Summary: shrewdness and determination to gain what he considered his right betrayed him into a foolish course, from which it was not easy to retreat with dignity. And the final settlement, though amicable, did not entirely satisfy him, for he would have much preferred to have secured his object by a stroke of clever diplomacy. The incident served to show how difficult it is to settle a dispute between two determined opponents in a country like India, where personal feeling and pride are often stronger than a regard for the strict rules of justice, and where men are prone to resort to underhand methods to gain their end. In this case, the influence of the missionary was happily able to smooth over the difficulty and bring about a peaceful and satisfactory solution.