India House - Chapter 7

At India House

The men took the slow overnight train to Paris, and reached at dawn. It would take them all day to get to London, so all they could manage to see of Paris was the Arc de Troimphe near the train station, and the tall spire of the newly-constructed Eiffel Tower that stood sprightly over the city. They took the fast train to Calais, and joined a large mass of men and women heading to the ferry to Dover. The harbor of Calais was bustling, with stevedores in denim pants and rolled-up sleeves throwing bags and boxes onto the boats and fisherfolk bringing in the day’s catch in their blue smocks and flat caps. The ferry made Harnam seasick, especially with the angry gray rollicking sea of the English channel, and Tatya got him some ‘Triscuits’ - salty crackers that were supposed to ward off seasickness. They tasted bland. No one in their right mind would eat these if they weren’t said to cure seasickness, he decided, as he saw the approaching white cliffs of Dover.

They felt strangely light wh…