been captain of his college at home, and that won't lessen his sense of
self-esteem either. I can foresee trouble with that boy!"

"Sahib, there is a service I could render!"

The Rajput spoke with a strangely constrained voice all of a sudden,
but the Commissioner did not notice it; he was too busy pulling on a
wool-lined jacket to ward off the evening chill.

"Well, risaldar--what then?"

"I think that I could teach the son of Cunnigan-bahadur to be worth his
salt."

"If you'll teach him to be properly respectful to his betters I'll be
grateful to you, Mahommed Gunga."

"Then, sahib, I shall have certain license allowed me in the matter?"

"Do anything you like, in reason, risaldar! Only keep the pup from
cutting his eye-teeth on his seniors' convenience, that's all!"

Mahommed Gunga wasted no time after that on talking, nor did he wait to
specify the nature of the latitude he would expect to be allowed him;
he knew better. And he knew now that the one chance that he sought had
been given him.

Like all observant natives, he was perfectly aware that the British
weakness mostly lay in the age of the senior officers and the slowness
of promotion. There were majors of over fifty years of age, and if a