Summary of B M Croker, "The Company's Servant" (1910)
Tags: Southern India, Indian railways, Eurasians, Anglo-Indians, Mixed race, French colonialism, Pondicherry, Going native, Drug addiction (Ganja/ Marijuana)
The narrative of The Company’s Servant centers on Tani-Kul, a remote railway junction in the district of Shezada, Southern India. Set against a "grim expanse of black cotton soil" that strikes "a note of dismay" in travelers, Tani-Kul is a "God-forsaken locality" characterized by long centuries of cloudless heat. Despite its isolation, the junction is a "self-engrossed little world" where a large settlement of European and Eurasian employees live in official "Quarters" provided by the railway Company. The social heart of this community is the Institute, a brick building with "salmon-coloured walls and a chunam floor," which serves as the venue for everything from theatricals to Divine Service.
Life on the Plains
The daily rhythm of Tani-Kul is dictated by the arrival of trains, particularly troop trains and "Pilgrims' Specials" carrying travelers to Tirupati. The station is a "crowded and animated" hub featuring "coolies’ brown bodies," "bare-legged, be-muslined baboos," and vendors of "sweets, water, fruit and cheroots". Domestic life is sustained by Bheesties watering the platforms with their "mussuks" (water skins) and "Ayahs" caring for white-faced children in "enormous mushroom topees".
The cultural landscape is defined by a rigid social hierarchy and the distinct "Eurasian" (Anglo-Indian) community. Two rival "queens" dominate the settlement’s social life: Mrs. Sharratt, the stout, educated wife of the station-master, and Madame Tanzy, a vivacious, clever dark-skinned woman from Pondicherry. Madame Tanzy represents the "chic and taste of her French forebears" and manages the "Mutton Club" and theatricals, though her rivals whisper she is "next door to black". This racial anxiety is a constant theme; the term "two annas in the rupee" is used to describe those with native ancestry, and social standing is determined by official rank—the wives of engine-drivers, for instance, consider themselves far above the wives of guards.
The Secret Guard and the Beauty of the Station
The protagonist, John Vernon (really Jack Talbot), is a railway guard who is "different" from his comrades. Despite his clean-cut features and "spotless" white drill suit, he is a man of high birth driven from England as a scapegoat for a family crime he did not commit. He is mothered by Katty Coffey, a thrifty Irishwoman whose home provides quarters for bachelor guards and is centered around her "Burmese game-fowl".
Vernon is initially infatuated with Madame Tanzy’s niece, Rosita Fontaine, the "Rose of Tani-Kul". Rosita is a "beautiful little French Eurasian" with ancestors who fought under Lally at Pondicherry. She is a "finished pupil" of the nuns and an "accomplished coquette" whose "magnetic vision" illuminates the station. Her culture is a mix of Western styles and Eastern habits; she wears "gold shoes from Madras" and "V-shaped bodices," yet her speech is peppered with French and Tamil, and she is known to "eat the air" on the flat roofs of the bungalows.
The Shadow Side of Tani-Kul
Beneath the official railway life lies a more mysterious India. This is embodied by Gojar, the tall, gaunt night watchman with a "hairy black beard" who is thought to be a Pathan. Gojar is actually Algy Craven, a disgraced English officer who has "gone under" and lived for fifteen years in the bazaars, masquerading as a native. He is a slave to Ganja (hemp), which he calls his "god" and "the delight-giver," inducing "transcendent dreams". Through Gojar, the narrative explores the "stubborn intractability of the East," including descriptions of "devil worship" and "hideous
sacrifices" to Kali to ensure the land's fertility.
The Ascent to Ootacamund (Ooty)
The desolation of the plains is contrasted with the Neilgherries (Blue Mountains), where Vernon travels on leave. The journey involves a perilous "tonga" (horse carriage) ride up the mountain "Ghauts," where animals are changed every three miles. The environment shifts from "steamy-hot" tropical jungle to "breezy slopes" filled with "geranium hedges," "wild roses," and the scent of "blue gums".
Ootacamund is the summer capital of the Presidency, a place where "everyone who was anyone" gathers for hunting, "gymkhanas," and balls. The social elite, including the Governor and Commander-in-Chief, inhabit a world of "Europe frocks," "Napier motors," and tea parties served with "George the Second tea equipage". In this setting, Vernon encounters Beatrice Arminger, a Colonel's daughter he previously detained when she attempted to "bolt" to England from Tani-Kul. Beatrice is a "pucka" English girl, a "first-rate horsewoman" who participates in the "Ooty Hunt," chasing jackals across the downs that are blanketed in a "blue flower" that blooms every seven years.
Tragedy and Redemption
The plot reaches a climax through a series of dramatic events. A specie robbery occurs at Tani-Kul, involving a box of gold replaced with bricks. This theft exposes the vulnerability of the railway staff and leads to the suicide of Charlie Booth, a fair-haired guard and Vernon’s friend, who was driven to corruption by his desperate love for the extravagant Rosita. Rosita herself eventually abandons Tani-Kul, running away with a traveling theater company.
Parallel to this tragedy, Beatrice Arminger discovers the truth of Vernon’s past. During a period of "neuralgia" and a rabies scare (later proved to be a snap from a neighbor’s Gordon setter), Vernon’s cousin Lucilla confesses to the theft of family miniatures that led to Vernon's exile. With a written confession in hand, Vernon's name is cleared.
The Conclusion
The novel concludes with a series of transformations. Vernon (Jack Talbot) inherits a vast fortune—£130,000—from the dying Gojar, who reveals himself as the Honourable Algernon Craven. Jack returns to England to become an agent for his uncle, Lord Rotherham, and eventually marries Beatrice. The "Indian" chapter of their lives ends as they board a steamer in Bombay, leaving the "faint, lingering scents of incense and spices" behind.
Rosita Fontaine finds a different kind of "celebrity" as a scandalous dancer in Paris known as "La Sauterelle" (The Grasshopper). Her life ends in a final, ironic echo of her Indian origins: she is killed by a train at the gare de Chatou, having either committed suicide or stumbled onto the rails, a "Tani-Kul beauty" crushed by the machinery that once defined her world.
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