re often clever in rapid repartee and in
scoring a point quickly. A Hindu boy having been rude and troublesome,
I said that he must not come again for pictures for three months, and
that if he came I should not give him any. "Not if I come on the
King's Coronation Day?" (which was close at hand) he asked promptly.
And I was obliged to smile and say that if he came on that day it
would be all right.

Indians are beginning to understand something of what is meant by the
dignity of labour, although they are slow in making personal
application of the lesson. I was pointing out to a middle-aged visitor
the Boys' Home in the distance, on the other side of the compound.
Looking across, he caught sight of one of the Sisters carrying a pail
of water for the garden. "Why, the Sister is working!" he said with
eager astonishment and approval. "That is what we need to learn to do
in India, instead of sitting about talking or sleeping."

CHAPTER XIX

GAMES IN INDIA

Cricket and football. Use of English cricket terms. Each
game has its season. Marbles. The Indian method.
Spinning-tops. Splitting your opponent's top. Kite-flying.
Battles in the air. Final result. _Itte-dhandu_; how played.
The Indian "Tom Tiddler's ground."

Indian children are fond of games, and many Indians, until quite
advanced in life, continue to play games of a nature which are usually
associated with childhood. Cricket has become widely popular in all
the larger schools and colleges, and football also, but to a less
degree. Christian boys of all ages play these two games everywhere
with great zest, and the Hindu boys in their neighbourhood, stimulated
by the sight, follow their example to some extent. But they are
hindered by the scarcity of the necessary apparatus, which costs more
than most Indian boys can possibly afford. If schools and colleges in
England would systematically send their cast-off gear for games,
carriage paid, to foreign missions they would do a good work in
helping to keep young lives in wholesome and happy occupation. Even an
old tennis ball is received as a real treasure by an Indian boy, and
any number of balls would be gratefully welcomed by every mission.

In playing cricket it is almost a matter of necessity that the English
expressions connected with the game should be used, even by those who
know no other English. Out in a village, where English is never
spoken, it sounds curious suddenly to h