James arrives in India and one day accidentally stumbles upon a temple of Kali, the goddess of Death. There he finds a brief moment of spiritual epiphany and a feeling that his destiny is somehow intertwined with this foreign land. His wife also bears him a boy called Jack. James is trained within the army but he is found to be unfitting as a soldier and Colonel Townsend is particularly displeased with him. One night, while drunk, Townsend berates him and attempts to entice James' wife which forces James to publicly rebuke the colonel angering him in the process.