positively 'obscene'—he probably meant obstructive—and did more harm than good.
The poor Eurasian knows the value of a long tongue, and that when the patience of the listener is exhausted a rupee is produced, more as a means of getting rid of a troublesome person than of assisting poverty. Mathew relied on this device with success. He had found it prevail more than once with the chaplain himself. The Indian bungalow lends itself to the system. The open doors, which cannot be closed because of the heat, allow the voice to penetrate to every corner. The suppliant stands under the portico and pours forth his tale of woe in a plaintive voice more irritating and distracting than the croak of the verandah crow or the piercing shriek of the squirrel. In Mathew' s case the production of the desired coin did not always bring immediate deliverance. From force of habit he still talked on until entreated to take himself off.
'Can I go, sir?' he asked one morning after the bestowal of the gift.
'Yes, yes, go,' was the reply.
'Very well, sir, and I thank——'
'I quite understand; go, Mathew, go.'
'Yes, sir; you see, sir——'
'My good man, will you go?'
'If I go down the line they say——'
'Go away, I am busy; I can't listen to you now.'
'Perhaps I had better go up north——'
'Go north! go to Bombay! go to China if you like, only Go!'
One more echo from the verandah that penetrated to my adjacent sitting-room must be recorded.
'Well, who are you?' asked the chaplain, searching the features of an olive-complexioned gentleman of the road.
