THE GOD-MAN The Life, Journeys and Work of Meher Baba with an ...

THE PERIOD OF WORLD TRAVEL 111St Francis must be present too. Might not his meditations seven hundred years ago have preparedthis holy place?Cold, sleepy, tired. About midnight we made a cup of tea on the meta stove and put it besidethe entrance. Colder; and then light filtered gradually through the trees. At 9 a.m. we wererelieved by the others, and walked home to sleep.At 4.30 p.m. we returned carrying food. Baba came out, as his work was accomplished soonerthan he expected. We had a very happy meal, seated round a wooden plank on the floor likechildren at a picnic. At 5.30 p.m. Baba had called us into the cave and explained some furtherplans to us; we still felt rather awed. We carefully collected some mementoes, cleared up alltraces of our occupation, burned paper and rubbish, and returned the blanket and some bottles forwater to the monk who had been so kind.Baba, though content, with his work accomplished, was in great pain; we had to support himduring our descent from the mountain, one on either side of Baba we would run together downthe steep path. It seemed as if the jolting and physical exercise helped to bring him down to earth.He looked like someone dazed, suffering from a severe headache.Climbing up through the dark ilex trees, we came on to the road. We stood on a quarry moundand looked across the valley, purple shadows and distant lights twinkling, and above the line ofhills the afterglow of a golden sunset. Baba, despite his pain (once we had to lay him down bythe roadside), was entranced by the beauty of the Umbrian landscape. St Francis must have oftenwalked this road and enjoyed this scene. The feeling that we had assisted at a great spiritual work(though we did not understand it), Baba's presence and suffering, and the setting made ourdescent from the mountain memorable.Leaving the bare hill-side, we walked down. The stars came out. Baba had often to stop andrest...Here I interpolate the record of one of the watchers who relieved the writer of the aboveaccount at 9 a.m.We went to hear Mass in the crypt of the San Francesco which was a wonderful and impressivebeginning to a memorable day.Afterwards we shouldered our rucksacks and toiled up the hill towards Carceri. As the sun roseit grew hotter and hotter and we were glad to reach the shade of the woods where we found theother two. They returned to Assisi and we settled down to our vigil. The woods