My mother, that mild and naive lady, was in tears. `I await the day you return,' she said. `I do not say anything further, for I am ignorant.' This moved me. I touched her feet and said: `What worries you is that some temptation would entrap me in the North. But do not worry; I won't be lured, I swear on your feet.
I told my younger brother: Take care of the priestly and domestic duties. Be on your guard, always. Do what the Mother bids you to do. Wash her clothes yourself, because she needs them clean, and she doesn't hand them to her daughters-in-law. Take care of the ladies of the household.
At the day-break, we started. Reached Pune after two days. We bought some clothes there, and hired another cart for the travel upto Indore.
At Malegaon, we ran into his highness Bapusaheb Sangamnerkar. A very able scholar, he was. A brahmin who was travelling with him was bitten by snake around day-break. He woke up, and aroused others. Treatments were started immediately; some antidote - herbs were brought. He said: I am from Ahmed-nagar. I have a wife, who has just attained puberty, parents, two brothers, and a sister at home. Then he died, and was cremated in the morning.
We resumed the journey three days later and reached the Satpuda hills. Fragrance of newly bloomed trees filled the air. The climate here is mild, rather excellent. The government has built houses every few kilometre, for the opium trade. The hills are rolling, not too steep. They are called Sat-puda, because it takes saat -- seven -- days to cross over. It was a spring-time, and the path was picturesque.
We reached the outskirts of Mahu cantonment, and stayed in a rest-house. Two soldiers were our room-mates. They were natives of Goa, and much pleased to meet us.
The soldiers told us: ` Three days from today, a coup d'état will occur in the world . Most certainly there would be looting and fighting. You'd better go back.'
We urged them: `Do tell us more.'
The older one of them said: `So far the English government had been ruling well. But now it has lost its head.'
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