Even as the days passed and Lal Hargopal’s leg began to heal, he would sit more frequently in Shri Nathji’s room discussing legal matters related to the house, as well as the jewellery box of Shri Nathji’s marriage, which lay at the Imperial Bank at Lahore now in Pakistan. He would also listen to the news punctiliously on the PYE radio in Shri Nathji’s room, cupping his ear in his hand and holding his head close to the radio to find out what was happening in the country.
As soon as his leg had healed he decided to go out for a walk in Mussoorie again. Shri Nathji gave him his own walking stick. As he was coming down the Kulri slope he slipped. He realised with horror that if he were to break his leg again he would never recover.
As he was about to fall, he distinctly heard Shri Nathji’s walking stick speak to him:
“Lala Hargopal! I am Shri Nathji’s walking stick. I will not let you fall!
“Main Nathji kee chharri hoon. Tumhen girne naheen doongi!”
Lala Hargopal miraculously regained his balance and returned home to Shri Nathji to tell him the above tale. He never forgot this incident for the rest of his life.
The day came when Lala Hargopal left Mussoorie fully recovered, at the end of July. A visibly saddened Shri Nathji saw him off to Delhi.
After the going away of Lala Hargopal, Shri Nathji settled down to his usual routine of attending to the house as well as Mateshwari and the children, while carrying on with his writing work almost continuously, and speaking to all and sundry who came to him