SRINAGAR 369
tion. Sometimes they would also have baths in the cool
waters of the lake.
Once the party visited the famous gardens of Kashmir
in a special gondola engaged for the purpose. On their
return trip, when the boat was midway on the lake, a storm
burst and as a result the boat swayed most ominously. The
inmates were frightened, but they saw with unfeigned
surprise Eamdas capering with great glee. However, the
storm subsided and the party regained the house-boat with-
out any mishap.
Whenever there was a shortage of a hand in a game
of bridge, Gopalrao would have Ramdas fill the vacancy.
They also played a game called Bolshevik and Ramdas
invariably turned out to be a rabid and reckless Bolshevik
in the game.
One day Girijabai received a wire from her father at
Honavar that her mother was seriously ill. The tidings
upset her and she became wistful and gloomy. That even-
ing when Ramdas was sitting alone on the terrace of the
boat, Girijabai rushed up to where he was, and with folded
hands revealed her gnawing anxiety about her mother.
"Ramdas," she pleaded, "if you would give me an
assurance that my mother is all right by now, and that I
would receive a wire to that effect tomorrow I should be
free from a load of unbearable misery."
"Trust God, mother, and everything will be all right,1*
Ramdas replied.
These heartening words immediately dispelled her
sorrow and she became again the same lively and "bright-
faced girl that she was. Her pure and simple faith brought
about the fruition of her wish. On the following day she
got a wire from her father to say that her mother was past
danger.
(iii) Illumination in the Cave
Gopalrao's vacation was now coming to a close. He
proposed to take Ramdas with him to Amritsar. He engaged