"In the West the war was on and early in 1941 I joined the St John's Ambulance Brigade. In July, Baba ordered Will Backett and myself to have 30,000 little booklets printed and distributed from a copy sent from India. Will Backett and I had to find the money between us—the cost was about 60 pounds and it was amazing how we managed as our finances were at a very low state. By Christmas 3,000 had been distributed and many new contacts made for Baba and this was the start of Will and I being made to work together. Two more opposites could not be imagined.

Then arrived a letter from India with instructions that from January 1st to February 15th, 1942 we were all to go on fast, drinking but not eating anything. In spite of this and a bitterly cold winter, we were able to carry on with the distribution. I came up from Surrey to London and we gave then to passers-by and we even went to Hyde Park."

The special message Baba sent Mary, Will and Delia through Margaret, who was in Meherabad, India at the time, on hearing from them that they would be all ready to start the distribution of the booklets, was:

YOU THREE ARE DIVINE PEOPLE AND I AM VERY HAPPY AND SATISFIED HOW YOU WORK FOR ME WITH HEART AND SOUL― BABA

Test

Some years elapsed—the Second World War was ended, and there came to Will and Mary a great test. Baba asked them to give up their lovely cottage in the country and to find something nearer London. Both loved the country intensely and did not care for the hustle and bustle of the metropolis. Neither was young—over 70—and neither was too well in health. Help was almost impossible to get after the war and Kent had been badly hit during the war, but still, on their own, they would not have made the move. Baba, seeing into the future, wished them to be closer to the group and more accessible for his work in meeting people passing through London. Neither could take the daily journey to London anymore as Will had done when the office was going.

During this period, about 1948, there was also talk about having a London Center for Baba's work. (Baba had expressed a desire for this as the earlier office had been given up.) It was suggested by Delia and others that Will and Mary could live there too and look after it. Mary, who was timid and lacking confidence in herself, wrote Baba Nov. 9th, 1948: