88
THE WRECK
struggling: in the grasp of one of the station officials who tried to hold him back from the moving train, He succeeded, however, in boarding the train, though his shawl remained in the official's hand. As the tardy one leaned forward out of the carriage window and reached for the shawl Ramesh recognised him as— Akshay.
It was some time before Kamala stopped laughing over the scuffle she had watched.
"It's half-past ten and we're off; you had better go to sleep now'" said Ramesh.
The girl went obediently to bed, but until she fell asleep she had frequent fits of giggling.
Ramesh, on his part, had failed to perceive the humour of the incident. Akshay, he knew, had no country home; his family had lived in Calcutta for generations. So why had he been in such a desperate hurry to catch that particular train? The only pos- sible explanation was that he and Kamala were being shadowed.
The idea that Akshay would institute inquiries in his native village was most distasteful to Ramesh; his reputation wotdd inevitably become the sport of con- tending factions there, and the whole business would appear unspeakably sordid.
He could imagine exactly what sort of scandal would be bruited about in the village. In a city like Calcutta one can always find unplumbed depths into which to dive, but the slightest impact sets the shallows of a small country place tossing with excitement. The more he reflected the more he shuddered at the prospect.
When the train stopped at Barrackpore Ramesh put his head out but he did not see Akshay alight. At Naihati many passengers entered and left the train but Akshay was not among them. At Bogoola Ramesh looked out again but once more he was disappointed.
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