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 has heard that Noren is expected here every day. May be, when the minstrel boy spoke of our meeting a long-lost friend to-night, he spoke of Noren."

Hemlata was silent.

"He has wandered long from home and has gone through much trouble since he lost his father's estate. But now his estate is restored to him, and he must not be a wanderer any more. Wilt thou speak to him, Hemlata, if we meet him to-night, and ask him to come back with us?"

"My husband will speak to him, no doubt," softly replied Hemlata.

"That he will, but thou too shalt speak, wilt thou not? For thou wert his playmate since childhood, long before my brother knew him, and he loved thee as he could not have loved his own sister. Dost remember how you used to stroll in the Birnagar woods together in the darkness of the evening, and thy mother used to anxiously wait for your return?"

"I remember, sister."

"Dost remember how my brother and Noren used to row their boat with thee on the Ganges, and sometimes the boat was lost to view and thy father used to get alarmed?"

"I remember, sister. But speak not of those days. The past returns not."

"Nay, but the memory of the past lingers till our death. Maybe, thou hast forgotten much, sister, for thou wert but a child then."

"I have not forgotten, sister. But speak not of those days."