Page:Indira and Other Stories.pdf/96

 Kamakhya Babu's eldest son how this advertisement came to be issued. He replied that it was by the orders of Radharani. Now I too had met a girl called Radharani, and though I only saw her once, I had been unable to dismiss her from my thoughts. The child, though she was half starving herself, had woven garlands of jungle flowers to buy necessities for her sick mother. She was struggling home in her disappointment through pouring rain and blinding darkness. Poor little soul! The thought of her distress still affects me."

The speaker's voice betrayed emotion. Radharani swallowed the tears that would rise. Bravely, however, she said,

"Why all this talk about a wretched little girl? Will you kindly explain your own business with me?"

"Ah madam," he answered, "do not speak thus harshly of the child. If ever there was a sweet little maid in this world, it was my little wayside acquaintance. If ever in my wanderings I met a maiden who had in her the makings