honest, and besides, the opportunities within the
reach of clerks employed by a private firm are not worth mentioning.

After settling down at Kadampur he cudgelled his brains for some
means of increasing his slender resources. Friends advised him to try
farming, or start a business in lending grain to cultivators. Neither
trade was to his liking. Clerks are of little use outside their own
sphere; and Sham Babu was too soft-hearted to succeed as a village
Shylock. A matter of pressing importance was to establish his son
Susil, who had passed the First Arts examination and was hanging about
the Government offices at Ghoria, in the hope of securing a post. Sham
Babu took advantage of his late employer's offer and sent the young
man off to Calcutta armed with a sheaf of certificates. To his great
delight, Susil was appointed clerk on Rs. 25--a magnificent start,
which relieved his father's most pressing anxiety.

Sham Babu had begun life with a small patrimony which was slowly
increased by savings from his monthly pay. He was worth nearly
Rs. 10,000, the whole of which was lent by him to a trader named
Gopal Datta, certified by Sham Babu's brother-in-law Hari to be
thoroughly trustworthy. This Gopal dealt in jute; and being a man of
great daring, he speculated so successfully with Sham Babu's money
that, within three or four years, he amassed a fortune of two lakhs
(L13,333). He paid 12 per cent. interest on the loan regularly,
which made a comfortable addition to Sham Babu's pension.

It was the latter's habit to visit his Calcutta relatives at least
once a month. So, one day in June, 18--, he went to Hari Babu's house
with the intention of passing the night there. His brother-in-law
was absent and not expected till the morrow; but Sham Babu was
welcomed by the ladies of the family, who made all arrangements
for his comfort. In the evening he sat in the Baitakhana (parlour)
reading the Bhagavat Gita (a mystical poem). A carriage drove up
to the door whence alighted Ramanath Babu, who was Gopal's younger
brother. After the usual compliments had been exchanged, Sham Babu
asked what business his visitor was engaged in.

"I have started as a broker in jute and oil-seeds," was the reply.

"I hope you will do as well as Gopal," said Sham Babu, "but I suppose
you have joined him?"

"Certainly not," replied Ramanath impulsively; then he checked himself,
as though he had said too much.

Sham Babu was astonished by the tone