"God forbid!" remarked Hiramani; "but has he not been too cruelly used
by his uncle? You must have noticed the welts on his naked back. I
counted five as broad as my forefinger. How could a grown-up man
torture a child like that?"--and she looked meaningly at her hostess.

The mother was evidently impressed by these words. She undertook
to speak to Nalini about his treatment of her son. Hiramani was
delighted to see that the poison was beginning to work. She went
straight from the Basus' house to Debendra Babu and reported her
success. He praised her warmly, presented her with a rupee, and
offered further instructions.

Hiramani soon became a regular visitor of the Basu ladies. She lost
no opportunity of poisoning the mind of Jadu Babu's wife, by retailing
Nalini's iniquities. At the outset her insinuations were disregarded;
but in time the elder wife fell so completely under Hiramani's
influence as to accept her stories as gospel truth. One day, indeed,
she ventured to ask her husband to separate from his brother and,
on meeting with a peremptory refusal, declared that she would take
no food while Nalini remained in the house. Ending that she really
meant to carry out this awful threat, Jadu Babu apparently yielded,
promising to eject his brother. When the villagers saw Hiramani so
thick with the Basu ladies, they prophesied ill-luck for the family,
and on learning Jadu Babu's resolve they remarked that the old woman
had not belied her reputation. As for Nalini, he knew that something
was in the wind, but carefully avoided broaching the subject to his
brother, lest he should widen the breach. Like a sacrificial goat, he
waited for the stroke to fall on his devoted head. Shortly afterwards,
Jadu Babu told his wife to make arrangements for setting up a separate