The Yale expositor., 1911-09-28


trious land of yours is of interest to
Americans; your religion. your poll
tics, your customs, your women, your
jewels, your boundless wealth. Every
thing you can tell me about India is
sure to interest our readers"
IF l am to tell you everything
about India" said the Swami, I've
may as well make ourselves comfort
able"
He signed to Ali again. and, rising
with much dignity, he placed chair
at the disposal Of his visitor.
'The East is a pretty big subject"
said the Swami, and then he spent
many minutes sketching Oriental
ways and thoughts for the entertain
ment of his visitor To follow him
would be to recapitulate the history
Of Hindostan from centuries before
the British invasion. When he had
finished, Britt knew enough about In
dia to fill the pages Of all the Sunday
papers of New York; but this was not
what the detective wanted.
Your women evidently lead a pref
ty secluded life," he said, "but l sup
pose they have their compensations-
their music, embroidery, delicacies,
gems-by the way, Swami, jewels fig
ure largely in your religion, don't
they?"
The same inscrutable CLEAN again
flickered in the eyes Of the scholar.
1T would be difficult to make you
understand in what way they do" he
answered. I'm the ordinary CONNER
cial sense, they do not. We of India
care less for the intrinsic value of the
beautiful jewels which you OF the
West characterize as precious stones.
They are precious to us, but in diff
ferent way. We love them for their
loveliness-not merely for their bril-
lance and cost. To us, there is
world of metaphysical meaning in the
lambent glow of ruby, or the i'm
prisoned rainbow Of diamond. An
emerald to us is the spirit Of the sea
the spirit of the water itself; just
as the pearl suggests that other world
on the floor of the deep. Jewels, as
we see them, are the crystallized eX-
preston of divine emotions Diamonds
are the tears of Buddha-pearls so
many drops of wisdom from his lips,
and sapphires the heavenly aspira-
tons Of his thoughts. What to the
Occident means profit, to us means
poetry"
Some Of your jewels are, I dare
say, a great deal more important than
others; for example, the Kohinoor.
Has that no larger value than the Or
binary stone in your eyes?"
"Only so far as it is connected with
the traditions Of our faith" said the
Swami. Diamonds there are in In
dia, one hundred of which would not
make a Kohinoor, yet each thou
sand times more precious to true be-
levers. Wars have been fought,
races exterminated for gems less beau
tiful than those which many of the
minor women Of your public stage can
boast They have a meaning impos-
sible of comprehension to the Western
mind"
And do Hindoos Of your generation
set as much store by that sort Of
thing as your ancestors did," asked
Britt.
THE faith of the East Is immut-
able" the Swami replied. Centuries
roll by, but we change not. Nations
efforts to shake the stability of our
land and people. What was true be-
fore your Prophet left the carpenters
bench is true to-day"
Now, do you know" said Britt, vi
vaciously, "all this interests me very
much, and will make cracking good
story for The Times Fancy whole
people-how many millions did you
say?-so wrapped up in gems that
would not fill showcase in Maiden
Lane jewelry shop, that they are will
ing to sacrifice their very lives for
them!"
Britt threw all his skill as a ques-
toner into drawing from the Swami
descriptions of the more famous jew
els of India, deity keeping the line
of his interrogations on the subject
of diamonds. The Hindoo, his entire
personality an eloquent expression OF
the Incidence Of the East, was alike
luxuriant in his narghileh and in rem
iniscences of the sacred gems that had
adorned the temples of his faith from
Delhi to Benares. Slowly, dreamily,
mystically, stories came from his lips
of greed and piety, deeds of daring
and romance, statecraft and intrigues,
until Britt became so interested that
for a time even his trained, vigilant
mind lost sight of tho purpose that
had animated all his actions since the
day he learned that the famous Mis-
sioner necklace was missing.
When the fastener ended his string
of tales, many of them replicas in
miniature of the Arabian Nights, and
of still more thrilling Oriental legends,
the Headquarters man had an ex'
haustive knowledge of all the great
diamonds in the history of Hindostan.
Your marvellous gems are not
proof against imitation" he said in.
quiringly.