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together, like a teardrop wept by Jatayu, the mythical dragon-bird. It was so large that all who saw it drew in their breath in sharp amazement, and even my mother was silent while he told the household about the cave.
    “He’d met a man, said Gopal, though he would not tell us where or how or his name either, a man who knew of a cave deep in the jungles of Sundarban where a million rubies such as these grew from the walls. His great-grandfather had been told of the cave by a sannyasi he’d met while on pilgrimage. He had found the place and chiseled three stones from it, and on his return had them polished by the finest jewelers in Calcutta. Yes, this stone that we were passing around in amazed silence was one of them.
    “ ‘Why three?’ Gouri asked, frowning.
    “ ‘That was all that was allowed by the demons who guarded the cave, the sannyasi had warned,’ Gopal replied, and by his laugh you could tell he did not believe in such warnings. He went on to tell us that over the years the ruby-finder’s family had come upon one misfortune after another until they’d had to sell the other two rubies—but this one, the loveliest of them all, they’dheld on to. Now, though, they faced disaster unless they sold this last one too—or unless the great-grandson could find the cave again.
    “ ‘And can he?’ Bijoy asked eagerly, as though he really believed this story, which sounded to me as if it had been lifted from a book of old tales.
    “ ‘He thinks he can,’ said Gopal. ‘His great-grandfather left directions, but he warned the family that the caves were cursed and the guardians easily angered. They were not to undertake such a journey unless the family were in the direst straits. But now they are, and the great-grandson is prepared to take the risk. What he needs, though, is a partner, a man of honor and adventure, a man who can raise the money needed for the expedition.’
    “ ‘How much?’ asked Bijoy.
    “I was surprised that he would even consider such a crazy scheme, and looking at Gouri, I saw that she was too. There was something else in her eyes which I’d rarely seen—fear. She crossed her hands over her belly—she was in her eighth month—and pressed her lips together to keep in all the things I knew she wanted to say.
    “ ‘A hundred thousand rupees,’ said Gopal, his voice like a child’s who has run all the way home.
    “ ‘A hundred thousand?’ Gouri burst out incredulously.
    “ ‘Yes, I know it’s a lot,’ Gopal said. ‘It’s because he’ll have to pay the bearers extra to go into that forest—they believe it’s haunted. He’s willing to leave the ruby with us for surety—we can have it evaluated by any jeweler we choose. He says it’s worth more than what we loan him. On his return he’ll pay us back double the money.
    “ ‘I told him I thought I could raise the money—but only if he let me come with him. If he let me get my own rubies. Then he wouldn’t owe me anything.
    “ ‘We bickered back and forth, and finally we agreed that I’d go with him. I’d let myself be blindfolded the last part of thejourney, and I’d bring back only one ruby. Even then, brother, a ruby like this one—can you imagine how much that would be worth? Enough for me to repay you—not that I ever could, in my heart—for all these years you’ve been taking care of me. Enough for Nalini and me to start a new life in our own home. Brother, please say you’ll loan me the money.’
    “ ‘And Bijoy, my gentle, conscientious brother, who had never traveled more than a hundred miles outside of Calcutta, who had never expressed any desire of doing so, said, ‘I will if I can come with you. If I can bring back a ruby too.’
    “Oh, chaos broke loose then, myself and Gouri crying, Are you mad? It’s some kind of a trick, can’t you see? And even if it weren’t, it sounds terribly dangerous . And Where will you get money like that, anyway , and How can either of you think of leaving at