to Hindustan, and
that we had no money of any kind with us. He may have believed us,
he may not; but from the way he eyed the bicycles, probably he did
not. Anyway, he told us plainly--no pice, no path; and no setting
forth of the peculiar privileges of a Sadhu could make him budge from
the practical financial view of the question, so we had nothing for
it but to sit quietly down by the roadside and await events.

Shortly afterwards a party of Hindus, on their way to their morning
ablutions in the river, sauntered up, and stopped to gaze at the novel
combination of bicycles and Sadhus. This soon led to conversation,
in the course of which we told them the object of our journey and the
cause of our detention. They then tried with no little earnestness to
get us to relinquish the preaching of the Gospel for the promulgation
of the Vedas, and even offered to pay the two annas required for our
toll if we would accede to their plan. This gave me an opportunity
for pointing out the attraction of Christ, which made it impossible
for one who had once tasted the sweets of following in His footsteps
to desert Him for another master.

They clothed their contempt for the message of the Cross in their
compassion for our hopeless predicament, as they considered it;
"for," they said, "there are no Christians here to help you over,
and it is not likely that Hindus or Mussulmans would help you on such
a mission." I replied that I was content to wait by the roadside till
help came, and that I felt sure we should not have long to wait. "Go
back into the town--there are Christian missionaries there who will
help you; but no one will be coming this way if you wait all day." I
replied that if it was the will of Allah that we should cross,
He could send to us there the means requisite, as much as in the
city. I had scarcely spoken when we saw an officer, attended by a
sowar, riding up in the direction of the bridge. When he reached us
we recognized an officer from the frontier, who had, as we learnt,
just then been sent down to Jhelum on special duty. He recognized me,
and appeared amused and surprised at meeting me under such peculiar
circumstances. When he learnt what was the cause of our detention,
naturally the toll-keeper had not long to wait for his two annas,
and I was able to point out to my Hindu friends that it had not taken
long for God to send us help from even so far as Peshawur, and we
went on with light and thankful hearts.