Page:The Gospel of Râmakrishna.djvu/197

 Nandalal got out at Colutola. The cab came to a stop before the door of Suresh Mitra's house. Suresh was very much attached to the Bhagavan, but he was not at home. He had gone to visit a newly-purchased garden at Kankurgachi. His people opened a room on the ground-floor and invited the party to be seated there. The cab-fare was to be paid. Who was there to pay it ? Had Suresh been at home, he would have done so. The Bhagavan said to a disciple: "Ask the ladies of the house for the fare. I suppose they know well enough that their husbands are in the habit of coming to our place." Narendra (Vivekananda) lived in the same neighborhood, so the Bhagavan sent for him. Meanwhile the inmates of the house led Him upstairs into the drawing-room. The matting of the floor was covered with a carpet and a white sheet. Three or four pillows were lying about. On the walls there hung a beautiful oil-painting which Suresh intended to be a representation of the harmony of all religions.