first upon the list of those who should bear evidence against the jaghirdar, saying:—"Are all things ready, and do you know what should be said?"
Jowar Singh answered:—"What is this, and whence do you come, Durga Dass?"
I said:—"From my bed, where I have so long lain sick because of the jaghirdar. Where is Ram Dass, my brother, who was to have made the arrangement for the witnesses? Surely you and yours know these things!"
Then Jowar Singh said:—"What has this to do with us, O Liar? I have borne witness and I have been paid, and the jaghirdar has, by the order of the Court, paid both the five hundred rupees that he robbed from Ram Dass and yet other five hundred because of the great injury he did to your brother."
The well and the ber-tree above it and the square of Isser Jang became dark in my eyes, but I leaned on my stick and said:—"Nay! This is child's talk and senseless. It was I who suffered at the hands of the jaghirdar, and I am come to make ready the case. Where is my brother Ram Dass?"
But Jowar Singh shook his head, and a woman cried:—"What lie is here? What quarrel had the jaghirdar with you! It is only a shameless one and one without faith who profits by his brother's smarts. Have these money-lenders no bowels?"
I cried again, saying:—"By the Cow—by the Oath of the Cow, by the Temple of the Blue-throated Mahadeo, I and I only was beaten—beaten to the death! Let your talk be straight, O people of Isser Jang, and I will pay for the witnesses." And I tottered where I stood, for the sickness and the pain of the beating were heavy upon me.
Then Ram Narain, who has his carpet spread under the jujube-tree by the well, and writes all letters for the men of the town, came up and said:—"To-day is the one-and-fortieth day since the beating, and since these six days the case has been judged in the Court, and the Assistant Commissioner Sahib has given it for your brother Ram Dass, allowing the
