But that night, along the way, at about midnight, they were awakened from their sleep by the shouts of a porter who was telling everyone to get down. It had been found necessary to detach this compartment from the train.
The men began cursing the railway official and arguing, but Baba intervened and motioned, "Instead of talking and wasting time, quickly try to see if we can shift to another compartment; otherwise, the train will leave."
The mandali found a little space in a carriage at the end of the train, and all hurried to it with their baggage. During the rest of the journey to Allahabad, a funny looking person who entered their compartment at a wayside station provided great amusement for Baba. The short man had a large, round belly, thin legs and a large head. He poured out a tale of woe to Eruch, and Baba signaled Eruch to give him ten rupees. He took the money, and began filling the ears of all who would listen with more of his misery. Baba again had ten rupees given to him, so he went on lengthening and elaborating his troubles. In this way, he was paid ten rupees five more times by the time the train pulled into Allahabad at ten in the morning, at which time, his income also came to a halt. Baba was amused by the man and listened to him with apparent genuine interest, but the man had not the least idea from whose hands he was really receiving prasad. ("Hush" money really!)
Pleader had arranged for the group's stay in a hotel. After some refreshment there and a little rest, Baba went to the fairgrounds with a few of the mandali. On reaching the grounds, they soon discovered that the work of touching the feet of 7,000 sadhus was not going to be an easy task. It was hot and sultry, and the mela grounds near the river were sandy, stretching over a radius of two miles. The men suggested different schemes of how best to proceed in what seemed to be a Herculean task, as the sadhus were spread out everywhere. But Baba rejected all their ideas and set out on his own.
They followed Baba on a reconnaissance round of four hours of strenuous walking in the loose sand under a scorching sun. After having seen the entire place, Baba started making his contacts.