the Lord tells me to assure you that your sole path in this life
is that of the renunciate."

With astonishment as well as gratitude, I smiled happily at this
decisive message.

"Come away from that man!" The "ignoramus" was calling me from the
courtyard. My saintly guide raised his hand in blessing and slowly
departed.

"That SADHU is just as crazy as you are." It was the hoary-headed
pundit who made this charming observation. He and his son were
gazing at me lugubriously. "I heard that he too has left his home
in a vague search for God."

I turned away. To Ananta I remarked that I would not engage in
further discussion with our hosts. My brother agreed to an immediate
departure; we soon entrained for Calcutta.

[Illustration: I stand behind my elder brother, Ananta.--see
ananta.jpg]

[Illustration: Last Solstice Festival celebrated by Sri Yukteswar,
December, 1935. My Guru is seated in the center; I am at his
right, in the large courtyard of his hermitage in Serampore.--see
festival.jpg]

"Mr. Detective, how did you discover I had fled with two companions?"
I vented my lively curiosity to Ananta during our homeward journey.
He smiled mischievously.