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 in returning. I was wriggling, it seems to me, like a fish on dry land. At last Harani came back and announced with a laugh:

"The Babu is not very well, he is going to lie down for a little, I have come for bedding for him."

I answered, "That is all very well, but suppose he goes away in the afternoon! You get hold of him quietly and tell him that our cook says that she is ashamed of her mid-day performance, and begs him to stay for the evening meal. But mind you don't let any one else know of the cook's invitation. You'll see, he will find some pretext to stay longer."

Harani laughed and again said, "Fie, for shame!" But she carried my message nevertheless. In the afternoon she came back to me and said, "I told him what you said. The Babu is a bad man, he agreed to stay."

On hearing this, I was pleased, to be sure. All the same I was a little ashamed of him. It seemed to me that there was no harm in doing what I had done, because I knew who he was.