THE WAY OF THE BRAHMIN 149 



touch is light. He never disparages a Purbhoo from 

 that day; "damning with faint praise" is safer 

 and as effectual. He practises the charity which 

 covereth a multitude of faults, but he leaves a tag 

 end of one peeping out to attract curiosity, and if 

 the collector asks questions, he is candid and tells 

 the truth, though with manifest reluctance. Then 

 he grapples with the gradation lists, which have 

 fallen into confusion, and puts them into such 

 excellent order that the collector can see at a glance 

 every man's past services and present claims to 

 promotion. And from these lists it appears that 

 clearly, whenever any vacancy has to be filled, a 

 Brahmin has the first claim. And so, as the shades 

 of night yield to the dawn of day, the Purbhoo by 

 degrees fades away and disappears, and the star of 

 the Brahmin rises and shines everywhere with still 

 increasing splendour. 



But the Purbhoo possesses his soul in patience, 

 and keeps a note of every slip that the Brahmin 

 makes. For the next chitnis may be a Purbhoo, 

 and then the day of reckoning will come and old 

 scores will be paid off. The Brahmin knows that 

 too, and the thought of it makes him walk warily 

 even in the day of his prosperity. Thus our adminis- 

 tration is saved from utter corruption. 



