e had daubed me as
well as the colonel and Miss X----, which made the latter sneeze and
wipe her face for at least ten minutes, with loud but vain utterances of
indignation.

The Babu and Mulji offered their faces to the little hand, full of
saffron, with smiles of condescending generosity. But the indomitable
Narayan shrank from the vestal so unexpectedly at the precise moment
when, with fiery glances at him, she stood on tiptoe to reach his face,
that she quite lost countenance and sent a full dose of powder over his
shoulder, whilst he turned away from her with knitted brow. Her forehead
also showed several threatening lines, but in a moment she overcame her
anger and glided towards Ram-Runjit-Das, sparkling with engaging
smiles. But here she met with still less luck; offended at once in his
monotheism and his chastity, the "God's warrior" pushed the vestal so
unceremoniously that she nearly upset the elaborate pot-decoration of
the altar. A dissatisfied murmur ran through the crowd, and we were
preparing to be condemned to shameful banishment for the sins of the
warlike Sikh, when the drums sounded again and the procession moved
on. In front of everyone drove the trumpeters and the drummers in a car
gilded from top to bottom, and dragged by bullocks loaded with garlands
of flowers; next after them walked a whole detachment of pipers, and
then a third body of musicians on horseback, who frantically hammered
huge gongs. After them proceeded the cortege of the bridegroom's and
the bride's relations on horses adorned with rich harness, feathers and
flowers; they went in pairs. They were followed by a regiment of Bhils
in full disarmour--because no weapons but bows and arrows had been left
to them by the English Government. All these Bhils looked as if they had
tooth-ache, because of the odd way they have of arranging the ends of
their white pagris. After them walked clerical Brahmans, with aromatic
tapers in their hands and surrounded by the flitting battalion of
nautches, who amused themselves all the way by graceful glissades and
pas. They were followed by the lay Brahmans--the "twice born." The
bridegroom rode on a handsome horse; on both sides walked two couples
of warriors, armed with yaks' tails to wave the flies away. They
were accompanied by two more men on each side with silver fans. The
bridegroom's group was wound up by a naked Brahman, perched on a donkey
and holding over the head of the boy a huge red silk