Page:Heroes of the hour- Mahatma Gandhi, Tilak Maharaj, Sir Subramanya Iyer.djvu/178

 except Mr. Tilak's family. Even these were not left in the undisturbed possession of their own house. They were asked to find solace in a room down-stairs with a single attendant to cheer them. Every entrance to every room was carefully sealed and a strong police guard was placed over the wada during the night. At the same time as the scene was being enacted in Poona, another section of the police had advanced to Singhad. The search there was conducted in a more wonderful fashion. None of Mr. Tilak's men were present. Only the watchman was there and at the sight of the police he was overawed. He was in no mood to remonstrate whatever they did. So the guards that keep watch over the locks and hinges and the property of the public as against unwelcome intruders and interlopers in the absence of the owners, themselves forced open the hinges of doors and entered Mr. Tilak's bungalow at Singhad. All these closed and forced searches brought forth nothing ultimately except a piece of card used in the trial but not pressed either by the prosecution or by the judge and jury. To-day the Indian wo rid has become accustomed to the vagaries of police searches but that is absolutely no reason why