I see, by your letters, that you have not forgotten
our tongue."
"Not in the least, Mortiz. I have, for years, spoken nothing else with
Dick, and he speaks it as well as I do."
"That is good," the Rajah replied, in his own tongue, and in a tone of
relief. "I was wondering how he would get on with us.
"Now, let us sit down. We have so much to tell each other, and,
moreover, I am ravenous for breakfast, as I have ridden forty miles
since sunrise."
Breakfast was speedily served, the Rajah eating in English fashion.
"I cling to some of our mother's ways, you see, Margaret. As I have
grown older, I have become more English than I was. Naturally, as a
boy of thirteen, as I was when you last saw me, I listened to the talk
of those around me, and was guided by their opinions a good deal.
Among them, there was a feeling of regret that our father had married
an English woman; and I, of course, was ever trying my hardest to show
that in riding, or the chase, or in exercises of any kind, I was as
worthy to be the son of an Indian rajah as if I had no white blood in
my veins.
"As I grew up, I became wiser. I saw how great the English were, how
steadily they extended their dominions, and how vastly better off were
our people, under their sway, than they were in the days when every
rajah made war against his neighbour, and the land never had rest.
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