Above the trees, not far away, is observed the weathercock of a chapel-spire, plainly indicating the location of the European quarter.  Taking a branch road leading in that direction, I discover a party of English and native gentlemen playing a game of lawn-tennis.  Arriving on the scene just as the game is breaking up, I am cordially invited to “come in and take a peg.”  To the uninitiated a “peg” is a rather ambiguous term, but to the Anglo-Indian its interpretation takes the seductive form of a big tumbler of brandy and soda, a “long drink,” than which nothing could be more acceptable in my present fagged-out condition.  No hesitation is therefore made in accepting; and, under the stimulating influence of the generous brandy and soda, exhausted nature is quickly recuperated.  While not an advocate of indiscriminate indulgence in alcoholic stimulants, after an enervating ride through the wilting heat of an Indian day I am convinced that nothing is more beneficial than what Anglo-Indians laconically describe as a “peg.”

This very opportune meeting results, naturally enough, in a pressing invitation to stay over and recruit up for a day, a programme to which I offer no objections, feeling rather overdone and in need of rest and recuperation.  Mine hosts are police-commissioners, having supervision over the police-district of Uniballa.  One of their number is on the eve of departure for his summer vacation in the Himalayas and, in honor of the event, several guests call round to partake of a champagne dinner, the sparkling Pommery Sec being quaffed ad libitum from pint tumblers.  At the present time, no surer does water seek its level than the after-dinner conversation of Anglo-Indian officials turns into the discussion of the great depreciation of the silver rupee and its relation to the exchange at home.  As the rate of exchange goes lower and lower, and no corresponding increase of salary takes place, the natural result is a great deal of hardship and dissatisfaction among those who, from various causes, have to send money to England.  From the Anglo-Indians’ daily association with Orientals and their peculiarly subtle understandings, it is perhaps not so surprising to find an occasional flight of fancy brought to bear upon the subject that would do credit to a professional romancer.  One ingenious young civil officer present evolves a deep, deep scheme to get even with the government for present injustice that for far-reaching and persistent revenge speaks volumes for the young gentleman’s determination to carry his point.  His brilliant scheme is to retire on a pension at the proper time, live to the age of eighty years, and then marry a healthy girl of sixteen.  As the pension of an Anglo-Indian government officer descends to his surviving widow, the ingenuity and depth of this person’s reasoning powers becomes at once apparent.  He proposes to take revenge for the present shortcomings of the government by saddling it with a pension for a hundred years or more after his retirement from active service.