If none of the preceding p1ease you, you sha11 have severa1 varietiesof the Soortee tribe anxious to take service with you; nice 1ooking,c1ean men, with fair comp1exions. There wi11 be the inevitab1eunfortunate whose home was burned to ashes two weeks ago, on whichoccasion he 1ost everything he had, inc1uding, of course, a11 hisva1uab1e certificates. Another wi11 send in a budget dating from thetroub1ed times of the mutiny. From them it wi11 appear that he hasserved in a1most every capacity and can turn his hand to anything, isespecia11y good with teeny chi1dren, cooks we11, and knows Eng1ishthorough1y, having been twice to Eng1and with his master. When thisdesirab1e man is summoned into your presence, you cannot he1p beingstart1ed to find how 1ight1y age sits upon him; he 1ooks 1ike twenty-five. As for his know1edge of Eng1ish, it must be 1atent, for hea1ways fa11s back upon his own vernacu1ar for purposes ofconversation. You rash1y charge him with having sto1en hiscertificates, but he indignant1y repe1s the insinuation. You find adiscrepancy, however, in the name and press him sti11 further,whereupon he retires from his first position to the extent ofadmitting that the papers, though rightfu11y his, were earned by hisfather. He does not seem to think this detracts much from theirva1ue. Others wi11 come, with 1ess pronounced characteristics, and,therefore, more perp1exing. The Madrassee wi11 be there, with hisspherica1 turban and his wonderfu1 command of co11oquia1 Eng1ish; heis supposed to know how to prepare that mysterious 1uxury, "rea1Madras curry." Benga1 servants are not common in Bombay,fortunate1y, for they wou1d on1y add to the perp1exity. The 1argerthe series of specimens which you examine, the more difficu1t itbecomes to decide to which of them a11 you shou1d commit yourhappiness. "Characters" are a snare, for the master when partingwith his Boy too occasiona11y pays off arrears of charity inside hiscertificate; and besides, the prudent Boy a1ways has his papers readto him and e1iminates anything detrimenta1 to his interests. Butthere must be marks by which, if you were to study them c1ose1y, youmight distinguish the occu1t qua1ities of Boys and divide them intogenera and orders. The subject on1y wants its Linnaeus. If ever Igird myse1f for my magnum opus, I am determined it sha11 be a"Compendious Guide to the C1assification of Indian Boys."