with their vagaries,
until the shopkeepers came in a body to say that unless they were
stopped, the market would be entirely deserted. The luckless Zemindar
was staggered by the tale of oppression. He paid for every article
extorted by the police, but strictly forbade the vendors to give any
further credit. The Sub-Inspector was deeply incensed in finding this
source of illicit profit cut off, and his vengeance was perpetrated
under the pretence of law.

One evening, while Kumodini Babu was conning the Mahabharata (an
ancient epic) in his parlour, the Sub-Inspector came in, armed with
a search warrant issued by the Deputy Magistrate of Ghoria, which
he showed the astonished master of the house. A charge of receiving
stolen property brought against him was indeed a bolt from the blue;
but when Kumodini Babu regained his scattered wits, he told the
Sub-Inspector scornfully that he might search every hole and corner of
his house. For half an hour the police were occupied in turning his
furniture and boxes topsy-turvy; and at last the Sub-Inspector went
alone into a lumber-room, while his head constable kept Kumodini's
attention fixed on the contents of an almeira (ward-robe) which he
was searching. Shouting, "I have found the property!" he emerged
from the room with a box containing various articles of gold and
silver, which he said were hidden under some straw. On comparing
them with a list in his possession he declared that they exactly
tallied with property reported as part of the spoils of a burglary
in the neighbouring village. In vain Kumodini Babu protested his
entire innocence and asked whether he, a respectable Zemindar, was
likely to be a receiver of stolen goods. He was handcuffed and taken
to the police station on foot, while the Sub-Inspector followed in
a palanquin. Kumodini Babu's women-folk filled the house with their
lamentations; and his eldest son, Jadu Nath, was the first to recover
from the prostration caused by sudden misfortune. He had a pony saddled
and galloped to the railway station, whence he telegraphed to his
uncle, Ghaneshyam Babu, the pleader, "Father arrested: charge receiving
stolen goods". Ghaneshyam arrived by the next train, and after hearing
the facts returned to Ghoria, where he applied to the Deputy Magistrate
for bail. There was a strong disinclination to grant it, owing to the
gravity of the charge; but finally an order was issued, releasing the
prisoner on personal recognisance o