The old man had been of late so abstracted from the daily affairs of the
world, and so absorbed in his own special studies, that it was difficult
to engage his attention upon any ordinary, mundane topic. Curious to
know what it was that had drawn him so far out of himself, I opened the
gate softly, and walking quietly round the laurel bushes, found him
sitting, to my astonishment, with none other than the very man who was
occupying my thoughts, Ram Singh, the Buddhist.
The two were sitting upon a garden bench, and the Oriental appeared to
be laying down some weighty proposition, checking every point upon his
long, quivering, brown fingers, while my father, with his hands thrown
abroad and his face awry, was loud in protestation and in argument.
So absorbed were they in their controversy, that I stood within a
hand-touch of them for a minute or more before they became conscious of
my presence.
On observing me the priest sprang to his feet and greeted me with the
same lofty courtesy and dignified grace which had so impressed me the
day before.
"I promised myself yesterday," he said, "the pleasure of calling upon
your father. You see I have kept my word. I have even been daring
enough to question his views upon some points in connection with the
Sanscrit and Hindoo tongues, with the result that we have been arguing
for an hour or more without either of us convincing the other. Without
pretending to as deep a theoretical knowledge as that which has made
the name of James Hunter West a household word among Oriental scholars,
I happen to have given considerable attention to this one point, and
indeed I am in a position to say that I know his views to be unsound.
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