In due course the suit against Ramda came on for hearing before the Munsiff.  His pleader established by documentary evidence that the tenure was one without any condition whatever; while the neighbours came forward to prove that the land in dispute had been admirably tilled.  The plaintiff, therefore, was non-suited, with costs.  The very same result attended Nagendra Babu’s action against his sister-in-law, whose case excited universal sympathy.  He lost heavily in purse and left the Court with a ruined reputation.  It was natural that a man so evil-minded should regard Ramda as the author of misfortunes due to his own wicked nature.  He plotted the poor Brahman’s destruction, but no effectual means of compassing it suggested itself.

As days and weeks wore on, his despondency became deeper and, one evening, while sitting with the Lakhimpur bailiff, he asked whether there was any remedy which would restore his peace of mind.  The cunning rascal said nothing at the time; but at a late hour on the morrow he came to Nagendra Babu’s house with a large bottle hidden under his wrapper.  It contained some light brown fluid, which the bailiff poured into a tumbler.  Then adding a small quantity of water, he invited his master to swallow the mixture.  A few minutes after doing so, the patient was delighted to find that gloomy thoughts disappeared as if by magic.  An unwonted elation of spirits succeeded; he broke into snatches of song, to the intense surprise of the household!  His amateur physician left the bottle, advising him to take a similar dose every night; and Nagendra Babu followed the prescription punctiliously, with the best effect on his views of life.  After finishing the bottle he asked for another, which was brought to him secretly.  It had a showy label reading, “Exshaw No. 1 Cognac”.  Nagendra Babu’s conscience accused him of disobeying the Shastras; but the die was cast.  He could no longer exist without a daily dose of the subtle poison; and gradually increased it to a tumblerful, forgetting to add water.

His faithful wife did her best to wean him from the fatal habit.  She even ventured to abstract his brandy bottle and dilute its contents.  On being detected, she underwent a personal correction which was not soon forgotten.  The poor creature, indeed, underwent every sort of humiliation from her worthless husband, which she bore in silence, hoping that time would bring him to his senses.

Drunken men are proverbially cunning.  After brooding long over his supposed grievances Nagendra matured a scheme of revenge.  He intercepted Ramda, one afternoon, on his way to visit Samarendra’s widow, and, affecting sincere penitence for the injury he had endeavoured to work, he invited the unsuspecting Brahman into his sitting-room.  Once inside, he suddenly thrust a brass vessel into his visitor’s hand and dragged him into the yard, shouting “Thief! thief!” The Lakhimpur bailiff, who was sitting on the verandah, also laid hands on Ramda and, with