Page:Broken Ties and Other Stories.pdf/54

 this frame of mind that he had become a disciple of Lilananda Swami.

In the meantime, with the subsidence of the jute boom, the full force of the adverse wind caught the heavy-laden bark of Annada’s fortune and toppled it over. All his property was sold up and he had hardly enough left to make a bare living.

One evening Shivatosh came into the inner apartments and said to his wife: ‘The Master is here. He has some words of advice for you and bids you attend.’

‘I cannot go to him now,’ answered Damini. ‘I haven't the time.’

What? No time! Shivatosh went up nearer and found his wife seated in the gathering dusk, in front of the open safe, with her ornaments spread out before her. ‘What in the world is keeping you?’ inquired he.

‘I am arranging my jewels,’ was the reply.

So that was the reason for her lack of time. Indeed!

The next day, when Damini opened the safe, she found her jewel-box missing. ‘My jewels?’ she exclaimed, turning inquiringly to her husband.

‘But you offered them to the Master. Did E