In the midst of his speculations a member of the family arrived sauntering in with unconcern.
"You are looking for Ananda. We saw you come in and guessed that you would be here."
"Where is he?" asked Bopaul, in surprise.
"He is dead; drowned in the well near the stable."
Bopaul expressed his consternation and regret, and asked how the accident had occurred. The man laughed unsympathetically, in a manner that grated on the feelings of the visitor.
"The wonder is that it has not happened before. It was not an accident. He threw himself into the well at night when we were all asleep. It was the best way out of the difficulty that he himself had created by turning Christian. It will prevent further trouble and vexation, even though it saddles the family with a widow."
"Have the funeral rites been performed?"
"How can an outcaste receive the funeral rites of an orthodox Hindu?" the other asked contemptuously.
"He has been burned, then, without them?" said Bopaul, regarding the man with increasing displeasure. He did not like the tone adopted. "It is strange we have heard nothing of the affair."
"There has been no burning and no burial for the excellent reason that we have not yet recovered the body from the well."