"'We will hear you to-morrow,' said the Pundit, 'and in the mean time it will be proper for you to draw up a statement of what you have to say in your defence, in order that its relation may be more succinct and more readily comprehended.'
"My father then begged not to be confined like a thief, and offered the two sahoukars as his securities to appear whenever he might be called on. This was admitted, in spite of Brij Lall's protestations that no securities would bind us, and we walked away in company with our friends; my father, as he passed him, twirling his mustachios and looking askance at him, with many a muttered Inshalla and Mashalla, all of which Brij Lall answered with looks of the most deadly spite and hatred.
"In the course of the evening an account was drawn up, in Persian, of the whole of Brij Lall's conduct, from first to last; and we took it to the durbar in every expectation of seeing him disgraced before our eyes, for his unwarrantable treatment of us. But we were doomed to 'eat disappointment.' The petition was read by Narayun Pundit, and he proceeded to pass judgment in the case, which was, that Brij Lall had much exceeded his authority in imprisoning my father, that he had acted wrongly in persecuting Jeysookhdas and his family, for that on an examination of the accounts there did not appear to be any claim against him.
"On the other hand, that my father had behaved ill to Brij Lall, in having had him turned out of the village; disrespectfully to the state, in not readily giving the accounts demanded to an agent who was known to have the power to ask for them, and in resisting for so long a time his repeated orders.
"My father was going to reply, when, his friend the Sahoukar stopped him. 'Better,' said he, 'is it to come out of a battle with half your life than with no life at all. Be quiet: consider that you have escaped, which is what very few do, from the net which was thrown round you by that low rascal, and be thankful.'
"My father had only to pay a small fine for what he had done to Brij Lall. He considered that he had obtained a victory, and so the matter ended.
"I never shall forget the advice which the old Sahoukar gave my father, when, after some days' sojourn with him, and being entertained at his expense, we were about to set out for our village.
"'Pateljee!' said he, 'I know that Brij Lall well; he will never give up his revenge; you have seen that he behaves like a cow before his patron, but absent from him he is a tiger in heart and in manners; and such is the influence he has obtained, that no one dares to oppose him. You have indeed got well out of his clutches; but had not your affairs been taken up by our Séth, you would have remained in your miserable prison until his hate had been satisfied by your death, from the constant torment and ill-usage he would have subjected you to.'
"'Shookur Alla!' said my father, 'I am at least safe now.'
"'Not without great caution,' said the Sahoukar; 'his emissaries will beset you wherever you go, and it will require your utmost vigilance and wariness to avoid them. By your soul, O Patel, I beseech you not to disregard what I say, or you will repent it.'