After another month of suspense, Shám Babu learnt that Srish's bubble had been pricked, and that he had levanted, no one knew whither, to escape a swarm of creditors.
The poor old man was now on his beam-ends. The only course open to him was to sue Gopál for arrears of interest and foreclose his mortgage. After a year and a half's attendance in divers civil courts and spending his last rupee on lawyers' fees, he obtained a decree. When, however, he tried to execute it, it turned out that the estate on which he had a lien was a joint family possession, with the shares so inextricably mixed up that he could neither trace the property mortgaged to him nor discover who was liable for the proportion of profit derived from it. As well poke one's fingers into a hornet's nest as into a joint family estate! Shám Babu was glad to accept an offer of Rs. 5,000 from Gopál's co-sharers, in return for a surrender of his claims. Despite his heavy loss, enough remained to preserve him from penury; and he was even able to start Susil in a small way of business. Great is the virtue of economy!
