beside
himself with terror; and when he was identified by the schoolboy as one
of the men who had employed him to cash the cheque, he did not wait
to be asked for an explanation. Throwing himself at Mr. Henderson's
feet he begged for mercy, promising to reveal the entire truth. The
Inspector would make no promises but simply adjured him to make a
clean breast of his share in the transaction. Lakshminarain obeyed,
and his statement, interrupted by many sobs, was duly recorded. His
accomplice was next introduced. At first Gyanendra was inclined to
put a bold face on the matter, stoutly affirming that it was a put-up
affair between Pulin and Ramtonu. When, however, the Inspector read
out to him the deposition of the bearer and schoolboy, he saw that
the game was up and confessed his misdoings, accusing the head clerk
of having prompted them. The culprits were taken in a ticca gari
(four-wheeled cab) to the police station Pulin occupying the box,
while Ramtonu ran behind.

Well, to cut a long story short, the prisoners stuck to their
confession and refunded their ill-gotten gains. They were duly
committed to the High Court on charges of forgery and conspiring to
accuse an innocent man of the like offence. They both pleaded guilty,
and the judge remarked that it was one of the worst cases of the
kind he had ever tried. In passing sentence of two years rigorous
imprisonment on each prisoner, he added that they would have fared
worse but for the patent fact that they had been made catspaws of by
some one who kept in the background. As there was no evidence against
Debnath Babu, except that of accomplices, he was not prosecuted;
but immediately after the trial, Messrs. Kerr & Dunlop dismissed
him without notice. Kisari Babu was promoted to the vacant office of
head clerk, while Pulin stepped into his friend's shoes. By unfailing
application to duty, he won Messrs. Kerr & Dunlop's entire confidence,
and in fulness of time succeeded Kisari Babu as head clerk. Ten or
twelve years later, Pulin was rich enough to build a pakka (masonry)
house at Kadampur, which far eclipsed his father-in-law's, and had
a well-paid doorkeeper in the person of Ramtonu. The once-despised
gharjamai took a leading position among the local gentry.

CHAPTER XVI

Gobardhan's Triumph.

Jadu Babu's four-year-old daughter, Mrinalini, or Mrinu as she was
called in the family, came to her mother one evening to say that her
kitten was lost. In vain wa