with this explanation. He answered:--

"I can hardly believe Rámanáth capable of telling deliberate lies,
which must inevitably be detected."

"Perhaps not. It is quite possible that Gopál may be in temporary
straits. But can you point to a single merchant among your
acquaintances whose career has been uniformly prosperous? There are
ups and downs in commerce, which no one can avoid. Mark my words,
Gopál will soon pull himself together again!"

Shám Babu was by no means convinced by his brother-in-law's
optimism. He remarked, "In any case I ought not to allow my loan to
stand without some tangible security. Gopál has house property in
Calcutta, I believe?"

"To be sure he has. There is his new house at Entally, which must have
cost Rs. 20,000; and another in Barabazar, letting at Rs. 3,000. Just
calculate what this property must be worth. If I doubted Gopál's
solvency, do you suppose I would have lent him Rs. 20,000 on his note
of hand?"

Shám Babu was quite reassured. He came to the conclusion that Rámanáth
had attempted to injure his own brother, and returned home with a
firm resolve to disregard such scandalous talk in future.

About three months afterwards he met Rámanáth Babu quite casually in
Harrison Road and, in the course of conversation, the latter asked
whether he bad called in his loan to Gopál.