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 meal. In one way or another, they found their new path to be a very devious one, not infrequently trenching closely on a lie. It was this that decided the boys to give up their companions, and resume their old manner of life. A liberty, which required deceit to make it possible, had lost its charm for them. When Mohandas was sent to England, his mother's insistence on the oath, confirmed his decision, and both parents died without ever knowing of this incident.

But the intellectual freedom of the boy was not hindered much by this return. He was a sceptic still. His mother must have been sorely puzzled, at times, by the searching questions which he put. In his difficulties, he turned to ancient Hindu lore. He studied the code of Manu, in the hope of finding some light on the riddle of life. What he found perplexed him more. It seemed to him that a much purer faith shone out from the old books than the faith which claimed his adherence in the home. The worship around him appeared childish and demoralizing, it failed to retain his respect; surely there was a better way than this. So he argued, and pondered in the dark, as many a Hindu youth is doing still, until slowly the light came.