The picture is a big oil painting of the old Indian School and has a massive solid gold frame.  The picture is a beauty—­a thing worth seeing.

All the year round it hangs on the eastern wall of the room occupied by the head of the family.

Now the peculiar thing with this family is that no male member of the family dies out of his turn.  The eldest male member dies leaving behind everybody else.  The next man then becomes the eldest and dies afterwards and so on.

But before the death of the head of the family the warning comes in a peculiar way.

The picture of the goddess is found hanging upside down.  One morning when the head of the family comes out of his bed-room and the youngsters go in to make the room tidy, as they call it, (though they generally make the room more untidy and finally leave it to the servants) they find the famous family picture hanging literally topsyturvy (that is with head downwards) and they at once sound the alarm.  Then they all know that the head of the family is doomed and will die within a week.

But this fact does not disturb the normal quiet of the family.  Because the pater familias is generally very old and infirm and more generally quite prepared to die.

But the fact remains that so long as the warning does not come in this peculiar fashion every member of the house-hold knows that there is no immediate danger.

For instance it is only when this warning comes that all the children who are out of the station are wired for.

Every reader must admit that this is rather weird.

THE END

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Mr. and Mrs. JOHN BROWN AT HOME.

A series of amusing sketches of Station Life in India.

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