Good, easy Horace Barton had got over that sort of thing, for after
returning from the Suddur Aydowlett, he would seek the quiet of his
sanctum sanctorum, and with his Hooka and iced Sherbet, would regale
himself until the dressing bell rang for dinner, after which he would
entertain Arthur with stories of the Pindaree War, the suppression of
Thuygee, and relate wonderful feats of looting, perpetrated by the most
expert robbers in the world, the Bheel tribes.

"But, my friend," said Horace, on one of these occasions, "the greatest
drawback to a young soldier's advancement in this country, is the great
facility that is afforded him for getting into debt; and should you
unfortunately fall into the difficulty, I strongly advise you to draw on
your paymaster, go under stoppages or apply to a friend, but not under
any circumstances have recourse to those scourges of the country, the
native Sheroffs or money-lenders, and in order to fix your attention to
this matter, I will relate a circumstance that occurred to a friend of
mine some years ago, which will, I think, prove to you the danger of
having anything to do with those gentry, as you might not escape their
clutches as my friend ingeniously did.

"There was no denying that Harry Esdale was the handsomest, gayest and
most popular man in the station, and was generally to be found taking
the lead in any thing that promised fun and frolic. In fact, no ball,
party, picnic, cricket-match, race or private theatricals were
considered complete without him. Having little else to depend upon
besides his pay, no wander that his pecuniary affairs became embarrassed
and were to him a source of great annoyance and trouble. To extricate
himself for the time being from this unpleasant dilemma, he had recourse
to the native Sheroffs, from whom he had borrowed from time to time
certain sums of different amounts at an enormous rate of interest, until