“Perhaps not. It is quite possible that Gopál may be in temporary straits. But can you point to a single merchant among your acquaintances whose career has been uniformly prosperous? There are ups and downs in commerce, which no one can avoid. Mark my words, Gopál will soon pull himself together again!”
Shám Babu was by no means convinced by his brother-in-law’s optimism. He remarked, “In any case I ought not to allow my loan to stand without some tangible security. Gopál has house property in Calcutta, I believe?”
“To be sure he has. There is his new house at Entally, which must have cost Rs. 20,000; and another in Barabazar, letting at Rs. 3,000. Just calculate what this property must be worth. If I doubted Gopál’s solvency, do you suppose I would have lent him Rs. 20,000 on his note of hand?”
Shám Babu was quite reassured. He came to the conclusion that Rámanáth had attempted to injure his own brother, and returned home with a firm resolve to disregard such scandalous talk in future.
About three months afterwards he met Rámanáth Babu quite casually in Harrison Road and, in the course of conversation, the latter asked whether he had called in his loan to Gopál.
“I have done nothing of the kind,” was the curt reply. “My brother-in-law tells me that he is quite solvent.”
“It was just like him to say so—the selfish fellow! I am sorry to say that my brother has lost heavily by speculating in jute and is, in fact, a ruined man. If you don’t believe me, ask Hari Babu again and you will see what tune he sings. Perhaps you don’t know that he has called in his loan of Rs. 20,000?”
“That is certainly strange,” replied Shám Babu with tears in his voice. “He never breathed a word of any such intention to me.”
“Hari Babu is your brother-in-law,” continued Rámanáth, “but Gopál is my own brother. Is it likely that I would injure his reputation gratuitously? No; you are an old friend whom I cannot allow to be ruined without a word of warning. If you do not choose to act upon it, so much the worse for you.”
Shám Babu was now convinced that no time was to be lost in demanding proper security for the loan. He went straight to his brother-in-law, to whom he repeated the information which he had received.