'Through Persia on a side-saddle' [‎142] (173/360)

142 THROUGH PERSIA ON A SIDE-SADDLE
the medicine-chest with much ceremony, and delighted
her with a gift of pills. Straightway the third wife started
a most curious complaint, affirming that whenever she
smelt a flower or a fruit terrible pains would run through
her whole body. This remarkable malady was entirely
beyond my small skill, and I firmly declined to cope with
it, putting away the medicines somewhat hastily as the
slaves showed signs of wishing to be doctored for that
universal, but somewhat vague complaint entitled dard-i-dil
(heartache).
I now began to wonder when my guests would take their
departure, for the two hours of their visit had completely
exhausted all the ideas that I could express in Persian.
Conversation was flagging lamentably when Baji appeared,
and with her most engaging smile remarked to the
assembled company that the Sahib was just coming.
This announcement caused a general stampede: the
cotton sheets were hastily adjusted, slippers put on, children
and kalians snatched up, and with warm handshakes and
' khoda hafiz-i-shumas ' (good-byes), my visitors and their
train went off in a great hurry. As soon as they were
gone Hashim came in to clear away, and being surprised
at not seeing my brother, who had been calling on the
Governor of Rahbur, I asked my waiter where he was.
Hashim giggled, and became much confused, but finally
confessed that, thinking my guests had stayed quite long
enough, he had hit upon this means of sending them away.
I felt that I ought to reprove him for conduct which in
a European servant would have been most reprehensible,
but could only feel grateful to him for having relieved
me of the thirteen or fourteen persons who had crowded
into my small room !