"Possibly he was; but after all that he has gone through his character must have strengthened marvellously. I have known similar cases, although not among the higher castes. The fervent religious instinct of the Hindu sustains him in circumstances where a less religious temperament would give way." "You believe that he is under his father's roof?" "From what I gathered yesterday afternoon in my inquiry of the town's people, I feel sure that he has not been allowed to leave the place." "Is he safe?" The question was asked with an anxiety the Principal could not hide. "Ah! that I cannot undertake to say. All the same I have a strong hope that beyond petty persecution he is, comparatively speaking, safe. My hope originates with Bopaul. His manner gave me confidence. I met him in the town; he spoke openly of his friend's disappearance, and seemed in no way concerned about it. He laughed at the theory of suicide. If he had any suspicion of a tragedy he would not show such indifference. I know for a fact that he is very much attached to Ananda." "They were together in England and they both felt Coomara's death. I was with them at the time, if you remember. The accident was a great shock to us all, and my nerves are not what they used to be. The person least affected was Bopaul apparently," said Wenaston. "We don't know how it affected him; he has a peculiar nature, and hides his real sentiments under a careless flippancy which his actions frequently belie." "He certainly is a strange mixture of incorruptible orthodoxy and modern tolerance," assented Wenaston. Alderbury commented tersely and incisively on the new Hinduism of the Presidency towns, and compared it with the old-fashioned bigotry to be found up-country, where there was less European influence than in the great educational centres. Native states with their native officials were even still further behind than British India, opposing religious reform with strong prejudiced conservatism. "I suppose you welcome this new tolerance as a step in the right direction." "Not at all," exclaimed Alderbury, his fighting instinct roused. "It is more difficult to attack than the old intolerance; it is elusive, shifty, the outcome of the Brahmanical facility of adaptation which is the invariable resource of the Hindu philosopher in every religious innovation. I would rather come to blows with the fanatical old Brahman than with one of these modern men whose policy is to agree with reservation." "So you turn to the untouchables." "Who form a sixth of India's population. They offer us a wide field for our energies," replied Alderbury. "You are wise to give the caste people the go-by." The missionary was up in arms at once at the implication that he turned his back on any one.