aim at turning out clerks and lawyers in reckless profusion. Moreover,
academic degrees are tariffed in the marriage market. The
"F.A." commands a far higher price than the "entrance-passed," while
an M.A. has his pick of the richest and prettiest girls belonging to
his class. Hence parents take a keen interest in their boys' progress
and constantly urge them to excel in class. With such lessons ringing
in his ears, the Bengali schoolboy is consumed with a desire to master
his text-books. The great difficulty is to tear him away from them,
and insist on his giving sufficient time to manly games. When a new
teacher takes the helm, he is closely watched in order to test his
competence. The older lads take a cruel pleasure in plying him with
questions which they have already solved from the Dictionary. Pulin
did not emerge from this ordeal with credit, and the boys concocted
a written complaint of his shortcomings, which they despatched to
the Secretary of the School Committee, The answer was a promise to
redress their grievances.

At 10.30 next morning Kaliprasanna Babu entered Pulin's classroom and
stood listening to his method of teaching English literature. Presently
one of the boys asked him to explain the difference between "fort"
and "fortress". After scratching his head for fully half a minute he
replied that the first was a castle defended by men, while the second
had a female garrison! The Secretary was quite satisfied. He left
the room and sent Pulin a written notice of dismissal. The latter was
disheartened beyond measure by this unkind stroke of fortune. He shook
the dust of Rámnagar from his feet and returned home to lay his sorrows
before Nalini, seasoning the story with remarks highly derogatory to
Kaliprasanna Babu's character. In order to get rid of an importunate
suitor Nalini gave him another letter of introduction, this time to
an old acquaintance named Debnath Lahiri who was head clerk in the