering look at her last twist at the tie, "that +monkey jumped down from the tree right at me and +grabbed my cake and ran away."</p> + +<p>She paused again and inspected her sleepy looking +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87"></a></span>father. "I b'lieve," she said as her eye ran slowly +up and down her father's white-clad figure, "I b'lieve +I'd like monkeys better if they wore white. Do +monkeys ride on railway trains? Did they keep you +awake last night as they did mother? You look so +sleepy, father dear, that I am sure they did."</p> + +<p>Mr. Burbanks, somewhat awakened by the incongruous +remarks of his daughter, laughed and said, +"I've never met a monkey on a railway train yet. +But weren't you afraid of the one you saw?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes. I cried and ran to mother but I'm not +afraid any more now for mother said you wouldn't +let them hurt me." And Marjory cuddled down in +his arms.</p> + +<p>"See, there is one in that tree there now and I'm +not afraid," she said after a moment and, raising her +head from his arm, pointed towards a tree a little to +the right, where was a large monkey jumping from +bough to bough with a tiny baby monkey clinging +fearlessly beneath her.</p> + +<p>The father and the little girl watched the monkey +and her baby with great interest until the ayah came +and took Marjory in to bed.</p> + +<p>Throughout dinner and the evening Mrs. Burbanks +told of their troubles with the monkeys during +her husband's absence and urged him to do +something to drive them away.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88"></a></span></p><p>But at the close of the evening all the satisfaction +she received was this very masculine reply to all of her +urgings: "You are simply nervous over them. I +don't believe they will do any harm. In fact they +seem to me to be rather interesting creatures. That +one out there on the lawn this afternoon appeared +perfectly harmless and playful. Besides they are +sacred animals and we might make the Hindus very +angry if we should touch them." And with a yawn +Mr. Burbanks started for bed.</p> + +<p>When Mrs. Burbanks saw that all of her conversation +had not impressed her husband with the urgency +of the situation, unusual woman that she was, +she said no more, but wisely left the matter to time. +Even when they were awakened at an early hour the +next morning, she did not say a word, but listened +with relish to the remarks which issued from the curtained +bed beside her own.</p> + +<p>Since Mr. Burbanks' departure his wife had paid +no attention to his office, as her servants could be +trusted to keep things clean and in order. Therefore, +when he came to her a little later in the morning +with complaints about the condition of his desk, +she was extremely annoyed. His inkstand had been +tipped over; his blotting-pad was torn; his pens +were lying scattered about the room; and the books +on the table were all in confusion. The servants declared +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89"></a></span>that all had been in perfect order the night +before. The ayah said that Marjory had not +entered the room. So Mrs. Burbanks, after inspecting +the strange confusion, was about to leave the +room in perplexity when she chanced to glance at +one of the high windows. Quickly, with a smile +upon her lips and a twinkle in her eye, she motioned +to her husband to come from the veranda +where he had retired after finding the disorder in his +study. His eyes followed hers to the window and +there he saw a monkey watching them intently from +the small window sill.</p> + +<p>"Don't stare at him or he may spring at you," +cautioned Mrs. Burbanks. "Monkeys are just the +opposite to most animals. You cannot treat one or +control him in the same way, for it angers him to +have you look him in the eye. The servants all tell +me that."</p> + +<p>As they turned away, the bearer entered the +room. To his wife's amusement, Mr. Burbanks addressed +him fretfully. "Boy, can't you drive these +monkeys away? They are beginning to be a nuisance."</p> + +<p>"Me touch a monkey!" The usually obedient +boy raised his hands in horror.</p> + +<p>During the dialogue the monkey had scuttled +away. So the high window was closed by the long +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90"></a></span>bamboo pole, for—"The monkeys must be kept +out even if the ventilation is interfered with," said +the head of the house.</p> + +<p>After breakfast the post brought a package of +home letters and, although it was the middle of the +morning, Mr. Burbanks took a while off, after his +week of strenuous work, to listen to home news. He +laid himself in a comfortable chair preparatory to listening +to his wife's reading, for he always preferred +to hear her comments and exclamations as she read +aloud than to read the letters himself. Mrs. Burbanks +seated herself at the table beside him and, although +a young woman, put out her hand to take +up the reading glasses which invariably lay by her +sewing basket.</p> + +<p>"Why, my glasses aren't here!" she exclaimed +in a tone of annoyance.</p> + +<p>A search followed but no glasses could be found. +After a while, in despair, Mrs. Burbanks handed the +letters to her husband and prepared to be herself the +listener, a situation which neither really enjoyed. +But scarcely had Mr. Burbanks reached the +second page of the first letter when an exclamation +of surprise from his wife stopped the reading +and he found her looking with laughing eyes +at a spot high up on the wall. There, hanging +by the bows from the moulding, were the spectacles. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91"></a></span>With one voice the two exclaimed: "A +monkey!"</p> + +<p>The boy was called and the spectacles were soon +rescued from the dangerous place where they had +evidently been hung with great care, for they were +uninjured.</p> + +<p>Although this was but a trifling incident, Mr. +Burbanks was disturbed by the impertinence of the +"ugly beasts." But his wife made no comments on +the encounters of the morning, going on with her +work in silence, although she had to hang her head +to hide her smiling lips at some of his muttered remarks +when he returned from an attempt to clear up +the papers on his office desk. One valuable document +was badly blotted with ink and a letter of the +greatest importance he had been able to read only +after patching together the torn bits gathered from +the rug.</p> + +<p>Mr. Burbanks was plainly annoyed but his annoyance +grew to fear in the early afternoon when, in +passing by the dining-room door, he happened to +look in. Marjory had slipped into her mother's chair +and with a big napkin around her neck was about to +eat a luscious guava which lay on the plate before +her. Mr. Burbanks was just on the point of calling +out something in play to his little daughter, when a +quick motion on the wall behind her attracted his +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92"></a></span>attention. Afraid to move or speak for fear of bringing +greater danger to the child, the father watched in +silence. An immense monkey slid down the wall +and jumped into the chair beside the little girl, with +his eye on the fruit before her. The child, +frightened, shooed with her handkerchief at the beast, +who, turning his eyes upon her, showed his teeth +and snarled. The man held his breath; but the +child, shoving the plate of fruit towards the animal +quickly slipped from her chair and ran, unharmed, +out of the room. In a second the monkey had +seized the guava and was gone through the high +window.</p> + +<p>That was the last straw. No one could live in +such danger! Mr. Burbanks went back to his study +and called the boy, but he did not tell his wife what +he had seen.</p> + +<p>"Can you drive the monkeys away?" he asked +the boy again.</p> + +<p>"Me no touch monkeys. Me afraid. Monkeys +belong gods," was the reply he received.</p> + +<p>The gentleman could see that no help was to be +had from his servants and he realized that he himself +must move cautiously or he might bring the wrath of +the Hindu city upon him. Therefore he thought +the matter over carefully and decided that first of all +after it had become dark he would fire off his pistol +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93"></a></span>and perhaps frighten the monkeys away without +harming them. So, as soon as night had come and +all were in bed, he told his wife what he intended to +do. She was overjoyed at his quick conversion to +her views, for she did not know even then of +Marjory's experience, as the child, soon forgetting +it in her play, had not mentioned it to her mother.</p> + +<p>Mr. Burbanks stepped out upon the roof and after +a moment's pause fired his pistol into a clump of +trees at a little distance from the bungalow. A +sharp, shrill, almost human cry came from the tree +and then all was still. Even the chokidar, already +asleep, did not seem to have heard the shot.</p> + +<p>"Well, I've killed one, I guess," Mr. Burbanks said +as he came back into the room. "That is too bad! +I hope the natives won't mind. But it is over now +and we need not worry. If they do make a fuss we +will just have to face the music, that's all. Probably +it will drive the animals away effectually, if one of +them is killed. I most sincerely hope so."</p> + +<p>There was quiet throughout the night, although +Mrs. Burbanks lay awake listening for trouble as +women will. But in the early morning, just as she +had at last fallen into a light sleep, they were both +awakened by the usual noise of running and jumping +on the roof. With an exclamation of great annoyance +Mr. Burbanks sprang up and opened the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94"></a></span>shutters of the door. He stood there in silence for a +minute before he spoke again and then he called his +wife softly to come and look out. There, on the +roof, stood a female monkey and before her lay a +tiny, baby monkey, dead, with a hole in its breast. +The mother patted it with her paw; she stroked it; +then she ran around it and jumped up and down as +if to attract its attention. Then she took it up and +put its arms about her and started to spring away, +evidently expecting it to cling beneath her as it had +always done; but the little thing fell limply back +upon the roof. Again and again the mother tried, +with the infinite patience of a mother. But finally, +with a cry of despair, she picked the baby up in her +arms and, squatting down, rocked to and fro, moaning +and moaning. The servant, bringing up the +chota hazri, made a noise at the foot of the stairs. +The monkey, with an almost human look of woe, +glanced around at the sound and the Burbanks, +watching from the shuttered door, saw the agonized +expression on her face, as she sprang to her feet and +with the dead baby still clasped tightly in her arms +leaped away among the tree tops.</p> + +<p>With tears in her eyes Mrs. Burbanks turned to +her husband. "You won't shoot another, will you?"</p> + +<p>"No, my dear, we'll move before I use the gun +again. But it seemed to be a choice between her +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95"></a></span>baby and mine and, of course, I am glad that it was +hers," Mr. Burbanks replied. Then he told his wife +of Marjory's experience.</p> + +<p>But the Burbanks did not have to move, for the +monkeys disappeared. Since her parents never told +Marjory why they had gone, she watched for them +for a long time and ate her cakes in haste lest "a +naughty monkey might snatch 'em."</p> + +<p>One day a short time after their disappearance +Marjory received a present from her father of a little +black dog. When she playfully asked him why he +had bought her the dog, expecting that he would +say because she had been such a good girl, he said, +"Because monkeys are afraid of dogs."</p> + +<p>"Why, how funny!" she exclaimed. "You +bought me a mongoose because snakes are afraid of +mongooses and now I have a dog because monkeys +are afraid of dogs. What pet will you buy me next, +father dear?"</p> + +<p>"I will have to live in India a little longer before +I can answer that question, my daughter." And, +wondering what unexpected danger would next +assail his child in this strange land, he swung her up +on his shoulder and, as it was sunset, carried her +tenderly into the house to her waiting ayah, followed +by the dog—a tiny, but sufficient guard against the +encroachments of the tribe of Haunamon.</p><hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96"></a></span></p><h2 class="story"><a name="VII" id="VII"></a><abbr title="7">VII</abbr><br /> +In Ways Mysterious</h2> + +<h3><abbr title="1">I</abbr></h3> + +<p>The bare audience room of old Boyle +Avenue Church was almost empty; only a +few of those who had been present at the +afternoon service still lingered, one little knot by the +door, another near the altar rail. This is not the +church where the real Europeans meet to worship +God, you know, nor is it even one of the worshipping +places of the semi-European population of +Bombay. It is the oldest building of our mission +property and belongs to our native church. It is, +therefore, all the church home to-day that three +separate congregations can boast, our Marathi, +Gujarati, and Hindustani congregations.</p> + +<p>It is a big, barn-like building situated in a thickly +populated part of the city which, just now, is largely +occupied by Parsis. But although it is old and bare +and far away from most of our native converts, they +travel the long distances from their various quarters +and attend its services faithfully.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 239px;"> + <a name="illus10" id="illus10" href="images/illus10.png"> + <img src="images/illus10-tb.png" width="239" height="400" alt="Indian woman" /> + </a> + <br /> + <span class="caption">"I HAVE A BEAUTIFUL WIFE, AS FAIR AS YOUR OWN, SAHIB"</span> +</div> + +<p>I tell you my heart glowed that afternoon as I sat +upon the platform and saw that room filled to overflowing. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97"></a></span>Not only were the wooden benches +crowded, but people sat in the aisles and stood +around the walls. Our Sunday afternoon congregation +is usually just the Marathis only, and does not +occupy more than a third of the room, but this day +it was a union service of all our people to be conducted +in two languages only, as the Marathi and +Hindustani languages are near enough alike to be +intelligible to both. And why was this great meeting +held? That was what thrilled me I suppose and +broke me all up so that when it came my turn to +speak, I really just couldn't and stood there like a +big baby and cried. But the folk were kind to me +and joined me in my tears and when all I could +falter was, "Good-bye, God bless you all!" they just +fell upon their knees and such prayers went up for +my speedy restoration to health and return to India +that by the time we rose from our knees I felt better +already.</p> + +<p>They did not ask me to say anything more from +the platform, but at the close of the service men, +women, and children gathered about me for a last +personal word. You see my health had failed because +of the climate of Northwest India and because +of the burdens that each of our missionaries +has to bear (this isn't complaint, but just fact) and so +I had been ordered home. That part wasn't bad, for +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98"></a></span>the prospects of seeing home again, that meant +America, looked pretty good to me! Think of seeing +a snow-bank after the one hundred and twenty +degrees in the shade in which I had scorched for +years! Think of drinking cool, unboiled water right +from the tap, and all you wanted of it! Think of +being able to eat fresh, uncooked vegetables without +fear of cholera! Think of being able to do all those +things which are so delectable at home but so foolhardy +in India! The going home part was all right +but the part that wasn't all right—— It's hard to +talk about that part. The doctors said that I probably +could never go back to India! Never go back +to India again! Never go back to the people and +work I loved! I tell you it took all the manhood I +had to meet that blow with a smiling face and turn +the other cheek.</p> + +<p>But I started to tell you, not about myself at all, +but about Shama Bhana. As I sat on the platform +that afternoon I singled out his face among those of +the men standing by the windows at the right +nearest the altar. Shama Bhana is a Brahmin and +when I have said that I have told you that he is a +man of proud, distinguished appearance and with an +intellectual capacity of the highest order that India +boasts. I have neglected to say that Shama Bhana +is a rich Brahmin.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99"></a></span></p><p>I had known this man for several years and we +were good friends. I had talked religion with him +by the hour and I felt that he believed in Christ and +in our faith. But I had never been able to bring +him one inch, as it seemed to me, towards forsaking +his old faith and accepting ours publicly. As I saw +his face there that afternoon and knew that he had +come to say good-bye to me, perhaps forever, I +longed to hear him confess Christ before I left India. +I longed to know that he had thrown his wonderful +powers upon the side of our warfare in that country +where his influence would be so great.</p> + +<p>The meeting came to an end at last and the crowd +that had gathered to say good-bye to the sahib and +to wish him "Godspeed" had done so and were gone +to their homes, all but two little companies of people +still gathered in the church, as I have said before.</p> + +<p>In all my farewells I kept my eye on Shama +Bhana and I noticed that he was still in the little +group by the door. Finally I managed to separate +myself from the company near the altar rail and +started towards the door. Shama Bhana did not +come to meet me but I saw him step a little aside +from the others as if giving me a chance to speak to +him privately. I availed myself of the opportunity +at once.</p> + +<p>I went directly to him, holding out my hand, and, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100"></a></span>Brahmin though he was, he took it, his eyes full of +tears.</p> + +<p>"Sahib, it breaks our hearts to have you go," he +said simply.</p> + +<p>"Shama Bhana," I replied, "it breaks my heart to +go without having heard you confess the name of +Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour."</p> + +<p>He looked at me without a start or quiver just as +if he had been expecting me to say that very thing. +"Shama Bhana," I went on, looking straight into his +face and into his eyes, which steadily returned my +look, "Shama Bhana, you do believe in Jesus Christ, +do you not?"</p> + +<p>"Sahib, no longer will I refuse to answer that +question to you, since you are going away from us, +perhaps forever. Sahib, I believe in Jesus Christ. +There is nothing in Hinduism or Brahminism that +can compare with His life and character. There is +nothing that can compare with His teachings. I believe +in God, the Father, and in Jesus Christ, the +Son; and I love them, as you, Sahib, have taught +me to do."</p> + +<p>My heart swelled with joy and gratitude.</p> + +<p>"Then will you confess your faith and your +love?" I asked him, hoping that I might see him +baptized before I sailed for I coveted him for the +work in Bombay.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101"></a></span></p><p>His face clouded. "That, Sahib, I cannot do. I +have confessed to you, knowing that you will not +tell what I have told you here in India. But I cannot +acknowledge my faith to any one else."</p> + +<p>Could it be that I had put too great confidence in +this man's courage and strength? I was disappointed +but I could scarcely credit my own disappointment +and I probed deeper.</p> + +<p>"Is it that you fear to lose your material possessions, +Shama Bhana, that you fail to claim the spiritual +ones?" I asked him.</p> + +<p>He drew himself up and looked at me in righteous +scorn. "Yes, if I should confess my belief in Christ, +I would lose my wealth, and it is great; but what +would I care for that! I am young. I am strong. +I could earn my way and my family would not starve. +No, Sahib, it is not the fear of the loss of money that +hinders me." But as he saw the troubled look upon +my face, he added, "I will tell all, Sahib, and then +you yourself shall judge if I could act otherwise.</p> + +<p>"Sahib, I have a mother. You have never seen +her for you cannot enter our homes as your wives +can, but the memsahib has met her. That mother +knows that I have talked long and earnestly with +you. She knows that I have read much of the doctrine. +She knows, too, that I no longer make offerings +to the idols, and she fears that my heart inclines +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102"></a></span>to this new creed. Sahib, my mother a short time +ago took me out into our courtyard and pointed to +the well that is in the middle of the square. She +said to me, 'Shama Bhana, my son, the day you become +a Christian, that day I will throw myself down +that well.' And, Sahib, she would do it!"</p> + +<p>And I knew that she would. I could say nothing. +I could only look at him with love and sympathy in +my heart.</p> + +<p>"And, Sahib, that is not all," he continued. "I +have a beautiful wife and a son, as fair as your own, +Sahib. I love my wife. I love my son. But, +Sahib, the day I confess Christ publicly these two, +whom I love more than life, will be taken from me +and I shall never see them again.</p> + +<p>"Sahib, would Jesus Christ wish me to cause the +suicide of my mother and the separation from me +forever of my wife and child? It is these two things +and these only that keep me from public confession +and baptism."</p> + +<p>I could answer nothing. I could only hold his hand +and say, "Pray, Shama Bhana; Christ alone can tell +you your duty. And He will make it plain to you, +if you leave it all to Him. I will pray for you too +as long as I live or, if it may please God to permit it, +until I see you again here in Bombay."</p> + +<p>With the hand-clasp of brothers we parted: he, a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103"></a></span>Christian in heart but a Brahmin by profession, went +home to his wife and boy and the old mother, strong +in her faith; and I came to the homeland. I haven't +told you his real name nor can I and keep faith with +him, for, although Bombay is thousands of miles away, +words when once spoken may travel far. But I have +told you a true story. May I add a happy conclusion +to at least one part of the theme? I am going back +to India! Thank God! My health has been restored. +When I reach Bombay shall I find Shama Bhana still +a Brahmin or a confessed follower of Christ? That is +the question that is on my heart.</p> + +<h3><abbr title="2">II</abbr></h3> + +<p>Well, well, well! To think that I should actually +have you with me here in Bombay! Why, I can +hardly believe it is real! Don't I look well and +strong? That doctor at home almost worked miracles +for me with his medicines. My, but it's good +to be back in the harness again! The pull has to be +long and steady and sometimes the straps rub or the +collar galls or the load drags heavily, but it's great +work. I am keeping well, too, and I'm happier than +three years ago I thought I would ever be again in +this world.</p> + +<p>What, man, you've only one day to give me in +Bombay? And then you've got to race on or that +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104"></a></span>business venture will fall through! Oh, these globe-encircling +Americans who try to see the world and +its sight as do birds on the wing! Why, this is only +an aggravation, Dick! I'd almost rather you +wouldn't have come at all than to give me just one day.</p> + +<p>No, you aren't going back either! You know +that I didn't really mean what I said, for just the +sight of your face has done me a world of good already +and before the day is over I will show you +some sights which I dare say will do your heart +good. But in the meantime, I warn you, I shall +talk every minute of the time to make up for all the +days that I can't have you.</p> + +<p>Let me see—we'll go first to visit our day-schools +and call upon our preachers; then we'll drop into +Boyle Avenue Church for a prayer-meeting; then we'll +go to see Shama Bhana; and this evening I'll take you +to a street service. It all sounds prosaic, perhaps, +because I've used hackneyed American terms, but +for a man who has been but one day in India there +won't be anything prosaic about it.</p> + +<p>Do you remember, Dick, what I told you men +back home last year about Shama Bhana, the man +we're going to see this afternoon?</p> + +<p>It will be quite a long story to tell you how it +came out but I will, for we've got quite a little car +ride ahead of us to reach Parel where we are going +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105"></a></span>first to see such a school as you never laid eyes on +before, half-naked children in a palm-leaf hut. But +let me tell you, those children know more Scripture +than your boy and girl do, I am sure.</p> + +<p>Well, about Shama Bhana. You know I told you +that before I left for home he had confessed to me +privately that he believed in Christ but he could not +be baptized because his mother threatened to commit +suicide on the day he should become a Christian and +because on that same day his wife and child would +be taken from him forever. All I could do was to +tell him to continue in prayer and that God would +lead him.</p> + +<p>About six months after I had left Bombay, very +suddenly Shama Bhana's mother died. That very +day, before the funeral rites had been performed, +Shama Bhana appeared at Deal's door and asked for +baptism. Of course Deal did not know much about +the case, as his work is largely with the Marathis; so +he had to go all over the situation with the Brahmin +and make proof of his belief and sincerity.</p> + +<p>His belief seemed genuine and when it came to a +proof of his sincerity, Shama Bhana told his story. +"Now my mother is dead," he concluded. "I could +not come before, for it would have been murder and +that is forbidden in the Bible. She died but an hour +ago and I came at once."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106"></a></span></p><p>"Will you lose your property now?" asked Deal.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes. I will not have an anna above what +I now carry in my purse. But that is no hardship."</p> + +<p>"Will they turn you out of the household at +once?" Deal went on, needlessly probing deeper into +the fresh wounds in the man's heart, but poor Deal +did not seem to understand.</p> + +<p>"That is practically done already, Sahib," the +Brahmin answered. "As soon as I heard that my +mother was dead this morning, I kissed my wife +and baby good-bye while they still slept and came +to you, for I know that when I return they will be +withheld from my sight and I shall never see them +more." Shama Bhana was overcome for a moment, +Deal said, and then he went on quietly. "Christ +says that whoever will not leave wife and child for +His sake is not worthy of Him. I could not bring +them with me for you know the way the Hindu oftentimes +takes vengeance; for a few days all would have +gone well; then suddenly they would have sickened +and died a mysterious death. Sahib, I love them too +well to bring death to them and so I left them. Indeed, +I have left all for Christ, Sahib. Will you not +baptize me?"</p> + +<p>Deal baptized him at once and then asked what he +could do to help him.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107"></a></span></p><p>Shama Bhana replied, "Nothing, thank you +kindly, Sahib. I will find work at once. I will not +starve. Yes, Sahib, there is something you can do +for me. Pray! Pray that some day I may get my +wife and child back again."</p> + +<p>Then Shama Bhana went away. He was a rich +man, the son of great possessions, as I have told you. +The news of his baptism spread fast and the fury of +his father was unrestrained. Shama Bhana was declared +to be dead and his effigy was burned with his +mother's body on the funeral pyre. His wife was +proclaimed a widow and treated as such; her head +was shaved and her jewels and beautiful garments +were taken from her.</p> + +<p>But Shama Bhana's Brahmin training stood him +in good stead, for he went on his way apparently +unmoved by all the indignities that were being +heaped upon him and his. He is a remarkably +bright man and so without much difficulty, for he +procured it the very day of his baptism, he got a fair +position as clerk in a big English office in the city. +His family later did everything they could to get +him ousted, by fair means and foul, but he had +proved his worth before they began their work against +him and so he was kept.</p> + +<p>That was the situation I found when I returned +from America. At my request Shama Bhana came +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108"></a></span>to live with me, but we saw little of each other, for +every moment when he was not in the office he was +out preaching or teaching and with power. But in +the brief intervals that I did see him I knew that his +heart was sore. I had left my own family in +America, you know, and he would look at their picture +upon my dresser. "Your wife is a Christian," he +would say. "And you will probably see them again +in a couple of years. But my wife is a Hindu +widow!" Then he would turn at once into his own +room and I knew he had gone to his knees in prayer. +I would pray, too, both for him and his and for my +own. Though his case was, of course, immeasurably +harder than mine, still I thought I was pretty badly +off with thousands of miles of ocean rolling between +my family and me and with no definite knowledge as +to when we would see each other again, for the kiddies +must be educated, you know.</p> + +<p>Well, what if I am blowing my nose violently! +Man, they aren't here yet and what's more, they +aren't coming for another year.</p> + +<p>Well,—then came the pestilence; not the plague +or the cholera or any of those Asiatic diseases which +you folk over there hear so much about and really +know so little of; but the plain smallpox with which +you are at least so familiar that you run away as soon +as you hear the word pronounced. The smallpox is +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109"></a></span>usually with us here, more or less, all the time; but +somehow this season it was here in tenfold fury. It +swept over the city, but was worst in the section where +Shama Bhana's family lived. Several of our native +church workers had tried in vain to get entrance into +his house since the trouble had happened, but now +they walked right in and took possession unhindered, +for the father himself and every member of the family +were down with the disease and the servants had all +fled. Shama Bhana's wife, whom they found in a +dark chamber in the servants' quarters, had the worst +form of the disease because of the hunger and ill +treatment she had suffered since she had become a +mock-widow. Shama Bhana who had given up his +place at the office as soon as he heard of the situation +came at once to his wife's side, for there was no one +to object. And as day after day our faithful Hindustani +preacher and his wife worked over that household, +they preached Christ as they worked whenever +a mind was free enough from pain to receive the +message.</p> + +<p>Three of the sons died, but the rest of the family +soon began to show signs of recovery. The old +father, since his case had been the lightest, as he had +been vaccinated once years before in an English hospital, +recovered first. As he, in his weakness, lay +and watched the loving ministrations of the two +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110"></a></span>Christians and listened to their words, his heart +seemed to be touched.</p> + +<p>"Why do you do all this for me?" he asked one +day. "Are you immune?"</p> + +<p>The preacher's wife stood nearest him and she replied, +"I have had the disease but my husband never +has. We are doing it for Christ's sake, you know."</p> + +<p>Later he called the preacher to him. "Where is +Shama Bhana?" he whispered. "Has he had it +yet?"</p> + +<p>The preacher replied, "He is here just now with +his wife who is very ill. The night that you +were the worst he spent at your side. He has not +had the awful disease yet. Shall I call him to +you?"</p> + +<p>The preacher wondered how his words would be +received and feared that a violent rage would bring +back the old man's fever. But he only smiled faintly +and to the question shook his head and said, "It is +the wrath of Shama Bhana's God."</p> + +<p>He steadfastly refused to see his son and yet he +did not seem to be angry nor did he order him from +the home. In a few days when his strength had returned +nearly in full measure, he called the preacher +to him again and asked him to walk with him +through the house. So, leaning on the patient +preacher's arm, he went from room to room. In +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111"></a></span>every room with his feeble hands he tore down every +sign of Hinduism. The gods he took himself from +their shelves and ordered them to be thrown into the +well. When all the rooms except the servants' quarters +had been thus cleared he turned to the amazed +pastor and said:</p> + +<p>"Now call my son Shama Bhana and let me be +baptized in his presence, for now I believe as he has +taught me and from now on we will stand as Christians +together and our household shall be a Christian +household."</p> + +<p>But when the preacher went to summon Shama +Bhana and to tell him the good news, he found that +young man on the floor beside his wife's cot burning +with a high fever and showing every symptom of the +dread disease. So the baptismal service was postponed +while they worked to save Shama Bhana's +life. Two days later the pastor himself came down. +But as soon as I learned that the old man had been +converted I went at once to Shama Bhana. Before +very long we had there a household of well people, +and such a happy household! Words cannot describe +it.</p> + +<p>And so together since that time Shama Bhana, his +father, and not of less importance, his wife, have faced +the Hinduism of Bombay in a small but solid phalanx +for Christ. The influence of the conversion of that +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112"></a></span>rich, strong Brahmin family has been marvellous, as +you can imagine, and is increasing every day.</p> + +<p>We will go there this afternoon and see them all. +Even Shama Bhana's wife will greet you, for there is +no purdah in that home now and she will meet you +as modestly, graciously, and courteously as any lady +in America. God's ways are wonderful, aren't they? +But the most wonderful thing about it all in my mind +is that He always lets us poor, insignificant men help +in bringing His ways to pass. Had our simple, faithful +Hindustani pastor and his wife not been willing to +risk their lives for their love for Christ, probably +Shama Bhana's father would still be a Brahmin, his +wife, most likely, dead, and Shama Bhana himself +still an outcast.</p> + +<p>These are the romances of our work and they +serve to throw out against the dark background of +Hindustani life and social customs the capacity of +our Hindu cousins for an appreciative interpretation +of the Oriental Christ and their willingness to share +His life of heroic sacrifice on behalf of others. The +humblest of them frequently rises to acts of great +courage and chivalry.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 267px;"> + <a name="illus11" id="illus11" href="images/illus11.png"> + <img src="images/illus11-tb.png" width="267" height="400" alt="Elderly turbanned indian gentleman" /> + </a> + <br /> + <span class="caption">"THE HUMBLEST OF THEM FREQUENTLY RISES +TO ACTS OF GREAT COURAGE AND CHIVALRY"</span> +</div> + +<p>Well, here we are! You didn't just expect to see +grass huts under palm trees as a suburb of the great +city of Bombay, did you? And there are the +children gathered around the door of the schoolhouse +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113"></a></span>waiting for us. Aren't they beauties? Hadn't you +better take a picture of them to show to your boy at +home? Their dress isn't exactly American in style, +that is true; but it is comfortable, if it is rather exaggerated +in abbreviation.</p> + +<p>Salaam, boys! Salaam! Salaam!</p><hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114"></a></span></p><h2 class="story"><a name="VIII" id="VIII"></a><abbr title="8">VIII</abbr><br /> +The Way to Happiness</h2> + +<p>With a shrill whistle and a clanging of her +engine bell, the train for Calcutta pulled +into the station at M——. "Coolie, +coolie!" with a decided accent on the second syllable, +came the well-known call as scantily-clothed men, +falling in beside the train, ran from the end of the +platform to the station entrance, with hands upon the +first and second-class carriage doors, lest other coolies +might get the jobs of carrying the heavy trunks and +earn the anna or two anna bits that they might have +had.</p> + +<p>With a cloth about the loins for decency's sake +and a turban on the head as a pad for heavy boxes, +otherwise naked, the brown coolie took possession of +the upper class compartments and in a minute or so +scores of them were filing away through the station +with heads laden with trunks, boxes, hat-boxes, rolls +of bedding, lunch-baskets, baskets of fruit, and every +conceivable sort of parcel that an Anglo-Indian or a +tourist carries with him in the compartment of an +Indian train; for, although luggage vans are run on +these trains, the charge for excess luggage is so great +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115"></a></span>that people crowd as much under the seats, on the +seats, and over the seats as possible. As an individual +rarely travels with less than ten parcels the +platform swarmed with carriers.</p> + +<p>While the first and second class passengers in topis +and linen suits were thus being taken out of their +carriages and a fresh lot, also in topis and linen, were +being put in, in no undue haste, for all Indian trains +stop fifteen minutes everywhere; while that end of the +platform, therefore, was in comparative calm, the +other end where the third-class carriages stood was +in an uproar.</p> + +<p>Railroad travel is cheaper nowhere in the world +than in India. The traveller can ride in a compartment +for twelve persons by day, six by night, on +leather cushions, with toilet conveniences including +even a shower bath at close hand, for the matter of +one cent a mile; or he can pay about two cents a +mile and ride on cushions a little softer, with a trifle +more floor space for stacking his bird-cages and bandboxes +and with furnishings a little glossier—first +class; or he can have a ride for almost nothing, if +he will be content to herd with the natives in a coach +with wooden seats, a coach that accommodates from +twenty to fifty, the number depending on the +packing.</p> + +<p>Since the fare is so small and since the Hindu +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116"></a></span>religion, as also the Mohammedan, teaches the +efficacy of pilgrimages, the people now make their +pilgrimages, as far as possible and wherever possible, +by train. Their religions have thus so accustomed +the natives to the trains that they seem to be always +travelling. The richer ones may go first or second +class. But the majority of them go third and, since +the first person in gets the best seat in these third-class +cars while others crowd in as long as there is an +inch to spare, there is a mad scramble for first, +second, third, fourth, and fifth place at the third-class +carriage doors.</p> + +<p>So it was as the Calcutta train pulled into M——. +Men with bundles and women with babies, more +bundles, water jars, and bags of food swarmed into +the third-class coaches. In a remarkably short time, +however, the people who had wanted to get off were +gone with their bundles, trailing women, and dangling +children, and the lot going towards Calcutta +had stowed away inside the carriages, on top of each +other or anywhere that they could, their bundles, +their clinging women, and their crying children; +and still there were several minutes before time for +the train to pull out. Then the through passengers, +since, as the newcomers were settled, their own seats +were secure, could get out upon the platform. A +bearded Mohammedan with flowing robes and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117"></a></span>turbaned head, spreading a mat on the platform beside +the car and slipping out of his shoes, knelt +three times and said his prayers towards Mecca, unmindful +of the crowd around him. At the hydrant +a good Hindu carefully washed out his mouth +preparatory to partaking of his noonday meal; while +men of all castes walked up and down beside the +cars, resting their cramped limbs. From the car +windows many a braceleted arm reached out a brass +water jar to be filled by the Mohammedan water-carrier. +And at other windows Hindu women +waited for the Hindu water-carrier to fill their jars so +that they might have water for the journey.</p> + +<p>The sweetmeat venders were unusually busy, for +it was just about noon and Indian sweets are to +native Indians really a staple article of diet instead of +a confection as in other countries. They are made +of wholesome food stuffs; sometimes they are +shaped like pretzels; sometimes, rolled into balls; +sometimes, chopped into flakes. But all kinds are +well liked and the boy, passing along the trainside +with the flat basket of sweets upon his head, just in +range of the carriage windows, was kept busy dealing +out his wares until he had a light load left and a +hand full of coppers. The baskets of the pretty +green pan were also many packages lighter when +the gong on the platform sounded.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118"></a></span></p><p>At the sound of the gong the through passengers +scrambled back into their places; all but the Mohammedan +faithful, who, having deliberately slipped +his feet back into his shoes, carefully folded up his +prayer mat, and with no loss of dignity climbed +slowly into his compartment.</p> + +<p>The guard raised his hand.</p> + +<p>The train started.</p> + +<p>But in the ladies' compartment of the third class +the confusion continued after the start, for three +naked babies were climbing over their mothers and +crying; an old woman was rummaging over her +treasures which had been tied up in a white cloth +and raising a wild lamentation because she had lost +an anna; and two young beauties in gay saris, with +jangling bracelets, clanking anklets, and flashing +necklaces, were chewing pan very vigorously and +chattering in shrill voices, displaying as they did so +mouths most beautifully reddened with the pan juice +and teeth most artistically blackened by the same +delicacy.</p> + +<p>But after a short time the babies, either satisfied +with their natural diet or at least appeased with cold +chapatis or bits of sweets handed out by tired +mothers, became quiet. The old woman, exhausted +by her unavailing search and grief, was reduced to a +quiet mumbling and a hopeless picking at her +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119"></a></span>bundle. And the two young women became less +noisy in a close comparing of jewels. There was +enough of calm, therefore, so that the travellers +could get a glimpse of each other and see what sort +of company each was in.</p> + +<p>It was a motley crowd and one that broke many +of the laws of caste. It showed plainly how much +the railroad is doing to rid India of that curse. In +one corner sat a Brahmin woman, distinguishable by +the refined features of her class rather than the caste +mark upon her forehead, but too poor for the greater +privacy of a second compartment. Next to her, a +proximity which would have broken her caste at one +time, sat a Chumar woman. Next was a lady with +the white head-cloth and one-coloured sari of the +Parsi. And beside the Parsi was a tiny high caste +girl, most bejewelled and bedecked, wearing the +necklace which showed that although she was but +eight or nine years old she was married. Evidently +the child-wife was taking the journey with her +mother-in-law, for the woman next beyond her, +apparently of the same caste, would occasionally jerk +the little girl into her seat and scold her roundly +when she ventured to lean over to look out of the +window.</p> + +<p>When the train approached a way-station, the +blinds were drawn quickly lest a man should look +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120"></a></span>upon the women within, for, although none of them +were keeping purdah strictly, still most of these +women were careful in public not to subject themselves +unduly to the glances of men.</p> + +<p>As the blinds were lifted after the train left the first +small station, the light disclosed, huddled into a far +corner seat, a young woman wrapped in the coarsest of +white garments, with scarcely an ornament upon her +body and no caste mark upon her forehead. Her +face was shaded by the sari which she had drawn +close over her head, but out of the shadow peered a +pair of sad, wistful eyes. Her face was thin and her +hands, which clasped tightly upon her lap a carefully +wrapped bundle, were thin and rough as if with toil. +Her eyes were anxiously examining the faces in the +carriage. At every unusual noise or sudden jolt, they +would look frightened and she would clasp still more +closely the bundle in her lap. It was a bundle about +eighteen inches long, tied and double knotted most +carefully in a piece of coarse but clean white cloth. +The girl's white sari was also as clean as most Indian +white clothes ever look, washed in dirty water and +dried on the ground as they are. She was evidently +on some important journey and, as evidently, for the +first time on a train. The bundle which she carried +would not have been noticeable among such a myriad +of bundles as the carriage held, had she not guarded +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121"></a></span>it so closely, and, when any one changed a seat or +passed by her, shielded it with her arms.</p> + +<p>After comparative peace had reigned a little while, +the frightened look left the young woman's eyes and, +untying one corner of the bundle, which opening +showed still another wrapping within, she drew out +a cold chapati and ate it slowly as if to make it last +a long time. As she ate, her eyes met those of a +sociable looking, old, gray-haired woman, evidently +of low caste, who, sitting opposite between two high +caste women, was apparently longing to talk to some +one. As their eyes met, the older woman leaned +across the aisle and said to the young girl in Hindustani:</p> + +<p>"Where are you going?"</p> + +<p>The girl looked alarmed, as the question was +addressed her, but answered timidly, "To Benares. +Are you going there?"</p> + +<p>"No, but I am going almost as far as that. You +see I have been ayah to master's little boy and they +moved away and now they have sent for me to come +and I am going to be his ayah again." The old +woman's face beamed as she chattered. "I might +have gone long ago when they went, for they always +called me a fine ayah and always praised me to all of +their guests, but when they moved away to Allahabad +I did not want to leave my family. But my boy +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122"></a></span>went off to the city and—and—my little girl died; +so now I am glad to go." Her eyes had filled with +tears as she said that her little girl had died and at +the words the young woman involuntarily clutched at +the bundle in her lap.</p> + +<p>Just then the Brahmin woman in the corner +opposite got up to arrange her dress and moved +about in the aisle so that the conversation was interrupted. +And the two women got no further chance +to talk until the train pulled into a station and some +of the passengers getting out gave the old lady an +opportunity to slip into the seat beside the girl.</p> + +<p>"Where are you from?" she asked, resuming the +conversation at once.</p> + +<p>"From C——," the girl answered.</p> + +<p>"Are you a sweeper?" the old lady continued her +catechism. "Do you work at it?" she went on +without waiting for an answer. "There is lots of +money in that work, isn't there? I never had to +work at it, you know."</p> + +<p>The young girl looked at her frankly. "I don't +think so. I got two annas a day."</p> + +<p>"Oh, my! I get ten rupees a month!"</p> + +<p>The girl opened her eyes in surprise. "And what +do you do?" she questioned in return.</p> + +<p>"I am an ayah, I told you. All I have to do is to +take care of the little boy. He is a dear, good boy. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123"></a></span>I dress him in the morning and give him his breakfast +and watch him at play. I get his tiffin and then +put him to sleep. After he wakes up I dress him all +up fine and take him out in the compound in the +carriage and usually his mother walks with us a little +and then I give him an early supper and put him to +bed and sit in the room with him until his mother +comes up-stairs. Wouldn't you like to do that? It +just isn't work at all and yet I get ten rupees a month +for it."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I would like to! But I'd never get a chance +to do that," the girl said sadly.</p> + +<p>"Were you ever in a sahib's house?" the old +woman ambled on, seeing that the girl was really interested +and impressed. "It is a great, big place, as +big as that station almost," and the old woman +pointed out to a station at which they were just stopping.</p> + +<p>"My husband used to go to one sometimes," said +the girl, and, clutching at her bundle, her face grew +sad again.</p> + +<p>"You are a widow?" asked the other, although +she must have known from the girl's dress that she +was.</p> + +<p>"Yes, my husband has been dead two years." +She paused a moment and then as if she could restrain +herself no longer, as if the flood of her speech +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124"></a></span>had been loosened, she went on rapidly in a low but +intense tone. "Yes, for two years he has been dead. +He was not sick long. I was but a girl. I did not +know very much about it except that he was sick and +that they made offerings to the gods and did all they +could to cure him. But one day my mother-in-law +came to me and called me terrible names and told +me that if my husband died I would be to blame and +that awful things would happen to me. She frightened +me terribly and told me that I must not let him +die. So I crept away to the temple. I had no offering +to make except as I stole a handful of rice in +the bazaar and took that. I prayed and prayed. +At one temple the priests said that they would cure +him for ten rupees but I had no money and I was +afraid to go and tell my mother-in-law. A priest +at another shrine said that a little Ganges water +might help my husband and, as I turned away in despair, +for I did not know where the Ganges was, I +heard him say to a man standing there, 'When I die +I am going to the Ganges and die there so that my +bones may be thrown into the river and Mother +Gunga may hold them upon her bosom; then shall I +be forever happy.' But I had done all I could by +my prayers and so I crept back home to find my +husband—dead.—But I remembered what the priest +had said.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125"></a></span></p><p>"My mother-in-law beat me. She took my jewels +away from me. She shaved my head and drove me +from the house. But I got work as a sweeper and +for two years I have swept up the scrapings in the +streets and made fuel cakes. I never went back to +my husband's home."</p> + +<p>Her story told, to which the old woman had listened +with sympathy, the girl covered her face with +her sari and, clasping her bundle in her arms, sat +silent, shaking occasionally as with sobs.</p> + +<p>Finally the other woman put her hand upon the +girl's arm to soothe her. "What are you going to +Benares for?" she asked.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126"></a></span></p><p>"I am going to Benares," was the only answer the +girl made.</p> + +<p>Most of the women had left the carriage by this +time and night was coming on. The old lady +leaned over to the window and peered out through +the semi-darkness.</p> + +<p>"There is the Ganges River—Holy Mother +Gunga!" she cried.</p> + +<p>The girl started up and eagerly looked from the +window, too. "Is that the Ganges River?" she +asked and looked and looked until the last gleam of +the water was lost as the train sped on.</p> + +<p>"What are you going to Benares for?" the old +woman asked again.</p> + +<p>"I am going to Benares," the girl answered again +with a frightened stare, clutching her bundle.</p> + +<p>As there were but few passengers left, the two +women soon lay down at full length on the hard +benches and went to sleep. But the girl did not use +her bundle for a pillow as her companion had suggested +but lay with it in her arms.</p> + +<p>Before the sun was up the next morning, the +younger woman was awake and staring out with +frightened eyes as the train ran through a country +entirely strange to her. And when the old woman +woke up and announced that soon she must be getting +off, the girl's fear seemed to increase.</p> + +<p>"Is the Ganges River near here, too?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Why, I think so," the old woman replied and +her statement was confirmed by another woman in +the next seat.</p> + +<p>"Then I'll get off here with you," announced the +girl with a brighter look. "If the Ganges River is +here, this place should do as well as Benares, I think."</p> + +<p>The older woman looked astonished but offered +no objections to the girl's sudden change of plan.</p> + +<p>In a few minutes the train stopped at Allahabad +and again arose the mad confusion of a large railway +station at train time. But the old woman got out +safely, followed closely by the girl, holding her +bundle tightly in her arms.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127"></a></span></p><p>They stepped aside from the crowd and the old +woman looked at the younger in curiosity as to what +she would do here in Allahabad. The appearance +of the latter had suddenly changed. Her face was +eager and her eyes were bright.</p> + +<p>"Take me to the Ganges River quickly," she demanded, +"for I must throw these into the sacred +river," and she held out her bundle.</p> + +<p>"What is in it?" asked the old lady, eyeing +the strange bundle with a frightened look such +as the girl herself had worn until the excitement +of being near her goal had driven it from her +face.</p> + +<p>"I must throw them into the Ganges River," repeated +the girl. "They are my husband's bones," +she whispered eagerly, lowering her voice. "When +they burned his body I crept along and after all had +left I picked them out of the pile of ashes and here +they are!" she exclaimed triumphantly. "For two +years I have kept them near me day and night and +saved all my money to come to Benares to throw +them into the Ganges River that I might be forgiven +for his death and that he might have life and happiness +as the priest said. But if the Ganges River is +here, surely this place will do as well as Benares. I +am so tired! I am so tired of being a cursed +woman!" she sobbed, her excitement giving way to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128"></a></span>tears. "I want to be happy. Take me to the Ganges +River!"</p> + +<p>The old woman's expression had turned from +fright to astonishment as she heard what the bundle +contained; but at the girl's sobs her face grew sweet +with a motherly tenderness. She turned away as if +to think, murmuring to herself, "The memsahib will +surely forgive me if I come a little late. She would +like to have me help this poor child, I know, and perhaps +she might make her an ayah like me if I take +her with me. That would make the girl happy, indeed. +Yes, I will help her."</p> + +<p>Then she turned back to the girl. Tenderly taking +her free hand, for one still tightly clasped the +precious bundle, the old woman said, "Come, we will +find the way to the sacred river."</p> + +<p>Quickly the two went down the platform, now +somewhat thinned of the earlier crowd, and passed +through the station gate, the old woman still holding +the girl's hand and the girl still tightly holding the +bundle which was to be the price of life and happiness +to her.</p><hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129"></a></span></p><h2 class="story"><a name="IX" id="IX"></a><abbr title="9">IX</abbr><br /> +Bachelor Dreams</h2> + +<p>Caldwell-Sahib, opening his eyes, let +his head roll slowly over on his pillow. +As the veranda door came within his line +of vision the delicious drowsiness which had held +him was suddenly disturbed, for there stood, looking +out across the rows of potted plants to the +dry lawn beyond, a woman whom he had never +seen. For several moments he simply stared in +weakness. Then, trying to brush away the strange, +sickly haze which enveloped his brain, he let his eyes +rove over the room as far as he could without physical +effort. There in the corner was his desk. There, +hanging above it, was the picture of the Taj which he +had bought when Parsons had paid him a flying +visit from England and they had gone to Agra together. +Just to the right, out of the edge of his eye, +he could see the foot of his steamer chair and, extending +from beneath it, the hand-woven rug which +he himself had spent a week in buying from a native +dealer in Delhi, holding grimly to his first bid each day +as he had passed the shop on his constitutional until +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130"></a></span>a bargain had been struck the very day his train +pulled out. Those things certainly belonged to him, +but the woman did not. Where had she come from? +For there she was still as his eyes again reached the +door.</p> + +<p>His strangely tired mind was just getting to the +point of realizing what she looked like—that she was +tall and fair—when the woman turned her face +towards him and with a smile came to the bed.</p> + +<p>"So you are awake and better. That's good! +You will be all right now. Let me feel your pulse, +please," and pulling the omnipresent mosquito netting +aside, she laid a cool hand upon his wrist. "That +is all right too. Your pulse is normal. Isn't that +splendid!</p> + +<p>"Now, listen to me," she continued after a deft +fluffing of his pillows and a careful tucking in of the +netting. "I'm sorry, but you've got to be your own +nurse now. Your boy is frightened to death, but +he'll stay with you and do your bidding. You'll be +all right. I must go. Take one teaspoonful of this +every hour," and she lifted a tumbler from the table. +"At seven o'clock take half of this in the cup here," +and she brought a flowered teacup into view. +"Don't get up until you really feel strong enough to. +Have your boy give you broths to-morrow, an egg +the next day, and so on, getting back to your regular +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131"></a></span>diet by degrees. I guess you are used to being your +own nurse."</p> + +<p>She turned towards the door. "I'll get your boy +in but you will have to make him stay. I can't wait +to do that."</p> + +<p>She left the room, but soon returned followed +slowly and reluctantly by his "boy," only a boy in +Anglo-Indian nomenclature, for he was a tiny native +man about forty years of age, who was bowing +and salaaming but keeping as near to the door as +possible.</p> + +<p>"Come," said the lady in a low but compelling +tone. "Come. Come along quickly," she added a +trifle sharply as he lagged behind. "Aren't you +ashamed to have left your master when he was sick! +Now," for he had reached the bed by this time, +"lift the netting and take hold of the sahib's hand."</p> + +<p>"There!" she exclaimed as he touched the Englishman's +hand and took his own quickly away. +"There! You see it didn't hurt you. You haven't +caught the cholera. Now, do as your master tells +you; take good care of him and behave as a boy +should," and she was gone.</p> + +<p>Ah! Cholera! That explained it all to Caldwell. +So he had had the cholera, he—Caldwell—who had +served the government for fifteen years in India, had +taken every risk, and had considered himself immune! +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132"></a></span>That explained his extreme weakness, his befuddled +brain, and the unusual soreness of his +muscles. That explained the terror of his boy. But +it did not explain the woman. Where had she come +from? Who was she?</p> + +<p>For some time Caldwell thought over this interesting +matter, for it was easier just to think than to +question the shivering boy who was still crouching +as close to the outside door as possible. Who was +she? She was tall and thin; her face was very fine-featured +and intelligent. And she was an American. +He knew that last fact from her speech and from her +appearance, too, for although Caldwell never had +looked at ladies in his life, especially American +ladies, except when politeness absolutely compelled +him to, yet even he could not mistake the something +in the appearance that marks every American girl, +and,—yes, secretly approve, although his English +nature would not let him acknowledge it. And she +wasn't very old either!</p> + +<p>Suddenly a thought struck him, so suddenly and +such a thought that he almost started up in spite of +his weakness. There was only one other European +in Baihar besides himself and that was a missionary, +a woman,—a doctor, he had understood, and—an +American.</p> + +<p>"Boy," as strong a voice as a usually strong Englishman +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133"></a></span>could command after a fit of cholera demanded, +"was that the missionary?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Sahib, I got her. She's a doctor-memsahib, +master."</p> + +<p>"Boy, did you run away and leave me?" Caldwell +continued, remembering the words of the woman to +the boy and making his tone as sepulchral as possible +in order to frighten the man still more.</p> + +<p>"I ran to get the doctor-memsahib, master," +shivered out the unhappy fellow, ignoring in his +reply his later entire disappearance while the doctor-memsahib +was left for five hours to struggle alone +for Caldwell-Sahib's life.</p> + +<p>But Caldwell-Sahib, although suspecting the truth, +was in no state just then either by chastisement or +preaching to teach the beauty of courage and self-sacrifice. +So he sank back upon his pillow and gave +himself to thought.</p> + +<p>During the next few days, while his strength was +returning, Caldwell-Sahib had plenty of time to think +and, for the first time in his bachelor life, his thoughts +centred about a woman—for he knew cholera and he +knew that the doctor-memsahib had saved his life.</p> + +<p>The boy, emboldened by feeling no symptoms of +the dread disease in his own system, gradually took +up his accustomed duties and cared for his master's +wants in the quick, noiseless, and perfect way of the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134"></a></span>well-trained Indian servant that soothes a man's +soul. So for several days with the punkah swinging +over him the convalescent lay stretched out upon his +steamer chair, the very picture of comfort and pleasant +dreams. To have one's life saved by a woman +and a good-looking one, too, touches even a crusty +heart. But to find that this was the very woman +whom for a whole month he had thought of only +with contempt and disgust broke clear through the +crustiness of Caldwell-Sahib's heart and added a little +pleasurable anxiety to the tenderness engendered +within.</p> + +<p>One month before this time very suddenly the +government had sent him up to Baihar to look after +some matters which would consume about a year's +time. So having taken possession of the bungalow +built by the government for such official visits and +having moved up enough of his belongings to be +comfortable, Caldwell-Sahib had settled down for a +"dead" year such as so many government officials +live through in parts of India, as in duty bound. +Baihar, a city of about ten thousand inhabitants, is a +purely religious city, where no business is transacted +but religious business and where no pleasures are +indulged in but those of religion; those of the +Hindu religion being so vile that "Baihar" is almost +another name for Hell. Caldwell had expected to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135"></a></span>be the only European in that whole city of blackest +Hinduism; so the prospects of a year alone in such a +place had been, indeed, anything but inviting to an +Englishman who despised the natives and who could +find no pleasure in Indian life apart from the sports +of a large cantonment or the resources of a well-stocked +library.</p> + +<p>However, after he had been in Baihar but a few +days, he had heard that there was another European +in the city, a woman, an American missionary, who +for six years had lived alone in that horrible place in +order to bring Christian, medical help to the poor +women of that city, especially to the four thousand +Hindu widows devoted to temple worship and the +lusts of the priests. To say that Caldwell-Sahib +had been horrified at the thought of a lone woman +in that place would have put it too strongly, for he +was simply disgusted. He said that she must be +mad, certainly far beyond the realm of sense, let +alone common sense, to have undertaken such a +thing. This woman's presence in Baihar would not +make any difference with the beastly dullness of the +life ahead of him, that was certain, for he would have +nothing to do with her and he did not even want to +see her; for he hated women in general and this one +must be an especially objectionable specimen of the +species.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136"></a></span></p><p>But now Caldwell-Sahib had seen her and she was +sweet and wholesome to look upon. Now this very +woman had saved his life. If she had not been there +engaged in her foolish work, he would have died. +Therefore, he was full of regret for his former unkind +thoughts and he was, moreover, exceedingly +grateful, for he put considerable value on his life, did +Caldwell-Sahib, and to be less than grateful to +her who had saved it would be to prove himself less +than a man.</p> + +<p>During the days of convalescence the Englishman's +thoughts turned often to the probable experiences of +the six years that this sweet American woman had +spent alone in this "Hell." Even his stout English +heart recoiled at the mental pictures his mind conjured +up. He could see her threading her way alone +through the crowded bazaars where vile Hindu +priests, dirty shopkeepers, men red-faced with smallpox, +or hideous lepers must again and again have +jostled rudely against her. He saw her, unattended, +with difficulty passing the frenzied religious processions +which accompany the silver car of the great +god as it makes its sacred rounds, or being pushed to +the wall by a surging mass of religious devotees, +eager to reach the sacred river to bathe in its holy +waters. But the worst picture to him was of the +nights of those six years when unprotected she must +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137"></a></span>have crouched within her chamber in fright at the +awful and unholy confusion of night in a Hindu +city.</p> + +<p>"My——!" He pulled himself up short. "I +must not swear, for she is a missionary, but by—by—by +Oliver Cromwell, I'll save her from all that."</p> + +<p>The instinct of gratitude will assert itself and it is +easy for gratitude to pass over into affection and enduring +devotion. When the rescuer is a beautiful +and capable woman, who can measure the consequences? +All of Caldwell-Sahib's philosophy of +life was thrown into confusion. His complex nature +would no longer run according to his will. Staid, +cold, hard, matter-of-fact Englishman though he was, +his imagination played fantastic tricks with him and +so through all these days while his body was regaining +its lost strength, her face lived in his memory and +the memory gave him a warm and comforting sensation +about the heart, a sensation intensified in its delight +by the thought that she was probably thinking +about him, for so the old romance has run since the +beginning of the human drama.</p> + +<p>As soon as Caldwell-Sahib was able to get out, he +inquired his way to her home. He had an easy +time finding it, for everybody seemed to know where +she lived and every face brightened at her name. +But when he reached the compound and through the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138"></a></span>gate saw the plain but comfortable bungalow within, +his courage gave way and he turned back home. +However, he got into the habit of strolling around +that way towards nightfall and standing a few +minutes at the point of the wall nearest to what he +thought her window and watching the people who +came and went from her compound; but never on +these occasions did he catch a glimpse of her. As a +courageous and polite Englishman, he should have +gone in and thanked the good American lady for +having saved his life, but he had grown to feel that +there was only one way in which he wanted to +thank her and he had not yet reached the height of +courage where he could tell her how she had +wrecked his philosophy of life. So he lingered +around outside the compound walls and watched the +natives; "lucky beggars" he called them to himself, +as they came and went from a small, low building at +one side of the compound which he knew from appearance +must be her dispensary. Those who +passed him were lame and halt and, yes, even blind. +But they were all "lucky" in his sight because they +had been in her presence and had been speaking to +her.</p> + +<p>He overheard their remarks occasionally and now +it was: "It hurt awfully but she put her hand on +my head and took all the pain away;" or <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139"></a></span>"She gave +me the worst medicine to take, but since she said +'Take it!' I will;" and even the blind man said as +he passed, a strange light in his face, "She says to +come to-morrow and she will cut something in my +eyes and then she thinks I shall see again. Since +she says it will be all right, I am coming back to-morrow, +but I wouldn't believe any one else."</p> + +<p>Caldwell-Sahib's heart ached for the sweet, clean +American woman who must touch, heal, and minister +to such foul, dirty creatures. Every night as he +watched them he felt that he ought to go in and tell +her of his love and take her away from such a dreadful +life at once. Possibly she was wondering why he +had not come. How cruel he was to delay! But +every night home he would go again and put off the +visit, bachelor-like, until the next day.</p> + +<p>However fate took a hand in the affair at last. +One day a couple of months after his illness, as Caldwell-Sahib +was standing in the narrow bazaar with, +for a wonder, very few people about, he saw a lady's +topi above some sari-covered heads turn into the +street at the corner.</p> + +<p>Caldwell-Sahib could not conceal from himself +that his heart was beating with strangely quickened +throbs. This sight of the woman who had saved his +life and for weeks had filled his thoughts now +brought to him an overwhelming consciousness that +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140"></a></span>his bachelor dreams were at an end, that his hour +had come, the happiest of a man's life; for when a +man sees for the first time the light of love in the +eyes of the woman whom he loves, that is the +happiest hour of life. She came nearer. He could +hear her voice, low in Hindustani, addressing a +young native girl at her side.</p> + +<p>For a blissful moment he watched her approach, +saw the grace of her carriage, the pretty bend of her +head as she talked with the girl, the slender, strong +hands which had ministered to him and saved his +life. He saw also, in anticipation, the light in her +eyes and the blush upon her cheek when she should +see him.</p> + +<p>He stammered a good-morning. Strange how his +lips seemed to tremble!</p> + +<p>She glanced up.</p> + +<p>With unrecognizing eyes turned upon him, slightly +bowing a greeting in return, she passed on.</p> + +<p>As Caldwell-Sahib stared stupidly after her, he +heard the girl say: "That was the Inspector-Sahib +whose life you saved when he had the cholera," for +apparently the girl was astonished at the lady's uninterested +manner in the presence of such an important +official.</p> + +<p>Caldwell-Sahib did not hear the lady's reply, as +she and the young Hindu girl passed on.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141"></a></span></p><p>"Oh, is that he? I had forgotten about him. I +had such a good laugh afterwards at the surprised +expression on his face when he saw me in his house +the morning he regained consciousness that I ought +to have remembered him. We must turn here, my +dear, for I must get back to my work at once."</p> + +<p>So the two turned down a side street which led +to the doctor's office where at least thirty dirty, but +well-remembered and beloved native patients were +waiting for the tender treatments daily administered +by the missionary's skillful hands.</p> + +<p>The Englishman still stared.</p><hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142"></a></span></p><h2 class="story"><a name="X" id="X"></a><abbr title="10">X</abbr><br /> +The Cost</h2> + +<p>Yes, that is a Bible. Oh, yes, I speak English. +I've spoken it ever since I was a young +girl. Nearly every Parsi, you know, learns +to speak English as soon as possible. We admire +English people in a great many ways and try to +emulate them in some things, although we are proud +enough to think that we are superior to them in some +others.</p> + +<p>Yes, I'm a Parsi—that is—I'm a Parsi in race but +not in religion. This Bible shows you what I am in +belief. Yes, I'm a Christian, but not one of long +standing, for I was baptized only one year ago.</p> + +<p>You're an American, aren't you? I thought so, +for in many ways you are like my dear Miss Miller. +Won't you have this pillow at your back? Even +second-class carriages are not any too comfortable. +If you will let me pull that leather bag out a little +from under the seat so that you can put your feet +upon it, you will rest more easily. A second-class +carriage is a luxury for me nowadays, since I became +a Christian. I really can't afford to travel any other +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143"></a></span>way than third, but I've been a little ill the last few +weeks and Miss Miller insisted upon my coming +second this time. You look so much like Miss +Miller that you must excuse me, if I have stared at +you a little impolitely since we left Grand Avenue +Station.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 278px;"> + <a name="illus12" id="illus12" href="images/illus12.jpg"> + <img src="images/illus12-tb.jpg" width="278" height="400" alt="Indian and American ladies talking" /> + </a> + <br /> + <span class="caption">"YOU ARE AN AMERICAN, AREN'T YOU?"</span> +</div> + +<p>Oh, an American is privileged to do that, you +know, to watch us closely, for he is here to see a new +people and to find out all he can about them. I +don't mind that at all. We really expect it. We +have so many Americans in Bombay that I have got +quite used to it and don't notice it any more. At +first I used to get embarrassed and think that they +were looking at me, but I soon found out that it was +only my clothes and my manners that they were interested +in and that they couldn't distinguish me +from any other Parsi lady; we were only a sort of +curiosity to them. It wasn't exactly flattering to find +it out, but still it made one feel more comfortable on +the streets.</p> + +<p>Oh, I've got quite accustomed to it now, I assure +you. But you do resemble Miss Miller, if you don't +mind my saying so; only she wears her hair quite +plain and always dresses in gray.</p> + +<p>She is my teacher.</p> + +<p>Here we are at A——. I'm just selfish enough +to hope that no other lady will want to get into this +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144"></a></span>compartment. Since each of us has a whole seat to +herself we can be pretty comfortable.</p> + +<p>There is an unusual crowd of third-class passengers +to-day, though there are always crowds here for that +matter. I don't see where they get the money for all +the travelling they do. Since so many pilgrimages +are required in their religion the people seem to work +very hard for a long time and then spend every anna +that they have saved on a pilgrimage somewhere. +But to-day is a special feast day at N——. That is +another reason why Miss Miller insisted upon my +coming second class this time, for the third was +terribly crowded when we came down this noon. +She is so good! She left her work just to come +down and see me off, because I have been ill.</p> + +<p>No, thank you. I don't care for a cup of tea now, +for I shall reach my destination in time for tea. Oh, +yes, the tea at these stations is quite safe. But I +would not take the milk if I were you, for Miss +Miller never does.</p> + +<p>Oh, yes. We stop here about ten minutes. You'll +have plenty of time to drink it and the man will +come back with his tray and get your cup before the +train starts. It is two annas a cup. Don't you want +a piece of cake with it? Here, boy!</p> + +<p>Yes, some of the stations have very good food.</p> + +<p>The new passengers are nearly all located now and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145"></a></span>no one seems to be going to get in with us. I am +so glad! Now we can be nice and comfortable.</p> + +<p>Yes, they do keep the plants nicely watered and +well taken care of at these stations. If they were +not so dreadfully noisy and confused at train times, +they would be pretty enough places to live in.</p> + +<p>There goes the bell! Here comes your boy. I'll +hand it to him.</p> + +<p>Two annas. That's right. I suppose it is hard +for you to get accustomed to our money; I believe it +is quite different from yours, is it not?</p> + +<p>Oh, is that some of your American money? How +interesting! It is worth about three-quarters of a +rupee, you say? I am so glad to have seen it. +What do you call it?</p> + +<p>A quarter! See, I'll use that word in speaking to +Miss Miller some time. Won't that surprise her! +She will wonder where I have learned it.</p> + +<p>Now we are off and there isn't another station for +half an hour at least. Isn't that nice? Now we +can rest. Wouldn't you rather lie down?</p> + +<p>That is very kind of you, for I do feel just like +talking this afternoon. This little trip is a holiday +for me, you see, and has quite excited me, almost as +much as it would my little girl. But I expect that +she is excited, too, this afternoon, for she knows I am +coming to see her.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146"></a></span></p><p>One little girl. I am a widow and have been so +for several years.</p> + +<p>She is in school down here at A——. And since +I've been ill, Miss Miller had me come down to see +her for a rest.</p> + +<p>Indeed, I'll be glad to tell you about myself, especially +about my becoming a Christian, if you +would like to hear, for I love to tell that story. You +Christians in America are so good to send teachers +to us!</p> + +<p>You are not a Christian! But I thought all +Americans were Christians!</p> + +<p>Don't you believe in God?</p> + +<p>You suppose there is a God but you've never +thought much about it! How strange! Don't you +believe in Christ?</p> + +<p>No? Why, how can that be possible when He +has done so much for you people in America and is +doing so much for us here?</p> + +<p>Do I believe in Christ? Why, of course I do. +Do you think I would be here, a penniless woman, +going to see my daughter, kept in school by charity, +if I did not believe in Jesus Christ; if I did not +know Him personally and if I had not confessed my +belief before my family and friends?</p> + +<p>I can't understand why you do not believe in +Christ, unless—yes, it must be so—you have been +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147"></a></span>too busy to think about Him and you have not really +needed His help yet. You never have had any +trouble and felt all alone in the big world, without +any one to help you, have you? Until that time +comes I suppose people are too busy having a good +time to think about religion. I have noticed that +here in my teaching among my own people, but I +did not suppose it was so in America, for I thought +everybody believed there. Here I have seen that +when people are kept quiet for a time because of +sickness or sorrow, when they have time to think +and when earthly friends cannot help, then Christ +most easily makes Himself known to them. I know +this is so for I have proved it myself. And I know +Christ!</p> + +<p>Yes, it does make me very happy!</p> + +<p>Oh, I had forgotten this station. But we will stop +here only a few minutes and as it is a small station I +don't think any one else will get on. Here comes a +gentleman to the window.</p> + +<p>Thank you. An orange would taste good and refresh +me. Although this is our cold season, it does +get pretty warm in the middle of the day.</p> + +<p>Your husband? You are taking a trip around +the world for pleasure. What interesting things you +must have seen! Your husband is a lecturer. Oh, +I see, and he is taking pictures with his camera for +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148"></a></span>his lectures, I suppose. He is going to take that +boy with his pan of sweets. See?</p> + +<p>There is the bell! He got the picture just in +time.</p> + +<p>Shall I go on with my story? But, please, don't +let me tire you.</p> + +<p>No, I'll save my orange a little while for I cannot +eat when I have a chance to talk on this subject. +Do you know much about the Parsis?</p> + +<p>Well, I'll tell you a little so that you can understand +my situation. We Parsis are Persians; but +when the Mohammedans came into our country and +began to persecute us, gained political control, and +tried to make us accept their religion by force, many +of us fled to India, most of whom are now settled +around Bombay.</p> + +<p>The women all dress about as I do with a little +cotton waist, you see, and a one-coloured sari; delicate +pinks and blues are favourite colours, edged +with fancy embroidered borders, often of pure gold +or silver. We wear stockings and slippers, the +latter usually more elaborately embroidered than +mine. We wear, also, this peculiar head-binder, a +white cloth drawn tightly around the head, covering +the hair under the sari. Our men invariably dress +as Europeans these days, for that dress is so convenient, +but they may be recognized by an oddly +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149"></a></span>shaped cap which Miss Miller says looks as if it were +made of what you in America call black oilcloth, I +think it is. Of course the sacred emblems of Parsiism +are worn under the clothing and do not show, +the shirt and the kusti.</p> + +<p>Our people have lived in India for many generations, +but they have kept themselves separate from +the other peoples. There has been very little intermarriage; +we have kept our own religion; and we +are practically a distinct people. Of course in our +religion and our social customs we have been somewhat +influenced by the Hindus and Mohammedans +among whom we have lived so long; but we differ +from them greatly. We believe in education and +begin to teach our children early in life. We believe +in monogamy and a happy family life. We are industrious, +keen, and honest in business; and I am not +overstating facts when I tell you that we are the +bankers and most important business people in India. +Of course we are not many in number compared +with the dense population of this great land, but we +are scattered throughout the whole of it, and hold, as +a rule, the places of greatest influence.</p> + +<p>Let me throw your orange peel out of this window +which is already open. You've let your husband +take your satchel into his compartment and you +haven't a towel? That's too bad! I have a perfectly +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150"></a></span>clean one in my bag; won't you please use +it?</p> + +<p>Oh, please don't mention it. I assure you it is a +pleasure to me. I suppose you are more accustomed +to the first-class lavatories, but, really, our second-class +accommodations are comfortable; don't you +think so?</p> + +<p>No, indeed. I don't mind interruptions in my +story. I'll rearrange my bag while you are gone, +for I packed in a hurry and I don't just know where +my things are.</p> + +<p>It is convenient to have a lavatory for every compartment. +Isn't it so in America? You don't have +compartments at all! Why, how funny! I can't imagine +what your trains must be like. Miss Miller +says that she will take me to America with her some +time. But I don't believe I'd like to leave India even +for a little while, interesting as America must be.</p> + +<p>Yes, I'll go on with my story. Well, I was the +daughter of a wealthy Parsi in Bombay and we had a +beautiful home in a part of the city which is now not +quite so pleasant, for Bombay as it has grown +towards one million in population has changed very +much. I had a governess and even at ten I began +the study of English in connection with my regular +lessons and music. When I was about thirteen, my +father, who was really a little more advanced than +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151"></a></span>the average Parsi, decided to have English only +spoken in our household. Knowing the value of the +language in commercial relations he considered it a +very important part of an education.</p> + +<p>But I must tell you about our, that is the Parsi, religion. +We are the followers of Zoroaster, you +know, and we believe that God is represented by +fire. Therefore fire is sacred and in our temples a +fire is always kept burning, with an order of priesthood +to care for it. You can see how this belief +might degenerate and become a worship of fire itself, +as I fear it has with many people. Even the fires in +our homes have to be cared for with ceremonies of +various kinds. We are taught that one should be +faithful to his wife; that every one should be charitable. +But we do believe in demons and must go +through all sorts of rites to keep them away. You +see I can't give you more than the briefest account +of our belief, for it is more or less complicated as all +beliefs are, but I wanted you to see that in almost +every way it is superior to the other religions of +India, but still lacking the vital elements of Christianity. +One strange thing about our teaching is that +we are not told to try to get converts; indeed, the +Parsis do not want any new believers. Isn't that +strange? Really, I must confess that I think we are +a very self-satisfied people in every respect.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152"></a></span></p><p>At first we did not believe in early marriages, but +in that respect we have been gradually influenced by +the Hindus. So at fourteen I was married to the +son of a rich merchant. Of course my husband was +chosen for me, but he proved to be a fine young man +and we were very happy together. Part of the wedding +ceremonies took place, as our weddings usually +do, in the large public wedding hall which probably +you saw in Bombay. Really, the customs have got +to be so elaborate that a poor Parsi can hardly marry +off a child without being in debt for the rest of his +life. Fortunately our family, as I have said, did not +lack for money and everything was beautiful. It +was, indeed, a very happy and joyous occasion, a +prophecy of our life together. For we were very, +very happy for eight years. My husband was an unusual +young man and gave promise of surpassing his +father in business sagacity and literary ability. Our +little girl came after two years of marriage and she +was dearly beloved by him, although, of course, he +would have liked a son. We were happy, oh, so +happy! After he died it used to hurt me so to think +about it that for two years I never spoke of my married +life to any one, but since I have found Jesus, I +love to think about it and speak of it.</p> + +<p>But one day our joy was turned to sadness and +our gladness to grief, for my husband was smitten +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153"></a></span>with enteric fever. You know how prevalent that is +here in India and how often fatal. He had been +overworking at his office and in the study. Our +family was too enlightened to believe that the illness +was caused by demons, as most of our people +do, and he was not neglected as most of our sick +people are, but he had the best of English medical +attention and the most tender nursing from us. He +was young and strong and we fought hard, but after +six weeks of deepest anxiety and all the devotion I +could lavish upon him, I saw him sink away and +leave me.</p> + +<p>They took me from him while they prepared him +for our peculiar funeral rites and while I myself had +to go through certain ceremonies of purification. +You have been to the Towers of Silence in Bombay? +No? But you are going back next week. Well, +when you stand upon the terrace and look across to +those great towers, black around the tops with ugly +vultures, think of me as on that day three years ago +I stood and watched.—Please excuse my tears, but I +don't usually tell this part of my story; it is too +sacred; but I don't think you could understand the +rest without knowing these customs of ours. You +know that the elements, earth, air, fire, and water, +are sacred in the sight of the Parsis and cannot be +defiled by the dead; therefore we cannot bury our +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154"></a></span>dead; we cannot burn them; nor can we throw their +corpses into the river to be carried away by its current. +So our ancestors devised the plan which we +now use. Our dead are exposed upon high towers +and vultures are allowed to tear away the flesh, leaving +the bones to crumble. So we Parsis in Bombay +have, upon a hill overlooking the harbour, really the +most beautiful spot in the city, a park in which at +the top of the hill are located five white towers between +twenty-five and fifty feet high. The park is +well cared for and contains a shrine where fire is always +burning. A high terrace looks out towards +the towers, about five hundred feet away, which are +never approached except by the officers of the dead.</p> + +<p>Yes, visitors are admitted to the garden by permit +before nine in the morning. After that time the +grounds are kept clear for funerals and mourners +who come to pray for the dead.</p> + +<p>I need not tell you of the long, sorrowful approach +to the gardens on that day three years ago, or how, +standing upon the terrace, I saw that dear body +borne to the tower to become the prey of the ugly +birds swarming about the gardens. I need not tell +you either of my loneliness in our home or of my return +to my father's house with only one desire in +life, to bring up my child so that she should be an +honour to her father.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155"></a></span></p><p>For a year my life was very bare and my heart +very heavy. I had plenty of money; I wanted for +nothing; I was tenderly cared for by my family, for, +you know, the Parsis do not treat their widows after +the customs of the Hindus; but nothing seemed to +make me even one tiny bit happier. Then one day +a white lady called at our home. She was very +pleasant and kind. She showed us a book of a new +religion which she wanted us to read and she offered +to come and read it with us every day; but my +mother did not care to hear about any other religion +than our own. Then the lady showed us some +beautiful embroidery which we did not know how to +do. When my mother expressed a wish to learn the +new work, the lady offered to teach her if she might +also read from the Bible at every lesson. I, too, +liked to keep my fingers busy and when my mother, +who excelled at needlework, could not resist the +temptation and consented to let Miss Miller come, +for it was indeed she, I was glad.</p> + +<p>Once a week she came and for an hour at a time +taught us various kinds of stitches and read and explained +the Bible to us. My mother, after a short +time, became ill and could not attend the lessons, +but as I seemed to enjoy them and my mind was +somewhat diverted by them from my sorrow, she +still continued to allow Miss Miller to come. So I, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156"></a></span>who had become very much interested in the Bible, +much more so than in the sewing, used to let my +embroidery lie untouched while sometimes we would +talk for a couple of hours of this Christ religion. +What a beautiful religion it seemed to me! What a +comforting religion! I would have something to +live for and something to work for if I were a Christian. +I thought of my husband's death with less bitterness, +for this religion taught that I would surely +see him again if I did God's will. Finally one day, +one year ago, Christ spoke to my heart. I believed. +I knew that Christ not only had lived but that He +still lives. I cried for joy, but Miss Miller thought +it was with grief and started to console me. But +when I looked up with a shining face, her face shone +too.</p> + +<p>"You have found Jesus!" she said.</p> + +<p>I answered eagerly, "I have."</p> + +<p>And right there in my own chamber where she +had been coming since my mother's illness, we knelt +and prayed.</p> + +<p>When we arose, I said, "I want to be baptized and +become a Christian."</p> + +<p>"You are a Christian now, my dear," she said.</p> + +<p>"But I want the world to know it," I affirmed.</p> + +<p>"That is right and brave," she answered, "but +you must count the cost first."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157"></a></span></p><p>Then she sat down beside me and gently told me +what I would have to bear if I publicly took the +name of Christ. She said that there were not more +than twenty-five Parsi Christians in the whole world. +She said that probably I would be turned out of my +home, that my relatives would count me as dead, +that all my wealth would be taken from me and that +I would not have one anna for myself or my child.</p> + +<p>"Think of your child! Think of yourself! I cannot +urge you to do it. You must decide for yourself."</p> + +<p>I answered quickly, "I have thought of myself. I +have thought of my child. She must be a Christian +and be brought up as such. Miss Miller, I have decided +for myself. Jesus will take care of us. I +know it in my heart for He tells me so."</p> + +<p>So I made my decision and she said no more, but +I knew she was pleased by the smile that she gave +me. I would not wait for one instant lest influences +might be brought to bear which I could not resist +and I might be prevented from declaring my desire +and fulfilling it. I took Miss Miller's hand and we +went at once to my mother's room. She was not +dangerously ill. When she heard my determination +to become a Christian, she sent for my father from +his study. Together they listened as I told all again.</p> + +<p>"Is that decision final, my daughter?" asked my +father at last, a man always of few words.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158"></a></span></p><p>"It is," I answered with a heart yearning towards +them but firm.</p> + +<p>"Then you must go from our home, from our +family. You and yours can no longer be a part of +us in any way. You will receive nothing from us +for your support.—You are dead to us.—If you repent +of this folly," he added, turning back from the +door towards which he had started with bowed head, +"communicate with me and half of my fortune +will be yours. But if you persist in this strange +conduct," his voice grew very stern, "in ten minutes +you and yours must be gone from this +house."</p> + +<p>I tried to kiss my mother good-bye but her face +was turned from me towards the wall.</p> + +<p>I returned to my apartment, took my child, my +belongings and a few relics of my husband and our +happy life together and within ten minutes I had left +my home, perhaps forever,—but I don't think so. I +believe that some day God will send me back to +them at their own request; for they will yet believe +as I do, I feel assured.</p> + +<p>Miss Miller took me to her own home and trained +me. I have been a Bible woman for six months now +and Christians in America pay my salary. By a +scholarship they also help me support and educate +my daughter in a Christian school.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159"></a></span></p><p>Am I not sorry? Look at me! I used to ride +always in the first-class carriage; my saris were of +silk and my borders embroidered with gold; but +there was sorrow in my heart. Now, I may sit on a +hard bench, crowded by dirty Hindus and my clothes +may be of the cheapest cotton, but I am happy, for +Christ has put joy into my life and into the life to +come. He has also given me something important to +do for Him. The lives of most of our Indian women +are so empty! In the first-class carriage I used to have +few fellow travellers; now in the third I have many, +sad, needy women to whom I can tell the great story +of which my own story is only a dim reflection. +And to some of these women in the last six months +God has given me the joy of revealing His love +through Jesus Christ.</p> + +<p>Well, if here isn't our station! Hasn't the time +flown!</p> + +<p>I hope I haven't wearied you.</p> + +<p>Thank you very much! Kind words stay in one's +memory such a long time and come back to +strengthen in lonely or hard hours. I am so glad +that you enjoyed my story. Won't you take time +to think a little about Jesus yourself? I don't understand +how an American woman, with all God has +given her, can say that she does not believe in Him +and love Him and His Son!</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160"></a></span></p><p>There is my little girl and here is your husband! +Good-bye!</p> + +<p>Oh, you are going to get off here too! Will I +come up to the hotel some time and see you? Indeed, +I shall be delighted to! And will I bring my +little girl? How happy she will be to come! You +must excuse my excitement for I haven't seen her +for two months, you know. There, she sees me! +How well and happy she looks! Will I bring my +Bible with me when I come? Yes, dear lady, most +gladly will I. Here, dear, this way! Good-bye! +Good-bye!</p><hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161"></a></span></p><h2 class="story"><a name="XI" id="XI"></a><abbr title="11">XI</abbr><br /> +Among the Clouds</h2> + +<p>The conversation had drifted by mysterious +and unexplained associations of ideas from +the unusual excellence of the sweets served +at the end of dinner upon this line of steamers, to +the most grewsome tales of adventure which the +narrators themselves had experienced. Gladys, who +by the most special of special permissions and the +kind favour of the captain, because she was an only +child, well behaved at table, and—because it was off +season—had been permitted to take Sunday dinner +with her parents, sat beside the captain in the +gorgeous first cabin saloon with round eyes fixed +upon the story-tellers.</p> + +<p>There was present at dinner the usual shipboard +mixture of society: at the captain's right, a man +whose extensive business interests called him often +into these waters; next, a gentleman and his wife, +travelling for their united healths; third, a government +official returning to India after a brief holiday; +on the opposite side, two globe-trotters, an American +lady from Southern India, Gladys' father, and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162"></a></span>finally Gladys herself. The chair between the little +girl and her father was vacant, for Gladys' mother, +who had been at dinner, feeling the slight roll of the +boat, had retired early to her cabin, leaving the child +to the father's care.</p> + +<p>If her mother had been there Gladys would not +have been permitted to listen to the stories which +had been told and enjoy the delicious sensations of +fear which she had experienced as she had heard the +accounts of awful dangers and marvellous escapes. +The merchant had obliged this little dinner company +to spend five days with him without food on a desert +island and, after a thrilling rescue, had made them +watch him fall seventy feet from the masthead of a +ship to become the ship-surgeon's pet patient with +twenty bones to set. Gladys had felt herself wasting +away with starvation as he had told of his sufferings +and, when he had cheerfully reached his second +story, she could hear her own bones grate as if +broken asunder, as she moved her legs under the +table.</p> + +<p>Soon it came the turn of the lady from Southern +India to tell a story.</p> + +<p>"Well, I have had one thrilling experience which +I don't mind telling you, if my courage will support +me through the recital," she said.</p> + +<p>Gladys listened with all her ears, for the lady from +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163"></a></span>Southern India had become her best friend on shipboard. +She did not want to miss a single word.</p> + +<p>"You know that I have been a resident of Southern +India for many years," the lady began. "I +could tell many dreadful stories of pestilence and +disaster in that region, but the most awful experience +that I have ever had myself took place in +Northern India, in Darjeeling. Of course you all +know Darjeeling."</p> + +<p>But in spite of her own assurance that they did, +the lady did not seem to be able to resist, as no one +who loves the Himalayas can, telling again of that +city among the clouds, seven thousand feet above +the sea, looking directly across the depths to where, +when the sun permits, shine forth the snowy peaks +of Kinchenjunga. The little city on the sheer +mountainside is to the world only another proof of +the audacity of man who dares to invade regions +so exalted and, in the hope of drenching his lungs, +parched by the heat of the Indian plains, with the +cool air from the never-melting snows of the mountain +peaks, dares to build his summer cottage on the +overhanging rock and trust to Providence that it will +not tumble headlong into the clouds below or, rained +on from the clouds above, be carried down the +mountainside and buried in unknown depths by the +débris of an ever-possible landslip. Clinging to the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164"></a></span>edges of the crest of this mountain height or +perched upon the very crest itself, the summer +homes of the "sahibs" peer out through their enclosures +of shrubbery and trees to the snow-capped +heights where even their masters dare not venture, +but from looking upon which these men gain +courage to go down again to the plains to take up +their heavy tasks, "the white man's burden."</p> + +<p>In her ardour the lady from Southern India described +even the ascent of the foot-hills to this resort +among the mountains: the wide views appearing +first on one side, then on the other, as the little train +winds its way up the mountainside, sometimes making +complete circles to reach the higher grades and +at other times shunting backwards to save a long détour. +The tea-gardens on the hillsides, the luxuriance +of the vegetation in the wooded glens, the +waterfalls, the odd little native villages along the +road, descriptions of all these the table company +listened to with pleasure, for they deserved attention, +coming from the lips of one who was +very familiar with the scenes of which she spoke +and who loved them. Even Gladys, who was afraid +of mountains, because "they look so big and black," +wished she might have been there by the time the +lady had reached the beginning of her story.</p> + +<p>"It was on my first visit to Darjeeling, when I knew +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165"></a></span>nothing of the place or the hill people, that I had the +experience I am going to tell you about," the lady +continued. "I had often heard before I started on +the journey, and again on the way up, and yet again +as soon as I reached the city itself, that there was +one trip which every visitor must take in order to +see the full glory of the Himalayas and to get a peep +at Mt. Everest, the highest mountain in the world. +As my stay there with an old college friend was to +be brief, since Darjeeling is a long way from Madras +and vacation days do not last forever, it was to my +dismay that I found my hostess too ill to accompany +me on any excursion. She could only plan my visit +and direct her servants to carry out her plans.</p> + +<p>"As clouds and mists are apt to hide the mountains +and no one can tell when the 'sublime' heights +will be visible, it is wise to take the trip I had heard +so much about as soon as possible and to repeat it +until one gets a clear view. Therefore I felt that I +must take the first opportunity and, although I could +find no one to accompany me, I decided that I must +go the very next morning after my arrival, even +alone. The plan of the trip was this: to leave at +3:30 <span class="smcap">A. M.</span> and in a dandy, a sort of chair borne by +four hillmen, to be carried five miles to Tiger Hill, +one thousand feet higher than Darjeeling; to reach +there just as the sun should rise and throw its morning +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166"></a></span>splendours upon Mt. Everest. It was decided +that I should take an alarm clock to my room and, +arising at 3 <span class="smcap">A. M.</span>, be ready in all the heavy clothing +I could assemble for my before-sunrise excursion. +The dandy and dandywalas were ordered and a light +lunch was set ready to serve as my chota hazri.</p> + +<p>"It had not occurred to me that it would be a trying +excursion as well as an early one until at 3:30 +the next morning, lighted by my bedroom lamp as +far as the outside door, I opened it and saw in the +dimness of the light four figures emerge from the +darkness beyond and stand about some object on the +ground which I supposed must be the dandy. There +was no one to say good-bye to me or give me a last +word of counsel or warning. I put out the light, +closed the door behind me, and took a few steps in +the direction where I thought the dandy was. Then +I stopped, for accustomed to speak to the natives +in their own tongue, it had not occurred to me until +that moment that these hill people spoke a different +language from the one I was familiar with and so I +could not hope to make them understand a word. I +remembered, too, that they were of Mongolian descent, +very different from the Indian people whom I +knew. What were their characteristics? They +might be treacherous and prone to rob for all I knew. +But after a moment's hesitation I made up my mind +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167"></a></span>that all these thoughts were foolish, for certainly my +friend would not have planned this trip for me if she +had not considered it perfectly safe. I saw that I +must go on or that I should never hear the last of +my cowardice from my co-workers in India who are +very fond of a good joke on any of their fellows.</p> + +<p>"My eyes had become more accustomed to the +darkness while I had been cogitating thus, and so, +taking my rugs and my life, as it seemed to me, in +my hands, I stepped resolutely towards the dandy +which was placed ready for me. I spread out one +rug carefully and arranged my pillows upon it for +comfort, just as calmly as if I had made the trip +often. Then I sat down and pulled the other rug +over me. When I appeared to be all ready, the +four men, just black shapes in the darkness, with a +queer united grunt, took hold of the chair poles, +two in front and two behind, and, lifting the dandy +to their shoulders, started at a slow pace up the hill +behind the house.</p> + +<p>"I was pretty high up in the world it seemed to +me and as they were carrying me up backwards I +had a view before me of all the mountainside that +was visible in the starlight, for the stars were very +bright overhead, and the street lights of the city +twinkled here and there below. I tried to forget that +my destination was five miles away and that the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168"></a></span>paths might lead through lonely solitudes. I tried +to concentrate my thoughts upon the scene before +me, the city, as it were, beside the sea; for so the +clouds looked in the dimness with the lighted streets +resembling long piers running out into the cloud sea. +Near by an occasional house loomed up darkly in +the shadows, and the overhanging trees from the +slope above looked like impenetrable forests in +the darkness. Far to the left a dim light, I felt sure, +marked the spot where a terrible landslip had occurred +but shortly before and several English people +had lost their lives. I had been anxious to visit the +spot since reading an account of the disaster, but +somehow in the darkness, even at that distance, +although I could not see the place, a sort of horror +of it took possession of me and I seemed to see the +white faces upturned towards the sky as they were +being carried down the mountainside by the relentless +torrent of rocks and earth. Just then I heard +a noise as of a person moving stealthily along the +narrow roadway and I positively shook with fear; but +a nearer approach revealed to me that it was only a +night watchman aroused by our passing. The gleam +of a policeman's badge in these mountain wilds +relieved my anxiety for a moment and made me +ashamed of my fears.</p> + +<p>"I tried to forget my foolish thoughts and to feel +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169"></a></span>soothed by the gentle motion of the dandy as the +men swung up the hillside by a circuitous roadway. +I tried not to remember what strange, stolid faces the +hillmen had had whom I had seen at the station the +day before. I tried not to see as we passed under a +street lamp, outlined under the coat of the right hand +man in front of me what certainly looked like a +revolver. I tried, as I looked up at the tall trees +almost meeting over my head, to imagine how beautiful +this road would appear by daylight. Once one +of the front bearers missed his footing by stepping +into an unexpected hole near the edge of the road. +That gave me a shock; but the physical shock was +not so great as the mental one I received when, as he +recovered himself, I thought I saw a knife at his +belt.</p> + +<p>"Soon, at a low call from one of them, the four +men fell into a trot and I found myself being borne, +none too smoothly, along a bit of down grade. In a +moment the grade became still steeper and, apparently +at another signal, I was whirled about in +my chair and carried face forwards. As they toiled +up another slope and we appeared to have passed out +of the city, they began a weird antiphonal; the men +in front would chant a few words and the men behind +would finish the phrase. Over and over it sounded—the +same tones. It seemed to me that the first +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170"></a></span>two were saying, 'Kill her now. Kill her now!' and +the others were answering, 'It is not time yet. It is +not time yet!'</p> + +<p>"On we went with the stars watching overhead +but clearly at such a distance that their presence gave +me but little comfort. 'Of course these men are +not saying such awful things,' I tried to reassure +myself.</p> + +<p>"My teeth were chattering both with fear and +cold, for it was cold at four o'clock in the morning +seven thousand feet above the sea. Suddenly the +thought came to me to bribe these men with money, +but my shaking fingers discovered that I had left my +purse at home. So I could do nothing but just wait +and let them take their will.</p> + +<p>"On we went, up and up, away from the city, farther +and farther away, at the same swinging pace and to +the same accompaniment of murderous refrain. Before +long I could see that we were approaching a fog +and very soon we were in it. At another time I +should have rejoiced at the experience of passing +through a cloud on the mountainside, but now my +only joy was in a light that shone through it. It +might be a street light and we might be coming to a +village! We were; but so small was the village and +so quickly did we pass through it that I had no time +to think of getting help there. And to cheer me on +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171"></a></span>my way, from the last dark house I heard the wail +of a suffering child.</p> + +<p>"We were soon again in the deep woods and we +must have been about an hour from our starting +point—it had seemed a century to me and I knew +that my hair had whitened with the passing of those +years—when we came to a spot where the road +broadened. There, in silence, the men set my chair +down and withdrew to one side of the road. I could +see their figures close together and I could hear their +voices as if in discussion. I knew very well that my +time had come. Oh, why had I ventured alone on +this journey, just for pleasure! What would become +of my work and my dear people in Madras, if these +men murdered me, as they surely would when they +found I had no money at all!</p> + +<p>"I thought of running off into the dark woods, +but how could I hope for safety there where the wild +beasts preyed? I thought of shouting in the hope +that my voice might reach the village which we had +passed, but before help could come from there I +knew that I would surely be dead. So I did nothing. +My eyes remained fixed upon the men and, +although I thought it would be pleasanter not to see +death coming, I could not turn away. I could see +the men motioning with their arms. One man who +was walking up and down behind the others, stopped +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172"></a></span>once or twice and pointed towards me. I sat frozen, +but not with the cold.</p> + +<p>"At last this man stepped out from behind the +others and came towards me. He came straight to +the side of the dandy and, raising his hands to my +throat—— Why, look at that poor child!"</p> + +<p>At that exclamation the company turned towards +Gladys whose eyes were fairly popping out with terror.</p> + +<p>"Gladys! Dear child! I should not have told +such a thing when you were here to frighten you so. +How wrong of me! Mr. Bixby, you should not +have allowed the child to hear all this nonsense."</p> + +<p>The good lady from Southern India was out of her +chair with the little girl in her arms by this time.</p> + +<p>"What—what did the man do?" sobbed the child.</p> + +<p>"Why, dearest, he did nothing but pull my +steamer rug up around my neck and tuck me in nice +and warm. They were good, harmless men and had +only stopped to rest after their long climb. I was a +foolish, easily frightened woman. And do you +know, dear, the song they had been singing? I +found out afterwards that it was simply this, variations +of which they chant to every passenger: +'Such a big lady! Such a big lady!' the first two +sang and the answer from the other two was, 'Such +a big present! Such a big present!'</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173"></a></span></p><p>"And I did give them a good big present when I +got safely home, you may be sure, because I was so +greatly pleased to find all my trouble had been in +my own mind, as almost all of my troubles have always +been.</p> + +<p>"Now, for bed, little girl, and I'll tell you a really +nice story to go to sleep on."</p> + +<p>And the lady from Southern India bore Gladys +away to her stateroom before the rest of the company +had time to make any comments upon her narration.</p><hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174"></a></span></p><h2 class="story"><a name="XII" id="XII"></a><abbr title="12">XII</abbr><br /> +The Infidel</h2> + +<p>"Night is coming! The wildness of desolation +will soon be upon us! Oh, Allah, +Allah, hear the cry of the faithful!"</p> + +<p>The old man, in Arab dress, arose unsteadily from +his knees, stuck his feet into his heelless slippers, and +stood with scraggy, gray head bowed upon his +hands.</p> + +<p>"It is not the hour for prayer. Why do I thus +involuntarily fall upon my knees and call upon the +sacred name of Allah? What nameless fear is this +which has clutched at my heart all this day and +finally brought me to my knees in the guest room +of a stranger to whose home I have come on a message +for the Faith?</p> + +<p>"I cannot explain it," he continued in a quavering +voice as he straightened himself up and began to +walk back and forth in the narrow guest room. +"Something terrible will soon come to pass. I +know it! I feel it! But I am bound. If I could +but leave this city to-night and start back to my +home, I feel that I would be safe. But I am bound! +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175"></a></span>By the law of the Prophet I am bound and I cannot +go."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> + <a name="illus13" id="illus13" href="images/illus13.png"> + <img src="images/illus13-tb.png" width="400" height="285" alt="Muslim man at prayer" /> + </a> + <br /> + <span class="caption">"OH, ALLAH, ALLAH, HEAR THE CRY OF THE FAITHFUL!"</span> +</div> + +<p>"Night is coming! The wildness of desolation +will soon be upon us!" he repeated over and over +again as he walked back and forth from the edge of +the court to the plastered wall, back and forth.</p> + +<p>The old man's voice had sunk to a murmur but he +was still repeating the same words and walking restlessly +to and fro when a noise beyond the door +across the narrow, stone-paved court attracted his attention +and he sank down upon the reception cushions +on the floor in the conventional attitude of the +Arab guest. A sackcloth curtain was lifted at the +doorway across the court and a man entered, a +native of India, with the clear-cut features of the +Aryan, but the heavy black beard and rich robes of +a prosperous Mohammedan. Every step as he +crossed the court betrayed the pride and dignity of +this follower of the Prophet. On his head was the +green turban marking the successful, faithful pilgrim +to Mecca.</p> + +<p>The old man arose to prostrate himself before his +host, as with "The peace of Allah be thine!" upon +his lips the younger man stepped up from the court +into the open guest room and came towards him. +But although his lips murmured the conventional +words of greeting, the old man's eyes did not seem +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176"></a></span>to be looking at his host but out across the court as +if he saw something startling there and his figure +seemed to be all a-tremble. It was only after the +host had politely urged him to resume his seat upon +the cushions and had himself sat down, that the old +man seemed to recover himself. Without accepting +the proffered seat, however, he spoke.</p> + +<p>"Ben Emeal, I come to thee as a messenger of the +Prophet."</p> + +<p>"And as a messenger of the Prophet thou art +most welcome, oh, brother, whose name has not +been revealed to me," quickly responded the other, +rising as he saw that the guest would not be seated.</p> + +<p>"My name does not matter, oh, faithful Believer, +so long as I come on the business of the Faith. Ben +Emeal, I have something to tell thee which I know +will fill thee with amaze and thy heart with anger +and thy mind with plans of cunning." As the old +man talked his fear seemed to leave him and he became +the proud, fearless messenger of the Faith.</p> + +<p>"Ben Emeal, I have come, I have come all the +way from the land of the Holy Prophet himself, to +warn thee that the infidel is rife in the land, that the +infidel has entered the very strongholds of the Deccan, +that the infidel"—the old man stepped nearer +and fairly hissed into the face of the other, "approaches—thee!"</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177"></a></span></p><p>The old man drew himself erect and looked with +the proud superiority of wisdom upon the other who +was gazing back in evident bewilderment.</p> + +<p>"Brother, what meanest thou?" the host asked. +"I am faithful, as thou must know. No man in this +great city has been more faithful than I and I hate +the infidel with the hatred of the Prophet!" At the +word "hate," Ben Emeal's strong hand had dropped +to the sword hilt at his side.</p> + +<p>The old man again brought his face close to the +other's and the words came whistling from his toothless +mouth. "Yes, thou, oh, Ben Emeal, art faithful, +but watch thou thy household! Watch thou thy +household! Watch! I shall be at the crossing of +the Sidar Ways; for three days only I shall be there. +Watch and come to me for help. I have delivered +my message; now I go!"</p> + +<p>As the last words fell from his lips and he turned +towards the courtyard, all the proud fearlessness left +his face; the expression as of one doomed returned; +and with his hands raised above his head, the old +man staggered from the court, crying, "Night is +coming! The wildness of desolation is upon us! +Oh, Allah, Allah, hear the cry of the faithful!"</p> + +<p>The younger man, left alone, sank upon the cushions +of the guest room and seemed lost in thought. +What meant this strange warning? His women +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178"></a></span>were faithful, Ben Emeal knew, for they had not the +brains nor the courage nor, indeed, the opportunity +to listen to the preaching of any faith but that of +their master and lord. His servants—they really +mattered not to him—but he knew that they were +faithful, too, as he had but recently taken them to account +on the subject as a true follower of the Prophet +should. His children——? They were too young, +all—but—— He did not even repeat the name to +himself, for from the first word of accusation his +mind had guessed the one involved, but his heart had +sturdily driven his mind to seek in every other direction +before it should turn to the one being in all the +world whom Ben Emeal loved, but no less the one +being in all his household who, he knew, would dare +to question or oppose the established order of things. +This was a serious charge and no one realized the +seriousness of it, coming from one of the wise men +of the Faith, more than did Ben Emeal; yet his love +for his only son and his confidence in his own ability +to deal with such a subject in connection with that +son, led him to have little anxiety, in spite of the +warning.</p> + +<p>It was not possible that Ahmed could have met +the infidel! Where could he even have heard of +anything different from the doctrine of his father's +Faith? It was absurd! Of late Ben Emeal had noticed +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179"></a></span>a tendency in his son to question him upon +subjects of life and religion; and, too, he had seen +the boy several times sitting quiet as if in deep +thought, an unusual attitude for a healthy, hearty +youth; but he had supposed these things only the +passing freaks of young manhood. For some time +past Ahmed had sought to avoid marriage and he +had never seemed to care for the pleasures of the +harem; these things, too, were unusual, but Ben +Emeal recognized in his idolized son the beginnings +of an unusual man and was proud of him accordingly.</p> + +<p>A merry voice just beyond the purdah suddenly +interrupted the father's thoughts and the curtain was +lifted to admit a young man about eighteen years of +age, of striking build and comeliness. With a gay +and winning greeting the young fellow dropped upon +the cushions beside the older man and soon Ben +Emeal had forgotten his doubts in a lively discussion +of the approaching durbar and the ceremonies attendant +upon that function.</p> + +<p>But, after a pleasant hour together, just as they +were about to separate for a brief siesta, Ahmed +turned to his father with a slight frown and said:</p> + +<p>"Just before I came in this afternoon I met out +here in the street before our house the strangest old +man! He wore that dress that you call Arabian, I +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180"></a></span>think, and he had on the green of our Prophet's kin, +but he was staggering along the street muttering, +'The night is coming! Desolation is coming upon +us!' or something like that. I went up to him to +see if I could help him, and, also, to see if a kin of +our Prophet could really have been drinking of the +accursed cup; but I found no signs of intoxication +about him, only signs of intense fear as he cowered +against the wall, repeating his cry of desolation. +Adjed, the silversmith, came up just then and took +him in charge or I should have found out more +about him. Strange, wasn't it? It really gave me +an uncanny feeling as if it were a premonition of +some danger," and the young man shook himself as +if to shake off a lingering feeling of fear.</p> + +<p>Ben Emeal's face, as his son spoke, resumed the +troubled expression which had been driven away by +Ahmed's former lively conversation and he said to +the lad very solemnly as they both rose and he put a +hand on the youth's shoulder:</p> + +<p>"My son, you never forget, do you, that first of +all in this world you are a follower of the true +Prophet and that your first business in life is to convert +or destroy the infidel?"</p> + +<p>The son did not reply except with another question. +"Father, can I not go to the university at +Aligarh to learn more of our Faith?"</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181"></a></span></p><p>"I will see; I will see, my son," replied the father +genially and his face cleared as if the question had +put his fears at rest.</p> + +<p>"I will see, my son," he said again as he turned +to the door leading to his own apartment where he +would take a few pulls at the hookah before he +should give himself up to his afternoon rest.</p> + +<p>Ahmed went to his mother's chamber where with +his head upon her knee, her proud eyes gazing +down upon the handsome face of her son, the +dearest possession of an Indian woman's life, and her +loving fingers smoothing his rich, dark hair back +from his brow, he fell very soon into the refreshing +sleep of youth.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>When Ahmed awoke from his restful sleep, he +found his mother still supporting his head and still +gazing fondly down into his face. For a few moments +he lay, returning her smiles. Suddenly his +face clouded.</p> + +<p>"Mother, why is it that you can never leave this +house, this walled-in courtyard; why is it that you +cannot ride out with me in the open and look upon +the trees and the grass and the blue sky? It does +not seem right that I should be allowed to look upon +all these things and you not."</p> + +<p>"Hush, my son!" answered his mother. "It is +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182"></a></span>the law of the Prophet. What he commands must +be right. But, see, there is the blue sky, and here +are my green tree and my grass and sometimes I +even may ride out in an ekka and peep through the +curtains, and once, my son, many years ago, I rode +on a railway train and saw through the shutters +miles and miles of green grass and flowers and so +many, many beautiful things that I shall always be +happy because of that sight."</p> + +<p>Ahmed looked from the beautiful but sad face of +his mother up at the patch of sky bounded by the +four gray, brick walls; he looked at the lone, gray-green +tree trying to grow in a foot or two of garden +in the middle of the paved courtyard, and at the +grass, already giving up its struggle for life, about its +roots, and his heart ached for this lonely woman. +For he knew that although she was his father's only +wife at present, because she had borne him, Ahmed, +to Ben Emeal, he knew that she saw little of his +father, for there were many concubines in the home +who not only usurped her place in her husband's life +but who, also, in many, many ways made her life far +from happy in the home. He knew that really he +himself was her only joy and comfort and he rebelled. +Ahmed had been taught that a woman has +no soul. Did he doubt the words of his teachers as +he gazed into his mother's eyes?</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183"></a></span></p><p>"Mother, why are you called 'Ahmed's mother' +instead of your own name when the people of the +household speak to you? Why are you so 'blest +in' me as they say?"</p> + +<p>"Because, my son—surely you must know by this +time that a woman is no better than a beast; 'a +cow' the Prophet calls her; and that she can only +enjoy life through the son that she bears. Ah, how +rich I am in you! But suppose you had not come +to me, Ahmed, my son!" and her face became +drawn with the thought. "Suppose I had been as +my sister who has no son!"</p> + +<p>The youth could not bear to add to his mother's +unhappiness by having her dwell upon such +thoughts and so he playfully pulled down her face +and kissed her and teased her to show him the +wedding garments which she was embroidering for +him.</p> + +<p>"When is it to be?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"After the month of fasting, my son."</p> + +<p>"Is she beautiful?"</p> + +<p>"I know not, my son. But surely she must be for +such a handsome man as thou art."</p> + +<p>"Dost thou want me to have a wife, mother?"</p> + +<p>The mother's face was crossed with a spasm of pain +at the question, for when his wedding came, she felt +that she would have lost her son, her only joy in life. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184"></a></span>She knew that she had such a son as few mothers in +all India and she knew that their loving relationship +and companionship was very unusual. But he +must marry and as a woman she must not show +grief; in fact, being a woman, she had no grief. So +she mastered her pain in a second and replied, but +not so quickly that it deceived Ahmed:</p> + +<p>"Yes, my son, as every true follower of the +Prophet must, so must thou marry and beget sons. +But thou canst still love thy mother a little," she +added shyly.</p> + +<p>"That I will," affirmed the son blithely. "But," +he went on crossly, "I don't want to marry and be +bothered with a wife. Mother, I'll tell you what I +really want to do. I want to go to our university at +Aligarh where I can learn all about our Faith and +about everything else, mother. I want to be a great +man."</p> + +<p>"Not a great man, my son, but a great follower of +the Prophet! Why, the sky has clouded and there +comes some rain!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, ho! I must get me up and away, for I +promised a friend I would come and read with him +for a time."</p> + +<p>"Is it The Book, my son?"</p> + +<p>"No, mother, it is something new which some one +gave him one time on the train. We have been +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185"></a></span>reading it together for months now. It is very +beautiful, all about Jesus who is coming at the end +of the world, you know."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I know, my son, for I have read The +Book——"</p> + +<p>"It is strange, mother, that you can read, for +Elid's mother cannot, nor can any woman in Ajar's +household, he says, nor can any other woman in this," +interrupted the son. "And besides, mother, the +other young men I know never seem to spend any +time with their mothers at all or talk to them or even +love them, it seems to me."</p> + +<p>"Yes, my son, it is strange, for ours is not the ordinary +life, nor has my lot been the ordinary lot of +woman here. My father taught me to read when I +was a little child, for he became blind and then I +could read to him, for I was quicker and more willing +to do it than the boys. My father was a great +scholar and I know The Book by heart, but little joy +has come to me since my marriage for my knowledge," +she sighed. "Your father respects me no more +than he does his latest concubine. I have respect +here only because of you, my son," and her eyes +feasted upon his fair countenance. "Go now, my +son, to thy friend, but beware of new things, for +what is new often offends the Faith." With these +words she left Ahmed as he lifted the purdah, having +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186"></a></span>followed him as far as her woman's feet were +permitted to go.</p> + +<p>But Ahmed trod on through the narrow streets, although +the rain was pouring, for he did not want to +miss the reading which was giving him such a different +outlook upon life. Why, really, it was a "blasphemous +thought," but this new book seemed to +him to be greater than the Koran. It had given him +such a new vision. Never had he thought much +about his mother's life and position before reading +this book, but now his mind was quickened to understand +her condition. This book said, "Honour +thy father and thy mother," and it did not seem to +exclude woman from any joys, even those of Paradise. +He was so eager to know more, especially +since the conversation with his mother that afternoon, +that he wondered if his friend would let him +take the book home with him to study by himself.</p> + +<p>As Ahmed went on in the rain his thoughts +turned from the new book to a man whom he had +met several times the past year outside the walls of +Hyderabad on the big bridge. The man's peculiar +bearing of kindness towards any one in trouble and +his happy face had attracted the youth. They had +talked together once or twice and the man whom +Ahmed supposed to be a Hindu had told him that +he was a Hindu no longer, but a follower of the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187"></a></span>"Jesus Doctrine." The boy had wondered what it +could mean, for never had he been so drawn to a +stranger as he had to that man whose whole thought +had seemed to be how he could help some one else. +One day Ahmed saw this man actually help a woman +place her water jar on her head and a moment later +get down in the dust of the road and help a coolie +pile up again a mass of fuel <a name="trans_dung-cakes" id="trans_dung-cakes"></a>dung-cakes which had +been knocked over by a passing cart; and yet this +man was a scholar, as Ahmed knew by his conversation, +and no outcast. The boy wondered as he +thought it over now if the new book which he had +been reading could have any connection with what +this man had called the "Jesus Doctrine." The more +he thought about it the more it seemed to him that +that man's actions had been the carrying out of the +precepts of the new book.</p> + +<p>Ahmed had not paid much heed to his steps as he +had splashed along in the rain, trying as far as possible +to keep under the protection of the buildings +from the rain which seemed to be coming in +torrents from the south. He was wrapped in his +thoughts.</p> + +<p>But suddenly his steps were stayed, for he heard a +weird, awful cry, and in a corner of the porch of the +house that he was passing he saw a figure on its knees +in prayer. The attitude was conventional and in no +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188"></a></span>way terrifying, but the words and voice had startled +him.</p> + +<p>"Night is coming! The wildness of desolation +will soon be upon us! Oh, Allah, Allah, hear the +cry of the faithful!"</p> + +<p>The voice was that of one whose soul was in +mortal agony, and as Ahmed stooped to look more +closely, he recognized the old man whose voice he +had heard a few hours before in front of his own +door. He recognized, too, that the place where he +was standing was the crossing of the Sidar Ways, a +place a long distance from the road he had thought +he was taking.</p> + +<p>He wondered what could have alarmed the old +man, but, really frightened at the repetition of the +awful words and the tone of the agonized voice, the +young fellow did not go to the man's side, but hastened +to find a return way to his friend's, whose home +he had missed in the rain and the preoccupation of +his thoughts. As he turned, for the first time he +noticed that another man was standing close behind +him. In the semi-darkness, he did not recognize +him, but gave him the greeting of the Faith and hurried +on. As he reached his friend's door, it gave the +boy a queer, uncomfortable feeling to perceive that +this same man was still behind him.</p> + +<p>An hour or so later Ahmed emerged from the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189"></a></span>house with the precious book concealed in his clothing, +for his friend had warned him that he feared +that a good Mohammedan would not read it and that +he believed that it was the book of another faith. +As such his friend had decided that he would read +it no more. But Ahmed had said that it mattered +not to him what faith it was, he thought it beautiful +and he wanted to read it still more. So instead of +permitting his friend to burn it as he had wanted to +do, Ahmed had insisted upon taking it to his home +for further study.</p> + +<p>He did not notice as he left Elid's house that a +man slipped out from the shadows and followed him +to his own door. Nor did he know that this man +turned as soon as he had entered the house and +made haste back to the crossing of the Sidar Ways +where he aroused the strange old man from his paroxysm +of fear and talked earnestly with him for +some time.</p> + +<p>Within his mother's room by the light of the oil +lamp Ahmed read and read, while his mother +watched him and sewed on the wedding garments. +Too engrossed to read aloud or even talk about what +he was reading, he read on and on. Long after his +mother had given up her vain efforts to get him to +go to rest and had rolled herself in her blanket, he +still bent over the book. He read until sleep finally +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190"></a></span>blurred his mind and closed his eyes and the lamp +burned out at his side.</p> + +<p>But Ahmed had noticed before he slept a name on +the first page of the book, "Mission Press, Bangalore, +India." It must be that those people could explain +to him what this book meant. If he could only go +to them! Never had words written or spoken +stirred his heart as it had been stirred by this book. +It must be of Allah and yet in all he had read he +had found no mention of the Prophet. Since Elid's +warning Ahmed seemed to feel that perhaps in reading +this book and thinking these thoughts he was +betraying the Faith, and yet, if all this he had been +reading were true, it was better than the Faith and +he could no longer believe as he had before.</p> + +<p>Could he in any way get to that "Mission Press" +in Bangalore? Ahmed had never been but a few +miles from Hyderabad; indeed, that was one reason +why he had wanted to go to the university at Aligarh +and another reason was that in the last few +months he had begun to be dissatisfied with the +Faith and thought that there they could certainly +explain all to him. But now he preferred to go to +Bangalore. It seemed as if he must go there: but +instinctively he felt that he must conceal his reason +for wishing to go. And so with his mind confused +by these thoughts and the new ideas which the new +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191"></a></span>book had brought him, ideas utterly foreign to all +he had known before, he fell into a restless sleep.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>It seemed to Ahmed as if some unseen force were +ordering events when early on the next day he was +called to his father's presence to find him unexpectedly +ill and so ill that it would be impossible for him +to leave the city and go to Bangalore on a very important +matter of business. Ben Emeal could trust +the business to no assistant and yet it had to be attended +to on the next day. The only person whom +he could trust was his son and that son until then +had been not only ignorant of all business matters +but also of travel, having never made a journey +alone on a railway train. But when Ben Emeal saw +that there was no other way to save to his name +several thousands of rupees, he decided to give his +son a rather hurried and, indeed, trying initiation +into commercial life. The old Arab's warning +against the infidel had not been forgotten, but the +father did not think the risk too great to send his +son away alone for the first time, as he thought the +novelty of the journey and of assisting in business affairs +for the first time would keep Ahmed's mind +from dangerous thoughts, and besides,—it was a +matter of much money.</p> + +<p>So Ahmed had been summoned to his father's +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192"></a></span>presence and instructed in all the matters needful to +the transaction of the business. When Ben Emeal +saw the delight and eagerness with which the boy +undertook the journey and the task given him he +did not consider it necessary even to warn him +against the possible meeting with the infidel in +Bangalore.</p> + +<p>So Ahmed had started for the very place of all +others that he wanted to visit, sent by his father—such +a strange answer to the longings of the night +before that he was filled with a feeling of awe. So +impressed with the religious importance of this journey +and with a divine ordering of it was he that he +scarcely appreciated its novelty. Because of his ignorance +of travel, his father had directed him to go +first class; therefore, he had the compartment to +himself for the whole journey and, since this was so, +instead of gazing from the window and enjoying the +new sights as he would have done a few days before, +now he pulled out the new book and read the whole +journey through.</p> + +<p>Although Ahmed had but one desire when he +reached Bangalore, that of finding the "Mission +Press," he went first, as he knew was right, and +transacted the business entrusted to him. When +that was over, then he began his search for the people +who were responsible for "The Book." No +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193"></a></span>longer did that title in Ahmed's mind belong to the +Koran and for some reason or other he did not seek +these people to be told that what The Book said was +true; for he seemed to know himself that it was true, +but he sought them for more knowledge and for an +explanation of many things that he could not understand, +and especially to find out the relation of the +Prophet to it all, as Mohammed was not mentioned +in The Book.</p> + +<p>Ahmed found the Mission Press to be a large +brick building set back in a grassy compound. +When, with a desire for secrecy which he could not +exactly explain, he dismissed his gari at some distance +from the gate and made the approach on foot, +he was surprised to see another Mohammedan stop +at the gate, but he did not recognize in him the man +who had followed him from the crossing of the +Sidar Ways to his friend's house the night before in +Hyderabad.</p> + +<p>So without anxiety other than that which possessed +him to learn of the new book, Ahmed entered +the big building. Never having seen a press +and not exactly knowing what the word implied, he +was amazed at the whirring machinery and the offices +of busy clerks. At a window he told his errand +in a simple, straightforward way, pointing to the +name of the press on the title page of The Book +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194"></a></span>which he had drawn from under his clothing. The +converted Hindu at the window at once led the boy +to a small room within, where sat an American +gentleman literally buried in manuscripts, proof +sheets, and correspondence. But a quick resurrection +took place at the clerk's whispered words and +the American, a missionary, arose to greet the youth.</p> + +<p>For several hours they talked and prayed, each +moment separating Ahmed farther from the faith of +his father and drawing him closer to the faith taught +by a stranger. Since the boy was not to return to +Hyderabad until the next day, when the press closed +for the night he went home to the mission compound +with the missionary. And so engrossed was +he in conversing with his new friend that he did not +see that a man followed them all the way from the +press building, indeed, the same man whom he had +seen at the gate.</p> + +<p>It was not late in the evening when in the midst +of their conversation, Ahmed turned abruptly to his +missionary host and said, "I believe. I want to be +a Christian. What must I do?"</p> + +<p>The missionary explained to him that the next +step after belief was testimony, a testimony usually +given by baptism, but that Ahmed could not think +of being baptized until he had prayed long and +earnestly over the matter. Indeed, it might mean +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195"></a></span>death to him, for he himself must surely know the +bitterness of the Prophet's followers. It would +probably mean at the very least disinheritance and +banishment from his father's home.</p> + +<p>"But I believe," cried Ahmed, "and if testimony +is necessary for believers of this 'Jesus Doctrine,' +then I must testify; I must be baptized."</p> + +<p>But the missionary was firm and although his +heart glowed at the courage of the young man, little +more than a boy, he would not yield but sent +Ahmed to the guest-chamber with the counsel to +pray about it.</p> + +<p>And for hours that night did Ahmed pray.</p> + +<p>When, in the early morning, he met the missionary +in the drawing-room, his resolve was unchanged +and his request of the evening before was +repeated. "Baptize me now. I must be baptized +for I must testify to the world that I believe," he +said. His face shone with such a happy light as he +pleaded that the missionary felt that no longer could +he refuse to administer the sacrament asked for.</p> + +<p>"But it may mean death," again he urged.</p> + +<p>"Jesus died for me; you yourself have told me," +replied Ahmed.</p> + +<p>"You will certainly lose your inheritance and be +an exile from your family."</p> + +<p>"He gave up His inheritance in the skies and took +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196"></a></span>exile upon Himself that He might bring life to me; +can I not do as much in testifying for Him?"</p> + +<p>How the lad had learned so much of the Gospel +and the very words of the Bible in such a short time +was a marvel to the American preacher, but he did +not know with what intensity the hungry heart of +the youth had been studying the sacred pages.</p> + +<p>It seemed to the missionary, therefore, that it +must be God's will that the young Mohammedan +should be baptized. But he wanted it to be done in +the presence of the congregation.</p> + +<p>"When could that be?" asked Ahmed.</p> + +<p>"Not for three days," replied the preacher.</p> + +<p>"But I must go to my home to-day!" exclaimed +the young man.</p> + +<p>"Ahmed," the missionary's eyes were filled with +perplexity and suffering, "Ahmed, it will be sure death +if you go back to Hyderabad, I know. Will you +not let me send you north where you can probably +escape from notice until you have studied and are +ready to preach the Gospel? Then you can come +back and perhaps preach in safety to your people," +he urged. "Wait here in secret in my home until +the Sabbath. Then after the public service and +public baptism before the congregation, I will spirit +you away and you will be safe."</p> + +<p>The young man drew himself to his full height +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197"></a></span>and his eyes glowed. "My father expects me to +start for home to-night. I must obey. He has +given me his trust. But more than that, I must +hasten to tell them of what I have found—to tell my +mother of a God who loves her and that she is not +lost, but can be saved by believing in Jesus. I +know that I shall die, but before then I shall have +lived enough, if I succeed in taking the message to +them. Can I not be baptized now, at once?"</p> + +<p>It was not in the missionary's province to detain +such a messenger. With a tap of the bell he +assembled the family for morning prayers, the +heathen as well as the Christian servants attending, +and in their presence he baptized Ahmed, the young +Mohammedan, no longer a follower of the Prophet +but of the Christ.</p> + +<p>As the missionary with his hand upon Ahmed's +bowed head repeated the words in Hindustani, "I +baptize thee in the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Ghost," a Mohammedan glided +from behind the draperies of a side window, through +the half-opened shutters, and passed quickly and +noiselessly down the driveway and through the compound +gate.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>Just before the gates of the city closed for the +night the train from Bangalore deposited Ahmed +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198"></a></span>at the station and he was safe within the walls of +Hyderabad. He hastened through the narrow, dark +streets to his own home, shunning the crowded +bazaars and picking out the winding byways that +lead between the high walls of the residence portion +of the city near the river. A foreigner would not +have imagined that the walls confining the dirty +lanes within their narrow limits were the walls of the +homes of some of the rich and influential Mohammedans +of the great city. But so it was, for the +barren, outward appearance of an oriental residence +does not reveal the luxury within; and, besides, +many of these Eastern people seem to prefer the +luxury of costly jewels and raiment to that of beautiful +surroundings and live on in the plain ways of the +poorer natives with only the number of servants, the +elegance of their dress, their indolence, and their +indulgence in pleasures showing their wealth.</p> + +<p>Such was the home of Ahmed, plain, satisfying +only the requirements of a simple native life. It +covered much ground, for the number of servants +and concubines demanded considerable room even +for plain housing. But there was little display of +wealth within except in the wearing of gold-embroidered +robes and precious jewels. Only a succession +of bare paved courtyards, with open and closed +rooms at the sides, made up the house all practically +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199"></a></span>unadorned except one in the centre of the house +which was gorgeous in carving and inlaid work and +faced a tiny, open mosque, also richly ornamented. +The mosque was a most beautiful example of Indian +skill in carving and stone work and about the niche +which pointed towards Mecca were many passages +from the Koran, inlaid in the marble with precious +stones in a most delicate and marvellous way. Before +the niche upon the marble floor were spread +prayer rugs of great price. This was the private +mosque of Ben Emeal and his household and he +had thought the expenditure of thousands of rupees +not too much for the adornment of his place of prayer.</p> + +<p>When Ahmed reached home, the servants told +him that his father was at prayer in the mosque and +did not wish to be disturbed before morning. +Ahmed wondered what unusual happening could +have called his father to a whole night of prayer. +When he asked the servant more particularly about +his father's health, he found that Ben Emeal had +seemed much better until in the afternoon a strange +old Arab had been admitted to his presence and +since then he had been much worse, depressed in +mind as well as body, and at times greatly agitated.</p> + +<p>Ahmed, feeling that he must not interrupt his father +at such a time and wondering if it could be possible +that his father's agitated condition could have come +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200"></a></span>from a premonition of what he himself had done, +hastened to his mother's apartment. Finding her +asleep, he spent several hours in prayer for help and +guidance for the coming day, for he knew that he +could not and would not put off the revelation of his +break with his father's faith longer than that, unless +Ben Emeal's illness should grow more alarming.</p> + +<p>Meantime the rain had come again, even harder +than upon the night that Ahmed had been abroad. +In floods it was pouring down upon the city of +Hyderabad and brimming the banks of the river. +In a small house near the great bridge that spanned +the river at the crossing of the Sidar Ways two men +were sitting. One was the man who had been following +the doings of Ahmed; the other, the old +man from Arabia, whose face now reflected no +terror, only the glow of a fanatic Faith.</p> + +<p>"He was baptized?" As he almost shouted the +question, the old man leaned forward in his excitement. +"I warned the father again this day in a +manner that stirred him to the depths, but I did not +really expect this so soon. Are you sure? Have +you told our brothers of the council?"</p> + +<p>The other replied, "Why, of course I am sure, +for I saw the act myself. Yes, I have reported to +Ben Isah and he bade me tell you that just before +noon we are to assemble with Ben Emeal and support +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201"></a></span>his arm and his faith as followers of the +Prophet. Of course the boy will recant and repudiate +all this nonsense, he says, but he must be taught +a severe lesson. 'There must be no trifling with the +infidel,' were his very words."</p> + +<p>As the man ceased speaking a gust of wind bore +the rain like sleet against the door of the house and +the old man looked up with a hunted expression and +his lips moved as if in prayer. The younger man +looked at him in contempt and without another +word threw himself upon a charpoy in the corner of +the room and fell asleep, but the old man sank on +his knees and remained in that position until dawn.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>Ahmed's first thought with the coming of the new +day was to tell his mother the good news and bring +joy to her sad heart. Then he had determined that +he would face his father and leave the rest in God's +hands. His mother might lose her son, but she +would gain far more in what this Jesus Doctrine +would bring. So he greeted her with a happy heart.</p> + +<p>He told her all: of his own experience, his growing +dissatisfaction with Mohammedanism, of his +growing belief in the religion of the new book +which he had studied for so many months, of his +occasional meetings with the Christian man at the +bridge, and, finally, of what he had done at Bangalore. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202"></a></span>Words could not come fast enough as he went +on to explain the new faith to her and told her what +it would mean for her, if she should believe. But, although +it sounded very beautiful to her, she could +not accept any doctrine in such a short time and she +was listening to his words as yet with only a glad +wonder in her heart, when a messenger suddenly +summoned him to his father.</p> + +<p>Ahmed had almost forgotten his father in his +eagerness to talk to his mother and bring her the +good news; so he was remorseful when suddenly he +realized that he had not even asked about his father's +health since the night before, nor gone to him to report +on the business matter which he had arranged +in Bangalore. He went quickly after the messenger, +for the moment again forgetful of the unwelcome +news that he must bring to his father soon. He was +surprised when he learned from the servant that Ben +Emeal was still in the mosque and awaited him +there. But his surprise became amazement when on +entering the mosque he perceived a circle of the +most influential Mohammedans of Hyderabad seated +about his father on the floor. So accustomed was +Ahmed to the habits of the faithful that without +thought of its being a violation of his new faith, he +slipped his feet from his shoes as he entered the mosque.</p> + +<p>As Ahmed approached the group he noticed at +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203"></a></span>one side of his father the old Arab whom he had +seen in such terror upon the street and at the other +side the man whom he had met at the gate of the +Mission Press in Bangalore. In a flash, as his eyes +met those of the man who had spied upon him and +saw the light of success in them, Ahmed understood +the reason for this assemblage and for his being summoned +thus as it were before a tribunal of the faithful. +Instinctively his eyes sought his father and the +drawn, haggard look upon that face, usually so +strong and firm, rent his heart. Their eyes met and +in a second each had read the message that the other +loved him, come what might. Then the eyes of both +fell and the lad awaited the charge.</p> + +<p>"Ben Isah," the voice of the man who had dogged +Ahmed's footsteps demanded, "is it seemly that an +infidel should stand within the sacred precincts of a +house of prayer?"</p> + +<p>"Ben Idrahi," replied the most dignified and grave +gentleman of the company as if he were a judge in +a court and repeating the formulas of that august +body;—and, indeed, he was a judge in a court that +controlled life and death; "Ben Idrahi, whom accuseth +thou of being an infidel? Are not all of us before +you true followers of the Prophet and upholders +of the only true Faith? Whom accuseth thou with +such a terrible accusation?"</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204"></a></span></p><p>"Ben Isah," the man rose and said slowly, "I +have proof; I have proof, I say, that the youth, +Ahmed, son of Ben Emeal, is no longer a follower of +the Prophet; that in the city of Bangalore yesterday +in the early morning he was baptized into the hell-filling +creed, the name of which I will not defile my +lips with. And now, Brothers of the Faith, he +stands before you an avowed infidel."</p> + +<p>As the man announced the fact of his baptism in +Bangalore, although Ahmed dared not look at his +father, he felt that an involuntary shudder passed +over Ben Emeal's frame. But at those words his +own heart leaped and yearned towards these men. +Then and there he longed to tell them the wonderful +story of the God revealed through Jesus Christ, but +he restrained himself.</p> + +<p>Ben Isah had turned towards him and all eyes except +his father's were upon him, as the older man said:</p> + +<p>"Ahmed, son of Ben Emeal, is this, that this man +accuseth thee of, is this true?"</p> + +<p>Ahmed could restrain himself no longer. This +was his opportunity to testify and to men who probably +would never hear the message from other lips. +He took the opportunity with a skill and wisdom beyond +his years.</p> + +<p>The words poured from his lips, even as the rain +was pouring from the heavens into the courtyard of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205"></a></span>the mosque. His face glowed and his eyes shone +with a light brighter than that of the clouded sun. +Not a man moved. They listened, held by the fascination +of the youth, as with a tempestuousness that +seemed born of the very storm without and with a +courage not born of man, he told them the truth as +they would never hear it again.</p> + +<p>As he spoke his eyes were upon his father's face, +who looked as if he were beholding a miracle. When +he had finished, his hands still outstretched, his voice +still ringing in their ears as he said,—"All that this +man says is true. I am an infidel, as you say, for I +have been baptized. I am a Christian,"—Ben Isah +stumbled to his feet and with shaking hand held out, +cried in agitated voice: "Stop! Stop him! This +must cease! This must cease! Lay hands upon +him! Take him from the mosque!"</p> + +<p>Confusion reigned as a couple of men seized +Ahmed's arms and dragged him from the mosque +while the other men raved at him in rage and hate +because in spite of themselves they had listened to a +blasphemer and the teachings of the infidel. The lad +was carried to a side chamber where the two men +stood over him, giving him no chance to escape. +But Ahmed was not seeking that; his head was +bowed in prayer.</p> + +<p>As they watched and waited the two men talked +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206"></a></span>of the storm without, for the rain still fell in torrents +and the wind blew; while above the sound of the +wind and rain could be heard continuously the voice +of the gorged and angry river.</p> + +<p>"If this continues, there will be trouble," said one, +"for this morning the water was five feet higher than +yesterday, they told me."</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied the other, "when I crossed the +bridge a few hours ago the river was up to the first +buttress; but there can't be any real danger, can +there?"</p> + +<p>"It must be a warning to the infidel," answered +the first, looking significantly at Ahmed, but he was +unconscious of what they were saying.</p> + +<p>Soon the summons came and the lad was led into +a large guest-chamber where his father received +visitors of state. The men sat as before in the +mosque, but their faces were dark and their eyes +downcast.</p> + +<p>Again Ben Isah spoke, "Young man, because of +thy youth, and for thy father's sake, we will give +thee one chance, one only, to recant and unsay all +thou hast said. Wilt thou take back thy words, repudiate +this infidelity, and once more accept the true +and only Faith?"</p> + +<p>Before Ahmed could reply Ben Emeal was upon +his feet. "My son," he said in slow, restrained +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207"></a></span>tones, "think well before thou speakest. Remember +thou art my only son; remember that all my fortune +will be thine. Thou canst go to the University at +Aligarh; thou canst have thy heart's desire in everything, +if thou wilt only recant!" He ended hurriedly.</p> + +<p>"If thou dost not, Ahmed, son of Emeal," shrilled +the old Arab, rising to his feet, "thou shalt die. +Choose thou and choose quickly!"</p> + +<p>The son looked at the father. Just then in the +distance, through the downfall of the rain, there +sounded dimly:</p> + +<p>"Allah is most great! Allah is most great! Allah +is most great! Allah is most great! I bear +witness that there is no god but Allah! I bear witness +that there is no god but Allah! I bear witness +that Mohammed is the Apostle of Allah! I bear +witness that Mohammed is the Apostle of Allah! +Come to prayer, come to prayer! Come to the +Refuge, come to the Refuge! Allah is most great! +Allah is most great! There is no god but Allah!"</p> + +<p>It was the Moslem's call to prayer and every man +in the room fell upon his knees except Ahmed.</p> + +<p>Ahmed remained standing with bowed head. He +made no effort to escape while the others were upon +their knees. But as soon as they had finished their +devotions, he stepped forward and in a clear, full voice +said simply, "I choose death."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208"></a></span></p><p>A silence as of death itself fell upon the company. +No one spoke. The boy remained standing with his +hands out as he had spoken. At a motion from Ben +Isah a servant stole to Ben Emeal's side and noiselessly +placed a cup in his hands. The latter arose +and stepped towards his son.</p> + +<p>With a stern, tense voice Ben Emeal broke the +silence: "The infidel must die! This is the cup of +death. Drink!"</p> + +<p>As he touched the cup to his son's lips a thunder +as of mighty waters rose.</p> + +<p>"Night is coming! The wildness of desolation +is upon us! Fly, fly!" shrieked the voice of the old +Arab. But even as he cried a wave of water burst +into the room through the open door.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>The river rose sixty feet above the bridge they say +and at least ten thousand of the inhabitants of Hyderabad +were drowned in that one day.</p> + +<p>In one room in the house that had been Ben +Emeal's, when the water subsided, they found as +many as fifteen or twenty bodies and since most of +them wore the Mohammedan rosary, all were given +decent burial according to the customs of the followers +of the Prophet. Thus an infidel was interred in +holy ground and allowed to sleep beside his father.</p> + +<hr class="full" /> + +<h2 title="Advertisements"><br /><br /><br />IN OTHER LANDS</h2> + +<p class="h3left">Poland, the Knight Among Nations</p> + +<p class="center">With Introduction by Helena Modjeska.</p> + +<div> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Book author and details" style="width:95%"> +<tr><td align="left">Illustrated, Cloth, $1.50 net.</td><td align="right"> <b>LOUIS E. VAN NORMAN</b></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>Poland is worth knowing—it is interesting. How could +it be otherwise when it gave us Copernicus, Kosciusko, +Chopra, Paderewski and Sienkiewicz. Not much has been +known about the people because they have been hard to +get at. Mr. Van Norman went to Cracow, won the hearts +of the people, was treated like a guest of the nation and +stayed till he knew his hosts well, and he here conveys an extensive +array of information.</p> + +<p class="h3left">The Continent of Opportunity: <span style="font-weight:normal;">South America</span></p> + +<div> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Book author and details" style="width:95%"> +<tr><td align="left">Profusely illustrated, $1.50 net.</td><td align="right"> <b>FRANCIS E. CLARK</b></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>Dr. Clark writes from a thorough-going tour of examination, +covering practically every centre of importance in <a name="trans_the" id="trans_the">the</a> South +American continent, Panama, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Argentine, +Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Dr. Clark's prime +object has been to collect information of every sort that +will help to understand the problems facing Civilization in +our sister Continent.</p> + +<p class="h3left">China and America To-day</p> + +<div> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Book author and details" style="width:95%"> +<tr><td align="left"><abbr title="twelvemo">12mo</abbr>, Cloth, $1.25 net.</td><td align="right"> <b>ARTHUR H. SMITH</b></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>Dr. Smith is one of America's ablest representatives at +foreign courts. He is not so accredited by the government +of this country, but rather chooses to be known as a missionary +to China. In this capacity he has learned much of +China which in another relation might be denied him. Being +a statesman by instinct and genius, he has taken a broad +survey of conditions and opportunities and here presents his +criticisms of America's strength and weakness abroad.</p> + +<p class="h3left">Ancient Jerusalem</p> + +<div> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Book author and details" style="width:95%"> +<tr><td align="left">Illustrated. In press.</td><td align="right"> <b>HON. SELAH MERRILL</b></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>This work will immediately be recognized as authoritative +and well nigh final. Dr. Merrill, as the American +Consul, has lived at Jerusalem for many years, and has +given thirty-five years of thorough, accurate study and exploration +to this exhaustive effort. It contains more than +one hundred maps, charts, and photographs.</p> + +<p class="h3left">Palestine Through the Eyes of a Native</p> + +<div> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Book author and details" style="width:95%"> +<tr><td align="left">Illustrated, $1.00 net.</td><td align="right"> <b>GAMAHLIEL WAD-EL-WARD</b></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>The author, a native of Palestine, has been heard and +appreciated in many parts of this country in his popular +lectures upon the land in which so large a part of his life +was spent. His interpretation of many obscure scriptural +passages by means of native manners and customs and traditions +is particularly helpful and informing.</p> + +<p class="h2">MISSIONARY</p> + +<p class="h3">The World Missionary Conference</p> + +<blockquote><p>The Report of the Ecumenical Conference held in Edinburgh +in 1910. In nine volumes, each, net 75c.; the complete set +of nine volumes, net $5.00.</p></blockquote> + +<p>A whole missionary library by experts and wrought up to +the day and hour. The Conference has been called a modern +council of Nicea and the report the greatest missionary publication +ever made.</p> + +<p> +Vol. 1. Carrying the Gospel.<br /> +Vol. 2. The Church in the Mission Field.<br /> +Vol. 3. Christian Education.<br /> +Vol. 4. The Missionary Message.<br /> +Vol. 5. Preparation of Missionaries.<br /> +Vol. 6. The Home Base.<br /> +Vol. 7. Missions and Governments.<br /> +Vol. 8. Co-operation and Unity.<br /> +Vol. 9. History, Records and Addresses.<br /><br /> +</p> + +<p class="h3">Echoes from Edinburgh, 1910</p> + +<blockquote><p>By <span class="smcap">W. H. T. Gairdner</span>, <i>author of "D. M. Thornton."</i> +<abbr title="twelvemo">12mo</abbr>, cloth, net $1.00.</p></blockquote> + +<p>The popular story of the Conference—its preparation—its +management—its effect and forecast of its influence on the +church at home and the work abroad. An official publication +in no way conflicting with the larger work—which it rather +supplements.</p> + +<p class="authorhead">HENRY H. JESSUP'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY</p> + +<p class="h3">Fifty-three Years in Syria</p> + +<blockquote><p>Introduction by James S. Dennis. Two volumes, illustrated, +<abbr title="octavo">8vo</abbr>, cloth, boxed, net $5.00.</p></blockquote> + +<p>"A rich mine of information for the historian, the ethnologist +and the student of human nature apart from the +labors to which the author devoted his life. A thoroughly interesting +book that will yield endless pickings."—<i>N. Y. Sun</i>.</p> + +<p class="authorhead">ROBERT E. SPEER</p> + +<p class="h3">Christianity and the Nations<br /> +<span style="font-weight:normal;">The Duff Lectures for 1910.</span></p> + +<blockquote><p><abbr title="octavo">8vo</abbr>, cloth, net $2.00.</p></blockquote> + +<p>Among the many notable volumes that have resulted +from the well-known Duff foundation Lectureship this new +work embodying the series given by Mr. Robert E. Speer +in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen, will rank among the +most important. The general theme, "The Reflex Influence +of Missions Upon the Nations," suggests a large, important, +and most interesting work.</p> + +<p class="authorhead">G. T. B. DAVIS</p> + +<p class="h3">Korea for Christ</p> + +<blockquote><p><i>In press.</i></p></blockquote> + +<p>An effective report of the recent revivals in Korea told by +an eye witness, who himself participated in the work.</p> + +<p class="authorhead">JULIUS RICHTER</p> + +<p class="h3">A History of Protestant Missions in the Near East</p> + +<blockquote><p><abbr title="octavo">8vo</abbr>, cloth, net $2.50.</p></blockquote> + +<p>A companion volume to "A History of Missions in India," +by this great authority. The progress of the gospel is +traced in Asia Minor, Persia, Arabia, Syria, and Egypt. +Non-sectarian in spirit, thoroughly comprehensive in scope.</p> + +<p class="authorhead">JOHN P. JONES, D. D.</p> + +<p class="h3">The Modern Missionary Challenge</p> + +<blockquote><p><i>Yale Lectures, 1910.</i> <abbr title="twelvemo">12mo</abbr>, cloth, net $1.50.</p></blockquote> + +<p>These lectures, by the author of "India's Problem, +<a name="trans_Krishna" id="trans_Krishna">Krishna</a> or Christ?" are a re-survey of the demand of missions +in the light of progress made, in their relation to human +thought. The new difficulties, the new incentives, are considered +by one whose experience in the field and as a writer, +entitle him to consideration.</p> + +<p class="authorhead">ALONZO BUNKER, D. D.</p> + +<p class="h3">Sketches from the Karen Hills</p> + +<blockquote><p>Illustrated, <abbr title="twelvemo">12mo</abbr>. Cloth, net $1.00.</p></blockquote> + +<p>These descriptive chapters from a missionary's life in +Burma are of exceptional vividness and rich in an appreciation +for color. His pen pictures give not only a splendid +insight into native life, missionary work, but have a distinctive +literary charm which characterizes his "Soo Thah."</p> + +<p class="authorhead">JAMES F. LOVE</p> + +<p class="h3">The Unique Message and Universal Mission of Christianity</p> + +<blockquote><p><abbr title="twelvemo">12mo</abbr>, cloth, net $1.25.</p></blockquote> + +<p>A volume dealing with the philosophy of missions at +once penetrating and unusual. It is perhaps one of the most +original and valuable contributions to the subject yet made.</p> + +<p class="authorhead">WILLIAM EDWARD GARDNER</p> + +<p class="h3">Winners of the World During Twenty Centuries<br /> +<span style="font-weight:normal">Adapted for Boys and Girls.</span></p> + +<p>A Story and a Study of Missionary Effort from the Time of +Paul to the Present Day. Cloth, net 60c.; paper, net 30c.<br /><br /></p> + +<p class="h3">Children's Missionary Series</p> + +<p class="u"><i>Illustrated in Colors, Cloth, Decorated, each, net 60c.</i></p> + +<p> +<b>Children of Africa.</b> James B. Baird.<br /> +<b>Children of Arabia.</b> John C. Young.<br /> +<b>Children of China.</b> C. Campbell Brown.<br /> +<b>Children of India.</b> Janet Harvey Kelman.<br /> +</p> + +<p class="h3left">The Foreign Missionary<br /> +<span style="font-weight:normal;">An Incarnation of the World Movement</span></p> + +<div> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Book author and details" style="width:95%"> +<tr><td align="left"><abbr title="twelvemo">12mo</abbr>, Cloth, $1.50 net.</td><td align="right"> <b>ARTHUR J. BROWN</b></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>Dr. Brown, out of a long and intimate experience deals +with such questions as: Who is the Missionary? What are +his motives, aims and methods? His dealings with proud +and ancient peoples. His relation to his own and other +governments? His real difficulties. Do results justify the +expenditures? How are the Mission Boards conducted? +etc., etc. The book is most intelligently informing.</p> + +<p class="h3left">The Conquest of the Cross in China</p> + +<div> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Book author and details" style="width:95%"> +<tr><td align="left">With Chart and Illustrations, <abbr title="twelvemo">12mo</abbr>, Cloth, $1.50 net.</td><td align="right"> <b>JACOB SPEICHER</b></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>The contents of this book were first delivered as lectures +to the students at Colgate University. Mr. Speicher has +the true instinct of the news bringer. He has lived in South +China long enough to know it thoroughly. He is distinguished +by common sense in his judgments, made palatable +by a free literary style.</p> + +<p class="h3left">China in Legend and Story</p> + +<div> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Book author and details" style="width:95%"> +<tr><td align="left"><abbr title="twelvemo">12mo</abbr>, Cloth, $1.25 net.</td><td align="right"> <b>C. CAMPBELL BROWN</b></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>By one of the C. M. S. best known missionaries. It +consists of seventeen stories, true to legend or to fact, ten of +them studies of the Chinese people as they are when heathen, +and seven of them of the same people when they become +Christians. The stories cover a wide range of social life, +representing every class in the community, from mandarins +to thieves and beggars. As Mr. Campbell Brown is a keen +observer, and wields a graceful pen, the book is unusually +interesting and valuable.</p> + +<p class="h3left">A Typical Mission in China</p> + +<div> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Book author and details" style="width:95%"> +<tr><td align="left"><abbr title="twelvemo">12mo</abbr>, Cloth, $1.50 net.</td><td align="right"> <b>W. E. SOOTHILL</b></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>"The book is comprehensive, instructive, well written, +interesting and valuable in every way. Those who read it +will get such a glimpse into Chinese life and methods as they +may never have had, and will certainly be edified and stimulated +to a new zeal in the work of missions."—<i>Herald and +Presbyter.</i></p> + +<p class="h3left">Robert Clark of the Panjab<br /> +<span style="font-weight:normal;">Pioneer and Missionary Statesman</span></p> + +<div> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Book author and details" style="width:95%"> +<tr><td align="left"><abbr title="octavo">8vo</abbr>, Cloth, $1.75 net.</td><td align="right"> <b>HENRY MARTYN CLARK</b></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>"The record of one of the makers of Christian India: as +fascinating as a novel, and immensely more profitable. The +more widely this book is circulated and read, the better it will +be for the missionary enterprise. A book of this character is +the best apologetic that can be written."—<i>Missionary Intelligencer.</i></p> + +<p class="h2">MISSIONS, BIOGRAPHICAL</p> + +<p class="authorhead">DR. GEORGE BROWN</p> + +<p class="h3">The Life of Dr. George Brown</p> + +<blockquote><p>Pioneer, Explorer and Missionary. An Autobiography, +with 111 illustrations and map. <abbr title="octavo">8vo</abbr>, Cloth, net $3.50.</p></blockquote> + +<p>"Since the appearance of John G. Paton's Autobiography +we have read no work of such entrancing interest. It is a +narrative of this pioneer missionary's forty-eight years of +residence and travel in Samoa, New Britain, New Ireland, +New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands."—<i>British Weekly.</i></p> + +<p class="authorhead">JESSE PAGE, F. R. G. S.</p> + +<p class="h3">The Black Bishop<br /> +<span style="font-weight:normal">The Life of Samuel Adjai Crowther.</span></p> + +<blockquote><p>Preface by Eugene Stock, D. C. L., with frontispiece, +sixteen illustrations and map. <abbr title="octavo">8vo</abbr>, Cloth, net $2.00.</p></blockquote> + +<p>"The simple life-story, told mainly by himself, of a +West African who was a kidnapped slave when a boy of fifteen +and forty-three years later became the first negro bishop +of the Church of England. Much information is given beside +the biographical details, about the problems presented +by the Nigerian peoples to their white rulers and particularly +of the extent, influence and probable future of the Mohammedan +invasion."—<i>Nation.</i></p> + +<p class="authorhead">W. H. T. GAIRDNER, B. A.</p> + +<p class="h3">D. M. Thornton<br /> +<span style="font-weight:normal">A Study in Missionary Ideals and Methods.</span></p> + +<blockquote><p>Nine illustrations, <abbr title="twelvemo">12mo</abbr>. Cloth, net $1.25.</p></blockquote> + +<p>"The Student Movement" says: "It is likely to dominate +the thoughts of the missionary thinker for many years." +Devoted largely to experiences in Egypt and lessons gathered +on this field—it tells of a man who devoted his intellectual +powers to thinking out the wider problems of the +evangelization of the world and the spread of Christian institutions +in Mission lands.</p> + +<p class="authorhead">GEORGE HAWKER</p> + +<p class="h3">The Life of George Grenfell,<br /> +<span style="font-weight:normal">Congo Missionary and Explorer</span></p> + +<blockquote><p>Illustrated, <abbr title="octavo">8vo</abbr>, Cloth, net $2.00.</p></blockquote> + +<p>"This may be regarded as a companion volume to Sir +Harry Johnston's 'George Grenfell and the Congo'—it was, +indeed, originally arranged that Sir Harry Johnston and Mr. +Hawker should collaborate in a single volume as a memorial +to one of the greatest names in the annals of equatorial +Africa."—<i>London Times.</i></p> + +<p class="authorhead">REV. JAMES WELLS, D. D.</p> + +<p class="h3">Stewart of Lovedale</p> + +<blockquote><p>The Romance of Missions in Africa told in the Life of +<a name="James_Stewart_D_A" id="James_Stewart_D_A">James Stewart, D. A.</a>, M. D., F. R. G. S. With forty-two +illustrations and two maps. <abbr title="octavo">8vo</abbr>, Cloth, net $1.50.</p></blockquote> + +<p>"We may heartily congratulate Dr. Wells on having +written a book that will live, and more than that, a book that +will create life wherever it is read."—<i>Dr. Robertson Nicoll, +in the British Weekly.</i></p> + +<p class="h2">TRAVEL, MISSIONARY</p> + +<p class="authorhead">H. G. UNDERWOOD</p> + +<p class="h3">The Call of Korea</p> + +<blockquote><p> +<i>New Popular Edition.</i> Paper, net 35c. Regular Edition, <abbr title="twelvemo">12mo</abbr>, cloth, net 75c. +</p></blockquote> + +<p>"As attractive as a novel—packed with information. Dr. +Underwood knows Korea, its territory, its people, and its +needs, and his book has special value which attaches to expert +judgment. Particularly well suited to serve as a guide to +young people in the study of missions."—<i>Examiner.</i></p> + +<p class="authorhead">WILLIAM O. CARVER</p> + +<p class="h3">Missions in the Plan of the Ages</p> + +<blockquote><p>Bible Studies and Missions. <abbr title="twelvemo">12mo</abbr>, cloth, net $1.25.</p></blockquote> + +<p>As Professor of Comparative Religion and Missions in +the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary at Louisville, Dr. +Carver has prepared in these chapters the fruit of many +years' study. His aim is to show that the foundation principles +of the Christian task of world conquest are found in +the Bible not so much in the guise of a commanded duty as +in the very life of the Christian faith.</p> + +<p class="authorhead">ANNIE L. A. BAIRD</p> + +<p class="h3">Daybreak in Korea</p> + +<blockquote><p>Illustrated, <abbr title="sixteenmo">16mo</abbr>, cloth, net 60c.</p></blockquote> + +<p>There can never be too many missionary books like this. +A story written with literary skill, the story of a girl's life +in Korea, her unhappy marriage and how the old, old story +transformed her home. It reads like a novel and most of all +teaches one, on every page, just what the Gospel means to +the far eastern homes.</p> + +<p class="authorhead">ISABELLA RIGGS WILLIAMS</p> + +<p class="h3">By the Great Wall</p> + +<blockquote><p>Selected Correspondence of Isabella Riggs Williams, Missionary +of the American Board to China, 1866-1897. +With an introduction by Arthur H. Smith. Illustrated, +<abbr title="twelvemo">12mo</abbr>, cloth, net $1.50.</p></blockquote> + +<p>"This volume is a little window opened into the life and +work of an exceptionally equipped missionary. It was at +Kalgan, the northern gateway of China, that a mission +station was begun amid a people hard and unimpressible. +It was here that Mrs. Williams won the hearts of Chinese +women and girls; here that she showed what a Christian +home may be, and how the children of such a home can be +trained for wide and unselfish usefulness wherever their lot +is cast. No object-lesson is more needed in the Celestial Empire +than this. Many glimpses of that patient and tireless missionary +activity which makes itself all things to all men are +given."—<i>Arthur H. Smith, Author of Chinese Characteristics, +Etc.</i></p> + +<p><br /><br /></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 468px;"> + <img src="images/bkplate.jpg" width="468" height="700" alt="Ex Libris The Canadian School of Missions" /> +</div> + +<p><br /><br /></p> + +<div class="transnote"> +<p class="h2"><a name="Transcribers_notes" id="Transcribers_notes"></a>Transcriber's notes:</p> + +<p>Minor punctuation errors have been corrected without note.</p> + +<p>The phrase 'dung cake' was changed to 'dung-cake' in The Infidel: +"mass of fuel <a href="#trans_dung-cakes">dung-cakes</a>" to make it consistent with Old Sarah: "at +a fire of twigs and dung-cakes".</p> + +<p>Where the use/non-use of the hyphen is either not clear, or used in +a consistent way, these have not been changed. These are +'dirty-white', 'well-known', 'first-class', 'second-class', +'third-class'.</p> + +<p>Changed '--' to ',' in "<a href="#Illustrations">beautiful wife, as fair</a>" in the list of +illustrations for consistency with the caption and the text.</p> + +<p>Inserted 'the' in the notes relating to The Continent of +Opportunity: South America-"of importance in <a href="#trans_the">the</a> South American +continent".</p> + +<p>Replaced Krisha with Krishna in notes relating to the Modern Missionary +Challenge-"India's Problem, <a href="#trans_Krishna">Krishna</a> or Christ?".</p> + +<p>James Stewart's qualifications were actually D. D., M. D., F. R. G. S., see: +The Romance of Missions in Africa told in the Life of James Stewart, +<a href="#James_Stewart_D_A">D. A.</a>, M. D., F. R. G. S. (not corrected).</p> + +</div> + +<p> </p> +<hr class="pg" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN KALI'S COUNTRY***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 38881-h.txt or 38881-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/8/8/8/38881">http://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/8/8/38881</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: In Kali's Country + Tales from Sunny India + + +Author: Emily Churchill Thompson Sheets + + + +Release Date: February 14, 2012 [eBook #38881] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN KALI'S COUNTRY*** + + +E-text prepared by Dave Hobart, Suzanne Shell, and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made +available by Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries +(http://www.archive.org/details/toronto) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 38881-h.htm or 38881-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38881/38881-h/38881-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38881/38881-h.zip) + + + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries. See + http://www.archive.org/details/rsinkaliscountry00sheeuoft + + +Transcriber's note: + + Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). + + Text enclosed by equal signs is in bold face (=bold=). + + + +IN KALI'S COUNTRY + +[Illustration: Ox drawn wagon] + +[Illustration: "Mundra had been one of the happy bejewelled girls of +this very town"] + + +IN KALI'S COUNTRY + +Tales from Sunny India + +by + +EMILY T. SHEETS + +Illustrations from drawings by Elma McNeal Childs + + + + + + + +[Illustration: Publisher's logo] + +New York Chicago Toronto +Fleming H. Revell Company +London and Edinburgh + +Copyright, 1910, by +Fleming H. Revell Company + +[Illustration: Onion domed gazebo hung with bells] + +New York: 158 Fifth Avenue +Chicago: 80 Wabash Avenue +Toronto: 25 Richmond Street, W. +London: 21 Paternoster Square +Edinburgh: 100 Princes Street + + + + +_This book is dedicated to +My Mother +Jane Churchill Thompson +and +My Father +William H. Thompson, Jr._ + +[Illustration: Indian lady in doorway] + + + + +Contents + + + I. KALIGHAT 9 + + II. SHAMA SAHAI 22 + + III. OLD SARAH 34 + + IV. A SON OF THE LAW 53 + + V. MUNDRA 68 + + VI. OF THE TRIBE OF HAUNAMON 78 + + VII. IN WAYS MYSTERIOUS 96 + + VIII. THE WAY TO HAPPINESS 114 + + IX. BACHELOR DREAMS 129 + + X. THE COST 142 + + XI. AMONG THE CLOUDS 161 + + XII. THE INFIDEL 174 + +[Illustration: Indian in turban] + +[Illustration: Gazebo] + + + + +Illustrations + + + "Mundra had been one of the happy, bejewelled + girls of this very town" _Frontispiece_ + + "Shama Sahai was not happy" _Facing page_ 22 + + "It was only a glimpse" " " 54 + + "For a few moments she managed to keep + up the straining movement" " " 68 + + "I have a beautiful wife, as fair as your + own, Sahib" " " 96 + + "The humblest of them frequently rises to + acts of great courage and chivalry" " " 112 + + "You are an American, aren't you?" " " 142 + + "Oh, Allah, Allah, hear the cry of the + faithful!" " " 174 + + + + +Glossary + + + Anna--Indian coin, value about two cents. + + Ayah--a nurse. + + Bearer--body servant or personal attendant. + + Chapati--the common bread of India. + + Charpoy--a cot-bed. + + Chokidar--night watchman. + + Chota hazri--light, early breakfast. + + Dhersy--the Indian man who does the family sewing. + + Durbar--official levee of an Indian prince or ruler. + + Ekka--a two-wheeled, springless conveyance. + + Gari or gharry--a four-wheeled, closed carriage. + + Gariwala--driver of a gari. + + Ghat--sacred stairway on river bank adjoining a temple. + + Hookah--a water pipe. + + Kusti--sacred girdle of the Parsis. + + Memsahib--Indian name for European lady. + + Pan or pawn--Indian substitute for chewing-gum or tobacco, made by + wrapping bits of nuts and lime in the leaves of the betel. + + Pice--small Indian coin, value about one-half cent. + + Punkah--a large screen-like fan swung from the ceiling. + + Purdah--curtain hung for the seclusion of women. "In purdah"--in + seclusion. + + Rupee--silver coin, value about thirty-three and one-third cents. + + Sahib--Indian name for European gentleman. + + Sari--a long piece of cloth constituting the principal garment of + the Indian woman. + + Topi--a sola--a pith hat. + + + + +I + +Kalighat + + +"The five years will be up to-morrow. When the sun rises next upon +the festival of Kali I shall have completed my vow." + +Scarcely had the holy man been able to say his prayers or repeat his +sacred texts the whole day long, for there had been constantly +before his mind the knowledge that this was the last day of his +self-imposed sacrifices and that the next day he would be free from +all restraints to do--what? Over and over had the thought repeated +itself in the man's mind until now, unconsciously, he had given +utterance to it and the stout, sleek priest of Kali who chanced to +be standing beside his shelter, looked down upon him in surprise. + +"What vow, most holy one?" he courteously inquired. "For many years +thou hast sat here at the ghat, the most honoured and revered of all +the holy men this side the temple of our Goddess Kali. Was this thy +vow--to sit thus in ashes?" + +The fakir started at the priest's voice, for his own remarks had +been unconscious, and, looking up at his interrogator, he seemed +slowly to comprehend that he had spoken aloud and that the priest +had heard his words. + +"Yes, Priest of Kali," he said, dropping his eyes and poking the +little fire before him with his sacred tongs. + +"Perhaps you of the holy priesthood can answer a question for me," +he added slowly after a moment, without looking up. + +The fat, half-naked priest, not loath to take advantage of any +opportunity to do nothing, especially when at the same time he was +being religious by talking with a holy man, dropped lazily to the +pavement beside the fakir's rude shelter of a bit of thatch on four +poles and, waving for a hookah from the rest-house across the narrow +street, settled himself to listen in comfort. + +But before the holy man propounded his question, for a few minutes +he seemed to have forgotten about it. His keen, dark eyes, after +turning thoughtfully from one side to the other of the small paved +square in front of him, looked across the sluggish brown stream at +the foot of the steps to the opposite bank where a few people were +bathing in the water, and beyond to where were crowded close +together the small mud houses of the native section of a great +Indian city. While he gazed thus, the young priest took several +puffs at the long pipe, leering lazily the while at two pretty girls +who had come from the street into the square and, pausing before the +fakir, timidly had placed a few pice on the dirty cloth spread out +before him, but, seeing the leer of the priest, hastened to pull +their saris over their faces and pass hurriedly down the steps to +the sacred Ganges. + +The holy man had not noticed the girls, nor did he seem to see the +rest of the crowd of people who walked back and forth through the +little square, having come to throw flowers upon the river or to +bathe in its waters or, having bathed, to lie down and rest in +Indian fashion in the roofed verandas charitably provided by rich +and merit-seeking Hindus. He did not seem to see any of them, +although so many of them brought their offerings of fruit and pice +to him that his begging cloth was almost overflowing. Nor did he +notice the presence of an American tourist who had stepped into the +square and who, with a Murray under one arm and an umbrella under +the other, was endeavouring to keep an immense sola, topi, from +falling over on his nose while he took a picture of the "freak"; for +how else could a globe-trotting American classify a man who, naked +all but for a small loin cloth, sat cross-legged upon a deer's +skin, his long hair, matted with filth into ropes, wound in a +scraggy knot upon his head and his body smeared with ashes from the +small fire that burned before him, the marks of white upon his +forehead, intelligible only to the Hindu, making his bearded face +almost frightful. + +Nor did the fakir heed the naked children who trotted across the +pavement at the heels of their mothers, going to perform the sacred +rites at the river and to secure their children from all harm by a +dip in its holy waters. The old woman, too, who, scarcely able to +hobble along, had placed a little brass bowl of the dirty, foul +water beside him (for the piece of water near Kali's temple is only +a slip of the Ganges itself and is, therefore, particularly filthy) +received not her usual blessing in return and sank down near by to +wait until the holy man should notice her. + +"Yes, Priest of Kali," the holy one turned from his gazing, "I have +a question that waits an answer. Listen to my story. I was once a +wealthy man, trained in all the learning of Brahminism. I did only +what our religion allowed; I did all that it required, in sacrifices +to the gods, in presents to their priests, and even in pilgrimages. +But I was wretched within. I had no peace." As he spoke he laid his +hand upon his heart and his eyes were heavy. "On the day of the +great feast five years ago, on this very spot, after having made my +offering to Jaganauth and to Haunamon and the other gods there," and +he indicated with his dirty hand a little stone building at his left +which contained a shrine to the legless, armless, hideous god, +Jaganauth, and to the red, shapeless figure known as Haunamon, "I +came to this spot to present my offering to the old man who had sat +here ever since I could remember. But he was not here. He was gone. +They told me that they had found him that morning lying dead on the +steps there with his feet in the Ganges and that already his body +had been burnt in the burning-ghat near by. 'What a reward!' I +thought, 'to have died by the side of Mother Gunga. Surely he must +have found peace.' + +"'Can I not find peace by following his example?' The thought came +to me suddenly as I stood here gazing upon his empty shelter and his +neglected fire. I determined at least to try, for, at any cost, I +must find peace! In my zeal and eagerness at once I stripped off my +clothing and smeared myself with ashes from the fire which the holy +man had kindled but the day before. Leaving my clothes on the ground +underneath this little roof near the heap of ashes, as a sign that +the dead man's place had been taken, to warn off other possible +devotees from the spot, immediately I passed down the little street +there between the stalls where are sold the articles needed in the +worship of your goddess. At one I bought the little lamp; at +another, garlands; at another, oil and a brass bowl; and at the +street there I turned aside to buy, with my last annas, a black kid +as a sacrifice for Kali. + +"Through the narrow passage between the houses that surround the +temple of Kali I went in haste, drawing the bleating kid behind me +by a rope. When I reached the little paved courtyard before that +small but most sacred shrine where dwells the goddess herself I gave +the animal over to the priest. Then I watched eagerly as he put the +little creature's neck between the posts so that he could not get +away, and, with but one blow of the knife, severed the head from the +body, letting the blood pour forth. I hastened to catch the precious +blood in my brass bowl. I daubed it upon my forehead. I touched the +sacred slaughter posts with it. I gladly stepped where it had flowed +upon the pavement and reddened my feet in the sacred flood. Then, as +the priest carried the carcass away and other sacrificers thronged +in, I took my bowl and, mounting the steps of the holy place where +no unclean foot has ever trod, I saw the door of the shrine open and +before me stood the Goddess Kali in her black majesty, with human +skulls for a necklace and human arms for a girdle, her protruding +tongue thirsting for blood. I poured my offering of blood upon her +and with prayers and presentation of flowers and incense, I invoked +her blessing upon me and declared to her a vow that for five years I +would sit at the ghat day and night; that I would follow all the +customs of the holy men:--wear no clothes but ashes, eat no food but +fruit, drink no water but that of the sacred Ganges, and pray +without ceasing; and that every anna that I received as alms I would +give to her. + +"Now, Priest of this most revered goddess, all this have I done. I +have never left this spot since returning from offering my vow to +her five years ago; I did not even go home to tell my family, who +after several days traced me here; but I was so changed that they +did not recognize me. Now they mourn me as dead. Here I have sat for +five years upon this skin. See my legs, how withered they are! See +my body; there is not a clean spot on it! See, I have drunk nothing +but this water," and he held up the jar of muddy liquid which the +old woman had set down at his side. "I eat nothing but fruit; I +think of nothing but my beads and my sacred book; I give every pice +to your temple. I have kept my vow. But I am not satisfied. I have +not found peace. What shall I do? Priest of Kali! What can I do to +find peace?" + +The sad heart of the holy man was in his eyes as he looked at the +priest and his voice was pleading. "If thou dost know, tell me!" + +The priest, who had been dulled by his bestiality so that he was not +able to comprehend the soul-longings of the man before him, had +already become weary of the fakir's earnestness and importunity. +Lazily he pulled himself to his feet, after a last long suck at the +pipe. "Come and be a priest of Kali," was his only answer as he +turned down the lane towards the temple of his goddess, with lustful +eyes fixed upon a pretty woman, who, attracted by the unusual +animation of the holy man, had been standing near by until the +priest arose. + +The fakir, worn out by the eagerness with which he had spoken and +the unappreciativeness of his listener, turned wearily to his holy +book and his prayers. He knew the priesthood of Kali; in his five +years at the Kalighat he had heard and seen strange things which as +a Hindu he could not condemn, but which he knew would not bring +peace to him, even as a priest of Kali, for in his young manhood he +had tried them and had not been at rest. "I was, indeed, foolish to +have talked to the priest at all," he murmured. + +"Pardon me, holy one," a voice interrupted his thoughts, the voice +of a young man who had been standing for some time with an open book +in his hand, not reading, but listening to the words of the fakir. +"I heard thy conversation. Hast thou ever tried the pursuit of +wisdom? Study, learn, become the wisest of men and surely thou wilt +become the most happy. I am a follower of that way." + +The holy man, turning, looked fixedly for some time at the young +man. "Son, what means the sad look in your eyes? Are you yourself +happy? Tell me truly!" + +The young man's intelligent but undeniably sad face was turned full +towards the fakir. For a few moments he seemed to hesitate to reply. +At last he said, "No, holy man, I have not found peace yet. I have +not found happiness yet, but I am only a student. I am seeking. I +study and read at all times--but even while I read my heart is not +at rest, I must confess." He turned as he finished speaking and with +bowed head, unmindful of the noise and confusion of the square about +him, went down the lane. + +The fakir sighed. "Peace is not found in that way, poor youth! For I +have tried it. I was a Hindu scholar of note before I became this," +and he gazed at his dirty hands and body with evident loathing. + +The old woman, who had waited all this time for her blessing, said +timidly, holding out her hand towards him, "Holy man, most holy man! +Give me thy blessing, for my son is ill. Tell me how he can be +healed, my only son." + +Mechanically the holy man muttered a blessing, and taking a pinch of +ashes from the fire before him, with a mumbled prayer, dropped them +into her hand. "Put these upon his tongue. Bathe his head in the +holy Gunga water and forget not to offer a kid to Kali." + +"But I cannot offer a kid. I have no money! I have no money! My son +will die! My son will die!" sobbed the woman. + +The holy man looked at her fixedly for a full minute, realizing her +grief and her need. Then with a quick glance about him he leaned +forward. He swept up the pile of coins on the offering cloth before +him and thrusting them into the woman's hands whispered: "Go and +buy! Go and buy!" + +The woman went quickly, wiping her eyes with her sari. + +The fakir's face became radiant. "Surely that sweet feeling was +peace! Blessed peace! Is this the end of my quest? Has my soul at +last found rest?" + +As suddenly his face darkened. "Yet, yet--I should have given that +money to the goddess. I promised in my vow that every anna, above +the cost of my fruit and of the wood for my fire, should be given to +her." + +He bowed his head upon his hands. + +"I have broken my vow--on the last day of the five years I have +broken my vow! I am unholy! I am unholy!" + +After a few minutes he raised his bowed head and seemed to be +thinking aloud. "Peace could not have come in cheating the gods. +That strange feeling when I gave to the woman to relieve her sorrow +could not have been peace--but it was sweet, very sweet!" He paused +with a half smile which soon, however, was overcast, for all the joy +went out of his face again as he said, "It must be that I have not +denied myself enough, have not made enough sacrifices. And I have +been unholy! Surely there is peace for the truly holy. I will try +again.--I will swear another vow. Take me to Kali!" He called the +last sentence loudly, but ere the people in the square understood +his wish, he remembered that he had no money, no offering to take; +even he, a "holy man," could not go to Kali's temple to make a vow +without an offering. He must wait until the people should fill his +empty begging cloth. + +"After all, it is best thus," he thought. It would have been useless +for him to have gone to the temple without having planned what new +form of self-torture he must add to his present life, in his search +for peace. "I must plan my vow," he said. + +In the meantime the sun had set and the people were leaving the +ghat. Involuntarily the fakir pulled a cotton sheet around him and +started to add a stick to his fire, for it was beginning to get +chilly. But suddenly he stopped, dropped the stick from his hand and +threw the cloth from his shoulders, proclaiming in a loud voice: +"For the next five years I will have no fire at night, nor will I +put more clothing about my body; but I will have a fire by day when +the sun is hot. Moreover I will eat but once a day and but once a +day will I drink water, no matter how parching the heat. And--and--I +will hold my arms above my head all the night! Surely," his +voice sank, "surely these sacrifices will bring me peace. +Surely--they--will--bring--me--peace. To-morrow will be the day to +begin my new vow, but," he paused, "perchance I can gain my desire +sooner if I begin now. Now, to-night, I will begin to keep my vow." + +In haste the holy man beat out his fire with the sacred tongs; he +threw his cotton sheet towards a beggar shivering on a step near +by; and with his eyes turned towards the waters of the sacred +Ganges, just visible in the dim twilight, he raised his arms high +above his head. + + + + +II + +Shama Sahai + + +A little company of pilgrims were trudging along the hot, dusty +road. Where a large tree offered a resting place, there for a few +minutes, squatting in the shade, the little company would stop while +the mother, taking her naked baby from her hip, astride of which he +had been carried during the journey, would let him stand beside her, +and the father would take a fresh chew of pan, spitting out the red +juice upon the roadside. But the young girl of the party would sit +apparently unwearied, with bright, eager eyes fixed upon the road +and with caressing fingers fondling the bracelets which adorned her +arms. + +It was an unusual thing for Shama Sahai to be clad in a gay sari, to +have necklaces of beads about her neck, a glass-set stud in her +nose, pretty, brass rings in her ears, bracelets upon her arms, +metal circlets upon her fingers, large anklets upon her feet, and +rings even on her toes. But most unusual was it for her to be +leaving her village home of mud huts and with her parents-in-law and +baby brother to be taking a journey; for from early childhood Shama +Sahai had been but a despised and neglected widow in the home of +her dead Hindu husband. She knew that they were going to some place +afar off to worship the god Krishna and that some special blessing +was coming to them for making this journey. She knew that her father +and mother and she herself had worked hard in the fields that they +might earn the money needed to pay the visit to the sacred city. She +knew, too, that a large portion of this money had been spent upon +her own adornment. So she felt very proud and very happy, but most +of all very eager to reach the wonderful place to which they were +going. Shama Sahai was young and strong, accustomed for many of her +sixteen years to the heat of the noonday sun in the fields. To make +greater haste she would offer to carry the baby and settling more +comfortably the bundle which she carried upon her head, she would +take the baby astride upon her hip and start off at an energetic +pace. + +[Illustration: "Shama Sahai was not happy"] + +For several days they journeyed thus, at night sleeping by the +roadside, each wrapped in an extra covering which Shama carried in +the bundle on her head during the day. Often they met other +pilgrims, or sacred fakirs who, each with a pair of tongs in his +hand, would be measuring their length along the road with naked, +ash-smeared bodies, seeking by such self-torture to win rest for +their souls. Sometimes they would meet ox-carts loaded with produce +for the city market; at other times, bands of coolies carrying +sugar-cane or bundles of fuel cakes upon their heads. It was all of +interest to Shama Sahai, who, pulling her sari down over her face, +would peep out between its folds and eagerly watch every passer-by. +Sometimes, however, she would be frightened as a "chug-chug" would +sound upon the air and a great motor car would whiz by and all she +could see would be a cloud of dust whirling along before her. + +On the long journey before they could reach Kamadabad Shama was +afraid that her pretty finery would be spoilt, because her sari soon +began to get wrinkled and one of the stones in her prettiest finger +ring fell out. Therefore, every evening, when just at sundown they +stopped in front of a little wayside temple, the names of whose gods +she did not know, and lost an hour of travelling before dark while +they put flowers upon the necks of the idols, poured a little oil +upon their bodies, and lighted tiny lamps before them, she begrudged +the time. She was not interested either in the terrible din, the +beating upon gongs and the ringing of bells with which the Hindu +priests awakened their gods for worship. Her thoughts were of +Kamadabad and the wonders that awaited her there. + +At last on a bright morning they reached the city with its narrow, +black streets lined with dirty-white, plastered houses and tiny +shops. As the streets were full of people crowding this way and +that, Shama Sahai kept as close to her parents as she could. At once +the little company hurried to the great temple which was by far the +most wonderful building that Shama had ever seen. It was enclosed by +high walls and above the gate was a tower tapering upward many +stories, on each story of which stood figures of gods, many of whom +the girl knew and feared, but others whom she had never seen before. +Passing under this tower they entered a court and from there went +under another tower to another court and on until, entering a +covered building in the centre, they found the god, a great black +figure, reeking with oil and garlanded with flowers. All around were +young girls, no older than Shama herself, who, with faces +shamelessly uncovered, stood there alone, without their parents. +Priests, almost naked, were going through ceremonies before the +idol. So dark and weird did it all seem and so many strange looking +people were passing back and forth that Shama Sahai was half +frightened. + +After the little company had presented its offerings to the gods and +the father had spoken aside to a big fat priest who kept looking at +Shama Sahai, the mother announced that they must bathe in the +sacred pool. So they returned to the outer court of the temple where +was a tank about two hundred feet square containing foul and slimy, +but none the less exceedingly sacred, water. Into this tank they +stepped and with prayers and the reciting of charms bathed with the +throng of worshippers. Carefully they washed out their mouths with +the filthy water and then drank of it. During all this time the fat +priest kept close to them and it seemed to Shama that his eyes were +always upon her. His were not attractive eyes nor was his face +pleasing and the girl was thoroughly frightened when, after the +cleansing ceremony, he bade them good-bye with a caressing hand upon +her shoulder while a bestial smile distorted his face. + +That night Shama Sahai was not happy although she had reached the +place where she had so longed to be. The memory of the priest's face +haunted her and she could not keep from thinking of those girls in +the temple. Towards morning her mother was taken ill. And the groans +of the woman kept her awake. She stole out upon the door-step, but +the sounds of the city were so strange that, little country girl +that she was, she drew back and preferred to lie down again beside +her moaning mother. + +The mother was no better in the morning. Then the man of whom they +rented the lodging suggested that Shama Sahai should go up to the +house of a white memsahib who could make people well and ask for +help. The memsahib could do wonderful things, the man said, and +without doubt would cure the sick woman. Although very timid, Shama +could not refuse to go for her mother's sake. So, taking her baby +brother on her hip and guided by the landlord's child, she took her +way along the narrow streets until she came to a high brick wall +with a large open gateway. Within she saw a number of people +standing before a long, low building. The boy, her guide, having +pointed to that building and by so doing having done his whole duty, +set himself to the pleasant task of chasing some chickens which were +running at large in the compound. Shama Sahai had to approach the +building alone. As she came nearer the little knot of people, she +noticed that every one of them looked ill and almost every one +carried a little bottle in his hand. Through the open door of the +building she could see a white memsahib in a blue striped dress, +sitting at a little table, writing slips of paper and handing them +out to the sick people. Occasionally the lady would touch one of the +patients and he would run out his tongue. It was all very queer but +interesting to Shama and even the baby watched quietly. When +Shama's turn came to enter, she was so embarrassed that she could +hardly speak, but, encouraged by the memsahib's speaking kindly to +her in her own tongue, she finally stammered out a brief but none +too lucid account of her mother's illness. But the lady seemed to +understand. After writing in a book and speaking to a native woman +who stood behind a sort of table near by, with more kind words she +put a small bottle of medicine into the girl's hands. Assured that +her mother would soon be well and with orders to come the next day +and report the condition of the patient, Shama Sahai went home very +much pleased. + +But the mother did not get well at once and for several days the +girl paid a daily visit to the dispensary, each time losing a little +of her timidity and each time being more attracted by the white lady +who was so kind to her and called her by name and who, one day when +there had been but a few patients and Shama Sahai had lingered +behind, had told her beautiful stories about a new god that was not +an ugly black image. + +However, after a while the mother did get so much better that she +could go to the temple again and Shama Sahai's visits to the +dispensary ceased. She hoped that they would soon go home. By this +time so frightened had the girl become in the great city that she +was almost as anxious to leave Kamadabad as she had been to reach +there. + +One night as she lay, apparently asleep, in her corner of the room +near the outside door, she heard her father and mother talking as +they came up on the door-step. She opened her eyes and listened. + +"We'll go home to-morrow. I made final arrangements with the priest +to-day. My, but he's a hard one to drive a bargain with! We will +settle the money part in the morning so that we can get a good start +before night," said her father. + +Shama Sahai gave a sigh of relief at the prospects of an early start +for home and was about to close her eyes so that she might sleep and +be rested for the journey, when she heard her mother say: "Where are +we to leave her?" + +"The priest said to take her to the inner court of the red temple +with the offerings. He will perform the necessary ceremonies in a +short time and we can leave her there," answered the man. "I wanted +it done to-day so that we could get off on the road in the cool of +the morning, but he would not have it so." + +"Have you bought our food yet? We won't need so much rice without +Shama, you know," said the mother. + +"I haven't forgotten that when that's just what we are getting rid +of her for, you may be sure. Yes, I bought it this afternoon. We'll +miss the girl in carrying the load, I suppose, but you can carry it +and the baby too just as well as not. How much better it is to get +rid of a widow in this way and have one less to feed than to have +the cursed creature always around in the way. We'll not go hungry +now. A good business we've done here at Kamadabad, old woman, +although you did waste a lot of time and money by being sick, for of +course we had to pay extra for the longer stay. That old +rupee-snatcher of a landlord wouldn't give in an anna because you +had been sick. He said that he really ought to have charged more, +for when people are sick they lie down longer and so wear out his +floor more quickly. You were a fine one, you were, to get sick!" the +man snarled. + +"Yes, but you wouldn't have been here at all or have thought of +bringing the girl, if I hadn't suggested it," snapped the old woman +in her turn. + +Shama Sahai lay perfectly quiet as the couple, still mumbling unkind +remarks at each other, came in and lay down on the floor. She +scarcely breathed for fear that they should find out that she was +awake. But when she knew that they were asleep, she crept +out-of-doors and darting around a corner sank down upon some steps. +She knew from what she had overheard that her parents-in-law were +planning to go home in the morning without her and that the priest +was to have her. As she remembered the evil, swollen face of the man +who had watched her that first day at the temple, she shuddered and, +drawing her sari more closely about her, crept farther back into the +doorway. + +Only one thought would come--she must run away where the priest +could not get her and she must go at once. Peeping out from the +doorway, she looked up and down the street. No one was astir; only a +quiet form here and there on the little porches could be seen in the +dim light of the street lamps. She would go to the white memsahib. +The memsahib and the new god would surely save her. + +Like a spirit the girl took her flight through the streets, the +lightness of her footfall awaking not the most restless of the +sleepers. + +When she reached the familiar compound, she did not hesitate, but, +running up to the veranda, shook the sleeping chokidar. + +"Where is the memsahib? Quick, tell me, quick!" + +The watchman, ashamed at having been caught asleep and thinking it +nothing strange that a girl should call the doctor in the night, +hastened to show Shama Sahai the stairs leading to the roof of the +bungalow. + +"You'll find her up there. She always sleeps on the roof in the hot +weather." + +The girl was soon beside the doctor's cot and with frightened sobs +was telling her story. "I've come to you and you must save me," were +her final words. + +Events happen quickly sometimes, especially when an energetic woman +is helping them along. As the earliest morning train pulled out from +Kamadabad for Mattera, a native Christian woman with a Hindu girl, +disguised in the slightly different garb of a Christian, was on +board, and the white doctor-memsahib was taking her chota hazri with +fear in her heart. + +What would be the fate of the poor young girl who had fled to her +for refuge? That was the question which was troubling the doctor +that morning. Although she was used to witnessing crises in people's +lives with real, professional calm, this morning her outward +calmness was assumed, for this was a case which her degree of M. D. +had, perhaps, not qualified her to handle. + +Throughout the long day the doctor waited expecting searchers for +the girl, but no one came to make any inquiries of her. As she was +leaving her compound gate towards evening for her daily exercise, +she met a man and a woman, the latter carrying on her hip a baby +whom the doctor recognized. The man was saying in Hindustani to the +woman: + +"The priest stole her. I know he stole her! Well, it's much the same +after all, I suppose, for we're rid of her anyway. Of course he +pretended he had not seen her and was angry because I had not +brought her. Well, well; it's hard to deal with the priests." + +"Whoever has her, may bad luck go with her!" exclaimed the woman. + +But the woman's malediction did not bring fear to the doctor who, +stopping short in her walk, could scarcely restrain a shout of joy. +For this man and woman were Shama Sahai's parents-in-law going home +without her, believing that the priest had stolen the girl. Instead +of going on to the river for her usual evening constitutional, the +doctor-memsahib hastened to the station where she caught the last +afternoon train for Mattera that she might tell Shama Sahai that she +was safe. + + + + +III + +Old Sarah + + +"Here comes Old Sarah!" A shrill voice shouted the news through the +open door into the mud house where the small boy's mother squatted +at work, with one long, rounded stone crushing the curry seeds upon +another large, flat stone that stood on the mud floor. At the call +the mother dropped the long stone from her hand and, springing to +her feet, hastily followed her naked boy out upon the street of the +village. Old Sarah was a new friend who recently had come often to +the village, telling the people stories and singing songs to them. +But she never had come oftener than twice a week and she had been +there only the day before. So the woman wondered what could have +brought her back so soon. + +The boy, meantime, had been running up and down the short street, +clapping his hands and shouting, "Old Sarah has come! Old Sarah has +come!" as Old Sarah herself had taught him to do at her arrival so +that the people might know at once that she had come and she might +not have to wait for an audience. + +"Where is she?" called the mother after the running child, for she +had looked up and down the road and failed to see the old woman. + +"Why, there she is!" said the boy coming up. "Don't you see her +sitting there by the road?" + +"That's not Old Sarah! I never saw her sitting by the road like +that." + +"Yes it is! Yes it is!" and the boy danced off in the direction of +the sitting figure, kicking up the dust with his bare feet in his +eagerness to reach the side of the old lady who always had some +sweet for him hidden away in her bag. His mother followed after him +and several other people, also, who had come from their homes at his +familiar call. + +"Why, it is Old Sarah, sure enough! What can be the matter with +her?" exclaimed the woman to a neighbour as they approached. + +The exclamation was not unnatural, for the usually active old lady +who, unwearied, had come trudging into their village week after +week, after a walk of five miles, now sat all bent over on the +ground with her sari-covered head bowed upon her arms. + +The noise of the little crowd as it drew near aroused the old woman, +who, letting the sari slide back from a head well sprinkled with +gray, raised to them a face white and drawn. The people were +astounded, for never in their acquaintance had she shown them aught +but a face full of life and joy. Now she looked weak and haggard. + +"I am sick," she said, answering the unasked question which she saw +in their faces. "You are my good friends; so I came to you for +help." + +"Oh, let me help her!" cried one. + +"Bring her to my house!" called another. + +"I will care for her myself," said the child's mother as several +women stepped up to raise the old woman to her feet. + +They had helped her along some little way and the children were +following close behind or crowding ahead to tell the rest of the +villagers, when the head man met them. + +Looking at the old woman, he said sharply, "What is the matter with +her?" + +The crowd stopped, out of respect to the head man, and each looked +at the other, not knowing what to say. Then the old woman herself +looked up. With a feeble attempt at the usual gay salaam with which +she always greeted the chief, she answered his question. + +"It is the cholera," she said. + +"The cholera!" frightened voices screamed. + +The hands that had so tenderly been guiding the woman's feeble steps +were suddenly withdrawn. The women fled from her, dragging their +children with them while the larger youngsters ran down the street, +crying, "Old Sarah has the cholera! Old Sarah has the cholera!" + +The cry was passed on from one person to another for miles along the +road, for never are the roads of India, except in the hottest part +of the day, without a throng of travellers. + +The old woman, who, thus suddenly left unsupported, had fallen in a +limp heap in the middle of the road, lay there for some time until +the sun became unendurable and made its rays felt even in her acute +suffering. She raised her head. Not a person was in sight. The +little village was deserted. It consisted only of a few palm-leaf +huts on each side of the street, shaded by cocoanut trees, and could +be taken in at a glance. Old Sarah's head fell upon her hands. What +could she do? If she stayed in the road her suffering would be more +intense; although she expected to die now that her friends had +deserted her, still she wanted to die with as little torture as +possible. + +About six feet away from her was the open door of a tiny hut. The +shade within looked very inviting. Summoning all the strength she +had, Old Sarah crawled upon her hands and knees, slowly, painfully, +to the door and dropped at full length on the hard mud floor. It was +cool there but, oh, how lonely! No one to care for her! no one to +supply her wants! no one to be with her when she should die! and no +one to give her body Christian burial before the pariah dogs should +tear it to pieces! She heard a noise at the door. With a flash of +joy in her heart to think that some one had returned to help her, +painfully turning her head, she saw--only the sacred bull of the +village sticking an inquiring nose into the door. Perhaps there +might be something within that he might feed upon, for he, according +to Hindu custom, was privileged to help himself to whatever he could +find anywhere. With disappointed heart, Old Sarah let her head roll +back and closed her eyes, although the thought passed through her +mind that the bull might enter the house and trample upon her in his +search for food in the tiny room; but if he should, it would bring +her only a quick release from her pain. Then the pain and suffering +became so great that she could not even think. The bull, however, +evidently seeing nothing to please his appetite within the hut, +turned away from the door and went on down the street, nosing along +the front of every house until he reached the last one where a woman +in her haste to flee from the cholera had overturned a basket of +pea-pods and left them in a heap on the mud floor of the porch +before the house--a fine meal for a hungry bull. + +The minutes flew by and became hours; only the moaning from the +house near the middle of the street disturbed the hot hush of the +midday. + +A cat crept into the hut and sniffed at the woman's feet; a dog +peered in at the dark object on the floor; but no human being came +near. + +When the sun was no more than an hour from setting, there sounded +the rumble of wheels. A wooden ox-cart, driven by a scantily-clad, +very dark native, and drawn by a pair of the gray, humped bullocks +of the district, entered the street at the head of the village. The +bullocks were brought to a halt at once and a woman's head appeared +from under the rounded straw covering of the cart. + +"Where is she? Do you see her?" she asked the man. + +"There is no one in sight," he replied. "But, hark, I hear a moan!" + +"She must be in that house there," he added after listening a +moment, pointing as he spoke with a thin, black finger to the house +into which Old Sarah had crawled. + +He drove his bullocks on down the narrow street until he pulled up +in front of the hut. Then the young woman, for it was a young Tamil +woman in the cart, with beautiful face and straight, lithe figure, +leapt to the ground and ran into the house, her pretty red sari +fluttering behind her. The man in the cart sat still, watching the +open door, the eternal sadness of the Hindu in his face. + +The woman was gone for some time but, finally, looked out of the +door. "I have done all I can for her. She is very bad. I think we +had better take her to the hospital in the city, for there they may +be able to save her life. Get the cart ready," she called. + +As she disappeared again, the man got down slowly from the front of +the cart and, having got in at the back, arranged some blankets so +as to make it as comfortable as possible for the sick woman. Then he +went into the house with another blanket in his arms. And in a few +minutes the two came out again, carrying Old Sarah in the blanket +between them, and they laid her as carefully as they could in the +cart. + +All this was not done in silence, for all of the time the young +woman kept talking, sometimes addressing the sufferer, sometimes the +driver, and sometimes herself. "Poor old woman!" she said. "To think +that the cowards all ran away and left her like this after the +kindness she had shown them. She has walked those five miles, really +ten, there and back, day after day, to tell them about her new +religion and to help them; for she never came that she did not help +the women in their work, or bring the children some sweets, or teach +the people something new. Dear old soul! And after all the love you +have given them, just in your hour of need they all forsook you! +Just wait until I get a chance and I'll tell them what I think about +such actions; indeed, what every decent person would think! They +pretended to be so fond of her too; she really thought they loved +her as much as if she had been their mother. That's the way with +these black heathen!" + +"Why didn't she come to you?" asked the man as they got the old +woman settled with her head on the young woman's lap and he had +climbed up in front to prod the bullocks to a start. + +"Poor old soul, I never gave her any reason to think that I believed +her preachings although she has come faithfully every week to visit +me. I liked to tease her and hear her funny answers. I liked to ask +her hard questions about her new religion. She would pucker her face +all up and think and think until she had answered every one. Alas, I +never let her know that her religion touched my heart and that I +believe in Jesus Christ! I never even let her know that I loved her. +Of course she would not come to me for help. But I do love her. She +was so funny and so full of life and odd sayings that I just had to +tease her, that was all. Now, now I fear it is too late to tell +her!" she ended with a sob. + +"I don't believe she will live, do you?" she asked the servant a +moment later as he had turned around to look at the old woman and +they both were gazing down upon her face, drawn and haggard, with +lips parted in a moan. + +"I fear not," said the man. "Have you given her from the bottle?" + +"Yes, the very medicine she brought me a month ago when the cholera +threatened our village." She pulled a bottle from the bosom of her +sari. "I'll give her another dose now; surely if one dose is good, +two will be better." + +She tipped the bottle to the old woman's lips who mechanically +swallowed a very little. It seemed to revive her for she opened her +eyes and murmured: "Who is this? Where am I?" + +The other, bending over her, answered, "This is Jessa. Don't you +know Jessa? I've come to take care of you. You will be all right +soon." + +"Jessa! Who is Jessa?" the weak voice asked while the big eyes +stared up at the girl, unseeing. + +"Don't you know Jessa, the girl at Bindy, the chief's daughter whom +you go to teach every week?" + +"Yes, but she wouldn't come to help me. She doesn't love me and she +makes fun of my God." + +"Sarah, dear Old Sarah!" the young woman raised the old woman's head +from her lap and, gazing into her eyes, seemed to draw her back to +sight. "Sarah, it is Jessa and she loves you, and--and--Sarah," the +girl added softly, "she loves your God." + +A brightness as of renewed life suffused the face of the old woman. +"God be thanked!" she tried to shout, but the shout fell away into a +murmur and the hands, which she had tried to clap as was her custom +when overjoyed, fell back at her sides. But although she became +again unconscious, the smile of joy remained upon her face and +lighted up the thin, dark features surrounded by the straggling gray +locks and made her face beautiful, as beautiful for the moment as +the face, young and perfect of feature, that bent over her. + +"She is dying!" said the man. Stopping his bullocks as he spoke he +slid from his seat and began to fumble under the blankets. + +"What are you doing, Nado?" called the girl. + +"Here is a shrine. I will pray for the life of the old woman and +offer a handful of rice to the god." + +"Nado," a slim brown hand was laid on his big black one and +prevented him from opening the rice bag, "Nado, she is a Christian. +I, too, am a Christian now. We cannot pray for her life at a +heathen shrine. Sit in your place, Nado, and I will pray to our +God." + +The man did not get up into his place but stood and with wide, +interested eyes watched the girl as, laying the old woman's head +gently back in her lap, she freed her hands and clasping them to +heaven, raised her eyes and prayed. The words were the words of the +young girl herself but the gestures were copied from Old Sarah as +she had prayed many, many times in the girl's presence. One, not +impressed by the solemnity of the moment, would have laughed at the +grotesque motions of her hands and head as she prayed. + +"Oh, most great God, most great of all the gods," said the girl. +"Let Old Sarah live. She is a good woman. Never has she harmed any +one. Her whole life has been given to helping others. Save Old +Sarah's life, I pray. I will bring Thee an offering of the best I +have, if Thou wilt spare her life and let her live. Take the awful +pain away from her. Let her sleep and let her rest and do, oh God, +let her live. I will bring Thee cocoanuts and sweets, rice and a +young kid, if Thou wilt spare her life. For Jesus Christ's sake. +Amen!" + +The girl, unconscious of the absurd way that she had mixed the ideas +of her old heathenism with the words and thoughts of the new +religion she had learned from the old woman, unclasped her hands +and with a smile looked down upon the face in her lap. Already it +seemed to her that her prayer was being answered, for the sick +woman's breath seemed to come more easily and the moaning had +ceased. As the girl was absorbed in watching the effect of her +prayer, the man took a handful of rice from the bag, without +attracting attention, and slipped to the side of the road where +under a tree stood a wayside shrine. Pouring out the rice before the +ugly image and bowing three times in front of it, he hurriedly +muttered some unintelligible words and climbed back into the wagon. +There was a gleam of satisfaction on his face as he started the +bullocks again, for he had done what he could to save the life of +the old woman whom he, as a respected servant in the family of the +chief, had seen often about their home but to whose preaching he had +never had time to listen. + +To the city and then through the city to the hospital was a long +ride in the lumbering ox-cart but it was not a particularly hard +ride to any of the three, for native Indians prefer hard seats and +hard beds to springs and cushions. And already the old woman was +resting so quietly that the girl thought her prayer had been +answered and the man felt that his offering had been accepted. + +At the hospital a nurse took charge of the sick woman but she would +not let the girl enter. So the latter quietly placed a kiss upon the +old woman's forehead and turned away, confident that in a short time +she would see Old Sarah again in her own village, for she had +prayed. + +As it was night and the oxen were tired, the girl could not return +to her village at once. Besides there was one thing more that she +must do in the city. Therefore they turned aside to the marketplace +where the farmers slept under their carts. There they made +themselves comfortable for the night, after the driver had cooked +them a little meal at a fire of twigs and dung-cakes. The girl kept +in the cart with her sari drawn up over her face, for such was her +custom in the big city. But later, when she was rolled up in the +blankets, she felt very secure with Nado asleep under the pole of +the cart and the bullocks chewing their cuds beside him. + +When morning came, when the bullocks had been yoked up again and all +things were ready for the start, she said: + +"Nado, we must tell Old Sarah's mistress. I don't know where she is +but we must find her. She lives in a big house and takes care of a +lot of little orphan children, for Sarah has often told me about +them and her." + +It was strange, but in only a few minutes they had found the place +where the little orphan children lived, for the natives seemed to +know the compound well. And a few minutes later Jessa stood before a +sweet-faced English woman, but so embarrassed by the memsahib's +presence that she scarcely dared raise her eyes. Only thoughts of +Old Sarah and her love for this white lady gave her courage. + +"Memsahib," she said in a timid voice, "Old Sarah is very ill with +the cholera. We have taken her to the hospital." + +"Old Sarah ill with cholera!" the English woman exclaimed in +amazement. "She has been gone since day before yesterday. She never +was gone so long alone before and we have been worried; but I did +not dream of cholera! She is in the hospital?" + +"Yes, Memsahib. But I think she will get well," the girl added +hastily as she saw the lady's anxiety. "I am sure she will get well, +for I--I--prayed," she faltered. + +"And I gave an offering to the gods," said the man servant in a +pleased tone to himself, for he was listening interestedly, having +followed the girl to the door. + +"Get my topi, boy, and order the gari quickly," the memsahib called +to her bearer. "I must go to Old Sarah at once. Where did you find +her, child?" + +So while the memsahib waited for her topi and the gari, Jessa told +her the story of how Old Sarah had gone to the village to her +friends for help but how they had fled from her and left her to die; +how one of the frightened people had come to the village of which +her father was head man and had told them; and how she herself, +because she loved Old Sarah on account of the loving teaching she +had received from her, how she had taken her servant and cart and +gone to save the old woman's life. She told the lady, too, of the +condition in which she had found Old Sarah, of the journey to the +city, and of the reception at the hospital. As she finished telling +her story, she repeated her assurance that the old woman would live +because she, Jessa, had prayed to God. + +The memsahib praised the girl for her bravery and thanked her for +her kindness to Old Sarah who was very dear to the English lady's +heart. And as the gari came up just then she urged them to remain +until her return from the hospital, but the girl felt that she must +hurry back, since she knew that Old Sarah would be all right now. So +they said good-bye and Jessa, having climbed into the cart, was +trundled away by the faithful bullocks and the still more faithful +Nado, whose gentle prodding of the bullocks was essential to their +progress. + +Meantime the memsahib had entered her gari and was being driven as +fast as the ponies could take her to the hospital. There she was met +by a nurse who said that she knew nothing of the case that the lady +spoke of. Another nurse was called who knew nothing of such a woman +as Old Sarah. The lady, however, would not be turned aside; the +records must be searched. And searched they were. The nurses +discovered that a cholera case had been brought in late the evening +before, that the woman had died towards morning, and that already +her body had been for some time in the hospital morgue. + +"You must get her out at once," said the lady, "for she is not +dead." + +The nurses who had been uninterested until that moment then looked +at the English lady in mild amazement, for how could a person who +had been in the dead-house for several hours be still alive? But the +lady was well known to them by reputation and they yielded to her +wishes. At her demand they called the head nurse who, because she, +too, knew much about this lady, revoked all hospital rules and +permitted her to enter the morgue with them. + +There lay Old Sarah's form, covered with a sheet, upon the floor +with other corpses. The familiar gray hair drew the memsahib's eyes +at once. She pulled back the sheet and felt for the heart. + +"We'll work over her. I do not think she is dead." + +With incredulity not only in their hearts but written plainly upon +their faces, the nurses had the body removed to an empty room. And +then, because the little memsahib was a woman of such mighty spirit, +they fell to work. + +Old Sarah was not dead, although she had been for several hours +numbered among the dead. Gradually circulation was restored. When +the signs of life became unmistakable the nurses worked zealously to +make up for the awful wrong that had almost been done. In a big, +busy hospital, especially during times of stress, things sometimes +are done in a hurry and mistakes are sometimes made. + +The memsahib did not leave for several hours. When the dear old eyes +opened at last, they looked around in wonder until they rested upon +the memsahib's face. Then a glad light shone from them and an eager +voice whispered: "Oh, Memsahib, is this heaven?" + +"No, Sarah, this is not heaven. You are still on earth with me, +thank God!" + +"I didn't think it looked exactly like heaven," the old woman added +a little later as she looked around at the bare walls, "but with +Jesus and you, Memsahib, it would be heaven in any kind of place. + +"I thought I was dead," she kept murmuring, evidently unable to get +the idea out of her head. + +"No, Sarah," the memsahib finally assured her, "you are very much +alive and just to convince you I will scold you a little. Why, oh, +why, Sarah, did you not come to me when you were taken ill?" + +"Memsahib, Old Sarah knew she had the cholera and she could not +expose the memsahib and the dear, little orphan children to it; so +she just took her burial clothes and went away, thinking that her +friends at Yenna, for whom she had travelled so many, many miles in +her old age to tell them about Jesus, would take her in. But they +ran away and left Old Sarah to die all alone." + +"Were you not sorry then that you had not told me?" urged her +mistress. + +"No, Memsahib, not even then, for it was better that Old Sarah +should die all alone than that the memsahib and the dear, orphan +children should die too." + +"You precious old woman!" The memsahib, sinking on her knees by the +bed with her arms around the thin, brown shoulders, implanted a kiss +upon the gray hair. "That is more than a white person would have +done!" she said under her breath. + +And as the English woman looked upon Old Sarah's happy face and +remembered the happy, trustful face of the young girl who had saved +this life and declared that the old woman would live because of +prayer, the memsahib realized that no hearts in the world were +whiter before God than those of these brown people who loved Him +well enough to be willing to lay down their lives for others. In +beauty of form and feature these brown people often surpass the +white races and she felt that with the love of the true God in their +hearts they might surpass the white races, also, in the beauty of +their lives and of their love. + + + + +IV + +A Son of the Law + + +On an afternoon in the early days of the British occupancy of India, +Blackmore-Sahib sat alone at the big desk in his study, in his hand +a report which had just reached him from one of his districts. At +his elbow the tea tray was untouched, although at this hour of the +afternoon he was usually stretched out in a rattan chair in the +living-room with the punkah swinging over him, the latest magazine, +three months old at that, in his hand, and the tea tray already +replaced on the small table beside his chair by the cigar service +holding cigarettes all neatly rolled ready for his match. It was not +because the report was urgent that he had forsaken his accustomed +ease to prove it up; nor was it that he was particularly interested +in the task, for apparently he was forcing himself to go over the +lines of type and up and down the columns of figures. As his pencil +reached the bottom of a column it would almost drop from his +listless fingers until, with a start, he would begin upon the next +row as if in great haste. + +The bearer, entering the room noiselessly, saw the untouched tea +tray standing just as he had left it a half hour before and looked +anxiously at his master's face. But without disturbing his master he +removed it and turned to the side table where stood the tobacco +service. Not a cigarette was rolled! He clumsily attempted to +prepare some but none of his efforts were really successful. +However, he put several bulky ones in a saucer and placed them near +his master's hand. Still in silence but with many backward glances +at the man bending over the slowly-moving pencil, the boy left the +room. + +As the boy closed the door, the man dropped the pencil upon the +desk, put his hand to his head for a second, and then arose. He +walked to the door into the living-room and seemed to listen for an +instant; then he went back to the desk. + +The servant, evidently having heard his master's step, entered with +fresh tea and toast. + +"Is she better?" + +As the boy set the tray down he replied hesitatingly, "No, Sahib, +she is still groaning." + +"You fool, don't you suppose I can hear that? She has groaned +incessantly since last night." + +"What can I do?" The man asked the question of himself as he turned +half around towards the veranda door. + +[Illustration: "It was only a glimpse"] + +"Won't the Sahib have some tea?" suggested the boy timidly, for +like every native-born this man feared his stalwart English master. + +Blackmore-Sahib held out his hand without turning back from the +door. "Yes, I will take a cup. Perhaps it will steady me a bit." + +"Poor little Nona!" he sighed as he took the cup. + +He gulped down the tea hurriedly and reached for a cigarette. But as +his eyes fell on the clumsy ones in the saucer, they filled with +tears and he walked quickly out upon the veranda without taking one. + +Up and down he paced unheeding the streaks of sunshine which found +their way in through the vines and fell upon his unprotected head. + +"Poor Nona! Poor little girl!" he groaned. How skillfully she had +always rolled his cigarettes, just to his taste! how daintily she +had served his cup of tea! and how quietly she had sat every +afternoon beside him, never disturbing his nap or reading! "Poor +little Nona!" he sighed, for she might never sit beside him again. +He could hear her groans now from the bedroom at the other side of +the great living-room. Pitiable, heart-breaking little groans they +were! He could not trust himself even to go to the door and look in +upon her. + +And yet he did not really love her. Nona had made Blackmore-Sahib's +life very comfortable for the last ten years and he could not bear +to think that she was suffering and probably would die. He did not +want to lose his little Indian wife and her affectionate care for +him, though of course she was his "wife" only according to the +customs of many white men in dark lands. As he paced up and down he +remembered how, when he had been sent by the government to this city +in the heart of India away from every European association, he had +rebelled until, seeing a pair of black eyes peeping from the doorway +of a certain mud house, he had become very much interested in that +section of the city although it belonged to a low caste of Hindus. +He remembered how for several evenings he had taken his evening walk +in that locality and furtively watched that house door in which he +again saw framed for a second a beautiful Indian face and a slender, +lithe Indian figure in a red sari. After a few more visits he had +several conversations with the men of the neighbourhood and had +learned that the man who lived in that house was, as they all were, +of low caste and desperately poor. Finally he had met the man +himself whom he heard loudly lamenting because he could not afford +to marry off his beautiful daughters. "Why, a wedding costs many +rupees nowadays!" he had heard him say. + +So the sahib by a little courteous inquiry had learned that the man +had three unmarried daughters. By further courteous and diplomatic +conversation he had conveyed to the father the idea that if he, the +sahib, could have his choice of the three girls he would pay a dowry +for one of them. After several evenings of discussion and bargaining +the old man slowly and cautiously had consented, but the matter of +giving the sahib his choice had been a trifle difficult even among +the low caste. But, finally, having bidden the sahib stand at the +other corner of the street where he could see without being +particularly noticeable, on the evening the bargain was sealed, the +old man had called his daughters one at a time to the door of the +house on some trifling pretext. It had been only a glimpse, but as +the third girl disappeared from the doorway, Blackmore-Sahib had +been satisfied. On the very next evening, having promised to pay a +sufficient number of rupees to marry off both of the other +daughters, the Englishman had had the satisfaction of seeing a +little draped figure enter a covered ekka and be driven away towards +his bungalow. + +He could remember, even after ten years, how the ekka had driven up +to his door and how he, having reached the door before her arrival, +would not pay the promised money until the girl's veil had been +lifted and he had seen for himself that no trickery had been played +upon him and that this was the one of his choice. She had been very +young, very timid, and very beautiful. He remembered that, cross, +burly chap though he was, he had delighted to tease her out of her +shyness and teach her the little ways by which she could make him +happy and his bungalow a home. She had been an ignorant native girl, +as the majority of Indian girls are, but she had soon learned to +love him and she had always been beautiful to look upon. + +They had not been married. That was not necessary in those days in +the East. He had given her a good home and in doing that he had done +his whole duty. Yet he had never mentioned her in his letters to +England, for "they would not understand." Indeed, he had half +expected until the last two years to go back to England and marry a +fine girl whom he had known in boyhood. But when the time had drawn +near he had decided to stay here as he was;--for what would become +of Nona? He could not keep her, too, for even he did not think that +way of living right. He sometimes longed for the green meadows and +the hawthorne bush and the skylark, nevertheless he remained in +India, for he could not take Nona and he could not leave her. + +But now it seemed as if Nona were going to leave him. If she should +die, he would be free to go to England to marry his childhood +friend, for a recent letter from his brother had told him that +Elizabeth was still unmarried and mistress of her own estate. But +now, of a sudden, he did not want to go; he did not want to marry. +Indeed, he did not want anything but to stay here with Nona. He +wanted Nona! She must not die! He needed her. + +"Sahib!" A soft voice arrested his step and Nona's ayah besought +him: "Sahib, she is no better. May I get the memsahib? I think she +can help her." + +"What memsahib?" he asked, his voice gruff with emotion. + +"The missionary memsahib, master. Please let me get her." + +"A missionary! Would a missionary come to my house?" he asked in +scorn. + +Blackmore-Sahib had seen the missionary lady often, for she was one +of the very few Europeans in the city, but he never had spoken to +her. He knew missionary principles and he felt that he and Nona in +her eyes were worse than the Hindus "in their blindness." He had +always avoided a missionary's path; now he would not ask for help! +Even if he should humble his pride and do so, he felt that no +Christian would come to him, for were not he and Nona without the +law? + +"No, she would not come," he said emphatically. + +"Yes, master, she will come. I know she will come. See how ill my +mistress is! Hear her moans!" and the faithful ayah wrung her hands +in grief. "Oh, let me go to get her." + +"Is she a doctor?" he asked. "Does she give medicine?" he went on, +trying to make the native woman understand. + +"No, she is not a doctor, but she gives medicines," the woman +replied enigmatically. + +There was no doctor within reach. If this woman could help Nona, had +he any right to let his pride keep him from at least asking for her +help? Blackmore-Sahib reasoned it out slowly. Although he was sure +that she would not come, he must do all that he could to help the +sick woman and so he must ask the missionary to come. + +"Go!" he said finally to the ayah and as she sped down the road he +continued his pacing and his thoughts. His thoughts turned +strangely, after the interruption, to his boyhood home and his +boyhood days when even a lie, a wrong word, or an unkind deed had +hurt him almost as much as his mother. But his mother had died when +he was only a lad and after that had come school and then India +and--Nona. + +The change from the rigid morality of a well-trained boy living +under the eye of a law-abiding people, to the moral thoughtlessness +and neglect of a man far away from the reign of aught but the law of +the conqueror among an inferior people; the change from the +conventional obedience to the social customs of a Christian land, to +the unconventional disregard of all Christian customs in a heathen +land, had come so gradually that Blackmore-Sahib had never before +realized how different he was in moral integrity from what he had +been in that boyhood home and how different he must be in reality +from what his mother had imagined that he would be in her fond +dreams about the future. Had India by her enervating climate, by the +ease with which she gratifies the sensual side of man's nature, and +by the intellectual loneliness in which she makes her foreign rulers +live--had India by these means warped his moral sense? Or had his +good life in Christian England been a foolish fanaticism and was his +life here the true living of a free soul? + +Blackmore-Sahib was startled at the presence of such questionings in +a mind which heretofore had accepted his conduct and life +unquestioned. But at that moment there stole upon him the memory of +a sweet white face, drawn with pain and the sound of a low but +earnest voice saying, "My boy, I am going away--to leave you alone. +Be strong and brave and good." These memories as they mingled in +his mind and ears with the picture of a beautiful, dark face full of +suffering into which he had looked that very morning and the sound +of sharp moans still coming through the half-closed bungalow door, +worked strange havoc within him. + +Although his thoughts had carried him far, only a few moments had +actually passed when, hearing quick steps beyond the compound wall, +he came to a halt and saw an English woman hurry in at the gate, +followed by the panting ayah. + +"Good-afternoon, Mr. Blackmore," spoke a pleasant English voice. "I +am not a physician, but I'll do the best I can." + +Blackmore-Sahib followed clumsily, as a man does in a house of +illness, after the energetic little figure that went straight to +Nona's room. There the missionary spent much time examining her +patient and it was with anxious eyes that she finally looked at the +man as he sat near the door. + +"It is a serious case. I have seen just one like it before," she +said. "But since it is impossible to get a real physician I will do +the best I can. Will you kindly send me a couple more servants and +order several tubs of hot water got ready? Then, please, go away for +a gallop and do not come back for several hours. I don't believe you +know much about sickness and a good ride will brace you up, for you +will have to watch with her to-night, I think." The last was said +with a smile as she started quickly and quietly about her +preparations. + +At the end of two hours he met her at the bedroom door. + +"She is more comfortable, but it will be a hard fight. I shall stay +here to-night. I don't dare trust the case to any one else yet." + +In the morning, when at five o'clock he was wakened from a fitful +sleep by a rap at his door, the same voice said, "She is resting +now. Will you come and watch her while I go home for a short time? I +cannot leave her alone with the servants, for they are either too +tired or too stupid to obey instructions this morning." + +About seven she returned and all day long, sometimes by turns, +sometimes together, they watched and waited, doing all they could to +help Nature bring back peace to the poor suffering body. + +About the middle of the morning he asked her how she had gained her +medical skill. Then she told him of her life in India and how she +had found that by helping the sick she could most easily reach the +hearts of the people. She told of spending one furlough in a +hospital at home for training. Seeing that the conversation did not +annoy the patient and that it seemed to interest the man, she went +on telling about her work and the joys and sorrows that she had +experienced as a missionary. Not one word of preaching! She simply +told of her life as if talking to an old friend. There was not a +sign that she had recognized anything unusual in this household or +seen anything to condemn. He began to wonder if she knew and yet he +felt that she did know. She talked about England and the home she +had hoped to go to the next year; but no one had been found to take +her place and she could not go until there was some one to work for +her people. He was surprised at the light in her eyes when she said: +"I'll not leave them without some one to care for them even if I +have to put off my home-going all my life." + +She talked of Christ so freely and of her own religious beliefs so +naturally that he felt that her speech grew out of her life and he +did not resent the personal religious element in her conversation +which he had always avoided and resented in others. + +But while she was talking in low tones or listening to him as he, in +turn, told of his home in England, she kept a keen eye on her +patient. About eight o'clock at night a change came. The moaning +stopped; the restless brown hands grew still; the breath came +regularly; and Nona slept a quiet, restful sleep. The memsahib, on +her knees beside the bed, looked up at the big, burly, white man +standing on the other side of the narrow couch. "She will get well," +she said simply. "And now--now"--she stammered with difficulty, "you +will marry her, won't you?" + +As the astonished man gazed into her wistful, earnest face a slow +resolve grew in his own. The coming of this strong, wholesome woman +into his life, the revival of the memories of his boyhood, the face +of his mother, never entirely forgotten, and now clear and vivid +before his very eyes, and, more even than all these, the dawning +consciousness of the Presence in which his life had been lived and +was now being judged cleared away all his ethical confusion, +revealed to him the evil of his past life and begat in him a great +desire for cleansing and a high purpose to make amends for the past. + +And so when the missionary memsahib said to him, "You will marry +her, won't you?" his astonishment slowly gave way to a sense of high +moral purpose. After a silence which revealed the struggle within, +he replied in a firm voice, "I will! and may God bless you." + +With these words the man dropped upon his knees on the other side of +the bed and his head rested for a moment on the pillow very close to +the beautiful brown face there. Then, without asking permission, +the missionary prayed a simple prayer of thanksgiving for the life +of the woman and a request for a blessing upon her English brother +and herself that they might shape their lives after the character of +Christ and live according to Christian laws. + +Then the missionary slipped quietly out of the room, for the danger +was over and the servants could take as good care of their mistress +as could she. But she promised the anxious ayah as she went away +that she would come in from time to time for a few days to see that +all went well. + + * * * * * + +Two weeks from that day an Englishman stood with a Hindu woman by +his side in a missionary's parlour and there a quiet wedding +ceremony was performed. To the bride it meant nothing, but to the +bridegroom it meant an entire change in his life and heart. + + * * * * * + +Several years later an English gentleman bore unflinchingly the +embarrassment--and worse--of introducing an Indian wife to his +English family at home. Tenderly he sheltered her from all +annoyances and apparently with pride he took her from place to place +in the homeland. Only one person, a missionary from India, home on a +long-delayed furlough, guessed that the journey was one prolonged +torture to the man who, from a high sense of duty to a woman who +could not even comprehend it, was making her all amends in his power +for a wrong which, also, she did not comprehend. + +"I don't understand why he married a native," one of the +Englishman's relatives remarked to a friend. "Otherwise he is a +perfect Christian gentleman and an honour to the family." + +The missionary, who chanced to overhear the remark, in her mind +erased the "otherwise." + + + + +V + +Mundra + + +"Mundra!" a harsh voice screamed from the door of the mud house. +"Mundra, child of the devil, come here. Where are you, spending all +your life in laziness and I working hard to put rice into the mouth +of a god-cursed creature like you!" + +There would have been no need for more than the first call, if the +old woman had simply wanted the child to come to her, for at the +first sound of the voice the little thing had started up from the +dirt of the road where she had been lying and, gathering the sari, +in which she had been wrapped, up around her hips and waist, had +moved hastily towards the speaker. But the woman seemed to be giving +vent to her own ill nature in an evidently customary and certainly +vivid way. + +"You vile object of the gods' wrath! To be sleeping when every +decent creature is at work! + +"Bring water," the old woman commanded fiercely and with a thrust of +her foot sent the child, who had reached the door by that time, +reeling in the direction of a large brass water pot which stood in a +corner of the mud porch. + +[Illustration: "For a few moments she managed to keep up the +straining movement"] + +Evidently too wise and too tired for words, the little creature, +recovering her balance, quietly but not without great difficulty, +lifted the big, brass jar and, putting it upon her head, started off +down the village street. + +The small, dark, thin figure walked very straight because of the jar +on the head, not from any sense of pride, for what had Mundra to be +proud of? Not a single ornament so dear to the hearts of India's +women did the child wear; her sari was but a dirty cloth; and her +head was shaven. Little girls of her own age with clinking anklets +and glistening jewels drew away their gay garments from any possible +contact with hers as she came near and stepped to one side of the +street with their water jars. The men who came towards her along the +road carefully turned away so as to avoid her shadow as she passed +them. And no one addressed her except as a small boy now and then +pointed a finger at her and called out the same words which the men +muttered to themselves as she passed them--"Cursed of the gods." + +As she paused to rest for a moment under the shade of the great +peepul tree which protects the emblems most sacred to the Hindu +villager, even the priest, who tended the various small shrines +beneath the great tree, muttered a curse and moved quickly to the +other side of the gnarled trunk where a coolie, clad only in soiled +white loin cloth and dirty pink turban, was winding a garland of +marigolds about one of the sacred stones. The worshipper's +attention, attracted by the sudden movement of the priest, was drawn +to Mundra and he in turn, muttering, paused in his acts of worship +until the contaminating presence should be withdrawn. + +When the child reached the well, she had to wait at a distance until +all the others there had filled their vessels and gone. Then she +filled her own and, without assistance, although it took a dreadful +struggle, raised it to the necessary position on her head. + +But the child was so accustomed to all this treatment and so tired +that she scarcely noticed how the people acted. Her body ached all +over, from hard work and blows, even to her very heart, which really +ached hardest of all. Just one short year before Mundra had been one +of the happy, bejewelled girls of this very town and everybody had +smiled at her and passers-by had called her "Blest of the gods." But +now how different! Her father had been of the weaver caste and when +she had been about ten years old, no native ever knows his exact +age, she had been married to a man in the same caste. And at that +time, less than one year before, she had gone to her husband's home +a welcomed bride, the very home to which she was now returning in +disgrace, and her mother-in-law had been pleased with her and +greeted her with kind words, the very same woman who but a few +moments before had kicked her away with curses. + +At the time of Mundra's wedding the people had been anxious because +rain had not come and the crops were dying. Therefore, with grain +still at famine prices from the year before, conditions had been bad +in the district where she lived. So it had not been a surprise when, +soon after the wedding, among these ill-fed natives had come the +ever-expected and ever-dreaded cholera. In the early days of the +scourge Mundra's father and mother had died. At first their death +had meant little to the child for she was no longer a part of their +household. But soon death did take one whose going meant at once +more to her, almost more, than the loss of her own life. One morning +her husband, a strong man of about thirty, was stricken. By +nightfall another body had been placed upon the funeral pyre and +Mundra was a widow. + +Mundra, and she alone, had caused the death of her husband; so +thought every one in the village and so thought the child herself, +brought up in Hinduism. Now she realized the death of her parents, +for had they been alive she would have been sent back to them at +once. But since they were dead she had to be kept as a despised +member of the household of her mother-in-law, practically a slave +there, with all the hardships and abuse usually attendant upon the +lot of such an one. Her hair had been cut off; her pretty jewelry +had been taken from her; her coloured saris had been sold to a +neighbour; and in place of all these belongings she had been given a +few yards of white cotton to wrap about her and part of a ragged +blanket for a bed. But Mundra could have stood all this hard +treatment, hard as it had been, and even gladly would have slept on +the mud porch with the cattle or in the street with the dogs, if +only every one had not hated her and shunned her as foul and +unclean, if only some one had loved her, if only some one had even +spoken kindly to her sometimes or smiled upon her. + +"Late as usual, you foul creature of the dust! If you have touched +that water with your unclean hands, may the next drop which you take +into your accursed mouth choke you! To your work there at once, you +abomination in the sight of all that's holy! May the moon blast you! +May the sun smite you! May your food poison you! And may the gods +damn you, you devil-bought murderer of men!" + +This was the greeting the child received as she staggered upon the +porch and almost fell as she set the brass jar in the corner. But +not one moment's rest was there for her. + +"To your work, I say!" shrieked the woman again, pointing a brown, +bony finger towards the grinding-stones in the opposite corner of +the porch where sat a strong young girl, about sixteen years of age, +with her hand already upon the handle of the stones waiting for +Mundra to help her. This girl was well dressed, an honoured +daughter-in-law in the family, who must do a share of the household +work, as all Indian women, except the rich, must, but who was well +fed, strong, and able to work. + +Mundra sank down on the floor beside the mill and, placing her small +hand on the handle above the other's big one, threw all the strength +she could muster into her thin arm to make the one great stone +revolve upon the other beneath and crush to flour the grain which by +handfuls with her free hand the older girl was pouring into the +opening at the top of the stone. + +Meanwhile the mother-in-law had lighted a fire in the tiny mud stove +beside them, the home-made mud stove, found even in the kitchens of +the rich, a small, hollow, semicircular mound of mud about eight +inches high, upon which a kettle could be set and within which a +fire could be lighted and replenished through the opening in front. +Upon this stove, instead of a kettle, the woman had put a large, +flat, iron griddle, upon which, after having patted and rolled out +some flour, she threw a flat cake, about eight inches in diameter. +This cake she turned with a pair of long, iron tongs. After it had +browned a little, she thrust it over the coals in the fire to let it +puff out and when it was just right to suit her Indian taste, with +the iron tongs she tossed it, the hot chapati, the common bread of +India, into a basket by her side. This process she had repeated +until her basket was nearly full. + +The old woman was not so busily engaged with this task, however, as +to be unable to give her attention to other things. When Mundra's +tired hand relaxed its hold upon the handle of the grinding-stones +and the strength in her little body gave out, with one swing of the +arm, down upon the child's bare back came the hot tongs. + +"To work, you accursed creature!" screamed the mother-in-law. + +A sharp cry of agony followed the blow, but Mundra, although her +body was quivering with pain, resumed her work. For a few minutes +she managed to keep up the straining movement of the arm. Then, in +spite of all her gathered will, her fingers slipped again. Down came +the hot tongs a second time upon the tender, though dark, skin and +Mundra fell in a faint beside the mill. + +When the child regained consciousness she was still lying beside the +mill. She could hear the family within eating their evening meal of +chapatis, rice, and curry. She could hear their talk of the coming +rain, of the tiger that had been seen in the jungle near the river, +of the preparations for the festival of Ram, and of the offerings of +rice and flowers which must be taken to the god before the day of +the great procession. Dimly she heard it all. No one mentioned her +or seemed to have noticed her lying there in the corner of the +porch. She hoped that they had not; if they would only forget her +and torture her no more for a little while she would be so glad! + +The smell of the fresh chapatis, however, made her long for food, +for as a widow she had had no meal since morning and could have +nothing more until the next day. The pain in her back almost made +her cry out at times, but she restrained herself and lay still, +unheeded, in the corner behind the mill, until darkness came and the +lump of clay in the little shrine across the street under the red +flag had been propitiated by offerings of rice and chapatis, and +the people of the household had rolled themselves in their blankets +and gone to sleep. + +Then Mundra dragged herself to the edge of the porch and looked +about. All was dark except a tiny spot in front of the shrine +opposite, which was still lighted by a small wick burning in a +shallow dish of oil. The priest had not yet come for the offering. + +All was quiet. + +An old blue rag, the remnants of a sari, lay on the floor near her. +Mundra picked it up quickly. As quickly and silently she slipped +across the street, and--unholy act! worthy of one "cursed of the +gods"!--she emptied the dish of rice which stood there before the +idol into the piece of blue cloth; then laying the chapatis upon the +rice, hurriedly tied the whole into a bundle. For a moment she stood +looking up and down the street. In both directions all was still +quiet and dark. But she did not hesitate long. Towards the river, +where the jungle lay, the tiger might be; down towards the well, +where the village street joined the public highroad, there might +be--the child did not know what, except that somewhere in that +direction lay the great city. + +She turned towards the highroad. Creeping along, half walking, half +crawling, she reached the well. There beside it she tore off her own +dirty white covering, and, having changed the rice from the blue +cloth into a piece of the white, she wrapped the ragged blue sari +around her and drew it up over her shaven head. + +Having, with the shrewdness of the native, placed her old clothes on +the brink of the well, Mundra, now no longer in the garb of a widow, +turned down the main road towards the great city. She knew not what +might await her there, but, childlike, she had faith to believe that +even unknown people would not treat a beggar more cruelly than she, +a widow, had been treated by her own. + + + + +VI + +Of the Tribe of Haunamon + + +The great bungalow, set far back in the grassy compound and shaded +by mango trees, looked peaceful and sleepy in the afternoon +sunlight. The very roses in the carefully rounded beds in the centre +of the lawn before the house were nodding as if resting in the shade +after the blaze of an Indian noonday sun. The only human creature in +sight, a dhersy, sitting cross-legged on the little side porch, was +asleep over his sewing. Between the rows of potted ferns and palms +along the front veranda appeared glimpses of white as if the +occupants of the bungalow might be taking their siestas on the open +rattan couches in preference to the warmer curtained beds within, +one of which could be seen through an open bedroom door. A mongoose, +tied to a post of the veranda, had, for a moment, ceased to fret at +his bondage and gone to sleep. Even several lizards half-way across +the gravel path from one grassy hunting ground to another had +stopped as if too exhausted to pursue the never-ending chase. Only +the shadows moved, little by little lengthening out, creeping +towards the compound wall, as the never-sleeping sun continued his +ceaseless journeying towards the west. + +Still one hundred and twenty by the thermometer which on the wall +behind the sleeping dhersy caught the direct rays of the sun! At +three o'clock of an afternoon in India after a morning's combat with +the heat how could Nature do aught but sleep in whatever shade she +could find for her weary head? But even in sleepy, dreamy India +there are the exceptions that prove the rules. Suddenly a wail arose +upon the sleepy air and a most terrified cry broke up all quiet and +repose. + +The dhersy, startled from his stolen slumber, looking up guiltily, +quickly began to turn the wheel of the hand-sewing machine beside +him. The mongoose tugged at his cord. And a frightened woman started +up from her couch on the front veranda, as a little white figure +with flying feet and topiless curly head came running from behind +the bungalow with the usual cry of childhood's terror: + +"Mother! Mother! Oh, mother!" + +Even the ayah, who was trying to keep up with the child but having a +hard time to run in her long, tightly-drawn sari, looked frightened. +An ugly chattering, sounding from behind the house, kept up for some +moments as the mother, having gathered the child up in her arms, sat +down again with her, soothing and quieting her as only a mother +can, while the ayah dropped panting on the floor beside them. + +"There, dear, what is the matter? Tell mother quickly." + +"Oh, mother! The monkeys! The monkeys!" sobbed the child. + +"There, there, dear, don't cry. You are here with mother now and the +monkeys cannot hurt you. Tell mother what happened." + +However, before the little girl could calm herself enough to tell +the story, the ayah began it for her. + +"Baby woke early from her nap to-day, Memsahib, and would not go to +sleep again and so I dressed her and brought her down for her bread +and milk. She ate it like the good little girl that she is and so I +gave her a piece of cake. I had just turned to put the plate back in +the cupboard, when I heard a scrambling noise behind me and there +was a monkey. He grabbed the cake from baby's hand and ran up a +tree, chattering. He was a great, big fellow, the biggest one I ever +saw. He looked very fierce and chattered terribly. Of course baby +was frightened most to death and she ran at once for you." The ayah +looked fearfully over her shoulder. "I'm afraid to go back there +again myself." + +"Hush, ayah!" whispered the mother over the child's head. "Don't +frighten her any more. And you were giving her cake, too, when I +have told you that she must not have any for a few days now as she +really hasn't been feeling very well." + +"Oh, mother!" interrupted the child, who had got the better of her +sobs. "The monkey looked so ugly and grabbed the cake right out of +my hand just as I was going to take a bite. His paw almost touched +my face. Will he come again?" + +"No, dear," replied the mother as she hugged the little girl close +in her arms. "Father comes home to-night. We will tell him and he +will send the monkeys away. Something has got to be done, for we +cannot have the naughty monkeys stealing our baby's food right out +of her mouth," she added playfully. + +"Look, dear," she said in a moment to the child whose fright was +soon over. "See how your curls are mussed! And, dearie," she looked +at the little girl very reproachfully, "you ran all the way around +in the sun without your topi. Go into the house now and let ayah fix +your hair and wash your face. Then you can come out again and we +will watch for father together, for he will surely come soon. Won't +it be nice to have father home again?" And she kissed the child as +she set her down on the floor. "A week isn't very long, but it seems +a month since he went away this time." + +"Yes, the naughty monkeys have been so bad!" nodded the little girl +as she hopped along into the bungalow before her native nurse, +forgetful of her fear, for her father was coming home and he was to +her omnipotent. Nothing, not even a monkey, could harm her while he +was near. + +For a moment after the child had gone, the mother remained standing +by one of the veranda pillars, looking down the road in the +direction of the railway station. But soon she retreated to a chair +near the door, for the branches of the biggest tree near the porch +had begun to sway and she could see distinctly at least one pair of +bright eyes peering out from among the shining green leaves. + +"Something must be done!" she said aloud as she sank into the chair, +at the same time instinctively taking up in her hand a paper weight +which lay on the table beside her. "We just cannot stand being thus +bothered and frightened by these animals, and such horrid looking +ones too!" + +The Burbanks had been in Sindabad only two weeks and had scarcely +got settled in their bungalow when Mr. Burbanks had been called away +on business. He had felt very secure about leaving his family +because of the location of their new home which was about half a +mile from the native city and very close to the other few European +residences. To him the bungalow had appeared to be far enough away +from the native quarter to be free from all unpleasant sights, +odours, and visitors, the usual unpleasant associations of too close +proximity to one of the sacred cities of India. Disagreeable sounds +he had expected they would hear, for the hideous sounds, especially +of night in a Hindu city, carry far. But after a residence of five +years in India he did not think his family would be particularly +annoyed by them. + +So Mr. Burbanks had been perfectly satisfied with his new residence +and its location until just before he left he and his wife had been +obliged to drive through the native city on some errand. It had been +with great disgust that they had seen the filth of the place, the +usual filth of a native city, but here augmented by a horde of +hideous monkeys that, unrestrained, wandered about the streets, over +the houses, in and out of the windows, apparently the most respected +denizens of this most holy city. To kill a monkey is a most heinous +sin in the eyes of a Hindu! Did not Haunamon and his monkeys help +the great god Ram and rescue his wife Sita when she had been carried +off by his rival? Besides, these animals are surely some Hindu's +beloved dead. Therefore no one in Sindabad ever touched or harmed a +monkey. When, however, the creatures got so thick that life became +unendurable, the people would entice a crowd of them into a great +basket and carry them off to the forest and let them loose there. +But this did not happen often, because the native of India will put +up with well-nigh unendurable conditions rather than break through +established custom and perform an unusual task. + +As they had looked upon the monkey-infested city, Mrs. Burbanks had +wondered aloud if the animals would venture as far as their +bungalow, but her husband had assured her that they were much too +far from the city and the bazaars for that. But the sight of the +animals had taken off the keen edge of their satisfaction in their +new home and womanlike Mrs. Burbanks had worried about the matter +until a week had passed without the appearance of any such company +in the compound. Then she had felt better and both of them had +forgotten all about the monkeys. However, the very next morning +after her husband's departure a strange running and jumping on the +roof had awakened Mrs. Burbanks, who, peering cautiously from the +window of her roof-bedroom, a room which the most fortunate of +India's foreign residents consider a requisite of their bungalows +for the hot weather, she had seen a couple of big monkeys sporting +across the roof. And from that moment it had kept up: monkeys here; +monkeys there; monkeys everywhere, poking their inquisitive fingers +and noses into everything in the compound except the house itself. +Into the house they had not ventured and even on the verandas the +family had felt secure from intrusion until now; but now one had +actually jumped into the rear veranda and stolen a piece of cake +from Marjory's hand. + +"This is too much! Something must be done!" said Mrs. Burbanks again +aloud but in a more decided tone, as she saw three of the brown +creatures playing tag across the rose-bed. + +Just then the sound of horses' feet upon the road came to her ears; +the monkeys vanished; and Mrs. Burbanks forgot her annoyance in +greeting her husband as he drove up in a covered gari, shunning the +light even of the setting sun. + +Mr. Burbanks looked tired as he superintended the carrying in of his +luggage and the paying of the gariwala, who, of course, tried to +insist upon a larger fare than the correct one handed him. He seemed +glad to stretch out at once in a big chair and take a cup of tea +from his wife's hand, while he listened drowsily to her account of +the happenings of the week of separation. Little Marjory came out +for her petting soon and clambered upon the arm of his chair. +Smoothing his hair, she wove admiring remarks upon her father's +appearance and her gladness at his return into an account of her +recent experience with the monkey. + +"Father dear," she said, turning his head with a chubby hand on each +side of his chin. "Father dear, I'm so glad you have come home. Now +you must look right at me for I've something very 'portant to tell +you. Father, a monkey"--her eyes got big and round, "a monkey jumped +down from the tree---- Oh, father! What funny eyes you've got!" and +she stopped her story with a little squeal to look at his eyes which +he had made very round in imitation of her own when she had +mentioned the monkey. Then not satisfied with just looking at such +"funny" eyes, Marjory pulled them up at the corners to see how they +would look that way. After a moment's critical survey, she shook her +head and went on with her story. "The monkey jumped down from a +tree. Ayah had just given me a piece of cake and---- Why, father, +what a pretty necktie you've got! I never saw that one before." With +pats and pulls she spent some time endeavouring to arrange the +"pretty necktie" before going on with her story. "And,"--she began +again with a lingering look at her last twist at the tie, "that +monkey jumped down from the tree right at me and grabbed my cake and +ran away." + +She paused again and inspected her sleepy looking father. "I +b'lieve," she said as her eye ran slowly up and down her father's +white-clad figure, "I b'lieve I'd like monkeys better if they wore +white. Do monkeys ride on railway trains? Did they keep you awake +last night as they did mother? You look so sleepy, father dear, that +I am sure they did." + +Mr. Burbanks, somewhat awakened by the incongruous remarks of his +daughter, laughed and said, "I've never met a monkey on a railway +train yet. But weren't you afraid of the one you saw?" + +"Oh, yes. I cried and ran to mother but I'm not afraid any more now +for mother said you wouldn't let them hurt me." And Marjory cuddled +down in his arms. + +"See, there is one in that tree there now and I'm not afraid," she +said after a moment and, raising her head from his arm, pointed +towards a tree a little to the right, where was a large monkey +jumping from bough to bough with a tiny baby monkey clinging +fearlessly beneath her. + +The father and the little girl watched the monkey and her baby with +great interest until the ayah came and took Marjory in to bed. + +Throughout dinner and the evening Mrs. Burbanks told of their +troubles with the monkeys during her husband's absence and urged him +to do something to drive them away. + +But at the close of the evening all the satisfaction she received +was this very masculine reply to all of her urgings: "You are simply +nervous over them. I don't believe they will do any harm. In fact +they seem to me to be rather interesting creatures. That one out +there on the lawn this afternoon appeared perfectly harmless and +playful. Besides they are sacred animals and we might make the +Hindus very angry if we should touch them." And with a yawn Mr. +Burbanks started for bed. + +When Mrs. Burbanks saw that all of her conversation had not +impressed her husband with the urgency of the situation, unusual +woman that she was, she said no more, but wisely left the matter to +time. Even when they were awakened at an early hour the next +morning, she did not say a word, but listened with relish to the +remarks which issued from the curtained bed beside her own. + +Since Mr. Burbanks' departure his wife had paid no attention to his +office, as her servants could be trusted to keep things clean and in +order. Therefore, when he came to her a little later in the morning +with complaints about the condition of his desk, she was extremely +annoyed. His inkstand had been tipped over; his blotting-pad was +torn; his pens were lying scattered about the room; and the books on +the table were all in confusion. The servants declared that all had +been in perfect order the night before. The ayah said that Marjory +had not entered the room. So Mrs. Burbanks, after inspecting the +strange confusion, was about to leave the room in perplexity when +she chanced to glance at one of the high windows. Quickly, with a +smile upon her lips and a twinkle in her eye, she motioned to her +husband to come from the veranda where he had retired after finding +the disorder in his study. His eyes followed hers to the window and +there he saw a monkey watching them intently from the small window +sill. + +"Don't stare at him or he may spring at you," cautioned Mrs. +Burbanks. "Monkeys are just the opposite to most animals. You cannot +treat one or control him in the same way, for it angers him to have +you look him in the eye. The servants all tell me that." + +As they turned away, the bearer entered the room. To his wife's +amusement, Mr. Burbanks addressed him fretfully. "Boy, can't you +drive these monkeys away? They are beginning to be a nuisance." + +"Me touch a monkey!" The usually obedient boy raised his hands in +horror. + +During the dialogue the monkey had scuttled away. So the high window +was closed by the long bamboo pole, for--"The monkeys must be kept +out even if the ventilation is interfered with," said the head of +the house. + +After breakfast the post brought a package of home letters and, +although it was the middle of the morning, Mr. Burbanks took a while +off, after his week of strenuous work, to listen to home news. He +laid himself in a comfortable chair preparatory to listening to his +wife's reading, for he always preferred to hear her comments and +exclamations as she read aloud than to read the letters himself. +Mrs. Burbanks seated herself at the table beside him and, although a +young woman, put out her hand to take up the reading glasses which +invariably lay by her sewing basket. + +"Why, my glasses aren't here!" she exclaimed in a tone of annoyance. + +A search followed but no glasses could be found. After a while, in +despair, Mrs. Burbanks handed the letters to her husband and +prepared to be herself the listener, a situation which neither +really enjoyed. But scarcely had Mr. Burbanks reached the second +page of the first letter when an exclamation of surprise from his +wife stopped the reading and he found her looking with laughing eyes +at a spot high up on the wall. There, hanging by the bows from the +moulding, were the spectacles. With one voice the two exclaimed: "A +monkey!" + +The boy was called and the spectacles were soon rescued from the +dangerous place where they had evidently been hung with great care, +for they were uninjured. + +Although this was but a trifling incident, Mr. Burbanks was +disturbed by the impertinence of the "ugly beasts." But his wife +made no comments on the encounters of the morning, going on with her +work in silence, although she had to hang her head to hide her +smiling lips at some of his muttered remarks when he returned from +an attempt to clear up the papers on his office desk. One valuable +document was badly blotted with ink and a letter of the greatest +importance he had been able to read only after patching together the +torn bits gathered from the rug. + +Mr. Burbanks was plainly annoyed but his annoyance grew to fear in +the early afternoon when, in passing by the dining-room door, he +happened to look in. Marjory had slipped into her mother's chair and +with a big napkin around her neck was about to eat a luscious guava +which lay on the plate before her. Mr. Burbanks was just on the +point of calling out something in play to his little daughter, when +a quick motion on the wall behind her attracted his attention. +Afraid to move or speak for fear of bringing greater danger to the +child, the father watched in silence. An immense monkey slid down +the wall and jumped into the chair beside the little girl, with his +eye on the fruit before her. The child, frightened, shooed with her +handkerchief at the beast, who, turning his eyes upon her, showed +his teeth and snarled. The man held his breath; but the child, +shoving the plate of fruit towards the animal quickly slipped from +her chair and ran, unharmed, out of the room. In a second the monkey +had seized the guava and was gone through the high window. + +That was the last straw. No one could live in such danger! Mr. +Burbanks went back to his study and called the boy, but he did not +tell his wife what he had seen. + +"Can you drive the monkeys away?" he asked the boy again. + +"Me no touch monkeys. Me afraid. Monkeys belong gods," was the reply +he received. + +The gentleman could see that no help was to be had from his servants +and he realized that he himself must move cautiously or he might +bring the wrath of the Hindu city upon him. Therefore he thought the +matter over carefully and decided that first of all after it had +become dark he would fire off his pistol and perhaps frighten the +monkeys away without harming them. So, as soon as night had come and +all were in bed, he told his wife what he intended to do. She was +overjoyed at his quick conversion to her views, for she did not know +even then of Marjory's experience, as the child, soon forgetting it +in her play, had not mentioned it to her mother. + +Mr. Burbanks stepped out upon the roof and after a moment's pause +fired his pistol into a clump of trees at a little distance from the +bungalow. A sharp, shrill, almost human cry came from the tree and +then all was still. Even the chokidar, already asleep, did not seem +to have heard the shot. + +"Well, I've killed one, I guess," Mr. Burbanks said as he came back +into the room. "That is too bad! I hope the natives won't mind. But +it is over now and we need not worry. If they do make a fuss we will +just have to face the music, that's all. Probably it will drive the +animals away effectually, if one of them is killed. I most sincerely +hope so." + +There was quiet throughout the night, although Mrs. Burbanks lay +awake listening for trouble as women will. But in the early morning, +just as she had at last fallen into a light sleep, they were both +awakened by the usual noise of running and jumping on the roof. With +an exclamation of great annoyance Mr. Burbanks sprang up and opened +the shutters of the door. He stood there in silence for a minute +before he spoke again and then he called his wife softly to come and +look out. There, on the roof, stood a female monkey and before her +lay a tiny, baby monkey, dead, with a hole in its breast. The mother +patted it with her paw; she stroked it; then she ran around it and +jumped up and down as if to attract its attention. Then she took it +up and put its arms about her and started to spring away, evidently +expecting it to cling beneath her as it had always done; but the +little thing fell limply back upon the roof. Again and again the +mother tried, with the infinite patience of a mother. But finally, +with a cry of despair, she picked the baby up in her arms and, +squatting down, rocked to and fro, moaning and moaning. The servant, +bringing up the chota hazri, made a noise at the foot of the stairs. +The monkey, with an almost human look of woe, glanced around at the +sound and the Burbanks, watching from the shuttered door, saw the +agonized expression on her face, as she sprang to her feet and with +the dead baby still clasped tightly in her arms leaped away among +the tree tops. + +With tears in her eyes Mrs. Burbanks turned to her husband. "You +won't shoot another, will you?" + +"No, my dear, we'll move before I use the gun again. But it seemed +to be a choice between her baby and mine and, of course, I am glad +that it was hers," Mr. Burbanks replied. Then he told his wife of +Marjory's experience. + +But the Burbanks did not have to move, for the monkeys disappeared. +Since her parents never told Marjory why they had gone, she watched +for them for a long time and ate her cakes in haste lest "a naughty +monkey might snatch 'em." + +One day a short time after their disappearance Marjory received a +present from her father of a little black dog. When she playfully +asked him why he had bought her the dog, expecting that he would say +because she had been such a good girl, he said, "Because monkeys are +afraid of dogs." + +"Why, how funny!" she exclaimed. "You bought me a mongoose because +snakes are afraid of mongooses and now I have a dog because monkeys +are afraid of dogs. What pet will you buy me next, father dear?" + +"I will have to live in India a little longer before I can answer +that question, my daughter." And, wondering what unexpected danger +would next assail his child in this strange land, he swung her up on +his shoulder and, as it was sunset, carried her tenderly into the +house to her waiting ayah, followed by the dog--a tiny, but +sufficient guard against the encroachments of the tribe of +Haunamon. + + + + +VII + +In Ways Mysterious + + +I + +The bare audience room of old Boyle Avenue Church was almost empty; +only a few of those who had been present at the afternoon service +still lingered, one little knot by the door, another near the altar +rail. This is not the church where the real Europeans meet to +worship God, you know, nor is it even one of the worshipping places +of the semi-European population of Bombay. It is the oldest building +of our mission property and belongs to our native church. It is, +therefore, all the church home to-day that three separate +congregations can boast, our Marathi, Gujarati, and Hindustani +congregations. + +It is a big, barn-like building situated in a thickly populated part +of the city which, just now, is largely occupied by Parsis. But +although it is old and bare and far away from most of our native +converts, they travel the long distances from their various quarters +and attend its services faithfully. + +[Illustration: "I have a beautiful wife, as fair as your own, +Sahib"] + +I tell you my heart glowed that afternoon as I sat upon the platform +and saw that room filled to overflowing. Not only were the wooden +benches crowded, but people sat in the aisles and stood around the +walls. Our Sunday afternoon congregation is usually just the +Marathis only, and does not occupy more than a third of the room, +but this day it was a union service of all our people to be +conducted in two languages only, as the Marathi and Hindustani +languages are near enough alike to be intelligible to both. And why +was this great meeting held? That was what thrilled me I suppose and +broke me all up so that when it came my turn to speak, I really just +couldn't and stood there like a big baby and cried. But the folk +were kind to me and joined me in my tears and when all I could +falter was, "Good-bye, God bless you all!" they just fell upon their +knees and such prayers went up for my speedy restoration to health +and return to India that by the time we rose from our knees I felt +better already. + +They did not ask me to say anything more from the platform, but at +the close of the service men, women, and children gathered about me +for a last personal word. You see my health had failed because of +the climate of Northwest India and because of the burdens that each +of our missionaries has to bear (this isn't complaint, but just +fact) and so I had been ordered home. That part wasn't bad, for the +prospects of seeing home again, that meant America, looked pretty +good to me! Think of seeing a snow-bank after the one hundred and +twenty degrees in the shade in which I had scorched for years! Think +of drinking cool, unboiled water right from the tap, and all you +wanted of it! Think of being able to eat fresh, uncooked vegetables +without fear of cholera! Think of being able to do all those things +which are so delectable at home but so foolhardy in India! The going +home part was all right but the part that wasn't all right---- It's +hard to talk about that part. The doctors said that I probably could +never go back to India! Never go back to India again! Never go back +to the people and work I loved! I tell you it took all the manhood I +had to meet that blow with a smiling face and turn the other cheek. + +But I started to tell you, not about myself at all, but about Shama +Bhana. As I sat on the platform that afternoon I singled out his +face among those of the men standing by the windows at the right +nearest the altar. Shama Bhana is a Brahmin and when I have said +that I have told you that he is a man of proud, distinguished +appearance and with an intellectual capacity of the highest order +that India boasts. I have neglected to say that Shama Bhana is a +rich Brahmin. + +I had known this man for several years and we were good friends. I +had talked religion with him by the hour and I felt that he believed +in Christ and in our faith. But I had never been able to bring him +one inch, as it seemed to me, towards forsaking his old faith and +accepting ours publicly. As I saw his face there that afternoon and +knew that he had come to say good-bye to me, perhaps forever, I +longed to hear him confess Christ before I left India. I longed to +know that he had thrown his wonderful powers upon the side of our +warfare in that country where his influence would be so great. + +The meeting came to an end at last and the crowd that had gathered +to say good-bye to the sahib and to wish him "Godspeed" had done so +and were gone to their homes, all but two little companies of people +still gathered in the church, as I have said before. + +In all my farewells I kept my eye on Shama Bhana and I noticed that +he was still in the little group by the door. Finally I managed to +separate myself from the company near the altar rail and started +towards the door. Shama Bhana did not come to meet me but I saw him +step a little aside from the others as if giving me a chance to +speak to him privately. I availed myself of the opportunity at once. + +I went directly to him, holding out my hand, and, Brahmin though he +was, he took it, his eyes full of tears. + +"Sahib, it breaks our hearts to have you go," he said simply. + +"Shama Bhana," I replied, "it breaks my heart to go without having +heard you confess the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour." + +He looked at me without a start or quiver just as if he had been +expecting me to say that very thing. "Shama Bhana," I went on, +looking straight into his face and into his eyes, which steadily +returned my look, "Shama Bhana, you do believe in Jesus Christ, do +you not?" + +"Sahib, no longer will I refuse to answer that question to you, +since you are going away from us, perhaps forever. Sahib, I believe +in Jesus Christ. There is nothing in Hinduism or Brahminism that can +compare with His life and character. There is nothing that can +compare with His teachings. I believe in God, the Father, and in +Jesus Christ, the Son; and I love them, as you, Sahib, have taught +me to do." + +My heart swelled with joy and gratitude. + +"Then will you confess your faith and your love?" I asked him, +hoping that I might see him baptized before I sailed for I coveted +him for the work in Bombay. + +His face clouded. "That, Sahib, I cannot do. I have confessed to +you, knowing that you will not tell what I have told you here in +India. But I cannot acknowledge my faith to any one else." + +Could it be that I had put too great confidence in this man's +courage and strength? I was disappointed but I could scarcely credit +my own disappointment and I probed deeper. + +"Is it that you fear to lose your material possessions, Shama Bhana, +that you fail to claim the spiritual ones?" I asked him. + +He drew himself up and looked at me in righteous scorn. "Yes, if I +should confess my belief in Christ, I would lose my wealth, and it +is great; but what would I care for that! I am young. I am strong. I +could earn my way and my family would not starve. No, Sahib, it is +not the fear of the loss of money that hinders me." But as he saw +the troubled look upon my face, he added, "I will tell all, Sahib, +and then you yourself shall judge if I could act otherwise. + +"Sahib, I have a mother. You have never seen her for you cannot +enter our homes as your wives can, but the memsahib has met her. +That mother knows that I have talked long and earnestly with you. +She knows that I have read much of the doctrine. She knows, too, +that I no longer make offerings to the idols, and she fears that my +heart inclines to this new creed. Sahib, my mother a short time ago +took me out into our courtyard and pointed to the well that is in +the middle of the square. She said to me, 'Shama Bhana, my son, the +day you become a Christian, that day I will throw myself down that +well.' And, Sahib, she would do it!" + +And I knew that she would. I could say nothing. I could only look at +him with love and sympathy in my heart. + +"And, Sahib, that is not all," he continued. "I have a beautiful +wife and a son, as fair as your own, Sahib. I love my wife. I love +my son. But, Sahib, the day I confess Christ publicly these two, +whom I love more than life, will be taken from me and I shall never +see them again. + +"Sahib, would Jesus Christ wish me to cause the suicide of my mother +and the separation from me forever of my wife and child? It is these +two things and these only that keep me from public confession and +baptism." + +I could answer nothing. I could only hold his hand and say, "Pray, +Shama Bhana; Christ alone can tell you your duty. And He will make +it plain to you, if you leave it all to Him. I will pray for you too +as long as I live or, if it may please God to permit it, until I see +you again here in Bombay." + +With the hand-clasp of brothers we parted: he, a Christian in heart +but a Brahmin by profession, went home to his wife and boy and the +old mother, strong in her faith; and I came to the homeland. I +haven't told you his real name nor can I and keep faith with him, +for, although Bombay is thousands of miles away, words when once +spoken may travel far. But I have told you a true story. May I add a +happy conclusion to at least one part of the theme? I am going back +to India! Thank God! My health has been restored. When I reach +Bombay shall I find Shama Bhana still a Brahmin or a confessed +follower of Christ? That is the question that is on my heart. + + +II + +Well, well, well! To think that I should actually have you with me +here in Bombay! Why, I can hardly believe it is real! Don't I look +well and strong? That doctor at home almost worked miracles for me +with his medicines. My, but it's good to be back in the harness +again! The pull has to be long and steady and sometimes the straps +rub or the collar galls or the load drags heavily, but it's great +work. I am keeping well, too, and I'm happier than three years ago I +thought I would ever be again in this world. + +What, man, you've only one day to give me in Bombay? And then you've +got to race on or that business venture will fall through! Oh, +these globe-encircling Americans who try to see the world and its +sight as do birds on the wing! Why, this is only an aggravation, +Dick! I'd almost rather you wouldn't have come at all than to give +me just one day. + +No, you aren't going back either! You know that I didn't really mean +what I said, for just the sight of your face has done me a world of +good already and before the day is over I will show you some sights +which I dare say will do your heart good. But in the meantime, I +warn you, I shall talk every minute of the time to make up for all +the days that I can't have you. + +Let me see--we'll go first to visit our day-schools and call upon +our preachers; then we'll drop into Boyle Avenue Church for a +prayer-meeting; then we'll go to see Shama Bhana; and this evening +I'll take you to a street service. It all sounds prosaic, perhaps, +because I've used hackneyed American terms, but for a man who has +been but one day in India there won't be anything prosaic about it. + +Do you remember, Dick, what I told you men back home last year about +Shama Bhana, the man we're going to see this afternoon? + +It will be quite a long story to tell you how it came out but I +will, for we've got quite a little car ride ahead of us to reach +Parel where we are going first to see such a school as you never +laid eyes on before, half-naked children in a palm-leaf hut. But let +me tell you, those children know more Scripture than your boy and +girl do, I am sure. + +Well, about Shama Bhana. You know I told you that before I left for +home he had confessed to me privately that he believed in Christ but +he could not be baptized because his mother threatened to commit +suicide on the day he should become a Christian and because on that +same day his wife and child would be taken from him forever. All I +could do was to tell him to continue in prayer and that God would +lead him. + +About six months after I had left Bombay, very suddenly Shama +Bhana's mother died. That very day, before the funeral rites had +been performed, Shama Bhana appeared at Deal's door and asked for +baptism. Of course Deal did not know much about the case, as his +work is largely with the Marathis; so he had to go all over the +situation with the Brahmin and make proof of his belief and +sincerity. + +His belief seemed genuine and when it came to a proof of his +sincerity, Shama Bhana told his story. "Now my mother is dead," he +concluded. "I could not come before, for it would have been murder +and that is forbidden in the Bible. She died but an hour ago and I +came at once." + +"Will you lose your property now?" asked Deal. + +"Oh, yes. I will not have an anna above what I now carry in my +purse. But that is no hardship." + +"Will they turn you out of the household at once?" Deal went on, +needlessly probing deeper into the fresh wounds in the man's heart, +but poor Deal did not seem to understand. + +"That is practically done already, Sahib," the Brahmin answered. "As +soon as I heard that my mother was dead this morning, I kissed my +wife and baby good-bye while they still slept and came to you, for I +know that when I return they will be withheld from my sight and I +shall never see them more." Shama Bhana was overcome for a moment, +Deal said, and then he went on quietly. "Christ says that whoever +will not leave wife and child for His sake is not worthy of Him. I +could not bring them with me for you know the way the Hindu +oftentimes takes vengeance; for a few days all would have gone well; +then suddenly they would have sickened and died a mysterious death. +Sahib, I love them too well to bring death to them and so I left +them. Indeed, I have left all for Christ, Sahib. Will you not +baptize me?" + +Deal baptized him at once and then asked what he could do to help +him. + +Shama Bhana replied, "Nothing, thank you kindly, Sahib. I will find +work at once. I will not starve. Yes, Sahib, there is something you +can do for me. Pray! Pray that some day I may get my wife and child +back again." + +Then Shama Bhana went away. He was a rich man, the son of great +possessions, as I have told you. The news of his baptism spread fast +and the fury of his father was unrestrained. Shama Bhana was +declared to be dead and his effigy was burned with his mother's body +on the funeral pyre. His wife was proclaimed a widow and treated as +such; her head was shaved and her jewels and beautiful garments were +taken from her. + +But Shama Bhana's Brahmin training stood him in good stead, for he +went on his way apparently unmoved by all the indignities that were +being heaped upon him and his. He is a remarkably bright man and so +without much difficulty, for he procured it the very day of his +baptism, he got a fair position as clerk in a big English office in +the city. His family later did everything they could to get him +ousted, by fair means and foul, but he had proved his worth before +they began their work against him and so he was kept. + +That was the situation I found when I returned from America. At my +request Shama Bhana came to live with me, but we saw little of each +other, for every moment when he was not in the office he was out +preaching or teaching and with power. But in the brief intervals +that I did see him I knew that his heart was sore. I had left my own +family in America, you know, and he would look at their picture upon +my dresser. "Your wife is a Christian," he would say. "And you will +probably see them again in a couple of years. But my wife is a Hindu +widow!" Then he would turn at once into his own room and I knew he +had gone to his knees in prayer. I would pray, too, both for him and +his and for my own. Though his case was, of course, immeasurably +harder than mine, still I thought I was pretty badly off with +thousands of miles of ocean rolling between my family and me and +with no definite knowledge as to when we would see each other again, +for the kiddies must be educated, you know. + +Well, what if I am blowing my nose violently! Man, they aren't here +yet and what's more, they aren't coming for another year. + +Well,--then came the pestilence; not the plague or the cholera or +any of those Asiatic diseases which you folk over there hear so much +about and really know so little of; but the plain smallpox with +which you are at least so familiar that you run away as soon as you +hear the word pronounced. The smallpox is usually with us here, +more or less, all the time; but somehow this season it was here in +tenfold fury. It swept over the city, but was worst in the section +where Shama Bhana's family lived. Several of our native church +workers had tried in vain to get entrance into his house since the +trouble had happened, but now they walked right in and took +possession unhindered, for the father himself and every member of +the family were down with the disease and the servants had all fled. +Shama Bhana's wife, whom they found in a dark chamber in the +servants' quarters, had the worst form of the disease because of the +hunger and ill treatment she had suffered since she had become a +mock-widow. Shama Bhana who had given up his place at the office as +soon as he heard of the situation came at once to his wife's side, +for there was no one to object. And as day after day our faithful +Hindustani preacher and his wife worked over that household, they +preached Christ as they worked whenever a mind was free enough from +pain to receive the message. + +Three of the sons died, but the rest of the family soon began to +show signs of recovery. The old father, since his case had been the +lightest, as he had been vaccinated once years before in an English +hospital, recovered first. As he, in his weakness, lay and watched +the loving ministrations of the two Christians and listened to +their words, his heart seemed to be touched. + +"Why do you do all this for me?" he asked one day. "Are you immune?" + +The preacher's wife stood nearest him and she replied, "I have had +the disease but my husband never has. We are doing it for Christ's +sake, you know." + +Later he called the preacher to him. "Where is Shama Bhana?" he +whispered. "Has he had it yet?" + +The preacher replied, "He is here just now with his wife who is very +ill. The night that you were the worst he spent at your side. He has +not had the awful disease yet. Shall I call him to you?" + +The preacher wondered how his words would be received and feared +that a violent rage would bring back the old man's fever. But he +only smiled faintly and to the question shook his head and said, "It +is the wrath of Shama Bhana's God." + +He steadfastly refused to see his son and yet he did not seem to be +angry nor did he order him from the home. In a few days when his +strength had returned nearly in full measure, he called the preacher +to him again and asked him to walk with him through the house. So, +leaning on the patient preacher's arm, he went from room to room. +In every room with his feeble hands he tore down every sign of +Hinduism. The gods he took himself from their shelves and ordered +them to be thrown into the well. When all the rooms except the +servants' quarters had been thus cleared he turned to the amazed +pastor and said: + +"Now call my son Shama Bhana and let me be baptized in his presence, +for now I believe as he has taught me and from now on we will stand +as Christians together and our household shall be a Christian +household." + +But when the preacher went to summon Shama Bhana and to tell him the +good news, he found that young man on the floor beside his wife's +cot burning with a high fever and showing every symptom of the dread +disease. So the baptismal service was postponed while they worked to +save Shama Bhana's life. Two days later the pastor himself came +down. But as soon as I learned that the old man had been converted I +went at once to Shama Bhana. Before very long we had there a +household of well people, and such a happy household! Words cannot +describe it. + +And so together since that time Shama Bhana, his father, and not of +less importance, his wife, have faced the Hinduism of Bombay in a +small but solid phalanx for Christ. The influence of the conversion +of that rich, strong Brahmin family has been marvellous, as you can +imagine, and is increasing every day. + +We will go there this afternoon and see them all. Even Shama Bhana's +wife will greet you, for there is no purdah in that home now and she +will meet you as modestly, graciously, and courteously as any lady +in America. God's ways are wonderful, aren't they? But the most +wonderful thing about it all in my mind is that He always lets us +poor, insignificant men help in bringing His ways to pass. Had our +simple, faithful Hindustani pastor and his wife not been willing to +risk their lives for their love for Christ, probably Shama Bhana's +father would still be a Brahmin, his wife, most likely, dead, and +Shama Bhana himself still an outcast. + +These are the romances of our work and they serve to throw out +against the dark background of Hindustani life and social customs +the capacity of our Hindu cousins for an appreciative interpretation +of the Oriental Christ and their willingness to share His life of +heroic sacrifice on behalf of others. The humblest of them +frequently rises to acts of great courage and chivalry. + +[Illustration: "The humblest of them frequently rises to acts of +great courage and chivalry"] + +Well, here we are! You didn't just expect to see grass huts under +palm trees as a suburb of the great city of Bombay, did you? And +there are the children gathered around the door of the schoolhouse +waiting for us. Aren't they beauties? Hadn't you better take a +picture of them to show to your boy at home? Their dress isn't +exactly American in style, that is true; but it is comfortable, if +it is rather exaggerated in abbreviation. + +Salaam, boys! Salaam! Salaam! + + + + +VIII + +The Way to Happiness + + +With a shrill whistle and a clanging of her engine bell, the train +for Calcutta pulled into the station at M----. "Coolie, coolie!" +with a decided accent on the second syllable, came the well-known +call as scantily-clothed men, falling in beside the train, ran from +the end of the platform to the station entrance, with hands upon the +first and second-class carriage doors, lest other coolies might get +the jobs of carrying the heavy trunks and earn the anna or two anna +bits that they might have had. + +With a cloth about the loins for decency's sake and a turban on the +head as a pad for heavy boxes, otherwise naked, the brown coolie +took possession of the upper class compartments and in a minute or +so scores of them were filing away through the station with heads +laden with trunks, boxes, hat-boxes, rolls of bedding, lunch-baskets, +baskets of fruit, and every conceivable sort of parcel that an +Anglo-Indian or a tourist carries with him in the compartment of an +Indian train; for, although luggage vans are run on these trains, the +charge for excess luggage is so great that people crowd as much under +the seats, on the seats, and over the seats as possible. As an +individual rarely travels with less than ten parcels the platform +swarmed with carriers. + +While the first and second class passengers in topis and linen suits +were thus being taken out of their carriages and a fresh lot, also +in topis and linen, were being put in, in no undue haste, for all +Indian trains stop fifteen minutes everywhere; while that end of the +platform, therefore, was in comparative calm, the other end where +the third-class carriages stood was in an uproar. + +Railroad travel is cheaper nowhere in the world than in India. The +traveller can ride in a compartment for twelve persons by day, six +by night, on leather cushions, with toilet conveniences including +even a shower bath at close hand, for the matter of one cent a mile; +or he can pay about two cents a mile and ride on cushions a little +softer, with a trifle more floor space for stacking his bird-cages +and bandboxes and with furnishings a little glossier--first class; +or he can have a ride for almost nothing, if he will be content to +herd with the natives in a coach with wooden seats, a coach that +accommodates from twenty to fifty, the number depending on the +packing. + +Since the fare is so small and since the Hindu religion, as also +the Mohammedan, teaches the efficacy of pilgrimages, the people now +make their pilgrimages, as far as possible and wherever possible, by +train. Their religions have thus so accustomed the natives to the +trains that they seem to be always travelling. The richer ones may +go first or second class. But the majority of them go third and, +since the first person in gets the best seat in these third-class +cars while others crowd in as long as there is an inch to spare, +there is a mad scramble for first, second, third, fourth, and fifth +place at the third-class carriage doors. + +So it was as the Calcutta train pulled into M----. Men with bundles +and women with babies, more bundles, water jars, and bags of food +swarmed into the third-class coaches. In a remarkably short time, +however, the people who had wanted to get off were gone with their +bundles, trailing women, and dangling children, and the lot going +towards Calcutta had stowed away inside the carriages, on top of +each other or anywhere that they could, their bundles, their +clinging women, and their crying children; and still there were +several minutes before time for the train to pull out. Then the +through passengers, since, as the newcomers were settled, their own +seats were secure, could get out upon the platform. A bearded +Mohammedan with flowing robes and turbaned head, spreading a mat on +the platform beside the car and slipping out of his shoes, knelt +three times and said his prayers towards Mecca, unmindful of the +crowd around him. At the hydrant a good Hindu carefully washed out +his mouth preparatory to partaking of his noonday meal; while men of +all castes walked up and down beside the cars, resting their cramped +limbs. From the car windows many a braceleted arm reached out a +brass water jar to be filled by the Mohammedan water-carrier. And at +other windows Hindu women waited for the Hindu water-carrier to fill +their jars so that they might have water for the journey. + +The sweetmeat venders were unusually busy, for it was just about +noon and Indian sweets are to native Indians really a staple article +of diet instead of a confection as in other countries. They are made +of wholesome food stuffs; sometimes they are shaped like pretzels; +sometimes, rolled into balls; sometimes, chopped into flakes. But +all kinds are well liked and the boy, passing along the trainside +with the flat basket of sweets upon his head, just in range of the +carriage windows, was kept busy dealing out his wares until he had a +light load left and a hand full of coppers. The baskets of the +pretty green pan were also many packages lighter when the gong on +the platform sounded. + +At the sound of the gong the through passengers scrambled back into +their places; all but the Mohammedan faithful, who, having +deliberately slipped his feet back into his shoes, carefully folded +up his prayer mat, and with no loss of dignity climbed slowly into +his compartment. + +The guard raised his hand. + +The train started. + +But in the ladies' compartment of the third class the confusion +continued after the start, for three naked babies were climbing over +their mothers and crying; an old woman was rummaging over her +treasures which had been tied up in a white cloth and raising a wild +lamentation because she had lost an anna; and two young beauties in +gay saris, with jangling bracelets, clanking anklets, and flashing +necklaces, were chewing pan very vigorously and chattering in shrill +voices, displaying as they did so mouths most beautifully reddened +with the pan juice and teeth most artistically blackened by the same +delicacy. + +But after a short time the babies, either satisfied with their +natural diet or at least appeased with cold chapatis or bits of +sweets handed out by tired mothers, became quiet. The old woman, +exhausted by her unavailing search and grief, was reduced to a quiet +mumbling and a hopeless picking at her bundle. And the two young +women became less noisy in a close comparing of jewels. There was +enough of calm, therefore, so that the travellers could get a +glimpse of each other and see what sort of company each was in. + +It was a motley crowd and one that broke many of the laws of caste. +It showed plainly how much the railroad is doing to rid India of +that curse. In one corner sat a Brahmin woman, distinguishable by +the refined features of her class rather than the caste mark upon +her forehead, but too poor for the greater privacy of a second +compartment. Next to her, a proximity which would have broken her +caste at one time, sat a Chumar woman. Next was a lady with the +white head-cloth and one-coloured sari of the Parsi. And beside the +Parsi was a tiny high caste girl, most bejewelled and bedecked, +wearing the necklace which showed that although she was but eight or +nine years old she was married. Evidently the child-wife was taking +the journey with her mother-in-law, for the woman next beyond her, +apparently of the same caste, would occasionally jerk the little +girl into her seat and scold her roundly when she ventured to lean +over to look out of the window. + +When the train approached a way-station, the blinds were drawn +quickly lest a man should look upon the women within, for, although +none of them were keeping purdah strictly, still most of these women +were careful in public not to subject themselves unduly to the +glances of men. + +As the blinds were lifted after the train left the first small +station, the light disclosed, huddled into a far corner seat, a +young woman wrapped in the coarsest of white garments, with scarcely +an ornament upon her body and no caste mark upon her forehead. Her +face was shaded by the sari which she had drawn close over her head, +but out of the shadow peered a pair of sad, wistful eyes. Her face +was thin and her hands, which clasped tightly upon her lap a +carefully wrapped bundle, were thin and rough as if with toil. Her +eyes were anxiously examining the faces in the carriage. At every +unusual noise or sudden jolt, they would look frightened and she +would clasp still more closely the bundle in her lap. It was a +bundle about eighteen inches long, tied and double knotted most +carefully in a piece of coarse but clean white cloth. The girl's +white sari was also as clean as most Indian white clothes ever look, +washed in dirty water and dried on the ground as they are. She was +evidently on some important journey and, as evidently, for the first +time on a train. The bundle which she carried would not have been +noticeable among such a myriad of bundles as the carriage held, had +she not guarded it so closely, and, when any one changed a seat or +passed by her, shielded it with her arms. + +After comparative peace had reigned a little while, the frightened +look left the young woman's eyes and, untying one corner of the +bundle, which opening showed still another wrapping within, she drew +out a cold chapati and ate it slowly as if to make it last a long +time. As she ate, her eyes met those of a sociable looking, old, +gray-haired woman, evidently of low caste, who, sitting opposite +between two high caste women, was apparently longing to talk to some +one. As their eyes met, the older woman leaned across the aisle and +said to the young girl in Hindustani: + +"Where are you going?" + +The girl looked alarmed, as the question was addressed her, but +answered timidly, "To Benares. Are you going there?" + +"No, but I am going almost as far as that. You see I have been ayah +to master's little boy and they moved away and now they have sent +for me to come and I am going to be his ayah again." The old woman's +face beamed as she chattered. "I might have gone long ago when they +went, for they always called me a fine ayah and always praised me to +all of their guests, but when they moved away to Allahabad I did not +want to leave my family. But my boy went off to the city +and--and--my little girl died; so now I am glad to go." Her eyes had +filled with tears as she said that her little girl had died and at +the words the young woman involuntarily clutched at the bundle in +her lap. + +Just then the Brahmin woman in the corner opposite got up to arrange +her dress and moved about in the aisle so that the conversation was +interrupted. And the two women got no further chance to talk until +the train pulled into a station and some of the passengers getting +out gave the old lady an opportunity to slip into the seat beside +the girl. + +"Where are you from?" she asked, resuming the conversation at once. + +"From C----," the girl answered. + +"Are you a sweeper?" the old lady continued her catechism. "Do you +work at it?" she went on without waiting for an answer. "There is +lots of money in that work, isn't there? I never had to work at it, +you know." + +The young girl looked at her frankly. "I don't think so. I got two +annas a day." + +"Oh, my! I get ten rupees a month!" + +The girl opened her eyes in surprise. "And what do you do?" she +questioned in return. + +"I am an ayah, I told you. All I have to do is to take care of the +little boy. He is a dear, good boy. I dress him in the morning and +give him his breakfast and watch him at play. I get his tiffin and +then put him to sleep. After he wakes up I dress him all up fine and +take him out in the compound in the carriage and usually his mother +walks with us a little and then I give him an early supper and put +him to bed and sit in the room with him until his mother comes +up-stairs. Wouldn't you like to do that? It just isn't work at all +and yet I get ten rupees a month for it." + +"Oh, I would like to! But I'd never get a chance to do that," the +girl said sadly. + +"Were you ever in a sahib's house?" the old woman ambled on, seeing +that the girl was really interested and impressed. "It is a great, +big place, as big as that station almost," and the old woman pointed +out to a station at which they were just stopping. + +"My husband used to go to one sometimes," said the girl, and, +clutching at her bundle, her face grew sad again. + +"You are a widow?" asked the other, although she must have known +from the girl's dress that she was. + +"Yes, my husband has been dead two years." She paused a moment and +then as if she could restrain herself no longer, as if the flood of +her speech had been loosened, she went on rapidly in a low but +intense tone. "Yes, for two years he has been dead. He was not sick +long. I was but a girl. I did not know very much about it except +that he was sick and that they made offerings to the gods and did +all they could to cure him. But one day my mother-in-law came to me +and called me terrible names and told me that if my husband died I +would be to blame and that awful things would happen to me. She +frightened me terribly and told me that I must not let him die. So I +crept away to the temple. I had no offering to make except as I +stole a handful of rice in the bazaar and took that. I prayed and +prayed. At one temple the priests said that they would cure him for +ten rupees but I had no money and I was afraid to go and tell my +mother-in-law. A priest at another shrine said that a little Ganges +water might help my husband and, as I turned away in despair, for I +did not know where the Ganges was, I heard him say to a man standing +there, 'When I die I am going to the Ganges and die there so that my +bones may be thrown into the river and Mother Gunga may hold them +upon her bosom; then shall I be forever happy.' But I had done all I +could by my prayers and so I crept back home to find my +husband--dead.--But I remembered what the priest had said. + +"My mother-in-law beat me. She took my jewels away from me. She +shaved my head and drove me from the house. But I got work as a +sweeper and for two years I have swept up the scrapings in the +streets and made fuel cakes. I never went back to my husband's +home." + +Her story told, to which the old woman had listened with sympathy, +the girl covered her face with her sari and, clasping her bundle in +her arms, sat silent, shaking occasionally as with sobs. + +Finally the other woman put her hand upon the girl's arm to soothe +her. "What are you going to Benares for?" she asked. + +"I am going to Benares," was the only answer the girl made. + +Most of the women had left the carriage by this time and night was +coming on. The old lady leaned over to the window and peered out +through the semi-darkness. + +"There is the Ganges River--Holy Mother Gunga!" she cried. + +The girl started up and eagerly looked from the window, too. "Is +that the Ganges River?" she asked and looked and looked until the +last gleam of the water was lost as the train sped on. + +"What are you going to Benares for?" the old woman asked again. + +"I am going to Benares," the girl answered again with a frightened +stare, clutching her bundle. + +As there were but few passengers left, the two women soon lay down +at full length on the hard benches and went to sleep. But the girl +did not use her bundle for a pillow as her companion had suggested +but lay with it in her arms. + +Before the sun was up the next morning, the younger woman was awake +and staring out with frightened eyes as the train ran through a +country entirely strange to her. And when the old woman woke up and +announced that soon she must be getting off, the girl's fear seemed +to increase. + +"Is the Ganges River near here, too?" she asked. + +"Why, I think so," the old woman replied and her statement was +confirmed by another woman in the next seat. + +"Then I'll get off here with you," announced the girl with a +brighter look. "If the Ganges River is here, this place should do as +well as Benares, I think." + +The older woman looked astonished but offered no objections to the +girl's sudden change of plan. + +In a few minutes the train stopped at Allahabad and again arose the +mad confusion of a large railway station at train time. But the old +woman got out safely, followed closely by the girl, holding her +bundle tightly in her arms. + +They stepped aside from the crowd and the old woman looked at the +younger in curiosity as to what she would do here in Allahabad. The +appearance of the latter had suddenly changed. Her face was eager +and her eyes were bright. + +"Take me to the Ganges River quickly," she demanded, "for I must +throw these into the sacred river," and she held out her bundle. + +"What is in it?" asked the old lady, eyeing the strange bundle with +a frightened look such as the girl herself had worn until the +excitement of being near her goal had driven it from her face. + +"I must throw them into the Ganges River," repeated the girl. "They +are my husband's bones," she whispered eagerly, lowering her voice. +"When they burned his body I crept along and after all had left I +picked them out of the pile of ashes and here they are!" she +exclaimed triumphantly. "For two years I have kept them near me day +and night and saved all my money to come to Benares to throw them +into the Ganges River that I might be forgiven for his death and +that he might have life and happiness as the priest said. But if the +Ganges River is here, surely this place will do as well as Benares. +I am so tired! I am so tired of being a cursed woman!" she sobbed, +her excitement giving way to tears. "I want to be happy. Take me to +the Ganges River!" + +The old woman's expression had turned from fright to astonishment as +she heard what the bundle contained; but at the girl's sobs her face +grew sweet with a motherly tenderness. She turned away as if to +think, murmuring to herself, "The memsahib will surely forgive me if +I come a little late. She would like to have me help this poor +child, I know, and perhaps she might make her an ayah like me if I +take her with me. That would make the girl happy, indeed. Yes, I +will help her." + +Then she turned back to the girl. Tenderly taking her free hand, for +one still tightly clasped the precious bundle, the old woman said, +"Come, we will find the way to the sacred river." + +Quickly the two went down the platform, now somewhat thinned of the +earlier crowd, and passed through the station gate, the old woman +still holding the girl's hand and the girl still tightly holding the +bundle which was to be the price of life and happiness to her. + + + + +IX + +Bachelor Dreams + + +Caldwell-Sahib, opening his eyes, let his head roll slowly over on +his pillow. As the veranda door came within his line of vision the +delicious drowsiness which had held him was suddenly disturbed, for +there stood, looking out across the rows of potted plants to the dry +lawn beyond, a woman whom he had never seen. For several moments he +simply stared in weakness. Then, trying to brush away the strange, +sickly haze which enveloped his brain, he let his eyes rove over the +room as far as he could without physical effort. There in the corner +was his desk. There, hanging above it, was the picture of the Taj +which he had bought when Parsons had paid him a flying visit from +England and they had gone to Agra together. Just to the right, out +of the edge of his eye, he could see the foot of his steamer chair +and, extending from beneath it, the hand-woven rug which he himself +had spent a week in buying from a native dealer in Delhi, holding +grimly to his first bid each day as he had passed the shop on his +constitutional until a bargain had been struck the very day his +train pulled out. Those things certainly belonged to him, but the +woman did not. Where had she come from? For there she was still as +his eyes again reached the door. + +His strangely tired mind was just getting to the point of realizing +what she looked like--that she was tall and fair--when the woman +turned her face towards him and with a smile came to the bed. + +"So you are awake and better. That's good! You will be all right +now. Let me feel your pulse, please," and pulling the omnipresent +mosquito netting aside, she laid a cool hand upon his wrist. "That +is all right too. Your pulse is normal. Isn't that splendid! + +"Now, listen to me," she continued after a deft fluffing of his +pillows and a careful tucking in of the netting. "I'm sorry, but +you've got to be your own nurse now. Your boy is frightened to +death, but he'll stay with you and do your bidding. You'll be all +right. I must go. Take one teaspoonful of this every hour," and she +lifted a tumbler from the table. "At seven o'clock take half of this +in the cup here," and she brought a flowered teacup into view. +"Don't get up until you really feel strong enough to. Have your boy +give you broths to-morrow, an egg the next day, and so on, getting +back to your regular diet by degrees. I guess you are used to being +your own nurse." + +She turned towards the door. "I'll get your boy in but you will have +to make him stay. I can't wait to do that." + +She left the room, but soon returned followed slowly and reluctantly +by his "boy," only a boy in Anglo-Indian nomenclature, for he was a +tiny native man about forty years of age, who was bowing and +salaaming but keeping as near to the door as possible. + +"Come," said the lady in a low but compelling tone. "Come. Come +along quickly," she added a trifle sharply as he lagged behind. +"Aren't you ashamed to have left your master when he was sick! Now," +for he had reached the bed by this time, "lift the netting and take +hold of the sahib's hand." + +"There!" she exclaimed as he touched the Englishman's hand and took +his own quickly away. "There! You see it didn't hurt you. You +haven't caught the cholera. Now, do as your master tells you; take +good care of him and behave as a boy should," and she was gone. + +Ah! Cholera! That explained it all to Caldwell. So he had had the +cholera, he--Caldwell--who had served the government for fifteen +years in India, had taken every risk, and had considered himself +immune! That explained his extreme weakness, his befuddled brain, +and the unusual soreness of his muscles. That explained the terror +of his boy. But it did not explain the woman. Where had she come +from? Who was she? + +For some time Caldwell thought over this interesting matter, for it +was easier just to think than to question the shivering boy who was +still crouching as close to the outside door as possible. Who was +she? She was tall and thin; her face was very fine-featured and +intelligent. And she was an American. He knew that last fact from +her speech and from her appearance, too, for although Caldwell never +had looked at ladies in his life, especially American ladies, except +when politeness absolutely compelled him to, yet even he could not +mistake the something in the appearance that marks every American +girl, and,--yes, secretly approve, although his English nature would +not let him acknowledge it. And she wasn't very old either! + +Suddenly a thought struck him, so suddenly and such a thought that +he almost started up in spite of his weakness. There was only one +other European in Baihar besides himself and that was a missionary, +a woman,--a doctor, he had understood, and--an American. + +"Boy," as strong a voice as a usually strong Englishman could +command after a fit of cholera demanded, "was that the missionary?" + +"Yes, Sahib, I got her. She's a doctor-memsahib, master." + +"Boy, did you run away and leave me?" Caldwell continued, +remembering the words of the woman to the boy and making his tone as +sepulchral as possible in order to frighten the man still more. + +"I ran to get the doctor-memsahib, master," shivered out the unhappy +fellow, ignoring in his reply his later entire disappearance while +the doctor-memsahib was left for five hours to struggle alone for +Caldwell-Sahib's life. + +But Caldwell-Sahib, although suspecting the truth, was in no state +just then either by chastisement or preaching to teach the beauty of +courage and self-sacrifice. So he sank back upon his pillow and gave +himself to thought. + +During the next few days, while his strength was returning, +Caldwell-Sahib had plenty of time to think and, for the first time +in his bachelor life, his thoughts centred about a woman--for he +knew cholera and he knew that the doctor-memsahib had saved his +life. + +The boy, emboldened by feeling no symptoms of the dread disease in +his own system, gradually took up his accustomed duties and cared +for his master's wants in the quick, noiseless, and perfect way of +the well-trained Indian servant that soothes a man's soul. So for +several days with the punkah swinging over him the convalescent lay +stretched out upon his steamer chair, the very picture of comfort +and pleasant dreams. To have one's life saved by a woman and a +good-looking one, too, touches even a crusty heart. But to find that +this was the very woman whom for a whole month he had thought of +only with contempt and disgust broke clear through the crustiness of +Caldwell-Sahib's heart and added a little pleasurable anxiety to the +tenderness engendered within. + +One month before this time very suddenly the government had sent him +up to Baihar to look after some matters which would consume about a +year's time. So having taken possession of the bungalow built by the +government for such official visits and having moved up enough of +his belongings to be comfortable, Caldwell-Sahib had settled down +for a "dead" year such as so many government officials live through +in parts of India, as in duty bound. Baihar, a city of about ten +thousand inhabitants, is a purely religious city, where no business +is transacted but religious business and where no pleasures are +indulged in but those of religion; those of the Hindu religion being +so vile that "Baihar" is almost another name for Hell. Caldwell had +expected to be the only European in that whole city of blackest +Hinduism; so the prospects of a year alone in such a place had been, +indeed, anything but inviting to an Englishman who despised the +natives and who could find no pleasure in Indian life apart from the +sports of a large cantonment or the resources of a well-stocked +library. + +However, after he had been in Baihar but a few days, he had heard +that there was another European in the city, a woman, an American +missionary, who for six years had lived alone in that horrible place +in order to bring Christian, medical help to the poor women of that +city, especially to the four thousand Hindu widows devoted to temple +worship and the lusts of the priests. To say that Caldwell-Sahib had +been horrified at the thought of a lone woman in that place would +have put it too strongly, for he was simply disgusted. He said that +she must be mad, certainly far beyond the realm of sense, let alone +common sense, to have undertaken such a thing. This woman's presence +in Baihar would not make any difference with the beastly dullness of +the life ahead of him, that was certain, for he would have nothing +to do with her and he did not even want to see her; for he hated +women in general and this one must be an especially objectionable +specimen of the species. + +But now Caldwell-Sahib had seen her and she was sweet and wholesome +to look upon. Now this very woman had saved his life. If she had not +been there engaged in her foolish work, he would have died. +Therefore, he was full of regret for his former unkind thoughts and +he was, moreover, exceedingly grateful, for he put considerable +value on his life, did Caldwell-Sahib, and to be less than grateful +to her who had saved it would be to prove himself less than a man. + +During the days of convalescence the Englishman's thoughts turned +often to the probable experiences of the six years that this sweet +American woman had spent alone in this "Hell." Even his stout +English heart recoiled at the mental pictures his mind conjured up. +He could see her threading her way alone through the crowded bazaars +where vile Hindu priests, dirty shopkeepers, men red-faced with +smallpox, or hideous lepers must again and again have jostled rudely +against her. He saw her, unattended, with difficulty passing the +frenzied religious processions which accompany the silver car of the +great god as it makes its sacred rounds, or being pushed to the wall +by a surging mass of religious devotees, eager to reach the sacred +river to bathe in its holy waters. But the worst picture to him was +of the nights of those six years when unprotected she must have +crouched within her chamber in fright at the awful and unholy +confusion of night in a Hindu city. + +"My----!" He pulled himself up short. "I must not swear, for she is +a missionary, but by--by--by Oliver Cromwell, I'll save her from all +that." + +The instinct of gratitude will assert itself and it is easy for +gratitude to pass over into affection and enduring devotion. When +the rescuer is a beautiful and capable woman, who can measure the +consequences? All of Caldwell-Sahib's philosophy of life was thrown +into confusion. His complex nature would no longer run according to +his will. Staid, cold, hard, matter-of-fact Englishman though he +was, his imagination played fantastic tricks with him and so through +all these days while his body was regaining its lost strength, her +face lived in his memory and the memory gave him a warm and +comforting sensation about the heart, a sensation intensified in its +delight by the thought that she was probably thinking about him, for +so the old romance has run since the beginning of the human drama. + +As soon as Caldwell-Sahib was able to get out, he inquired his way +to her home. He had an easy time finding it, for everybody seemed to +know where she lived and every face brightened at her name. But when +he reached the compound and through the gate saw the plain but +comfortable bungalow within, his courage gave way and he turned back +home. However, he got into the habit of strolling around that way +towards nightfall and standing a few minutes at the point of the +wall nearest to what he thought her window and watching the people +who came and went from her compound; but never on these occasions +did he catch a glimpse of her. As a courageous and polite +Englishman, he should have gone in and thanked the good American +lady for having saved his life, but he had grown to feel that there +was only one way in which he wanted to thank her and he had not yet +reached the height of courage where he could tell her how she had +wrecked his philosophy of life. So he lingered around outside the +compound walls and watched the natives; "lucky beggars" he called +them to himself, as they came and went from a small, low building at +one side of the compound which he knew from appearance must be her +dispensary. Those who passed him were lame and halt and, yes, even +blind. But they were all "lucky" in his sight because they had been +in her presence and had been speaking to her. + +He overheard their remarks occasionally and now it was: "It hurt +awfully but she put her hand on my head and took all the pain away;" +or "She gave me the worst medicine to take, but since she said +'Take it!' I will;" and even the blind man said as he passed, a +strange light in his face, "She says to come to-morrow and she will +cut something in my eyes and then she thinks I shall see again. +Since she says it will be all right, I am coming back to-morrow, but +I wouldn't believe any one else." + +Caldwell-Sahib's heart ached for the sweet, clean American woman who +must touch, heal, and minister to such foul, dirty creatures. Every +night as he watched them he felt that he ought to go in and tell her +of his love and take her away from such a dreadful life at once. +Possibly she was wondering why he had not come. How cruel he was to +delay! But every night home he would go again and put off the visit, +bachelor-like, until the next day. + +However fate took a hand in the affair at last. One day a couple of +months after his illness, as Caldwell-Sahib was standing in the +narrow bazaar with, for a wonder, very few people about, he saw a +lady's topi above some sari-covered heads turn into the street at +the corner. + +Caldwell-Sahib could not conceal from himself that his heart was +beating with strangely quickened throbs. This sight of the woman who +had saved his life and for weeks had filled his thoughts now brought +to him an overwhelming consciousness that his bachelor dreams were +at an end, that his hour had come, the happiest of a man's life; for +when a man sees for the first time the light of love in the eyes of +the woman whom he loves, that is the happiest hour of life. She came +nearer. He could hear her voice, low in Hindustani, addressing a +young native girl at her side. + +For a blissful moment he watched her approach, saw the grace of her +carriage, the pretty bend of her head as she talked with the girl, +the slender, strong hands which had ministered to him and saved his +life. He saw also, in anticipation, the light in her eyes and the +blush upon her cheek when she should see him. + +He stammered a good-morning. Strange how his lips seemed to tremble! + +She glanced up. + +With unrecognizing eyes turned upon him, slightly bowing a greeting +in return, she passed on. + +As Caldwell-Sahib stared stupidly after her, he heard the girl say: +"That was the Inspector-Sahib whose life you saved when he had the +cholera," for apparently the girl was astonished at the lady's +uninterested manner in the presence of such an important official. + +Caldwell-Sahib did not hear the lady's reply, as she and the young +Hindu girl passed on. + +"Oh, is that he? I had forgotten about him. I had such a good laugh +afterwards at the surprised expression on his face when he saw me in +his house the morning he regained consciousness that I ought to have +remembered him. We must turn here, my dear, for I must get back to +my work at once." + +So the two turned down a side street which led to the doctor's +office where at least thirty dirty, but well-remembered and beloved +native patients were waiting for the tender treatments daily +administered by the missionary's skillful hands. + +The Englishman still stared. + + + + +X + +The Cost + + +Yes, that is a Bible. Oh, yes, I speak English. I've spoken it ever +since I was a young girl. Nearly every Parsi, you know, learns to +speak English as soon as possible. We admire English people in a +great many ways and try to emulate them in some things, although we +are proud enough to think that we are superior to them in some +others. + +Yes, I'm a Parsi--that is--I'm a Parsi in race but not in religion. +This Bible shows you what I am in belief. Yes, I'm a Christian, but +not one of long standing, for I was baptized only one year ago. + +You're an American, aren't you? I thought so, for in many ways you +are like my dear Miss Miller. Won't you have this pillow at your +back? Even second-class carriages are not any too comfortable. If +you will let me pull that leather bag out a little from under the +seat so that you can put your feet upon it, you will rest more +easily. A second-class carriage is a luxury for me nowadays, since I +became a Christian. I really can't afford to travel any other way +than third, but I've been a little ill the last few weeks and Miss +Miller insisted upon my coming second this time. You look so much +like Miss Miller that you must excuse me, if I have stared at you a +little impolitely since we left Grand Avenue Station. + +[Illustration: "You are an American, aren't you?"] + +Oh, an American is privileged to do that, you know, to watch us +closely, for he is here to see a new people and to find out all he +can about them. I don't mind that at all. We really expect it. We +have so many Americans in Bombay that I have got quite used to it +and don't notice it any more. At first I used to get embarrassed and +think that they were looking at me, but I soon found out that it was +only my clothes and my manners that they were interested in and that +they couldn't distinguish me from any other Parsi lady; we were only +a sort of curiosity to them. It wasn't exactly flattering to find it +out, but still it made one feel more comfortable on the streets. + +Oh, I've got quite accustomed to it now, I assure you. But you do +resemble Miss Miller, if you don't mind my saying so; only she wears +her hair quite plain and always dresses in gray. + +She is my teacher. + +Here we are at A----. I'm just selfish enough to hope that no other +lady will want to get into this compartment. Since each of us has a +whole seat to herself we can be pretty comfortable. + +There is an unusual crowd of third-class passengers to-day, though +there are always crowds here for that matter. I don't see where they +get the money for all the travelling they do. Since so many +pilgrimages are required in their religion the people seem to work +very hard for a long time and then spend every anna that they have +saved on a pilgrimage somewhere. But to-day is a special feast day +at N----. That is another reason why Miss Miller insisted upon my +coming second class this time, for the third was terribly crowded +when we came down this noon. She is so good! She left her work just +to come down and see me off, because I have been ill. + +No, thank you. I don't care for a cup of tea now, for I shall reach +my destination in time for tea. Oh, yes, the tea at these stations +is quite safe. But I would not take the milk if I were you, for Miss +Miller never does. + +Oh, yes. We stop here about ten minutes. You'll have plenty of time +to drink it and the man will come back with his tray and get your +cup before the train starts. It is two annas a cup. Don't you want a +piece of cake with it? Here, boy! + +Yes, some of the stations have very good food. + +The new passengers are nearly all located now and no one seems to +be going to get in with us. I am so glad! Now we can be nice and +comfortable. + +Yes, they do keep the plants nicely watered and well taken care of +at these stations. If they were not so dreadfully noisy and confused +at train times, they would be pretty enough places to live in. + +There goes the bell! Here comes your boy. I'll hand it to him. + +Two annas. That's right. I suppose it is hard for you to get +accustomed to our money; I believe it is quite different from yours, +is it not? + +Oh, is that some of your American money? How interesting! It is +worth about three-quarters of a rupee, you say? I am so glad to have +seen it. What do you call it? + +A quarter! See, I'll use that word in speaking to Miss Miller some +time. Won't that surprise her! She will wonder where I have learned +it. + +Now we are off and there isn't another station for half an hour at +least. Isn't that nice? Now we can rest. Wouldn't you rather lie +down? + +That is very kind of you, for I do feel just like talking this +afternoon. This little trip is a holiday for me, you see, and has +quite excited me, almost as much as it would my little girl. But I +expect that she is excited, too, this afternoon, for she knows I am +coming to see her. + +One little girl. I am a widow and have been so for several years. + +She is in school down here at A----. And since I've been ill, Miss +Miller had me come down to see her for a rest. + +Indeed, I'll be glad to tell you about myself, especially about my +becoming a Christian, if you would like to hear, for I love to tell +that story. You Christians in America are so good to send teachers +to us! + +You are not a Christian! But I thought all Americans were +Christians! + +Don't you believe in God? + +You suppose there is a God but you've never thought much about it! +How strange! Don't you believe in Christ? + +No? Why, how can that be possible when He has done so much for you +people in America and is doing so much for us here? + +Do I believe in Christ? Why, of course I do. Do you think I would be +here, a penniless woman, going to see my daughter, kept in school by +charity, if I did not believe in Jesus Christ; if I did not know Him +personally and if I had not confessed my belief before my family and +friends? + +I can't understand why you do not believe in Christ, unless--yes, it +must be so--you have been too busy to think about Him and you have +not really needed His help yet. You never have had any trouble and +felt all alone in the big world, without any one to help you, have +you? Until that time comes I suppose people are too busy having a +good time to think about religion. I have noticed that here in my +teaching among my own people, but I did not suppose it was so in +America, for I thought everybody believed there. Here I have seen +that when people are kept quiet for a time because of sickness or +sorrow, when they have time to think and when earthly friends cannot +help, then Christ most easily makes Himself known to them. I know +this is so for I have proved it myself. And I know Christ! + +Yes, it does make me very happy! + +Oh, I had forgotten this station. But we will stop here only a few +minutes and as it is a small station I don't think any one else will +get on. Here comes a gentleman to the window. + +Thank you. An orange would taste good and refresh me. Although this +is our cold season, it does get pretty warm in the middle of the +day. + +Your husband? You are taking a trip around the world for pleasure. +What interesting things you must have seen! Your husband is a +lecturer. Oh, I see, and he is taking pictures with his camera for +his lectures, I suppose. He is going to take that boy with his pan +of sweets. See? + +There is the bell! He got the picture just in time. + +Shall I go on with my story? But, please, don't let me tire you. + +No, I'll save my orange a little while for I cannot eat when I have +a chance to talk on this subject. Do you know much about the Parsis? + +Well, I'll tell you a little so that you can understand my +situation. We Parsis are Persians; but when the Mohammedans came +into our country and began to persecute us, gained political +control, and tried to make us accept their religion by force, many +of us fled to India, most of whom are now settled around Bombay. + +The women all dress about as I do with a little cotton waist, you +see, and a one-coloured sari; delicate pinks and blues are favourite +colours, edged with fancy embroidered borders, often of pure gold or +silver. We wear stockings and slippers, the latter usually more +elaborately embroidered than mine. We wear, also, this peculiar +head-binder, a white cloth drawn tightly around the head, covering +the hair under the sari. Our men invariably dress as Europeans these +days, for that dress is so convenient, but they may be recognized by +an oddly shaped cap which Miss Miller says looks as if it were made +of what you in America call black oilcloth, I think it is. Of course +the sacred emblems of Parsiism are worn under the clothing and do +not show, the shirt and the kusti. + +Our people have lived in India for many generations, but they have +kept themselves separate from the other peoples. There has been very +little intermarriage; we have kept our own religion; and we are +practically a distinct people. Of course in our religion and our +social customs we have been somewhat influenced by the Hindus and +Mohammedans among whom we have lived so long; but we differ from +them greatly. We believe in education and begin to teach our +children early in life. We believe in monogamy and a happy family +life. We are industrious, keen, and honest in business; and I am not +overstating facts when I tell you that we are the bankers and most +important business people in India. Of course we are not many in +number compared with the dense population of this great land, but we +are scattered throughout the whole of it, and hold, as a rule, the +places of greatest influence. + +Let me throw your orange peel out of this window which is already +open. You've let your husband take your satchel into his compartment +and you haven't a towel? That's too bad! I have a perfectly clean +one in my bag; won't you please use it? + +Oh, please don't mention it. I assure you it is a pleasure to me. I +suppose you are more accustomed to the first-class lavatories, but, +really, our second-class accommodations are comfortable; don't you +think so? + +No, indeed. I don't mind interruptions in my story. I'll rearrange +my bag while you are gone, for I packed in a hurry and I don't just +know where my things are. + +It is convenient to have a lavatory for every compartment. Isn't it +so in America? You don't have compartments at all! Why, how funny! I +can't imagine what your trains must be like. Miss Miller says that +she will take me to America with her some time. But I don't believe +I'd like to leave India even for a little while, interesting as +America must be. + +Yes, I'll go on with my story. Well, I was the daughter of a wealthy +Parsi in Bombay and we had a beautiful home in a part of the city +which is now not quite so pleasant, for Bombay as it has grown +towards one million in population has changed very much. I had a +governess and even at ten I began the study of English in connection +with my regular lessons and music. When I was about thirteen, my +father, who was really a little more advanced than the average +Parsi, decided to have English only spoken in our household. Knowing +the value of the language in commercial relations he considered it a +very important part of an education. + +But I must tell you about our, that is the Parsi, religion. We are +the followers of Zoroaster, you know, and we believe that God is +represented by fire. Therefore fire is sacred and in our temples a +fire is always kept burning, with an order of priesthood to care for +it. You can see how this belief might degenerate and become a +worship of fire itself, as I fear it has with many people. Even the +fires in our homes have to be cared for with ceremonies of various +kinds. We are taught that one should be faithful to his wife; that +every one should be charitable. But we do believe in demons and must +go through all sorts of rites to keep them away. You see I can't +give you more than the briefest account of our belief, for it is +more or less complicated as all beliefs are, but I wanted you to see +that in almost every way it is superior to the other religions of +India, but still lacking the vital elements of Christianity. One +strange thing about our teaching is that we are not told to try to +get converts; indeed, the Parsis do not want any new believers. +Isn't that strange? Really, I must confess that I think we are a +very self-satisfied people in every respect. + +At first we did not believe in early marriages, but in that respect +we have been gradually influenced by the Hindus. So at fourteen I +was married to the son of a rich merchant. Of course my husband was +chosen for me, but he proved to be a fine young man and we were very +happy together. Part of the wedding ceremonies took place, as our +weddings usually do, in the large public wedding hall which probably +you saw in Bombay. Really, the customs have got to be so elaborate +that a poor Parsi can hardly marry off a child without being in debt +for the rest of his life. Fortunately our family, as I have said, +did not lack for money and everything was beautiful. It was, indeed, +a very happy and joyous occasion, a prophecy of our life together. +For we were very, very happy for eight years. My husband was an +unusual young man and gave promise of surpassing his father in +business sagacity and literary ability. Our little girl came after +two years of marriage and she was dearly beloved by him, although, +of course, he would have liked a son. We were happy, oh, so happy! +After he died it used to hurt me so to think about it that for two +years I never spoke of my married life to any one, but since I have +found Jesus, I love to think about it and speak of it. + +But one day our joy was turned to sadness and our gladness to grief, +for my husband was smitten with enteric fever. You know how +prevalent that is here in India and how often fatal. He had been +overworking at his office and in the study. Our family was too +enlightened to believe that the illness was caused by demons, as +most of our people do, and he was not neglected as most of our sick +people are, but he had the best of English medical attention and the +most tender nursing from us. He was young and strong and we fought +hard, but after six weeks of deepest anxiety and all the devotion I +could lavish upon him, I saw him sink away and leave me. + +They took me from him while they prepared him for our peculiar +funeral rites and while I myself had to go through certain +ceremonies of purification. You have been to the Towers of Silence +in Bombay? No? But you are going back next week. Well, when you +stand upon the terrace and look across to those great towers, black +around the tops with ugly vultures, think of me as on that day three +years ago I stood and watched.--Please excuse my tears, but I don't +usually tell this part of my story; it is too sacred; but I don't +think you could understand the rest without knowing these customs of +ours. You know that the elements, earth, air, fire, and water, are +sacred in the sight of the Parsis and cannot be defiled by the dead; +therefore we cannot bury our dead; we cannot burn them; nor can we +throw their corpses into the river to be carried away by its +current. So our ancestors devised the plan which we now use. Our +dead are exposed upon high towers and vultures are allowed to tear +away the flesh, leaving the bones to crumble. So we Parsis in Bombay +have, upon a hill overlooking the harbour, really the most beautiful +spot in the city, a park in which at the top of the hill are located +five white towers between twenty-five and fifty feet high. The park +is well cared for and contains a shrine where fire is always +burning. A high terrace looks out towards the towers, about five +hundred feet away, which are never approached except by the officers +of the dead. + +Yes, visitors are admitted to the garden by permit before nine in +the morning. After that time the grounds are kept clear for funerals +and mourners who come to pray for the dead. + +I need not tell you of the long, sorrowful approach to the gardens +on that day three years ago, or how, standing upon the terrace, I +saw that dear body borne to the tower to become the prey of the ugly +birds swarming about the gardens. I need not tell you either of my +loneliness in our home or of my return to my father's house with +only one desire in life, to bring up my child so that she should be +an honour to her father. + +For a year my life was very bare and my heart very heavy. I had +plenty of money; I wanted for nothing; I was tenderly cared for by +my family, for, you know, the Parsis do not treat their widows after +the customs of the Hindus; but nothing seemed to make me even one +tiny bit happier. Then one day a white lady called at our home. She +was very pleasant and kind. She showed us a book of a new religion +which she wanted us to read and she offered to come and read it with +us every day; but my mother did not care to hear about any other +religion than our own. Then the lady showed us some beautiful +embroidery which we did not know how to do. When my mother expressed +a wish to learn the new work, the lady offered to teach her if she +might also read from the Bible at every lesson. I, too, liked to +keep my fingers busy and when my mother, who excelled at needlework, +could not resist the temptation and consented to let Miss Miller +come, for it was indeed she, I was glad. + +Once a week she came and for an hour at a time taught us various +kinds of stitches and read and explained the Bible to us. My mother, +after a short time, became ill and could not attend the lessons, but +as I seemed to enjoy them and my mind was somewhat diverted by them +from my sorrow, she still continued to allow Miss Miller to come. So +I, who had become very much interested in the Bible, much more so +than in the sewing, used to let my embroidery lie untouched while +sometimes we would talk for a couple of hours of this Christ +religion. What a beautiful religion it seemed to me! What a +comforting religion! I would have something to live for and +something to work for if I were a Christian. I thought of my +husband's death with less bitterness, for this religion taught that +I would surely see him again if I did God's will. Finally one day, +one year ago, Christ spoke to my heart. I believed. I knew that +Christ not only had lived but that He still lives. I cried for joy, +but Miss Miller thought it was with grief and started to console me. +But when I looked up with a shining face, her face shone too. + +"You have found Jesus!" she said. + +I answered eagerly, "I have." + +And right there in my own chamber where she had been coming since my +mother's illness, we knelt and prayed. + +When we arose, I said, "I want to be baptized and become a +Christian." + +"You are a Christian now, my dear," she said. + +"But I want the world to know it," I affirmed. + +"That is right and brave," she answered, "but you must count the +cost first." + +Then she sat down beside me and gently told me what I would have to +bear if I publicly took the name of Christ. She said that there were +not more than twenty-five Parsi Christians in the whole world. She +said that probably I would be turned out of my home, that my +relatives would count me as dead, that all my wealth would be taken +from me and that I would not have one anna for myself or my child. + +"Think of your child! Think of yourself! I cannot urge you to do it. +You must decide for yourself." + +I answered quickly, "I have thought of myself. I have thought of my +child. She must be a Christian and be brought up as such. Miss +Miller, I have decided for myself. Jesus will take care of us. I +know it in my heart for He tells me so." + +So I made my decision and she said no more, but I knew she was +pleased by the smile that she gave me. I would not wait for one +instant lest influences might be brought to bear which I could not +resist and I might be prevented from declaring my desire and +fulfilling it. I took Miss Miller's hand and we went at once to my +mother's room. She was not dangerously ill. When she heard my +determination to become a Christian, she sent for my father from his +study. Together they listened as I told all again. + +"Is that decision final, my daughter?" asked my father at last, a +man always of few words. + +"It is," I answered with a heart yearning towards them but firm. + +"Then you must go from our home, from our family. You and yours can +no longer be a part of us in any way. You will receive nothing from +us for your support.--You are dead to us.--If you repent of this +folly," he added, turning back from the door towards which he had +started with bowed head, "communicate with me and half of my fortune +will be yours. But if you persist in this strange conduct," his +voice grew very stern, "in ten minutes you and yours must be gone +from this house." + +I tried to kiss my mother good-bye but her face was turned from me +towards the wall. + +I returned to my apartment, took my child, my belongings and a few +relics of my husband and our happy life together and within ten +minutes I had left my home, perhaps forever,--but I don't think so. +I believe that some day God will send me back to them at their own +request; for they will yet believe as I do, I feel assured. + +Miss Miller took me to her own home and trained me. I have been a +Bible woman for six months now and Christians in America pay my +salary. By a scholarship they also help me support and educate my +daughter in a Christian school. + +Am I not sorry? Look at me! I used to ride always in the first-class +carriage; my saris were of silk and my borders embroidered with +gold; but there was sorrow in my heart. Now, I may sit on a hard +bench, crowded by dirty Hindus and my clothes may be of the cheapest +cotton, but I am happy, for Christ has put joy into my life and into +the life to come. He has also given me something important to do for +Him. The lives of most of our Indian women are so empty! In the +first-class carriage I used to have few fellow travellers; now in +the third I have many, sad, needy women to whom I can tell the great +story of which my own story is only a dim reflection. And to some of +these women in the last six months God has given me the joy of +revealing His love through Jesus Christ. + +Well, if here isn't our station! Hasn't the time flown! + +I hope I haven't wearied you. + +Thank you very much! Kind words stay in one's memory such a long +time and come back to strengthen in lonely or hard hours. I am so +glad that you enjoyed my story. Won't you take time to think a +little about Jesus yourself? I don't understand how an American +woman, with all God has given her, can say that she does not believe +in Him and love Him and His Son! + +There is my little girl and here is your husband! Good-bye! + +Oh, you are going to get off here too! Will I come up to the hotel +some time and see you? Indeed, I shall be delighted to! And will I +bring my little girl? How happy she will be to come! You must excuse +my excitement for I haven't seen her for two months, you know. +There, she sees me! How well and happy she looks! Will I bring my +Bible with me when I come? Yes, dear lady, most gladly will I. Here, +dear, this way! Good-bye! Good-bye! + + + + +XI + +Among the Clouds + + +The conversation had drifted by mysterious and unexplained +associations of ideas from the unusual excellence of the sweets +served at the end of dinner upon this line of steamers, to the most +grewsome tales of adventure which the narrators themselves had +experienced. Gladys, who by the most special of special permissions +and the kind favour of the captain, because she was an only child, +well behaved at table, and--because it was off season--had been +permitted to take Sunday dinner with her parents, sat beside the +captain in the gorgeous first cabin saloon with round eyes fixed +upon the story-tellers. + +There was present at dinner the usual shipboard mixture of society: +at the captain's right, a man whose extensive business interests +called him often into these waters; next, a gentleman and his wife, +travelling for their united healths; third, a government official +returning to India after a brief holiday; on the opposite side, two +globe-trotters, an American lady from Southern India, Gladys' +father, and finally Gladys herself. The chair between the little +girl and her father was vacant, for Gladys' mother, who had been at +dinner, feeling the slight roll of the boat, had retired early to +her cabin, leaving the child to the father's care. + +If her mother had been there Gladys would not have been permitted to +listen to the stories which had been told and enjoy the delicious +sensations of fear which she had experienced as she had heard the +accounts of awful dangers and marvellous escapes. The merchant had +obliged this little dinner company to spend five days with him +without food on a desert island and, after a thrilling rescue, had +made them watch him fall seventy feet from the masthead of a ship to +become the ship-surgeon's pet patient with twenty bones to set. +Gladys had felt herself wasting away with starvation as he had told +of his sufferings and, when he had cheerfully reached his second +story, she could hear her own bones grate as if broken asunder, as +she moved her legs under the table. + +Soon it came the turn of the lady from Southern India to tell a +story. + +"Well, I have had one thrilling experience which I don't mind +telling you, if my courage will support me through the recital," she +said. + +Gladys listened with all her ears, for the lady from Southern India +had become her best friend on shipboard. She did not want to miss a +single word. + +"You know that I have been a resident of Southern India for many +years," the lady began. "I could tell many dreadful stories of +pestilence and disaster in that region, but the most awful +experience that I have ever had myself took place in Northern India, +in Darjeeling. Of course you all know Darjeeling." + +But in spite of her own assurance that they did, the lady did not +seem to be able to resist, as no one who loves the Himalayas can, +telling again of that city among the clouds, seven thousand feet +above the sea, looking directly across the depths to where, when the +sun permits, shine forth the snowy peaks of Kinchenjunga. The little +city on the sheer mountainside is to the world only another proof of +the audacity of man who dares to invade regions so exalted and, in +the hope of drenching his lungs, parched by the heat of the Indian +plains, with the cool air from the never-melting snows of the +mountain peaks, dares to build his summer cottage on the overhanging +rock and trust to Providence that it will not tumble headlong into +the clouds below or, rained on from the clouds above, be carried +down the mountainside and buried in unknown depths by the debris of +an ever-possible landslip. Clinging to the edges of the crest of +this mountain height or perched upon the very crest itself, the +summer homes of the "sahibs" peer out through their enclosures of +shrubbery and trees to the snow-capped heights where even their +masters dare not venture, but from looking upon which these men gain +courage to go down again to the plains to take up their heavy tasks, +"the white man's burden." + +In her ardour the lady from Southern India described even the ascent +of the foot-hills to this resort among the mountains: the wide views +appearing first on one side, then on the other, as the little train +winds its way up the mountainside, sometimes making complete circles +to reach the higher grades and at other times shunting backwards to +save a long detour. The tea-gardens on the hillsides, the luxuriance +of the vegetation in the wooded glens, the waterfalls, the odd +little native villages along the road, descriptions of all these the +table company listened to with pleasure, for they deserved +attention, coming from the lips of one who was very familiar with +the scenes of which she spoke and who loved them. Even Gladys, who +was afraid of mountains, because "they look so big and black," +wished she might have been there by the time the lady had reached +the beginning of her story. + +"It was on my first visit to Darjeeling, when I knew nothing of the +place or the hill people, that I had the experience I am going to +tell you about," the lady continued. "I had often heard before I +started on the journey, and again on the way up, and yet again as +soon as I reached the city itself, that there was one trip which +every visitor must take in order to see the full glory of the +Himalayas and to get a peep at Mt. Everest, the highest mountain in +the world. As my stay there with an old college friend was to be +brief, since Darjeeling is a long way from Madras and vacation days +do not last forever, it was to my dismay that I found my hostess too +ill to accompany me on any excursion. She could only plan my visit +and direct her servants to carry out her plans. + +"As clouds and mists are apt to hide the mountains and no one can +tell when the 'sublime' heights will be visible, it is wise to take +the trip I had heard so much about as soon as possible and to repeat +it until one gets a clear view. Therefore I felt that I must take +the first opportunity and, although I could find no one to accompany +me, I decided that I must go the very next morning after my arrival, +even alone. The plan of the trip was this: to leave at 3:30 A. M. +and in a dandy, a sort of chair borne by four hillmen, to be carried +five miles to Tiger Hill, one thousand feet higher than Darjeeling; +to reach there just as the sun should rise and throw its morning +splendours upon Mt. Everest. It was decided that I should take an +alarm clock to my room and, arising at 3 A. M., be ready in all the +heavy clothing I could assemble for my before-sunrise excursion. The +dandy and dandywalas were ordered and a light lunch was set ready to +serve as my chota hazri. + +"It had not occurred to me that it would be a trying excursion as +well as an early one until at 3:30 the next morning, lighted by my +bedroom lamp as far as the outside door, I opened it and saw in the +dimness of the light four figures emerge from the darkness beyond +and stand about some object on the ground which I supposed must be +the dandy. There was no one to say good-bye to me or give me a last +word of counsel or warning. I put out the light, closed the door +behind me, and took a few steps in the direction where I thought the +dandy was. Then I stopped, for accustomed to speak to the natives in +their own tongue, it had not occurred to me until that moment that +these hill people spoke a different language from the one I was +familiar with and so I could not hope to make them understand a +word. I remembered, too, that they were of Mongolian descent, very +different from the Indian people whom I knew. What were their +characteristics? They might be treacherous and prone to rob for all +I knew. But after a moment's hesitation I made up my mind that all +these thoughts were foolish, for certainly my friend would not have +planned this trip for me if she had not considered it perfectly +safe. I saw that I must go on or that I should never hear the last +of my cowardice from my co-workers in India who are very fond of a +good joke on any of their fellows. + +"My eyes had become more accustomed to the darkness while I had been +cogitating thus, and so, taking my rugs and my life, as it seemed to +me, in my hands, I stepped resolutely towards the dandy which was +placed ready for me. I spread out one rug carefully and arranged my +pillows upon it for comfort, just as calmly as if I had made the +trip often. Then I sat down and pulled the other rug over me. When I +appeared to be all ready, the four men, just black shapes in the +darkness, with a queer united grunt, took hold of the chair poles, +two in front and two behind, and, lifting the dandy to their +shoulders, started at a slow pace up the hill behind the house. + +"I was pretty high up in the world it seemed to me and as they were +carrying me up backwards I had a view before me of all the +mountainside that was visible in the starlight, for the stars were +very bright overhead, and the street lights of the city twinkled +here and there below. I tried to forget that my destination was five +miles away and that the paths might lead through lonely solitudes. +I tried to concentrate my thoughts upon the scene before me, the +city, as it were, beside the sea; for so the clouds looked in the +dimness with the lighted streets resembling long piers running out +into the cloud sea. Near by an occasional house loomed up darkly in +the shadows, and the overhanging trees from the slope above looked +like impenetrable forests in the darkness. Far to the left a dim +light, I felt sure, marked the spot where a terrible landslip had +occurred but shortly before and several English people had lost +their lives. I had been anxious to visit the spot since reading an +account of the disaster, but somehow in the darkness, even at that +distance, although I could not see the place, a sort of horror of it +took possession of me and I seemed to see the white faces upturned +towards the sky as they were being carried down the mountainside by +the relentless torrent of rocks and earth. Just then I heard a noise +as of a person moving stealthily along the narrow roadway and I +positively shook with fear; but a nearer approach revealed to me +that it was only a night watchman aroused by our passing. The gleam +of a policeman's badge in these mountain wilds relieved my anxiety +for a moment and made me ashamed of my fears. + +"I tried to forget my foolish thoughts and to feel soothed by the +gentle motion of the dandy as the men swung up the hillside by a +circuitous roadway. I tried not to remember what strange, stolid +faces the hillmen had had whom I had seen at the station the day +before. I tried not to see as we passed under a street lamp, +outlined under the coat of the right hand man in front of me what +certainly looked like a revolver. I tried, as I looked up at the +tall trees almost meeting over my head, to imagine how beautiful +this road would appear by daylight. Once one of the front bearers +missed his footing by stepping into an unexpected hole near the edge +of the road. That gave me a shock; but the physical shock was not so +great as the mental one I received when, as he recovered himself, I +thought I saw a knife at his belt. + +"Soon, at a low call from one of them, the four men fell into a trot +and I found myself being borne, none too smoothly, along a bit of +down grade. In a moment the grade became still steeper and, +apparently at another signal, I was whirled about in my chair and +carried face forwards. As they toiled up another slope and we +appeared to have passed out of the city, they began a weird +antiphonal; the men in front would chant a few words and the men +behind would finish the phrase. Over and over it sounded--the same +tones. It seemed to me that the first two were saying, 'Kill her +now. Kill her now!' and the others were answering, 'It is not time +yet. It is not time yet!' + +"On we went with the stars watching overhead but clearly at such a +distance that their presence gave me but little comfort. 'Of course +these men are not saying such awful things,' I tried to reassure +myself. + +"My teeth were chattering both with fear and cold, for it was cold +at four o'clock in the morning seven thousand feet above the sea. +Suddenly the thought came to me to bribe these men with money, but +my shaking fingers discovered that I had left my purse at home. So I +could do nothing but just wait and let them take their will. + +"On we went, up and up, away from the city, farther and farther +away, at the same swinging pace and to the same accompaniment of +murderous refrain. Before long I could see that we were approaching +a fog and very soon we were in it. At another time I should have +rejoiced at the experience of passing through a cloud on the +mountainside, but now my only joy was in a light that shone through +it. It might be a street light and we might be coming to a village! +We were; but so small was the village and so quickly did we pass +through it that I had no time to think of getting help there. And to +cheer me on my way, from the last dark house I heard the wail of a +suffering child. + +"We were soon again in the deep woods and we must have been about an +hour from our starting point--it had seemed a century to me and I +knew that my hair had whitened with the passing of those years--when +we came to a spot where the road broadened. There, in silence, the +men set my chair down and withdrew to one side of the road. I could +see their figures close together and I could hear their voices as if +in discussion. I knew very well that my time had come. Oh, why had I +ventured alone on this journey, just for pleasure! What would become +of my work and my dear people in Madras, if these men murdered me, +as they surely would when they found I had no money at all! + +"I thought of running off into the dark woods, but how could I hope +for safety there where the wild beasts preyed? I thought of shouting +in the hope that my voice might reach the village which we had +passed, but before help could come from there I knew that I would +surely be dead. So I did nothing. My eyes remained fixed upon the +men and, although I thought it would be pleasanter not to see death +coming, I could not turn away. I could see the men motioning with +their arms. One man who was walking up and down behind the others, +stopped once or twice and pointed towards me. I sat frozen, but not +with the cold. + +"At last this man stepped out from behind the others and came +towards me. He came straight to the side of the dandy and, raising +his hands to my throat---- Why, look at that poor child!" + +At that exclamation the company turned towards Gladys whose eyes +were fairly popping out with terror. + +"Gladys! Dear child! I should not have told such a thing when you +were here to frighten you so. How wrong of me! Mr. Bixby, you should +not have allowed the child to hear all this nonsense." + +The good lady from Southern India was out of her chair with the +little girl in her arms by this time. + +"What--what did the man do?" sobbed the child. + +"Why, dearest, he did nothing but pull my steamer rug up around my +neck and tuck me in nice and warm. They were good, harmless men and +had only stopped to rest after their long climb. I was a foolish, +easily frightened woman. And do you know, dear, the song they had +been singing? I found out afterwards that it was simply this, +variations of which they chant to every passenger: 'Such a big lady! +Such a big lady!' the first two sang and the answer from the other +two was, 'Such a big present! Such a big present!' + +"And I did give them a good big present when I got safely home, you +may be sure, because I was so greatly pleased to find all my trouble +had been in my own mind, as almost all of my troubles have always +been. + +"Now, for bed, little girl, and I'll tell you a really nice story to +go to sleep on." + +And the lady from Southern India bore Gladys away to her stateroom +before the rest of the company had time to make any comments upon +her narration. + + + + +XII + +The Infidel + + +"Night is coming! The wildness of desolation will soon be upon us! +Oh, Allah, Allah, hear the cry of the faithful!" + +The old man, in Arab dress, arose unsteadily from his knees, stuck +his feet into his heelless slippers, and stood with scraggy, gray +head bowed upon his hands. + +"It is not the hour for prayer. Why do I thus involuntarily fall +upon my knees and call upon the sacred name of Allah? What nameless +fear is this which has clutched at my heart all this day and finally +brought me to my knees in the guest room of a stranger to whose home +I have come on a message for the Faith? + +"I cannot explain it," he continued in a quavering voice as he +straightened himself up and began to walk back and forth in the +narrow guest room. "Something terrible will soon come to pass. I +know it! I feel it! But I am bound. If I could but leave this city +to-night and start back to my home, I feel that I would be safe. But +I am bound! By the law of the Prophet I am bound and I cannot go." + +[Illustration: "Oh, Allah, Allah, hear the cry of the faithful!"] + +"Night is coming! The wildness of desolation will soon be upon us!" +he repeated over and over again as he walked back and forth from the +edge of the court to the plastered wall, back and forth. + +The old man's voice had sunk to a murmur but he was still repeating +the same words and walking restlessly to and fro when a noise beyond +the door across the narrow, stone-paved court attracted his +attention and he sank down upon the reception cushions on the floor +in the conventional attitude of the Arab guest. A sackcloth curtain +was lifted at the doorway across the court and a man entered, a +native of India, with the clear-cut features of the Aryan, but the +heavy black beard and rich robes of a prosperous Mohammedan. Every +step as he crossed the court betrayed the pride and dignity of this +follower of the Prophet. On his head was the green turban marking +the successful, faithful pilgrim to Mecca. + +The old man arose to prostrate himself before his host, as with "The +peace of Allah be thine!" upon his lips the younger man stepped up +from the court into the open guest room and came towards him. But +although his lips murmured the conventional words of greeting, the +old man's eyes did not seem to be looking at his host but out +across the court as if he saw something startling there and his +figure seemed to be all a-tremble. It was only after the host had +politely urged him to resume his seat upon the cushions and had +himself sat down, that the old man seemed to recover himself. +Without accepting the proffered seat, however, he spoke. + +"Ben Emeal, I come to thee as a messenger of the Prophet." + +"And as a messenger of the Prophet thou art most welcome, oh, +brother, whose name has not been revealed to me," quickly responded +the other, rising as he saw that the guest would not be seated. + +"My name does not matter, oh, faithful Believer, so long as I come +on the business of the Faith. Ben Emeal, I have something to tell +thee which I know will fill thee with amaze and thy heart with anger +and thy mind with plans of cunning." As the old man talked his fear +seemed to leave him and he became the proud, fearless messenger of +the Faith. + +"Ben Emeal, I have come, I have come all the way from the land of +the Holy Prophet himself, to warn thee that the infidel is rife in +the land, that the infidel has entered the very strongholds of the +Deccan, that the infidel"--the old man stepped nearer and fairly +hissed into the face of the other, "approaches--thee!" + +The old man drew himself erect and looked with the proud superiority +of wisdom upon the other who was gazing back in evident +bewilderment. + +"Brother, what meanest thou?" the host asked. "I am faithful, as +thou must know. No man in this great city has been more faithful +than I and I hate the infidel with the hatred of the Prophet!" At +the word "hate," Ben Emeal's strong hand had dropped to the sword +hilt at his side. + +The old man again brought his face close to the other's and the +words came whistling from his toothless mouth. "Yes, thou, oh, Ben +Emeal, art faithful, but watch thou thy household! Watch thou thy +household! Watch! I shall be at the crossing of the Sidar Ways; for +three days only I shall be there. Watch and come to me for help. I +have delivered my message; now I go!" + +As the last words fell from his lips and he turned towards the +courtyard, all the proud fearlessness left his face; the expression +as of one doomed returned; and with his hands raised above his head, +the old man staggered from the court, crying, "Night is coming! The +wildness of desolation is upon us! Oh, Allah, Allah, hear the cry of +the faithful!" + +The younger man, left alone, sank upon the cushions of the guest +room and seemed lost in thought. What meant this strange warning? +His women were faithful, Ben Emeal knew, for they had not the +brains nor the courage nor, indeed, the opportunity to listen to the +preaching of any faith but that of their master and lord. His +servants--they really mattered not to him--but he knew that they +were faithful, too, as he had but recently taken them to account on +the subject as a true follower of the Prophet should. His +children----? They were too young, all--but---- He did not even +repeat the name to himself, for from the first word of accusation +his mind had guessed the one involved, but his heart had sturdily +driven his mind to seek in every other direction before it should +turn to the one being in all the world whom Ben Emeal loved, but no +less the one being in all his household who, he knew, would dare to +question or oppose the established order of things. This was a +serious charge and no one realized the seriousness of it, coming +from one of the wise men of the Faith, more than did Ben Emeal; yet +his love for his only son and his confidence in his own ability to +deal with such a subject in connection with that son, led him to +have little anxiety, in spite of the warning. + +It was not possible that Ahmed could have met the infidel! Where +could he even have heard of anything different from the doctrine of +his father's Faith? It was absurd! Of late Ben Emeal had noticed a +tendency in his son to question him upon subjects of life and +religion; and, too, he had seen the boy several times sitting quiet +as if in deep thought, an unusual attitude for a healthy, hearty +youth; but he had supposed these things only the passing freaks of +young manhood. For some time past Ahmed had sought to avoid marriage +and he had never seemed to care for the pleasures of the harem; +these things, too, were unusual, but Ben Emeal recognized in his +idolized son the beginnings of an unusual man and was proud of him +accordingly. + +A merry voice just beyond the purdah suddenly interrupted the +father's thoughts and the curtain was lifted to admit a young man +about eighteen years of age, of striking build and comeliness. With +a gay and winning greeting the young fellow dropped upon the +cushions beside the older man and soon Ben Emeal had forgotten his +doubts in a lively discussion of the approaching durbar and the +ceremonies attendant upon that function. + +But, after a pleasant hour together, just as they were about to +separate for a brief siesta, Ahmed turned to his father with a +slight frown and said: + +"Just before I came in this afternoon I met out here in the street +before our house the strangest old man! He wore that dress that you +call Arabian, I think, and he had on the green of our Prophet's +kin, but he was staggering along the street muttering, 'The night is +coming! Desolation is coming upon us!' or something like that. I +went up to him to see if I could help him, and, also, to see if a +kin of our Prophet could really have been drinking of the accursed +cup; but I found no signs of intoxication about him, only signs of +intense fear as he cowered against the wall, repeating his cry of +desolation. Adjed, the silversmith, came up just then and took him +in charge or I should have found out more about him. Strange, wasn't +it? It really gave me an uncanny feeling as if it were a premonition +of some danger," and the young man shook himself as if to shake off +a lingering feeling of fear. + +Ben Emeal's face, as his son spoke, resumed the troubled expression +which had been driven away by Ahmed's former lively conversation and +he said to the lad very solemnly as they both rose and he put a hand +on the youth's shoulder: + +"My son, you never forget, do you, that first of all in this world +you are a follower of the true Prophet and that your first business +in life is to convert or destroy the infidel?" + +The son did not reply except with another question. "Father, can I +not go to the university at Aligarh to learn more of our Faith?" + +"I will see; I will see, my son," replied the father genially and +his face cleared as if the question had put his fears at rest. + +"I will see, my son," he said again as he turned to the door leading +to his own apartment where he would take a few pulls at the hookah +before he should give himself up to his afternoon rest. + +Ahmed went to his mother's chamber where with his head upon her +knee, her proud eyes gazing down upon the handsome face of her son, +the dearest possession of an Indian woman's life, and her loving +fingers smoothing his rich, dark hair back from his brow, he fell +very soon into the refreshing sleep of youth. + + * * * * * + +When Ahmed awoke from his restful sleep, he found his mother still +supporting his head and still gazing fondly down into his face. For +a few moments he lay, returning her smiles. Suddenly his face +clouded. + +"Mother, why is it that you can never leave this house, this +walled-in courtyard; why is it that you cannot ride out with me in +the open and look upon the trees and the grass and the blue sky? It +does not seem right that I should be allowed to look upon all these +things and you not." + +"Hush, my son!" answered his mother. "It is the law of the Prophet. +What he commands must be right. But, see, there is the blue sky, and +here are my green tree and my grass and sometimes I even may ride +out in an ekka and peep through the curtains, and once, my son, many +years ago, I rode on a railway train and saw through the shutters +miles and miles of green grass and flowers and so many, many +beautiful things that I shall always be happy because of that +sight." + +Ahmed looked from the beautiful but sad face of his mother up at the +patch of sky bounded by the four gray, brick walls; he looked at the +lone, gray-green tree trying to grow in a foot or two of garden in +the middle of the paved courtyard, and at the grass, already giving +up its struggle for life, about its roots, and his heart ached for +this lonely woman. For he knew that although she was his father's +only wife at present, because she had borne him, Ahmed, to Ben +Emeal, he knew that she saw little of his father, for there were +many concubines in the home who not only usurped her place in her +husband's life but who, also, in many, many ways made her life far +from happy in the home. He knew that really he himself was her only +joy and comfort and he rebelled. Ahmed had been taught that a woman +has no soul. Did he doubt the words of his teachers as he gazed into +his mother's eyes? + +"Mother, why are you called 'Ahmed's mother' instead of your own +name when the people of the household speak to you? Why are you so +'blest in' me as they say?" + +"Because, my son--surely you must know by this time that a woman is +no better than a beast; 'a cow' the Prophet calls her; and that she +can only enjoy life through the son that she bears. Ah, how rich I +am in you! But suppose you had not come to me, Ahmed, my son!" and +her face became drawn with the thought. "Suppose I had been as my +sister who has no son!" + +The youth could not bear to add to his mother's unhappiness by +having her dwell upon such thoughts and so he playfully pulled down +her face and kissed her and teased her to show him the wedding +garments which she was embroidering for him. + +"When is it to be?" he asked. + +"After the month of fasting, my son." + +"Is she beautiful?" + +"I know not, my son. But surely she must be for such a handsome man +as thou art." + +"Dost thou want me to have a wife, mother?" + +The mother's face was crossed with a spasm of pain at the question, +for when his wedding came, she felt that she would have lost her +son, her only joy in life. She knew that she had such a son as few +mothers in all India and she knew that their loving relationship and +companionship was very unusual. But he must marry and as a woman she +must not show grief; in fact, being a woman, she had no grief. So +she mastered her pain in a second and replied, but not so quickly +that it deceived Ahmed: + +"Yes, my son, as every true follower of the Prophet must, so must +thou marry and beget sons. But thou canst still love thy mother a +little," she added shyly. + +"That I will," affirmed the son blithely. "But," he went on crossly, +"I don't want to marry and be bothered with a wife. Mother, I'll +tell you what I really want to do. I want to go to our university at +Aligarh where I can learn all about our Faith and about everything +else, mother. I want to be a great man." + +"Not a great man, my son, but a great follower of the Prophet! Why, +the sky has clouded and there comes some rain!" + +"Oh, ho! I must get me up and away, for I promised a friend I would +come and read with him for a time." + +"Is it The Book, my son?" + +"No, mother, it is something new which some one gave him one time on +the train. We have been reading it together for months now. It is +very beautiful, all about Jesus who is coming at the end of the +world, you know." + +"Yes, I know, my son, for I have read The Book----" + +"It is strange, mother, that you can read, for Elid's mother cannot, +nor can any woman in Ajar's household, he says, nor can any other +woman in this," interrupted the son. "And besides, mother, the other +young men I know never seem to spend any time with their mothers at +all or talk to them or even love them, it seems to me." + +"Yes, my son, it is strange, for ours is not the ordinary life, nor +has my lot been the ordinary lot of woman here. My father taught me +to read when I was a little child, for he became blind and then I +could read to him, for I was quicker and more willing to do it than +the boys. My father was a great scholar and I know The Book by +heart, but little joy has come to me since my marriage for my +knowledge," she sighed. "Your father respects me no more than he +does his latest concubine. I have respect here only because of you, +my son," and her eyes feasted upon his fair countenance. "Go now, my +son, to thy friend, but beware of new things, for what is new often +offends the Faith." With these words she left Ahmed as he lifted the +purdah, having followed him as far as her woman's feet were +permitted to go. + +But Ahmed trod on through the narrow streets, although the rain was +pouring, for he did not want to miss the reading which was giving +him such a different outlook upon life. Why, really, it was a +"blasphemous thought," but this new book seemed to him to be greater +than the Koran. It had given him such a new vision. Never had he +thought much about his mother's life and position before reading +this book, but now his mind was quickened to understand her +condition. This book said, "Honour thy father and thy mother," and +it did not seem to exclude woman from any joys, even those of +Paradise. He was so eager to know more, especially since the +conversation with his mother that afternoon, that he wondered if his +friend would let him take the book home with him to study by +himself. + +As Ahmed went on in the rain his thoughts turned from the new book +to a man whom he had met several times the past year outside the +walls of Hyderabad on the big bridge. The man's peculiar bearing of +kindness towards any one in trouble and his happy face had attracted +the youth. They had talked together once or twice and the man whom +Ahmed supposed to be a Hindu had told him that he was a Hindu no +longer, but a follower of the "Jesus Doctrine." The boy had +wondered what it could mean, for never had he been so drawn to a +stranger as he had to that man whose whole thought had seemed to be +how he could help some one else. One day Ahmed saw this man actually +help a woman place her water jar on her head and a moment later get +down in the dust of the road and help a coolie pile up again a mass +of fuel dung-cakes which had been knocked over by a passing cart; +and yet this man was a scholar, as Ahmed knew by his conversation, +and no outcast. The boy wondered as he thought it over now if the +new book which he had been reading could have any connection with +what this man had called the "Jesus Doctrine." The more he thought +about it the more it seemed to him that that man's actions had been +the carrying out of the precepts of the new book. + +Ahmed had not paid much heed to his steps as he had splashed along +in the rain, trying as far as possible to keep under the protection +of the buildings from the rain which seemed to be coming in torrents +from the south. He was wrapped in his thoughts. + +But suddenly his steps were stayed, for he heard a weird, awful cry, +and in a corner of the porch of the house that he was passing he saw +a figure on its knees in prayer. The attitude was conventional and +in no way terrifying, but the words and voice had startled him. + +"Night is coming! The wildness of desolation will soon be upon us! +Oh, Allah, Allah, hear the cry of the faithful!" + +The voice was that of one whose soul was in mortal agony, and as +Ahmed stooped to look more closely, he recognized the old man whose +voice he had heard a few hours before in front of his own door. He +recognized, too, that the place where he was standing was the +crossing of the Sidar Ways, a place a long distance from the road he +had thought he was taking. + +He wondered what could have alarmed the old man, but, really +frightened at the repetition of the awful words and the tone of the +agonized voice, the young fellow did not go to the man's side, but +hastened to find a return way to his friend's, whose home he had +missed in the rain and the preoccupation of his thoughts. As he +turned, for the first time he noticed that another man was standing +close behind him. In the semi-darkness, he did not recognize him, +but gave him the greeting of the Faith and hurried on. As he reached +his friend's door, it gave the boy a queer, uncomfortable feeling to +perceive that this same man was still behind him. + +An hour or so later Ahmed emerged from the house with the precious +book concealed in his clothing, for his friend had warned him that +he feared that a good Mohammedan would not read it and that he +believed that it was the book of another faith. As such his friend +had decided that he would read it no more. But Ahmed had said that +it mattered not to him what faith it was, he thought it beautiful +and he wanted to read it still more. So instead of permitting his +friend to burn it as he had wanted to do, Ahmed had insisted upon +taking it to his home for further study. + +He did not notice as he left Elid's house that a man slipped out +from the shadows and followed him to his own door. Nor did he know +that this man turned as soon as he had entered the house and made +haste back to the crossing of the Sidar Ways where he aroused the +strange old man from his paroxysm of fear and talked earnestly with +him for some time. + +Within his mother's room by the light of the oil lamp Ahmed read and +read, while his mother watched him and sewed on the wedding +garments. Too engrossed to read aloud or even talk about what he was +reading, he read on and on. Long after his mother had given up her +vain efforts to get him to go to rest and had rolled herself in her +blanket, he still bent over the book. He read until sleep finally +blurred his mind and closed his eyes and the lamp burned out at his +side. + +But Ahmed had noticed before he slept a name on the first page of +the book, "Mission Press, Bangalore, India." It must be that those +people could explain to him what this book meant. If he could only +go to them! Never had words written or spoken stirred his heart as +it had been stirred by this book. It must be of Allah and yet in all +he had read he had found no mention of the Prophet. Since Elid's +warning Ahmed seemed to feel that perhaps in reading this book and +thinking these thoughts he was betraying the Faith, and yet, if all +this he had been reading were true, it was better than the Faith and +he could no longer believe as he had before. + +Could he in any way get to that "Mission Press" in Bangalore? Ahmed +had never been but a few miles from Hyderabad; indeed, that was one +reason why he had wanted to go to the university at Aligarh and +another reason was that in the last few months he had begun to be +dissatisfied with the Faith and thought that there they could +certainly explain all to him. But now he preferred to go to +Bangalore. It seemed as if he must go there: but instinctively he +felt that he must conceal his reason for wishing to go. And so with +his mind confused by these thoughts and the new ideas which the new +book had brought him, ideas utterly foreign to all he had known +before, he fell into a restless sleep. + + * * * * * + +It seemed to Ahmed as if some unseen force were ordering events when +early on the next day he was called to his father's presence to find +him unexpectedly ill and so ill that it would be impossible for him +to leave the city and go to Bangalore on a very important matter of +business. Ben Emeal could trust the business to no assistant and yet +it had to be attended to on the next day. The only person whom he +could trust was his son and that son until then had been not only +ignorant of all business matters but also of travel, having never +made a journey alone on a railway train. But when Ben Emeal saw that +there was no other way to save to his name several thousands of +rupees, he decided to give his son a rather hurried and, indeed, +trying initiation into commercial life. The old Arab's warning +against the infidel had not been forgotten, but the father did not +think the risk too great to send his son away alone for the first +time, as he thought the novelty of the journey and of assisting in +business affairs for the first time would keep Ahmed's mind from +dangerous thoughts, and besides,--it was a matter of much money. + +So Ahmed had been summoned to his father's presence and instructed +in all the matters needful to the transaction of the business. When +Ben Emeal saw the delight and eagerness with which the boy undertook +the journey and the task given him he did not consider it necessary +even to warn him against the possible meeting with the infidel in +Bangalore. + +So Ahmed had started for the very place of all others that he wanted +to visit, sent by his father--such a strange answer to the longings +of the night before that he was filled with a feeling of awe. So +impressed with the religious importance of this journey and with a +divine ordering of it was he that he scarcely appreciated its +novelty. Because of his ignorance of travel, his father had directed +him to go first class; therefore, he had the compartment to himself +for the whole journey and, since this was so, instead of gazing from +the window and enjoying the new sights as he would have done a few +days before, now he pulled out the new book and read the whole +journey through. + +Although Ahmed had but one desire when he reached Bangalore, that of +finding the "Mission Press," he went first, as he knew was right, +and transacted the business entrusted to him. When that was over, +then he began his search for the people who were responsible for +"The Book." No longer did that title in Ahmed's mind belong to the +Koran and for some reason or other he did not seek these people to +be told that what The Book said was true; for he seemed to know +himself that it was true, but he sought them for more knowledge and +for an explanation of many things that he could not understand, and +especially to find out the relation of the Prophet to it all, as +Mohammed was not mentioned in The Book. + +Ahmed found the Mission Press to be a large brick building set back +in a grassy compound. When, with a desire for secrecy which he could +not exactly explain, he dismissed his gari at some distance from the +gate and made the approach on foot, he was surprised to see another +Mohammedan stop at the gate, but he did not recognize in him the man +who had followed him from the crossing of the Sidar Ways to his +friend's house the night before in Hyderabad. + +So without anxiety other than that which possessed him to learn of +the new book, Ahmed entered the big building. Never having seen a +press and not exactly knowing what the word implied, he was amazed +at the whirring machinery and the offices of busy clerks. At a +window he told his errand in a simple, straightforward way, pointing +to the name of the press on the title page of The Book which he had +drawn from under his clothing. The converted Hindu at the window at +once led the boy to a small room within, where sat an American +gentleman literally buried in manuscripts, proof sheets, and +correspondence. But a quick resurrection took place at the clerk's +whispered words and the American, a missionary, arose to greet the +youth. + +For several hours they talked and prayed, each moment separating +Ahmed farther from the faith of his father and drawing him closer to +the faith taught by a stranger. Since the boy was not to return to +Hyderabad until the next day, when the press closed for the night he +went home to the mission compound with the missionary. And so +engrossed was he in conversing with his new friend that he did not +see that a man followed them all the way from the press building, +indeed, the same man whom he had seen at the gate. + +It was not late in the evening when in the midst of their +conversation, Ahmed turned abruptly to his missionary host and said, +"I believe. I want to be a Christian. What must I do?" + +The missionary explained to him that the next step after belief was +testimony, a testimony usually given by baptism, but that Ahmed +could not think of being baptized until he had prayed long and +earnestly over the matter. Indeed, it might mean death to him, for +he himself must surely know the bitterness of the Prophet's +followers. It would probably mean at the very least disinheritance +and banishment from his father's home. + +"But I believe," cried Ahmed, "and if testimony is necessary for +believers of this 'Jesus Doctrine,' then I must testify; I must be +baptized." + +But the missionary was firm and although his heart glowed at the +courage of the young man, little more than a boy, he would not yield +but sent Ahmed to the guest-chamber with the counsel to pray about +it. + +And for hours that night did Ahmed pray. + +When, in the early morning, he met the missionary in the +drawing-room, his resolve was unchanged and his request of the +evening before was repeated. "Baptize me now. I must be baptized for +I must testify to the world that I believe," he said. His face shone +with such a happy light as he pleaded that the missionary felt that +no longer could he refuse to administer the sacrament asked for. + +"But it may mean death," again he urged. + +"Jesus died for me; you yourself have told me," replied Ahmed. + +"You will certainly lose your inheritance and be an exile from your +family." + +"He gave up His inheritance in the skies and took exile upon +Himself that He might bring life to me; can I not do as much in +testifying for Him?" + +How the lad had learned so much of the Gospel and the very words of +the Bible in such a short time was a marvel to the American +preacher, but he did not know with what intensity the hungry heart +of the youth had been studying the sacred pages. + +It seemed to the missionary, therefore, that it must be God's will +that the young Mohammedan should be baptized. But he wanted it to be +done in the presence of the congregation. + +"When could that be?" asked Ahmed. + +"Not for three days," replied the preacher. + +"But I must go to my home to-day!" exclaimed the young man. + +"Ahmed," the missionary's eyes were filled with perplexity and +suffering, "Ahmed, it will be sure death if you go back to +Hyderabad, I know. Will you not let me send you north where you can +probably escape from notice until you have studied and are ready to +preach the Gospel? Then you can come back and perhaps preach in +safety to your people," he urged. "Wait here in secret in my home +until the Sabbath. Then after the public service and public baptism +before the congregation, I will spirit you away and you will be +safe." + +The young man drew himself to his full height and his eyes glowed. +"My father expects me to start for home to-night. I must obey. He +has given me his trust. But more than that, I must hasten to tell +them of what I have found--to tell my mother of a God who loves her +and that she is not lost, but can be saved by believing in Jesus. I +know that I shall die, but before then I shall have lived enough, if +I succeed in taking the message to them. Can I not be baptized now, +at once?" + +It was not in the missionary's province to detain such a messenger. +With a tap of the bell he assembled the family for morning prayers, +the heathen as well as the Christian servants attending, and in +their presence he baptized Ahmed, the young Mohammedan, no longer a +follower of the Prophet but of the Christ. + +As the missionary with his hand upon Ahmed's bowed head repeated the +words in Hindustani, "I baptize thee in the name of the Father and +of the Son and of the Holy Ghost," a Mohammedan glided from behind +the draperies of a side window, through the half-opened shutters, +and passed quickly and noiselessly down the driveway and through the +compound gate. + + * * * * * + +Just before the gates of the city closed for the night the train +from Bangalore deposited Ahmed at the station and he was safe +within the walls of Hyderabad. He hastened through the narrow, dark +streets to his own home, shunning the crowded bazaars and picking +out the winding byways that lead between the high walls of the +residence portion of the city near the river. A foreigner would not +have imagined that the walls confining the dirty lanes within their +narrow limits were the walls of the homes of some of the rich and +influential Mohammedans of the great city. But so it was, for the +barren, outward appearance of an oriental residence does not reveal +the luxury within; and, besides, many of these Eastern people seem +to prefer the luxury of costly jewels and raiment to that of +beautiful surroundings and live on in the plain ways of the poorer +natives with only the number of servants, the elegance of their +dress, their indolence, and their indulgence in pleasures showing +their wealth. + +Such was the home of Ahmed, plain, satisfying only the requirements +of a simple native life. It covered much ground, for the number of +servants and concubines demanded considerable room even for plain +housing. But there was little display of wealth within except in the +wearing of gold-embroidered robes and precious jewels. Only a +succession of bare paved courtyards, with open and closed rooms at +the sides, made up the house all practically unadorned except one +in the centre of the house which was gorgeous in carving and inlaid +work and faced a tiny, open mosque, also richly ornamented. The +mosque was a most beautiful example of Indian skill in carving and +stone work and about the niche which pointed towards Mecca were many +passages from the Koran, inlaid in the marble with precious stones +in a most delicate and marvellous way. Before the niche upon the +marble floor were spread prayer rugs of great price. This was the +private mosque of Ben Emeal and his household and he had thought the +expenditure of thousands of rupees not too much for the adornment of +his place of prayer. + +When Ahmed reached home, the servants told him that his father was +at prayer in the mosque and did not wish to be disturbed before +morning. Ahmed wondered what unusual happening could have called his +father to a whole night of prayer. When he asked the servant more +particularly about his father's health, he found that Ben Emeal had +seemed much better until in the afternoon a strange old Arab had +been admitted to his presence and since then he had been much worse, +depressed in mind as well as body, and at times greatly agitated. + +Ahmed, feeling that he must not interrupt his father at such a time +and wondering if it could be possible that his father's agitated +condition could have come from a premonition of what he himself had +done, hastened to his mother's apartment. Finding her asleep, he +spent several hours in prayer for help and guidance for the coming +day, for he knew that he could not and would not put off the +revelation of his break with his father's faith longer than that, +unless Ben Emeal's illness should grow more alarming. + +Meantime the rain had come again, even harder than upon the night +that Ahmed had been abroad. In floods it was pouring down upon the +city of Hyderabad and brimming the banks of the river. In a small +house near the great bridge that spanned the river at the crossing +of the Sidar Ways two men were sitting. One was the man who had been +following the doings of Ahmed; the other, the old man from Arabia, +whose face now reflected no terror, only the glow of a fanatic +Faith. + +"He was baptized?" As he almost shouted the question, the old man +leaned forward in his excitement. "I warned the father again this +day in a manner that stirred him to the depths, but I did not really +expect this so soon. Are you sure? Have you told our brothers of the +council?" + +The other replied, "Why, of course I am sure, for I saw the act +myself. Yes, I have reported to Ben Isah and he bade me tell you +that just before noon we are to assemble with Ben Emeal and support +his arm and his faith as followers of the Prophet. Of course the boy +will recant and repudiate all this nonsense, he says, but he must be +taught a severe lesson. 'There must be no trifling with the +infidel,' were his very words." + +As the man ceased speaking a gust of wind bore the rain like sleet +against the door of the house and the old man looked up with a +hunted expression and his lips moved as if in prayer. The younger +man looked at him in contempt and without another word threw himself +upon a charpoy in the corner of the room and fell asleep, but the +old man sank on his knees and remained in that position until dawn. + + * * * * * + +Ahmed's first thought with the coming of the new day was to tell his +mother the good news and bring joy to her sad heart. Then he had +determined that he would face his father and leave the rest in God's +hands. His mother might lose her son, but she would gain far more in +what this Jesus Doctrine would bring. So he greeted her with a happy +heart. + +He told her all: of his own experience, his growing dissatisfaction +with Mohammedanism, of his growing belief in the religion of the new +book which he had studied for so many months, of his occasional +meetings with the Christian man at the bridge, and, finally, of what +he had done at Bangalore. Words could not come fast enough as he +went on to explain the new faith to her and told her what it would +mean for her, if she should believe. But, although it sounded very +beautiful to her, she could not accept any doctrine in such a short +time and she was listening to his words as yet with only a glad +wonder in her heart, when a messenger suddenly summoned him to his +father. + +Ahmed had almost forgotten his father in his eagerness to talk to +his mother and bring her the good news; so he was remorseful when +suddenly he realized that he had not even asked about his father's +health since the night before, nor gone to him to report on the +business matter which he had arranged in Bangalore. He went quickly +after the messenger, for the moment again forgetful of the unwelcome +news that he must bring to his father soon. He was surprised when he +learned from the servant that Ben Emeal was still in the mosque and +awaited him there. But his surprise became amazement when on +entering the mosque he perceived a circle of the most influential +Mohammedans of Hyderabad seated about his father on the floor. So +accustomed was Ahmed to the habits of the faithful that without +thought of its being a violation of his new faith, he slipped his +feet from his shoes as he entered the mosque. + +As Ahmed approached the group he noticed at one side of his father +the old Arab whom he had seen in such terror upon the street and at +the other side the man whom he had met at the gate of the Mission +Press in Bangalore. In a flash, as his eyes met those of the man who +had spied upon him and saw the light of success in them, Ahmed +understood the reason for this assemblage and for his being summoned +thus as it were before a tribunal of the faithful. Instinctively his +eyes sought his father and the drawn, haggard look upon that face, +usually so strong and firm, rent his heart. Their eyes met and in a +second each had read the message that the other loved him, come what +might. Then the eyes of both fell and the lad awaited the charge. + +"Ben Isah," the voice of the man who had dogged Ahmed's footsteps +demanded, "is it seemly that an infidel should stand within the +sacred precincts of a house of prayer?" + +"Ben Idrahi," replied the most dignified and grave gentleman of the +company as if he were a judge in a court and repeating the formulas +of that august body;--and, indeed, he was a judge in a court that +controlled life and death; "Ben Idrahi, whom accuseth thou of being +an infidel? Are not all of us before you true followers of the +Prophet and upholders of the only true Faith? Whom accuseth thou +with such a terrible accusation?" + +"Ben Isah," the man rose and said slowly, "I have proof; I have +proof, I say, that the youth, Ahmed, son of Ben Emeal, is no longer +a follower of the Prophet; that in the city of Bangalore yesterday +in the early morning he was baptized into the hell-filling creed, +the name of which I will not defile my lips with. And now, Brothers +of the Faith, he stands before you an avowed infidel." + +As the man announced the fact of his baptism in Bangalore, although +Ahmed dared not look at his father, he felt that an involuntary +shudder passed over Ben Emeal's frame. But at those words his own +heart leaped and yearned towards these men. Then and there he longed +to tell them the wonderful story of the God revealed through Jesus +Christ, but he restrained himself. + +Ben Isah had turned towards him and all eyes except his father's +were upon him, as the older man said: + +"Ahmed, son of Ben Emeal, is this, that this man accuseth thee of, +is this true?" + +Ahmed could restrain himself no longer. This was his opportunity to +testify and to men who probably would never hear the message from +other lips. He took the opportunity with a skill and wisdom beyond +his years. + +The words poured from his lips, even as the rain was pouring from +the heavens into the courtyard of the mosque. His face glowed and +his eyes shone with a light brighter than that of the clouded sun. +Not a man moved. They listened, held by the fascination of the +youth, as with a tempestuousness that seemed born of the very storm +without and with a courage not born of man, he told them the truth +as they would never hear it again. + +As he spoke his eyes were upon his father's face, who looked as if +he were beholding a miracle. When he had finished, his hands still +outstretched, his voice still ringing in their ears as he +said,--"All that this man says is true. I am an infidel, as you say, +for I have been baptized. I am a Christian,"--Ben Isah stumbled to +his feet and with shaking hand held out, cried in agitated voice: +"Stop! Stop him! This must cease! This must cease! Lay hands upon +him! Take him from the mosque!" + +Confusion reigned as a couple of men seized Ahmed's arms and dragged +him from the mosque while the other men raved at him in rage and +hate because in spite of themselves they had listened to a +blasphemer and the teachings of the infidel. The lad was carried to +a side chamber where the two men stood over him, giving him no +chance to escape. But Ahmed was not seeking that; his head was bowed +in prayer. + +As they watched and waited the two men talked of the storm without, +for the rain still fell in torrents and the wind blew; while above +the sound of the wind and rain could be heard continuously the voice +of the gorged and angry river. + +"If this continues, there will be trouble," said one, "for this +morning the water was five feet higher than yesterday, they told +me." + +"Yes," replied the other, "when I crossed the bridge a few hours ago +the river was up to the first buttress; but there can't be any real +danger, can there?" + +"It must be a warning to the infidel," answered the first, looking +significantly at Ahmed, but he was unconscious of what they were +saying. + +Soon the summons came and the lad was led into a large guest-chamber +where his father received visitors of state. The men sat as before +in the mosque, but their faces were dark and their eyes downcast. + +Again Ben Isah spoke, "Young man, because of thy youth, and for thy +father's sake, we will give thee one chance, one only, to recant and +unsay all thou hast said. Wilt thou take back thy words, repudiate +this infidelity, and once more accept the true and only Faith?" + +Before Ahmed could reply Ben Emeal was upon his feet. "My son," he +said in slow, restrained tones, "think well before thou speakest. +Remember thou art my only son; remember that all my fortune will be +thine. Thou canst go to the University at Aligarh; thou canst have +thy heart's desire in everything, if thou wilt only recant!" He +ended hurriedly. + +"If thou dost not, Ahmed, son of Emeal," shrilled the old Arab, +rising to his feet, "thou shalt die. Choose thou and choose +quickly!" + +The son looked at the father. Just then in the distance, through the +downfall of the rain, there sounded dimly: + +"Allah is most great! Allah is most great! Allah is most great! +Allah is most great! I bear witness that there is no god but Allah! +I bear witness that there is no god but Allah! I bear witness that +Mohammed is the Apostle of Allah! I bear witness that Mohammed is +the Apostle of Allah! Come to prayer, come to prayer! Come to the +Refuge, come to the Refuge! Allah is most great! Allah is most +great! There is no god but Allah!" + +It was the Moslem's call to prayer and every man in the room fell +upon his knees except Ahmed. + +Ahmed remained standing with bowed head. He made no effort to escape +while the others were upon their knees. But as soon as they had +finished their devotions, he stepped forward and in a clear, full +voice said simply, "I choose death." + +A silence as of death itself fell upon the company. No one spoke. +The boy remained standing with his hands out as he had spoken. At a +motion from Ben Isah a servant stole to Ben Emeal's side and +noiselessly placed a cup in his hands. The latter arose and stepped +towards his son. + +With a stern, tense voice Ben Emeal broke the silence: "The infidel +must die! This is the cup of death. Drink!" + +As he touched the cup to his son's lips a thunder as of mighty +waters rose. + +"Night is coming! The wildness of desolation is upon us! Fly, fly!" +shrieked the voice of the old Arab. But even as he cried a wave of +water burst into the room through the open door. + + * * * * * + +The river rose sixty feet above the bridge they say and at least ten +thousand of the inhabitants of Hyderabad were drowned in that one +day. + +In one room in the house that had been Ben Emeal's, when the water +subsided, they found as many as fifteen or twenty bodies and since +most of them wore the Mohammedan rosary, all were given decent +burial according to the customs of the followers of the Prophet. +Thus an infidel was interred in holy ground and allowed to sleep +beside his father. + + + + +IN OTHER LANDS + + +=Poland, the Knight Among Nations= + +With Introduction by Helena Modjeska. + + Illustrated, Cloth, $1.50 net. =LOUIS E. VAN NORMAN= + +Poland is worth knowing--it is interesting. How could it be +otherwise when it gave us Copernicus, Kosciusko, Chopra, Paderewski +and Sienkiewicz. Not much has been known about the people because +they have been hard to get at. Mr. Van Norman went to Cracow, won +the hearts of the people, was treated like a guest of the nation and +stayed till he knew his hosts well, and he here conveys an extensive +array of information. + + +=The Continent of Opportunity:= South America + + Profusely illustrated, $1.50 net. =FRANCIS E. CLARK= + +Dr. Clark writes from a thorough-going tour of examination, covering +practically every centre of importance in the South American continent, +Panama, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Argentine, Brazil, Paraguay and +Uruguay. Dr. Clark's prime object has been to collect information of +every sort that will help to understand the problems facing +Civilization in our sister Continent. + + +=China and America To-day= + + 12mo, Cloth, $1.25 net. =ARTHUR H. SMITH= + +Dr. Smith is one of America's ablest representatives at foreign +courts. He is not so accredited by the government of this country, +but rather chooses to be known as a missionary to China. In this +capacity he has learned much of China which in another relation +might be denied him. Being a statesman by instinct and genius, he +has taken a broad survey of conditions and opportunities and here +presents his criticisms of America's strength and weakness abroad. + + +=Ancient Jerusalem= + + Illustrated. In press. =HON. SELAH MERRILL= + +This work will immediately be recognized as authoritative and well +nigh final. Dr. Merrill, as the American Consul, has lived at +Jerusalem for many years, and has given thirty-five years of +thorough, accurate study and exploration to this exhaustive effort. +It contains more than one hundred maps, charts, and photographs. + + +=Palestine Through the Eyes of a Native= + + Illustrated, $1.00 net. =GAMAHLIEL WAD-EL-WARD= + +The author, a native of Palestine, has been heard and appreciated in +many parts of this country in his popular lectures upon the land in +which so large a part of his life was spent. His interpretation of +many obscure scriptural passages by means of native manners and +customs and traditions is particularly helpful and informing. + + + + +MISSIONARY + + +=The World Missionary Conference= + +The Report of the Ecumenical Conference held in Edinburgh in 1910. +In nine volumes, each, net 75c.; the complete set of nine volumes, +net $5.00. + +A whole missionary library by experts and wrought up to the day and +hour. The Conference has been called a modern council of Nicea and +the report the greatest missionary publication ever made. + + Vol. 1. Carrying the Gospel. + Vol. 2. The Church in the Mission Field. + Vol. 3. Christian Education. + Vol. 4. The Missionary Message. + Vol. 5. Preparation of Missionaries. + Vol. 6. The Home Base. + Vol. 7. Missions and Governments. + Vol. 8. Co-operation and Unity. + Vol. 9. History, Records and Addresses. + + +=Echoes from Edinburgh, 1910= + + By W. H. T. GAIRDNER, _author of "D. M. Thornton."_ 12mo, cloth, net +$1.00. + +The popular story of the Conference--its preparation--its +management--its effect and forecast of its influence on the church +at home and the work abroad. An official publication in no way +conflicting with the larger work--which it rather supplements. + + +_HENRY H. JESSUP'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY_ + +=Fifty-three Years in Syria= + + Introduction by James S. Dennis. Two volumes, illustrated, 8vo, +cloth, boxed, net $5.00. + +"A rich mine of information for the historian, the ethnologist and +the student of human nature apart from the labors to which the +author devoted his life. A thoroughly interesting book that will +yield endless pickings."--_N. Y. Sun_. + + +_ROBERT E. SPEER_ + +=Christianity and the Nations= +The Duff Lectures for 1910. + + 8vo, cloth, net $2.00. + +Among the many notable volumes that have resulted from the +well-known Duff foundation Lectureship this new work embodying the +series given by Mr. Robert E. Speer in Edinburgh, Glasgow and +Aberdeen, will rank among the most important. The general theme, +"The Reflex Influence of Missions Upon the Nations," suggests a +large, important, and most interesting work. + + +_G. T. B. DAVIS_ + +=Korea for Christ= + + _In press._ + +An effective report of the recent revivals in Korea told by an eye +witness, who himself participated in the work. + + +_JULIUS RICHTER_ + +=A History of Protestant Missions in the Near East= + + 8vo, cloth, net $2.50. + +A companion volume to "A History of Missions in India," by this +great authority. The progress of the gospel is traced in Asia Minor, +Persia, Arabia, Syria, and Egypt. Non-sectarian in spirit, +thoroughly comprehensive in scope. + + +_JOHN P. JONES, D. D._ + +=The Modern Missionary Challenge= +_Yale Lectures, 1910._ + + 12mo, cloth, net $1.50. + +These lectures, by the author of "India's Problem, Krishna or +Christ?" are a re-survey of the demand of missions in the light of +progress made, in their relation to human thought. The new +difficulties, the new incentives, are considered by one whose +experience in the field and as a writer, entitle him to +consideration. + + +_ALONZO BUNKER, D. D._ + +=Sketches from the Karen Hills= + + Illustrated, 12mo. Cloth, net $1.00. + +These descriptive chapters from a missionary's life in Burma are of +exceptional vividness and rich in an appreciation for color. His pen +pictures give not only a splendid insight into native life, +missionary work, but have a distinctive literary charm which +characterizes his "Soo Thah." + + +_JAMES F. LOVE_ + +=The Unique Message and Universal Mission of Christianity= + + 12mo, cloth, net $1.25. + +A volume dealing with the philosophy of missions at once penetrating +and unusual. It is perhaps one of the most original and valuable +contributions to the subject yet made. + + +_WILLIAM EDWARD GARDNER_ + +=Winners of the World During Twenty Centuries= +Adapted for Boys and Girls. + +A Story and a Study of Missionary Effort from the Time of Paul to +the Present Day. Cloth, net 60c.; paper, net 30c. + + +=Children's Missionary Series= + + _Illustrated in Colors, Cloth, Decorated, each, net 60c._ + + =Children of Africa.= James B. Baird. + =Children of Arabia.= John C. Young. + =Children of China.= C. Campbell Brown. + =Children of India.= Janet Harvey Kelman. + + +=The Foreign Missionary= +An Incarnation of the World Movement + + 12mo, Cloth, $1.50 net. =ARTHUR J. BROWN= + +Dr. Brown, out of a long and intimate experience deals with such +questions as: Who is the Missionary? What are his motives, aims and +methods? His dealings with proud and ancient peoples. His relation +to his own and other governments? His real difficulties. Do results +justify the expenditures? How are the Mission Boards conducted? +etc., etc. The book is most intelligently informing. + + +=The Conquest of the Cross in China= + + =JACOB SPEICHER= + + With Chart and Illustrations, 12mo, Cloth, $1.50 net. + +The contents of this book were first delivered as lectures to the +students at Colgate University. Mr. Speicher has the true instinct +of the news bringer. He has lived in South China long enough to know +it thoroughly. He is distinguished by common sense in his judgments, +made palatable by a free literary style. + + +=China in Legend and Story= + + 12mo, Cloth, $1.25 net. =C. CAMPBELL BROWN= + +By one of the C. M. S. best known missionaries. It consists of +seventeen stories, true to legend or to fact, ten of them studies of +the Chinese people as they are when heathen, and seven of them of +the same people when they become Christians. The stories cover a +wide range of social life, representing every class in the +community, from mandarins to thieves and beggars. As Mr. Campbell +Brown is a keen observer, and wields a graceful pen, the book is +unusually interesting and valuable. + + +=A Typical Mission in China= + + 12mo, Cloth, $1.50 net. =W. E. SOOTHILL= + +"The book is comprehensive, instructive, well written, interesting +and valuable in every way. Those who read it will get such a glimpse +into Chinese life and methods as they may never have had, and will +certainly be edified and stimulated to a new zeal in the work of +missions."--_Herald and Presbyter._ + + +=Robert Clark of the Panjab= +Pioneer and Missionary Statesman + + 8vo, Cloth, $1.75 net. =HENRY MARTYN CLARK= + +"The record of one of the makers of Christian India: as fascinating +as a novel, and immensely more profitable. The more widely this book +is circulated and read, the better it will be for the missionary +enterprise. A book of this character is the best apologetic that can +be written."--_Missionary Intelligencer._ + + + + +MISSIONS, BIOGRAPHICAL + + +_DR. GEORGE BROWN_ + +=The Life of Dr. George Brown= +Pioneer, Explorer and Missionary. + + An Autobiography, with 111 illustrations and map. 8vo, Cloth, net +$3.50. + +"Since the appearance of John G. Paton's Autobiography we have read +no work of such entrancing interest. It is a narrative of this +pioneer missionary's forty-eight years of residence and travel in +Samoa, New Britain, New Ireland, New Guinea, and the Solomon +Islands."--_British Weekly._ + + +_JESSE PAGE, F. R. G. S._ + +=The Black Bishop= +The Life of Samuel Adjai Crowther. + + Preface by Eugene Stock, D. C. L., with frontispiece, sixteen +illustrations and map. 8vo, Cloth, net $2.00. + +"The simple life-story, told mainly by himself, of a West African +who was a kidnapped slave when a boy of fifteen and forty-three +years later became the first negro bishop of the Church of England. +Much information is given beside the biographical details, about the +problems presented by the Nigerian peoples to their white rulers and +particularly of the extent, influence and probable future of the +Mohammedan invasion."--_Nation._ + + +_W. H. T. GAIRDNER, B. A._ + +=D. M. Thornton= +A Study in Missionary Ideals and Methods. + + Nine illustrations, 12mo. Cloth, net $1.25. + +"The Student Movement" says: "It is likely to dominate the thoughts +of the missionary thinker for many years." Devoted largely to +experiences in Egypt and lessons gathered on this field--it tells of +a man who devoted his intellectual powers to thinking out the wider +problems of the evangelization of the world and the spread of +Christian institutions in Mission lands. + + +_GEORGE HAWKER_ + +=The Life of George Grenfell,= +Congo Missionary and Explorer + + Illustrated, 8vo, Cloth, net $2.00. + +"This may be regarded as a companion volume to Sir Harry Johnston's +'George Grenfell and the Congo'--it was, indeed, originally arranged +that Sir Harry Johnston and Mr. Hawker should collaborate in a +single volume as a memorial to one of the greatest names in the +annals of equatorial Africa."--_London Times._ + + +_REV. JAMES WELLS, D. D._ + +=Stewart of Lovedale= + + The Romance of Missions in Africa told in the Life of James Stewart, +D. A., M. D., F. R. G. S. With forty-two illustrations and two maps. +8vo, Cloth, net $1.50. + +"We may heartily congratulate Dr. Wells on having written a book +that will live, and more than that, a book that will create life +wherever it is read."--_Dr. Robertson Nicoll, in the British +Weekly._ + + + + +TRAVEL, MISSIONARY + + +_H. G. UNDERWOOD_ + +=The Call of Korea= + + _New Popular Edition._ Paper, net 35c. Regular Edition, 12mo, cloth, +net 75c. + +"As attractive as a novel--packed with information. Dr. Underwood +knows Korea, its territory, its people, and its needs, and his book +has special value which attaches to expert judgment. Particularly +well suited to serve as a guide to young people in the study of +missions."--_Examiner._ + + +_WILLIAM O. CARVER_ + +=Missions in the Plan of the Ages= +Bible Studies and Missions. + + 12mo, cloth, net $1.25. + +As Professor of Comparative Religion and Missions in the Southern +Baptist Theological Seminary at Louisville, Dr. Carver has prepared +in these chapters the fruit of many years' study. His aim is to show +that the foundation principles of the Christian task of world +conquest are found in the Bible not so much in the guise of a +commanded duty as in the very life of the Christian faith. + + +_ANNIE L. A. BAIRD_ + +=Daybreak in Korea= + + Illustrated, 16mo, cloth, net 60c. + +There can never be too many missionary books like this. A story +written with literary skill, the story of a girl's life in Korea, +her unhappy marriage and how the old, old story transformed her +home. It reads like a novel and most of all teaches one, on every +page, just what the Gospel means to the far eastern homes. + + +_ISABELLA RIGGS WILLIAMS_ + +=By the Great Wall= + + Selected Correspondence of Isabella Riggs Williams, Missionary of +the American Board to China, 1866-1897. With an introduction by +Arthur H. Smith. Illustrated, 12mo, cloth, net $1.50. + +"This volume is a little window opened into the life and work of an +exceptionally equipped missionary. It was at Kalgan, the northern +gateway of China, that a mission station was begun amid a people +hard and unimpressible. It was here that Mrs. Williams won the +hearts of Chinese women and girls; here that she showed what a +Christian home may be, and how the children of such a home can be +trained for wide and unselfish usefulness wherever their lot is +cast. No object-lesson is more needed in the Celestial Empire than +this. Many glimpses of that patient and tireless missionary activity +which makes itself all things to all men are given."--_Arthur H. +Smith, Author of Chinese Characteristics, Etc._ + + + + + * * * * * + + + + +Transcriber's note: + +Minor punctuation errors have been corrected without note. + +The phrase 'dung cake' was changed to 'dung-cake' in The Infidel: +"mass of fuel dung-cakes" to make it consistent with Old Sarah: "at +a fire of twigs and dung-cakes". + +Where the use/non-use of the hyphen is either not clear, or used in +a consistent way, these have not been changed. These are +'dirty-white', 'well-known', 'first-class', 'second-class', +'third-class'. + +Changed '--' to ',' in "beautiful wife, as fair" in the list of +illustrations for consistency with the caption and the text. + +Inserted 'the' in the notes relating to The Continent of +Opportunity: South America-"of importance in _the_ South American +continent". + +Replaced Krisha with Krishna in notes relating to the Modern +Missionary Challenge-"India's Problem, _Krishna_ or Christ?". + +James Stewart's qualifications were actually D. D., M. D., F. R. G. S., +see: The Romance of Missions in Africa told in the Life of James +Stewart, D. A., M. D., F. R. G. S. (not corrected). + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN KALI'S COUNTRY*** + + +******* This file should be named 38881.txt or 38881.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/8/8/8/38881 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. 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