But he was an agreeable guide, ever keen to point out the beauties of his royal master's domain.

He peopled the hills with anything thev had a mind to slay--thar, ibex, or markhor, and bear by Elisha's allowance.

He discoursed of botany and ethnology with unimpeachable inaccuracy, and his store of local legends--he had been a trusted agent of the State for fifteen years, remember--was inexhaustible.
'Decidedly this fellow is an original,' said the taller of the two foreigners.

'He is like the nightmare of a Viennese courier.' 'He represents in little India in transition--the monstrous hybridism of East and West,' the Russian replied.

'It is we who can deal with Orientals.' 'He has lost his own country and has not acquired any other.