Page:Mashi and Other Stories.djvu/104

96 The village people then began to make inquiries after the father of the boy. Their hearts melted with compassion for the agonized parents, and they declared that the son must be a rascal to cause them so much suffering. They heaped abuses on his head, but the heat with which they did it betrayed envy rather than a sense of justice.

One day the old man learned from a wayfarer that one Damodar Pal was seeking his lost son, and was even now coming towards the village. Nitai, when he heard this, became very restless and was ready to run away, leaving his future wealth to take care of itself. Jaganath reassured him, saying: "I mean to hide you where nobody can find you—not even the village people themselves."

This whetted the curiosity of the boy and he said: "Oh, where? Do show me."

"People will know, if I show you now. Wait till it is night," said Jaganath.

The hope of discovering the mysterious hiding-place delighted Nitai. He planned to himself how, as soon as his father had gone away without him, he would have a bet with his comrades, and play hide-and-seek. Nobody would be able to find him. Wouldn't it be fun? His father, too, would ransack