Related article: play. 1 was but a pcjor gambler, timid when winning, quite upset by bad luck, and one night I had lost a very large sum — for me, whose whole worldly wealth at that time amounted to just £i. I owed close on /70 in chits and LO.U.'s. Where was I to get such a sum ? I might draw upon my father, but that I was deter- mined I would not do, for I knew that he could not meet it without being put to terrible straits. He had sent me a little money to help me with my Indian outfit, and had then plainly told me I must expect no more for some time to come. Yet I must pay up or be dis- graced. It was a debt of Generic Glyburide honour. Nothing could cancel it but cash, or the loss of my good name. The more I brooded that night in the silent solitude of my berth, the more hopelessly was I at fault, the more despairing I be- came, till at last in a fit of frenzy I rushed on deck meaning to throw myself overboard. Now I felt a firm hand was placed upon my shoulder, and I was checked by the solemn words, ** Hech laddie ! would you com- mit sic an awfu* sin — tak' your ain life. Come awa* mon, and tell me what a* this may mean." It was the voice of our Scotch skipper and sailing master, Cap- tain McPhail. I followed him into his own cabin at the stern, where he talked to me like a father, and still more like a father counted out a roll of golden guineas sufficient to liquidate my debt. ** Don't fash yersel about re- payment, laddie, I can trust to your Buy Glyburide Online honour, but not to your sense. And I'll just swear you on the Book that ye'll never touch a caird again so long as ye live. That's the best repayment ye can mak* me, that and the kno — ^ledge Tve saved ye frae hell fire." I took the oath gladly and gratefully, but I swore also that this true Samaritan should not lose by his kindness. And he did not, as I am proud to be able to tell. I played no more that voyage, despite the jeering appeals of my comrades, who at last gave me the cold shoulder and let me go my own way. My way was towards study. The good skipper had lent me an old Hindustani gram- mar, over which I pored to such Purchase Glyburide good purpose that Purchase Glyburide Online when we ar- rived at Madras I already pos- sessed some smattering of the language. It was my firm and fixed inten- tion to repay Captain McPhail at the very first opportunity ; I was resolved to save every farthing for that purpose, and yet during the first few months after landing at Madras I found that it was out of the question. So far from saving I was drifting into further indebtedness slowly and surely, and beyond all power to check myself. It was utterly impossible to balance income with expendi- ture. Month after month I was faced with an increasing deficit, and I could only meet it by bor- rowing from the shroffs, the native bankers and money-lenders, who claimed Cheap Glyburide exorbitant terms, but who were certainly most accommo- dating, lending readily and never appearing anxious to have their m'oney back. I had always heard and read of India as the land of promise, a place where gold was to be picked up from the ground and pagodas shaken from the trees. Never was a poor lad more bitterly dis- 1897.] MY GRANDFATHER S JOURNALS. 281 appointed. There was wealth enough for some, princely allow- ances leading to quick jtortunes, but only for stafFand commanding officers and civil servants, not for British subalterns struggling on half batta, and hard put to it to live. In those days (it is all changed now, and for the better I believe) an ensign's pay was no more tnan 31 pagodas, all told, a little more than £\7.^ taking the pagoda at eight shillings, its full value. With this I had to meet all outlay. I could not do it ; it was out of the question, nor yet could I reduce my expenses. Here are some of the items, which may be interesting to those who come after me, and care to know Order Glyburide how officers lived in the East in my time. My messing, dinner only, and an occasional tiffin (but that was not a regular meal) came to 9 pagodas a month, or £^ I2S. ; my wine, and I was obliged by health and custom to drink a pint of Madeira daily, cost me nearly twice as much ; it was the cheapest wine to Order Glyburide Online be had, being the nearest, but its price Buy Cheap Glyburide was 6 or 7 pagodas per dozen, and I drank two and a half dozen in the month, or £^ worth. I ate my breakfast, tea and bread and fruit, in my bungalow, at a cost of 3 pagodas ; I had to keep several servants — two bearers, a washerman and barber, coolies and tent lascars if on guard or under canvas, and a tailor to my own cheek, for I must appear decent and well- dressed on parade and every public occasion. I calculated that to keep up my uniform, jacket waistcoat, hat, feathers, one epaulette, with small-clothes, buckles, gorget, ribbons and bows, my underlinen, boots, socks, and so forth, I must spend on an average 10 pagodas or £\ per month, with an additional 4 pa- godas [£\ I2S.) for hair powder, blackball and soap. Sometimes I must write a letter, and sta- tionery costs money ; I could not sit always in the dark at night, and candles Buy Glyburide were expensive. These luxuries cost me £1 and more per month. All this amounted to about 42 pagodas, 11 or 12 more than I received as pay, ^nd the items were all, so to speak, bare neces- saries of life. I might perhaps have economised on the wine, but it would have gained me much ill-will where I was already rather unpopular as a mean, close-fisted fellow ; besides, the doctors warned me that some stimulant was in- dispensable in that climate. Of course I could indulge in no ex- travagance, great or small ; I could not afford to invite a friend to mess ; I could never drink beer (a more expensive luxury than Madeira) nor spirits and water ; I could not keep a pony, nor could I make any expeditions into the jungle to shoot or fish, or get a change from the dull round of the cantonments. I did not starve of course, not then, and I made a good appear- ance outside my tent, which con- sisted of one room and a sort of entrance-hall. I nside, my poverty was but too manifest. I could buy no furniture, but I had one