Page:Indira and Other Stories.pdf/23

 zenana, to speak to males face to face,—and when I did speak to them, they looked at me with a hungry gaze whose meaning I could not misunderstand. Some mocked at me, some made insulting proposals. I resolved in my mind that I would die rather than again enquire of such creatures. As for the women, none of them could give me any information. They too seemed to take me for some strange animal, so amazed were their foolish faces. Only one old woman said, "My dear, who on earth are you? Is it fitting that such a slim and lovely little person should wander about unattended on the public highway? Dear me! Dear me! You come into my house." I followed her without a word. Seeing me perish with hunger, she gave me food. She said she knew Mahespur. I told her that she would be handsomely rewarded if she took me home. But she only stupidly answered that she could not leave her house and family. So I started once more along the road she indicated. I tramped along painfully till dusk, growing more and more