curry-comb, or punches him in the
belly; and that hurts the horse's feelings. A native, he just stands
back till the trouble is over. He _must_ handle the horse or he'd get
into trouble for not dressing him, so it comes to all handling and no
licking, and that's why you won't get hold of a really vicious brute in
these stables. Old _Ringwood_ he had four _saises_, and he wanted 'em
every one, but the other horses have no more than one _sais_ apiece. The
Maharaja he keeps fourteen or fifteen horses for his own riding. Not
that he cares to ride now, but he likes to have his horses; and no one
else can touch 'em. Then there's the horses that he mounts his visitors
on, when they come for pig-sticking and such like, and then there's a
lot of horses that go to Maharaja Pertab Singh's new cavalry regiment.
So you see a horse can go through all three degrees sometimes before he
gets sold, and be a good horse at the end of it. And I think that's
about all!"

A cloud of youngsters, sweating freely and ready for any mischief, shot
past on their way to breakfast, and the conversation ended in a cloud of
sand and the drumming of hurrying hooves.

In the Raika-Bagh are more racing cups than this memory holds the names
of. Chiefest of all was the Delhi Assemblage Cup--the Imperial Vase, of
solid gold, won by _Crown Prince_. The other pieces of plate were not so
imposing. But of all the Crown Jewels, the most valuable appeared at the
end of the inspection. It was the small Maharaja Kanwar lolling in state
in a huge barouche--his toes were at least two feet off the floor--that
was taking him from his morning drive. "Have you seen _my_ horses?" said
the Maharaja Kanwar. The four twelve-hand ponies had been duly looked
over, and the future ruler of Jodhpur departed satisfied.

XV

TREATS OF THE STARTLING EFFECT OF A REDUCTION IN WAGES AND THE PLEASURES
OF LOAFERDOM. PAINTS THE STATE OF THE BOONDI ROAD AND THE TREACHERY OF
GANESH OF SITUR.

"A twenty-five per cent reduction all roun' an' no certain leave when
you wants it. _Of_ course the best men goes somewhere else. That's only
natural, and 'ere's this sanguinary down mail a-stickin' in the eye of
the Khundwa down! I tell you, Sir, Injia's a bad place--a very bad
place. 'Tisn't what it was when I came out one and thirty year ago, an'
the drivers was getting their seven and eight 'undred rupees a month an'
was treated as _men_."

The Englishman was on his way to Nasirabad,