34 A Sportswoman in India 



book wherein every man's pay, age, and position are 

 printed ; by this book each individual stands or falls. 

 It is the cookery-book of that supreme chef, Society , 

 whereby she fakes her dishes, and judges whether it 

 be possible to introduce the person of that ordinary 

 little vegetable the wife of Lieutenant Jones, drawing 



only rupees a month, into the same dinner-party 



which includes such a recherche savoury as Sir Roebuck 

 Robinson, K. C.S.I. 



Whether any one really cares a fig for the Society 

 before whose shrine they lay their lives is a moot 

 point. Consider the clubs and their paralysing ennui ; 

 consider the horror of meeting the selfsame people 

 every day, riding with them before breakfast, finding 

 them at the polo-ground in the afternoon, discussing 

 together the same tea and cakes, the same gossip, the 

 same tennis and Badminton ; when it grows dark 

 the same drive to the same club-rooms, the same 

 newspapers, the same liqueurs ; last of all, a dinner 

 party at a neighbouring bungalow with the same guests, 

 the same courses, and as a climax, the same lady first 

 met with on horseback in the early dawn, and with 

 whom the polite usages of Society decree that the 

 running must now be made. No wonder that there 

 is no such thing as conversation ; that the sickening 

 monotony of it begets tempers, spite, gossip ; that 

 the appearance of a new hat or frock is welcomed 

 as a fresh topic. 



But what else is to be done ? Not sit in a dark 

 bungalow all day? not drive the eternal round of 



