126 THE COBRA BUNGALOW 



them at three o'clock every day ; and among them 

 were many chattering sparrows and not a few 

 green parrots, which walked quaintly among the 

 bustling pigeons, their long tails moving from side 

 to side like the pointer of the scale on which the 

 Bunia weighed his rupees. This resemblance struck 

 him as he reclined against the fat red cushion in 

 his verandah summing up his gains. There were 

 other birds which would not eat his food, but found 

 abundance, suited to their respective castes, among 

 the shrubs and trees that he had planted. Mynas 

 walked eagerly on the lawns looking for grass- 

 hoppers, glittering sunbirds hovered over the flowers, 

 thrusting their slender bills into each nectar-laden 

 blossom, bulbuls twittered among the mulberries 

 and the koel made the shady banian tree resound 

 with its melodious notes. 



In a remote corner of the garden, under the dark 

 shade of a tamarind, there stood a small shrine, like 

 a whitewashed tomb, with a niche or recess on one 

 side of it containing a conical stone smeared with 

 red ochre. Some called it Mahadeo and some Khan- 

 doba, but no one could explain the presence of a 

 Mahratta god in a Bunia' s garden in Dowlutpoor, 

 except by quoting an old tradition about one 

 Narayen who had come from the Mahratta country 

 and lived for many years in this place. Some said 

 he was a prosperous goldsmith of great piety, but 

 others maintained that he was a Sunyasee, or saint, 

 and there was no certainty in the matter. The one 



