Page:Broken Ties and Other Stories.pdf/38

 ‘Nonsense!’ interrupted Jagamohan. How can I desert these people?’

‘Which people?’

‘These leather-dealers of ours.’

Harimohan made a grimace and left his brother without further parley. He next proceeded to his son’s lodgings, and to him simply said: ‘Come along.’

Satish’s refusal was equally laconic. ‘I have work to do here,’ he replied.

‘As pall-bearer to the leather-dealers, I suppose?’

‘Yes, sir; that is, if my services be needed.’

‘Yes, sir, indeed! You scamp, you scoundrel, you atheist! If need be you're quite ready to consign fourteen generations of your ancestors to perdition, I have no doubt!’

Convinced that the Kali Yuga had touched its lowest depth, Harimohan returned home, despairing of the salvation of his next of kin. In order to protect himself against contamination he covered sheets of foolscap with the name of Kali, the protecting goddess, in his neatest handwriting.

Harimohan left Calcutta. The plague and the preventive officials duly made their appearance in

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