Our Little Hindu Cousin

s away in it somehow. The "ekka ghurrie" is a funny kind of carriage made of bamboo poles hung between two high wheels, with a red canop

had to balance himself as best he could on one of the shafts. Nobody minded this, however, and away went the l

or yellow with bright green verandas; and the people, too, were dressed so gaily in all kinds

te of the city and came into

here are all the shops; and in a large city like Lucknow t

You will find the silk merchants in one street; and, in still another, all the shops that sell cotton goods,-the pret

er and Shriya and her mother got out; for it was here they were going to

y. The shop of Chola's father was one of the largest in the street, though we would think it very small. It was more like a big cupboard in the side of the street than anything else; and he could reach nearly everything in it without getting up from hi

his elbow was a low table on which were piles of precious stones. He liked to come with his father to the Bazaar and watch him make the gold and silver into beautiful things. When

th is often put into the form of necklaces, rings, and bracelets, which the women wear all the time. The Hindu

to a tall man in a long silk robe, with a big turban on his head, who stopped to look in the

all man said: "

y," answer

u way of saying

way at the great pipe for some minutes, meanwhile saying never a word. Soon he began to pay compliments; and then he looked at, and priced, nearl

slipped away to a shop a little way down the street, wh

r a sight of his little friend Nao. Only Nao's father was in sight, and he sat dozing over his hookah. Farther down the

little friend by touching his forehead and the palm of his right hand, "let us go to where the caravans gather about

among the strange men who come down from the hill

, I will go alone," said Nao, who

little Hindu boy likes to be told to stay at home with the girls, because in his country it is

and Chola could tell by the colour and shape of each man's turban to just what caste each man belonged and what business he was in. There are many of these castes, or classes, of Hindu people, and each caste keeps strictly to itself. A person of one caste must not marry outside his caste; or touch persons of another caste, even; or ea

rried over them by a servant, but now nearly every one carries one;-and they are needed in a country where the sun shines hotly all the year rou

ream of water from the goatskin bag, with which he was watering the dusty street, might p

," said Chola, pointing to a circle of p

eaves, until finally it became a tall plant from which unfolded a great red flower. All at once, as the juggler held the plant up for every one to see, the flower changed into a cage containing two white doves, and, when the door of the cage was opened, the doves came out and began to circle about the juggler's head. At this there was a murmur of wonder a

e are no such things in sight as the flower and the doves, and that it is all the power o

ne to believe otherwise; for it is true that the jugglers of India do the most wonderful tricks, far

the boys came to the great square where the caravans camped.

s and under them, constantly being scolded by the men for getting in their way. Finally Nao spied his

to ask thee to share my dinner?" he continued, pointing to the big dish of boiled

eal out of the big bowl. They heard how he had come from the great plains of China, across the snow-covered mountains of the north-the great Himalayas, the highest mountains in the world;-and how his camels had waded through snow-drifts up to their necks. He told them marvellous tales of the great cities of Delhi and Lahore, with their marble palaces and beautiful gardens; and of the grea

mel," said Nao, as he and Chola m

nner has made me hungry. Let us buy some sweetmeats," he continued, darting across the street to a little booth where there were bowls and baskets filled with all kind

k his head under the awning of the little shop and took a big mouthful of preserved fruit from one of the baskets, at t

EETS IN T

the animal; for it was one of the sacred bulls from a near-by temple. They were allowed

man, turning to the boys, who could

ifferent kind of customer from the buffalo. How many 'cowries' do you want for this almond paste? N

e it to Chola, who paid him with some tiny shells, threaded on a string, which he took from the wallet he carried in his dress. Thes

the dust. This was intended as a sort of a boundary-line to keep any low-caste person from coming too near them while they were

e last bit, some one came up a

my food unclean," he c

knows no better," said Chola, as he looked

as he pointed to the sweets; "but I meant no harm. I only wanted to ask i

house is far from here; in the street with the g

and I have just come from England; but my papa has been here a long time. While he was buying something in one of the shops, I followed a

ly well, for he had been taught

you quickly to your home," said Chola, p

nearly bursting with importance, bargained with th

oys and climbed into the "rickshaw," which looked like a big perambulator. Away the man went with

little Sahib" as they jogged home in

g that Chola and Harry should meet in this way and be able to talk to each other. Mahala was very much disappo