Summary

After returning home to Kanthapura, it is market day. The people continue to return to the Skeffington Coffee Estate, and Moorthy explains to a woman that they are the “soldiers of the Mahatma” (134). The woman asks if they will free them from the revenue collector who is abusing the coolies. As they continue towards the Skeffington Road, the narrator notices how “Moorthy was calm and talking away, waiting for the first coolie to come out” (136). He was waiting for them to go straight to the toddy booth where they would use their week's earnings to purchase alcohol. When the first coolie arrives, Moorthy explains why they are there. Suddenly the man runs back toward the Skeffington Estate gate and they see the maistri. The coolies are forced to proceed towards the toddy shop with their eyes facing down, and Moorthy commands the people...