Page:Stories of Bengalee life - Prabhat Kumar Mukerji.pdf/56

44 he said to the boys—"Are you sure, gentlemen?"

The boys felt encouraged and said—"Yes, Khansamaji, we are perfectly sure. Come with us and see the deshi tin for yourself. In the meanwhile let us all go and return this tin to the shopkeeper."

Four or five of the boys took the Khansama to the shopkeeper who had sold the tin and requested him to take it back and return the money. The latter obdurately refused to do so, saying—"Heaps of English articles are rotting in my shop on account of this wretched Swadeshi. If I have sold a tin, I am not going to take it back again."

The boys left the shop disappointed. They all held a short conference together and decided to buy the Khansama a tin of deshi biscuits out of their own money. They proposed to him that they should keep the English tin themselves and give him a deshi tin in exchange. The Khansama consenting, the boys took him to the Swadeshi stores, and bought him a deshi tin on credit.

The look of the tin apparently satisfied the Khansama. He said—"I think this will do, Babuji. But it is only one rupee. What about my balance of eight annas?"