The Vendor of Sweets

Mali arrives in America and he and Jagan begin corresponding in brief letters. Jagan is soon boasting that his son is in America to anyone who will listen. He wishes that he would hear from Mali more often. If Mali sent telegrams instead of letters, they could be in constant communication, but Jagan decides that Mali’s desire to write instead of telegraph is a sign of his wise frugality, since telegrams are more expensive. In fact, Mali writes so often of America that Jagan begins to consider himself as something of an authority on it. However, he is saddened when Malie says that he has begun eating beef, which is forbidden in their religion.

One day Mali sends a telegraph that he is coming home, and he will not be alone. When Jagan picks him up at the train station, he is with a woman named Grace. They are now married. Jagan is disturbed. Grace appears to be Chinese, or possibly Japanese, thinks Jagan. He is afraid to ask too many questions, however, and leaves immediately after taking them home. Shortly after his return, Grace gives him a picnic basket as a gift.