Chapter 15: Escape.
Annie Mansfield was not long before she mastered her emotions. She hadlearned to do so in a bitter school. Beaten for the slightest fault,or at the mere caprice of one of her many mistresses, she had learnedto suffer pain without a tear; to assume a submissive attitude underthe greatest provocation; to receive, without attempting to defendherself, punishment for faults she had not committed; and to preservean appearance of cheerfulness, when her heart seemed breaking at thehopelessness of any deliverance from her fate. For the last six monthsshe had been specially unhappy, for when Seringapatam had beenbesieged she had hoped that, when it was captured, her countrymenwould search the Palace and see that, this time, no English captiveremained behind. Her disappointment, then, when she heard that peacehad been made, and that the English army was to march away, withouteven an attempt to see that the condition for the release of captiveswas faithfully carried out, had for a time completely crushed her, andall hope had forsaken her.
Thus, then, while she had been, for a moment, overwhelmed at findingthat her preserver from the tiger was a countryman in disguise, andthat he was willing to make an attempt to rescue her; yet in a fewminutes she stifled her sobs, hastily thrust back the hair that hadfallen over her face, uncoiled herself from her crouching position inthe angle of the divan, and rose to her feet.
"I can hardly believe it to be true," she said, in a low voice. "Oh,Sahib, do you really mean what you say? And are you willing to run therisk of taking me away with you?"
"Of course I am," Dick said heartily. "You don't suppose that anEnglishman would be so base as to leave a young countrywoman in thehands of these wretches? I do not think that there is much risk in it.Of course, you will have to disguise yourself, and there may be somehardships to go through, but once away from here we are not likely tobe interfered with. You see, my friend and I are officers of thePalace, and no one would venture to question us, as we should besupposed to be travelling upon the sultan's business. There is peaceat present, and although Tippoo may intend, some day or other, tofight again, everything is settling down quietly. Traders go about thecountry unquestioned. There is plenty of traffic on the roads from onetown to another; and so long as your disguise is good enough toprevent your being recognised as a white, there is no greater dangerin travelling, in Mysore, than there would be down in the Carnatic."
Annie stood before him, with her fingers playing nervously with eachother. Long trained in habits of implicit obedience, and to stand inan attitude of deep respect before her numerous mistresses, she was inignorance whether she ought to speak or not. She had been but a childof six, when she had been carried off. Her remembrance of Englishmanners had quite died out, and the habit of silent submission hadbecome habitual to her. Dick was puzzled by her silence.
"Of course, Annie," he said, at last, "I don't want you to go with me,if you would rather stay here, or if you are afraid of the risk oftravelling."
She looked up with frightened eyes.
"Oh, Sahib, it is not that; I would go, even if I felt sure I shouldbe found out and cut to pieces. Anything would be better than this. Iam not afraid at all.
"But forgive me, Sahib. I don't know how to thank you. I don't knowwhat is proper to say. It is all so strange and so wonderful."
"Oh, that is all right, Annie," Dick said cheerfully. "Of course, youwill feel it a little strange, just at starting.
"Well, in the first place, you must call me Dick, instead of callingme sahib; and in the next place, you must talk to me freely, as afriend, and not stand as if I were your master. While we are on thisjourney together, consider me as a sort of big brother. When we getdown the ghauts I shall hand you over to the care of my mother, who isliving at present at Tripataly with her brother, the Rajah.
"Now sit down again, and let us make our arrangements. When we havedone that we can talk, if there is time. Now, how am I to let you knowif I have to go away suddenly? Do you always get out at this time of amorning?"
"Not always, but very often. I always go down at twelve o'clock, withsome of the other slave girls, to fetch the food and sweetmeats forthe ladies of the harem."
"Well, you must always manage, even if you are not sent out, to lookout through that doorway where you met me, at eight o'clock in themorning. If we have anything particular to say to you, Surajah--thatis my friend, you know--will be there. Which way do you go out fromthe harem to fetch the food?"
"Not from that door, but from the one nearest to the kitchen. You goright down that corridor, and then take the first turning to theright. There is a flight of stairs at its end. We come out at the doorjust at its head. At the foot of the stairs there is a long passage,and at the end of that is a large room, with tables, on which thedishes are placed in readiness for us to bring back."
"Well, if it is necessary to speak to you at once, one of us will meetyou in the passage between the bottom of the stairs and the room wherethe food is. If you see one of us, you will know that the matter isurgent, and as soon as you can possibly slip away, you must come here.In the evening you had better again look out from the door where youfirst met me.
"Now, as to the disguise, it will be better for you to go as a boy. Itwould be strange to see a girl riding behind two of the officers ofthe Palace. You won't mind that, will you?"
"Not at all, Sahib."
"Not at all, Dick," he corrected. "Well, I will have a dress ready foryou here. You will find it in that corner, and there will be a bottleof stain on the table. It will be only necessary for you to colouryour neck, hands, and feet, but you must cut off your hair, behind, toa level with your ears, so that none of it will show below the turban.You must do that, of course, before you stain your neck, and muststain the skin where you have cut off your hair, also. I am giving youthese instructions now, because when the time comes there may not be aminute to spare, though, of course, I hope there will be no desperatehurry."
"I understand," she said, "and will look out for you, three times aday."
"Of course," he went on, "if you are suddenly told that you are to begiven to any one, you must slip out at once, and come here. You willfind everything ready for you to disguise yourself, and you must dothat at once, and wait here till one of us comes. Even if you aremissed, it will be some time before any search is made, and it wouldbe thought much more likely that you had gone down into the town, thanthat you were hiding in the Palace, so there would be no chance oftheir looking for you here before we return. Anyhow, we shall be ableto have another talk before Tippoo comes back. We shall be here everymorning until nine, and if you are able to get away again, come andsee us.
"It will be better, perhaps, for you not to wait any longer, now. Isuppose you have been charged with some message or other, and it wouldnot do for you to be too long gone."
The girl stood up at once.
"I have to go down to the Pettah, to get some sewing silk to matchthis;" and she drew out a small fragment of yellow silk.
"Very well, then. You had better go and do it, or they may think thatyou are too long away.
"Goodbye, Annie. I hope that in another week, or ten days at thelatest, I shall have you out of this;" and he held out his hand toher.
She took it timidly, and would have raised it to her forehead, butDick said, laughing:
"That is not the way, Annie. English girls don't treat their friendsas if they were lords and masters. They just shake hands with them, asif it were two men, or two girls."
"I shall know better, in time," she said, with a faint smile, thoughher eyes were full of tears. "I want to do something, though I don'tknow what. You saved my life from the tiger, and now you are going tosave me again. I should like to throw myself down, and kiss yourfeet."
"You would make me horribly uncomfortable, if you did anything of thesort, Annie. I can understand that you feel strange and out of yourelement, at present, but you will soon get over that, when you come toknow me better.
"There, goodbye, lassie. I hope to see you again, tomorrow
or nextday, and then you will be able to tell me more about yourself.
"Is the coast clear, Surajah?"
Surajah looked out through the curtains.
"There is no one in sight," he said, a moment later.
The girl passed silently out, and went down the corridor. Surajahreturned from his post by the door.
"The poor girl is shy and awkward, as yet," Dick said, "but I thinkshe will be plucky enough, when the time comes. You heard what wesaid. The first thing will be to get her disguise ready for her. Whatdo you think? Had we better take Ibrahim with us? I think he is to betrusted."
"I am sure he is," Surajah agreed. "He is a Hindoo of Coorg, and wascarried away as a slave, six years ago. In the first place, he will bedelighted at the prospect of getting away; and in the next, I am surethat he is very fond of you. But there is no occasion to tell him thatyou are English."
"No, it will be time enough to do that when we get over the ghauts. Itwill be better that he should get the disguise. In the first place, hewill know exactly what is wanted; and in the next, it would look rumfor either of us to be buying such a thing. Of course, we could askPertaub to get it for us, but if we take Ibrahim with us he may aswell buy it.
"We shall want a couple more horses. These, of course, we can buyourselves, and saddles and things. When we have got them, we hadbetter leave them at some place on the other side of the river.Pertaub would help us, there. He is sure to know someone who will lookafter them for a few days. Then Ibrahim and the girl can starttogether, go over there and saddle them, so as to be in readiness tomount, directly we come along. We will stop at the wood and dig up thecaskets. There is nothing like taking them away with us, when there isa chance, and it is not likely that we shall come back to Seringapatamagain--it would be like putting our heads into a tiger's den."
When Ibrahim brought in the dishes for their meal, Dick said:
"Go down and get your own food, Ibrahim, and when you have done comeback here again. I want to have a talk with you."
They had just finished their meal, when Ibrahim returned.
"Ibrahim, would you be glad of a chance of getting away from here, andreturning to your own country?"
"I would have given anything to do so, my lord," Ibrahim said, "beforeI was ordered to attend upon you. But I am happy now. You are kind tome, and I should not like to leave your service."
"But if I were going too, Ibrahim?"
"Then, my lord, I would go with you anywhere, if you would take me."
"Well, Ibrahim, we feel sure that we can trust you, and so I may tellyou that I think it likely we shall, very shortly, go away. You knowwhat the sultan is. One day he gives you honours and rewards, the nexthe disgraces you, and perhaps sends you into the ranks of the army,perhaps has you thrown to the tigers. We do not care to live undersuch conditions, and we mean, in a few days, to slip away and go toour friends down the ghauts. You can come with us, if you like."
"I would go with you to the end of the world, my lord," Ibrahimexclaimed earnestly. "To go with you and be a free man, and not aslave, would be almost too great happiness."
"Very well, then, that is settled. Now, Ibrahim, we are not goingalone. We are going to take with us a young white slave in the harem,and restore her to her friends. I want you to get a disguise for her.Let it be a dress like your own--long white trousers to the ankle, ashirt and tunic with waist belt, also the stuff for a turban. That youmust wind in proper folds, as she would not be able to do it herself.I also want a bottle of stain for the skin."
"I will get them, my lord. How tall is she?"
"About half a head shorter than you are. She is about the size of anaverage Hindoo woman."
"Shall I get the things at once, my lord?"
"Yes, you had better get them today. We may leave at any time, and itis as well to have them in readiness. We shall buy two horses, one foreach of you, and have them taken across the river. You can ride, Isuppose?"
"Yes; I used to ride when I was a boy, before Tippoo came down andkilled my father and mother, and brought me up here. Will my lord wantme to take the horses across?"
"I will tell you that in the morning, Ibrahim. We are going down intothe town, now, to inquire about them, but we shall not buy any untiltomorrow, as we shall have to make arrangements for them to be keptfor us, until we want them."
They did not go out until it was dark, and then took their way toPertaub's house. The old Hindoo was in.
"I am glad to see you, Sahibs," he said to Dick, as they entered. "Ihave always fears that ill may, in some way, befall you."
"We are going to leave, Pertaub. Surajah had, two days ago, to go upto see four English prisoners put to death at one of the hill forts.Next time I may be ordered on such a duty. I could not carry it out,and you know that refusal would probably mean death. Moreover, we areconvinced that we have no means, here, of finding out what captivesmay still be in Tippoo's hands, and have therefore determined toleave. We are going to take with us our servant, Ibrahim, who is aslave from Coorg; and will, we know, be faithful to us; and also ayoung English girl who has, for eight years, been a slave in Tippoo'sharem. She will go with us in the disguise of a boy. This Ibrahim isgetting for us. We are going to buy a couple of horses for them, andshall make straight down the ghauts, where I shall leave the girl inmy mother's care."
"It is a good action," the Hindoo said gravely.
"Now, in the first place, Pertaub, would you like to go with us?Riding as we shall do, as two of the officers of the Palace, it is notlikely that any questions whatever will be asked, and certainly weshall have no difficulty until it comes to crossing the frontier."
"No, Sahib. I thank you, but I am too old, now, for any fresh change.I have friends here, and have none below the ghauts. Nothing save therescue of my daughter from the harem would induce me to move now, andof that there is little chance. She will, by this time, have becomereconciled to her fate, and would probably not care to escape, were anopportunity offered to her. Besides, with only me to protect her, whatwould she do elsewhere? A few months, and she might be left alone inthe world."
"As to that," Dick said, "I could promise her the protection of myaunt, the wife of the Rajah of Tripataly. After the kindness that youhave shown to us she would, I am sure, gladly take her into herservice. And there would be no difficulty about a dowry for her. Iwould see to that."
The old man shook his head.
"There could be no question of marriage," he said; "but should I everhear from her that she is unhappy, and I can arrange to fly with her,I will assuredly avail myself of your offer, and take her toTripataly; rejoiced indeed that, at my death, there will be a shelteropen to her.
"And now, can I aid you in any way, Sahib? One of my friends, amerchant, could get the horses for you without difficulty. He hasoften occasion to buy them, for the purposes of his trade."
"Thank you, Pertaub. I had intended to buy them myself, but doubtlessit will be safer for somebody else to do so. What I was going to askyou was to let me know of some place, on the other side of the river,where the horses could be kept until I want them."
"That I can do, Sahib. I have a friend, a cultivator. His house standsby itself on this side of the first village--the one half a milebeyond the ford. It is the only house this side of the village, so youcannot mistake it. It lies about a hundred yards back from the road. Iwill go over and arrange with him that, when two horses arrive, theyshall be placed in his stalls, and remain there until one arrives whowill say to him, after greeting, the word 'Madras'. To him he is todeliver the horses at once, whether he comes by night or day."
"That would do admirably, Pertaub. Of course, I shall also wantsaddles and bridles. How much do you think it will come to,altogether? I do not want showy horses, but they must be animalscapable of performing a long journey, and of travelling at a fair rateof speed--the faster the better. We are likely to get seven or eighthours start, at least; but must, of course, travel fast. As long asall goes well, I shall keep the main road
s, but if there is abreakdown, or an unforeseen accident occurs, I may have to leave theroad and take to bypaths."
"The cost of such horses would be about eighty rupees each; thesaddles and bridles another fifteen or twenty."
"Then here are two hundred rupees, Pertaub."
"Have you given up all hope of finding your father, Sahib? I have feltso sure that you would be successful. It seemed to me that such braveefforts could not go unrewarded."
"No, Pertaub, I have not given it up, at all. I intend to stay atTripataly for a fortnight, with my mother, and shall then come up theghauts again.
"That is another matter I want to speak to you about. Of course, weshould not dare to return to Seringapatam, and I think that we hadbetter settle to go to Bangalore. Could you forward our packs, withthe merchandise, to someone in that town?"
"There will be no difficulty in that, Sahib. There are many Hindoomerchants there, who have been forced to change their religion, andwho have frequent dealings with traders here. One of my friends will,I am sure, forward your goods with the next consignment that he sendsto Bangalore. That, also, I will arrange tomorrow, and when you comein the evening will give you the name of the trader there, togetherwith a letter from the one here, telling him that you are the personto whom the goods are to be given up."
"Thank you, Pertaub. I don't know what we should have done, withoutyour assistance."
"It has been a pleasure, to me, to be of use to you, Sahib. I hadthought my time of usefulness was over, and it has given a realpleasure to my life to have been able to aid you. You will let meknow, Sahib, if ever you find your father?"
"Certainly, Pertaub. I will, in any case, send word to you, eitherthat I have found him, or that I have given up all hope and haveabandoned my efforts."
The next morning a lad brought Dick a message, from Pertaub, that hehad fulfilled all his commissions; and on the following morning, AnnieMansfield again came to Dick's room.
"Everything is going on well, Annie," Dick said, as he shook handswith her. "The horses have been bought. There is your disguise in thatcorner, and we can start any moment, at a quarter of an hour's notice.
"Now, I want you to tell me how you came to be brought up here."
"I have not much to tell," she said. "You see, I was only six yearsold. I can remember there was a great deal of firing of guns, and thatlasted for a long time. Then the firing stopped. I suppose the placesurrendered."
"Do you know what place it was, Annie?"
She shook her head.
"I do not know at all. I suppose I did know, then, but I do notremember ever to have heard the name. I remember quite well that therewere soldiers, and Father and Mother, and servants, and many otherpeople, and everyone was very miserable, and we all went together outof a gate, and on each side there were a great many natives with gunsand swords, some on horse and some on foot; and there were elephants.I don't think I had ever seen one before, for I noticed themparticularly. We went on and on, and I know one of the soldierscarried me.
"At night we stopped somewhere. I think it was in a wood, and therewere fires, and we lay down to sleep on the ground. Then I woke upsuddenly, and there was a great noise and firing of guns, and someonecaught me up and threw something over my head, and I don't rememberanything more, for a long time. I know that presently I was onhorseback, before a fierce-looking man. There were a good many ofthem, and when I cried for my father and mother, they said they wouldcut off my head if I were not quiet.
"I do not know how long we were travelling, but after the first daythere was only the man who carried me, and another. I was broughthere, and there were many people, and I was very much frightened. ThenI found myself only among women, and they took off my clothes anddressed me in their fashion. I think I was very happy, when I once gotaccustomed to it. The ladies made a sort of pet of me, and I wastaught to dance and to sing little native songs. There were otherwhite girls here, and they were all very kind to me, though theyalways seemed very sad, and I could not make out why they cried sooften, especially when they were beaten for crying.
"As I grew bigger, I was not so happy. I had ceased to be a plaything,and little by little I was set to work to sweep and dust, and then tosew, and then to do all sorts of work, like the other slave girls. Theother white girls gradually went away, the oldest first. The last two,who were two or three years older than I was, went about three yearsago.
"At first, I used to wonder why they cried so when they went, and whythe others all cried, too; but by the time the last two left, I hadcome to know all about it, and knew that they had been given by thesultan to his favourite officers.
"There were many white men here, when I first came. When I went outwith one of the slaves, into the town, I saw them often. Sometimesthey would burst into tears when they saw me. Then I used to wonderwhy, but I know now that I must have reminded them of girls of theirown, whom they would never see again. Then, till three years ago,there were about twenty white boys who had been taught to dance andsing, and who used to come sometimes, dressed up like women, to amusethe ladies of the harem; but I heard that they were all killed, whenthe sultan first thought that the English might come here. One of theslave girls told me that it was done because the sultan had oftensworn, to the English, that there were no white captives here, and sohe did not wish that any should be found, if they came.
"I don't think that I have anything else to tell you."
"Well, I hope that what you have told me will be enough to enable us,some day, to find out who you belong to. Evidently you were in someplace that was besieged, eight years ago, and had to surrender. Thegarrison were promised their lives and liberty to depart. They wereattacked at night by an armed party, who may have been Hyder'shorsemen, but who were perhaps merely a party of mounted robbers, whothought that they might be able to take some loot. Most likely theywere defeated, especially as you saw no other captives in the party,but in the confusion of the night attack, one of them probably cameupon you, and carried you off, thinking you would be an acceptablepresent here, and that he would get a reward for you from the sultan.
"Are you not noticed, when you go into the streets on errands?"
"No; I always go veiled. Except the slaves who are old and ugly, allthe others wear veils when they go outside the Palace, and we all weara red scarf, which shows we are servants in the harem; and so, evenwhen the town is full of rough soldiers, no one ventures to speak tous.
"Now tell me, Dick--you see I have not forgotten--all about how youcame to be here."
Dick told her, briefly, how he had come out with his mother; and how,finding war had broken out, he had joined the army; and how, at theend of the war, having been able to learn nothing about his father, hehad come up with Surajah to search for him.
"And then you saw that tiger break in," the girl said, eagerly. "Thatwas dreadful. I will tell you how it was the tiger came to seize me. Iwas standing behind a lady, and could not see anything. Suddenly theyall began screaming, and ran, some to one side, some to the other, ofthe window; and I, who could not think what was the matter, remainedwhere I was, when there was a great cry, and before I had time tomove, or even to wonder, some great thing knocked me down. It was onlyfrom the screams of the ladies, and their cries of 'Tiger!' that Iknew what had happened. I felt something heavy standing on me--soheavy that I could hardly breathe; and indeed, I did not try tobreathe, for I knew many stories of tigers, and had heard thatsometimes, when a man shams being dead, the tiger will walk away andkill someone else.
"The tiger was keeping up an angry growl, and I felt that, unless ittook its paw off me, I should soon die, when I heard a shot, and afierce growl from the tiger, and then the weight was gone, and I thinkI fainted. When I came round, I was lying where I fell, for many ofthe ladies were insensible, and everyone was too busy with them tothink anything of me.
"When I got up, one of the other slave girls, who had been braveenough to look out of the window, told me that it had been killed bytwo young men, one of
whom must have been the one who had fired theshot in at the window. I went and looked out, and saw it lying there.After that every one talked, and laughed, and cried, and then thesultan's chief wife said that everyone must make a present to theyoung men who had saved us, and that each one ought to give one of herbest jewels. Of course, everyone did. I had nothing to give, except alittle cross of gold filigree work, that hung round my neck when I wascarried off. It had been hidden by my dress. The men had not noticedit, and they had not taken it away when I was brought here. It wassuch a poor little gift, but it was all I had."
"I noticed it, Annie," Dick said; "there was a little flat platebehind it, with the letters 'A. M.' and I thought, then, that it mustbe some little ornament taken from one of the Englishwomen Hyder'stroops killed. It is fortunate you kept it, for it may be useful,someday, in proving that you are Annie Mansfield."
"Now I must be going," she said. "I was slapped and pinched, lasttime, for being so long, but I have several things to get today, sothat if I hurry I can be back again as soon as they expect me. Youhave not settled when you are going, yet?"
"No; but we rather think of going the day after tomorrow. It will bebetter to do so before Tippoo comes back, for we might be ordered awayso quickly as to have no time to make arrangements. Besides, therewill be ten times as many people about, in the Palace, and more guardsat the entrances when he returns. So, altogether, it will be better togo before he does so. If we settle it so, I will come along past yourdoor, tomorrow evening; and if I say, 'Tomorrow morning,' get here assoon as you can in the morning, and directly you have stained yourskin and put on your disguise, we will start. My servant, who is goingwith us, will act as your guide, and will take you to the place wherethe horses are, and where we shall join you, almost as soon as you getthere."
At the appointed time, next evening, Dick told Annie that they shouldstart in the morning. He and Surajah then went down and said goodbyeto Pertaub, and Dick gave him a letter to his aunt, to give to hershould he ever go to Tripataly with his daughter.
"It may be," he said, "that neither Surajah nor I may be there, but Ishall speak to her about you, and of course tell her how much you havedone for us; so you may be sure of the heartiest welcome from her."
"And you will also find a hearty friend in my father, Rajbullub,"Surajah said. "He is principal officer in the Rajah's household, andwill treat you as a brother, and your daughter as if she were mysister."
Then they returned to the Palace, where they had a final talk over theroute that it would be best to pursue. The nearest point to the newfrontier was the territory ceded to the English on the Malabar coast.But this would entail a long sea voyage, and they therefore determinedto make for Caveripatam, going by the road that led through Anicull,and then through Ryacotta, which stood just outside the line ofterritory ceded to England, and from whence a road led direct down thepasses. Anicull lay nearly due south of Bangalore, but the road theywould follow would not be the one by which Tippoo would return, as hewould come by the main road, which ran in a direct line between thetwo cities.
Ibrahim was informed of their plans, and was told to warn the syce toget their horses saddled and in readiness at eight o'clock, and that,as they were going for a long day's ride, he would not be required toaccompany them--as he always did when they rode only into the town,for then he might be wanted to hold the horses, if they dismounted andwent into a shop.
He was also to give notice, in the kitchen, that they would not returnto the midday meal, and that dishes for them would therefore not berequired. Thus it would be unlikely that any suspicion would bearoused by their absence until they had been gone twenty-four hours,by which time they would be more than halfway to the frontier.
They went to bed at their usual time, and slept soundly, for it seemedto them both that there was practically no risk whatever to be run,and that they would be across the frontier before any active searchwas made for them. Even when it was discovered that they had left thePalace, it would be thought that they had received some order fromBangalore, either to join the sultan, or to go on some mission for himthat had occupied more time than they had anticipated on starting. Theidea that two officers, who were considered to stand high in Tippoo'sfavour, should desert, would scarcely occur to anyone.
In the morning they were up early, completed their slightpreparations, and took their early breakfast, reserving a portion forAnnie, who, they thought, would not improbably have eaten nothingbefore coming to them.
She was a quarter of an hour late in arriving, and looked somewhatpale and flurried.
"They did not send me out this morning," she said, "and so I had tostay, until I could slip out without being noticed; but they may missme at any moment."
"That will be all right," Dick said confidently. "They will search allthe rooms in the harem for you, first, and certainly won't look foryou outside, until there has been a lot of talk over your absence. Buteven if they do search, you will be able, in a few minutes, to walkthrough the middle of them without being suspected.
"However, we will lose no time; and to begin with, I will cut off whathair is necessary. I shall do it a good deal quicker than you would.Then we will leave you to yourself, to stain your skin and put on yourdisguise. When you have finished, clap your hands. Ibrahim will comein and see that your disguise is all right, and that your turbancovers your hair. Then he will go with you. We shall be waiting nearthe gate. There is practically no chance of your being asked anyquestions, but if you are, and there is any difficulty, we will passyou through all right. Having seen you on your way, we shall mount andfollow you."
The operation of cutting off Annie's hair, to the line of her ears,was speedily done; then, with a few reassuring words, Dick joinedSurajah in the corridor. As they walked down it he said:
"I don't like leaving them to themselves. Look here, Surajah, you godown to the stable, and mount at once. Tell the syce I shall come formy horse in a few minutes. Then ride out, and take your post where youcan see them come out of the gate, and then follow them closely. Iwill stay here, and see them safely through the gate, and then mountand follow you. I shall overtake you before you get to the ford."
"That will perhaps be safest," Surajah agreed, "though I should thinkthere is no chance of her being suspected, seeing that she will bewith Ibrahim. Even if they met one of the Palace officers, and heasked Ibrahim who he had with him, he could say it was a lad who hadcome to you respecting some horses you had bought."
"Yes, that would do very well."
Dick returned to Ibrahim, who was squatting down in the corridor nearthe door.
"I am going to follow you, until you are through the gate, and shallkeep a short distance behind you. If you should meet any officer onyour way out, who may ask you who you have with you, say he has comewith a message to me from a trader in the town. By the time you havetold him that, I shall be up."
"There is no chance of being questioned, my lord. People come and goall day."
"That is so, Ibrahim, but one cannot be too careful."
They stood, talking together, until they heard Annie clap her handswithin. Ibrahim entered at once, and in two or three minutes came outagain with the girl. Ibrahim carried a bundle.
"You will do very well," Dick said to Annie. "I should not know you,in the least. You make a capital boy.
"What bundle is that, Ibrahim? I thought you took our other disguiseson, yesterday, to the stable where the horses are."
"Yes, my lord, I took them on. These are the things she has taken off.I thought, perhaps, it would be better not to leave them here, as, ifthey were found, it would be known that she had gone with you."
"I don't think it makes much difference, Ibrahim, but perhaps it is aswell to bring them away. We can leave the bundle in the wood.
"Now, go along. I will follow. Perhaps I had better go first. Keep afew paces behind me."
They passed through the long passages of the Palace, withoutattracting the slightest attention. Once or twice, Dick pau
sed tospeak to some officials of his acquaintance, the others stoppingrespectfully a few paces away. Then he went out into the courtyard,and across to the gate, and as the sentries saluted he stopped, andasked them a few questions as to the regiment they belonged to, untilIbrahim and his companion, who had passed straight through, were wellaway. He saw Surajah sitting upon his horse, a couple of hundred yardsaway, and then went to the stables.