Page:Modern Hyderabad (Deccan).djvu/16

4 my memory. This was shortly after Lord Hardinge's visit to Hyderabad in September 1913, a visit that had been converted into a nightmare by anarchist threats, and characterised by viceregal isolation and aloofness. Every little heap of stones beside the railway line had been guarded by policemen while the viceregal train rushed past, and motor cars had conveyed Their Excellencies from entertainment to entertainment in Hyderabad city and its suburbs, while the lives of the common people had been made wretched by police regulations and restrictions, and the public had offered up a daily and hourly prayer that the Viceroy might go safely and quickly away. Soldiers had guarded the Faluknama Palace, where Their Excellencies had been the guests of H. H. the Nizam, and beds, chairs, cupboards, and sofas there had been searched for bombs by trembling menials. Rumours concerning anonymous letters from anarchists had been afloat, and it had been said that the man who threw the bomb at Lord Hardinge at Delhi was actually in Hyderabad city and threatened to do further mischief.

Well, Lord Hardinge had departed in safety, and it was the greatest day of the