Page:Achmed Abdullah--Wings.djvu/137

Rh Paricarika cherished her love for Sakka, the powerful god of ruddy color.

And so, when he returned to India, he declared war against England and the Cross.

It was a trial of patience, and knowing that to practice the patience of Job one must have the age of Noah, he nursed the health of his body and worked carefully and soundly.

He went amongst the villages, living on alms, and reciting in return the Abhangs and Tukaram and Namdev, and writing letters for the illiterate. But in every village he left behind him a tiny seed of poison-wheat in the hearts of the peasants.

For he had the strength of words which drives thoughts into brains as the wind drives a thin sheet of flame. The sight of the cold, arrogant Cross made his sword-arm ache, and knowing that a man cannot strangle a nation with the strength of his fingers, he used the strength of his steely, feline mind.

Of course he lied; but he lied in a masterly manner, for he lied like truth. And wherever he wandered, the snake of dissatisfaction and rebellion lifted its flat, ugly head … not striking, but poising its body and measuring its strength for the day