1. The plaintiffs are the appellants before us. They are a firm of Mahomedan merchants known as H. M. A. N. Kirmany and Sons consisting of the father and his two sons. The defendants are the legal representatives of one Abbas Khazviny Sahib, who is now dead. Defendant 1 is his eldest son, defendant 2 is his widow and defendants 3 to 5 are his children by defendant 2. The suit was brought to recover a sum of money due on a promissory note, which bears date 1st January 1920, for Rs. 3,166-12-9 and sums due on account of the further dealings up to the death of Abbas, which happened about the end of March 1920. The plaintiffs also allege an equitable mortgage by deposit of defendants title-deeds and ask for a decree for sale. The Subordinate Judge gave a decree for the amount sued for; but he held that there was no valid equitable mortgage and gave a mere money decree to be recovered from the estate of Abbas in the hands of the defendants.

2. The suit was filed on 21st July 1920. Defendants 1 and 2 did not appear. Defendants 3, 4 and 5 who were minors were represented by a Court guardian who filed a written statement putting the plaintiff to proof of his allegations. Defendant 6