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THE WRECK

"I got up late this morning," said Annada Babu, as he emerged on to the roof and fell to stroking her shoulder.

Anxiety for his daughter had made his rest a dis- turbed one, and he had not fallen asleep till dawn was approaching. The sun shining on his face had awakened him again, and after a hasty toilet he had gone in search of his daughter. Her room, however, was empty, and the thought that she still courted soli- tude caused him a fresh pang.

"Come down and have your tea, dear," he said.

Hemnalini shrank from facing Jogendra across the tea-table, but she knew that any departure from her usual routine would distress her father; moreover, it was her invariable •custom to pour out his tea for him herself and she did not wish to omit this slight attention.

As they reached the door she heard Jogendra con- versing with some one inside and her heart fluttered at the sudden thought that Ramesh might be there, for no one else was likely to come in so early. Ouak- ing in every limb she entered the room and beheld — Akshay! It was the last straw, and she turned and fled. When her father brought her back again, she pressed close to his chair and concentrated her whole attention on the preparation of his tea.

Jogendra was seriously offended at her behaviour. That Hem should take Ramesh's defection so much to heart seemed to him insufferable. His disgust was intensified when he perceived that Annada Babu shared in her sorrow, and that she was trying to use his affection as a shield between herself and the world. "We are all criminals !" he thought. "When our fond- ness for her enjoins us to do our duty and to work for her true happiness, not only do we receive no word of thanks but she secretly regards us as wrongdoers. Dad doesn't know how to handle the situation at all;

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