Page:Mashi and Other Stories.djvu/61

Rh clean-shaven face, seated on a bench outside, and reading a devotional book. Kanti saw in his kindly, thoughtful face something of the tenderness which shone in the face of the maiden.

Kanti saluted him, and said: "May I ask for some water, sir? I am very thirsty." The elder man welcomed him with eager hospitality, and, offering him a seat on the bench, went inside and fetched with his own hands a little brass plate of sugar wafers and a bell-metal vessel full of water.

After Kanti had eaten and drunk, the Brahmin begged him to introduce himself. Kanti gave his own name, his father's name, and the address of his home, and then said in the usual way: "If I can be of any service, sir, I shall deem myself fortunate."

"I require no service, my son," said Nabin Banerji; "I have only one care at present."

"What is that, sir?" said Kanti.

"It is my daughter, Sudha, who is growing up" (Kanti smiled as he thought of her babyish face) "and for whom I have not yet been able to find a worthy bridegroom. If I could only see her well married, all my debt to this world would be paid. But there is no suitable bridegroom here, and I