The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1904-07-22

Nof bade me make ready TO -
with him to the City O
Kings-which is two days journey b!
road from the village-that j nigh
there obtain employment at dishwashe
in the service OF a Sahib; for ther'
were many OF us in my fathers house
and his crops had failed for want o.
rain, 80 that there was not enough
food to I'll our stomachs.
In his youth, Rahim Bux, my father
had himself served the Ferlnghees
and. having heard him speak much
of those days, / felt that ! should Learn
my duties with the greater ease, and
as we journeyed through the dry
empty fields in the early morning time
he also told me many more things con
cerning the ways Of the Sabibs, which
are not the ways Of the dark people
i was but STRIPPING, and knew little
OF what happened beyond the village
of my birth, where i worked in the
fields and tended the cattle until the
l learned from my father that ii is
well TO obey the orders Of the master
without thought or question, even
when il might be hard TO understand
the reason OF his wishes.
''Thou art somewhat Of an owl" my
father told me- "and not so sharp or
clever as / was, who rose to he head
servant in my masters house. But
thou hast enough sense TO understand
an order, and maybe with diligence
and obedience thou mayest rise from
dishwasher TO table servant, and from
table servant TO khansamah, and then
will il be easy with the bazaar ac-
counts in thy keeping, and power in
the establishment, TO gather rupees
till thou canst return TO thy home a
person of wealth and importance, even
as did"
And what IL the Sahib beats me for
no fault. as thou sayest will happen
on occasionsW
Take thy beating and say nothing;
above all things, do not run away.
The Ferlnghees themselves are brave,
though they are dogs and sons of dogs,
and when they behold courage in
others they respect IL. A beating does
little harm; lived once with a Colonel
Sahib who gave medicine az punish
ment, and that was bad. There are
certain Sahibs who neither drink nor
beat, nor swear, but ii is hard for
newcomer without recommendation
or experience 10 obtain service with
such, and the Sahbs whom | served
gone back across tie black water
many years since Thou wilt have to
be content at first with what thou
canst get, only remember this: obey
orders without question, quarrel not
with thy fellow servants. and squan-
der not thy wages in the bazaar"
| pOndered over the wise words OF
my father and laid them up i'm my
heart, and l resolved that / would rise,
even as he had done, to be the head
servant of Sahib's household, that in
time | might return TO my village with
riches and influence.
When we reached the city we stayed
for the night in the serai, and until
dawn | could not sleep for the strange
sights and sounds, and the crowd that
came and went; never before had ]
seen so many men together. In the
morning sunshine we went through the
streets, and | stared at the glittering
vessels in the brass shops, AT the dis
play of sweetmeats, toys and Jewels,
and the gay materials shown 10y the
cloth merchant. My father bought me
n white muslin coat, n pair of calico
trousers, tight below the knee. and a
new puggaree; and we took seats I'm an
ekka and drove out TO the part where
the Sahibs dwell beyond the city.
Here it was all open space and broad
roads, with trees Of mango, teak and
tamarind, and the gardens were very
beautiful. My father told me that
though the native city was wide aud
full of people there were but few Sa-
hibs and no regiments at all. though
he remembered that before the Mutiny
there had been Il large cantonmcnt and
many sepoys.
There was no service 10 be had at
the house Of the Magistrate Sahib. nor
with the Colonel Sdhib of police. nor
with the Doctor Sahib. SO we went 10
the bungalow of the Engineer Sahib.
who looked after the roads and build
ings of the district. There we heard
that disnwasher was needed. and the
II n 10 IN M "a h.fp cnt L..
gave me backsheesh. and l promised
him percentage of my pay. he could
get me the place without any recon-.
mendatlon. lie also said that the En-
gineer Sahib was good Sahib. and
the service 10 be desired, and that |
should be well treated. So after some
argument my father paid the Khausa.
nah, who was named Kullan. and |
gave the promise. My father told me
again 10 obey orders ana answer not
TO abuse. and then he left me and went
back TO his village
But after he had gone learned from
the bearer. who was also follower of
the Prophet. that no servant ever
stayed long with the Engineer Sahib
"For," he said, "the Sahib is truly q
devil. and when | am near him my
fear of him is such that my liver
melts Sometimes for weeks will he
be quiet, and all will so well, and ther
he will drink too much whisky. and
for days we shall go in fear of our
lives"
felt angered that Kullan should
have told my father naught of this