Page:The Wreck.djvu/213

This page needs to be proofread.

THE WRECK

209

sit down here. Nalinaksha Babu, this is my daughter Hem. She and I went to hear your address the other day and enjoyed it greatly. There was one thing you said — about never losing what we have once gained and incomplete gain being really a loss — that struck me as a very profound truth. Don't you agree, Hem? The real test comes when a tiling passes out of our possession. Then we know whether it was truly our own or not. I have a request to make of you, Nalin Babu. If you could drop in now and then for a talk we should consider it a great favour. We don't go out much. You may be certain of finding my daugh- ter and myself in this room at whatever hour you call."

Nalinaksha threw one glance at Hemnaiini's self- conscious face before he replied:

"You mustn't imagine me a solemn prig because I used a lot of long words on the lecture-platform. It was only because the students insisted that I con- sented to lecture at all — I never could withstand im- portunate people — but I think I have successfully de- terred them from asking for a repetition of the dose! The lads make no secret of the fact that three-quarters of my address was incomprehensible to them. You were there too, Jogen Babu, and you mustn't suppose that your appealing glances at your watch left me unmoved !"

"You mustn't mind me," said Jogendra, "if I couldn't follow it all, my own intelligence must be at fault."

Annada. After all, Jogen, there are certain things that only people of a certain age can understand."

Nalinaksha. "Yes, and at certain ages one does not need to understand everything."

Annada. "By the way, Nalin Babu, there is one subject which I feel I must mention to you. The Creator sent men of your stamp into the world to

Digitized by Google

This article is issued from Wikisource. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.