van we were wont in former times to share.

"'Go thy way, Chunda Das,' he said. 'The sword of fate has descended
upon this house. Come not again to a place accursed.'

"Then did I realize that the trouble was serious.

"'But, my friend and brother,' I protested, 'I cannot depart and leave
you thus. Let me at least understand what calamity has befallen you, so
that I may help toward its repair.'

"'Nothing can be done, so nothing need be said,' he answered, in a tone
and with a look of dignified resignation to the will of God. 'If you
must have the story of our misfortune, you have only to ask the first of
our neighbours you encounter.'

"And he, too, covered his face with his garment, leaving me no choice
but to withdraw without further attempt at this manifestly inopportune
time to probe the mystery.

"If I was to be of service to my friends, however, knowledge of what had
befallen was the first essential. So I took the road that would lead me
to the great pipul tree in the village square, close to the tank and to
the temple, where all day long there was coming and going, and where
therefore I would be most likely to glean the information I desired. By
a happy chance I found reclining under the pipul tree the village
barber, a loquacious fellow, who counted it as part of his business to
know the last detail about other people's affairs.

"After greetings, and a few remarks about the weather and the crops and
the season's epidemics, I carefully broached the real purpose of my
interview, for a prudent man will never divulge his thoughts to another
until he knows that other's thoughts.

"'I have just come from the house of Baji Lal,' I said, in a seemingly
casual way.

"The barber's face instantly lost the smile it had worn.

"'How did you find him?' he asked.

"'Strangely altered,' I replied.

"'And so does every one,' he concurred.

"'Why so?' I ventured.

"The barber looked at me squarely, and then said:

"'You and he were very good friends, Chunda Das.'

"'Yes, and are still, so far as I am concerned,' I answered.

"'I thought so. Well, I am his friend likewise. Many years I have known
him and his wife, Devaka. Both are good, kind people, always willing to
help their neighbours, and ready to give their last bowl of rice to a
vagrant beggar. Perhaps you can assist me to clear away the shadows that
have fallen around them and obscured the sunshine of their home. Let me
tell you the story. A few mont