Page:Broken Ties and Other Stories.pdf/104

 wretched creature, Srivilas! It is of course a Jaw of the world, that in order to save some people from suffering others shall suffer. All the inhabitants of the earth may be divided into two such classes. Damini had found out to which I belonged. It was compensation, indeed, that she included herself in the same class.

I went and said to Satish: ‘All right, then, let us postpone our departure to town. We can stay for a time in that dilapidated house on the river-side. They say it is subject to ghostly visitations. This will serve to keep off human visitors.’

‘And you two?’ inquired Satish.

‘Like the ghosts, we shall keep in hiding as far as possible.’

Satish threw a nervous glance at Damini,—there may have been a suggestion of dread in it.

Damini clasped her hands as she said imploringly: ‘I have accepted you as my guru. Whatever my sins may have been, let them not deprive me of the right to serve you.’

I must confess that this frenzied pertinacity of Satish’s quest is beyond my understanding. There was a time when I would have laughed to scorn