But the real ruler of Lalpuri State was the Dewan or Prime Minister, a clever, ambitious, and unscrupulous Bengali Brahmin, endowed with all the talent for intrigue and chicanery of his race and caste as well as with their hatred of the British.  He had persuaded himself that the English dominion in India was coming to an end and was ready to do all in his power to hasten the event.  For he secretly nourished the design of deposing the Rajah and making himself the nominal as well as the virtual ruler of the State, and he knew that the British would not permit this.  His was the brain that had conceived the project of uniting the disloyal elements of Bengal with the foreign foes of the Government of India, and he was the leader of the disaffected and the chief of the conspirators.

When Chunerbutty arrived in Lalpuri he rode with difficulty through the crowded, narrow streets.  His sun-helmet and European dress earned him hostile glances and open insults, and more than one foul gibe was hurled at him as he went along by some who imagined him from his dark face and English clothes to be a half-caste.  For the native, however humble, hates and despises the man of mixed breed.

When he reached the Palace he made his way through the throng of beggars, touts, and hangers-on in the outer courtyard, and, passing the sentries, all of whom recognised him, entered the building.  Through the maze of passages and courts he penetrated to the room occupied by his father in virtue of his appointment in the Rajah’s service.

He found the old man sitting cross-legged on a mat in the dirty, almost bare apartment.  He was chewing betel-nut and spitting the red juice into a pot.  He looked up as his son entered.

Among the other out-of-date customs and silly superstitions that the younger Chunerbutty boasted of having freed himself from, were the respect and regard due to parents—­usually deep-rooted in all races of India, and indeed of the East generally.  So without any salutation or greeting he sat down on the one ricketty chair that the room contained, and said ill-temperedly: 

“Here I am, having ridden miles in the heat and endured discomfort for some absurd whim of thine.  Why didst thou send for me?  I told thee never to do so unless the matter were very important.  I had to eat abuse from that drunken Welshman to get permission to come.  I had to swear that thou wert on the point of death.  Then he consented, but only because, as he said, I might catch thy illness and die too.  May jackals dig him from his grave and devour his corpse!”