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 friend, that may be all very true, but in case of his death our gains will become very precarious: I prefer the supply to be as constant as the Vasudhara: let us be ever getting, ever eating, say I: one shower will not suffice a long-continued thirst." Baburam Babu's wife was a most devoted partner: ever since her lord's departure she had been very restless and had neglected her daily food. She had been sitting all night at one of the windows of the house from which the Ganges was visible. As the wind blew in strong gusts every now and again, she shuddered with fright: she kept gazing out into the storm, but her heart trembled as she looked: the continual rumbling of the thunder made her anxious, and she called upon the Almighty in her distress. Time went by: hardly a boat passed up or down the Ganges: whenever she heard a sound she would get up and look: occasionally she saw a light glimmering faintly in the distance and at once concluded it came from some vessel. At last a boat did come in sight, and she waited for it to come and tie up at the ghât; but when it passed on, only skirting the shore without coming to land, the agony of despair pierced her heart like a dart.

The night had almost come to an end and the storm had gradually lulled. How beautiful is the calm of creation that succeeds tumult and confusion! The stars again shone in the sky: the moon's light seemed to dance sportively on the waters of the river: so still had the earth become that even the rustle of the leaves could be heard.

Baburam Babu's wife, as she anxiously gazed about her, exclaimed in her impatience: "Oh Lord of Creation! to my knowledge I have done no wrong to any one: I have committed no sin that I am aware of. Must I now