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Srikanta want to give it, why do you make promises? I won't come here again—and I don't want to have anything to do with you.'

Though Indra did not notice it, I could distinctly see that Didi's face became dark with a great pain and shame. But the next instant she managed to bring the semblance of a smile to her thin, ascetic lips, as she said, 'So that's why you come to your Didi's house, Indra—to learn spells and incantations and to get the poison-stone: is that it?'

'Yes, that's just it,' said Indra without the least hesitation. He sent a sidelong glance towards the sleeping Shahji, and added, 'But he is always putting me off: "This is not an auspicious day", he says, "That is not an auspicious day", "The other day is not auspicious", and so on. It's ages since he taught me the mantra for "passing the hand"; ever since then he has positively refused to teach me anything more. But I have seen to-day, Didi, that you too know everything, and I am not going to humour him any more; I'll get everything I want from you.' He looked at me and, in a voice hushed with awe and reverence, said, 'Shahji may be a ganja-smoker, Srikanta, but he is such a magician that he can bring a three days' corpse back to life. Can you, too, restore a dead man to life, Didi?'

Didi burst out into a merry laugh, clear and infinitely sweet: seldom have I heard anything so beautiful. But,