tell tales of each other concerning trifling
matters, and Indian school authorities unfortunately rather encourage
the habit, and the sneak does not get sent to Coventry as he ought to
be. But when something serious has happened which it is the duty of
the boys to report, it is rare to find amongst them one of sufficient
force of character to enable him to do so, and the unembarrassed
denial of any knowledge of the offence adds greatly to the difficulty
of detecting the offender. Though there are brilliant exceptions,
Christian principles rarely stand the test of truthfulness when really
serious complications have arisen. And the Indian story-teller so
seldom contradicts himself, and if he finds himself in a corner he
gets out of it so readily, that it is difficult not to believe him,
even when you have the strongest reasons for thinking that he is
deceiving you.

In a certain boys' school it was known that some evil influence was at
work, but it could not be traced to its root. When elder boys left who
were thought to be possibly the cause of the evil, it was hoped that
the trouble would cease. But several generations of boys passed out of
the school, and the evil influence remained. When its source was
discovered after some years, the clue was given by an almost chance
remark of a small boy. The person who had so long been a centre of
corruption had been so little suspected that, even after it had been
brought home to him, it was difficult to understand how he had been
able to secure concealment so effectually that no shadow of suspicion
was ever aroused.

CHAPTER XXXII

PROPERTY IN INDIA

Boundary stones. Government Survey Department. The village
map. How the stones are placed; how to use them. The Hindu
village clerk. Litigation in India. Lawyers' devices.
Conversation about money. Poverty great. Christians and
money. English fair-dealing not always apparent.

If you want to buy land in India, it is nearly always difficult to
find out who is the real owner. But in one important point the British
Government has made the transaction quite simple. When you are
travelling through India in the train, the impression left upon you is
that of a country which belongs to no one in particular, because there
is often so little trace of any boundary between field and field.
There are scarcely any hedges or walls, or when they exist they are so
irregular and come to an end so unexpectedly,