peared before him and saluted him. Beni Babu was engrossed in his book, but was roused by the sound of approaching footsteps, and guessing who the boy was, said to him: "Come here, Matilall, come here! is all well at home?" "All is well," replied the boy. Beni Babu bade Matilall stay with him for the night, and promised the next morning to take him to Calcutta and put him to school. Some little time after this, Matilall, having finished his meal, perceived that time was likely to hang heavy on his hands, as it would not be dark for a long time yet. Being naturally of a very restless disposition, it was always a hard thing for him to sit long in one place; so he rose very quietly from his seat, and proceeded to explore the house. First he tried to work the mill for husking rice with his feet; then he tramped about on the terraced roof of the house; then commenced throwing bricks and tiles at the passers by, running away when he had done so as hard as he could. Thus he made the circuit of Bally, tramping noisily about, stealing fruit out of people's gardens and plucking the flowers, or else jumping about on the top of the village huts and breaking the water-jars. The people, annoyed by such conduct as this, asked each other: "Who is this boy? Surely our village will be ruined as Lanka was by Hanuman the house-burner." Some of them, when they heard the name of the boy's father, remarked: "Ah, he is the son of Baburam Babu! what then can you expect? Is it not written: 'Men's virtues are reflected in a son, in renown, and in water?'"
As the evening drew on the village resounded with the cries of jackals and the humming of innumerable insects. As many men of position reside in Bally, and the shalgram is to be found in the houses of most of them, there was no lack of the sound of handbells and conch shells. Beni
