—CKKATTARr"?. 227
gaints. His elder son Gulab Rai was the secretary f» the
Maharaja of Chhattarpnr.
On the second or third night of his stay in tb*
Ramdas bad an attack of malaria. He -used to feel
ecstasy when he had high fever. He ecTild not control
himself. He would dance wildly taking God's Xame.
Bhavani Prasad and Raineharandas would beg of him not
to exert himself in that state and would almost forcibly
make him lie down on the cot provided for him. The fever
lasted for two days.
A devotee from Navaguam, a village fourteen miles
from Chhattarpur, came to take Ramdas to his place in
order to introduce him to his ailing brother. Ramdas f<Hic«l
the sick man in the last stages of consumption. He was
reduced to a mere skeleton and his relations, having given
up all hope of his recovery, desired to have for him the
darshan of Ramdas before he passed away. Ramdas re-
mained in Xavagnarn for a night, and then returned to
Chhattarpur.
Balak Ram, who lived in Chhattarpnr for some time,
had left the place and gone into the interior, about twenty-
six miles away to occupy a hill-top called Rajghad. An
invitation also came from Ramchandra Gupta to go to
Cawnpore. On the top of it all, a \rirewas received frond
Triveni Prasad urgently calling Ramdas again to Lalltpturt
just for a day.
About noon, one day, Ramdas suddenly proposed to
leave for Rajghad. The sky was dark with clouds and there
was a drizzle. Eamdas walked straight out of the temple
and proposed to cover the distance on foot. Raxneharandas
also got ready, but what of the others? They looked askance
at each other and demurred. The prospect was not alluring.
The way to Rajghad lay through a dense and extensive
jungle. There were no villages for halts. The other friends
Including Vaijnath shrank from the adventure
expressed their decision to stay behind.