But alas, how hard the times have become! A man such as this had been attending the Bar Library of Dinajshahi for four long years and still the clients were keeping their distance.
Subodh's house stood in a much frequented street of the town. It was a small two-storied building with a little compound in front and a gate just bordering the street. The rent of the house has remained unpaid for three or four months. The modi has run up a bill close on a hundred rupees. The Marwari who supplied him with clothes has stopped any further credit. The landlord, the modi, the Marwari have begun to grow rather impertinent to Subodh of late. Although Lakshmi (the goddess of wealth) has withheld her favours from Subodh all these years, the goddess of children has been very good to him. He has had two daughters and a son born to him at Dinajshahi. He has also secured the friendship of a brother pleader, Jagat Prasanna Babu. Jagat's father was a local pleader before him and some of the old clients have not deserted the son.
CHAPTER II
It was a winter morning. Sitting in his office room, Subodh Babu was drinking a cup of tea, sweetened with goor, as sugar was rather expen-
