Page:Letters from India Vol 1.djvu/148

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140
LETTERS FROM INDIA.

the lightning, and Captain Fagan had never come by land before, so we drew up, hoping to be overtaken by the carriage and to borrow some of the guard. Then we grew tired of waiting luckily for us, as the carriage had turned off by a by-road, and got in before us. I knew several landmarks, and conducted —— safely to the Lodge, much to his surprise, as he got quite confused at last, and insisted upon it that we had got into the northern provinces, a great way up the country. Lights met us there, and so we got home; but these are the sort of petty events that make one feel so thoroughly in ‘a strange land.’ The storms are so loud while they last, and there is no help at hand. We passed through one little mud village and asked for a ‘mussautcher,’ that is, a man with a torch; but they said there were none living there, and none of the other men would have carried a torch for any sum of money, if we had asked it.

Friday, April 15.

A nice cool day after the storm, and no sun yet; you cannot imagine the relief of it. It would be a burning day in England, but a great