The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-11-04
TOMMY ATKINS AND THE BABt.
Baba Was Going 10 England. SO Tommy
Let Him smoke. +,

fOuNt ~ NSNS fND fHb D3tD-te
Baba Was Going 10 England. so Tommy
Let Him smoke. I,
Baba Bharati is one OF the religious gem
tlemen who have been descending from
India upon this benighted and since Swami
Vivekhananda led the procession moro
than ten years q 4.
The Bahia is a picturesque, il somewhat
greasy, figure in the American picture,
He makes somewhat painful attempts tn /,
lecture upon This Real Real Life" and :
similar subjects. :
Just now the Bahia is publishing in Thsv
Light of India the story Of his coming tok
America via England. The present install
ment relates in a very un-Mahatman fashion :
the Baba's surprising disturbance when y
British soldier interfered with his having u !
smoke. y
II was in a railway carriage; and the Baba,t
by way Of travelling equipment, had only
bamboo staff, a drinking bowl and a sacred
Tulsi rosary. :
Nor did l want anything he says, "ex- |
cept a smoke. A smoke would have been
more acceptable than a Mogul's millions.
A sympathetic soul was my friend. He
was preparing the chIJri before l had said
a word. He put treacled tobacco in tho.
little clay bowl and some charcoal FIRE
over it. {
But my other friend drew my attention i;
to an English soldier at the other end Of the
carriage and limited that there was danger :
in the air. My hankering for a smoke got
the better OF me, however. especially as the
aroma OF the tobacco had enslaved my,
senses"
IThe Bahia should read from his ownn
lectures. For instance: The mind en-
;o,n, MT fhn aanaaG. tho mind faafao nnm
the senses. :.
The hankering Bahia was reaching 81
covetous hand for the pipe when the sol-
der shouted:
The Bahia confesses that he had no shoes
on but says he trembled in his puggree
and puttoo overall.
mo use" whispered the Baba's friend.
with you?" demanded the Baba, also In a .
whisper. "You, a B. A. and Postmaster"
General of Lucknow"
But" whispered the b. A. and P. G.y
you forget that Tommy Atkins is the real
Then in a FASH says the Bahia in his
account Of the incident. Il rememberedN
that Tommy is greater than Lord Curzon
or a mogul. l remembered that Tommy |
can shoot down a native Indian-disarmed
for the last fifty years-and get on scot
free, after passing through the funniest
mock trials the world has known.
Tommy. is feared by his employersE
from the Viceroy downward, lest he should
mutiny and spoil the spoliation Of the BEST
cannon held country in the world; and
Tommy cann0t be punished, because no
jury, composed mostly OF his countrymenJ
would convict him. Tommy, with his full
loaded gun and absolute privilege OF dis
charging its contents into any wholly Yrs7
armed indian body, Is more feared by tho
native than the most venomous cobra a.
large. 49,,
sadder still was my lot just then OF being
deprived of my first morning smoke. II
looked a picture Of despair.
'Baba,' said Mr.. Chatterjee, ~laughing} I
you must look to your spiritual powers, u
you possess any-some sort Of will force
to induce that redcoat to allow you tul
smoke
AHA! That was an inspiration THAT
mild jest brought back my trlant wits.
Glory 10 Goorool' exclaimed 1 mentallyS
and. STOPPING, whispered the magic words
HE smiled, looked comprehension into
my eyes, and, addressing the Eurasian
(haIf- oastel gentleman, who was smoking
himself and seemed annoyed with Tommy's
interfering with our smoke, said:
This Bahia requests ine TO ask you ~
he can smoke the hookah in England
What This man going TO EnglandIi
Impossible exclaimed Tommy with Inc
dignant disbelief.
a'!And why not, my friend exclaimed
the old man TO him. He's a Bahia, you
see. a sort OF reverend father as we have
in the Catholic Church. He has some Cos
Teligionists who are sending him to EngS
land. He has money enough, I daresay.s
"Tommy's establishment was unspeak-.
able.
Then the hard features OF his face re.
laxed. his yes softened into an expression
OF tenderness and regret. They spoke
more than his tongue could speak.
From a native, TT, perhaps, according 70
his brute ideas, only TO be shot down,
had in an instant become to him q deri-
god. was on my way to ~England-to b
Old Country, to his home!
"A sad smile fitted across his face,
Tommy was uman As he was thus eyeinA
me with a homage, I snatched the hubble
bubble and smoked!
Seven short pulls, seven again long, and
then three pulls together impressed me with
the soothing charms Of tobacco as It had
never done before. 1t ever inspired SYM
patty in me for Tommy. who was looking
at the little curling clouds OF my smoke
with a philosophic calmness which almost
appeared admiration"