Page:The Wreck.djvu/217

This page needs to be proofread.

CHAPTER XLIII

Nalinaksha's acquaintance with Annada Babu and his daughter soon ripened into intimacy. Before she knew him Hemnalini had supposed that Nalinaksha's discourse would be confined to spiritual matters and she had never imagined that one could converse as freely with him on everyday topics as one could with ordinary people. She soon found that he was quite capable of light conversation, and yet in the midst of the most animated talk he retained an air of aloofness.

On one occasion while Annada Babu and Hemnalini were conversing with Nalinaksha Jogendra burst in and addressed himself to his father. "I say, dad," he exclaimed, "people in the Samaj have Ix^gun to call us Nalinaksha Babu's 'disciples,' and I've just had a seri- ous quarrel with Paresh about it!"

"I don't consider it anything to take offence at," said Annada Babu, smiling ; "I should be ashamed to belong to a society in which all were teachers and none disciples. You'd have everybody lecturing at the top of his voice and there would be no chance to learn anything."

Nalinaksha. "I'll enrol myself under your banner, Annada Babu. Let us all be disciples. We'll start on a round tour halting at any place where we're likely to learn something."

Jogendra, however, was not to be appeased. "That's all very well," he said, "but it's a serious matter. Why, Nalin Babu, your own friends and relations won't be allowed to visit you without being dubbed your 'disciples.' One can't laugh away an insult like that. You really should give up these practices of yours."

213

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.