Then we
will take the signs and the men will go at once."
"You shall have the money," the Dewan declared: "but do not delay."
That evening the Bagrees made their way to a mango grove for the feast,
carrying cocoanuts, raw sugar, flour, butter, and a fragrant gum,
goojul. A large hole was dug in the ground and filled with dry
cow-dung chips which were set on fire. Sweet cakes were baked on the
fire and then broken into small pieces, a portion of the fire raked to
one side, and their priest sprinkled upon it the fragrant gum, calling
in a loud voice: "Maha Kali, assist and guide us in our expedition.
Keep calamity from us who worship Thee, and have made this feast in Thy
honour. Give us the sign, that we may know if it is agreeable to Thee
that we destroy the enemy of Maharaja Sindhia."
When the Bagrees had eaten much cooked rice and meat-balls, which were
served on plantain leaves, they drank robustly of _mhowa_ spirit, first
spilling some of this liquor upon the ground in the name of the goddess.
The strong rank native liquor roused an enthusiasm for their
approaching interview of the sacred one.
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