“I did not see you in that base disguise,” replied Surendra, “or I would have given you a taste of the whip.”  Then snatching the glass from Debendra’s hand, he said, “Now do listen seriously while you are in your senses; after that, drink if you will.”

“Speak, brother,” said Debendra; “why are you angry to-day?  I think the atmosphere of Hembati has corrupted you.”

Surendra, lending no ear to his evil words, said, “Whose destruction are you seeking to compass by assuming this disguise?”

“Do you not know?” was the reply.  “Don’t you remember the schoolmaster’s marriage to a goddess?  This goddess is now a widow, and lives with the Datta family in that village.  I went to see her.”

“Have you not gone far enough in vice?  Are you not satisfied yet, that you wish to ruin that unprotected girl?  See, Debendra, you are so sinful, so cruel, so destructive, that we can hardly associate with you any longer.”

Surendra said this with so much firmness that Debendra was quite stunned.  Then he said, seriously:  “Do not be angry with me; my heart is not under my own control.  I can give up everything else but the hope of possessing this woman.  Since the day I first saw her in Tara Charan’s house I have been under the power of her beauty.  In my eyes there is no such beauty anywhere.  As in fever the patient is burned with thirst, from that day my passion for her has burned within me.  I cannot relate the many attempts I have made to see her.  Until now I had not succeeded.  By means of this Boisnavi dress I have accomplished my desire.  There is no cause for you to fear.  She is a virtuous woman.”

“Then why do you go?” asked his friend.

“Only to see her.  I cannot describe what satisfaction I have found in seeing her, talking with her, singing to her.”

“I am speaking seriously, not jesting.  If you do not abandon this evil purpose, then our intercourse must end.  More than that, I shall become your enemy.”

“You are my only friend,” said Debendra; “I would lose half of what I possess rather than lose you.  Still, I confess I would rather lose you than give up the hope of seeing Kunda Nandini.”

“Then it must be so.  I can no longer associate with you.”

Thus saying, Surendra departed with a sorrowful heart.

Debendra, greatly afflicted at losing his one friend, sat some time in repentant thought.  At length he said:  “Let it go! in this world who cares for any one?  Each for himself!”

Then filling his glass he drank, and under the influence of the liquor his heart quickly became joyous.  Closing his eyes, he began to sing some doggerel beginning—­

    “My name is Hira, the flower girl.”

Presently a voice answered from without—­

    “My name is Hira Malini.

He is talking in his cups; I can’t bear to see it.”

Debendra, hearing the voice, called out noisily, “Who are you—­a male or female spirit?”