peculated.
Still he might have suffered a heavy loss in one of his contracts. He
telephoned to Mr. Anderson at his house, but was informed by one of the
servants that the master had gone out in his motor car at six in the
evening and was not back till then.

Now let us see what happened to Mr. Anderson after he had left his
office at about four in the afternoon.

He went home and expected some tea, but no tea arrived, though it was
six. The Khansama was in the hospital; the cook was called and he humbly
offered the following explanation: "As soon as Hazoor (Your Honour) came
back I ordered the khidmatgar (the cook's assistant) to put the kettle
on the fire. (This is the ordinary duty of the khidmatgar). There was a
bright coal fire in the stove, and the khidmatgar put the kettle upon
it. The kettle should have boiled within five minutes, but it did not;
your humble servant went to investigate the cause and found that there
was no water in the kettle. We put in some, but the kettle had in the
meantime become nearly red-hot. As soon as it came into contact with the
cold water it burst like a bomb. Fortunately nobody was hurt. There
was, of course, a saucepan to heat some water in, but the cold water had
got into the stove and extinguished it." It would be another half an
hour before tea was ready, he added. Mr. Anderson now realised that it
was not the fault of the servants but the curse of the Indian Fakir. So
with a sad smile he ordered his motor car and thought that he and his
wife had better try the Railway refreshment rooms. When his chauffeur
was going to start the engine Mr. Anderson expected that there would be
a backfire and the chauffeur would have a dislocated wrist. But there
was no accident. The engine started as smoothly as it had never done
before. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson went to the Railway refreshment rooms.
There they were informed that no tea was available. A dead rat had been
found under one of the tables in the first class refreshment room, and
as plague cases had been reported earlier in the week, the station
master had ordered the rooms to be closed till they had been thoroughly
disinfected. The whole staff of waiters with all the preserved meat and
oilman's stores had been sent by special train to the next station so
that the railway passengers might not be inconvenienced. The next
station was eight miles off and there was no road for a motor car.

"I had expected as much" said Mr. Anderson bitterl