298 IN THE VISION OF GOD
"No, no, I will not return without you. For God's sake
come down," and the old man—the Nepali—danced in
excitement, moving his arms like a wind-mill and show-
ing by such gestures the force and urgency of his call!
Now Ramdas was in a dilemma. A moment's thought
and the Nepali conquered. Ramdas descended; slipped down
by a dangerous slope by the side of the cliff. In ten
minutes Ramdas "was with them again. The old man
embraced him through excess of joy, his eyes filled
with tears. Now they rested for some time at the spring,
where the Maharashtra sadhn prepared tea in the lota
belonging to the Nepali, who carried in his joli some jaggery
and a few tea leaves. The time'was about four o'clock.
"Let us hurry down," suggested the Nepali with fear-
ful concern, "you know, as the evening sets in, wild beasts
saunter out of their lairs for quenching their thirst at the
spring."
So the party walked on at a brisk pace. At several
places, the Nepali pointed out the foot-prints of wild
animals, the sight of which made thorn run faster.
About six o'clock they came back to Swargashram. The
Nepali was by now utterly exhausted. What with the fatigue
of the hill climbing, fear and anxiety, and gnawings of
hunger, the old man was quite spent out.
On reaching the kuti they were told that there had been
a bhandara, i. e. a special feast that afternoon at the anna-
kshetra. Ramdas ran up to the kshetra and begged food for
three sadhus. The sannyasi in charge kindly supplied the
necessary quantity of food from preparations left over
from the afternoon feast. Ramdajs and the sadhus had a
satisfactory meal. Thus ended the attempt to visit the
Nilkant shrine.
(ii) Second attempt
A few days later Ramcharandas turned up. He was in
Hardwar during the Kumbhamela, but Ramdas had missed