172 AFOOT THROUGH THE 



study, and thought nothing of rising daily at five that 

 he might have three hours' work at his self-imposed 

 tremendous task of translating the Scriptures. True 

 Sikh loyal, brave, faithful I could only trust that 

 he found his own reward, and that no further misgivings 

 as to the " highest form " would trouble him. It is not 

 many who can rise to the highest in three departments, 

 and he was super-excellent postmaster, a gardener, 

 whose mere presence appeared to force on the flowers, 

 and an admirable linguist ! 



I still possess the book of Sikh daily prayers he gave 

 me, and the sight of the little brown volume brings 

 back vividly to me the memory of many early-morning 

 talks among his bright flowers, the flash of enthusiasm 

 in his deep-set, dark eyes, the tenderness with which he 

 carried his little one, and the beautiful words in which 

 he enunciated those high truths that he so mistakenly 

 believed to belong only to the Sikh religion. Courage, 

 love of truth, and kindness these are noble qualities, 

 and the faith that inculcates them belongs to a high 

 order of teaching. 



Leaving the little dak office, I walked along the 

 bank in front of the Residency, a building of darkest 

 walnut wood carved and ornamented, in beautiful 

 surroundings, shady gardens stretching to the river on 

 one side, and ending in lawn-tennis courts on the other. 

 Beyond, several other English houses stood in gardens 

 reaching to the water, and the profusion of roses, colossal 

 hollyhocks, sweetest jessamines and lilies in each, out- 

 shone any like display I had seen in home gardens. A 

 great peace was on land and water. As I reached my 

 boat, the last rays of light were only sufficient to show 

 up the dark outlines of the houses and the tall rows of 



