Page:Masani - Gandhi's story.pdf/25

Rh Mohan believed these stories and agreed to eat meat. One evening the two boys met at a lonely place by the river, and Mohan tasted meat for the first time. He tried hard to swallow it, but no sooner had he done that he was sick. That night he had the most frightening nightmares. He dreamed that live goats were bleating in his stomach.

His friend, however, was determined to make Mohan like meat. He coaxed him to try it again and he gave him some deliciously cooked delicacies. This time Mohan did not get sick. Soon he began liking meat and he and his friend had many such secret meetings when they feasted themselves by the lonely river bank. On these days his mother would wonder why he had no appetite for dinner, and Mohan would pretend that he was not well.

Mohan knew that his parents would be very upset if they ever learned that he had started eating meat, and the thought that he was deceiving them kept worrying him. One day he decided that while his parents were alive he would please them and not eat meat. His friend, of course, was disappointed by his decision but he realized that Mohan had made up his mind and would not change it easily.

Mohan had an uncle who was fond of smoking cigarettes. Mohan loved to watch him blow rings into the air. One day Mohan and his cousin, who was just about