"Go," he replied sullenly, and the old woman gathered up her
belongings in a bundle and departed, leaving him to face the dark
future alone.
While brooding over his fate, he was startled by the sudden arrival of
Sadhu. "Now I'm in for it," he thought and began to tremble violently
while his features assumed an ashen hue. But Sadhu sat down by his
side and said, "Ramzan, I've come about Maini".
"Then she's drowned!" gasped Ramzan. "By Allah the Highest, I swear
that I did my best to save her."
"Hullo!" rejoined Sadhu with great surprise; "you must have been with
her when she fell into the nullah."
Ramzan bent his head in silence. After a few moments he looked up,
clasped his hands, and said:--
"Tell me the truth, Sadhu, is Maini alive?"
"She is," was the reply. "On Thursday morning she came to our house
dripping wet and quite exhausted, with a story that your mother had
turned her out of doors and that she was on her way to live with
us when, on crossing the Padmajali Nullah, her foot slipped and she
fell into the water. She told us how, after being carried for nearly
a gau-coss (lit. cow league, the distance at which a cow's lowing
can be heard), she was swept by the stream against the overhanging
roots of a pipal tree (ficus religiosa) and managed to clamber up the
bank.
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