asked
only ten rupees and a promise of silence for the performance of a
samadhi.

On our way back we were met at the gate by Sham Rao, who was simply
radiant. Whether he was afraid of our laughing at him, or was at loss to
find an explanation of this new metamorphosis in the positive sciences
in general, and Haeckel in particular, he did not attempt to explain why
the affair had taken such an unexpectedly good turn. He merely
mentioned awkwardly enough that his mother, owing to some new mysterious
conjectures of hers, had dismissed all sad apprehensions as to
the destiny of her elder son, and he then dropped the subject
completely.----

In order to wipe away the traces of the morning's perplexities from our
minds, Sham Rao invited us to sit on the verandah, by the wide entrance
of his idol room, whilst the family prayers were going on. Nothing
could suit us better. It was nine o'clock, the usual time of the morning
prayers. Sham Rao went to the well to get ready, and dress himself, as
he said, though the process was more like undressing. In a few moments
he came back wearing only a dhuti, as during dinner time, and with his
head uncovered. He went straight to his idol room. The moment he entered
we heard the loud stroke of a bell that hung under the ceiling, and that
continued tolling all the time the prayers lasted.

The Babu explained to us that a little boy was pulling the bell rope
from the roof.

Sham Rao stepped in with his right foot and very slowly. Then he
approached the altar and sat on a little stool with his legs crossed.
At the opposite side of the room, on the red velvet shelves of an altar
that resembled an etagere in the drawing-room of some fashionable lady,
stood many idols. They were made of gold, of silver, of brass and of
marble, according to their im-portance and merits. Maha-Deva or Shiva
was of gold. Gunpati or Ganesha of silver, Vishnu in the form of a round
black stone from the river Gandaki in Nepal. In this form Vishnu is
called Lakshmi-Narayan. There were also many other gods unknown to us,
who were worshipped in the shapes of big sea-shells, called Chakra.
Surya, the god of the sun, and the kula-devas, the domestic gods, were
placed in the second rank. The altar was sheltered by a cupola of carved
sandal-wood. During the night the gods and the offerings were covered
by a huge bell glass. On the walls there were many sacred images
representing the chief episodes in the biographies of