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Kipling, Rudyard, 1865-1936

"From Mine Own People"


. . . . . . . . .
He got understanding a month later.
A peculiar point of this peculiar country is the way in which a heartless
Government transfers men from one end of the Empire to the other. You can never
be sure of getting rid of a friend or an enemy till he or she dies. There was a
case once--but that's another story.
Haggert's Department ordered him up from Dindigul to the Frontier at two days'
notice, and he went through, losing money at every step, from Dindigul to his
station. He dropped Mrs. Haggert at Lucknow, to stay with some friends there,
to take part in a big ball at the Chutter Munzil, and to come on when he had
made the new home a little comfortable. Lucknow was Hannasyde's station, and
Mrs. Haggert stayed a week there. Hannasyde went to meet her. And the train
came in, he discovered which he had been thinking of for the past month. The
unwisdom of his conduct also struck him. The Lucknow week, with two dances, and
an unlimited quantity of rides together, clinched matters; and Hannasyde found
himself pacing this circle of thought:--He adored Alice Chisane--at least he
HAD adored her. AND he admired Mrs. Landys-Haggert because she was like Alice
Chisane. BUT Mrs. Landys-Haggert was not in the least like Alice Chisane, being
a thousand times more adorable.


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