shelter, but that is far off from this desolate shore—who will take me there?"
"You better banish from your mind your desire to go to the Nawab again," replied the man.
"Why?" enquired Dalani, in surprise and with great anxiety.
"Evil will betide you if you will do so," was his cruel reply.
Dalani shuddered at this gloomy forecast, and she said, almost choked with emotion, "Let it be so—I must go there; for, I have no other shelter in this world. It is thousand times better to face misfortune and be by the side of one's lord than to be away from him to be safe."
"In that case, come," said the man. "I will take you along with me to Mahammad Taki at Murshidabad. He will send you to Monghyr. But, better listen to my advice—the war has commenced and you should not go there now. The Nawab is making necessary arrangements to send the members of his household to the fort at Ruhidas."
"Whatever misfortune may befall me, I must go there," said Dalani with an impressive determination.
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