had been admirably
tilled. The plaintiff, therefore, was non-suited, with costs. The very
same result attended Nagendra Babu's action against his sister-in-law,
whose case excited universal sympathy. He lost heavily in purse and
left the Court with a ruined reputation. It was natural that a man
so evil-minded should regard Ramda as the author of misfortunes due
to his own wicked nature. He plotted the poor Brahman's destruction,
but no effectual means of compassing it suggested itself.

As days and weeks wore on, his despondency became deeper and, one
evening, while sitting with the Lakhimpur bailiff, he asked whether
there was any remedy which would restore his peace of mind. The
cunning rascal said nothing at the time; but at a late hour on the
morrow he came to Nagendra Babu's house with a large bottle hidden
under his wrapper. It contained some light brown fluid, which the
bailiff poured into a tumbler. Then adding a small quantity of water,
he invited his master to swallow the mixture. A few minutes after doing
so, the patient was delighted to find that gloomy thoughts disappeared
as if by magic. An unwonted elation of spirits succeeded; he broke into
snatches of song, to the intense surprise of the household! His amateur
physician left the bottle, advising him to take a similar dose every
night; and Nagendra Babu followed the prescription punctiliously, with
the best effect on his views of life. After finishing the bottle he
asked for another, which was brought to him secretly. It had a showy
label reading, "Exshaw No. 1 Cognac". Nagendra Babu's conscience
accused him of disobeying the Shastras; but the die was cast. He
could no longer exist without a daily dose of the subtle poison;
and gradually increased it to a tumblerful, forgetting to add water.

His faithful wife did her best to wean him from the fatal habit. She
even ventured to abstract his brandy bottle and dilute its contents. On
being detected, she underwent a personal correction which was not
soon forgotten. The poor creature, indeed, underwent every sort of
humiliation from her worthless husband, which she bore in silence,
hoping that time would bring him to his senses.

Drunken men are proverbially cunning. After brooding long over
his supposed grievances Nagendra matured a scheme of revenge. He
intercepted Ramda, one afternoon, on his way to visit Samarendra's
widow, and, affecting sincere penitence for the injury he had
endeavoured to work, he