"The crowd laughed heartily, and some wag observed, 'that perhaps I should think him too old.'
"'Well,' said the old man, smiling, 'the gentleman himself is not very young, and yet I dare say he is a good servant of his government.'
"This was paying me off for making the people laugh at his expense. 'True, my old friend,' said I, 'but I began to serve when I was young, and have been long learning.'
"'Very well,' said the old man; 'but I should be glad to serve the rest of my life upon a less salary than you got when you began to learn.'
"'Well, my friend, you complain of our government; but you must acknowledge that we do all we can to protect you, though it is true that we are often acting in the dark.'
"'Often, sir? you are always acting in the dark; you hardly any of you know any thing of what your revenue and police officers are doing; there is no justice or redress to be got without paying for it; and it is not often that those who pay can get it.'
"'True, my old friend, that is bad all over the world. You cannot presume to ask any thing even from the Deity himself, without paying the priest who officiates in his temples; and if you should, you would none of you hope to get from your deity what you asked for.'
"Here the crowd laughed again, and one of them said 'that there was certainly this to be said for our government, that the European gentlemen themselves never took bribes, whatever those under them might do.'
"'You must not be too sure of that neither. Did not the Lal Beebee (red lady) get a bribe for soliciting the judge, her husband, to let go Ameer Sing, who had been confined in jail?'
"'How did this take place?'