Banians, or bankers, so that my difficulty
really consisted in refusing their friendly
offers.

Balls, theatres, pic-nics, tiger-shooting,
driving—everything, in short, but study—
occupied my whole time, with the exception of
one morning in the week, when I yawned and
fell asleep over some horrid dirty-looking old
book, full of characters that looked more like old
boots and shoes than alphabets. Fully
half the time allotted for study in the
College had expired, when our principal was
changed. A military man, learned in
Orientalisms, was appointed in his place. He
turned out a dreadful martinet, actually
insisting on our studying Persian and Sanscrit
daily. It was useless to rebel; but we did
what was next to it—nothing. With all his
severity, however, we were far too many for
him. It was a favourite diversion of his to
set us sentences in the forenoon, and to lock us
up alone, away from our native Pundits, or
teachers, until tiffin-time, when the task was
expected to be properly rendered into
Persian. The weather was fearfully hot, and we
petitioned to be allowed the services of one
or two Punkah-pullers to cool us;—a request
so reasonable that it was instantly granted.
Old Colonel MacCundle locked us in with
our Punkah-pullers with his own hands; little
dreaming that we had arranged that two or
three Pundits should be dressed as servants.
No sooner was the key turned upon us than
our sham Punkah-pullers set to work upon
the translations; whilst myself and my companions
amused ourselves by turns at the
Punkahs to cool them.

It appeared a great absurdity, and a libel
upon the judgment of the Haileybury
professor, to require a second examination of
young men who had already been pronounced
fit for the Service, and as having highly
distinguished themselves. Yet so it was. It
was clear, therefore, that one examination or
the other must have been a farce. I was
examined once—twice—and at length, thrice,
after more cramming than any unfortunate
turkey ever underwent. Finally, I succeeded,
and was forthwith gazetted as Deputy
Assistant Collector and Magistrate of
Bogglepoor, a hundred and fifty miles south-west
of the capital.

At first I felt some uneasiness at being
located in the jungle amidst Ryots and
tigers, to adminster justice to the former
and bullets to the latter; but I was assured
that, as regarded my magisterial duties,
nothing could be simpler: there were regular
Hindoo translators and secretaries, who would
take nineteen-twentieths of the fag off my
hands; and that if I did commit any blunders
it would signify very little; for all the suitors
were only natives. Besides, I had but
to keep on good terms with the Judge of the
District; and, if any person appealed against
my decision—which the scoundrels
sometimes would do—he would be certain to
confirm them all. This eased my mind
wonderfully.

I had no difficulty about my debts to the
Banian. They were arranged in the most
agreeable manner. Indeed, further sums
were placed to my credit  and I started off
in full feather to Bogglepoor, resolved to
have a pull at the mystical Pagoda Tree
before I was many months older.

My station was rather an important one,
judging from the number of cases in arrears.
It was a remarkable fact, however, that the
revenue part of my duties was by no means
in this plight. The collection of the land
tax had been so rigidly performed, that not a
single ana of arrear had to be got in. Having,
therefore, nothing to do for some time
in that branch of my double appointment,
I was of course anxious to try my 'prentice
hand at a little justice, and attended court
the day after my arrival—a proceeding
which astounded my native subordinates;
who held up their black hands, turned up
their great white eyes, and vowed that the
Sahib must be mad not to rest for a week
at least. I was immersed in pleadings until
late every day, when I started off to be
initiated into the Deputy Collectorate; the
office of which was conveniently situated
some two miles distant.

Great was my astonishment at finding all
my venerated Sanscrit, all the vaunted
Persian, utterly useless, and the little Hindustani
I had picked up quite unintelligible at Bogglepoor;
the jargon of which was equally strange
to me.

I worked like a mill-horse, for about a
week, on the magisterial bench and in the
Cutcherry or tax office; but, like the mill-
horse, with all my toiling I never appeared
to move forward. The cases, although of
the most simple nature, became so involved
and intricate—such a confused mass of
evidence was heaped up, such contradictions
occurred—that when I had reached the end
of one I seemed to be no nearer the truth
than at starting. The arrears began to
increase upon me; difficulties seemed to
spring up about my path on all sides. I was
wanted at the Cutcherry to see to the
accounts; a number of troublesome Ryots
required ousting from their land; and it soon
became evident that, if I wished to keep
matters at all square and easy, I must abandon
all idea of going into evidence myself;
but do as my predecessor had done—leave the
Sheristadar to take all that down, and
content myself with giving decisions upon the
depositions so taken.

The change in affairs was perfectly
marvellous. Instead of the wheels of justice
clogging, and creaking, and standing still,
they seemed to fly along; but so noiselessly
that I scarcely knew what was going
on. At the end of another week, I found
all my arrears were worked off; and from
that time I was plagued no more; the