"Yes, her mother's sister--a widow; no more. Our mother is dead, my father is dead, and there are only ourselves left of a large family." "Then the Shastree will like the connection all the better, and--ye are rich, they say. Yes, I will bring the widow and Anunda together." "We have enough. In that respect I can satisfy the Shastree fully." "Ah! he will ask no questions. His wife is shrewd and clever, and will guide him," she replied; "but he will be careful about the horoscope of thy sister, for he is a great astrologer." "My aunt is wise, as you will find when you know her; and as for the rest, Gunga, it is in my hands. I, too, am an astrologer and can cast Radha's nativity as I please." The girl laughed heartily. "Yes, it will answer," she said. "Now go by that path; we must not be seen together. I will come to thee before noon; we have no time to lose. Only remember thine oath, Moro Trimmul, and beware how thou triest to evade or deceive me. I would not hurt thee willingly; and for the sake of----. No matter now," she continued, gulping down what was rising in her throat, "no matter now. It is gone--I see no more of it in thine eyes." "I am in thy hands, Gunga, and may be trusted," he replied; "nay, more, there may be better days for thee yet, girl----" "No--no more. No more like the old ones," she said, shaking her head mournfully. "Only the gold now--only the gold!" FOOTNOTE: [3] "Specimens of Old Indian Poetry, translated from the original Sanskrit." By R. T. H. Griffith, A.M. CHAPTER V. "Yes, surely it is strange that the two nativities should fit so exactly," said Vyas Shastree to himself, some days after the events recorded in the last chapter, as, seated by himself upon his dais, and having given orders not to be disturbed, he appeared absorbed in a table of nativity which lay before him; "yes, it is strange indeed. The date of birth, the signs under which she was born, and the few calculations which have been made by a master hand, all agree, as they ought to do; and the result, as I have worked it out, is clear enough. This girl, born at Wye, an utter stranger to me hitherto, and brought here by a chance pilgrimage, is proposed for me; and Anunda, Tara, and the old Josee will have it so. Yes, it is a curious coincidence indeed; but let me test these formulæ again; there may be error." While the Shastree is busy with some curiously abstruse calculations upon his own and the other horoscope he is considering, we must digress a little, to show by what steps Gunga's plans, roughly shadowed out to Moro Trimmul, as we have recorded, were apparently fast approaching a satisfactory completion.