M. L. Hope

“ With its wondrous charm and fragrant air,
And ere night had fallen had crossed the sea,
And come to the land of the banyan tree,
Where nature is wrapped in mystery deep,
And the gods in the cups of the Lotus-flower sleep ”

“ By the moon which is hung in the heavens
Like a silver lamp in a shrine;
By the stars which shine out in their radiance with a
lustre, undimmed and bright,
The day hath its wealth of beauty, but what can excel the night! ”

“ And when the first blush of dawn doth color the Eastern sky
The watchman calleth the faithful to prayer,
With his solemn mysterious cry.
V.
And now hath the night departed,
With its silence and shadows deep,
And the weary, toiling worker hath waked from his dreamless sleep,
For the sun now reigns in the heavens, filling the world with light,
And with its first beams we say farewell,
Farewell to the dreams of night.
—————
I.
"What meaneth this black magic?" ”

“ When he saw the horseless car go forth with only a man inside,
And he sat and planned what rupees he would reap
When the magic failed or went to sleep.
Double fare, at least, he thought,
He'd demand from those whom his services sought;
But, alas, for his dreams of wealth that day,
The magical car had come to stay.
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II.
But what of the poor old bhisti's, whose work had been so far
To water with their musick the track of the horseless car? ”

“ I said in pretended dismay,
"I have no money to pay this bill, the man can go away;"
"But, sahib," said Buncee quickly, "there are my rupees, you know."
Do you wonder I liked the youngster, or that I valued him so?
And oft in the gloaming I sit and think, and memory backward flies;
For many there be with hearts as true in that land under Eastern skies.
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GLOSSARY
No. ”

“ And to water it well is now their pride;
When the sahibs drive there in the cool of the day.
They see them at work in the old-time way.
—————
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A little hill-boy was Buncee, a chokra trusty and true ”