Our Party Occupied The
Whole End Of A Table, At Which Were Dining Many First-Class Passengers,
Who All Stared At Us With Undisguised Astonishment.
Europeans on an
equal footing with Hindus!
Hindus who condescended to dine with
Europeans! These two were rare and wonderful sights indeed. The
subdued whispers grew into loud exclamations. Two officers who
happened to know the Takur took him aside, and, having shaken hands
with him, began a very animated conversation, as if discussing some
matter of business; but, as we learned afterwards, they simply
wanted to gratify their curiosity about us.
Here we learned, for the first time, that we were under police
supervision, the police being represented by an individual clad
in a suit of white clothes, and possessing a very fresh complexion,
and a pair of long moustaches. He was an agent of the secret police,
and had followed us from Bombay. On learning this flattering piece
of news, the colonel burst into a loud laugh; which only made us
still more suspicious in the eyes of all these Anglo-Indians,
enjoying a quiet and dignified meal. As to me, I was very
disagreeably impressed by this bit of news, I must confess, and
wished this unpleasant dinner was over.
The train for Allahabad was to leave at eight P.M., and we were
to spend the night in the railway carriage. We had ten reserved
seats in a first-class carriage, and had made sure that no strange
passengers would enter it, but, nevertheless, there were many
reasons which made me think I could not sleep this night.
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