'How much?' said the Legal Member. 'Murramutted—mended.—Put theek, you know—made nice to please Ditta Mull!'
The Legal Member left his place and moved up next to Tods.
'What do you know about ryotwari, little man?' he said.
'I'm not a little man, I'm Tods, and I know all about it. Ditta Mull, and Choga Lall, and Amir Nath, and—oh, lakhs of my friends tell me about it in the bazars when I talk to them.'
'Oh, they do—do they? What do they say, Tods?'
Tods tucked his feet under his red flannel dressing-gown and said—'I must fink.'
The Legal Member waited patiently. Then Tods, with infinite compassion—
'You don't speak my talk, do you, Councillor Sahib?'
'No; I am sorry to say I do not,' said the Legal Member.
'Very well,' said Tods, 'I must fink in English.'