From
the time that I left India until the moment when fate literally
threw me in the way of the late Sir Charles Abingdon, I had heard
nothing of the cult of Fire-Tongue; and in spite of Naida's
assurance that its membership was not confined to Orientals, I
had long ago supposed it to be a manifestation of local
fanaticism, having no political or international significance.
"Then, lunching with the late Sir Charles after my accident in
the Haymarket, he put to me a question which literally made me
hold my breath.
"'Do you know anything of the significance of the term
Fire-Tongue?' he asked.
"I am not accustomed to any display of feeling in public, and I
replied in what I think was an ordinary tone:
"'In what connection, Sir Charles?'
"'Well,' said he, watching me oddly, 'I know you have travelled
in India, and I wondered if you had ever come in contact with the
legend which prevails there, that a second Zoroaster has arisen,
to preach the doctrine of eternal fire.'
"'I have heard it,' I replied, guardedly.
"'I thought it possible,' continued Sir Charles, 'and I am
tempted to tell you of a curious experience which once befell me
during the time that I was a guest of my late friend Colonel
Banfield in Delhi. My reputation as an osteologist was not at
that time so fully established as it later became, but I already
had some reputation in this branch of surgery; and one evening a
very dignified Hindu gentleman sought an interview with me,
saying that a distinguished native noble, who was a guest of his,
had met with a serious accident, and offering me a fee equivalent
to nearly five hundred pounds to perform an operation which he
believed to be necessary.
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