When quite a small boy, Ram had been taken into service in the Bose menage; and as his parents were both dead and he was remarkably quick and intelligent, the zemindar took a fatherly interest in the lad and had him taught to read and write.  The teacher thought so highly of Ram’s intellect that he was taught one subject after another by his indulgent master, and when he grew older, was especially educated and trained for estate work.  When his education was finished he was appointed to be confidential clerk and cashier, and gradually grew to know as much of Bose’s money affairs as the zemindar did himself.  Whenever the rich man went on his estate, Ram went with him.  At times of collection, Ram had the office of counting the silver and locking it up in the cash box.  Frequently thousands of rupees passed through his hands in this way, and he alone always knew what amount of money the cash box contained.

One year, Bose and the faithful Ram had been round the zemindari, collecting rents; and, as many who had been in arrears paid up, they returned with a larger sum of money than usual.  This was locked up in the cash box and Bose told his wife in Ram’s hearing that next day he should deposit it in the bank.  The cash box was always kept at night on a table by the zemindar’s bed-side.

The Boses had a large house in Lucknow and it was nearly always full, as Mrs. Bose was fond of company and they invariably had a number of relatives and friends staying with them.  Mr. and Mrs. Bose slept upstairs in a large south room, which opened into another large room alongside of it.  The only furniture in their room was their two beds and a table which stood between the beds to hold the cash box and a lantern.

The night of the zemindar’s return, his wife could not sleep.  She had been ill and she counted the hours as the night wore on.  The light of the lantern showed her husband’s sleeping form, the naked sword which always hung at his bedpost, and the bare white-washed walls of the room.  As she lay awake, Mrs. Bose thought she heard a noise at the door leading into the other room.  The noise came again and she listened intently.  Some one opened the door and then shut it.  Mrs. Bose kept still, listened and watched.  Some one again opened and shut the door gently, then again and again.  It struck Mrs. Bose that this was being done to ascertain whether the inmates of the room were asleep or awake.  She continued to keep perfectly still.

Now the door was pushed wide open and Ram entered, and closed the door softly behind him.  When Mrs. Bose saw him enter, her first thought was that he was the bearer of some bad news, and she very nearly asked him what was the matter.  But his stealthy movements made her feign sleep and see what he was about; and as he approached her bed on tiptoe, she closed her eyes and lay as if peacefully sleeping.  He stood beside the bed apparently watching her.  Mrs. Bose’s nerves were tingling with fear, and it took all her powers of self-control to keep her eyes closed and her breath steady.  Just as the effort seemed more than she could keep up, Ram moved away from her bed.