English clothes to be a half-caste. For the native, however humble, hates
and despises the man of mixed breed.

When he reached the Palace he made his way through the throng of beggars,
touts, and hangers-on in the outer courtyard, and, passing the sentries,
all of whom recognised him, entered the building. Through the maze of
passages and courts he penetrated to the room occupied by his father in
virtue of his appointment in the Rajah's service.

He found the old man sitting cross-legged on a mat in the dirty, almost
bare apartment. He was chewing betel-nut and spitting the red juice into a
pot. He looked up as his son entered.

Among the other out-of-date customs and silly superstitions that the
younger Chunerbutty boasted of having freed himself from, were the
respect and regard due to parents--usually deep-rooted in all races of
India, and indeed of the East generally. So without any salutation or
greeting he sat down on the one ricketty chair that the room contained,
and said ill-temperedly:

"Here I am, having ridden miles in the heat and endured discomfort for
some absurd whim of thine. Why didst thou send for me? I told thee never
to do so unless the matter were very important. I had to eat abuse from
that drunken Welshman to get permission to come. I had to swear that
thou wert on the point of death. Then he consented, but only because, as
he said, I might catch thy illness and die too. May jackals dig him from
his grave and devour his corpse!"

As the father and son sat confronting each other the contrast between them
was significant of the old Bengal and the new. The silly, light-minded