all particulars dark; but mad or not, nothing shall stop me-or choke me off!" declared Mallender with vehement sincerity.
"All right, all right, meanwhile we will give out that you are interested in coffee in Mysore, or gold mines- yes, that is best-it's more vague," added Colonel Tall- boys, with a grin. 'And now, the first thing to do is to find you a first-class boy."
"Boy?"
"A servant–a full-grown man; anything up to eighty years of age is a boy here. I know of one, Anthony, he speaks Telagu, Canarese, Tamil, English, and at a pinch French! He will cook for you, valet you, wait on you, and generally run you, and do for you-he is just out of a place-his master went home last mail."
"But I only want a smart, honest chap that can rough it a bit," protested the new-comer.
"Oh, Anthony has often been in camp, and on shooting trips; he is a capital servant. My bearer will get hold of him at once, and now I'll 'phone for the car, and take you to the Club for tiffin-there you shall taste for the first time in your life the real, true, and only prawn curry."
CHAPTER III
With a quick, assured step Colonel Tallboys led the way along matted corridors, past salaaming peons, to a fine Napier car, in which he and his guest seated themselves; and escorted by a roaring wind, and clouds of thick red dust, thundered through the Wallajah gate, and sped past the Island towards the hub of Madras —its far-famed Club.
"We are rather full just now, with a crowd down from Bangalore, and one or two of Fan's English friends; Sir William Bream, a distant cousin, and Mrs. Villars, a smart lady, doing India," explained Colonel Tallboys; "you won't mind if we stick you in a tent for a day or two, will you?"
