CAWNPORE.
8
whom he may discuss the Army List, and partake of the ever-recurring refreshment of brandy and soda-water; lazily endeavouring to get some little insight into the languages of the hateful East by the help of a fat fawning native tutor, and a stupid and indecent Oordoo work on mythology ; pondering sadly on honm landscapes and home recollections, as he gazes across he sharply-defined line of shadow, thrown by the roof of the verandah, into the outdoor heat and glare ; with no pleasanter object of contemplation than the Patna sheep belonging to the Station Mutton Club, and his own modest stud, consisting of a raw-boned Australian horse and an old Cabul pony picketed under a group of mangotrees near the gate of the compound.
The centre apartment is flanked on either side by a smaller chamber; both of which are employed as bed-rooms, if, for the sake of company or economy, our young friend is keeping house with some Addiscombe chum. Otherwise, the least desirable is set apart as a lumber-room; though, to judge from the condition of the articles in use, it is hard to imagine what degree of shabbiness would qualify furniture to become lumber in Bengal. The door into the Sahib’s bedroom stands open, like every other door in British India ; the multitude of servants, and the necessity for coolness, forbidding the very idea
