egun
to flag. The well was already 15 feet deep and there was no sign of
water, except that which had fallen during the monsoon. Shunker was
growing uneasy at the amount of money which he had spent. Work was
resumed, but only languidly. Then there came gaps of several weeks
when no work was done at all, and finally it stopped altogether, and
the scheme was apparently abandoned. Shunker, not knowing what to do
with the piles of stone which had accumulated from his excavation,
erected an immense shed with it in his yard, which he said would give
shelter to his bullocks. But it was piled up unskilfully, and being
without mortar, it soon became a ruin.

Indians do not always profit by experience. It might be supposed that
Shunker would hardly care to risk further experiments concerning
wells. But following the advice of his father, an apparently shrewd
man, he sunk another well in another garden. This time a European firm
took the contract, and the cost was heavy. The spot chosen
necessitated an unusually high platform for the bullocks who raise the
water, which added a good deal to the expense. But a fatal mistake was
made in the spot chosen for the well. It was sunk close to the bank of
a river whose bed was many feet below it, and though they tapped a
spring which would probably have provided a good store of water, it
soon found its way out of the well to the lower level of the river,
and the amount of water which remained was never deep enough to be of
use. So this rather imposing-looking empty well stands as a
conspicuous monument of an ill-advised scheme, involving total loss of
the money that it cost.

Somehow the failure of this second well stimulated Shunker, contrary
to expectations, to recommence work at his first well, and in order
that the job should be done thoroughly, he enlisted the aid of the
sappers and miners to conduct the blasting operations. The result was
that the Mission compound adjoining became like Lady-smith during the
siege. The explosions were terrific, and stones, some of large size,
fell in all parts of the compound. A bit of rock fell on the stable,
smashing a dozen tiles. Another stone travelled an immense distance,
and falling on the Sisters' bungalow, broke three of the large
Mangalore tiles, so famous in India for their rainproof qualities, but
proving themselves unequal to the resistance of bombs. Urgent
remonstrances were for a time unavailing. Shunker called, and in
polite English