In this secret garden of England, the "birds"
had gathered. It was their plaintive song of longing which the Avatar had heard,
and he responded by coming in person to the West.
Later that afternoon at 1:30, dressed in Western attire,
Baba, Chanji, Rustom, Ali, Meredith and Herbert departed by train from
Marseilles for London. Seated in the train, while looking at Herbert, Baba
remarked that Herbert's features and build resembled Vajifdar's. Herbert
had worked hard and sincerely in taking care of the group's travel
arrangements and comforts. For Baba and the mandali, Herbert had arranged for
vegetarian food and in this way was paying close attention to every special
request of the Master.
On 12 September, they arrived at Gare du Nord in Paris at 5:30 A.M. where
they were met by a British woman named Enid Eliza Corfe, 32, who worked for the Texaco
Oil Company in Europe and was a friend of Meredith and Margaret Starr. They
continued their journey by train (the Biarritz ) and ferry via Boulogne
and Folkestone, reaching Victoria Station in London at 4:15 that same cold,
wet afternoon. Mahatma Gandhi was on the same train until Folkestone, but
traveled secretly to London by car.
There was a tremendous crowd at the London train station
waiting to receive Mahatma Gandhi; but for the Lord of the Universe, who was
traveling incognito, only a few had come for his reception. Yet these few came
with the Song of Love ringing in their hearts, and only true Heroes are received
with love-songs. Baba was happy to see them and shook hands with them. Stunned
by what they saw — by what they felt — Kitty Davy and Dick and Audrey
Ince fixed their gaze on him — like the Indian partridge absorbed in
gazing at the moon! None could imagine how many pages of the book of their past
lives the Avatar was reviewing as they stared at him, awakening their hearts
with the echo of his Song. Baba's silence was speaking in their hearts, and
that conversation only the heart can record and understand. Age absorbed every
detail, but it can never be adequately expressed in words.
Herbert Davy, 32, was a medical student in London and had
heard of the Devonshire Retreat from one of his college friends. In March of
1931, he visited there at the end of his term, ostensibly to find a place where
his older sister Katherine could recuperate from pleurisy. He met Meredith and
Margaret who explained to him about Baba.