"Unfair to me? Why should it? Just wait,—let me cure your boy completely—and then you may treat me to a dinner on the full-moon day following and I promise to come. There is great merit in feasting a Brahmin on a full-moon' day—there is, indeed,"—and the good Doctor burst into a genial laughter. It was a rule with him never to accept fees from poor people.
As soon as the laugh subsided, a cheer of "Bande Mataram" was heard on the platform outside, joined in by numerous voices. The Doctor looking surprised, said—"What is that?"
"There was a Swadeshi preacher come from Calcutta,"—explained the telegraphist—"and I think, people have come to see him off."
Both walked out into the platform. The preacher was no other than the well-known editor of the Bir Bharata (Heroic India) newspaper,—Srijut Benoy Krishna Sen.
Though a Government servant, the Doctor Babu, in common with other Indian servants of the Government, was a true Swadeshi at heart. It was whispered that under cover of night, he frequently visited the Swadeshi shops of the town and brought home loads of forbidden, that is to say, country-made goods. He could not resist the temptation of going and speaking to Benoy Babu.
