They retraced their steps, without adventure, until they reached the
village they had first stopped at.
"There are soldiers here," Surajah exclaimed, as they entered.
"We can't help it, now," Dick said. "There is nothing for it, but to
go on boldly. I suppose that Tippoo has sent troops into all these
frontier villages, to prevent any chance of news of his movements
being taken to the plains.
"Ah! There is the old chap who spoke to us last time. Let us stop at
once, and talk with him."
"So you are back again," the peasant said, as they came up to him.
"Yes," Surajah replied. "We told you we should come back here, unless
we got news of some tiger being marked down near one of the other
villages. We have been as far as the edge of the jungle, and although
we have heard of several, not one of them seems to be in the habit of
coming back regularly to the same spot; so we thought we could not do
better than return here, at once, and make it our headquarters.
"I see you have got some soldiers here."
"Yes," the old man said, discontentedly, "and a rough lot they are.
They demand food, and instead of paying for it in money, their officer
gives us bits of paper with some writing on them. He says that, when
they go, we are to take them to him, and he will give us an order
equal to the whole of them, for which we can receive money from the
treasury at Seringapatam.
"A nice thing, that! None of us have ever been to Seringapatam, and
should not know what to do when we got there. Moreover, there would be
no saying whether one would ever come back again. It is terrible.
Besides, we have only grain enough for ourselves, and shall have to
send down to the plains to buy more; and where the money is to come
from, nobody can tell."
"I think I could tell you how you had better proceed, if you will take
us into your house," Surajah said. "This is not a place for talking.
There are four or five soldiers there, watching us."
The old man entered the house, and closed the door behind them.
"How would you counsel us to proceed?" he asked, as soon as they had
seated themselves on a divan, formed of a low bank of beaten earth,
with a thick covering of straw.
"It is simple enough," Surajah said. "One of you would take the order,
on the sultan's treasury, to a large village down in the plain. You
would go to a trader, and say that you wished to purchase so much
grain and other goods, and would pay for them with an order on the
sultan's treasury. It would probably be accepted as readily as cash,
for the trader would send it to a merchant, or banker, at Seringapatam
to get it cashed for him, to pay for goods he had obtained there; and
either to send him any balance there might be, or to retain it for
further purchases. An order of that kind is better than money, for
trading purposes, for there would be no fear of its being stolen on
the way, as it could be hidden in the hair, or shoe, or anywhere among
the clothes of the messenger."
"Wonderful!" the old peasant said. "Your words are a relief, indeed,
to me, and will be to all the village, when they hear them."
"And now," Dick broke in, "let us talk about tigers. While you have
been speaking, those soldiers have passed the door twice, and have
been looking suspiciously at the house. If they take it into their
heads to come here, and to ask who we are and what is our business, it
would not do to tell them that we have been discussing the value of
the orders on the sultan's treasury.
"Now, if our advice has been of any assistance to you in this matter,
you, in turn, can render us aid in our business of killing tigers. We
want you to find out, for us, when a tiger was last seen near the
village; where its lair is supposed to be; and whether, according to
its situation, we should have the best chance of killing it by digging
a pitfall, on the path by which it usually comes from the jungle; or
by getting a kid and tying it up, to attract the tiger to a spot where
we shall be stationed in a tree."
"I will assuredly do that, and every one here will be glad to assist,
when I tell them the advice I have received from you--and would,
indeed, do so in any case, for it will be a blessing to the village,
if you can kill the tiger that so often carries off some of our sheep
and goats."
At this moment, there was a loud knocking at the door. On the peasant
opening it, a group of soldiers demanded to see the men who had
entered.
"We are here," Surajah said, coming forward. "What do you want?"
"We want to know who you are, and where you come from."
"Any one in the village could have told you that," Surajah said. "We
are shikarees, and have come here to destroy tigers. We were
arranging, with this old man, to find us guides who can point out the
tracks of the one which has, for some time, been preying on their
animals."
"Yes, and our children," the old man put in; "for three of them were
carried off, from the street here, within the last month."
The soldiers looked doubtful, but one of them said:
"This is for our officer to inquire about. The men are strangers to
the village, and he will want to question them."
"We are quite ready to be questioned," Surajah said. "Our host, here,
will bear me out in what I say, and there are others in the village
who will tell you that we have been arranging, with them, to kill
tigers in this neighbourhood; though as yet we have not settled what
they will pay us for each beast we destroy."
Accompanied by the peasant, they went with the soldiers to the guard
house, with which each of the frontier villages was provided. It
consisted of a group of huts, surrounded by a thick wall of sunburnt
bricks. They were taken into the largest hut, where the officer of the
party was seated on a rough divan.
"Who have you here?" he asked irritably, for he had been awakened from
a doze by their entry.
"They are two young fellows, who are strangers here. They say they are
shikarees, who have come into the village to gain a reward for killing
a tiger that has been troublesome."
"They were here three days ago, Sahib," the villager said, "and asked
us many questions about the tigers, and were, when the soldiers came
to the door, questioning me as to the tiger's place of retreat, and
whether a pitfall, or a kid as a decoy, would be most suitable."
"Where do you come from?" the officer asked Surajah.
"We live in a little village, some distance down the ghauts. We heard
that tigers were more abundant, in the jungle country up here, than
they are below; and thought that we would, for a time, follow our
calling here. We can get good prices for the skins, down below; and
with that, and what we get from the villages for freeing them from the
tigers, we hope, in a few months, to take back a good store of money."
"Your story is a doubtful one," the officer said, harshly. "You may be
what you say, and you may be spies."
"If we had been spies," Surajah said, "we should not be here, but at
Bangalore or Seringapatam. These villages are not the places where
news is to be gained."
This was so self evident that the officer had nothing to say against
it.
"At any rate," he said, after a pause, "there is no confirmation to
your story, and, as I have orders to put all suspicious persons under
arrest, I shall detain you."
"It is very hard--" Surajah began; but the officer made an impatient
gesture, while two of the soldiers put their hands on the shoulders of
the prisoners, and led them from the hut.
"You need not look so downcast," one of them said good naturedly. "I
don't suppose you will be kept here long; and will, no doubt, be
released when the sultan has gone down the passes, with his army. A
week or two here will do you no harm--the tigers can wait for a bit.
"There, give us your weapons. I daresay you will get them back again,
when we go on; as I hope we shall do, for there is nothing to eat and
nothing to do in this miserable place."
The arms were taken into the officer's hut, and as there was a sentry
at the gate, no further attention was paid to them.
"I will get you some provisions, and bring them in," the old man said.
"It is hard, indeed, that men cannot go about their business without
being interfered with."
"Thank you, but we have enough for two or three days. When that is
gone, we will give you some money to buy more; for we have a few
rupees with us, as we knew it might be some time before we should be
able to kill a tiger."
As soon as the old man had left them, they seated themselves on a
large faggot of wood that had been brought in by the villagers, for
fuel.
"We cannot stay here, Surajah. It is most important that we should get
back with the news, and I have no doubt that pig-headed brute in there
will do as he says, and will hold us prisoners until Tippoo has gone
down the passes. We must get off tonight, if possible. We are not
likely to be looked after very sharply. I don't think that fellow
really suspects us, but is simply keeping us to show his authority.
There ought to be no difficulty in getting out. I suppose we shall be
put into one of the soldiers' huts tonight, and if we crawl out when
they are asleep, we have only to make our way up those narrow steps to
the top of the wall, and then let ourselves down the other side. It is
not above fifteen feet high, and even if we dropped, we should not be
likely to hurt ourselves."
"There will, most likely, be a sentry at the gate," Surajah observed,
"and there is a moon tonight."
"There ought to be no difficulty in pouncing on him suddenly, gagging
him before he can give the alarm, and then tying him. We will walk
round and see if there is any rope lying about. If not, I will tear my
sash into strips. We can use yours to lower ourselves over the wall. I
should like to get our weapons, if we could. The guns do not matter,
but the pistols are good ones. And, if there is an alarm given, we may
have to fight. Besides, it is not impossible that we may come across a
tiger, as we go along. I vote that, when we have secured the sentry,
we pay the officer a visit."
Surajah nodded. He was quite ready to agree to anything that Dick
might suggest, and felt a strong desire to repossess himself of his
arms, for it seemed to him that it would be a humiliation to go back
without them.
"Of course," Dick went on, "if the sentry gives the alarm, before we
can secure him, we must give up part of our plan; for, in that case,
we should have to bolt. Once over the wall, we should be all right.
They may fire away at us as we run, but there is no fear of their
hitting us, half asleep as they will be, and not quite sure what it is
all about. If we get a fair start of them, we need not have much fear
of their catching us."
"Not as long as it is straight running, Sahib; but if they follow us
far, they may come up within range of us as we are making our way down
some of those nasty places, where we came up the face of the ghaut."
"If we once get well away from them, we will hide up somewhere, and
then strike off on another line."
"We might do that," Surajah agreed; "but you know, the place where we
came up was the only one that seemed to us climbable, and it would be
certainly better to make for it again, if we can find our way."
"I quite agree with you there, Surajah. It would never do to go and
find ourselves on the edge of a precipice that we could not get down,
with the soldiers anywhere near us. Besides, it is of the greatest
importance that we should take the news back as soon as possible, as
every hour may be of importance. I only wish we could find out which
pass Tippoo means to go by, but I don't suppose that will be known
until he starts for it. Anyhow, our news will be very valuable, for at
present he is supposed to be over on the other side, and he would have
taken our troops entirely by surprise, if he had suddenly poured out
onto the plain. So we must give up my idea of hiding up, for if we did
so we should have to lie there all day, and it would mean the loss of
twenty-four hours; for I would not go down those ghauts for any money,
except in daylight. It is a very different thing going downhill to
going up, and if we were to attempt it in the dark, we should break
our necks for a certainty. If we can get away early, tonight, we shall
be at the edge of that steep place by nine o'clock in the morning, and
if we strike the right point, we might be back to the Rajah by
nightfall."
"It will be difficult to find our way back in the dark," Surajah said.
"No doubt. Still, we can keep in the general direction, and even if we
do not hit upon the stream tonight, we shall find it in the morning."
It was late in the afternoon when they reached the village, and it was
now growing dark. Two soldiers came up to them, and bade them follow
them into one of the huts, and there pointed to the farther corner as
their place. They wrapped themselves in their blankets, and at once
lay down.
"If they take it into their heads," Dick whispered to Surajah, "to put
a sentry on guard at the door, it will upset all our plans. It would
not be very difficult to cut our way through the mud wall behind us,
but in the first place they have taken away our knives; and, even if
we had them, it would be risky work trying it.
"The chances are that they will sit and talk all night. Of course, we
might surprise the sentry, but it would be a great risk with those
fellows close at hand, and we should have to run straight for the
steps, and might get a dozen balls after us, before we were over the
wall."
"I don't think there would be much chance of their hitting us,"
Surajah said. "Jumping up from their sleep in confusion, they would be
a minute or so before they could find out what had happened, and we
should be at the foot of the steps before they saw us, and then they
would fire almost at random.
"But, in that case, we should lose our weapons," he added regretfully.
"We cannot help that. The arms are of no consequence at all, compared
to our getting away--unless, of course, any of them happen to overtake
us."
For three or four hours, the soldiers, of whom there were ten in the
hut, sat eating, talking, and smoking round the fire, which they kept
burning on the earthen floor. One by one, however, they left it and
lay down. When but three remained, one of them got up, with a grumble
of discontent, took his musket, which was leaning against the wall,
and went out of the hut.
"What a nuisance!" Dick whispered. "He is evidently going on sentry
duty."
"Perhaps he has gone to the gate?" Surajah suggested.
"I am afraid not. I expect the other hut is furnishing the sentry
there. Listen!"
During the pauses of the low conversation of the two men still sitting
by the fire, they could hear a footfall outside.
"That settles the question," Dick said. "Now, the sooner those fellows
go to sleep, the better."
"We had better wait for some time, after they do," Surajah replied.
"One or two of the men, who lay down first, are sure to get up and go
to the door and look out. They always do that, once or twice during
the night. The sentry will soon get accustomed to the door being
opened, and won't look round sharp."
"That is a good idea," Dick agreed. "The moon is at the back of the
hut, so we shall be in the shadow. I will spring upon him, and will
try and grip him by the throat, so that he can't holloa. You wrench
the musket from his hands, and snatch his belt of cartridges. That
will give us a weapon, anyhow. As soon as you have got it, I will give
him one sharp squeeze, and throw him down. It will be some time before
he gets breath enough to holloa."
In half an hour, the two men by the fire lay down. It was not long
before, as Surajah predicted, one of the sleepers sat up and stretched
himself; then he rose and walked to the door, opened it, and stood at
the entrance; a moment later he was joined by another figure, and for
a few minutes they stood, talking together. Then he came in again,
shut the door, and lay down.
During the next hour, three of the others followed his example, the
last of them leaving the door ajar behind him, when he came in.
"Now is our chance, Surajah. We must give him ten minutes to fall
asleep again. Then we will move. Should one of them be lying awake,
and notice us--which is not likely, for it is too dark in here to see
figures distinctly--and ask where we are going, say, 'To the door, to
get cool.' They won't imagine that we are thinking of escape, with one
sentry at the door, and another at the gate."
"Don't you think, Sahib, that it would be safer to kill the sentries?"
"Safer or not, Surajah, we will not do it. At present, they have done
us no harm. They are only acting as their officer ordered, and we have
no grudge against them. When they take to shooting at us, we must
shoot at them; but to kill this sentry would be nothing short of
murder."
After waiting a few minutes longer, Dick said:
"We had better be off, now. If we were to wait longer, we should have
another fellow getting up."
They rose quietly to their feet, made their way to the door, and
opened it noiselessly. The sentry was standing, leaning on his long
matchlock, a few feet away. Suddenly a voice behind exclaimed, "Who is
that?"
The sentry was in the act of turning round, when Dick sprang upon him,
and grasped him by the throat. No cry came from the man's lips, but
the gun fell from his grasp, as he clutched convulsively at Dick's
wrists, and went off as it fell.
"Pick it up," Dick shouted, "and run."
He released his grip from the man's throat, snatched the bandolier
from his shoulder, and, tripping his feet from under him, threw him
heavily to the ground, and then turned to run.
The whole had occupied but a few seconds, but as he started a soldier
ran out from the hut, shouting loudly. He had a gun in his hand. Dick
changed his mind, turned, threw himself upon him, wrenched the gun
from his hold, and, as the man staggered back, struck him with his
right hand under the chin.
The man fell back through the open door, as if shot. Dick seized the
handle and closed it, and then ran, at full speed, towards the foot of
the steps. They were but some twenty yards away.
"Up you go, Surajah. We have not a moment to lose!"
Dick sprang up the steps, Surajah following. As they reached the top
of the wall, a shot was discharged at them by the sentry at the gate,
who, ignorant of the cause of the sudden uproar, had been standing in
readiness to fire. He was, however, too excited to take aim, and the
bullet flew harmlessly over their heads. In another instant, they
sprang over the parapet.
"Lower yourself by your arms, and then drop."
The wall, like many others of its sort, was thicker at the base than
on the top, and the foot projected two feet beyond the upper line, so
that it was a sharp slide, rather than an absolute fall. It was well
that it was so, for although only some twelve feet high inside, it was
eight feet higher on its outer face, as a dry ditch encircled it. Both
came down in a heap on the sand that had crumbled from the face of the
wall.
As soon as they picked themselves up, Dick exclaimed, "Keep along the
foot of the wall, Surajah," and they dashed along until they reached
the angle. As they turned the corner, they heard a burst of voices
from the wall where they had slid down, and several shots were fired.
Dick led the way along the ditch to the next angle, then left it and
entered the village, and dashed along the street.
The sound of firing had roused many of the peasants. Doors were
opening, and men coming out. Exclamations of surprise were heard, as
the two figures rushed past, but no one thought of interfering with
them. As they left the houses behind them, Surajah said:
"You are going the wrong way, Sahib. You are going right away from the
ghauts."
"I know that well enough," Dick panted; "but I did it on purpose. We
will turn and work round again. They will hear, from the villagers,
that we have come this way, and will be following us down the road
while we are making our way back to the ghauts."
They ran for another hundred yards, then quitted the path, and made
across the fields. From the fort and village they could hear a great
hubbub, and above it could make out the voice of the officer, shouting
orders. They continued to run, for another quarter of a mile, and then
turned.
"Now we can go quietly," Dick said, breaking into a walk. "This line
will take us clear of the fort and village, and we have only to make
straight for the ghauts. I think we have thrown them well off the
scent, and unless the officer suspects that we have only gone the
other way to deceive him, and that we are really making for the
ghauts, we shall hear nothing more of them."
"It is capital," Surajah said. "I could not think what you were doing,
when you turned round the corner of the fort and made for the village,
instead of going the other way. But where did you get that gun from?"
Dick told him how it had come into his possession.
"It was not so much that I cared for the gun," he said, "as that I
wanted to prevent the man from using it. If he had followed me
closely, he could hardly have helped hitting one of us, as we went up
the steps. By shutting the door, we gained a few moments, for they
were all in confusion in the dim light inside, and would certainly not
learn anything, either from the man I pitched in among them, or from
the sentry outside.
"I don't suppose any of them had an idea of what had happened, until
the sentry shouted to them that we had got over the wall. Then they
rushed up, and fired at random from the top, thinking that we should
be running straight from it."
They walked along for a short distance, and then Dick said:
"I have got my wind again, now. We will go on at a jog trot. I
mistrust that officer. He had a crafty face, and as we said we
belonged to a village down the ghauts, he may have a suspicion that we
have been trying to throw him off our scent, and think we should be
sure to double back and make for home."
They kept on their way, sometimes dropping into a walk, but generally
going at an easy trot, until day broke.
"As soon as it gets a little lighter, Surajah, we will go up on to one
of these rises, so as to have a good look down over the line we have
come. If they are following us, we must go on at the top of our speed.
If we see nothing of them, we can take it quietly. Of course, they
can't have been following our steps, but it is quite likely that some
of the villagers may know that the ghauts can be climbed at the point
where we came up. You know we noticed signs of a path, two or three
times, on the way up. In that case, if the officer really did think of
pursuing us, he would take one of the villagers as guide."
Half an hour later, they ascended a sharp rise, and threw themselves
down on its crest.
"I don't think that there is the least chance of their coming,"
Surajah said, carelessly. "When they had gone some distance, without
overtaking us on the road, they may possibly have suspected that we
had turned and made this way; but by the time they got back to the
village, they would know, well enough, that there was no chance of
overtaking us."
Dick made no answer. He had a sort of uneasy conviction that the
officer would at once suspect their plan, and that pursuit would have
commenced very shortly after they had re-passed the fort. For some
minutes, no words were spoken. No sign of life was to be seen; but in
so broken a country, covered in many places with jungle or wood, a
considerable body of men might be coming up, unperceived.
Suddenly, Dick grasped Surajah's arm.
"There they are. You see that I was right. Look at that clump of bush,
half a mile away, well to the left of the line we came by. They have
just come out from there. There are ten or twelve of them."
"I see them," Surajah said. "They are running, too, but not very
fast."
"We will crawl back, till we are out of their sight, and then make a
run for it. They must have got a guide, and are, no doubt, taking a
more direct line than we are, for we may be a good bit off the stream
we followed as we came along. I have not seen anything I recognise,
since it got light, though I am sure we have been going somewhere near
the right direction. Now, we have got to run for it."
They dashed off, at a rate of speed much higher than that at which
they had before been travelling; keeping, as much as possible, in
ground covered from the sight of their pursuers; and bearing somewhat
to the left, so as to place the latter directly behind them, and to
strike the path Dick had no doubt their pursuers were keeping.
"It is no use running too fast," he said, a few minutes later. "There
is a good long way to go yet--another ten miles, I should think; and
anyhow, I don't think we can get down that steep place, before they
come to the edge of the cliff above. You see, we are not certain as to
where it is. We might strike the cliffs a mile or two on either side
of it, and I have no doubt they will go straight to the spot. I expect
the man they have got as a guide has been in the habit of going down
the ghauts, and knows his way.
"If it were not that we are in such a hurry to get to Uncle with the
news about Tippoo, it would be much better to turn off, altogether,
and stay in a wood for a day or two. They would not stop very long at
the top of the ghauts, for they cannot be sure that we are going that
way, at all, and when a few hours passed, and we didn't come, the
officer would suppose that he was mistaken, and that we really kept on
in the line on which we started."
They trotted along for some time in silence, and then Surajah said:
"Do you not think that it would be better for us to make for the pass
to the left? It is twenty miles off, but we should be there by the
evening, and we should surely find some way of getting into it, below
where the fort stands."
Dick stopped running.
"Why not go the other way, and make for the pass we know?" he said.
"It can't be more than fifteen miles, at the outside, and once below
the fort we know our way, and should get down to the village twelve
hours sooner than if we went round by the other pass."
"It would be the right plan, if we could do it," Surajah agreed; "but
you know the rocks rise straight up on both sides of the fort, and the
road passes up through a narrow cleft, with the fort standing at its
mouth. That is why I proposed the other pass."
"I think we had better try it, nevertheless, Surajah. We should not be
more than three hours in going straight there, and shall have ample
time to follow the edge of the precipice for the last five miles. We
may discover some break, where we can get down. If we should find it
impossible to descend anywhere, we must sleep till sunset, then strike
the road above the fort, go down at night, and manage to slip past the
sentry."
"The only thing is, Sahib, that it seemed as if the fort lay right
across the entrance to the gorge, and the road went through it."
"It did look like that, Surajah. Certainly the road went through a
gateway. But there must be a break somewhere. We could see that, in
the wet season, a lot of water comes down there, so there must be some
sort of passage for it; and if the passage is big enough for the storm
water to go through, it must be big enough for us."
Surajah agreed, and they turned off from the line that they had before
been following; no longer hurrying, but walking at a leisurely pace.
They were not pressed for time. There was no chance, whatever, of
pursuit; and as they had been going, for some six hours, at the top of
their speed, they were both feeling exhausted.
After proceeding for two miles, they came upon a small stream. Here
they sat down, lighted a fire, mixed some flour and water--for
although the ghee had been taken from them, when they were disarmed,
they had been allowed to retain their supply of flour, for their
sustenance in prison--and made some small cakes. These they cooked in
the glowing embers. They could not be termed a success, for the
outside was burned black, while the centre was a pasty mass. However,
they sufficed to satisfy their hunger, and after an hour's rest, they
again went forward.
It was not very long before they stood on the edge of the rock wall.
They followed this along, but could nowhere find a spot where a
descent seemed at all possible. After walking for an hour, they saw a
road winding up a long valley below them.
"That is our road," Dick exclaimed. "That clump of houses, Surajah,
must be the one where we generally turned. I know that, from below,
these rocks looked as steep as walls, so there is no chance of our
finding a way down anywhere, between this and the fort."
Surajah nodded. To him, also, the ascent of the ghauts had seemed
impracticable.
"It is no use following this line any more," Dick went on. "We may as
well strike across, until we come onto the edge of the pass, somewhere
above the fort; find a place where we can descend easily, and then lie
down and sleep, till it is time to make our attempt."
In another hour, they were looking down on the road, a mile or so
above the fort. The slopes here were gradual, and could be descended
without the least difficulty, even in the dark.
"There! Do you see, Surajah? The water course runs along by the side
of the road. There is a little water in it now. You know we used to
meet with it, down below, and water our horses at a pool close to that
ruined village. When we start, we can follow the road until we get
close to the fort, and then crawl along in the water course, and take
our chances. If we should find it so blocked up that we can't get
through, we must then see how we can get past the place in some other
way. If the gate is only barred, no doubt we should be able to
overpower the sentry, and get the gate open before any alarm is given.
If it is locked, we must do the best we can. We may calculate upon
taking the sentry by surprise, as we did in the prison, and on
silencing him at once; then we should have time to break up some
cartridges, and pour the powder into the keyhole, which is sure to be
a big one, make a slow match, and blow the lock open. We could make
the slow match before we start, if we had some water."
"Shall I go down to the stream, and get some?"
"You have nothing to carry it up in, Surajah; and besides, someone
might come along the valley."
"We shall only want a little water. I will take off my sash, and dip
it in the stream; that will give us plenty, when it is wrung out."
"At any rate, Surajah, we will do nothing until it is getting dusk.
See! There are some peasants, with three bullocks, coming down the
valley, and there are four armed horsemen riding behind them. We will
go back to those bushes, a hundred yards behind us, and sleep there
until sunset; then we will make our way down to that heap of boulders
close to the stream, manufacture our slow match, and hide up there
until it is time to start. We want a rest, badly. We did not sleep
last night, and if we get through, we must push on tonight without a
stop, so we must have a good sleep, now."
The sun was low when they woke. They watched it dip below the hills,
and then, after waiting until it began to get dusk, started for the
valley. No one was to be seen on the road, and they ran rapidly down
the slope, until they reached the heap of boulders. Surajah tore off a
strip of cotton, six inches long by an inch wide, from the bottom of
his dress, went forward to the stream, and wetted it. When he came
back, they squeezed the moisture from it, broke up a cartridge, rubbed
the powder into the cotton, and then rolled it up longways.
"That will be dry enough, by the time we want to start," Dick said. "I
hope we sha'n't have to use it, but if there is no other way, we must
do so."
They remained where they were, until they thought that the garrison of
the fort would be, for the most part, asleep. Then they crossed the
stream, and walked along by the side of the road, taking care not to
show themselves upon it, as their figures would be seen for a long
distance, on its white, dusty surface. Presently, the sides of the
valley approached more closely to each other; and, just where they
narrowed, they could make out a number of dark objects, which were,
they doubted not, the houses occupied by the garrison. They at once
took to the bed of the stream, stooping low as they went, so that
their bodies would be indistinguishable among the rocks.
They could hear the murmur of voices, as they passed through the
village. Once beyond it, they entered the gorge. Here there was but
room enough for the road and the stream, whose bed was several feet
below the causeway. A few hundred yards farther, the gorge widened out
a bit, and in the moonlight they could see the wall of the fort
stretching before them, and a square building standing close to it.
"That is the guard house, no doubt," Dick said, in low tones. "It is
too close to be pleasant, if we have to attack the sentry."
Very carefully, they picked their way among the rocks, until close to
the wall; then Dick gave a low exclamation of disappointment. The
stream ran through a culvert, some twelve feet wide and ten feet high,
but this was closed by iron bars, crossing each other at intervals of
only five or six inches, the lower ends of the perpendicular bars
being fixed in a stone dam, extending across the bed of the stream.
Dick waded across the pool formed by the dam, and felt the bars, but
found them perfectly solid and strong.
"It is no good, Surajah," he said, when he returned. "There is no
getting through there. There is nothing for it but the gate, unless we
can find the steps up to the top of the wall, and get up unnoticed.
Then we might tear up our sashes longways, knot them together, and
slip down.
"The first thing to do is to have a look round. I will get up close to
the wall. It is in shadow there."
Entering the pool again, he climbed up the steep bank, which was here
faced with stones. He stopped when his eyes were above the level, and
looked round. There was the gate, twelve feet away, and to his delight
no sentry was to be seen. He was about to whisper Surajah to join him,
when he heard voices. They came from above, and he at once understood
that, instead of a man being posted behind the gate, two were on guard
on the wall above it. He beckoned to Surajah to join him, and when he
did so, whispered what he had discovered.
"If the gate is only barred, we are all right now, Surajah; except
that we shall have to run the risk of being shot by those fellows on
the wall. We shall be a pretty easy mark, on that white road by
moonlight. Our only plan will be to keep close to the wall, when we
are through the gate, get down into the bed of the stream again, and
then crawl along among the rocks. The bottom will be in shadow, and we
may get off without being noticed. The only fear is that we shall make
a noise in opening the gate.
"Now, let us try it."
Keeping close to the wall, they crept to the gateway. This projected
two feet beyond the gate itself, and standing against the latter they
could not be seen, even in the unlikely event of one of the sentries
looking down. The only risk was of anyone in the guard house coming
out. This, however, could not be avoided, and they at once began to
examine the fastenings of the gate, which consisted of two massive
bars of wood, running across it. These, by their united strength, they
removed one after another. But when they tried it, they found the gate
still immovable.
"The beastly thing is locked," Dick said. "There is nothing to do, but
to blow it open."
He broke off the ends of three cartridges, poured the powder in at the
keyhole, and then inserted the slow match.
"Stand in the corner there, Surajah. I will go down to the stream
again, to light the tinder. The noise is less likely to be heard
there."
He stole back again, sat down at the edge of the water, placed his
tinder box in his lap, took his turban off and put it over his hands,
so as to deaden the sound, and then struck the steel sharply against
the flint. The first blow was successful. The spark fell on the
tinder, and at once began to extend.
He listened intently. The men on the wall were still talking, and the
sound had evidently not reached their ears.