My Mother — Page 120
120 through prayers. She said she had given alms and would continue her supplications for Divine mercy. Two or three days later Asadullah Khan came to Delhi to visit us. He arrived in time to join us at breakfast. In the middle of breakfast the servant who had been unpacking his things came in with a puzzled look on his face and a fearful sharp dagger in his hand. He told Asadullah Khan he had found the dagger in his bedroll. The latter appeared embarrassed as if he would have pre- ferred the weapon to have remained undiscovered and not to have come to Mother’s notice and cause her uneasiness. But curiosity having been aroused he volunteered an explanation. This is what he said: ‘Last night when I occupied my seat in the railway compartment I made my bed so that my head would be next to the door of the compartment and my feet would be at the far end of the sleeping berth. I lay down in that position and the train started. After about an hour or so I woke up with a feel- ing that I should reverse the position. So I moved my pillow to the far end of the berth and the night being cold, I wrapped myself up securely in my bed coverings and soon fell asleep in my changed position with my feet next to the door. About midnight, I began to feel cold and perceiving that the bed coverings had slipped I tugged at them but could not pull them up as they appeared to be firmly held in place by some obstruction wedged down between my knees. I put on the light and observed the handle of a weapon sticking out of the heavy bed coverings. On investigation, I found that a sharp pointed dagger had penetrated through the heavy bed coverings and was firmly fixed in the leather mattress of the sleep- ing berth. ’ The nature of the weapon indicated that the assailant’s plan