‘Old wives’ tale. Last week I had the honour of attending a lecture by Professor Stewart from Oxford. He says the Brahmins gained their superiority after Alexander’s invasion. Their Sanskrit has its origins in Greek. Alexander enforced Greek on some groups. These groups mixed Greek with their own impure tongues and Sanskrit was born. Within two generations following Alexander’s invasion, a whole lot of people spoke Sanskrit. Today, we call them Brahmins. This is all hidden. The Brahmins don’t want us to know. There’s this man going around town saying the sages who wrote their Vedas lived in the Arctic caves  . during the interglacial period. Here, they move around naked, without shame, with just one thread across their chests. How could they possibly have survived in the Arctic?’

‘Wouldn’t their ink freeze?’ Thompson added.

‘They must have used pencils.’

‘Isn’t he the same man who invented that festival of the elephant god?’

‘Better in prison than going around sowing the seeds of ignorance. The time has come to lead by example. The native women should no longer be slaves to their men. We must liberate them.’

‘I agree.’ The breeze had disappeared and Thompson felt itchy under his belt. He was sweating. He wondered how red his nose was.

‘But the King’s word alone won’t be enough. We need the support of the new classes, the businesses.’

‘We’re united in this mission,’ Thompson responded. He raised his left arm in the air and brought it down diagonally, managing to scratch his nose with his sleeve.

‘We need men like you?’

‘Thank you for your kind words,’ said Thompson, in a tone more polite than agreeable. ‘Now if you can please excuse me, I am in the middle of something.’

‘Oh! Yes, of course.’

As soon as Mapel Jones left, Thompson peeped out.

‘Did she speak to you?’

‘No, sir,’ his secretary responded.

‘Good,’ he said. Who knows if the Presbyterian Mission is proving good for the natives? It is certainly doing good for Miss Jones.

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