Published: Civil and Military Gazette, 10 July 1888.

Attribution: Not in Scrapbooks; it is included in the Crofts collection, though that is not decisive, since RK later denied authorship of a few items in that collection – but not this one. The story was reprinted in ‘Turnovers’, iii, 1888 and in the suppressed edition of The City of Dreadful Night, 1890. In both of these collections all of the other items included are known to be by RK.

Text: Civil and Military Gazette.

Note: Reprinted in the Martindell–Ballard pamphlets and in Harbord, iv, 2070–3.

The Pi began it, and you may be quite certain that, if there is anything more than usually bothersome abroad, the Pi is at the bottom of it. Heatherfledge saw an idiotic leader about keeping a log-book of the district, and nothing would satisfy him except to keep it on the lines recommended…. As he is my Deputy Commissioner I couldn't rebel, and brought a great ledger from Lahore. “It's beautiful paper,” said Heatherfledge. “Hi, bearer! Get my paint-box and we'll paint a view of the D.C.'s house to begin with.” He painted a thing like a wet hayrick standing in a bed of boiling spinach. “Now you fill up the rest,” said he; and promptly forgot all about it from that day forward. If there is one thing more than another that I pride myself on, it's the faculty of organization. I made the munsiff of my court copy out from Hunter a statistical account of the district. It was a trifle out of date, for the munsiff got the wrong edition; and then I put the book on the table in the verandah, with a printed notice atop, requesting “Gentlemen and Officials connected with the district to write down anything connected with the district that might appear to be connected with anything.” I had this done in Gurmukhi, Hindi, Nagri, and Ak, and in case any one shouldn't quite understand, I pasted the Pi's leading article on the wall; giving special instructions that any Sahib who might drop in while I was on tour should be shown the book.