Summaries of Alice Perrin, "East of Suez"
Tags: Ghost stories, Religious communalism, Kumbh Mela ("The Fakirs' Island"), Hunting / Shikar, Muharram (Shia ritual in "An Eastern Echo"), acts of violence against Indians ("Caulfield's Crime" and "The Fakirs' Island")
Note to readers: A story that might be of interest to today's readers might be "An Eastern Echo," which contains a depiction of a Muharram riot that might remind readers of a similar event in Forster's "A Passage to India." The act of violence in depicted in "Caulfield's Crime" is disturbing, but could be interesting to explore in a classroom setting.
Beynon, of the Irrigation Department
Beynon is a pathologically shy civil engineer living a solitary life in Patakri, where he oversees irrigation works on the Ganges. His quiet routine is interrupted by Jack Massenger, a young planter who eventually marries the beautiful Kitty Vawse. When the newlyweds visit Patakri, Beynon falls profoundly in love with Kitty, though his reserve prevents him from expressing it. Kitty, sensing his stagnation, encourages him to be more social and ambitious, prompting him to renovate his appearance and visit them later in a city.
During his visit, Beynon feels like an outsider as Kitty is constantly accompanied by a Colonel. Overhearing a conversation in which the Colonel pressures Kitty to leave Jack, Beynon confronts Jack about his selfish neglect of his wife. He accuses Jack of marrying for money and failing to protect Kitty from danger and gossip. This confrontation serves as a vital wake-up call for Jack, who reconciles with Kitty and secures her devotion.
Guilt-ridden and convinced he has ruined his friendship with Jack, Beynon flees back to Patakri, where he falls ill with fever. Jack and Kitty, realizing Beynon’s intervention saved their marriage, travel to visit him, but they arrive too late. In a state of delirium, Beynon had walked into the Ganges and was lost to the river's crocodiles. The story ends with Kitty haunted by the memory of the man whose silent devotion saved her happiness but cost him his life.-
The Tiger-charm
Netta Wingate, a timid woman, accompanies her abusive and unstable husband, Colonel Wingate, on a tiger hunt in the Himalayas. Accompanied by Captain Bastable, the party is disrupted when a tiger attacks, causing Bastable’s elephant to bolt. Netta and Bastable are swept off the elephant and left stranded with a dying mahout, Mahomed Bux. Before he passes, the mahout gives Netta a silver "tiger-charm" amulet, promising it will protect the wearer from any tiger.
Upon returning to camp, they find the Colonel in a state of alcohol-fueled madness. He insists on sitting over a tiger kill that night and demands Bastable accompany him on foot. Fearing for Bastable's safety, Netta gives him the amulet for protection. During the vigil, the Colonel reveals his murderous intent; after wounding a tiger, he deliberately empties his second barrel into the air and attempts to throw Bastable from their tree into the beast's jaws.
In the ensuing struggle, both men fall to the ground. The wounded tiger seizes the Colonel and carries him away, leaving Bastable stunned but alive. As Bastable runs for help, he realizes the silver amulet fell from his pocket at the scene of the struggle. He is left to wonder if the mahout’s charm truly fulfilled its legend by sparing him while the tiger took the man who sought to cause his death.
The White Tiger
The "White Tiger" is an ancient, faded man-eater terrorizing a remote district. Mar Singh, a local hunter, is determined to claim the government reward but fears the arrival of a young English "sahib" will deprive him of the prize. He instructs his brother, Kowta, to act as a guide and lead the Englishman in the wrong direction while Mar Singh hunts the beast. However, Mar Singh is soon killed by the tiger he sought to trap.
Seeing an opportunity to escape his debts, Kowta decides to hunt the tiger himself. In a gruesome plan, Kowta uses his brother's mangled corpse as bait, placing it near the tiger's suspected lair. He hides behind a nearby rock, relying on his matchlock gun and the superstition that the soul of a tiger's victim is bound to serve the tiger and warn the hunter of the beast's approach.
As Kowta waits, he hears signs of the tiger’s movement and anticipates a shot at the bait. However, the man-eater proves more cunning than the hunter. While Kowta focuses on the corpse in front of him, the White Tiger stalks him from behind. The story concludes with the tiger leaping upon Kowta, claiming yet another victim through the very bait Kowta had hoped would lead to the creature's demise.
Caulfield’s Crime
Caulfield is a sulky, unpopular official regarded as the finest shot in the Punjab, though he is notoriously jealous of his sporting locations. He invites a young narrator to a remote, dreary jheel where the birds are unexpectedly wild and scarce. Their frustration peaks when a lanky fakir with jagged, dog-like teeth repeatedly spoils their shots by appearing at the precise moment the birds are within range. In a moment of premeditated fury, Caulfield shoots the fakir dead. While the two men attempt to bury the body in a shallow grave, they are horrified to find a large, mangy, one-eared jackal already grinning over the corpse.
Following their return to the station, Caulfield becomes a recluse, haunted by the belief that the one-eared jackal is following him. He grows convinced that the spirit of the murdered man has entered the animal to seek vengeance. His mental state deteriorates until he suffers a series of violent paroxysms and dies of hydrophobia, despite no evidence of an actual animal bite. The narrator’s final experience with the case is a chilling encounter in the dark verandah: he sees the one-eared jackal slip into the room where Caulfield's body lies, yet the creature leaves no trace for others to find. The story serves as a grim exploration of how guilt can manifest as a fatal, supernatural pursuit.
An Eastern Echo
During the intense heat of the Muharram festival, Inspector Somerton, a man of high birth who ruined his prospects through vice and drink, is tasked with keeping order in a volatile crowd. Meg Murray, the fiancée of the district magistrate, Henry Sinclair, finds herself deeply affected by Somerton’s noble bearing and "blue blood" profile, contrasting his rugged handsomeness with her future husband’s weary, office-worn appearance. As the procession of tinsel tazias moves through the streets, a violent religious riot erupts between Hindus and Muslims.
Overwhelmed by a sudden, desperate fear for Somerton's life, Meg impulsively rushes from her protected tent into the "moving mass of infuriated" people. She is swept into the dust and dragged to safety by Somerton, who holds her in his arms briefly before retreating into his subordinate role as "the inspector". Meg eventually marries Sinclair and settles into a peaceful, prosperous life in England. Two years later, the "eastern echo" returns: she wakes from a nap shouting the funeral cry "Hasan! Husain!". That same day, she discovers that Somerton was killed in a Muharram riot in India at that exact moment. The story concludes with the observation that her placid happiness is forever tinged with the "undefined vibration of a regretful memory" for a man and a life she barely knew.
A Perverted Punishment
Major John Kenwithin is a rigid, "truth-loving" officer with a harsh, intolerant view of moral failings, particularly infidelity. When his devoted wife Helen is sent to England for her health, she befriends Mrs. Trench, a young woman who confesses to an emotional affair with Cecil Cartwright, Kenwithin’s own cousin. Seeking to reform the young woman, Helen agrees to carry a packet containing a locket and "Cecil’s love" back to him to signal the affair's end. Tragically, Helen dies of heart failure during the voyage, and her belongings are returned to her husband.
Kenwithin discovers the packet and, blinded by his naturally suspicious and narrow-minded temperament, concludes that his "perfect" wife was the one engaged in a "cursed intrigue" with his cousin. He retires into a state of bitter, "haggard" isolation, his life ruined by the belief that his wife was false to the core. A year later, Cecil returns with his new bride—the former Mrs. Trench—and explains that Helen had actually intervened to save the marriage. Kenwithin is left in "bitter, hopeless regret," realizing his own judgmental nature led him to desecrate the memory of the woman who had worshipped him. The "perverted punishment" is his own realization that his lack of faith in Helen’s virtue has left him in a state of eternal, self-inflicted torture.
“In the Court of Conscience”
Katherine Fletcher resides in Tawah, a lonely and "hideously neglected" civil station situated in a sandy desert. Though she adores her husband, Robert, the district magistrate, she is tormented by a secret: she married him under false pretences. After being jilted by a former lover in England, she accepted Robert's proposal on a voyage to India merely to prove her heart was not broken and to find "peace and quiet". Her guilt is reignited when her former fiancé writes to her, leading her to seek counsel from a visiting chaplain, Mr. Croppin. The chaplain, dismissive of her "morbidly hysterical" state, advises her that confession is the only way to ease her conscience.
Katherine spends a night of "mental agony," debating whether her confession will "spoil the happiness" of Robert’s life. She recalls how she lied with her eyes and lips during their courtship, fearing Robert will never believe in her current devotion once he knows the truth. When Robert returns from an overnight trip, she tearfully confesses her original lack of love. Robert, however, responds with unfailing kindness and practical common sense. He dismisses the past as a symptom of her nerves in a "beastly hole" of a station, insisting he only cares that she loves him now. While relieved, Katherine is vaguely disappointed that her grand sacrifice of confession appeared so insignificant to Robert, who immediately returns to his routine of singing untunefully in his bath.
“The Fakirs’ Island”
Mona Selwyn, a "fair, fresh English girl" living in a red sandstone fort, finds the million-strong Hindu pilgrims at the Khoom [Kumbh] Mela to be a "disturbed ants’ nest". She dismisses the religious ceremony as a "row" and insists on visiting Fakirs’ Island to satisfy her curiosity. Her suitor, Captain George Robertson, refuses to take her, explaining that the island is "fierce and fanatical" and filled with "unpleasant sights" like ascetics hanging by their heels over fires. To pique his jealousy, Mona goes with a shallow subaltern, Mr. Kerr. On the island, Kerr behaves with typical arrogance, eventually striking a begging bowl from the hand of an ancient fakir. The priest retaliates by cursing Mona, prophesying that her beauty will vanish within ten days.
Shortly after, Mona contracts small-pox and is left "at death's door" while Robertson is away on leave. He returns to find her survived but severely disfigured, her curly hair cropped and her face "greatly marked". Robertson finds her on the ramparts, and as she cries in misery over her lost looks, he offers his "life’s devotion". He tells her, "It is you I want," and proposes to her, proving his love is deeper than her vanity. Before he returned, Mona had been repenting her "frivolous" behavior by studying Emerson’s essays. The story ends in peace, with the "turbid waters" of the Ganges reflecting the sunset glow as the couple reconciles.
“The Summoning of Arnold”
Arnold, the Collector at Usapore, is a man sinking into melancholia due to separation from his wife, Lilia, who has returned to England for her health. His friend Williamson moves into the "large, echoing bungalow" to provide companionship and watch for signs of a breakdown. Arnold reveals a deep-seated belief that he and Lilia are spiritually bound; they promised that if one died, they would "come and fetch" the other. His anxiety is exacerbated by the "thick, hot atmosphere" of Usapore and the prospect of a failing monsoon. When news arrives that Lilia must undergo a dangerous operation in London, Arnold surrenders to the "gloomiest of views".
One night, Williamson is awakened by a voice calling "Lilia!". He rushes to Arnold's room and finds him dead. The room is filled with a powerful odor of chloroform, but a thorough search reveals no bottle, medicine chest, or any physical source for the fumes. The next morning, a telegram arrives announcing that Lilia died under chloroform during her operation at the exact hour Williamson heard the cry. Williamson is left shattered, beating his hands together "like a maniac" as he realizes Lilia fulfilled her promise to fetch her husband. The supernatural occurrence leaves Williamson so "over-strung" that he is eventually sent home on sick leave, having never truly recovered from the shock of the "summoning".
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