Once when I was in Johannesburg I received tidings
of the moral fall of two of the inmates of the Ashram. News
of an apparent failure or reverse in the Satyagraha strug-
gle would not have shocked me, but this news came upon
me like a thunderbolt. The same day I took the train for
Phoenix. Mr Kallenbach insisted on accompanying me.

He had noticed the state I was in. He would not brook the
thought of my going alone, for he happened to be the bearer
of the tidings which had so upset me.

During the journey my duty seemed clear to me. I
felt that the guardian or teacher was responsible, to some
extent at least, for the lapse of his ward or pupil. So my
responsibility regarding the incident in question became
clear to me as daylight. My wife had already warned me
in the matter, but being of a trusting nature, I had ignored
her caution. I felt that the only way the guilty parties
could be made to realize my distress, and the depth of their
own fall would be for me to do some penance. So I imposed
upon myself a fast for seven days and a vow to have only
one meal a day for a period of four months and a half.
Mr Kallenbach tried to dissuade me, but in vain. He finally
conceded the propriety of the penance, and insisted on
joining me. I could not resist his transparent affection.

I felt greatly relieved, for the decision meant a heavy
load off my mind. The anger against the guilty parties
subsided and gave place to the purest pity for them. Thus
considerably eased, I reached Phoenix. I made further

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