Chapter 16: The Journey.
The syce brought out his horse, as soon as he saw Dick approaching.
"You need not wait up for us, after nine o'clock," Dick said, as hemounted. "It is possible that we may be detained, and shall not returnuntil tomorrow evening. If we come, we shall certainly be back by nineat the latest, and we shall not be back before seven, at any rate, sothat until then you are free to do as you like."
He rode quietly off, and did not quicken his pace until he had gotbeyond the fort. Then he touched the horse with his heel, and cantereddown to the ford. Surajah was halfway across the river, when hereached it. The other two figures were just ascending the road up theother bank.
Surajah checked his horse, when he got across, and waited till Dickjoined him.
"Shall we go on with them to the farmhouse?" he asked.
"We may as well do so as halt in the road. Besides, there are thethings Ibrahim took over yesterday, to put into our saddlebags. Thereis another thing that I never thought of. Of course, the girl hasnever been on a horse, and that may give us a good deal of trouble. Iwonder I did not think of it, though if I had, I don't see thatanything else could have been done. We must see how she gets on, andif she cannot manage I must take her before me, whenever we see thatthe road is clear for a good distance ahead. Of course, it does notmatter about country people, but if we see a body of troops coming inthe distance, she must mount her own horse again, and follow us at awalk. If we find that things don't go well, we must halt in a woodsomewhere, and ride only by night."
They cantered on now, and overtook the others just as they reached thefarmhouse. The farmer was at his door, and looked a little surprisedat seeing two of the officers of the Palace come up. He salaameddeeply.
"We have not come to requisition anything," Dick said, with a smile,as he saw that the farmer looked alarmed as well as surprised. "Wehave only come for the two horses that we have bought, for ourservants, as we are going on a journey."
"Can I assist you in any way, my lords?"
"No, our men will saddle the horses," Dick said, and, dismounting,went into the stable with Ibrahim and Annie.
"You are not afraid of riding, I hope, Annie?" he said.
"I am not afraid of anything, Dick, so that I can but get away."
"We will go quietly at first, anyhow. Mind, as you mount, put yourleft foot in the stirrup. When you are seated, carry yourself aseasily as you can. The pony looks quiet enough, but if, when we getfairly off, you find that you cannot sit comfortably, you must get upbefore me, and Ibrahim must lead your pony. When we are fairly on theroad, I will fasten a bit of rope to your bridle to act as a leadingrein, and you can ride by my side, unless we see people coming along;then you must drop behind, with Ibrahim."
"I won't give more trouble than I can help," she said.
Ibrahim had taken some rugs over with him, on the previous afternoon,which had been bought in case they should sleep out at night. When thehorses were saddled, Dick rolled two of these up, strapped one on thehigh peak, and the other on the cantle of the saddle upon which thegirl was to ride.
"That will wedge you in pretty tightly," he said.
"Now, Ibrahim, put the things into the saddlebag, and then we shall beready."
When this was done, the two horses were led outside. The farmer hadgone back into the house, and Dick, helping the girl into her seat,arranged the stirrups the right length for her.
"Now," he said, "you must keep your knees pressed against the roll ofblankets in front, and hold on as well as you can with them; but theprincipal thing is for you to balance yourself with your body. Don'tsit up stiffly, but as if you were in a chair.
"Now, we will start at a walk. Ibrahim will keep quite close to you,so as to be able to catch hold of your rein, should there be anyoccasion for him to do so."
Then, mounting, he and Surajah rode off at a walk, the othersfollowing a length or two behind them. Dick looked round, from time totime, and saw that Annie exhibited no signs of nervousness.
"I am quite comfortable," she said, in reply to one of his glances.
When they got into the road again, Dick said:
"We will go at an easy canter now, Annie. If you feel as if you couldnot keep on, call out, and we will stop directly; but first come upbetween Surajah and myself, and we will take the leading reins, sothat you will have nothing to attend to but holding on."
Two cords had been attached to the bridle, before setting out, andSurajah and Dick each taking one, they started again, the horsesinstinctively breaking into a canter, which was their usual pace.Annie at first grasped the strap of the rug in front of her, but assoon as she became accustomed to the motion, she let go. A small rughad been strapped over the saddle, before she mounted, and thisafforded her a much better hold than she would have had of theleather; and as the pace of the horse was a gentle one, she found itmuch more easy to keep her seat than she had expected. Moreover, thefact that Dick and Surajah rode close by her side, and would be ableto catch her, at once, if she swayed in the saddle, gave herconfidence.
"It is much better than I thought it would be," she said. "It is quitea pleasant motion. I will go faster, if you like."
"No, there is no occasion for that," Dick replied. "This is the pacethe horses are most accustomed to, and they will go on longer, at it,than at any other. There is no fear of pursuit, and we have all daybefore us."
After a quarter of a mile's riding, they came to a wood.
"We must turn in here," Dick said. "We are going treasure hunting. Wehid those caskets, that were given us by the ladies, directly after wegot them; and we are going to dig them up now, and take them with us."
They rode at a walk, now, till they came to a very large baobab tree,growing by the path they were following.
"Here we turn off."
"There is a man there," Surajah exclaimed, when they had ridden a fewyards farther.
Dick checked his horse.
"It is Pertaub," he said, a moment later, and in a minute they werebeside the Hindoo.
"I could not sleep, thinking of you, Sahib," the latter said, as theycame up. "So I came across here, partly to help you dig up thecaskets, and partly that I might see you, and assure myself that, sofar, all had gone well."
"Thank you, Pertaub. You have, I see, brought a pickaxe. It will saveus half an hour's work; and besides, I am glad to say goodbye again.
"All has gone well. This is the young lady."
"She is well disguised," Pertaub said, bowing his head to Annie. "Shelooks so like a boy that, even now you tell me, I can scarce believeshe is a white girl. Truly you can go on without fear that anyone willsuspect her."
Leading the way to the spot where the caskets had been buried, Dicklooked on while Surajah and Ibrahim dug them up. They were thenwrapped up in rugs, and strapped securely behind their owners'saddles. Then, after a warm adieu to the kind old man, they turnedtheir horses' heads, and rode back out of the woods.
After riding for three hours at a canter, Dick saw that, althoughAnnie still spoke cheerfully, her strength was failing her, and onarriving at a wood, he said:
"We will wait here till the heat of the sun has abated. We have donevery well, and the horses, as well as ourselves, will be glad of a fewhours' rest."
He alighted from the saddle, gave his horse to Ibrahim, and thenlifted Annie from her seat. As he set her down on her feet, and loosedhis hold of her, she slipped down on to the ground. Dick and Surajahat once raised her, and placed her so that, as she sat, she could leanagainst a tree.
Here Dick supported her, while Surajah ran and fetched his waterbottle. Annie drank a little, and then said, with a nervous laugh:
"It is very silly of me. But I feel better now. My legs seemed to giveway, altogether."
"It was not silly at all," Dick said. "You have held on most bravely.I can tell you there are not many girls who would have ridden four orfive and twenty miles, the first time they sat on a horse. Why, I cantell you the first time I mo
unted, I did not do a quarter as much, andI was so stiff I could hardly walk, when I got down. I should havestopped before, but you kept talking so cheerfully that, it seemed tome, you could not be anything like as tired as I was, then. I was abrute not to have known that you must be thoroughly done up, althoughyou did not say so.
"We have got some food with us. Do you think you could eat, a little?"
She shook her head.
"Not just yet."
"All right. I have brought a couple of bottles of wine I got at one ofthe traders' stores, yesterday. You must take a sip of that, and thenwe will leave you to yourself for a bit, and you must lie down andhave a good nap."
Dick took a bottle from his holster, opened it, and gave her some in atin cup. Then one of the rugs was spread on the ground, with anotherone rolled up as a pillow, and then they led the horses farther intothe wood, leaving Annie to herself.
"She won't be able to ride again, tonight," Surajah said, as they satdown, while Ibrahim took out the provisions that he had, on theprevious day, carried across to the farm.
"No, I must carry her before me. We will shift my saddle a littlefarther back, and strap a couple of rugs in front of it, so as to makea comfortable seat for her. There is no doubt she will not be able toride again, by herself. I am sure that, after my first day's riding, Icould not have gone on again for anything.
"We won't start until it begins to get dusk. Of course, she ought tohave a good twenty-four hours' rest, before she goes on, but we darenot risk that. I don't think there is any chance of pursuit for days;or, indeed, of any pursuit at all, for by the time they begin tosuspect that we have really deserted, they will know that we have hadtime to get to the frontier. Still, I don't want to run the slightestrisk, and at any rate, if we have to halt, it would be better to do sofifty miles farther on than here.
"When we mount again, we will put the saddlebags from my horse on tohers, and Ibrahim must lead it. Her weight won't make much differenceto my horse, and if I find it tiring, I will change with you. You mayas well put your saddlebags on to her horse, also."
"It would be better, would it not," Surajah said, "if you change toher horse, which will have carried nothing?"
"Yes, of course that would be best, so you had better not shift yoursaddlebags."
After they had had their meal, they stretched themselves out for asleep, and when they woke it was already becoming dusk. The horses hadhad a good feed, and were now given a drink of water, from the skin.They were then saddled again, the blankets carefully arranged forAnnie's use, and then they went back to the place where she was lying,still asleep.
"Put the provisions into the wallet again, Ibrahim. We will see if wecan get her up without waking her. She is so dead beat that, perhaps,we may do so. I don't suppose she would be able to eat anything, if wewoke her.
"I had better mount first. Then you, Surajah, can lift her up to me. Ican stoop down, and take her from your arms, and put her in front ofme. She is no weight to speak of."
Very gently, Surajah put his arms under the sleeping girl, and liftedher.
"That is right," Dick said, as he placed her on the blankets beforehim, and held her with his right arm, with her head against hisshoulder. "She is dead asleep."
The blankets were strapped on to the horses again, the others mounted,and they started, at a walk, out of the wood. As soon as they were onthe road, the horses broke into a canter again. Annie moaned uneasily,but did not open her eyes. Dick drew her still more closely to him.
"She will do now, Surajah," he said, in a low voice. "I hope that shewill sleep till morning."
Half an hour later, they rode through Sultanpetta. It was quite darknow, and although there were people in the streets, Dick knew that atthe rate they were riding, in the darkness, the fact that he wascarrying a lad in front of him would scarce be noticed. Nor would itbe of any consequence if it were, as, even if they met any officer whoshould stop and question them, it would suffice to say that the ladhad been taken ill; and that, their business being urgent, they weretaking him on with them.
Four hours later they passed through Conkanelly, and crossed thebridge over a branch of the Cauvery. Here Dick felt that his horse wasflagging. Halting, he dismounted, and lifted Annie down. This time themovement woke her; she gave a little cry.
"Where am I?" she asked.
"You are quite safe, child," Dick said cheerfully. "Just lie quiet inmy arms. We have come five hours' journey, and as my horse is gettingtired, I am changing to yours. Ibrahim is shifting the rugs that youhave been sitting on."
"I can go on by myself," she said, making a little struggle to getdown.
"You must be good, and do what you are told," he said, with a laugh."Remember that you are a slave, and I am your master, at present."
She said nothing more until they were seated afresh, and had got intomotion.
"Oh, you are good, Dick!" she sighed softly. "Only to think of yourcarrying me like this, for five hours, without waking me!"
"Well, it was much better for us both that you should sleep," he said,"and it is the horse that is carrying you, not I. I have been verycomfortable, I can assure you.
"We shall go on for another four hours. After that we shall hide up ina wood, and sleep till the afternoon. Then it will depend upon you. Ifyou can sit your horse, we shall ride on through Anicull. If not, wemust wait till it gets dark again, and then go on as we are now. Areyou comfortable, child?"
"Very comfortable, Dick."
They were talking in English now, for the first time since theystarted.
"I have almost forgotten how to talk English," she said. "We whitegirls always used to talk it, when we were together, so as not toforget it; and since the last one went, three years ago, I have alwaystalked it to myself, for a bit, before going to sleep, so as to keepit up; but it does not come anything like so easy as the other. Still,I like talking it to you. It almost seems as if I were at home again.You see, I have never heard a man talk English, since I was carriedaway. Even now, I can hardly believe this is not a happy dream, andthat I shall not wake up, presently, and find myself a slave girl inthe harem."
"It is pleasant to me to talk English, too," Dick said, "though it isonly a few months since I last spoke it. Now, the best thing you cando is to try and get off to sleep again. When we stop you shall havebreakfast. I am sure you must want something. You have had nothingsince you ate a mouthful or two, in my room, before starting."
"Oh, I have slept hours and hours!" she said. "I shall not want tosleep any more."
However, before long the easy motion lulled her off again, and she didnot wake until, at about four o'clock in the morning, they entered awood that was, as Dick supposed, some three or four miles fromAnicull.
"Well, how do you feel now?" Dick asked, as he set her on her feet.
"I feel stiff," she said; "but that will soon wear off, when I haverun about a little. Oh, how tired you must be, after carrying me allthese hours!"
"There has not been much to hold," Dick said with a laugh, "especiallysince we started the last time. Before that, you were so dead asleepthat I did have to hold you; but, you see, you nestled up morecomfortably when we changed horses, and needed very little supportsince then."
"Now, what can I do?" she asked, with a little laugh. "Please order meto do something. I am your slave, you know, and I want to be helpingyou."
"Well, then, I command you to aid me to gather some sticks for a fire.We have nothing to cook, but it will be cheerful, and the air iscool."
They picked up sticks, while Surajah and Ibrahim loosened the girthsof the horses, took off their bridles, and poured out another feedfrom the bag of grain they had brought with them. In a few minutes afire was blazing, and the wallet of provisions brought out.
"I wish I had a cup of coffee to offer you, Annie," Dick said, as hepoured her out some wine and water, "but we must wait, for that, untilwe get down to Tripataly."
"I have forgotten all about coffee, Dick, and what it tastes
like. Thewhite girls used to talk about it, and say how they longed for a cup.It seems, to me, funny to drink anything hot. I have never tastedanything but water, that I can remember, until you gave me that wineyesterday."
"It is very nice, and very refreshing. There is another drink that iscoming into fashion. It is called tea. I have tasted it a few times,but I don't like it as well as coffee, and it is much more expensive."
"The sultan says that all the English get drunk, and there used to bepictures of them on the walls. They used to make me so angry."
"I don't say that no English get drunk, Annie, because there is nodoubt that some do. But it is very far from being true of the greatproportion of them. Tippoo only says it to excite the people againstus, because, now that he has made them all Mohammedans, they cannotdrink wine--at any rate, openly. When I bought these two bottles, thetrader made a great mystery over it, and if I had not given him a signhe understood, and which made him believe that I was a Hindoo and nota Mussulman, he would not have admitted that he kept it at all. He didsay so, at first, for I have no doubt he thought that, as I was anofficer of the Palace, it was a snare, and that if he had admitted hehad wine I should have reported him, and it would have served as anexcuse for his being fined, and perhaps having all his goodsconfiscated. When I made the sign that an old Hindoo had taught me,his manner changed directly, and he took me to the back of his littleshop, and produced the wine. I told him I wanted it for medicine, andthat was quite true, for I thought it was a drug you were very likelyto need, on your journey."
"How much farther have we to ride?" she asked, after a pause.
"Only about thirty-five miles--that is to say, it is only thatdistance to the frontier. There is a road that is rather more direct,but it passes through Oussoor, a large town, which we had betteravoid. It is not more than fifty miles from the frontier to Tripataly,but once across the line we can take matters easily, and stop wheneveryou get tired."
"It will be all very strange to me, Dick. I sha'n't mind it, as longas you are with me, but it will be dreadful when you go. I am afraidyour mother won't like me. You see, I know nothing of English ways,and I am oh! so ignorant. I cannot even read--at least, very little.One of the girls used to teach me, from a book she had when she wascarried off. It was a Bible--she used to tell me stories out of it.But one day they found it, and she was beaten, very much, forventuring to have it. I am afraid I have quite forgotten even myletters; but she and the other girls used to teach me about religion,and told me I must never forget that I was a Christian, whatever theymight do to me, and I was to say my prayers every night after I laydown, and every morning before I got up. Of course, I have always doneit."
"You need not be afraid of my mother, Annie. She is very kind, and Iam sure she will take to you very much, and will be very glad that Ihave brought you to Tripataly; for, you see, she has no girls of herown. She will teach you to read and write, and if we go back toEngland, I dare say you will go to school for a time, so as to learnthings like other girls."
"I can work very nicely," she said. "The ladies of the harem all usedto say that."
"Well, you will find that very useful, no doubt."
"And what else is there to learn?" she asked.
"No end of things, Annie--at least, there are no end of things forboys to learn. I do not know anything about girls. But, of course, youwill have to get to know something of history and geography."
"What is geography, Dick?"
"Well, geography is where countries and places are. For instance, youknow something of the geography of India, without ever having learntit. You know that Madras and the Carnatic lie to the east, andTravancore to the southwest, and Malabar to the west, and the Mahrattacountry and the Nizam's dominions to the north. Well, that is thegeography of this part of the country--that and the names of the townsand rivers. In the same way, there are a lot of nations in Europe, andyou want to know all about them, and where they lie with respect toeach other, and the names of their principal towns. Then there areAmerica, and Africa, and Asia, and all the countries in them. If youdon't know about these things, you can't follow what people aretalking about."
"And did you like learning geography, Dick?" she asked, a littleanxiously.
"Well no, I can't say that I did, Annie. I think I used to hategeography. It was very hard to remember where all the places were, andwhat rivers they stood on. I know very little about it now, except theprincipal towns and places. But then, I never was very fond oflearning anything. I was a very stupid boy, at school."
"Oh, I am sure you could not have been that, Dick," she saidconfidently.
"I was indeed, Annie. I think the only thing I could do well wasfighting. I was a beggar to fight--not because I used to quarrel withfellows, but because it made me hard and tough, and my mother thoughtthat it would make me more fit to carry out this search for myfather."
"What did you fight with--swords?" Annie asked.
Dick laughed.
"No, no, Annie, when we quarrel in England we fight with our fists."
"What is a fist? I never heard of that weapon."
"That is a fist, Annie. You see, it is hard enough to knock a fellowdown, though it does not very often do that; but it hurts him a bit,without doing him any harm, except that it may black his eyes or puffup his face for a day or two--and no boy minds that. It accustoms oneto bear pain, and is a splendid thing for teaching a boy to keep histemper, and I believe it is one reason why the English make such goodsoldiers. It is a sort of science, you see, and one learns it just aspeople here learn to be good swordsmen. I had lessons, when I wastwelve years old, from a little man who used to be a championlightweight--that is, a man of not more than a certain weight."
Annie looked doubtful for a minute, and then exclaimed:
"Ah, yes, I understand now. That is how it is you came to our help soquickly and bravely, when the tiger burst in."
"I daresay it had something to do with it," Dick said, with a smile."There is no doubt that boxing, as we call it, does make you quick.There is not much time to waste in thinking how you are to stop ablow, and to return it at the same moment. One gets into the habit ofdeciding at once what is the best thing to be done; and I have nodoubt that I should not have seen, at once, that one must cut throughthe netting, run to the window, jump on to Surajah's shoulders, andfire at the tiger, unless I had been sharpened up by boxing. I onlysay I suppose that, because there were, no doubt, hundreds of menlooking on who had pluck enough to face the tiger, and who would havegladly done the thing that we did, if the idea had occurred to them.The idea did not occur to them, you see, and I have no doubt that itwas just owing to that boxing that I thought of it. So you see, Annie,it was, in a way, the fights I had with boys at Shadwell--which is thepart of London where I lived--that saved you, and perhaps half a dozenladies of the sultan's harem, from being killed by that tiger.
"Now, I should advise you to walk about the wood for at least an hour,to get rid of your stiffness. The longer you walk, the better. Whenyou have tired yourself, come back here. By that time, I daresay youwill be ready for another sleep. We will start about three o'clock,and shall cross the frontier before it gets quite dark. Once across,we can camp comfortably where we like, or put up at a village, if weshould light upon one.
"I should not go far away from here," he went on, as the girl at oncerose and prepared to start. "Very likely the wood may get thicker,farther in, and you might lose your way, or come across a snake; so Ishould not go far out of sight. The great thing is to keep moving. Itis getting broad daylight, now."
As soon as Annie had started, Dick lay down.
"I feel dog tired, Surajah. This right arm of mine is so stiff that Ican hardly lift it. I did not feel it at the time, and her weight wasnothing, but I certainly feel it now."
"You have a good sleep, Dick. Ibrahim and I will keep watch, byturns."
"I don't think there is any occasion for that," Dick said. "No one islikely to come into the wood."
"Not
very likely," Surajah agreed; "but a body of travellers mightturn in here, for a halt in the middle of the day, and it would lookstrange were they to find two of the Palace officers, and theirattendants, all fast asleep."
"They would only think we came in for a rest, a short time before theydid," Dick said drowsily. "Still, if you don't mind, perhaps it wouldbe best."
In two minutes, Dick was sound asleep.
"'Now, Ibrahim, you lie down," Surajah said. "I will call you in threehours."
In half an hour Annie returned. She looked pitifully at Dick, and thenseated herself by Surajah.
"He must be tired," she said. "It was too bad of me, letting him carryme like that all night. I thought so, over and over again, when hebelieved I was fast asleep, but I knew that it was of no use askinghim to let me ride for a bit.
"You don't mind my sitting here for a little, do you? I am going awayagain, presently. I only came back, so soon, because I thought hemight wonder what had become of me, if I did not. I could have gone onwalking for a long time. It was very hard work at first, for my backached dreadfully, and every step hurt me so, it was as much as I coulddo to keep on walking; but gradually it got better, and at last I hada long run, and after that I scarcely felt it.
"How long have you known him, Surajah?" and she nodded towards Dick.
"It is about two years and a half since he came to Tripataly, and Ihave seen a great deal of him, ever since. I love him very much. He isalways the same. He never seems to get angry, and is kind toeveryone."
"Did he fight when he was with the army?"
"Not much. He was one of the general's own officers, and used to ridewith the others behind him. He fought in the battle beforeSeringapatam, for the general and every one else had to fight, then."
"How is it you come to be always with him?" she asked.
"It first began when we went out on a scouting expedition together,before the English army went up the ghauts. We volunteered to findout, if we could, which way the sultan's army was going. We wentthrough a good deal of danger together, and some hard fighting, andthe Sahib was pleased with me; and since then we have always beentogether."
"Tell me about that, Surajah?"
Surajah related the story of their capture and escape, of their makingtheir way through the fort, and the subsequent pursuit, and theirdefence of the ruined hut. Annie listened almost breathlessly.
"How I should like to have been with you," she said, when he finished."At least, I think I should have liked it. I should have beendreadfully in the way, but I could have sat down in the hut and loadedthe guns, while you were both fighting. You could have shown me how todo it. How brave of you both to have fought fifty or sixty men!"
"It was not so very brave," Surajah said. "We knew we should bekilled, if they took us. There is nothing brave in doing your best,when you know that. But it was not so much the fighting as arrangingthings, and he did all that, and I only carried out his orders. Healways seemed to know exactly what was best to be done, and it wasentirely his doing, our getting through the fort, and taking to thehut, and making the loopholes, and blocking up the windows; just as itwas his doing, entirely, that we killed that tiger. Whatever he saysis sure to be right, and when he tells me to do a thing I do itdirectly, for I trust him entirely, and there is no need for me tothink at all. If he had told me to go up to the sultan and shoot him,in the middle of his officers, I should have done it, though theywould have cut me in pieces a minute afterwards."
"I will go away again, now," Annie said, getting up. "He told me tokeep on walking about, and he would not like it if he were to wake upand find me sitting here."
And she got up and strolled away again. By the time she returned,Surajah had lain down to sleep, and Ibrahim was on watch. Annie was,by this time, tired enough to be ready for sleep again, and, wrappingherself in a rug, she lay down at a short distance from the others.
It was two o'clock when she awoke, and she sprang to her feet as shesaw Dick and Surajah standing by the fire, talking.
"I was going to wake you soon," Dick said, as she joined them, "for wemust have another meal before we start. I hope you feel all thebetter, after your walk and sleep?"
"Ever so much better. I scarcely feel stiff at all, and shall be readyto ride, as soon as you like. How do you feel, Dick?"
"Oh, I am all right, Annie. I was all right before, though I did feelI wanted a sleep badly; and you see I have been having a long one, forI only woke up ten minutes ago. I own, though, that I should like agood wash. I don't suppose I can look dirty through this stain, but Icertainly feel so."
"There is a pool," she said, "a few hundred yards away there, on theright. I found it the second time I went away, and I did enjoy awash."
"I thought you were looking wonderfully tidy," Dick said, smiling."Well, I will go there at once. I shall feel a new man, after a bath."
"I will come with you," Surajah said--for he had learned to speak agood deal of English, during his companionship with Dick.
They returned in half an hour. Ibrahim had warmed up some of thechupatties, over the ashes, and they all thoroughly enjoyed theirmeal. The horses were saddled, and were taken to the pool for a gooddrink.
Then Annie was helped into her saddle, and they started again. Theyrode at a canter to Anicull, their badges of office securing them fromany questioning from the soldiers at the guard houses, when theyentered and left the town.
"I don't know whether there is any post established at the frontier,"Dick said, as Annie, who had ridden behind with Ibrahim as they passedthrough the town, took her place again between him and Surajah. "Ihave no fear that they will be erecting a fort, for after ourcapturing Bangalore and the hill fortresses, they will know very wellthat nothing they could build on the flat would be of the slightestuse in stopping an army advancing by this line. Still, there may be aguard placed there.
"How do you think we had better get past, Surajah? We have still gotthe order to the governors of forts, and it is likely enough that theofficer in charge may not be able to read. Very few of those we metbefore were able to do so. The sight of the sultan's seal at thebottom was quite enough for them, and I should think it would sufficeto pass us here. Still, it would look suspicious, our leaving the thecountry altogether, and we must give some explanation if they ask us."
"I might say that we are charged with a mission to the Englishcommander at Kistnagherry."
"That might do, Surajah. The fort is only eight or ten miles on theother side of the frontier, and we might very well be sent on somemessage. A complaint of some of the villagers, that their rights havenot been respected as agreed by the treaty, or that they have beenrobbed by men from this side of the frontier--there are plenty ofthings about which Tippoo might be sending a message to Kistnagherry.The worst of it is that Tippoo has not given us a mission, and I dohate your having to say what is not true."
Surajah was not so particular, and he replied:
"Well, he has given us a mission to visit the hill forts, and asKistnagherry is a hill fort, it is not a very great stretch to includeit."
Dick laughed.
"That is ingenious, Surajah. Anyhow, I don't see any better excuse forcrossing the frontier, and so we must make the best of it; but I hopewe sha'n't be asked at all."
"I think, if I say we are going to Kistnagherry, and then showTippoo's order and seal, that will be sufficient; and the story willbe quite true, for we shall go by Kistnagherry, as the road passesclose to the fortress."
"Yes, that will be quite true, Surajah, and the officers are notlikely to ask any further questions.
"How are you getting on, Annie?"
"Oh, much better than I did yesterday," she said. "I would much rathernot halt, until we are across the frontier. I am getting accustomed tothe motion now, and am not at all afraid of falling off. I dare say Ishall be rather stiff, when we halt, but that will not matter, then."
The sun was just setting when they arrived at a newly-erected house,round which ten or twelve t
ents were arranged. An officer came out ofthe house as they approached. He salaamed on seeing two officials ofthe Palace, wearing the emblems of the rank of colonels. Surajahreturned the usual Moslem salutation.
"We are going to Kistnagherry," he said. "Here is the sultan's order."
The officer glanced at the seal, placed it to his forehead, and thenstood aside.
"Will you return tonight, my lord? I ask that I may give orders to thesentries."
"No; there is no chance of our being able to be back before morning."
He touched his horse, and then trotted on again. Not a word wasspoken, until they had gone a few hundred yards, and then Dick checkedhis horse, and, as Annie came alongside, held out his hand and said:
"Thank God, Annie, that we have got you safely back onto Englishterritory."