Page:MKGandhi patriot.djvu/39

 procure the dismissal of even a Minister. Karamchand Gandhi must have been a fearless man. Hearing some insolent remark from the Englishman regarding his Prince, he dared to dispute with him. The Agent was furious and demanded apology. When this was refused, the angry official had him immediately arrested, and detained, for some hours, under a tree; the town meanwhile seething with excitement. Such a defiance of British power had never before been seen. In the end, "passive resistance" prevailed, the apology was waived, and the two opponents became friends.

The close of his life was full of sadness. When his son's marriage was approaching in Porbandar, he found it very difficult to obtain leave from Rajkot. When permission was at last granted by the Thakore, it was so near the wedding-day, that the father used relays of horses between the two cities, and in the haste of travel, the cumbersome vehicle was overturned, and he sustained injuries from which he never recovered.

During the few years that succeeded, Mohandas, his youngest son, was his constant companion and nurse, and I gather that the utmost confidence must have existed between the two. But above