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 our voice. Our story is not to be told to any and every one.

"If that be so, just come along with me," said the ascetic, and he then proceeded towards the town with Dalani and Kulsam.

Arriving at the door of a small house, he knocked at it and called out, "Ramcharan."

Ramcharan opened the door from within. The ascetic asked him to strike a light. He lighted the lamp, and fell prostrate before the ascetic to pay his respects. The ascetic then asked him to go to bed. Ramcharan accordingly retired, after casting a glance at Dalani and Kulsam.

It is needless to say that, Ramcharan had no more sleep that night. "Why at this late hour of the night, the good hermit has brought in the two young women?" This thought became predominant in him. Ramcharan believed the ascetic to be a divine being—he knew that the hermit was the master of his passions; that belief was not shaken. At last, Ramcharan concluded, "Perhaps, the two women have just become widows—the good hermit has brought them here to induce them to burn themselves alive, on the funeral pyres of their deceased