y might be different from her and from Tyope, and of course
she had no doubt concerning his ultimate pliability. And she relied also
upon the influence Mitsha would exert upon her future husband, taking it
for granted that her child had the same low standards as her parents.
That child Hannay regarded merely as a resource,--as valuable property,
marketable and to be disposed of to the most suitable bidder. In her
eyes Okoya appeared as a very desirable one.

She saw that the courtship, if thus it may be called, was advancing most
favourably; and thought it proper, now that the ball was in motion, to
allow it to roll alone for a short time,--in other words, to leave the
house under some pretext, abandoning the young folk to themselves. After
her return she intended to sound Okoya again, though in a more skilful
manner. So she replaced the bowl in its niche and went toward the
ladder. Before ascending it she turned and said,--

"I will be back soon."

The youth smiled, and she gave him a knowing, significant wink, climbed
on the roof and down to the ground, and remained standing outside for a
while, until she thought that the young people had forgotten about her.
Then she glided noiselessly to the air-hole and peeped in. They still
sat by the hearth, examining together some object the nature of which
she could not discover; and Mitsha was explaining something to the boy.
Evidently the girl was showing him another piece of her handiwork. She
heard them laugh merrily and innocently. They were like children at
play. Satisfied with the outlook, Hannay crept off to a neighbour's
dwelling where the whole family was gathered on the house-top. She took
her seat by the old folk and joined in the conversation. That
conversation was nothing more nor less than the merest gossip,--Indian
gossip, as genuine as any that is spoken in modern society; with this
difference only, that the circle of facts and ideas accessible to the
Indian mind is exceedingly narrow, and that the gossip applies itself
therefore to a much smaller number of persons and things. But it is as
venomous, the backbiting as severe and merciless among Indians as among
us; and there is the same disposition to criticise everything that does
not strictly pertain to us and to our favourites, the same propensity to
slander the absent and to be of the same opinion as those present so
long as they are within hearing distance.

Gossip has a magic power. It fascinates more t