“The bearer you know. The bearer brought all the rest and is responsible for them. I have no doubt that he is in honoured receipt of at least half their first month’s wages for securing their situations for them. He is their superior officer, and is a person of weight and influence among them, and he’s a very intelligent man. I’ve had him four years. In that time he has looked after me very well, I consider, very well indeed. He knows all about my clothes and keeps them tidy—buys a good many of ’em—socks and ties and things,—takes care of my room, rubs me down every evening before dinner,—keeps my money.”
“Keeps your money, George!”
“Oh, yes! one can’t be bothered with money in this country.”
“Well!” said his wife. “I think it’s quite time you were married, George. Go on!”
George said something irrelevantly foolish and went on.
“He’s perfectly honest, my dear—entirely so. It would be altogether beneath his dignity to misappropriate. And I’ve always found him moderate in his overcharges. I took him partly because he had good chits and good manners, and partly because of his ingenuousness. I wanted a man for nine rupees—this chap stood out for ten. By way of argument he remarked that he would probably be purchasing a great many things for the sahib in the bazar—that the sahib might as well give ten in the first place! I thought there was a logical acumen about that that one didn’t come across every day, and engaged him on the spot.”
“But, George—it’s—it’s almost immoral!”
“Very, my dear! But you’ll find it saves a lot of trouble.”
Helen compressed her pretty lips in a way that spoke of a stern determination to adhere to the principles in vogue in Canbury.
“And I wouldn’t advise you to interfere with him too much, Helen, or he’ll pray to be allowed to go to his mulluk,[[26]] and we shall lose a good servant. Of course, I’m obliged to jump down his throat once a month or so—they all need that—but I consider him a gentleman, and I never hurt his feelings. You observe the size of his turban, and the dignity of his bearing generally? Well, so much for the bearer—he gets ten rupees.”