EXPEEIEKCES OP MB. STALE. 
cooly, he vras never out of the kitchen^ and was 
just roasting and pounding coffee, at the far end of 
the verandah, “Well, but,” says the master, “Minatchi 
was in the kitchen for a long while, and he went away with 
her, did n’t he ?” But the kitchen coolie replies, swears, 
that Minatchi had never been in the kitchen at 
all, could not have been, or he would have seen 
her, as he had not been anywhere all day. No, no, she 
had not been there, that was perfectly certain.” 
Master now calls the boy, and says, What have you 
been doing with my umbrella? it is all wet, and 
when it was placed by me in that corner it was quite 
dry.” “I have not been in that rain,” the reply, of 
course, is ; he knows nothing about it, did not even 
know it was there, but he will ask the cooly. He 
disappears, aud after giving the cooly brief, positive, and 
easily understood instructions, returns, holding him by 
the arm, and Baying, ‘‘Here he is.” Master asks him, “Hid 
you take my umbrella?” ‘’Yes,” says the cooly, “plenty 
rain, and Kengan said, ‘Run down to the lines for 
a coconut, borrow a nut from some of the people, 
for there is none for master’s curry,’ So, thinking 
master would never know, or, if he did, would not 
be angry, I just take master’s umbrella for ten minutes. 
Master can beat, if he likes, but I cannot tell 
master a lie!” “ Well well,” says master, but whose 
umbrella was itj that Rengan took to the lines to 
shelter Minatchi from the rain ?” But the kitchen 
cooly replied, “ Why master joke that way ? Min- 
atchi never would, and never did, come to the 
kitchen. It would be altogether against her caste. 
No, no, master please don’t think anything like 
this.” “Just so,” says master, “it is quite evident 
that all your kitchen people are ‘Jock Tamson’s 
bairns,’ no such a thing as getting the truth out of 
any of you” ; and the cooly, who, probably in his 
official capacity of standing behind the door with a 
dirty towel over his shoulder, had frequently heard 
this gentleman’s name mentioned, replied, “Jock 
Tamson durai teriyada” — which means, “ I am not 
acquainted with the gentleman who is called Master Jock 
Tamson,” The next morning, as master was passing 
the lines on his way to the working place, Min- 
atchi was standing at the end of the verandah, sift- 
ing rice ; she had an oval-shaped flat basket, which 
Was held in both hands, half full of rice ; she 
twirled it and twisted it round, quite in a magical 
manner, and by a process known only to herself 
quickly threw all the rice high up into the air, 
where it caught a current of wind, which carried 
away all the dust and dirt in a cloud, and the clean 
descended again into the basket without a single gia 2ii 
lailing to the ground. She then with a sharp quick tuin of 
