loor. They all said to us: "Ram-Ram" and "Namaste" (salutation to
thee), and then made straight for their respective seats in perfect
silence. Their civilities reminded me that the custom of greeting each
other with the twice pronounced name of some ancestor was usual in the
remotest antiquity.

We all sat down, the Hindus calm and stately, as if preparing for some
mystic celebration, we ourselves feeling awkward and uneasy, fearing to
prove guilty of some unpardonable blunder. An invisible choir of women's
voices chanted a monotonous hymn, celebrating the glory of the gods.
These were half a dozen nautch-girls from a neighboring pagoda. To this
accompaniment we began satisfying our appetites. Thanks to the Babu's
instructions, we took great care to eat only with our right hands. This
was somewhat difficult, because we were hungry and hasty, but quite
necessary. Had we only so much as touched the rice with our left hands
whole hosts of Rakshasas (demons) would have been attracted to take part
in the festivity that very moment; which, of course, would send all the
Hindus out of the room. It is hardly necessary to say that there were no
traces of forks, knives or spoons. That I might run no risk of
breaking the rule I put my left hand in my pocket and held on to my
pocket-handkerchief all the time the dinner lasted.

The singing lasted only a few minutes. During the rest of the time a
dead silence reigned amongst us. It was Monday, a fast day, and so
the usual absence of noise at meal times had to be observed still more
strictly than on any other day. Usually a man who is compelled to break
the silence by some emergency or other hastens to plunge into water
the middle finger of his left hand, which till then had remained hidden
behind his back, and to moisten both his eyelids with it. But a really
pious man would not be content with this simple formula of purification;
having spoken, he must leave the dining-room, wash thoroughly, and then
abstain from food for the remainder of the day.

Thanks to this solemn silence, I was at liberty to notice everything
that was going on with great attention. Now and again, whenever I caught
sight of the colonel or Mr. Y----, I had all the difficulty in the world
to preserve my gravity. Fits of foolish laughter would take possession
of me when I observed them sitting erect with such comical solemnity and
working so awkwardly with their elbows and hands. The long beard of the
one was w