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THE WRECK

Kamala then carried her off to her room, seated her on the bed, and played with her till she had quite for- gotten her troubles. When she demanded the prom- ised gift Kamala produced from her box a pair of golden bracelets. They were the finest toys that Umi had ever seen and she was enchanted with them. When "auntie" put them on her wrists she swung her arms aloft to admire the effect, then danced off proudly to show them to her mother.

Saila at once pulled the bracelets off to return them to their owner. "What on earth are you thinking of, Kamal?" she cried. "'What made you put them on her?"

"I made a present of them to Umi," said Kamala, coming closer; Umi's shrieks of lamentation at the outrage were piercing the heavens.

"Are you mad?" ejaculated Saila.

"Didi, I dare you to return them to me ! You can have them cut up and made into a necklace for her."

"I swear I never saw any one to beat you"! and Saila put her arm round Kamala's neck.

"I must say good-bye to you to-day, didi," Kamala went on, "I've been very happy here, I never was so happy in my life," and the tears came in a flood.

Saila found it hard to restrain her own. "Don't talk that way, Kamal, as though you were going away altogether. I can't believe that you were really happy here. It's different now that you'll have a house of your own to be really happy in. We'll drop in to see you now and then, and when our backs are turned you'll say, 'Thank Heaven, they've gone at last !'"

When the time came for Kamala to start and she had said her good-byes, Saila remarked: "I'll come and see you to-morrow at midday," but Kamala neither accepted nor declined this offer.

She found Umesh at the bungalow on her arrival.

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