Page:MKGandhi patriot.djvu/93

78 saucer under his turban, and attended by a detective dressed as an Indian merchant, passed safely through the dense gathering. They were obliged to jump fences, squeeze between rails, and pass through a store, before they reached safety, but at last they found the police-station, and remained there until the danger was over.

No doubt, much of this ill-feeling was due to misunderstanding, out of which unscrupulous men attempted to make capital. The Colonists were incensed at what they believed to have been the exaggerated statements and false accusations of Mr. Gandhi. They were angry at what they thought was an insult offered by him to Natal.

When they saw the printed address, and realized that it contained nothing worse than he had published before in Durban, there was a general feeling that the Colonists had been misled, and even the "Natal Mercury" changed its angry tone, saying "Mr. Gandhi on his part, and on behalf of his countrymen, has done nothing that he is not entitled to do, and from his point of view, the principle he is working for is an honourable and legitimate one. He is within his rights, and so long as he acts honestly and in a straight-forward manner, he cannot be