that he had done nothing more than his duty, by neglecting which he
would have rendered himself accountable to God.



CHAPTER VI

An Outrageous Swindle

Amarendra Babu had expected Kumodini Babu to run after him,
with entreaties to return and the promise of a note of hand for
Rs. 4,000. Disappointment became downright wrath when he heard that
his son's prospective bride had been forthwith married to another
boy. After pondering awhile on this grievance, he sent an anonymous
letter to Shám Babu's employers, to the effect that their clerk was
robbing them right and left and running a business of his own with
their money, under a fictitious name. They had implicit confidence
in his honesty, and the only action they took was to hand the scrawl
to him with a remark that they hoped he would discover and prosecute
the writer.

Meanwhile Amarendra Babu cast about him for a suitable match for his
son. Hearing of a likely girl from the marriage-broker, he visited her
parents, who accepted his overtures with alacrity. The young lady's
father, Jogesh by name, was a commission agent, whose regular earnings
did not exceed thirty rupees a month; but he lived in such style that
his neighbours believed him to be comfortably off. Amarendra Babu, too,
was deceived by appearances, while the girl, who was exhibited to him,
seemed intelligent and pretty. On his side, Jogesh knew his visitor
to be a house-owner of some means; and learning from him that his son