COMPANIONSHIP OF THE ROAD

Buchman sailed for England on the SS Paris in June 1924. In the weeks before leaving, he had seen a good deal of his mother, and included her in his activities when he felt that they would be congenial to her. He also maintained his interest in her daily life. Inviting her to a tea in New York, he adds, 'I suggest you wear your low shoes as it is a tea. If you wear the dress which you wore to New York the last time, which would be a good one, don't wear the white sleeves or under-vest. You can wear your coat till you get there so you won't catch cold.’1 She attended the last house-party before his departure, and then preferred to return to Allentown rather than staying with him in New York until he sailed.2'The parting is not pleasant, you know, but it looks that it has to be,' she wrote from there. 'God will take care of us. Everybody tells me that you are helping them so much. Think of me and the Lord will bless you.' The letter ended, 'Goodbye, hope to meet again sometime, some- where.'3

On the same ship was Mrs Tjader. She was going to Sweden for her daughter's wedding and had provided substantial funds towards Buchman's present project, partly because he was going to visit some of the missionaries in India for whom she was responsible. Expecting to be away from America for at least two years, Buchman took no fewer than fourteen suitcases and valises, containing clothes suitable for every sort of occasion and the accumulated correspondence and memorabilia of a quarter of a century. Even the young EustaceWade, who joined him in London - and whom Buchman had christened 'Nick' because he thought he looked like the Devil - had eight pieces of luggage, containing among other things a top hat, morning coat, dinner jacket and full evening dress as well as a topee for use in India. In those formal days every garment would be needed.

There was no doubt about the purpose of the journey. 'I am taking a group of younger people with me to train them,' Buchman wrote to Mrs Shepard before he left New York;4 and he was equally explicit with Wade and Loudon Hamilton on the platform of Liverpool Street Station in London. 'Mind you,' he told them, 'there'll be discipline on this trip.'

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