There had been rain in the night, and patches of cloud were still to be seen in the sky; the roads and the steps of the ghâts were all slippery in consequence. Baburam Babu puffed away at his hooka and looked out for a hired gharry or a palki, but he would not agree to the fare demanded: it was a great deal too much to his mind. When the boys who had collected in the road saw how Baburam Babu was chaffering, some of them said to him: "Had you not better, sir, be carried in a coolie's basket? The charge for that will be only two pice." As Baburam Babu ran after them and tried to hit them, roundly abusing them the while, he fell heavily to the ground. The boys only laughed at this and clapped their hands at him from a safe distance. Baburam with a woebegone countenance then got into a gharry with Thakchacha and his companions. The gharry went creaking along, and eventually pulled up at the house of Bancharam Babu, of Outer Simla.
Bancharam Babu was the principal agent of a Mr. Butler, an attorney living in Boitakhana; he had had a good deal of experience in the law-courts and in cases-at-law: though his pay was only fifty rupees a month, there was no limit to his gains, and festivals were always in full swing in his house.
Beni Babu of Bally, Becharam Babu of Bow Bazar, and Bakreswar Babu of Batatala, were all seated in his sitting-room, waiting for Baburam Babu. With the arrival of that worthy the business of the day commenced.
Becharam.—Oh Baburam, what a venomous reptile have you been nourishing all this time! You would never listen to me, though time after time I sent word to you. Your boy Matilall has pretty well done for his chances in this world and in the next: he drinks his fill, he gambles, he eats things forbidden: caught in the very act of gamb-
