The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1939-02-24
The Rains
Came

flEurf and now k9nSome discover
ed that he had the great kimono
arms OF a prims donna past her
prime.
But the moment the canopy Of
the little boat touched the balcony
the wsiling and the breast-beating
ceased and Mr.. Bannerjee. as If
still pursued by the vengeance Of
Kali. pumped over the side. lac
CURED box and all
Easy" cried Ransome You'll
sink the boat
He was angry suddenly, SO
angry that if it would not have
capsized that boat he would have
given Mr. Bannerjee a good kick.
shoulder. so that now and then IN
he had long felt for him. he dis
liked Mr.. Bannerjee because he
was a fool and had no dignity. be-
cause he was at the 50 me time a
coward and a humbug. And he was
angry too. at the obvious arrogant
conviction OF MI Bannerjee that
he himself at that moment had no
importance to the world save as
ferrymsn for Mr.. BannerJee and
the ashes OF Mr.. BannerJee's
father.
Sit tight" said Ransome. IF
you cspsize the boat shan't try
to save YOU There's too much
work TO be done
Mr.. Bsnnerjee did not answer
him. II seemed TO Ransome that
in his terror he must have lost the
power of speech. With one hand
he chung to the edge of the plea
sure boat: with the other he
elutched the lscquered box con-
tanning the ashes.
As he passed the house Of Ras-
child Ali Khan, the figure Of Mrs.
Raschid surrounded by children of
all ages appeared in a broad upper
window. In Urdu she called out TO
him that she could hold out for
another day. and in Hindustsni he
called back that he would come to
fetch them either tonight or early
the next morning. Then as they
passed the drowned world Of his
own compound he caught sight of
John the Baptist perched on the
cracked roof in the rain. Through
the downpour, John the Baptist
shouted to him in his soft French.
An the plate is safe. It's on the
first floor with all Sahib's clothes.
Better go inside. III come for
you later"
Tres bien. Sahib." and the boy
slithed down the drainpipe like
one of the monkeys and swung in
to an upper window.
At the Distillery. Mr.. Banner
jee. still mediating, opened his
eyes long enough to step ashore
without a word either Of thanks or
Of recognition. Ransome pulled
in the oars and sat staring after
him as he plodded barefoot, still
carrying the ashes. through the
mud toward Aunt Phoebe and the
distant mission.
When he returned to the house
the servant whom he had not seen
since he had appeared with the
lantern was waiting on
the balcony. The man was stand
ing. looking out over the drowned
city. turned away a little so that
he did not see the boat approach
ng. He was a tiny. ugly little man.
~, he Al
Of the devastated landscape he was
the only living thing, for even the
birds and the sacred monkeys had
deserted the flooded area as if they
had OWNED that it was accursed
by nature.
The servant did not move. and in
the tranced immobility OF the fig
ure Ransome found something
vaguely disturbing. Here was
man who had lost everything-his
wife, his children. perhaps his
father and his mother and even
his grandparents, for the COM
pound had been d whole village
in which there Were shrines 10
Kali and SILVA and Rama.
This man created a kind Of awe
He was. one might have said.
fra gile monument OF patience and
endurance. tiny and ugly and child
ish against the menace OF the
darkening monsoon sky.
This man was India. more than
any Of the others. more than Mr..
or the major. or Rss-
child Ali Kahn or even the old
himself. the India
which went on breeding and
breeding. indestruetible. like those
swarms of bees clinging TO the
marble caves of tn. great palace.
This was life, a principle, ripcning
from starved childhood into
in which there were only
animal pleasures and superstitions
scarcely different from those of
he swarming noisy, scared mon
KEYS.
As the boat came again beneath
the balcony. he called out in Hin
lustani "Mem~ahib sleeping and
made pantomlmed sleep with 9
sudden gesture of singular beauty.
Ransome thought Let the child
sleep. She proba bly, hasn't slept for
two days and psntomiming his
meaning told the man 10 come in
TO the boat
The man at first refused. and
only came reluctantly when Ran
some ordered him abruptly.
In : mixture OF pidgin tongues.
he asked the man II ne had nothing
10 bring with him, but the man re-
piled No. Sahib. nothing"
nothing but the ragged bit OF cloth
he wore about his skinny waist.
They set out and on the way ne
tried with all the Gujerati he could
muster to talk with the man. but
the servant seemed either dazed or
stupid. Nothing could De got from
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