'And when Sri Hunumân's monkeys are fed by him, the feasting of Sri Yama's[[12]] crocodiles is not far off,' put in a listener, emphasising his allusion to the God of Death by a placid look towards a tinsel-bound corpse swung to a bamboo, which two men were carrying slantways across the steps to the burning place below the railway bridge.
More than one amongst the bathers, overhearing the remark, nodded assent, and looked with a vague fear at the loafer who had seated himself a few steps down, and taken off his battered billy-cock; for being Sunday he was off duty and uniform.
'Ram-ram,' he said, with a general wave of the hand. So it's the old game still. Sunlight soap, monkey brand, and A1 copper-bottomed at Lloyd's doing a fire insurance! Lordy Lord! I might 'ave bin 'ere last Sunday, instead o' last year. An' 'ows Mr. 'Oneyman?'
The last word, intended for Hunumân, evidently conveyed a meaning to the whole remark, for many faces grinned, and the old pujâri salaamed with all the difficult gravity of a child who knows some time-worn jest is nigh.
'Sri Hunumân hath been well, since the Huzoor fed him on quinine pills hid in Shiv-jee's raisins last year. Ho! ho! ho! that was a spectacle!'
A priest with a trident on his forehead chuckled too. 'Yea! he is strong. He stole the sugar yesterday from Mai Kâli's very lap. Lo! even the monkeys know that offerings should be left at Shiv-jee's feet!'
He spoke at a group of villagers who, in tow of a rival priest, were taking their offerings to the further temple.
John Ellison laughed.
'"'Ow 'appy could I be with either,"'
he chanted. 'Wot! Ain't Shiver and Kâli settled that "biz" yet? W'y don't they get a divorce for bigamy both sides? Not as I care a d--n,'--he went on in his vile lingo in which all was English save the nouns and verbs, the latter having but one tense--the imperative. 'Siree 'Oneyman's my fancy. He as 'its 'im 'its me, Jân-Ali-shân. An' let me tell you that ain't no 'arnsiki bat.[[13]] It's zulm an' ficker an' burra hurra affut!'