My Mother — Page 78
78 non-plussed, and went on retreating towards the wall of the courtyard while she kept advancing towards him and calling for the servants. She realised that she was in great danger and the tres- passer could despatch her with a single stroke, but God gave her courage and she pursued him till the wall of the courtyard. In the meantime, Asadullah Khan and the servants arrived and discovered the man lying flat on the top of the wall of the courtyard. They secured him and then gave chase to two of his companions who were waiting for him outside and caught them. They turned out to be the labourers whom she had noticed in the afternoon, when they were working on the construction of the neighbouring house. They were handed over to the police and were in due course put on trial for housebreaking. Now Mother was overcome with pity for them. She hoped they would not be dealt with severely. She felt they were poor labour- ers who had thoughtlessly yielded to a momentary evil impulse. The one who had entered the courtyard cowered even before an old woman. She thought imprisonment for three or four months would be enough punishment for him, and his two companions should be let off altogether. The magistrate sentenced all of them to impris onment for a year. At this stage I returned home and Mother related the incident to me and urged me to do something to procure a reduction in their sentence. I submitted that I did not see what I could do in that respect. Their appeal was pending before the Sessions Judge. If they would be prepared to trust me, I might argue their appeal, without charging them a fee. It may be that the Judge may be moved to leniency towards them by the consideration that I pleaded for mercy for them. But the situation would be embarrassing for me.