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No sooner had the members of the Commission landed than they placed under their direct and exclusive control both the Telegraph and Postal services in Akka; arbitrarily dismissed officials suspected of being friendly to Abdu'l- Baha, including the governor of the city; established direct and secret contact with the government in Constantinople; took up their residence in the home of the neighbors and intimate associates of the Covenant- breakers; set guards over the house of Abdu'l- Baha to prevent any one from seeing Him; and started the strange procedure of calling up as witnesses the very people, among whom were Christians and Moslems, orientals and westerners, who had previously signed the documents forwarded to Constantinople, and which they had brought with them for the purpose of their investigations. (270:1) The activities of the Covenant- breakers, and particularly of Mirza Muhammad- 'Ali, now jubilant and full of hope, rose in this hour of extreme crisis, to the highest pitch. Visits, interviews and entertainments multiplied, in an atmosphere of fervid expectation, now that the victory was seen to be at hand. Not a few among the lower elements of the population were led to believe that their acquisition of the property which would be left behind by the deported exiles was imminent. Insults and calumnies markedly increased. Even some of the poor, so long and so bountifully succored by Abdu'l- Baha, forsook Him for fear of reprisals. (270:2) Abdu'l- Baha, while the members of the Commission were carrying on their so- called investigations, and throughout their stay of about one month in Akka, consistently refused to meet or have any dealings with any of them, in spite of the veiled threats and warnings conveyed by them to Him through a messenger, an attitude which greatly surprised them and served to inflame their animosity and reinforce their determination to execute their evil designs. Though the perils and tribulations which had encompassed Him were now at their thickest, though the ship on which He was supposed to embark with the members of the Commission was waiting in readiness, at times in Akka, at times in Haifa, and the wildest rumors were being spread about Him, the serenity He had invariably maintained, ever since His incarceration had been reimposed, remained unclouded, and His confidence unshaken. "The meaning of the dream I dreamt," He, at that time, told the believers who still remained in Akka, "is now clear and evident. Please God this dynamite will not explode."
(270:3)
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