TIBERIUS SMITH
on the veranda railing, told us of the Dacoits and explained how they were robbers by profession from their very birth, being similar to the Thugs in their amiable intentions on organized society.
"If through some freak of nature, he said, the germ of honesty develops in a Dacoit youngster, he is looked upon as a black sheep, a disgrace to the family, and his own parents drive him forth with thongs until he can experience a change of heart and come back purified and repentant, a man worthy of his name and caste, a robber. Thanks to the government's activity, he continued, the Dacoits have a harder life to live every year, and are slowly going the way of their first cousins, the Thugs.
"It seemed all strange to me, as we sat there and sipped our whiskey-and-soda and smoked the native tobacco, to realize that back in the jungle, perhaps watching us even then, the Shan people, with their strange notions and long knives, were waiting patiently to gather us in. And I remembered that somewhere beneath my feet was quiet Broadway, with its occasional knock-out drops and sometimes a belligerent policeman.
"It eased my mind to a degree to learn that there were several rifles and shot-guns inside the bungalow, but as I noted the dry, thatched roof, inviting arson, my fears returned and I believed there would
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