gently veiled the sheltering trees. But
for the modulated chatter of servants, the stillness was eerie. The
flat, low-lying fields, having yielded their corn to the harvester, were
barren and without sign of life, for the cultivators had departed to
their homesteads, and the roving cattle were housed.

Far in the misty distance were the huts of the peasantry grouped
together, with their granaries, haystacks, and pens; their date-palms,
and the inevitable tank illustrating the typical Bengal
village--picturesque and insanitary; too far for noxious smells to annoy
the senses, or the intermittent beating of the nocturnal "tom-tom" to
affect the nerves of the Magistrate and Collector during the writing of
his judgments and reports.

The spot for the encampment had been well chosen by the blue-turbaned
_chaukidar_--the sturdy watchman of the village--who was experienced in
the ways of touring officials; for even such a little matter as a site
for pitching the tents of the _hakim_,[1] had its influence for good or
ill; and what might not be the effect of a good influence on the temper
of a lawgiver?

[Footnote 1: Magistrate.]

This one, especially, instilled the fear of God and of the British, into
his servants and underlings in spite of his sportsmanship and
generosity, for he had a great understanding of native character and,
like a wizard, could, in the twinkling of an eye, dissect the mind and
betray the soul of a false witness! None could look him in the face and
persist in falsehood. He was a just man, and courageous; and when roused
to wrath, both fierce and fluent. But the diplomatic domestic and
cautious coolie, alike, respect justice and fearlessness, determination,
and a high hand.

Servants, engaged in culinary duties before open fire-places, gossiped
in lowered tones of standing grievances: It was like the exactness of
the Great to require a five-course dinner, served with due attention to
refinement and etiquette in untoward circumstances, such as an
improvised cooking-range of clay and bricks, a hurried collection of
twigs, some charcoal, and every convenience conspicuous by its absence!
And what a village to rely upon!--no shops; only a weekly market with
nothing suitable to the wants of white men fastidious and difficult to
please.

Yet, the day that sahibs condescend to study the convenience of their
Indian domestics, the prestige of the British Raj will be at an end.

"Ho! _Khansaman-jee_!" cried