Lal's home is in Calcutta. I will have finished with him at Bombay and will have to send him back to Calcutta, across India, fifteen hundred miles, and that item of expense will be sixteen rupees six annas—all of five dollars and twenty cents.
It's hard lines to pour out money in this way on Lal—but Royalty is expensive anyway.
It's hard lines to pour out money in this way on Lal—but Royalty is expensive anyway
XXVII
ROYALTY VS. "TWO CLUCKS AND A GRUNT"
To go across India from Calcutta one of the necessary things to consider is a railroad ticket.
After my vassal and I had planned an itinerary we called a victoria, or rather Lal flagged a Hindu driving a team hitched to one.
It was rigged for a footman at the rear. The footman was there, too, ready to open the door for "Master" when he wished to enter or alight.
This truly regal, royal outfit cost twelve annas for an hour's drive, and that's twenty-four cents.