The  answer  came  immediately.  "  Eating  meat,  drinking  alcohol,
breaking  caste.  The  world  is  turned  upside  down.  No  one  reverences
the  traditions  now.     The  old  man  may  speak;  no  one  listens."

The  disconcerted  Padri  was  opening  his  mouth  to  provide  his  audi-


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IXDIA\T    VILLAGE   PICTURES


cnce  with  a  deeper  and  truer  definition  of  sin,  when  he  was  forestalled
by  an  impatient  Colporteur  who  was  travelling  with  him  for  the  purpose
of  selling  Christian  htcrature.  He  had  been  chafing  to  speak  for  the
last  half-hour,  and  the  Padri  was  glad  to  rest  for  a  time.  The  Colpor-
teur was  not  an  educated  man,  exactly.  He  knew  his  Bible,  however,
and  though  he  could  not  speak  grammatically,  he  spoke  like  an  ancient
prophet  about  the  horrible  corruption  around  him.  The  Padri  him-
self had  no  idea  how  bad  it  was  until  he  heard  the  Colporteur  that
evenin^f,  and,  not  beinsj  a  Piiavis^e,  his  own  sense  of  sin  revived.  He
felt  it  would  be  a  relief  to  cry  for  mercy  on  his  own  behalf  as  Vv'ell  as
on  behalf  of  the  audience.  "  Surely,"  thought  the  Padri,  when  the
Colporteur  had  finished  and  a  silence  reigned  that  could  almost  be
felt,  "  surely  they  know  what  sin  means  now.  These  people  have  been
introduced  to  their  own  hearts  at  last.  Now  perhaps  they  can  appre-
ciate the  Lord  Jesus."

The  Padri,  when  he  rose  once  more  to  speak,  faced  an  audience
whose  dark  inscrutable  eyes  gazed  into  his  with  an  expression  in
them  that  inspired  him  to  do  his  best  for  the  Lord  Jesus  who  came
to  seek  and  to  save,  and  for  the  poor  wayward  souls  before  him
who  needed  seeking  and  saving  so  much.
