Page:Tales of Bengal (S. B. Banerjea).djvu/62

26 sitting in his office to receive rent, which was brought him by a crowd of dejected-looking ryots. A great hubbub was going on; one Bemani insisting that he had paid up to date while Ramani Babu's gomastha (bailiff) stoutly denied the assertion and called on the objector to produce his receipt. This was not forthcoming for the simple reason that Bemani had mislaid it. He asked the bailiff to show him the ledger account, and after spelling through the items laboriously behe [sic] found that not a pice stood to his credit, although he had paid nearly sixty rupees since the last kist (rent) day. There are few who understand the value of the dákhilas (rent receipts) which landlords are compelled by law to give them. The little slips of paper are lost or destroyed, with the result that many ryots have had to pay twice over. Bemani vainly invoked Allah to witness that he had discharged his dues; the bailiff ordered him to pay within twenty-four hours on pain of severe punishment. Goaded to fury by this palpable injustice the poor man declined to do anything of the kind. At this stage Ramani Babu intervened:—

"You son of a pig, are you going to obey my orders or not?"

"No, I have paid once, and I won't pay again," yelled Bemani, thoroughly roused.

Ramani Babu beckoned to a stalwart doorkeeper