He felt certain that the moment had come when his heart's desire would be fulfilled, and that Death would reveal his mysteries to his
devotee.
"The sound came from the river ghat just as on the previous nights and advanced up
the steps. Bhusan closed his eyes, and sat in deep meditation. The sound reached the
empty hall. It came winding up the spiral stairs. Then it crossed the long veranda, and
paused for a long while at the bedroom door.
"Bhusan's heart beat fast; his whole body trembled. But this time he did not open his
eyes. The sound crossed the threshold. It entered the room. Then it went slowly round
the room, stopping before the rack where the clothes were hanging, the niche with its
little lamp, the table where the dried betel leaves were lying, the almirah with its various
knick-knacks, and, last of all, it came and stood close to Bhusan himself.
"Bhusan opened his eyes. He saw by the faint light of the crescent moon that there was
a skeleton standing right in front of his chair. It had rings on all its fingers, bracelets on
its wrists and armlets on its arms, necklaces on its neck, and a golden tiara on its
head,—in fact its whole body glittered and sparkled with gold and diamonds. The
ornaments hung loosely on the limbs, but did not fall off. Most dreadful of all was the
fact that the two eyes which shone out from the bony face were living—two dark moist
eyeballs looking out with a fixed and steady stare from between the long thick
eyelashes. As he looked his blood froze in his veins. He tried hard to close his eyes but
could not; they remained open, staring like those of a dead man.
"Then the skeleton, fixing its gaze upon the face of the motionless Bhusan, silently
beckoned with its outstretched hand, the diamond rings on its bony fingers glittering in
the pale moonlight.
"Bhusan stood up, as one who had lost his senses, and followed the skeleton, which left
the room, its bones and ornaments rattling with a hollow sound. The skeleton crossed
the veranda and, winding down the pitch-dark spiral staircase, reached the bottom of
the stairs. Crossing the lower veranda, they entered the empty lampless hall and,
passing through it, came out on to the brick-paved path of the garden. The bricks
crunched under the tread of the bony feet. The faint moonlight struggled through the
thick network of branches, and the path was difficult to discern. Making their way
through the flitting fireflies, which haunted the dark shadowy path, they reached the
river ghat.
"By those very steps, up which the sound had come, the bejewelled skeleton went down
step by step, with a stiff gait and hard sound. On the swift current of the river, flooded by
the heavy rain, a faint streak of moonlight was visible.
"The skeleton descended to the river, and Bhusan, following it, placed one foot in the
water. The moment he touched the water he woke with a start. His guide was no longer
to be seen. Only the trees on the opposite bank of the river were standing still and
silent, and overhead the half moon was staring as if astonished. Starting from head to
foot, Bhusan slipped and fell headlong into the river. Although he knew how to swim, he
was powerless to do so, for his limbs were not under his control.