Tales of Bengal Part 5

After settling down at Kadampur he cudgelled his brains for some means of increasing his slender resources. Friends advised him to try farming, or start a business in lending grain to cultivators. Neither trade was to his liking. Clerks are of little use outside their own sphere; and Sham Babu was too soft-hearted to succeed as a village Shylock. A matter of pressing importance was to establish his son Susil, who had pa.s.sed the First Arts examination and was hanging about the Government offices at Ghoria, in the hope of securing a post. Sham Babu took advantage of his late employer's offer and sent the young man off to Calcutta armed with a sheaf of certificates. To his great delight, Susil was appointed clerk on Rs. 25--a magnificent start, which relieved his father's most pressing anxiety.

Sham Babu had begun life with a small patrimony which was slowly increased by savings from his monthly pay. He was worth nearly Rs. 10,000, the whole of which was lent by him to a trader named Gopal Datta, certified by Sham Babu's brother-in-law Hari to be thoroughly trustworthy. This Gopal dealt in jute; and being a man of great daring, he speculated so successfully with Sham Babu's money that, within three or four years, he ama.s.sed a fortune of two lakhs (13,333). He paid 12 per cent. interest on the loan regularly, which made a comfortable addition to Sham Babu's pension.

It was the latter's habit to visit his Calcutta relatives at least once a month. So, one day in June, 18--, he went to Hari Babu's house with the intention of pa.s.sing the night there. His brother-in-law was absent and not expected till the morrow; but Sham Babu was welcomed by the ladies of the family, who made all arrangements for his comfort. In the evening he sat in the Baitakhana (parlour) reading the Bhagavat Gita (a mystical poem). A carriage drove up to the door whence alighted Ramanath Babu, who was Gopal's younger brother. After the usual compliments had been exchanged, Sham Babu asked what business his visitor was engaged in.

"I have started as a broker in jute and oil-seeds," was the reply.

"I hope you will do as well as Gopal," said Sham Babu, "but I suppose you have joined him?"

"Certainly not," replied Ramanath impulsively; then he checked himself, as though he had said too much.

Sham Babu was astonished by the tone adopted by his visitor. He asked, "Why, what's the matter with Gopal, nothing wrong I hope and trust?"

"No, not exactly; but I'm in a hurry to-day, you must excuse my taking leave."

Sham Babu, however, would not be put off with vague insinuations. He said, "I must ask you, Ramanath, to be more precise. You know your brother has borrowed Rs. 10,000 from me on a mere note of hand, and I am naturally very anxious to learn the truth."

Ramanath Babu paused for a few seconds before replying. "It is a fact that my brother's speculations have been unfortunate of late. He certainly made a good deal of money at one time, but sunk the bulk of it in bricks and mortar, which you know are not easily turned into liquid capital. You, as a large creditor, ought to be told how the land lies."

"This is the first I have heard of Gopal's difficulties," groaned Sham Babu.

"Yes, because no one troubled himself to tell you the truth; but I can a.s.sure you that Gopal's liabilities are something awful, and it is quite possible that he may have to take insolvency proceedings."

"You don't say so! What shall I do? If Gopal becomes bankrupt, I shall be utterly ruined."

"Well, I cannot advise you fully," replied Ramanath Babu, "but forewarned is forearmed. If I were in your shoes I would certainly call in my loan." Thereon he took leave.

Sham Babu pa.s.sed a restless night, dreaming of the debtor's jail and a starving family. On Hari Babu's return, next morning, he related the purport of his conversation with Ramanath. His host said: "You should not attach too much importance to such t.i.ttle-tattle. Ramanath has had a quarrel with his brother about family matters, and he is not at all averse to doing him a bad turn." Sham Babu was not satisfied with this explanation. He answered:--

"I can hardly believe Ramanath capable of telling deliberate lies, which must inevitably be detected."

"Perhaps not. It is quite possible that Gopal may be in temporary straits. But can you point to a single merchant among your acquaintances whose career has been uniformly prosperous? There are ups and downs in commerce, which no one can avoid. Mark my words, Gopal will soon pull himself together again!"

Sham Babu was by no means convinced by his brother-in-law's optimism. He remarked, "In any case I ought not to allow my loan to stand without some tangible security. Gopal has house property in Calcutta, I believe?"

"To be sure he has. There is his new house at Entally, which must have cost Rs. 20,000; and another in Barabazar, letting at Rs. 3,000. Just calculate what this property must be worth. If I doubted Gopal's solvency, do you suppose I would have lent him Rs. 20,000 on his note of hand?"

Sham Babu was quite rea.s.sured. He came to the conclusion that Ramanath had attempted to injure his own brother, and returned home with a firm resolve to disregard such scandalous talk in future.

About three months afterwards he met Ramanath Babu quite casually in Harrison Road and, in the course of conversation, the latter asked whether he had called in his loan to Gopal.

"I have done nothing of the kind," was the curt reply. "My brother-in-law tells me that he is quite solvent."

"It was just like him to say so--the selfish fellow! I am sorry to say that my brother has lost heavily by speculating in jute and is, in fact, a ruined man. If you don't believe me, ask Hari Babu again and you will see what tune he sings. Perhaps you don't know that he has called in his loan of Rs. 20,000?"

"That is certainly strange," replied Sham Babu with tears in his voice. "He never breathed a word of any such intention to me."

"Hari Babu is your brother-in-law," continued Ramanath, "but Gopal is my own brother. Is it likely that I would injure his reputation gratuitously? No; you are an old friend whom I cannot allow to be ruined without a word of warning. If you do not choose to act upon it, so much the worse for you."

Sham Babu was now convinced that no time was to be lost in demanding proper security for the loan. He went straight to his brother-in-law, to whom he repeated the information which he had received.

Hari Babu shook his head sadly. "Yes," he said, "I am afraid there is some truth in it. Gopal is in temporary difficulties; but you need not be anxious. I will get him to give you a mortgage on landed property worth much more than his debt to you."

Sham Babu felt somewhat rea.s.sured, but there was a point to be cleared up.

"One word more," he said, "have you called in your loan of Rs. 20,000?"

Hari Babu looked at him suspiciously. "Who told you so?"

"I heard it from a reliable source."

"It must have been Ramanath, who is always seeking to make mischief. Well, yes, I did ask Gopal to repay me, not that I distrusted him but because I wanted to invest the money in land."

Sham Babu felt indignant at the man's gross selfishness, but he concealed his feelings and merely remarked that he would not leave Calcutta till the mortgage was settled. Next morning he insisted on Hari Babu accompanying him to Gopal's house at Entally. They found the debtor apparently in high spirits, although he admitted that certain speculations had turned out badly. When pressed by Sham Babu to repay the loan, he asked for time, pleading that his whole capital was locked up. Sham Babu, however, was obdurate, and with his brother-in-law's help he brought such pressure to bear on Gopal that the latter sulkily agreed to give him a mortgage on an ancestral estate in the Mufa.s.sil (interior of Bengal). Sham Babu stuck closely to him until the bargain had been fulfilled, and managed matters so expeditiously that the mortgage deed was drawn up, executed, and registered in a week. Though he had now something tangible to rely on in case of accidents still he was not happy, for Gopal discontinued paying interest on the loan and he did not dare to press him, lest he should precipitate a crash.

Misfortunes never come singly. Soon after settling this unpleasant affair, Sham Babu was laid low by fever; and doctor's bills trenched sadly on his slender resources. Susil, too, the hope of the family, caught a mysterious disease and was absent from office so long that his employers were obliged to replace him. For the first time in his life, the poor old father felt the pinch of want, but he bore up bravely hoping for better times. When he was able to crawl about again, he applied to his old employers for work of any kind, but learnt to his sorrow that they intended winding up the business and were not able to increase their establishment. Sham Babu scanned the advertis.e.m.e.nt columns of the daily paper and answered many offers of employment, learning, on each occasion, that he was far too old to fill the coveted post.

One evening he sat in his parlour brooding over the many misfortunes which encompa.s.sed him. A distant connection named Srish Babu came in and, hearing that his host sorely needed work, said:--

"I am going to start a business in country produce and shall want several experienced clerks. I must provide for relatives first and strangers afterwards. Now, would you be inclined to come to me as manager, on Rs. 75 a month to begin with?"

Sham Babu jumped at the offer, which would restore him to comparative affluence, and it was agreed that he should enter on his new duties in three weeks. A month pa.s.sed by without news from his relative, and meantime Sham Babu received a tempting offer of employment. Before deciding what to do he wrote to Srish Babu, informing him of the fact and asking whether he could rely on him. A reply came to the effect that he might do as he pleased, but that the business in country produce, which he was to manage, would positively be started in a fortnight. After another month of suspense, Sham Babu learnt that Srish's bubble had been p.r.i.c.ked, and that he had levanted, no one knew whither, to escape a swarm of creditors.

The poor old man was now on his beam-ends. The only course open to him was to sue Gopal for arrears of interest and foreclose his mortgage. After a year and a half's attendance in divers civil courts and spending his last rupee on lawyers' fees, he obtained a decree. When, however, he tried to execute it, it turned out that the estate on which he had a lien was a joint family possession, with the shares so inextricably mixed up that he could neither trace the property mortgaged to him nor discover who was liable for the proportion of profit derived from it. As well poke one's fingers into a hornet's nest as into a joint family estate! Sham Babu was glad to accept an offer of Rs. 5,000 from Gopal's co-sharers, in return for a surrender of his claims. Despite his heavy loss, enough remained to preserve him from penury; and he was even able to start Susil in a small way of business. Great is the virtue of economy!

CHAPTER VIII

A Peacemaker.

Young Samarendra Da.s.s of Calcutta hoped to enter Government service as a Sub-Deputy Magistrate; but this ambition was thwarted by the sudden decease of his father, who left a widow and two sons entirely unprovided for. After dutifully performing the sradh (funeral rites), he waited on the dead man's uncle, Rashbehari Babu by name, with a request that he would support the little family until the sons were in a position to do so. No good Hindu in comfortable circ.u.mstances ever turns a deaf ear to such appeals. Rashbehari Babu at once invited the trio to take up their abode with him. Having no nearer relatives, he had resolved to leave his whole fortune to Samarendra and his brother Nagendra; and long before his nephew's death he had executed a will to that effect, which for obvious reasons was kept a profound secret. The young men were, therefore, ignorant of the brilliant prospects in store for them, and worked hard to prepare themselves for earning a livelihood. Samarendra was soon provided with a post as clerk, which yielded enough to provide the cost of his father's funeral ceremony and also enabled him to pay Nagendra's school fees.

One evening Rashbehari Babu went to bed supperless, complaining of indisposition. At midnight, Samarendra was awakened by his groans and found him writhing in agony on the floor. A doctor was summoned in hot haste; but ere his arrival the poor old man had expired in Samarendra's arms. His case was diagnosed as one of failure of the heart's action.

Samarendra and his mother were prostrated by this sudden calamity; but there is no time to be lost in hot weather. Calling in three or four neighbours, they had the body carried to Nimtala Ghat for cremation. Sufficient money was given to the Muchis (low-caste men who serve as undertakers) for purchasing an abundant supply of fuel and ghi (clarified b.u.t.ter) with which a chilla (pyre) was constructed. After the corpse had been laid reverently thereon, Samarendra performed Mukhagni ("putting fire in its mouth," the duty of the eldest son or nearest relative). Fire was then applied on four sides, and when the body had been reduced to ashes, Samarendra bathed in the Ganges with his companions, and returned home with wet clothes, shouting "Haribol!" (a cry used at funerals).

Next day Samarendra discovered the dead man's keys, one of which opened a drawer where Rashbehari Babu kept his private papers. Among them was a will, which made himself and his brother sole heirs to the deceased's estate. He ran with the glad news to his mother, who, in the exuberance of her joy, vowed to offer a sumptuous puja at Kali Ghat temple after the sradh had been duly performed.

Rashbehari Babu left landed property yielding an annual income of Rs. 1,200, besides Rs. 10,000 deposited in a Calcutta bank, and a substantial house. His estate was worth not less than Rs. 40,000--a lucky windfall for the penniless brothers. It is needless to add that the testator's sradh was celebrated with great pomp, which over, Samarendra applied for and obtained probate of the will. A sudden change from dependence to comparative wealth is trying to the best-balanced character. Samarendra's head was turned by the accession of fortune; he began to give himself airs in dealing with acquaintances, and was not over-kind to his mother, who bore her sufferings patiently.

A landed proprietor holds service in contempt. Samarendra at once resigned his post and settled down at Ratnapur, where Rashbehari Babu had owned a house and the bulk of his estate was situated. Soon afterwards he yielded to the repeated advice of his mother by marrying the daughter of a caste-fellow, endowed with goods on a par with her husband's new position.

His brother Nagendra pa.s.sed the Entrance Examination, but failed to secure a First Arts certificate. This rebuff so disheartened him that he gave up all idea of continuing the University course and returned to Ratnapur with the intention of living in idleness on his property. In vain did Samarendra point out the advantages of a degree. Nagendra declared that such distinctions were beyond his reach. Sudden wealth, in fact, was injurious to both of them.

Two uneventful years pa.s.sed away. Samarendra's wife was the mother of an idolised boy and was herself adored by her mother-in-law, who never allowed her to do any manner of household work. The result was that her temper changed for the worse. When the old lady fell ill, the young one made horrible messes of her curry and rice. If her husband ventured to remonstrate, she silenced him with abuse, and even emphasised her remarks with a broomstick.

Samarendra, in fact, was completely under his wife's thumb. Her word was law in the household; her mother-in-law a mere cypher, who found both husband and wife perpetually leagued against her. Shortly after his arrival at Ratnapur, Nagendra espoused the daughter of Kanto Babu, a Zemindar residing in the neighbourhood. At first Samarendra's wife received the new-comer graciously enough; but finding that she was of a submissive disposition, she soon began to lord it over her sister-in-law. Nagendra sympathised heartily with his young wife, but had such a horror of family quarrels that he was very loath to intervene on her behalf. One evening, however, he ventured on a word of reproof, which was received with angry words and threats of his eldest brother's vengeance.