i86 



By ram and Ghopal. 



position and always ready to impart or re- 

 ceive information, he was known every- 

 where as Byram the Wise. Consequently, 

 wherever he went, food and coppers flowed 

 in freely, and although the loss of his legs 

 rendered him so helplessly dependent on 

 others, there was perhaps not in all India 

 another man so utterly free from care for 

 the future as Byram. 



The village to which we accompanied 

 Byram was but a small one, and although 

 the wealthy class, the merchants, have the 

 reputation of being very extortionate and 

 avaricious, they have a great respect for 

 public opinion, and if they disliked giving, 

 they disliked still more to be pointed at for 

 not giving. Some gave a cent and some 

 the third part of a cent; all gave something. 

 On this occasion the total contribution was 

 but thirty-six cents, ample indeed for pay- 

 ment of Gophal's wages in a country in 

 which the average laborer earns only from 

 six to nine cents a day. But little of the 

 morning was lost in canvassing the bazaar, 

 and before the sun was two hours high our 

 travelers had started for the next town, 

 called Dhowlutpore, the first town of any 

 size since they left Halla. 



Ghopal trudged along in silence, won- 

 dering when Byram would open the dispute; 

 and what he could possibly say to prove 

 that the bee's sting could benefit man. 

 Then he chuckled to himself as bethought 

 that Byram was not bound to such extreme 

 conditions by the contract, but having, per- 

 haps without due thought, hazarded the 

 remark that everything that Brahma has 

 created is for man's benefit, he was now 

 bound to stand by it, and to hand over the 

 money if he failed to make good his posi- 

 tion. Then Ghopal fell to counting over 

 the money mentally, and thinking how rich 

 he would be if it were transferred from 

 Byram's girdle to his own; and the second 

 and third and fourth mile were left behind, 

 and still Byram spake not. 



This is a good sign, thought Ghopal. 



I have surprised him into defending a posi- 

 tion for which he is not prepared, and he is 

 silent because he has no defense. 



As Ghopal's hopes rose he got strongly 

 excited, and at length, unable to bear the 

 suspense any longer, he asked Byram if he 

 was prepared to enter on the dispute. 

 "Not yet," said Byram; "I am thinking." 



This confession of weakness naturally 

 raised Ghopal's hopes, and again he trudged 

 on in silence until seven miles were left 

 behind. 



Here they came to a well near a grove of 

 mango trees, the property of a Brahmin, 

 who came forward and invited our travelers 

 to rest and drink of the water of his well, 

 which was marvelously pure, and partake 

 of his mangoes. 



"You are Byram the Wise," said he, 

 addressing Byram, "for although mine 

 eyes have never before beheld thee, I 

 have often heard of thee from my rela- 

 tives in the Punjab." 



'Call me not wise," said Byram, "for this 

 six feet of potter's clay has confused my 

 understanding so that I am at a loss to 

 answer him in dispute." 



"It must be a strange dispute," said 

 Atmaram, for that was the name of the well 

 owner, " in which Byram the Wise could 

 not hold his own against a potter. Let thy 



