Noreen had superintended the preparation and despatch of the
supplies for their guests and could ride home now with a clear conscience
to wait for her brother to return for their second breakfast. The early
morning repast, the _chota hazri_ of an Anglo-Indian household, is a very
light and frugal one, consisting of a cup of coffee or tea, a slice of
toast, and one or two bananas.
As she pulled up her pony in front of the bungalow a man came down the
steps of the verandah and helped her to dismount.
"Oh, thank you, Mr. Chunerbutty," she exclaimed, "and good morning."
"Good morning, Miss Daleham. Just back from your ride with Fred, I
suppose?"
The newcomer was the engineer of the estate. The staff of the tea-garden of
Malpura consisted of three persons, the manager, a hard-drinking old
Welshman called Parry; the assistant manager, Daleham; and this man. As a
rule the employees of these estates are Europeans. Chunerbutty was an
exception. A Bengali Brahmin by birth, the son of a minor official in the
service of a petty rajah of Eastern Bengal, he had chosen engineering
instead of medicine or law, the two professions that appeal most to his
compatriots. A certain amount of native money was invested in the company
that owned the Malpura garden; and the directors apparently thought it good
policy to employ an Indian on it.
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