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THE WRECK

time in Uncle's house, but whether he was still there or not the pleader did not know; his wife was missing and it was believed that she had been drowned.

Akshay now directed his steps to Uncle's house.

"I see Ramesh's game now," he mused as he went along; "his wife is dead and he will now proceed to demonstrate to Hemnalini's satisfaction that he never had a wife. In her present frame of mind Hemnalini will believe anything that she hears from Ramesh. These over-righteous folk are really terrible fellows when one penetrates their secrets!" and Akshay men- tally congratulated himself on his own integrity.

Questioned by Akshay regarding Ramesh and Kam- ala, Uncle was unable to control his emotion and tears flowed from his eyes.

"As you are a special friend of Ramesh Babu," he said, "you must have known that dear girl Kamala intimately ; so you will not be surprised to hear that I had only known her for a day or two when I com- pletely forgot that she was not one of my own daugh- ters. How could I have foreseen that the dear girl would inflict such a terrible blow on one whom she had so thoroughly captivated in so short a time?"

"The whole thing seems to me inexplicable," replied Akshay in feigned sympathy. "It's obvious that Ramesh can't have treated her well."

"Ramesh is a friend of yours and you mustn't take offence at what I say; but to tell the truth, I've never been able to understand him. He's a pleasant enough fellow to talk to, but it's impossible to know what's going on in his mind. He must be abnormal, other- wise one can't explain how he could neglect such a charming little wife as Kamala. She was so true to him that though she and my daughter were as intimate as two sisters she never breathed a word against her husband. My daughter could tell very well at times that Kamala was brooding over something but to the

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