Kripá Dé did not deny the charge, and his silence brought on him a furious volley of abuse from Darobti and the other women, who assailed the convert with epithets too vile for repetition here. At a pause, however, Thákar Dás commanded silence by a wave of his hand. The chief had loved and been proud of the beautiful boy whom his wife had adopted, and the Hindu had not given up all hope of winning Kripá Dé back to the faith of his fathers. The path of return is not so much blocked up now as it was once against the return of those who have forsaken the Hindu religion.
“Hear me, O son of Shiv Prasád!” exclaimed Thákar Dás. “Thou hast been bewitched by English sorceries, and hast cast away like a madman the privileges of thy high birth. But the gods may yet be propitiated and the Brahmins appeased. The holy waters of the Ganges, the swallowing the five sacred products of the cow, with large offerings which I will make for thee at many temples, thine own pilgrimages, fastings, and ablutions, may yet restore thee to the high position from which thou hast fallen, if thou swear by the holy gods to abjure the faith of the Christians.”
“I would rather part with my life than my faith!” cried the young Kashmiri, his fair cheek flushing and his lip quivering as he made the reply.
This declaration renewed the pelting of the pitiless storm of abuse and invectives. Darobti pulled off her slipper, and with it struck the youth on the face.
“Why do you treat me thus?” exclaimed Kripá Dé. “I have done wrong to no man, I have injured none, I am of an age to choose my own religion. The English Sircar [Government] will protect me.”
“You are a child; you are under fourteen,” cried Chand Kor, with the unblushing effrontery often shown in such cases. “I can swear that ten years ago thou wert an infant in arms.”
“We can bring a dozen witnesses!” exclaimed Thákar Dás. “We will do so if the case be brought into court.”
“The Sahib has my janam-patri,” said the young Brahmin.
This renewed the tempest of abuse.
“Has the Sahib your sacred thread also?” almost shrieked out the aunt of the convert.