onstant journeys over the
plain.
His next encampment was a large Mohammedan village on the outskirts of a
silk factory,--an important industry owned and worked by a prosperous
Anglo-Indian.
In duty bound, the Magistrate and Collector called on the ladies of the
house, sending in the usual piece of pasteboard with his name printed
thereon, and caught a fleeting glimpse of the wife in a dressing-gown
and slippers scuttling to cover from the out-offices in the rear.
After keeping him waiting for sometime in a musty drawing-room where
cobwebs lurked in corners and everything looked the worse for time, she
appeared in fearful and wonderful array,--layers of powder concealing
the dusky tint of her complexion, innumerable jewels tinkling on her
person, and hands badly manicured, but richly be-ringed.
During his brief visit she talked volubly in "chee-chee," vigorously
assisted by gesticulations, and her laughter was ear-splitting and
vulgar in its enforced hilarity; so that Meredith, whose nerves felt
badly jangled, rose to beat a hasty retreat, courteously resisting all
the hospitable efforts of the hostess to keep him as a guest.
At the Subdivision of Panchpokhur, he was introduced to the Deputy
Magistrate's wife and twin baby boys who were splendid specimens of
infantile vigour; and his praise and admiration were the passport to
their mother's instant regard. She was a devoted wife and mother, placid
and easy-going, and carried the air of one equal to any emergency.
"I am amazed that they should look so strong," Meredith said as he
watched the children racing over the grass in pursuit of straying
poultry.
"They seldom ail," said their mother, who, though country born, was
perfectly English in her speech and manners. "I nursed them both,
unaided," she said proudly, feeling disposed to venture this confidence
to a man who was married and a father.
"That, I suppose, makes a heap of difference," he remarked diffidently.
"My wife was too ill after the birth of the kid, so it was put on the
bottle from the start."
"What a pity!" and the lady forthwith entered upon an instructive
dissertation on the particular artificial foods that could be
recommended.
"Will this always make him delicate, do you think?" Meredith asked
anxiously, not so much for the sake of the babe, as from the fear of all
it would mean to himself in regard to his wife.
"Perhaps not, but it is a bad handicap."
Meredith sighed as he exp
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