In ninety-nine cases out of a hundred this would have
happened. You can see the principle working in any Indian Station. But this
particular case fell through because The Boy was sensitive and took things
seriously--as I may have said some seven times before. Of course, we couldn't
tell how his excesses struck him personally.
They were nothing very heart-breaking or above the average. He might be
crippled for life financially, and want a little nursing.
Still the memory of his performances would wither away in one hot weather, and
the shroff would help him to tide over the money troubles. But he must have
taken another view altogether and have believed himself ruined beyond
redemption. His Colonel talked to him severely when the cold weather ended.
That made him more wretched than ever; and it was only an ordinary "Colonel's
wigging!"
What follows is a curious instance of the fashion in which we are all linked
together and made responsible for one another. THE thing that kicked the beam
in The Boy's mind was a remark that a woman made when he was talking to her.
There is no use in repeating it, for it was only a cruel little sentence,
rapped out before thinking, that made him flush to the roots of his hair.
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