Mr. Isaacs | Page 9

my trouble, could make me comprehend
wherein my wrong-doing lay, and that the English courts, being obliged
in their own interest to uphold and protect the caste practices of the
Hindus, at the risk of another mutiny, could not make any exception in
favour of a stranger unacquainted with Indian customs. So the
Englishman who presided said he would have to inflict a fine, but being
a very young man, not yet hardened to the despotic ways of Eastern life,
he generously paid the fine himself, and gave me a rupee as a present
into the bargain. It was only two shillings, but as I had not had so much
money for months I was as grateful as though it had been a hundred. If
I ever meet him I will requite him, for I owe him all I now possess.
"My case being dismissed, I left the court with the old moolah, who
took me to his house and inquired of my story, having first given me a
good meal of rice and sweetmeats, and that greatest of luxuries, a little
pot of fragrant Mocha coffee; he sat in silence while I ate, ministering
to my wants, and evidently pleased with the good he was doing. Then
he brought out a package of birris, those little cigarettes rolled in leaves
that they smoke in Bombay, and I told him what had happened to me. I
implored him to put me in the way of obtaining some work by which I
could at least support life, and he promised to do so, begging me to stay
with him until I should be independent. The day following I was
engaged to pull a punkah in the house of an English lawyer connected

with an immense lawsuit involving one of the Mohammedan
principalities. For this irksome work I was to receive six rupees--twelve
shillings--monthly, but before the month was up I was transferred, by
the kindness of the English lawyer and the good offices of my
co-religionist the moolah, to the retinue of the Nizam of Haiderabad,
then in Bombay. Since that time I have never known want.
"I soon mastered enough of the dialects to suit my needs, and applied
myself to the study of English, for which opportunities were not
lacking. At the end of two years I could speak the language enough to
be understood, and my accent from the first was a matter of surprise to
all; I had also saved out of my gratuities about one hundred rupees.
Having been conversant with the qualities of many kinds of precious
stones from my youth up, I determined to invest my economies in a
diamond or a pearl. Before long I struck a bargain with an old
marwarri over a small stone, of which I thought he misjudged the value,
owing to the rough cutting. The fellow was cunning and hard in his
dealings, but my superior knowledge of diamonds gave me the
advantage. I paid him ninety-three rupees for the little gem, and sold it
again in a month for two hundred to a young English 'collector and
magistrate,' who wanted to make his wife a present. I bought a larger
stone, and again made nearly a hundred per cent on the money. Then I
bought two, and so on, until having accumulated sufficient capital, I
bade farewell to the Court of the Nizam, where my salary never
exceeded sixteen rupees a month as scribe and Arabic interpreter, and I
went my way with about two thousand rupees in cash and precious
stones. I came northwards, and finally settled in Delhi, where I set up
as a dealer in gems and objects of intrinsic value. It is now twelve years
since I landed in Bombay. I have never soiled my hands with usury,
though I have twice advanced large sums at legal interest for purposes I
am not at liberty to disclose; I have never cheated a customer or
underrated a gem I bought of a poor man, and my wealth, as you may
judge from what you have seen, is considerable. Moreover, though in
constant intercourse with Hindus and English, I have not forfeited my
title to be called a true believer and a follower of the prophet, whose
name be blessed."

Isaacs ceased speaking, and presently the waning moon rose
pathetically over the crest of the mountains with that curiously doleful
look she wears after the full is past, as if weeping over the loss of her
better half. The wind rose and soughed drearily through the
rhododendrons and the pines; and Kiramat Ali, the pipe-bearer,
shivered audibly as he drew his long cloth uniform around him. We
rose and entered my friend's rooms, where the warmth of the lights, the
soft rugs and downy cushions, invited us