Then I
thought, even in the face of death: If I lose hold I die, and for me
neither the Rewah nor my place by the galley where the rice is cooked,
nor Bombay, nor Calcutta, nor even London, will be any more for me. 'How
shall I be sure,' I said, 'that the Gods to whom I pray will abide at
all?' This I thought, and the Rewah dropped her nose as a hammer falls,
and all the sea came in and slid me backwards along the fo'c'sle and
over the break of the fo'c'sle, and I very badly bruised my shin against
the donkey-engine: but I did not die, and I have seen the Gods. They are
good for live men, but for the dead. . . . They have spoken Themselves.
Therefore, when I come to the village I will beat the guru for talking
riddles which are no riddles. When Brahm ceases to dream the Gods go."
"Look up-stream. The light blinds. Is there smoke yonder?"
Peroo shaded his eyes with his hands. "He is a wise man and quick.
Hitchcock Sahib would not trust a rowboat. He has borrowed the Rao
Sahib's steam-launch, and comes to look for us. I have always said that
there should have been a steam-launch on the bridge works for us."
The territory of the Rao of Baraon lay within ten miles of the bridge;
and Findlayson and Hitchcock had spent a fair portion of their scanty
leisure in playing billiards and shooting blackbuck with the young man.
Pages:
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62