ESCAPED
As Nita picked up the language she heard to her delight that Carter was
recovering from his wounds, and that he was held a prisoner by a chief
who lived fifteen miles away among the mountains. She learned that
his captivity was much more severe than hers, and that while she was
allowed, when not engaged indoors, to wander about the village, he was
held a close prisoner in the house of the chief. As soon as she found
this out she became restless. It would be an easy thing for her to
escape alone, but the idea possessed her that she ought to do something
to free Carter, and this seemed almost an impossibility. One thing was
evident--she must, in the first place, get an Afridi dress. This would
not be difficult. Much more serious was the question how she was to
subsist. She saw that it might be the work of a week, or possibly of a
fortnight, after she got away before she could communicate with Carter
and arrange for his escape. She would then need a considerable quantity
of food, and also a long rope, and a disguise of some sort would be
required for Carter.
Nita began by taking flour and meal from the storehouse downstairs.
These she put in a sack, which she hid in some bushes a short distance
from the house. Every day she added to the store, and as it swelled she
took two or three goat-milk cheeses. She hesitated a good deal whether
she should adopt a male or female dress, but finally decided upon man's
attire. She did not intend to show herself by daylight, but the casual
glimpse of a female on the hillside would almost assuredly excite
observation and suspicion; moreover, she intended to carry a rifle if
she could obtain one, which would be altogether out of character with
the dress of a woman. Three weeks were spent in her preparation, by the
end of which time the sack was as heavy as she could lift. She had from
the first made up her mind that it would be necessary to carry off a
donkey or mountain pony, and intended to sling the sack on one side of
him, with a skin of water on the other.
The sack was about a third full of grain, another third of meal, and
the remainder was made up of cheeses, some rough clothes, and the rope.
She had also cut a pliant stick some four feet in length, with notches
at each end to carry a string; for it would clearly be necessary to
shoot a note, to begin with, into the window of the prisoner's room.
She made three or four rough arrows, which she tied to the bow. She was
now ready, but the first thing was to get hold of a pony. In order
to do this she once or twice a day took a handful or two of grain to
the pony belonging to one of the Afridis, and in a short time it would
come eagerly to her when she called. At last all her preparations were
ended, and one evening, as soon as the house was asleep, she took a
rifle and a bag of cartridges from the corner where they stood, then
some of the chief's robes down from the wall, and very cautiously
unbarred the door, and, carrying the water-skin with her, closed it
behind her and started for the hiding-place of the sack. Then she
went to the little enclosure where the pony was standing, and calling
softly to it, it came at once to the gate, which she opened, gave it
a mouthful of grain, and taking hold of its mane led it to where her
goods were hidden. She placed two or three of the cloths folded across
its back, then, with some difficulty, fastened the sack and water-skin
on to it. She followed the path leading to the south for four or five
miles, and then struck off in the direction of the village in which
Carter was confined. She had chosen a moonlight night, and made her way
some miles without encountering any great difficulty. Then she came
to a piece of country so rough that she was compelled to halt. At the
first break of dawn she was off again, and succeeded in crossing the
crest of the line of hills separating the valley she had left from the
next. Down this she went for some distance, along places so precipitous
that even the sure-footed pony had difficulty in making its way. At
last she came upon a small ravine which she could see broadened out
lower down. Here she lay down and slept, after giving the pony two or
three handfuls of corn and fastening it up to a bush.
After a time she continued her journey. From the description she had
heard of the village she knew that it stood in a strong position on
the hillside. When she got down to the bottom of the ravine she again
fastened the pony up and went out into the valley. She was glad to see
that water ran down it. This was a great relief to her, for although
the water-skin would last her for many days, it would not suffice very
long for the pony's needs. She walked on five or six miles, and then
caught sight of a village three miles ahead, which exactly answered
the description she had gathered of that in which Carter was confined.
Keeping along the sides of the valley, and taking advantage of every
spur of the hill, she got to within a mile of it, and then ascended the
slope till she reached a spot a quarter of a mile behind the village,
and here she lay down and reconnoitred it. It differed but little from
the one she had left, and consisted of five or six fortified houses.
Its position was a strong one, as the hill in front of it sloped
steeply down. She selected a clump of scrub a mile away, and, wrapping
herself up in a blanket, lay down to sleep, as it was already becoming
dusk. In the morning she started at daybreak, spent the day with the
pony, and late in the afternoon returned again with it, and by midnight
was safe in the spot she had chosen. The scrub was high enough for the
pony to stand unseen, and after giving it a good feed, and eating some
of the grain and a piece of cheese, she lay down till the morning.
Looking round she saw another clump of rather larger trees in a dip
half a mile behind her, and at once moved to it, for there she thought
that she would be able to light a fire without fear of being seen. She
then again started for the village, and found that, by keeping to a
small ravine that came down behind it, she could approach within three
hundred yards of it without running the risk of being seen. This she
did, taking advantage of every rock.
From here Nita could see all that was going on in the village. The men
had already driven out their cattle and other animals to the valley,
the women moved about gossiping. One of the houses was larger than the
others. This she guessed to be the abode of the chief. For hours she
lay watching its upper windows, and at last, to her delight, saw a
khaki-clad figure come to one of them and stand for a time looking out.
His air was listless, and as the window was at the back of the house
and looked up the hill, there was but little to interest him. Now that
she had ascertained his room she strolled away again and remained for
the rest of the day in the wood, practising with her bow and arrows.
Then she wrote on a sheet of her pocket-book, of which she had not been
deprived:
"Look out for me at eleven o'clock to-morrow night. I will shoot up a
string, there will be a rope attached to it, strong enough to hold you,
and you can slide down it.--Yours, Nita."
At ten o'clock she started from her hiding-place, and at eleven reached
the village. The house was surrounded by a wall, but, as she hoped, the
gate was unbarred. It opened quietly, and, going round to the back, she
took post as far away from the house as she could, and shot the arrow,
on which she had fastened her little note, at the window-opening. At
the third essay she was successful, and the arrow went right into the
room; then she quietly withdrew. He was, she thought, certain to see it
when he awoke, as the rooms were generally very small, and he would,
she hoped, be certain to wake before any of the people of the village
entered his room. Carefully closing the gate again behind her, she made
her way back to the wood, and lay down and slept till morning. She
passed the day in a state of feverish anxiety. Now that success seemed
almost certain she was far more apprehensive of being discovered than
she had been before, and she spent the day at the edge of the wood on
the look-out for any approaching figure. But the day passed as quietly
as the others had done, and as soon as it was dark she strolled down to
her look-out near the village, carrying with her her bow and arrows,
and the rope.
It seemed to her that the village would never go to sleep that evening,
but finally all became quiet and the last light was extinguished. She
waited half an hour to allow the occupants of the village to settle
down. Then she ventured to move, and in five minutes stood opposite to
Carter's window. It was, of course, without glass, being closed only in
cold weather by a blanket hanging before it. The moonlight permitted
her to see a figure standing there. Four times she missed before she
succeeded in shooting an arrow into the room. In a minute the string
attached to it was pulled. She then fastened the end of the rope to it.
This was drawn up by Carter, and a minute later he slid down. As he
came up to her she whispered "Hush!", led the way out through the gate,
and ascended the ravine.
Not until she was two or three hundred yards away from the tower did
she stop.
"My dear Miss Nita," he said, "by what miracle have you managed this?"
"There is no miracle in it," she answered; "I got away, and naturally
I was not going to leave without you. I hope that you have quite
recovered from your wounds."
"Quite," he said, "though just at present I seem hardly able to use
my legs, for I have had no exercise except what I could get in a room
eight feet square. However, I dare say that I shall recover their use
again before long. Where are you taking me?"
"To a wood a mile and a half away, where there is a pony and
provisions. When we get there we must discuss which way we should go.
It seems to me that it would be better to cross the river and go over
the opposite hills. As far as I can make out that leads away from the
frontier, which is the direction in which they will no doubt look for
you, as I am sure they are looking for me. They would be certain to
suppose that I should go that way. But I think you will know best, for
you have travelled about the country a good deal more than I have."
"I really don't know what to say in the way of thanks," he began after
a pause.
"You will make me very angry if you thank me at all; you may admit,
however, that girls can be of some good sometimes, and are not meant
only to be looked at."
"I will never say anything against their courage again," the young
officer said. "Now tell me how you have fared, and how you succeeded in
getting away."
"I got on fairly well. The chief's wife was a harridan, but her husband
rather took me under his protection, and insisted on my having fair
treatment. I think he was rather uneasy as to the consequences of his
attack on the fort, and wished to keep in well with me. So I was fairly
fed and allowed a certain amount of liberty in the village during the
day. They did not seem to have any suspicion that I was likely to try
to escape. They were confident, I think, that I should not be able
to cross the mountains alone. Therefore I was able to collect stores
little by little. The chief's magazines were generally open during the
day, and I own that I robbed them shamelessly. Then I had but to slip
away after the house was asleep. I had collected a sackful of flour
and meal, some grain, and a few cheeses, for I knew that I might have
to live a long time before I could discover the place where you were
confined, and even if I were lucky enough to do so without much waste
of time, we might have to exist a considerable period among the hills
before we got to the frontier."
"But how on earth could you carry such a weight?"
"I made friends with a pony by treating him to handfuls of grain, and
had no difficulty in getting him to follow me; and a large skin full of
water very fairly balanced the sack of provisions. I annexed two of the
chief's robes and turbans and four or five blankets. So we start under
good auspices. Of course I brought that rope that you came down by, and
a rifle and ammunition which were in a corner of the chief's room. I
wish I could have brought a rifle for you, but there was not one handy,
and I was sorry that I could not get my revolver; but that fell to the
share of someone else when all our goods were taken after the fight."
"Splendid, splendid! But how did you find the place where I was
confined?"
"I picked up a little of the language, and learned that the chief in
whose hands you were, lived about fifteen miles away, nearly due west;
that the village stood on the hillside, and was strongly fortified. And
I was fortunate enough in lighting upon it without much difficulty,
and, lying hidden a short distance away, was not long in making you out
at the window. The rest was, of course, easy. Now I put the command
into your hands."
"No, you followed my orders when I was in command of the fort, and now
you have escaped yourself and freed me, you have shown such a capacity
that I certainly do not wish to interfere with your plans. I think that
what you proposed, namely, that we should cross the river and strike
into the mountains away from the frontier, is the best, and we should
hold on in the same direction as long as we are able before trying
to strike down. I have no doubt the search for us both will be very
hot for the next week or ten days, but it is certain to be pursued on
the downward track, as they will make sure that we have made off in
that direction. The news that I have also got away will not be long
crossing the hills to your village, and they will have no difficulty
in connecting the two events, and will think that when they catch one,
that they are sure to catch the other. Is this wood the place where
your pony is hidden?"
"Yes, I have given him a good meal, and he will be ready to start as
soon as we have loaded him up. It is fortunate, indeed, that we have
the moon, and shall therefore have no trouble in keeping the right
direction."
In five minutes they were moving, and made their way down to the river.
At Nita's suggestion they kept up the stream for about a mile and then
struck across for the hills. By morning they were fifteen miles away
in extremely rocky and precipitous country. Here they halted for some
hours, and then made their way downhill. They found that they were in
fact travelling along near the edge of a precipice, at whose foot a
stream ran between lofty cliffs. So steeply did the hills slope down
to the edge of the precipice, that they could only travel with extreme
caution; and even the pony, sure-footed as it was, had difficulty in
keeping its feet. At length, however, the slope became more gradual,
and the ravine widened out into a valley, apparently about half a mile
wide and a mile long. They chose a dip in the descent, and found when
they arrived at the bottom that they were completely sheltered from
the view of anyone passing along the valley. But that the ravine was
to some extent used was evident from the fact that a few cattle were
scattered about.
"I think that we shall be obliged to confiscate one of these animals
for our own use," Carter said; "a diet of flour and grain would be apt
to pall a little even when varied by cheese, and our eventual success
depends on our keeping up our strength."
"I quite agree with you," Nita said; "one thing is certain, however,
that meat will be of no use to us until we can light a fire to cook
it."
"I think that we shall be able to manage that," he said. "You see this
depression, which looks as if it had once been a water-hole, is eight
or ten feet below the level of the hillside; that's the very place we
want for cooking. They will not see the fire itself, but only its light
reflected on the ground above us; but I think if we collect stones,
and build a circular wall, say four feet in diameter and a few feet
high, with a small opening at the foot for feeding the fire and putting
on the meat, there will be no fear of any reflection falling on the
hillside."
"No, I should think that that would do very well," Nita agreed. "We
have another two hours of daylight, and as the hill is everywhere
scattered with rocks and boulders we ought to make considerable
progress with our oven in that time."
"Well, will you please sit down, then, and I will collect stones. This
depression is scattered pretty thickly with them."
"Oh, but you must let me do my share of the work," Nita said; "I am
just as keen to have a piece of roast beef as you are. At any rate I
will gather up the smaller stones, and as soon as it becomes dark, will
go out and cut some brushwood with the sword-bayonet."
"But I have no matches," Carter said, in a tone of dismay.
"I have some," Nita said; "not many, but a dozen or so. I put some
loose into the pocket of the tunic, so that I could at once get a light
in case of a sudden attack; I had no time even to think of them when
the Afridis broke into the fort, but I did think of them when I got to
the village, for I saw that if I could make my escape they would be of
great use."
"They certainly will be invaluable," Carter said. "We will get the
wall up as high as we can and then spread brushwood over the top. This
will help to deaden the reflection, but will allow the smoke to escape
freely."
They worked very hard till it became dark, by which time the rough wall
was some three feet high.
"Now," he said, "if you will lend me the sword-bayonet I will go out
meat-hunting, while you collect fuel for the cooking and for covering
over the top of the oven."