Page:The Slave Girl of Agra.djvu/58

 The wailing voices of all the women as they sang the last verse struck Nobo Kumar, and he paused and listened. But Gokul Das whispered in his ear, with a cynic smile, "Come, Master, come away. They will sing the same song to Noren to-morrow, after we are gone!"

"Thou art heartless, Gokul Das, to speak so unkindly of our well-wishers. My heart is not of flint like thine, and can respond to the kindly feelings of honest women, although they be but transient."

"All is not so fair as it looks, my Master. There are some in the town who remember such festive days when Birnagar was ruled by Noren's grandfather. May be we may meet them yet. Let us pass on."

Cotton and silk weaving was the main industry of Bengal in the olden days, and merchants of all nations of the West competed to secure the trade of the Indian fabrics. The Portuguese, under the renowned Albuquerque, had established an Empire over the Eastern seas, and from the south of Africa to the eastern limits of China the vast coast-line of many thousand miles was studded with Portuguese seaports. Thousands of the Portuguese had settled in Bengal and taken Bengal women as their wives, and they have left descendants who form the greater portion of the present Eurasian community of India. The enterprising Dutch, who were at this very time waging their war of independence, were also sending vessels to the East. And the British too, under Queen Elizabeth, were seeking a share in this lucrative Eastern trade. Millions of men and women in Bengal found a profitable occupation in weaving and spinning,