Transcriber’s Note:
The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.
| Page | ||
|---|---|---|
| The Man who would be King | 3 | |
| Wee Willie Winkie | 67 | |
| Baa Baa, Black Sheep | 85 | |
| His Majesty the King | 132 | |
| The Drums of the Fore and Aft | 151 | |
The Law, as quoted, lays down a fair conductof life, and one not easy to follow.I have been fellow to a beggar again andagain under circumstances which prevented eitherof us finding out whether the other was worthy.I have still to be brother to a Prince, though I oncecame near to kinship with what might have beena veritable King, and was promised the reversionof a Kingdom—army, law-courts, revenue, andpolicy all complete. But, to-day, I greatly fear thatmy King is dead, and if I want a crown I must gohunt it for myself.
The beginning of everything was in a railwaytrain upon the road to Mhow from Ajmir. Therehad been a Deficit in the Budget, which necessitatedtravelling, not Second-class, which is only half as4dear as First-class, but by Intermediate, which isvery awful indeed. There are no cushions in theIntermediate class, and the population are eitherIntermediate, which is Eurasian, or native, whichfor a long night journey is nasty, or Loafer, whichis amusing though intoxicated. Intermediates donot buy from refreshment-rooms. They carrytheir food in bundles and pots, and buy sweetsfrom the native sweetmeat-sellers, and drink theroadside water. That is why in the hot weatherIntermediates are taken out of the carriages dead,and in all weathers are most properly lookeddown upon.
My particular Intermediate happened to beempty till I reached Nasirabad, when a big black-browedgentleman in s