I speak of a wise and able administrator.  There are men in the Indian Civil Service who are neither wise nor able, and some who are not administrators at all, having most unhappily mistaken their vocation.  When such a one becomes collector of a district his chitnis, or chief secretary, sees that that tide in the affairs of men has come which, “taken at the flood, leads on to fortune,” and his caste-fellows all through the service are filled with unholy joy.  But he does nothing rash or hasty.  Wilily and patiently he goes to work to make his own foundation sure first of all.  He studies his chief under all conditions, discovers his little foibles and vanities and feeds them sedulously.  He masters codes, rules and regulations, standing orders, precedents and past correspondence, till it is dangerous to contradict him and always safe to trust him.  In every difficulty he is at hand, clearing away perplexity and refreshing the “swithering” mind with his precision and assurance.  He becomes indispensable.  The collector reposes absolute confidence in him and is proud to say so in his reports.

Then the chitnis, if he is a Brahmin, addresses himself to the task of eliminating the Purbhoo from the service, or at least depriving him of place and power.  It is a delicate task, but the Brahmin’s touch is light.  He never disparages a Purbhoo from that day; “damning with faint praise” is safer and as effectual.  He practises the charity which covereth a multitude of faults, but he leaves a tag end of one peeping out to attract curiosity, and if the collector asks questions, he is candid and tells the truth, though with manifest reluctance.  Then he grapples with the gradation lists, which have fallen into confusion, and puts them into such excellent order that the collector can see at a glance every man’s past services and present claims to promotion.  And from these lists it appears that clearly, whenever any vacancy has to be filled, a Brahmin has the first claim.  And so, as the shades of night yield to the dawn of day, the Purbhoo by degrees fades away and disappears, and the star of the Brahmin rises and shines everywhere with still increasing splendour.

But the Purbhoo possesses his soul in patience, and keeps a note of every slip that the Brahmin makes.  For the next chitnis may be a Purbhoo, and then the day of reckoning will come and old scores will be paid off.  The Brahmin knows that too, and the thought of it makes him walk warily even in the day of his prosperity.  Thus our administration is saved from utter corruption.

XV

THE COCONUT TREE