Next morning the gale had abated somewhat, but still blew strongly. The skipper gazed anxiously at the sky undecided whether to weigh anchor or not.
Chakrabartti paid an early visit to Ramesh in the cabin next to Kamala's. He was still in his bunk, but he sat up at once when he saw Chakrabartti. Perceiving that he had spent the night there and remembering the previous evening's incident, the old man put two and two together. "I suppose you slept here last night ?" he said inquiringly.
Ramesh evaded the question. "What a wretched morning !" he observed. "How did you sleep, Uncle ?"
"Ramesh Babu," retorted Chakrabartti, "you must have been thinking me an old fool and I certainly talk like one, but I haven't come to my time of life without having to tackle many problems. I've been able to solve most of them, but you're the hardest one I've struck yet !"
Ramesh flushed involuntarily, but he quickly regained control of his features and smiled. "It isn't a crime to be insoluble, Uncle. Take, for example, a language like Telugu. We'd find it difficult to grasp even the rudiments, but to a Telugu child it comes as easily as winking. You mustn't be hurry to condemn what you don't understand. When one encounters strange symbols one shouldn't look despairingly at them and give up hope of ever being able to decipher them."
Chakrabartti understood Ramesh to have got offended by his probing about last night's conduct of Ramesh.
"Forgive me, Ramesh Babu, it would be presumptuous of me to try and understand a man whose confidence I don't possess. When things are like this it's very hard to understand this puzzle like trying to understand Telugu. When you come to think it over, you won't be offended any longer," said the old man.
Ramesh now began to wonder whether after all it was advisable to settle in Ghazipur. His first thought had been that their intimacy with the old man would be useful when it came to setting up house in a new place, but he now felt that there were disadvantages in having local acquaintances. If his relations with Kamala became a subject of discussion and inquiry it would go hard with her eventually. It would be safer to bury themselves in some place where all were strangers and there would be nobody to ask questions.
Accordingly on the day before the steamer was due at Ghazipur he remarked to Chakrabartti, "Uncle, I don't think Ghazipur would suit me professionally, so I intend to go to Benares."
Having got annoyed by constantly changing decisions of Ramesh, Chakrabartti went off without a word and began to pack.
"Have you taken a dislike to me to-day,Uncle ?" asked Kamala slyly.
"What can you expect when we quarrel from morning to night ?" he replied. "You know I've never got the better of you yet ! Hasn't Ramesh told you that it has been decided that you're going to Benares," he said.
Ramesh appeared in person while Kamala was packing the old man's clothes in a box and declared "We're not going to Ghazipur for the present, Kamala. I've decided to start practising in Benares instead. Are you agreed ?"
"No,I'm going to Ghazipur," replied Kamala without lifting her eyes from Chakrabartti's trunk. "I've already packed up every thing."
"Are you going there alone, then ?"asked Ramesh, taken aback by Kamala's decided refusal.
"Oh no ; Uncle will be there-" this with an affectionate glance at the old man.
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