THE WRECK 105
Ramesh handed her a small cash-box with the remark, "You had better keep your money and valuables in this for the present."
Realising that the logic of circumstances had now imposed on Kamala the whole burden of the manage, he went back to the rail and stood there watching the last light fade from the western sky.
Umesh compounded his pudding of ground-rice, curds, and plantains and ate his fill while Kamala stood by and drew from him an account of his life.
An unwanted child in a house ruled by a stepmother, he had run away from home and was making for Benares where one of his own mother's relations lived.
"If you'll let me stay with you, mother, I shan't want to go anywhere else," he concluded.
The maternal instinct deep down in the girl's heart was stirred by his ncivete in addressing her as "mother."
"All right, Umesh, you come along with us," she said encouragingly.
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