V. HE KNEW HIS MASTER
Three days had passed since Gokul Das had seen the widow of Nobo Kumar, but the recollections of that meeting still made him uneasy at times.
"I have known that woman as a young bride in the fulness of her beauty and pride, and I have faced her as an intriguing woman of matchless resource, but I have never known her like this. Retired from all worldly concerns, she yet weilds an overwhelming power; a lone widow and a devotee, she yet crushes me down to the earth! It is well that she leaves us to-morrow, I should not care to face her again. The fortunes of an ancient estate like Debipur cannot be upheld by senile prayers and sanctimonious dreams.
"But I have to face my young Master this evening—in half an hour. Young Master indeed! I wonder if he remembers who picked him up from the streets and placed him by Nobo Kumar. Doth he remember who gave him his bride and his estate? These are links of an iron chain by which I hold him, and the young boy will find the shackles of Gokul Das strong. He wishes to leave certain instructions with me before he parts for the West. Gokul Das had little need for instructions even from Nobo Kumar. Yet I like not the taciturn ways of this youth, Nobo Kumar spoke out if he sometimes stormed and raved. Beware. young man! the hand that controlled that old fighting cock can strangle the chicken. You may crow a little if you like, but Gokul Das will yet rule this estate, ay, two estates, as he has done these many years."
234
