The Humour and Pathos of Anglo-Indian Life Part 19

'"Good-morning, Mrs. H.; I'm sorry to see that, instead of mending matters, as I hoped to do, I have----"

'"There, sir, that will do," as she swept out of the room, waving me away from her with her hand. I restrained myself till I got into my palkee; since then I've done nothing but laugh--shook the palkee so much, that the boys looked in to see what was the matter; and then I heard them laughing among themselves, and I have hardly recovered yet.'

'Upon my word,' said G., 'you possess an amount of cheek that I didn't give you credit for, nor did I think that little spitfire would let out so furiously.'

'But poor H.,' said my brother, 'he got bastinadoed last night, it appears; and now you have let him in for a second castigation.'

'Pooh, pooh!' said G.; 'if a man is such an ape as to allow himself to be so used by that little virago of a wife of his, he deserves all he gets for staying out an hour later than the time promised--to have all the dirty water in the house emptied on his head; he well deserves the libation for submitting to it so tamely; it is a very perfect ill.u.s.tration of the "palmam qui meruit, ferat."'

So each of the parties was left to his own mood; G. contemptuous, though amused; my brother thoughtful, though inclined to laugh; and H. B.

revelling in the fun and perfectly indifferent to everything beside.

For two months after this date, Mr. and Mrs. H. pa.s.sed each and every member of the party at G.'s with averted heads whenever they met them.

Mr. G. and all his friends saluted them on every occasion just as usual, till at last this dreadful feud was healed, outwardly at least, by Mr.

V.'s good offices; but H. never went again to any of G.'s parties.

THE END.