Page:Indira and Other Stories.pdf/33

 came into my mind, "I have seen him before somewhere." To dissipate my doubts, I again went and secretly looked at him. I looked at him attentively, and then I knew!

At this moment, Ramram Babu called to me to bring in a fresh course. I had prepared many dishes. I took one of them into the dining-room. I could see that the guest had not forgotten the look he had intercepted. He said to Ramram Babu, "Ram Babu, tell your cook-maid that her cooking is excellent."

Ram Babu did not understand the secret meaning of this speech. He merely observed, "Yes, she does not cook badly."

But I understood, and mentally resolved that he should know what a clever cook could do to disturb a young man's fancies.

The guest went on, "What surprises me is that one or two of the dishes remind me of the way they cook in our country!"

Again I thought, "it is he!" As a matter of fact I had cooked one or two of the dishes according to the recipes of our quarter of Bengal.