"I have come by permission of the master of the house, the honourable Principal of the College, to look for a relative who is lost," he replied, with as much dignity as he could muster to his aid. "Do you suppose I have him in my pocket?" "No, woman; but I have reason to believe that he is hiding somewhere on these premises, and I will not leave until I have thoroughly searched them." "Search away, then, and be quick about it. See for yourself who is here. I am not going to help you if you can't take my word for it." She turned her back on him and moved into the middle of the room. As he did not follow immediately she called impatiently over her shoulder. "Come along! Don't stand there all the evening. What are you waiting for?" His eyes were fixed with some anxiety on the figure extended upon the bed and a woman close by who was preparing to make a fresh poultice. She held a kettle of hot water in her hand. "That's my son, William, a soldier on leave from Bangalore," remarked Mrs. Hulver, half turning to him again. "His father was a soldier and he takes after him--short in the temper and strong in the arm. You need not be afraid of him. He's just recovering from a canteen fight in which he made a man bigger than himself--a regular giant--swallow all his front teeth; and they were his own, too." There was a ring of unconscious pride in the mother's voice as she exaggerated her son's exploits. "I am not afraid of the soldier, woman," replied Sooba. "The law protects me from violence. What I object to is the presence of that sweeper by his cot. She is a pariah and her presence is defiling to one of my caste." "Oh! is it? All the same she is my servant and she is there by my orders and there she will stay." The woman glanced at him with fear, and showed a disposition to abandon her work and retire in spite of "orders." Mrs. Hulver detected the weakness. She picked up the sweeper's broom that was lying near and pointed with it to the basin containing the bread. "You stay where you are till I give you leave to go. Pour the hot water on to the bread. Wring out those cloths and get them ready for the poultice. As soon as I've seen this man through my rooms I'll take the beef off my son's eye and bandage it with wet rags." The visitor stepped gingerly into the room, sidling away from the untouchable, and began to look round. Mrs. Hulver took no notice of him. Her attention was devoted to her son. She leaned over him, patting his pillow and touching the shawl in her solicitude for his comfort. "You lie quiet, William," she said in English, "and don't you mind the visitor. You've got to get well in time to join your regiment at the end of your leave or there'll be more trouble. You must be patient. As William, your father, used to say: 'Time and patience will carry a man through the roughest day.'"