372 IN THE VISION OF GOD
Now an old Muslim paid him a visit. He expressed his
surprise at seeing Raradas dwelling in the cave and added:
'* Are you aware that there are two serpents in thi« cave?
Many goats that strayed into this cave have fallen victims
to their poisonous fangs. You see a hole jnst a few inches
from the place where you rest your head. It is their home,
Did you not have any trouble from them ? How long have
you been in this place? "
"Ramdas has been staying here since last evening,"
Ramdas replied, "In the night, except that he heard the
squeak of rats and a rustling noise caused by them, he had
no other disturbance."
"Ah!" he exclaimed, with eyes wide open and his
bearded head shaking, " they are the serpents, not rats as
you suppose. They produce a cry similar to that of rats.
I have not visited the cave for a long time and was under
the impression that the serpents might have left the place.
Now I know they are still there. Be warned. Leave this
dreadful place at once. Somehow, they spared yoti last
night; you cannot be sure of the future."
" Ramdas has no fear. He stops in this cave under the
protection of God and by His command. So he would
continue to reside here," Ramdas replied.
The old man nodded his head again with grave and
doubtful looks. The talk turning into other channels; he
spoke of a Muslim sadhu who had been living in the cave
for thirty years and this was twenty years ago. Giving
Ramdas a second warning the kind-hearted old man left.
The boy-servant of Bhai Vir Singh brought food and
milk at midday and in the evening regularly. Sometimes,
Ramdas would be sitting on the hill on a lower peak than
that of the temple, absorbed in blissful abstraction, and
would forget to go down to the cave at meal time. But the
faithful boy would quietly search for Ramdas with the food
basket in hand and when he found Ramdas feed him
wherever he might be sitting.