There was sore need that he should recapture them.

Shere Ali was well aware of it.

More and more frequently sure warnings came to him.

Now it was some dim recollection of beliefs once strongly clung to, which came back to him with a shock.

He would awaken through some chance word to the glory of the English rule in India, the lessening poverty of the Indian nations, the incorruptibility of the English officials and their justice.
"Yes, yes," he would say with astonishment, "I was sure of these things; I knew them as familiar truths," even as a man gradually going blind might one day see clearly and become aware of his narrowing vision.