Page 85 - English Expedition Class 6

the sand dunes on the lonely seashore by our village. He had also watched the gang disappear into
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the sea, their sleek dinghy shooting like an arrow into the mist.
Father and party at once began exploring the possible spots for the hidden treasure. Evening
gave way to night. Th ere was no light save for the moonbeams fi ltering through the clouds, and
no sound except for the wind’s moaning and the hooting of an owl from the hollow of a palm tree
struck dead by lightning. A pack of jackals howled, indicating that it was past midnight.
Suddenly Bhola Grandpa was seen collapsing on the sand. His friends rushed to him. Bhola
Grandpa never spoke a lie. He soon composed himself and confessed that it was all a dream
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which he had had during his midday nap. He had somehow mistaken the dream to be a fact.
Th e locale of the most signifi cant incident in Bhola Grandpa’s life had been the Sundarbans
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where the great river Ganga, fl owing all the way from the Himalayas, divided into a hundred
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surging streams and dashed into the sea. Th e region was marked by clusters of thick jungle.
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Royal Bengal tigers stalked the picturesque islands between the narrow serpentine branches of
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the Ganga. My forefathers, though belonging to Orissa, were among the few landlords who owned
chunks of estates in that dangerous region of Bengal.
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20 sleek: (here) having an elegant, smooth shape 25 cluster: a group of similar things appearing closely
21 dinghy: a small infl atable rubber boat together
22 composed: (here) calmed one’s emotions and 26 picturesque: visually pleasing or graceful
expressions 27 serpentine: snake-like
23 locale: location; site 28 chunk: large piece
24 surging: rising and falling
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