"How dare you?" they shouted back. "Do you take us to be thieves?"
If Kalipada had held any weapon in his hand at that moment he certainly
would have killed some one among them. But when he was about to spring,
they fell on him, and four or five of them dragged him down to his room
and thrust him inside.
Sailen said to his companions: "Here, take this hundred-rupee note, and
throw it to that _dog_!"
They all loudly exclaimed: "No! Let him climb down first and give us a
written apology. Then we shall consider it!"
Sailen's party all went to bed at the proper time and slept the sleep of
the innocent. In the morning they had almost forgotten Kalipada. But
some of them, while passing his room, heard the sound of talking and
they thought that possibly he was busy consulting some lawyer. The door
was shut from the inside. They tried to overhear, but what they heard
had nothing legal about it. It was quite incoherent.
They informed Sailen. He came down and stood with his ear close to the
door. The only thing that could be distinctly heard was the word
'Father.' This frightened Sailen. He thought that possibly Kalipada had
gone mad on account of the grief of losing that fifty-rupee note. Sailen
shouted "Kalipada Babu!" two or three times, but got no answer. Only
that muttering sound continued. Sailen called,--"Kalipada Babu,--please
open the door. Your note has been found." But still the door was not
opened and that muttering sound went on.
Sailen had never anticipated such a result as this. He did not express a
word of repentance to his followers, but he felt the sting of it all the
same. Some advised him to break open the door: others thought that the
police should be called in,--for Kalipada might be in a dangerous state
of lunacy. Sailen at once sent for a doctor who lived close at hand.
When they burst open the door they found the bedding hanging from the
bed and Kalipada lying on the floor unconscious. He was tossing about
and throwing up his arms and muttering, with his eyes red and open and
his face all flushed. The doctor examined him and asked if there were
any relative near at hand; for the case was serious.
Sailen answered that he knew nothing, but would make inquiries. The
doctor then advised the removal of the patient at once to an upstairs
room and proper nursing arrangements day and night. Sailen took him up
to his own room and dismissed his followers. He got some ice and put it
on Kalipada's head and began to fan him with his own hand.
Kalipada, fearing that mocking references would be made, had concealed
the names and address of his parents from these people with special
care. So Sailen had no alternative but to open his box. He found two
bundles of letters tied up with ribbon. One of them contained his
mother's letters, the other contained his father's. His mother's letters
were fewer in number than his father's. Sailen closed the door and began
to read the letters. He was startled when he saw the address,--Saniari,
the house of the Chowdhuries,--and then the name of the father, Bhavani.
He folded up the letters and sat still, gazing at Kalipada's face. Some
of his friends had casually mentioned, that there was a resemblance
between Kalipada and himself. But he was offended at the remark and did
not believe it. To-day he discovered the truth. He knew that his own
grandfather, Shyama Charan, had a step-brother named Bhavani; but the
later history to the family had remained a secret to him. He did not
even know that Bhavani had a son named Kalipada; and he never suspected
that Bhavani had come to such an abject state of poverty as this. He now
felt not only relieved, but proud of his own relative, Kalipada, that
he had refused to enter himself on the list of protA(C)gA(C)s.