Page:Mashi and Other Stories.djvu/109

Rh dry as dust, and his hands and feet were burning. He was nearly suffocated.

The lamp became dimmer and dimmer, and then went out altogether. In the total darkness that followed, Nitai could hear the old man climbing up the ladder. "Grandfather, where are you going to?" said he, greatly distressed.

"I am going now," replied Jaganath; "you remain here. No one will be able to find you. Remember the name Gokul Chandra, the son of Brindaban, and the grandson of Jaganath."

He then withdrew the ladder. In a stifled, agonized voice the boy implored: "I want to go back to father."

Jaganath replaced the slab. He then knelt down and placed his ear on the stone. Nitai's voice was heard once more—"Father"—and then came a sound of some heavy object falling with a bump—and then—everything was still.

Having thus placed his wealth in the hands of a yak, Jaganath began to cover up the stone with earth. Then he piled broken bricks and loose