Page:Chandra Shekhar.djvu/325

 Foster could not make out whether it emanated from the Nawab or Chandra Shekhar or some one else—he simply heard a solemn voice asking,

"Why was then Shaibalini kept in your boat?"

Foster cried out,

"My mind was completely captivated by the fascinating charms of Shaibalini's beauty and I was led to snatch her away from her home. I kept her in my boat in the belief that she might be attached to me; but, I soon found that I had been acting under a delusion—she was verily my enemy. When I met her in my boat for the first time, she brought out from her waist a sharp knife and said to me in a threatening attitude, 'If you will come within my cabin, this knife will end your and my life—look upon me as your mother.' I could therefore never go within her cabin—I did not even touch her."

Every one heard this. Chandra Shekhar then asked,

"How could you then make her eat your food, knowing that it will lead to her excommunication from the society?"

"She did not take, even for a day, my food or anything that I might have touched," said Foster