youaregoingitHasn’tanykindfriendtoldyouthatshe’sthemostdangerouswomaninSimla？”
YeerechuckledandpassedoutWhen，ohwhen，wouldhisnewclothesbeready？HedescendedintotheMalltoinquire；andMrsHauksbee，comingovertheChurchRidgeinher’rickshaw，lookeddownuponhimapprovingly’He’slearningtocarryhimselfasifwereaman，insteadofapieceoffurniture，-and。”shescreweduphereyestoseethebetterthroughthesunlight-“heisamanwhenheholdshimselflikethat。
OhblessedConceit，whatshouldwebewithoutyou？”
Withthenewclothescameanewstockofself-confidenceOtisYeerediscoveredthathecouldenteraroomwithoutbreakingintoagentleperspiration-couldcrossone，eventotalktoMrs。
Hauksbee，asthoughroomsweremeanttobecrossedHewasforthefirsttimeinnineyearsproudofhimself，andcontentedwithhislife，satisfiedwithhisnewclothes，andrejoicinginthefriendshipofMrsHauksbee。
“Conceitiswhatthepoorfellowwants。”shesaidinconfidencetoMrsMallowe“IbelievetheymustuseCivilianstoploughthefieldswithinLowerBengalsYouseeIhavetobeginfromtheverybeginning-haven’tI？Butyou’lladmit，won’tyou，dear，thatheisimmenselyimprovedsinceItookhiminhandOnlygivemealittlemoretimeandhewon’tknowhimself。”
Indeed，Yeerewasrapidlybeginningtoforgetwhathehadbeen。
OneofhisownrankandfileputthematterbrutallywhenheaskedYeere，inreferencetonothing，“Andwhohasbeenmaking“ouaMembetofCouncil，lately？Youcarrythesideofhalfadozenof’em。”
“I-I’mawf’lysorryIdidn’tmeanit，youknow。”saidYeere，apologetically。
“There’llbenoholdingyou。”continuedtheoldstager，grimly。
“Climbdown，Otis-climbdown，andgetallthatbeastlyaffectationknockedoutofyouwithfever！
Threethousandamonthwouldn’tsupportit。”
YeererepeatedtheincidenttoMrsHauksbeeHehadcometolookuponherashisMotherConfessor。
“Andyouapologized！”shesaid“Oh，shame！IhateamanwhoapologizesNeverapologizeforwhatyourfriendcalled’side。’Never！It’saman’sbusinesstobeinsolentandoverbearinguntilhemeetswithastrongerNow，youbadboy，listentome。”
Simplyandstraightforwardly，asthe’rickshawloiteredroundJakko，MrsHauksbeepreachedtoOtisYeeretheGreatGospelofConceit，illustratingitwithlivingpicturesencounteredduringtheirSundayafternoonstroll。
“Goodgracious！”sheended，withthepersonalargument，“you’llapologizenextforbeingmyattache““
“Never！”saidOtisYeere“That’sanotherthingaltogetherIshallalwaysbe“-“What’scoming？”
thoughtMrs。
Hauksbee。
“Proudofthat。”saidOtis。
“Safeforthepresent。”shesaidtoherself。
“ButI’mafraidIhavegrownconceitedLikeJeshurun，youknow。
Whenhewaxedfat，thenhekickedIt’sthehavingnoworryonone’smindandtheHillair，I
suppose。”
“Hillair，indeed！”saidMrsHauksbeetoherself“He’dhavebeenhidingT~
intheClubtillthelastdayofhisleave，ifIhadn’tdiscoveredhim。”
Andaloud-“Whyshouldn’tyoube？Youhaveeveryrightto。”“I！Why？”
“Oh，hundredsofthingsI’mnotgoingtowastethislovelyafternoonbyexplaining；butIknowyouhaveWhatwasthatheapofmanuscriptyoushowedmeaboutthegrammaroftheaboriginalwhat’stheirnames？”
“G’渓lalsApieceofnonsenseI’vefartoomuchworktodotobotheroverGullalsnowYoushouldseemyDistrictComedownwithyourhusbandsomedayandI’llshowyouroundSuchalovelyplaceintheRains！Asheetofwaterwiththerailway-embankmentandthesnakesstickingout，and，inthesummer，greenfliesandgreensquashThepeoplewoulddieoffearifyoushookadogwhipat’emButtheyknowyou’reforbiddentodothat，sotheyconspiretomakeyourlifeaburdentoyouMyDistrict’sworkedbysomemanatDarjiling，onthestrengthofunativepleader’sfalsereportsOh，it’saheavenlyplace！”
OtisYeerelaughedbitterly。
“There’snottheleastnecessitythatyoushouldstayinitWhydoyou？”
“BecauseImustHow’mItogetoutofit？”
“How！InahundredandfiftywaysIfthereweren’tsomanypeopleontheroad，I’dliketoboxyourearsAsk，mydearboy，ask！Look，ThereisyoungHexarlywithsixyears’serviceandhalfyourtalentsHeaskedforwhathewanted，andhegotitSee，downbytheConvent！There’sMeArthursonwhohascometohispresentpositionbyasking-sheer，downrightasking-afterhehadpushedhimselfoutoftherankandfileOnemanisasgoodasanotherinyourservie~believemeI’veseenSimlaformoreseasonsthanIcaretothinkabout。
Doyousupposemenarechosenforappointmentsbecauseoftheirspecialfitnessbejorehand？Youhaveallpassedahightest-whatdoyoucallit？-inthebeginning，and，exceptforthefewwhohavegonealtogethertothehad，youcanallworkhardAskingdoestherestCallitcheek，callitinsolence，callitanythingyoulike，butask！Menargue-yes，Iknowwhatmensay-thataman，bythemereaudacityofhisrequest，inusthavesomegoodinhimAweakmandoesn’tsay：’Givemethisandthat。’Hewhines’Whyhaven’tIbeengiventhisandthat？’IfyouwereintheArmy，IshouldsaylearntospinplatesorplayatambourinewithyourtoesAsitis-ask！YoubelongtoaServicethatoughttobeabletocommandtheChannelFleet，orsetalegattwentyminutes’notice，andyetyouhesitateoveraskingtoescapefromasquashygreendistrictwhereyouadmityouarenotmasterDroptheBengalGovernmentaltogetherEvenDarjilmgisalittleout-of-the-wayhole。
Iwasthereonce，andtherentswereextortionateAssertyourself。
GettheGovernmentofIndiatotakeyouoverTrytogetontheFrontier，whereeverymanhasagrandchanceifhecantrusthimselfGosomewhere！Dosomething！Youhavetwicethewitsandthreetimesthepresenceofthemenuphere，and，and“-MrsHauksbeepausedforbreath：
thencontin’ted-
“andinanywayyoulookatit，yououghttoYouwhocouldgosofar！”
“Tdon’tknow。”saidYeere，rathertakenabackbytheunexpectedeloquence“1haven’tsuchagoodopinionofmyself。”
ItwasnotstrictlyPlatonic，hutitwasPolicyMrsHauksbeelaidherhandlightlyupontheunglovedpawthatrestedontheturn~d-backed’rickshawhood，and，lookingthemanfullintheface，saidtenderly，almosttootenderly，’IbelieveinyouifyoumistrustyourselfIsthatenough，myfriend？”
“Itisenough。”answeredOtis，verysolemnly。
Hewassilentforalongtime，redreamingthedramasthathehaddreamedeightyearsago，butthroughthemallran，assheet-lightningthroughgoldencloud，thelightofMrsHauksbce’svioleteyes。
CuriousandimpcnetrablearethemazesofSimlalife-theonlyexistenceinthisdesolatelandworththelivingGraduallyitwentabroadamongmenandwomen，inthepausesbetweendance，playandGymkhana，thatOtisYeere，themanwiththenewly-litlightofself-confidenceinhiseyes，had“donesomethingdecent“inthewildswhencehecame。
HehadbroughtanerringMunicipalitytoreason，appropriatedthefundsonhisownresponsibility，andsavedthelivesofhundreds，HeknewmoreabouttheGullalsthananylivingman。
Hadavastknowledgeoftheaboriginaltribes；was，inspiteofhisjuniority，thegreatestauthorityonthea~originalGullals。
NoonequiteknewwhoorwhattheGullalsweretillThe’lussuek，whohadbeencallingonMrs。
~aukshee，andpridedhimselfuponpick-
mgpeople’sbrains，explainedtheywereatribeofferocioushillmen，somewherenearSikkim，whosefriendshipeventheGreatIndianEmpirewouldfinditworthherwhiletosecureNowweknowthatOtisYeerehadshowedMrsHauksbeehisMSnotesofsixyears’standingonthesameGullalsHehadtoldher，too，how，sickandshakenwiththefevertheirnegligencehadbred，crippledbythelossofhispetclerk，andsavagel~angryatthedesolationinhischarge，hehadoncedamnedthecollectiveeyesofhis“intelligentlocalboard“forasetofharamzadas。
Whichactof“brutalandtyrannousoppression“wonhimaReprimandRoyalfromtheBengatGovernment；hutintheanecdoteasamendedforNorthernconsumptionwefindnorecordofthisHencewe~reforcedtoconcludethatMrsHauksbeeeditedhisreminiscencesbeforesowingtheminidleears，ready，asshewel~knew，toexaggerategoodorevilAndOtisYeereborehimselfasbefittedtheheroofmanytales。
“Youcantalktomewhenyoudon’tfallintoabrownstudyTalknow，andtalkyourbrightestandbest。”saidMrsHaukshee。
OtisneedednospurLooktoama~whohasthecounselofawomanoforabovetheworldtobackhimSolon~ashekeepshishead，hecanmeetbothsexesonequalground-anadvantag6
neverintendedbyProvidence，whofashionedManononedayandWomanonanother，insignthatneithershouldknov’morethanaverylittleoftheother’ah’fe。
Suchamangoesfar，or，thecounselbeingwithdrawn，collapsessuddenlywhilehisworldseeksthereason。
GeneralledbyMrsHauksbeewho，ThEEDUCATIONOFOTISYEERE
again，hadallMrsMallowe’swisdomatherdisposal，proudofhimselfand，intheend，believinginhimselfbecausehewasbelievedin，OtisYeerestoodreadyforanyfortunethatmightbefall，certainthatitwouldbegoodHewouldfightforhisownhand，andintendedthatthissecondstruggleshouldleadtobetterissuethanthefirsthelplesssurrenderofthebewildered’Stunt。
Whatmighthavehappened，itisimpossibletosayThislamentablethingbefell，breddirectlybyastatementofMrsHauksbeethatshewouldspendthenextseasoninDarjiling。
“Areyoucertainofthat？”saidOtisVeere。
“QuiteWe’rewritingaboutahouse~iow。
OtisYeere“stoppedd~ad。”asMrsHauksbeeputitindiscussingtherelapsewithMrsMallowe。
’~Hehasbehaved。”shesaid，angrily，’justlikeCaptainKerrington’spony-onlyOtisisadonkey-atthelastGymichanaPlantedhisforefeetandrefusedtogoonanotherstepPolly，myman’sgoingtodisappointmeWhatshallIdo？”
Asarul~，MrsMallowedoesnota~proveofstaring，butonthisoccasionsheopenedhereyestotheutmost。
“Youhavemanagedcleverlysofar。”，hesaid“Speaktohim，andaskhimwhathemeans。”
’Iwill-atto~night’sdance。”
“N~o，notatadance。”saidMrsMallowe，cautiously“Menarenever~themselvesquiteatdancesBetterwait’illto-morrowmorning。”
“NonsenseIfhe’sgoingto’vertinthisinsaneway，thereisn’tadayto~seAreyougaing？No？
Thensitupforme，there’sadearIshan’tstaylongerthansupperunderanycircumstances。”
Mr~Mallowewaitedthroughtheevening，lookinglongandearnestlyintothefire，andsometimessmilingtoherself。
“Oh！oh！oh！Theman’sanidiot！Araving，positiveidiot！I’msorryIeversawhim！”
MrsHauksbeeburstintoMrsMallowe’shouse，atmidnight，almostintears。
“Whatintheworldhashappened？”saidMrsMallowe，buthereyesshowedthatshehadguessedananswer。
“Happened！Everythinghashappened！HewasthereIwenttohimandsaid，’Now，whatdoesthisnonsensemean？’Don’tlaugh，dear，Ican’tbearit。
ButyouknowwhatImeanIsaidThenitwasasquare，andIsatitoutwithhimandwantedanexplanation，andhesaid-Oh！Ihaven’tpatiencewithsuchidiots！
YouknowwhatIsaidaboutgoingtoDarjilingnextyear？Itdoesn’tmattertomewhereIgoI’dhavechangedtheStationandlosttherenttohavesavedthisHesaid，insomanywords，thathewasn’tgoingtotrytoworkupanymore，because-becausehewouldbeshiftedintoaprovinceawayfromDarjiling，andhisownDistrict，wherethesecreaturesare，iswithinaday’sjourney“-“Ah-hh！”saidMrsMallowe，inatoneofonewhohassuccessfullytrackedanobscurewordthroughalargedictionary。
“Didyoueverhearofanythingsomad-soabsurd？AndhehadtheballathisfeetHehadonlytokickit！I