166 JUNGLE PEACE 



two squares and diagonals. As the ceremony 

 went on I lost much of the significance, and the 

 coolies themselves seemed very vague. They 

 were all of low caste and preserved more of the 

 form than knowledge of the intricate rites. 



We were at the groom's end of the absurd 

 street, and before long Madhoo himself ap- 

 peared and was led a few steps away by his 

 female tormentors. This time they scrubbed 

 and washed and rinsed him with water, and then 

 dressed him in a soft white waist-cloth draped 

 coolie-wise. Then a long tight-sleeved pink 

 dress was pulled with much difficulty over his 

 head. Madhoo now looked like a woman dressed 

 in a fashion long extinct. Next, a pink turban 

 was wound wonderfully about his head and 

 he was led to one side of the rice figure, where 

 he sat down on a low stool. 



Sam, my black factotum, sat close to me, 

 translating when my slender knowledge of Hin- 

 dustani gave out. Suddenly he stopped abruptly 

 in the middle of a sentence. I saw that he was 

 staring at the groom, the whites of his eyes 

 glistening in astonishment. 



" Chief," he whispered at last, " see where my 

 socksj my shoes 1 " 



