E-text prepared by Martin Robb

The Tiger of Mysore:

A Story of the War with Tippoo Saib

by G. A. Henty.

Illustrated by W. H. Margetson

Preface.

While some of our wars in India are open to the charge that they
were undertaken on slight provocation, and were forced on by us in
order that we might have an excuse for annexation, our struggle
with Tippoo Saib was, on the other hand, marked by a long endurance
of wrong, and a toleration of abominable cruelties perpetrated upon
Englishmen and our native allies. Hyder Ali was a conqueror of the
true Eastern type. He was ambitious in the extreme. He dreamed of
becoming the Lord of the whole of Southern India. He was an able
leader, and, though ruthless where it was his policy to strike
terror, he was not cruel from choice.

His son, Tippoo, on the contrary, revelled in acts of the most
abominable cruelty. It would seem that he massacred for the very
pleasure of massacring, and hundreds of British captives were
killed by famine, poison, or torture, simply to gratify his lust
for murder. Patience was shown towards this monster until patience
became a fault, and our inaction was naturally ascribed by him to
fear. Had firmness been shown by Lord Cornwallis, when Seringapatam
was practically in his power, the second war would have been
avoided and thousands of lives spared. The blunder was a costly one
to us, for the work had to be done all over again, and the fault of
Lord Cornwallis retrieved by the energy and firmness of the Marquis
of Wellesley.

The story of the campaign is taken from various sources, and the
details of the treatment of the prisoners from the published
narratives of two officers who effected their escape from
prisons.

G. A. Henty.

Chapter 1: A Lost Father.

"There is no saying, lad, no saying at all. All I know is that
your father, the captain, was washed ashore at the same time as I
was. As you have heard me say, I owed my life to him. I was pretty
nigh gone when I caught sight of him, holding on to a spar. Spent
as I was, I managed to give a shout loud enough to catch his ear.
He looked round. I waved my hand and shouted, 'Goodbye, Captain!'
Then I sank lower and lower, and felt that it was all over, when,
half in a dream, I heard your father's voice shout, 'Hold on, Ben!'
I gave one more struggle, and then I felt him catch me by the arm.
I don't remember what happened, until I found myself lashed to the
spar beside him.

"'That is right, Ben,' he said cheerily, as I held up my head;
'you will do now. I had a sharp tussle to get you here, but it is
all right. We are setting inshore fast. Pull yourself together, for
we shall have a rough time of it in the surf. Anyhow, we will stick
together, come what may.'

"As the waves lifted us up, I saw the coast, with its groves of
coconuts almost down to the water's edge, and white sheets of surf
running up high on the sandy beach. It was not more than a hundred
yards away, and the captain sang out,

"'Hurrah! There are some natives coming down. They will give us
a hand.'

"Next time we came up on a wave, he said, 'When we get close,
Ben, we must cut ourselves adrift from this spar, or it will crush
the life out of us; but before we do that, I will tie the two of us
together.'

"He cut a bit of rope from the raffle hanging from the spar, and
tied one end round my waist and the other round his own, leaving
about five fathoms loose between us.

"'There,' he shouted in my ear. 'If either of us gets chucked
well up, and the natives get a hold of him, the other must come up,
too. Now mind, Ben, keep broadside on to the wave if you can, and
let it roll you up as far as it will take you. Then, when you feel
that its force is spent, stick your fingers and toes into the sand,
and hold on like grim death.'

"Well, we drifted nearer and nearer until, just as we got to the
point where the great waves tumbled over, the captain cut the
lashings and swam a little away, so as to be clear of the spar.
Then a big wave came towering up. I was carried along like a straw
in a whirlpool. Then there was a crash that pretty nigh knocked the
senses out of me. I do not know what happened afterwards. It was a
confusion of white water rushing past and over me. Then for a
moment I stopped, and at once made a clutch at the ground that I
had been rolling over. There was a big strain, and I was hauled
backwards as if a team of wild horses were pulling at me. Then
there was a jerk, and I knew nothing more, till I woke up and found
myself on the sands, out of reach of the surf.

"Your father did not come to for half an hour. He had been hurt
a bit worse than I had, but at last he came round.

"Well, we were kept three months in a sort of castle place; and
then one day a party of chaps, with guns and swords, came into the
yard where we were sitting. The man, who seemed the head of the
fellows who had been keeping us prisoners, walked up with one who
was evidently an officer over the chaps as had just arrived. He
looked at us both, and then laid his hand on the captain. Then the
others came up.

"The captain had just time to say, 'We are going to be parted,
Ben. God bless you! If ever you get back, give my love to my wife,
and tell her what has happened to me, and that she must keep up her
heart, for I shall make a bolt of it the first time I get a
chance.'

"The next day, I was taken off to a place they call Calicut.
There I stopped a year, and then the rajah of the place joined the
English against Tippoo, who was lord of all the country, and I was
released. I had got, by that time, to talk their lingo pretty well,
though I have forgotten it all now, and I had found out that the
chaps who had taken your father away were a party sent down by
Tippoo, who, having heard that two Englishmen had been cast on
shore, had insisted upon one of them being handed over to him.

"It is known that a great many of the prisoners in Tippoo's
hands have been murdered in their dungeons. He has sworn, over and
over again, that he has no European prisoners, but every one knows
that he has numbers of them in his hands. Whether the captain is
one of those who have been murdered, or whether he is still in one
of Tippoo's dungeons, is more than I or any one else can say."

"Well, as I have told you, Ben, that is what we mean to find
out."

"I know that is what your mother has often said, lad, but it
seems to me that you have more chance of finding the man in the
moon than you have of learning whether your father is alive, or
not."

"Well, we are going to try, anyhow, Ben. I know it's a difficult
job, but Mother and I have talked it over, ever since you came home
with the news, three years ago; so I have made up my mind, and
nothing can change me. You see, I have more chances than most
people would have. Being a boy is all in my favour; and then, you
know, I talk the language just as well as English."

"Yes, of course that is a pull, and a big one; but it is a
desperate undertaking, lad, and I can't say as I see how it is to
be done."

"I don't see either, Ben, and I don't expect to see until we get
out there; but, desperate or not, Mother and I are going to
try."

Dick Holland, the speaker, was a lad of some fifteen years of
age. His father, who was captain of a fine East Indiaman, had
sailed from London when he was nine, and had never returned. No
news had been received of the ship after she touched at the Cape,
and it was supposed that she had gone down with all hands; until,
nearly three years later, her boatswain, Ben Birket, had entered
the East India Company's office, and reported that he himself, and
the captain, had been cast ashore on the territories of the Rajah
of Coorg; the sole survivors, as far as he knew, of the
Hooghley.

After an interview with the Directors, he had gone straight to
the house at Shadwell inhabited by Mrs. Holland. She had left
there, but had removed to a smaller one a short distance away,
where she lived upon the interest of the sum that her husband had
invested from his savings, and from a small pension granted to her
by the Company.

Mrs. Holland was a half caste, the daughter of an English woman
who had married a young rajah. Her mother's life had been a happy
one; but when her daughter had reached the age of sixteen, she
died, obtaining on her deathbed the rajah's consent that the girl
should be sent to England to be educated, while her son, who was
three years younger, should remain with his father.

Over him she had exercised but little influence. He had been
brought up like the sons of other native princes, and, save for his
somewhat light complexion, the English blood in his veins would
never have been suspected.

Margaret, on the other hand, had been under her mother's care,
and as the latter had always hoped that the girl would, at any rate
for a time, go to her family in England, she had always conversed
with her in that language, and had, until her decreasing strength
rendered it no longer possible, given her an English education.

In complexion and appearance, she took far more after her
English mother than the boy had done; and, save for her soft, dark
eyes, and glossy, jet-black hair, might have passed as of pure
English blood. When she sailed, it was with the intention of
returning to India, in the course of a few years; but this
arrangement was overthrown by the fact that on the voyage, John
Holland, the handsome young first mate of the Indiaman, completely
won her heart, and they were married a fortnight after the vessel
came up the Thames.

The matter would not have been so hurried had not a letter she
posted on landing, to her mother's sister, who had promised her a
home, received an answer written in a strain which determined her
to yield, at once, to John Holland's pressing entreaties that they
should be married without delay. Her aunt had replied that she had
consented to overlook the conduct of her mother, in uniting herself
to a native, and to receive her for a year at the rectory; but that
her behaviour, in so precipitately engaging herself to a rough
sailor, rendered it impossible to countenance her. As she stated
that she had come over with a sum sufficient to pay her expenses,
while in England, she advised her to ask the captain--who, by the
way, must have grossly neglected his duties by allowing an intimacy
between her and his mate--to place her in some school, where she
would be well looked after until her return to India.

The Indian blood in Margaret's veins boiled fiercely, and she
wrote her aunt a letter which caused that lady to congratulate
herself on the good fortune that had prevented her from having to
receive, under her roof, a girl of so objectionable and violent a
character.

Although the language that John Holland used concerning this
letter was strong, indeed, he was well satisfied, as he had
foreseen that it was not probable Margaret's friends would have
allowed her to marry him, without communicating with her father;
and that the rajah might have projects of his own for her disposal.
He laid the case before the captain, who placed her in charge of
his wife, until the marriage took place.

Except for the long absences of her husband, Margaret's life had
been a very happy one, and she was looking forward to the time
when, after another voyage, he would be able to give up his
profession and settle down upon his savings.

When months passed by, and no news came of the Hooghley having
reached port, Mrs. Holland at once gave up her house and moved into
a smaller one; for, although her income would have been sufficient
to enable her to remain where she was, she determined to save every
penny she was able, for the sake of her boy. She was possessed of
strong common sense and firmness of character, and when Ben Birket
returned with his tale, he was surprised at the composure with
which she received it.

"I have always," she said, "had a conviction that John was still
alive, and have not allowed Dick to think of his father as dead;
and now I believe, as firmly as before, that someday John will be
restored to me. I myself can do nothing towards aiding him. A woman
can do little, here. She can do nothing in India, save among her
own people. I shall wait patiently, for a time. It may be that this
war will result in his release. But in the meantime, I shall
continue to prepare Dick to take up the search for him, as soon as
he is old enough.

"I hear, once a year, from my brother, who is now rajah; and he
will be able to aid my boy, in many ways. However, for a time I
must be patient and wait. I have learnt to wait, during my
husband's long absences; and besides, I think that the women of
India are a patient race. I trust that John will yet come home to
me, but if not, when it is time, we will try to rescue him."

Ben said nothing, at the time, to damp her courage; but he shook
his head, as he left the cottage.

"Poor creature," he said. "I would not say anything to
discourage her, but for a woman and boy to try to get a captive out
of the claws of the Tiger of Mysore is just madness."

Each time he returned from a voyage, Ben called upon Mrs.
Holland. He himself had given up every vestige of hope, when it was
known that the name of her husband was not among the list of those
whom Tippoo had been forced to release. Margaret Holland, however,
still clung to hope. Her face was paler, and there was a set,
pathetic expression in it; so, when she spoke of her husband as
being still alive, Ben would sooner have cut out his tongue than
allow the slightest word, indicative of his own feeling of
certainty as to the captain's fate, to escape him; and he always
made a pretence of entering warmly into her plans.

The training, as she considered it, of her son went on steadily.
She always conversed with him in her father's language, and he was
able to speak it as well as English. She was ever impressing upon
him that he must be strong and active. When he was twelve, she
engaged an old soldier, who had set up a sort of academy, to
instruct him in the use of the sword; and in such exercises as were
calculated to strengthen his muscles, and to give him strength and
agility.

Unlike most mothers, she had no word of reproach when he
returned home from school with a puffed face, or cut lips; the
signs of battle.

"I do not want you to be quarrelsome," she often said to him,
"but I have heard your father say that a man who can use his fists
well is sure to be cool and quick, in any emergency. You know what
is before you, and these qualities are of far more importance, in
your case, than any book learning. Therefore, Dick, I say, never
quarrel on your own account, but whenever you see a boy bullying a
smaller one, take the opportunity of giving him a lesson while
learning one yourself. In the days of old, you know, the first duty
of a true knight was to succour the oppressed, and I want you to be
a true knight. You will get thrashed sometimes, no doubt, but don't
mind that. Perhaps, next time, you will turn the tables."

Dick acted upon this advice and, by the time he was fifteen, had
established a reputation among, not only the boys of his own
school, but of the district. In addition to his strength and
quickness, he had a fund of dogged endurance, and imperturbable
good temper, that did not fail him; even on the rare occasions
when, in combats with boys much older than himself, he was forced
to admit himself defeated.

The fact that he fought, not because he was angry, but as if it
were a matter of business, gave him a great advantage; and his
readiness to take up the cause of any boy ill-treated by another
was so notorious, that "I will tell Dick Holland" became a threat
that saved many a boy from being burned.

Ten days before his conversation with Ben, his mother had
said:

"Dick, I can stand this no longer. I have tried to be patient,
for six years, but I can be patient no longer. I feel that another
year of suspense would kill me. Therefore, I have made up my mind
to sail at once. The voyage will take us five months, and perhaps
you may have to remain some little time, at my brother's, before
you can start.

"Now that the time is come, I think that perhaps I am about to
do wrong, and that it may cost you your life. But I cannot help it,
Dick. I dream of your father almost every night, and I wake up
thinking that I hear him calling upon me to help him. I feel that I
should go mad, if this were to last much longer."

"I am ready, Mother," the boy said, earnestly. "I have been
hoping, for some time, that you would say you would start soon; and
though I have not, of course, the strength of a man, I think that
will be more than made up by the advantage I should have, as a boy,
in looking for my father; and at any rate, from what you tell me, I
should think that I am quite as strong as an average native of your
country.

"Anyhow, Mother, I am sure that it will be best for us to go
now. It must have been awful for you, waiting all this time; and
though you have never said anything about it, I have noticed for a
long time that you were looking ill, and was sure that you were
worrying terribly. What would be the use of staying any longer? I
should not be very much stronger in another year than I am now, and
a year would seem an age, to Father."

And so it was settled, and Mrs. Holland at once began to make
preparations for their departure. She had already, without saying
anything to Dick, given notice that she should give up the house.
She had, during the six years, saved a sum of money amply
sufficient for the expenses of the journey and outfit, and she had
now only to order clothes for herself and Dick, and to part with
her furniture.

Ben, on his return, had heard with grave apprehension that she
was about to carry out her intention; but, as he saw that any
remonstrance on his part would be worse than useless, he abstained
from offering any, and warmly entered into her plans. After an
hour's talk, he had proposed to Dick to go out for a stroll with
him.

"I am glad to have a talk with you, Ben," Dick said. "Of course,
I have heard, from Mother, what you told her when you came home;
but I shall be glad to hear it from you, so as to know exactly how
it all was. You know she feels sure that Father is still alive. I
should like to know what your opinion really is about it. Of
course, it will make no difference, as I should never say anything
to her; but I should like to know whether you think there is any
possibility of his being alive."

To this Ben had replied as already related. He was silent when
Dick asserted that, desperate or not, he intended to carry out his
mother's plan.

"I would not say as I think it altogether desperate, as far as
you are concerned," he said thoughtfully. "It don't seem to me as
there is much chance of your ever getting news of your father, lad;
and as to getting him out of prison, if you do come to hear of him;
why, honest, I would not give a quid of 'baccy for your chance; but
I don't say as I think that it is an altogether desperate job, as
far as you are concerned, yourself. Talking their lingo as you do,
it's just possible as you might be able to travel about, in
disguise, without anyone finding you out; especially as the Rajah,
your uncle, ought to be able to help you a bit, and put you in the
way of things, and perhaps send some trusty chap along with you.
There is no doubt you are strong for your age, and being thin, and
nothing but muscle, you would pass better as a native than if you
had been thick and chunky. My old woman tells me as you have a
regular name as a fighter, and that you have given a lesson to many
a bully in the neighbourhood. Altogether, there is a lot in your
favour, and I don't see why you should not pull through all right;
at any rate, even should the worst come to the worst, and you do
get news, somehow, that your poor father has gone down, I am sure
it will be better for your mother than going on as she has done for
the last six years, just wearing herself out with anxiety."

"I am sure it will, Ben. I can tell you that it is as much as I
can do, sometimes, not to burst out crying when I see her sitting,
by the hour, with her eyes open, but not seeing anything, or moving
as much as a finger--just thinking, and thinking, and thinking.

"I wish we were going out in your ship, Ben."

"I wish you was, lad; but it will be five or six weeks before we
are off again. Anyhow, the ship you are going in--the Madras--is a
fine craft, and the captain bears as high a character as anyone in
the Company's fleet.

"Well, lad, I hope that it will all turn out well. If I could
have talked the lingo like a native, I would have been glad to have
gone with you, and taken my chances. The captain saved my life in
that wreck, and it would only have been right that I should risk
mine for him, if there was but a shadow of chance of its being of
use. But I know that, in a job of this sort, I could be of no good
whatsomever, and should be getting you into trouble before we had
gone a mile together."

"I am sure that you would help, if you could, Ben; but, of
course, you could be of no use."

"And when do you think of being home again, lad?"

"There is no saying, Ben--it may be years. But, however long it
takes, I sha'n't give it up until I find out, for certain, what has
become of my father."

"And ain't there a chance of hearing how you are getting on,
Dick? I shall think of you and your mother, often and often, when I
am on deck keeping my watch at night; and it will seem hard that I
mayn't be able to hear, for years, as to what you are doing."

"The only thing that I can do, Ben, will be to write if I get a
chance of sending a messenger, or for my mother to write to you, to
the office."

"That is it. You send a letter to Ben Birket, boatswain of the
Madeira, care of East India Company, Leadenhall Street; and I shall
get it, sooner or later. Of course, I shall not expect a long yarn,
but just two or three words to tell me how you are getting on, and
whether you have got any news of your father. And if you come back
to England, leave your address at the Company's office for me; for
it ain't an easy matter to find anyone out, in London, unless you
have got their bearings right."

Ten days later, Mrs. Holland and Dick embarked on the Madras.
Dick had been warned, by his mother, to say nothing to anyone on
board as to the object of their voyage.

"I shall mention," she said, "that I am going out to make some
inquiries respecting the truth of a report that has reached me,
that some of those on board the Hooghley, of which my husband was
captain, survived the wreck, and were taken up the country. That
will be quite sufficient. Say nothing about my having been born in
India, or that my father was a native rajah. Some of these
officials--and still more, their wives--are very prejudiced, and
consider themselves to be quite different beings to the natives of
the country. I found it so on my voyage to England.

"At any rate, we don't want our affairs talked about. It will be
quite sufficient for people to know that we are, as I said, going
out to make some inquiries about the truth of this rumour."

"All right, Mother. At any rate, the captain has told you that
he will look after you, and make things comfortable for you, so we
need not care about anything else."

"We certainly need not care, Dick; but it is much more agreeable
to get on nicely with everyone. I was very pleased when Captain
Barstow called yesterday and said that, having heard at the office
that the Mrs. Holland on the passenger list was the widow of his
old shipmate, John Holland, he had come round to see if there was
anything that he could do for her, and he promised to do all in his
power to make us comfortable. Of course, I told him that I did not
regard myself as Captain Holland's widow--that all we knew was that
he had got safely ashore, and had been taken up to Mysore; and, as
I had a strong conviction he was still alive, I was going out to
endeavour to ascertain, from native sources, whether he was still
living.

"'Well, ma'am, I hope that you will succeed,' he said. 'All this
is new to me. I thought he was drowned, when the Hooghley went
ashore. Anyhow, Mrs. Holland, I honour you for making this journey,
just on the off chance of hearing something of your husband, and
you may be sure I will do all I can to make the voyage a pleasant
one for you.'

"So you see, we shall start favourably, Dick; for the captain
can do a great deal towards adding to the comfort of a passenger.
When it is known, by the purser and steward, that a lady is under
the special care of the captain, it ensures her a larger share of
civility, and special attentions, than she might otherwise
obtain."

As soon as they went on board, indeed, the captain came up to
them.

"Good morning, Mrs. Holland," he said. "You have done quite
right to come on board early. It gives you a chance of being
attended to, before the stewards are being called for by twenty
people at once."

He beckoned to a midshipman.

"Mr. Hart, please tell the purser I wish to speak to him.

"So this is your son, Mrs. Holland? A fine, straight-looking
young fellow. Are you going to put him in the Service? You have a
strong claim, you know, which I am sure the Board would
acknowledge."

"Do you know, Captain, it is a matter that I have hardly thought
of--in fact, I have, for years, been so determined to go out and
try and obtain some news of my husband, as soon as Dick was old
enough to journey about as my protector, that I have not thought,
as I ought to have done, what profession he should follow. However,
he is only fifteen yet, and there will be time enough when he gets
back."

"If he is to go into the service, the sooner the better,
ma'am--one can hardly begin too young. However, I don't say there
are not plenty of good sailors, afloat, who did not enter until a
couple of years older than he is--there is no strict rule as to
age.

"Only fifteen, is he? I should have taken him for at least a
year older. However, if you like, Mrs. Holland, I will put him in
the way of learning a good deal, during the voyage. He might as
well be doing that as loafing about the deck all day."

"Much better, Captain. I am very much obliged to you, and I am
sure that he will be, too."

"I should like it immensely, Captain," Dick exclaimed.

At this moment, the purser came up.

"Mr. Stevenson," the captain said, "this is Mrs. Holland. She is
the wife of my old friend, John Holland--we were midshipmen
together on board the Ganges. He commanded the Hooghley, which was
lost, you know, five or six years ago, somewhere near Calicut.
There were two or three survivors, and he was one of them, and it
seems that he was taken up the country; so Mrs. Holland is going
out to endeavour to ascertain whether he may not be still alive,
though perhaps detained by one of those native princes.

"Please do everything you can to make her comfortable, and tell
the head steward that it is my particular wish she shall be well
attended to. Who is she berthed with?"

The purser took the passenger list from his pocket.

"She is with Mrs. Colonel Williamson, and the wife of
Commissioner Larkins."

The captain gave a grunt of dissatisfaction. The purser went
on.

"There is a small cabin vacant, Captain. Two ladies who were to
have it--a mother and daughter--have, I hear this morning, been
unexpectedly detained, owing to the sudden illness of one of them.
Their heavy baggage is all in the hold, and must go on, and they
will follow in the next ship. Shall I put Mrs. Holland in
there?"

"Certainly. This is most fortunate.

"I don't think that you would have been comfortable, with the
other two, Mrs. Holland. I don't know the colonel's wife, but Mrs.
Larkins has travelled with us before, and I had quite enough of her
on that voyage."

"Thank you very much, Captain. It will indeed be a comfort to
have a cabin to myself."

Dick found that he was berthed with two young cadets, whose
names, he learned from the cards fastened over the bunks, were
Latham and Fellows.

Half an hour after the arrival of the Hollands on board, the
passengers began to pour in rapidly, and the deck of the Madras was
soon crowded with them, their friends, and their luggage. Below,
all was bustle and confusion. Men shouted angrily to stewards;
women, laden with parcels, blocked the gangway, and appealed
helplessly to every one for information and aid; sailors carried
down trunks and portmanteaus; and Mrs. Holland, when she emerged
from her cabin, having stowed away her belongings and made things
tidy, congratulated herself on having been the first on board, and
so had not only avoided all this confusion, but obtained a separate
cabin, which she might not otherwise have been able to do, as the
captain would have been too busy to devote any special attention to
her.

After having handed her over to the care of the purser, Captain
Barstow had spoken to the second officer, who happened to be
passing.

"Mr. Rawlinson," he said, "this is the son of my old friend,
Captain Holland. He is going out with his mother. I wish you would
keep your eye upon him, and let him join the midshipmen in their
studies with you, in the morning. Possibly he may enter the
Service, and it will be a great advantage to him to have got up
navigation, a bit, before he does so. At any rate, it will occupy
his mind and keep him out of mischief. A lad of his age would be
like a fish out of water, among the passengers on the
quarterdeck."

"Ay, ay, sir. I will do what I can for him."

And he hurried away.

Dick saw that, for the present, there was nothing to be done but
to look on, and it was not until the next morning, when the Madras
was making her way south, outside the Goodwins, that the second
officer spoke to him.

"Ah, there you are, lad! I have been too busy to think of you,
and it will be another day or two before we settle down to regular
work. However, I will introduce you to one or two of the
midshipmen, and they will make you free of the ship."

Dick was, indeed, already beginning to feel at home. The long
table, full from end to end, had presented such a contrast to his
quiet dinner with his mother, that, as he sat down beside her and
looked round, he thought he should never get to speak to anyone
throughout the voyage. However, he had scarcely settled himself
when a gentleman in a naval uniform, next to him, made the
remark:

"Well, youngster, what do you think of all this? I suppose it is
all new to you?"

"It is, sir. It seems very strange, at first, but I suppose I
shall get accustomed to it."

"Oh, yes. You will find it pleasant enough, by and bye. I am the
ship's doctor. The purser has been telling me about you and your
mother.

"I made one voyage with your father. It was my first, and a
kinder captain I never sailed with. I heard, from the purser, that
there seems to be a chance of his being still alive, and that your
mother is going out to try and find out something about him. I
hope, most sincerely, that she may succeed in doing so; but he has
been missing a long time now. Still, that is no reason why she
should not find him. There have been instances where men have been
kept for years by some of these rascally natives--why, goodness
only knows, except, I suppose, because they fear and hate us; and
think that, some time or other, an English prisoner may be useful
to them.

"Your mother looks far from strong," he went on, as he glanced
across Dick to Mrs. Holland, who was talking to a lady on the other
side of her. "Has she been ill?"

"No, sir. I have never known her ill, yet. She has been worrying
herself a great deal. She has waited so long, because she did not
like to go out until she could take me with her. She has no friends
in England with whom she could leave me. She looks a good deal
better, now, than she did a month ago. I think, directly she
settled to come out, and had something to do, she became
better."

"That is quite natural," the doctor said. "There is nothing so
trying as inactivity. I have no doubt that the sea air will quite
set her up again. It performs almost miracles on the homeward-bound
passengers. They come on board looking pale, and listless, and
washed out; at the end of a month at sea, they are different
creatures altogether."

The purser had taken pains to seat Mrs. Holland, at table, next
to a person who would be a pleasant companion for her; and the lady
she was now talking to was the wife of a chaplain in the army. She
had, a year before, returned from India in the Madras, and he knew
her to be a kind and pleasant woman.

Dick did not care for his cabin mates. They were young fellows
of about eighteen years of age. One was a nephew of a Director of
the Company, the other the son of a high Indian official. They paid
but little attention to him, generally ignoring him altogether, and
conversing about things and people in India, in the tone of men to
whom such matters were quite familiar.

In three or four days, Dick became on good terms with the six
midshipmen the Madras carried. Two of them were younger than
himself, two somewhat older, while the others were nearly out of
their time, and hoped that this would be their last trip in the
midshipmen's berth. The four younger lads studied, two hours every
morning, under the second officer's instruction; and Dick took his
place at the table regularly with them.

Mathematics had been the only subject in which he had at all
distinguished himself at school, and he found himself able to give
satisfaction to Mr. Rawlinson, in his studies of navigation. After
this work was over, they had an hour's practical instruction by the
boatswain's mate, in knotting and splicing ropes, and in other
similar matters.

In a fortnight, he had learned the names and uses of what had,
at first, seemed to him the innumerable ropes; and long before
that, had accompanied one of the midshipmen aloft. On the first
occasion that he did so, two of the topmen followed him, with the
intention of carrying out the usual custom of lashing him to the
ratlines, until he paid his footing. Seeing them coming up, the
midshipman laughed, and told Dick what was in store for him.

The boy had been as awkward as most beginners in climbing the
shrouds, the looseness and give of the ratlines puzzling him; but
he had, for years, practised climbing ropes in the gymnasium at
Shadwell, and was confident in his power to do anything in that
way. The consequence was that, as soon as the sailors gained the
top, where he and the midshipman were standing, Dick seized one of
the halliards and, with a merry laugh, came down hand over hand. A
minute later, he stood on the deck.

"Well done, youngster," said the boatswain's mate, who happened
to be standing by, as Dick's feet touched the deck. "This may be
the first time you have been on board a ship, but it is easy to see
that it isn't the first, by a long way, that you have been on a
rope. Could you go up again?"

"Yes, I should think so," Dick said. "I have never climbed so
high as that, because I have never had the chance; but it ought to
be easy enough."

The man laughed.

"There are not many sailors who can do it," he said. "Well, let
us see how high you will get."

As Dick was accustomed to go up a rope thirty feet high, hand
over hand, without using his legs, he was confident that, with
their assistance, he could get up to the main top, lofty as it was,
and he at once threw off his jacket and started. He found the task
harder than he had anticipated, but he did it without a pause. He
was glad, however, when the two sailors above grasped him by the
arms, and placed him beside them on the main top.

"Well, sir," one said, admiringly, "we thought you was a Johnny
Newcome, by the way you went up the ratlines, but you came up that
rope like a monkey.

"Well, sir, you are free up here, and if you weren't it would
not make much odds to you, for it would take half the ship's
company to capture you."

"I don't want to get off paying my footing," Dick said, pulling
five shillings from his pocket and handing them to the sailors; for
his mother had told him that it was the custom, on first going
aloft, to make a present to them, and had given him the money for
the purpose. "I can climb, but I don't know anything about ropes,
and I shall be very much obliged if you will teach me all you
can."

Chapter 2: A Brush With
Privateers.

Dick was surprised when, on descending to the deck, he found
that what seemed to him a by no means very difficult feat had
attracted general attention. Not only did half a dozen of the
sailors pat him on the back, with exclamations expressive of their
surprise and admiration, but the other midshipmen spoke quite as
warmly, the eldest saying:

"I could have got up the rope, Holland, but I could not have
gone up straight, as you did, without stopping for a bit to take
breath. You don't look so very strong, either."

"I think that it is knack more than strength," Dick replied. "I
have done a lot of practice at climbing, for I have always wanted
to get strong, and I heard that there was no better exercise."

When, presently, Dick went aft to the quarterdeck, Captain
Barstow said to him:

"You have astonished us all, lad. I could hardly believe my
eyes, when I saw you going up that rope. I first caught sight of
you when you had climbed but twenty feet, and wondered how far you
would get, at that pace. I would have wagered a hundred guineas to
one that you would not have kept it up to the top.

"Well, lad, whatever profession you take to, it is certain that
you will be a good sailor spoilt."

They had now been three weeks out, but had made slow progress,
for the winds had been light, and mostly from the southwest.

"This is very dull work," the doctor said to Dick one day, at
dinner. "Here we are, three weeks out, and still hardly beyond the
Channel. There is one consolation. It is not the fault of the ship.
She has been doing well, under the circumstances, but the fates
have been against her, thus far. I have no doubt there are a score
of ships still lying in the Downs, that were there when we passed;
and, tedious as it has been beating down the Channel, with scarce
wind enough most of the time to keep our sails full, it would have
been worse lying there, all the time."

"Still, we have gained a good bit on them, sir."

"If the wind were to change round, say to the northeast, and
they brought it along with them, they would soon make up for lost
time, for it would not take them three days to run here. However,
we shall begin to do better, soon. I heard the captain say that he
should change his course tomorrow. We are somewhere off Cork, and
when he makes a few miles more westing, he will bear away south. If
we had had a favourable wind, we should have taken our departure
from the Start, but with it in this quarter we are obliged to make
more westing, before we lay her head on her course, or we should
risk getting in too close to the French coast; and their privateers
are as thick as peas, there."

"But we should not be afraid of a French privateer, doctor?"

"Well, not altogether afraid of one, but they very often go in
couples; and sometimes three of them will work together. I don't
think one privateer alone would venture to attack us, though she
might harass us a bit, and keep up a distant fire, in hopes that
another might hear it and bear down to her aid. But it is always as
well to keep free of them, if one can. You see, an unlucky shot
might knock one of our sticks out of us, which would mean delay and
trouble, if no worse.

"We had a sharp brush with two of them, on the last voyage, but
we beat them off. We were stronger then than we are now, for we had
two hundred troops on board, and should have astonished them if
they had come close enough to try boarding--in fact, we were
slackening our fire, to tempt them to do so, when they made out
that a large craft coming up astern was an English frigate, and
sheered off.

"I don't know what the end of it was, but I rather fancy they
were taken. The frigate followed them, gaining fast; and, later on,
we could hear guns in the distance."

"You did not join in the chase then, doctor?"

"Oh, no. Our business is not fighting. If we are attacked, of
course we defend ourselves; but we don't go a foot out of our way,
if we can help it."

Three weeks at sea had done wonders for Mrs. Holland. Now that
she was fairly embarked upon her quest, the expression of anxiety
gradually died out. The sea air braced up her nerves, and, what was
of still greater benefit to her, she was able to sleep soundly and
dreamlessly, a thing she had not done for years. Dick was delighted
at the change in her.

"You look quite a different woman, Mother," he said. "I don't
think your friends at Shadwell would know you, if they were to see
you now."

"I feel a different woman, Dick. I have not felt so well and so
bright since your father sailed on his last voyage. I am more
convinced than ever that we shall succeed. I have been trying very
hard, for years, to be hopeful, but now I feel so without trying.
Of course, it is partly this lovely weather and the sea air, and
sleeping so well; and partly because everyone is so kind and
pleasant."

As soon as the Madras had been headed for the south, she began
to make better way. The wind freshened somewhat, but continued in
the same quarter. Grumbling ceased over the bad luck they were
having, and hopeful anticipations that, after all, they would make
a quick passage were freely indulged in.

On the fourth day after changing her course, she was off the
coast of Spain, which was but a hundred and fifty miles distant. At
noon that day the wind dropped suddenly, and, an hour later, it was
a dead calm.

"We are going to have a change, Dick," the doctor said, as he
stopped by the lad, who was leaning against the bulwark watching a
flock of seabirds that were following a shoal of fish, dashing down
among them with loud cries, and too intent upon their work to
notice the ship, lying motionless a hundred yards away.

"What sort of a change, doctor?"

"Most likely a strong blow, though from what quarter it is too
soon to say. However, we have no reason to grumble. After nearly a
month of light winds, we must expect a turn of bad weather. I hope
it will come from the north. That will take us down to the latitude
of Madeira, and beyond that we may calculate upon another spell of
fine weather, until we cross the Line."

As the afternoon wore on, the weather became more dull. There
were no clouds in the sky, but the deep blue was dimmed by a sort
of haze. Presently, after a talk between the captain and the first
officer, the latter gave the order, "All hands take in sail."

The order had been expected, and the men at once swarmed up the
rigging. In a quarter of an hour all the upper sails were furled.
The light spars were then sent down to the deck.

"You may as well get the top-gallant sails off her, too, Mr.
Green," the captain said to the first officer. "It is as well to be
prepared for the worst. It is sure to blow pretty hard, when the
change comes."

The top-gallant sails were got in, and when the courses had been
brailed up and secured, the hands were called down. Presently the
captain, after going to his cabin, rejoined Mr. Green.

"The glass has gone up again," Dick heard him say.

"That looks as if it were coming from the north, sir."

"Yes, with some east in it. It could not come from a better
quarter."

He turned and gazed steadily in that direction.

"Yes, there is dark water over there."

"So there is, sir. That is all right. I don't mind how hard it
blows, so that it does but come on gradually."

"I agree with you. These hurricane bursts, when one is becalmed,
are always dangerous, even when one is under bare poles."

Gradually the dark line on the horizon crept up towards the
ship. As it reached her the sails bellied out, and she began to
move through the water. The wind increased in strength rapidly, and
in half an hour she was running south at ten or eleven knots an
hour. The thermometer had fallen many degrees, and as the sun set,
the passengers were glad to go below for shelter.

Before going to bed, Dick went up on deck for a few minutes. The
topsails had been reefed down, but the Madras was rushing through
the water at a high rate of speed. The sea was getting up, and the
waves were crested with foam. Above, the stars were shining
brilliantly.

"Well, lad, this is a change, is it not?" the captain said, as
he came along in a pea jacket.

"We seem to be going splendidly, Captain."

"Yes, we are walking along grandly, and making up for lost
time."

"It is blowing hard, sir."

"It will blow a good deal harder before morning, lad, but I do
not think it will be anything very severe. Things won't be so
comfortable downstairs, for the next day or two, but that is likely
to be the worst of it."

The motion of the ship kept Dick awake for some time, but,
wedging himself tightly in his berth, he presently fell off to
sleep, and did not wake again until morning. His two cabin mates
were suffering terribly from seasickness, but he felt perfectly
well, although it took him a long time to dress, so great was the
motion of the ship.

On making his way on deck, he found that overhead the sky was
blue and bright, and the sun shining brilliantly. The wind was
blowing much harder than on the previous evening, and a heavy sea
was running; but as the sun sparkled on the white crests of the
waves, the scene was far less awe inspiring than it had been when
he looked out before retiring to his berth. The ship, under
closely-reefed main and fore-top sails, was tearing through the
water at a high rate of speed, throwing clouds of spray from her
bows, and occasionally taking a wave over them that sent a deluge
of water along the deck.

"What do you think of this, lad?" Mr. Rawlinson, who was in
charge of the watch, asked him; as, after watching his opportunity,
he made a rush to the side and caught a firm hold of a shroud.

"It is splendid, sir," he said. "Has she been going like this
all night?"

The officer nodded.

"How long do you think it will last, sir?"

"Two or three days."

"Will it be any worse, sir?"

"Not likely to be. It is taking us along rarely, and it is doing
us good in more ways than one.

"Look there;" and as they rose on a wave, he pointed across the
water, behind Dick.

The lad turned, and saw a brig running parallel to their course,
half a mile distant.

"What of her, sir?"

"That is a French privateer, unless I am greatly mistaken."

"But she has the British ensign flying, sir."

"Ay, but that goes for nothing. She may possibly be a trader, on
her way down to the Guinea coast, but by the cut of her sails and
the look of her hull, I have no doubt that she is a Frenchman."

"We are passing her, sir."

"Oh, yes. In a gale and a heavy sea, weight tells, and we shall
soon leave her astern; but in fine weather, I expect she could sail
round and round us. If the French could fight their ships as well
as they can build them, we should not be in it with them."

"Why don't we fire at her, Mr. Rawlinson?"

The officer laughed.

"How are you going to work your guns, with the ship rolling like
this? No, lad, we are like two muzzled dogs at present--we can do
nothing but watch each other. I am sorry to say that I don't think
the fellow is alone. Two or three times I have fancied that I
caught a glimpse of a sail on our starboard quarter. I could not
swear to it, but I don't think I was mistaken, and I called the
captain's attention that way, just before he went down ten minutes
ago, and he thought he saw it, too. However, as there was nothing
to be done, he went down for a caulk. He had not left the deck
since noon, yesterday."

"But if she is no bigger than the other, I suppose we shall
leave her behind, too, Mr. Rawlinson?"

"Ay, lad, we shall leave them both behind presently; but if they
are what I think, we are likely to hear more of them, later on.
They would not be so far offshore as this, unless they were on the
lookout for Indiamen, which of course keep much farther out than
ships bound up the Mediterranean; and, having once spotted us, they
will follow us like hounds on a deer's trail. However, I think they
are likely to find that they have caught a tartar, when they come
up to us.

"Ah! Here is the doctor.

"Well, doctor, what is the report below?"

"Only the usual number of casualties--a sprained wrist, a few
contusions, and three or four cases of hysterics."

"Is Mother all right, doctor?" Dick asked.

"As I have heard nothing of her, I have no doubt she is. I am
quite sure that she will not trouble me with hysterics. Women who
have had real trouble to bear, Dick, can be trusted to keep their
nerves steady in a gale."

"I suppose you call this a gale, doctor?"

"Certainly. It is a stiff north-easterly gale, and if we were
facing it, instead of running before it, you would not want to ask
the question.

"That is a suspicious-looking craft, Rawlinson," he broke off,
catching sight of the brig, now on their port quarter.

"Yes, she is a privateer I have no doubt, and, unless I am
mistaken, she has a consort somewhere out there to starboard.
However, we need not trouble about them. Travelling as we are, we
are going two knots an hour faster than the brig."

"So much the better," the doctor said, shortly. "We can laugh at
one of these fellows, but when it comes to two of them, I own that
I don't care for their company. So the longer this gale holds on,
the better."

The mate nodded.

"Well, Dick," the doctor went on, "do you feel as if you will be
able to eat your breakfast?"

"I shall be ready enough for it, doctor, but I don't see how it
will be possible to eat it, with the vessel rolling like this."

"You certainly will not be able to sit down to it--nothing would
stay on the table a minute. There will be no regular breakfast
today. You must get the steward to cut you a chunk of cold meat,
put it between two slices of bread, and make a sandwich of it. As
to tea, ask him to give you a bottle and to pour your tea into
that; then, if you wedge yourself into a corner, you will find that
you are able to manage your breakfast comfortably, and can amuse
yourself watching people trying to balance a cup of tea in their
hand."

Not more than half a dozen passengers ventured on deck, for the
next two days, but at the end of that time the force of the wind
gradually abated, and on the following morning the Madras had all
her sails set, to a light but still favourable breeze. Madeira had
been passed, to Dick's disappointment; but, except for a fresh
supply of vegetables, there was no occasion to put in there, and
the captain grudged the loss of a day, while so favourable a wind
was taking them along.

"Do you think we shall see anything of that brig again, doctor?"
Dick asked, as, for the first time since the wind sprang up, the
passengers sat down to a comfortable breakfast.

"There is no saying, Dick. If we gained two knots an hour during
the blow (and I don't suppose we gained more than one and a half),
they must be a hundred and twenty miles or so astern of us; after
all, that is only half a day's run. I think they are pretty sure to
follow us for a bit, for they will know that, in light winds, they
travel faster than we do; and if we get becalmed, while they still
hold the breeze, they will come up hand over hand. It is likely
enough that, in another three days or so, we may get a sight of
them behind us."

This was evidently the captain's opinion also, for during the
day the guns were overhauled, and their carriages examined, and the
muskets brought up on deck and cleaned. On the following day the
men were practised at the guns, and then had pike and cutlass
exercise.

None of the passengers particularly noticed these proceedings,
for Dick had been warned by the captain to say nothing about the
brig; and as he was the only passenger on deck at the time, no
whisper of the privateers had come to the ears of the others.

The party were just going down to lunch, on the third day, when
a lookout in the maintop hailed the deck:

"A sail astern."

"How does she bear?"

"She is dead astern of us, sir, and I can only make out her
upper sails. I should say that they are her royals."

Mr. Green ran up, with his telescope slung over his
shoulder.

"I cannot make much out of her, sir," he shouted to the captain.
"She may be anything. She must be nearly thirty miles astern. I
think, with Pearson, that it is her royals we see."

"Take a look round, Mr. Green."

The mate did so, and presently called down:

"I can make out something else away on the starboard quarter,
but so far astern that I can scarce swear to her. Still, it can be
nothing but a sail."

"Thank you, Mr. Green. I daresay that we shall know more about
her, later on."

When the captain joined the passengers at table, one of the
ladies said:

"You seem interested in that ship astern of us, captain."

"Yes, Mrs. Seaforth. One is always interested in a ship, when
one gets down as far as this. She may be another Indiaman, and
although the Madras has no claim to any great speed in a light
breeze like this, one never likes being passed."

The explanation was considered as sufficient, and nothing more
was said on the subject. By sunset, the upper sails of the stranger
could be made out from the deck of the Madras. Mr. Green again went
up, and had a look at her.

"She is coming up fast," he said, when he rejoined the captain.
"She keeps so dead in our wake that I can't make out whether she is
a brig or a three master; but I fancy that she is a brig, by the
size and cut of her sails. I can see the other craft plainly enough
now; she is eight or ten miles west of the other, and has closed in
towards her since I made her out before. I have no doubt that she
is a large schooner."

"Well, it is a comfort that they are not a few miles nearer, Mr.
Green. There is no chance of their overtaking us before morning, so
we shall be able to keep our watches as usual, and shall have time
to get ready for a fight, if there is to be one."

"The sooner the better sir, so that it is daylight. It is quite
certain that they have the legs of us."

In the morning, when Dick came up, he found that the wind had
quite died away, and the sails hung loosely from the yards. Looking
astern, he saw two vessels. They were some six miles away, and
perhaps two miles apart. As they lay without steerage way, they had
swung partly round, and he saw that they were a brig and a
schooner. The former he had no doubt, from her lofty masts and
general appearance, was the same the Madras had passed six days
before. As the passengers came up, they were full of curiosity as
to the vessels.

"Of course, we know no more actually than you do yourselves,"
the captain said, as some of them gathered round and questioned
him, "but I may as well tell you, frankly, that we have very little
doubt about their being two French privateers. We passed them
during the gale, and had some hopes that we should not see them
again; but, in the light breeze we have been having during the last
few days, they have made up lost ground, and I am afraid we shall
have to fight them."

Exclamations of alarm broke from some of the ladies who heard
his words.

"You need not be alarmed, ladies," he went on. "We carry twelve
guns, you know, and I expect that all of them are of heavier metal
than theirs. The Madras is a strongly-built ship, and will stand a
good deal more hammering than those light craft will, so that I
have no doubt we shall give a good account of ourselves."

After breakfast, the hatches were opened and the gun cases
belonging to the passengers brought on deck. Scarce one of them but
had a rifle, and many had, in addition, a shotgun. The day passed
without any change in the positions of the vessels, for they still
lay becalmed.

"Why don't they get out their boats, and tow their vessels up?"
Dick asked the doctor.

"Because they would be throwing away their chances, if they did
so. They know that we cannot get away from them, and we might smash
up their boats as soon as they came within range. Besides, their
speed and superior handiness give them a pull over us, when
fighting under sail. They may try to tow up during the night, if
they think they are strong enough to take us by boarding, but I
hardly think they will do so."

The night, however, passed off quietly. But in the morning a
light breeze sprang up from the east, the sails were trimmed, and
the Madras again began to move through the water. By breakfast
time, the craft behind had visibly decreased their distance.

The meal was a silent one. When it was over, the captain
said:

"As soon as those fellows open fire, ladies, I must ask you all
to go down into the hold. The sailors have already cleared a space,
below the waterline, large enough for you; and they will take down
some cushions, and so on, to make you as comfortable as possible,
under the circumstances. Pray do not be alarmed at any noises you
may hear. You will be below the waterline, and perfectly safe from
their shot; and you may be sure that we shall do our best to keep
the scoundrels from boarding us; and I will let you know, from time
to time, how matters are going."

The unmarried men at once went up on deck. The others lingered
for a short time behind, talking to their wives and daughters, and
then followed.

"The wind has strengthened a bit, Mr. Green," the captain said,
"and I fancy we shall get more."

"I think so, too, Captain."

"Then you may as well get off the upper sails, and make her
snug. Get off everything above the top gallant. Then, if the wind
increases, we shall not want to call the men away from the
guns."

The crew had, without orders, already mustered at quarters. The
lashings had been cast off the guns, the boatswain had opened the
magazines, and a pile of shot stood by each gun, together with
cases of canister and grapeshot for close work. Boarding pikes and
cutlasses were ranged along by the bulwarks. The men had thrown
aside their jackets, and many of those at the guns were stripped to
the waist. Some of them were laughing and talking, and Dick saw, by
their air of confidence, that they had no doubt of their ability to
beat off the assault of the privateers.

The latter were the first to open the ball. A puff of smoke
burst out from the brig's bows, followed almost instantly by one
from the schooner. Both shots fell short, and, for a quarter of an
hour, the three vessels kept on their way.

"We have heavier metal than that," the captain said, cheerfully,
"and I have no doubt we could reach them. But it is not our game to
play at long bowls, for it is probable that both of them carry a
long pivot gun, and if they were to draw off a bit, they could
annoy us amazingly, while we could not reach them."

Presently the privateers opened fire again. They were now about
a mile away, and the same distance from each other. Their shot fell
close to the Indiaman, and two or three passed through her
sails.

Still no reply was made. The men at the guns fidgeted, and kept
casting glances towards the poop, in expectation of an order. It
came at last, but was not what they had expected.

"Double shot your guns, men," the captain said.

Scarcely was the order obeyed when the brig, which was now on
the port quarter, luffed up a little into the wind, and fired a
broadside of eight guns. There was a crashing of wood. The Madras
was hulled in three places; two more holes appeared in her sails;
while the other shot passed harmlessly just astern of her.

There was an angry growl among the sailors, as the schooner bore
away a little, and also fired her broadside. Except that a man was
struck down by a splinter from the bulwarks, no damage was
done.

"Bear up a little," the captain said to the second officer, who
was standing by the helmsman. "I want to edge in a little towards
the brig, but not enough for them to notice it.

"Now, gentlemen," he went on, to the passengers, "I have no
doubt that most of you are good shots, and I want you, after we
have fired our broadside, to direct your attention to the brig's
helmsmen. If you can render it impossible for the men to stand at
the wheel, we will make mincemeat of this fellow in no time.
Directly I have fired our port broadside, I am going to bring her
up into the wind on the opposite tack, and give him the starboard
broadside at close quarters. Don't fire until we have gone about,
and then pick off the helmsmen, if you can.

"Get ready, men."

The brig was now but a little more than a quarter of a mile
distant.

"Aim at the foot of his mainmast," he went on. "Let each man
fire as he gets the mast on his sight."

A moment later the first gun fired, and the whole broadside
followed in quick succession.

"Down with the helm! Hard down, sheets and tacks!"

The men whose duty it was to trim the sails ran to the sheets
and braces. The Madras swept up into the wind, and, as her sails
drew on the other tack, she came along on a course that would take
her within a hundred yards of the brig.

As she approached, three rifles cracked out on her poop. One of
the men at the helm of the brig fell, and as he did so, half a
dozen more shots were fired; and as his companion dropped beside
him, the brig, deprived of her helm, flew up into the wind.

Three men ran aft to the wheel, but the deadly rifles spoke out
again. Two of them fell. The third dived under the bulwark, for
shelter.

"Steady, men!" the captain shouted. "Fetch her mainmast out of
her!"

As they swept along under the stern of the brig, each gun of
their other broadside poured in its fire in succession, raking the
crowded deck from end to end. A moment later, the mainmast was seen
to sway, and a tremendous cheer broke from the Madras as it went
over the side, dragging with it the foretopmast, with all its
gear.

"Down with the helm again!" the captain shouted. "Bring her head
to wind, and keep her there!"

The first officer sprang forward, to see that the order was
carried into effect, and a minute later the Indiaman lay, with her
sails aback, at a distance of a hundred yards, on the quarter of
the brig.

"Grape and canister!" the captain shouted, and broadside after
broadside swept the decks of the brig, which, hampered by her
wreckage, was lying almost motionless in the water. So terrible was
the fire, that the privateer's men threw down the axes with which
they were striving to cut away the floating spars, and ran
below.

"Double shot your guns, and give her one broadside between wind
and water!" the captain ordered.

"Haul on the sheets and braces, Mr. Green, and get her on her
course again--the schooner won't trouble us, now."

That craft had indeed, at first, luffed up, to come to the
assistance of her consort; but on seeing the fall of the latter's
mast, and that she was incapable of rendering any assistance, had
again altered her course, feeling her incapacity to engage so
redoubtable an opponent, single handed. Three hearty cheers broke
from all on board the Madras as, after pouring in a broadside at a
distance of fifty yards, she left the brig behind her, and
proceeded on her way.

"Then you don't care about taking prizes, captain?" one of the
passengers said, as they crowded round to congratulate him upon his
easy, and almost bloodless, victory.

"No, taking prizes is not my business; and were I to weaken my
crew, by sending some of them off in a prize, I might find myself
short-handed if we met another of these gentlemen, or fell in with
bad weather. Besides, she would not be worth sending home."

"The brig is signalling to her consort, sir," Mr. Green said,
coming up.

"Ay, ay. I expect she wants help badly enough. I saw the chips
fly close to her waterline, as we gave her that last
broadside."

"They are lowering a boat," one of the passengers said.

"So they are. I expect they haven't got more than one that can
swim.

"I think she is settling down," the captain said, as he looked
earnestly at the wreck astern. "See how they are crowding into that
boat, and how some of the others are cutting and slashing, to get
the wreckage clear of her."

"She is certainly a good bit lower in the water than she was,"
the first officer agreed. "The schooner has come round, and won't
be long before she is alongside of her."

There was no doubt that the brig was settling down fast. Men
stood on the bulwarks, and waved their caps frantically to the
schooner. Others could be seen, by the aid of a glass, casting
spars, hen coops, and other articles overboard, and jumping into
the water after them; and soon the sea around the wreck was dotted
with heads and floating fragments, while the wreckage of the
mainmast was clustered with men.

When the Madras was a mile away, the schooner was lying, thrown
up head to wind, fifty yards from the brig; and her boats were
already engaged in picking up the swimmers. Suddenly the brig gave
a heavy lurch.

"There she goes!" the captain exclaimed.

A moment later the hull had disappeared, and the schooner
remained alone.

By this time, the whole of the ladies had ascended from their
place of safety to the poop, and a general exclamation broke from
the passengers, as the brig disappeared.

"The schooner will pick them all up," the captain said. "They
must have suffered heavily from our fire, but I don't think any
will have gone down with her. The boat, which has already reached
the schooner, must have taken a good many, and the mainmast and
foretopmast and spars would support the rest, to say nothing of the
things they have thrown overboard. There is one wasp the less
afloat."

No further adventure was met with, throughout the voyage. They
had a spell of bad weather off the Cape, but the captain said it
was nothing to the gales they often encountered there, and that the
voyage, as a whole, was an exceptionally good one; for, even after
the delays they had encountered at the start, the passage had
lasted but four months and a half.

They touched at Point de Galle for news, and to ascertain
whether any French warships had been seen, of late, along the
coast. A supply of fresh vegetables and fruit was taken on board,
as the vessel, after touching at Madras, was to go on to Calcutta.
A few of the passengers landed at Point de Galle, but neither Dick
nor his mother went ashore.

"You will have plenty of opportunities of seeing Indians, later
on, Dick," Mrs. Holland had said; "and, as the gigs will not take
all ashore, we may as well stop quietly here. I heard the captain
say that he would weigh anchor again, in four hours."

Dick was rather disappointed, but, as they would be at Madras
before long, he did not much mind.

Ten days later, they anchored off that town. Little was to be
seen except the fort, a number of warehouses, and the native town,
while the scenery contrasted strongly with that of Ceylon, with its
masses of green foliage, with hills rising behind.

For the last fortnight, Mrs. Holland had been somewhat
depressed. Now that the voyage was nearly over, the difficulties of
the task before her seemed greater than they had done when viewed
from a distance, and she asked herself whether, after all, it would
not have been wiser to have waited another two or three years,
until Dick had attained greater strength and manhood. The boy,
however, when she confided her doubts to him, laughed at the
idea.

"Why, you know, Mother," he said, "we agreed that I had a much
greater chance, as a boy, of going about unsuspected, than I should
have as a man. Besides, we could never have let Father remain any
longer, without trying to get him out.

"No, no, Mother, you know we have gone through it over and over
again, and talked about every chance. We have had a first-rate
voyage, and everything is going on just as we could have wished,
and it would never do to begin to have doubts now. We have both
felt confident, all along. It seems to me that, of all things, we
must keep on being confident, at any rate until there is something
to give us cause to doubt."

On the following morning, they landed in a surf boat, and were
fortunate in getting ashore without being drenched. There was a
rush of wild looking and half-naked natives to seize their baggage;
but upon Mrs. Holland, with quiet decision, accosting the men in
their own language, and picking out four of them to carry the
baggage up, to one of the vehicles standing on the road that ran
along the top of the high beach, the rest fell back, and the matter
was arranged without difficulty.

After a drive of twenty minutes, they stopped at a hotel.

"It is not like a hotel, Mother," Dick remarked, as they drew
up. "It is more like a gentleman's house, standing in its own
park."

"Almost all the European houses are built so, here, Dick, and it
is much more pleasant than when they are packed together."

"Much nicer," Dick agreed. "If each house has a lot of ground
like this, the place must cover a tremendous extent of
country."

"It does, Dick; but, as every one keeps horses and carriages,
that does not matter much. Blacktown, as they call the native town,
stands quite apart from the European quarter."

As soon as they were settled in their rooms, which seemed to
Dick singularly bare and unfurnished, mother and son went out for a
drive, in one of the carriages belonging to the hotel. Dick had
learned so much about India from her that, although extremely
interested, he was scarcely surprised at the various scenes that
met his eye, or at the bright and varied costumes of the
natives.

Many changes had taken place, during the seventeen years that
had elapsed since Mrs. Holland had left India. The town had
increased greatly in size. All signs of the effects of the siege by
the French, thirty years before, had been long since obliterated.
Large and handsome government buildings had been erected, and
evidences of wealth and prosperity were everywhere present.

Chapter 3: The Rajah.

"Now, Mother, let us talk over our plans," Dick said as, after
dinner, they seated themselves in two chairs in the veranda, at
some little distance from the other guests at the hotel. "How are
we going to begin?"

"In the first place, Dick, we shall tomorrow send out a
messenger to Tripataly, to tell my brother of our arrival
here."

"How far is it, Mother?"

"It is about a hundred and twenty miles, in a straight line, I
think; but a good bit farther than that, by the way we shall
go."

"How shall we travel, Mother?"

"I will make some inquiries tomorrow, but I think that the
pleasantest way will be to drive from here to Conjeveram. I think
that is about forty miles. There we can take a native boat, and go
up the river Palar, past Arcot and Vellore, to Vaniambaddy. From
there it is only about fifteen miles to Tripataly.

"I shall tell my brother the way I propose going. Of course, if
he thinks any other way will be better, we shall go by that."

"Are we going to travel as we are, Mother, or in native
dress?"

"That is a point that I have been thinking over, Dick. I will
wait, and ask my brother which he thinks will be the best. When out
there I always dressed as a native, and never put on English
clothes, except at Madras. I used to come down here two or three
times every year, with my mother, and generally stayed for a
fortnight or three weeks. During that time, we always dressed in
English fashion, as by so doing we could live at the hotel, and
take our meals at public tables without exciting comment. My mother
knew several families here, and liked getting back to English ways,
occasionally.

"Of course, I shall dress in Indian fashion while I stay at my
brother's, so it is only the question of how we shall journey
there, and I think I should prefer going as we are. We shall excite
no special observation, travelling as English, as it will only be
supposed that we are on our way to pay a visit to some of our
officers, at Arcot. At Conjeveram, which is a large place, there is
sure to be a hotel of some sort or other, for it is on the main
road from Madras south. On the way up, by water, we shall of course
sleep on board, and we shall go direct from the boat to
Tripataly.

"However, we need not decide until we get an answer to my
letter, for it will take a very short time to get the necessary
dresses for us both. I think it most likely that my brother will
send down one of his officers to meet us, or possibly may come down
himself.

"You heard what they were all talking about, at dinner,
Dick?"

"Yes, Mother, it was something about Tippoo attacking the Rajah
of Travancore, but I did not pay much attention to it. I was
looking at the servants, in their curious dresses."

"It is very important, Dick, and will probably change all our
plans. Travancore is in alliance with us, and every one thinks that
Tippoo's attack on it will end in our being engaged in war with
him. I was talking to the officer who sat next to me, and he told
me that, if there had been a capable man at the head of government
here, war would have been declared as soon as the Sultan moved
against Travancore. Now that General Meadows had been appointed
governor and commander-in-chief, there was no doubt, he said, that
an army would move against Tippoo in a very short time--that it was
already being collected, and that a force was marching down here
from Bengal.

"So you see, my boy, if this war really breaks out, the English
may march to Seringapatam, and compel Tippoo to give up all the
captives he has in his hands."

"That would be splendid, Mother."

"At any rate, Dick, as long as there is a hope of your father
being rescued, in that way, our plans must be put aside."

"Well, Mother, that will be better, in some respects; for of
course, if Father is not rescued by our army, I can try afterwards
as we arranged. It would be an advantage, in one way, as I should
then be quite accustomed to the country, and more fit to make my
way about."

A week later, an old officer arrived from Tripataly.

"Ah, Rajbullub," Mrs. Holland exclaimed, as he came up with a
deep salaam; "I am, indeed, glad to see you again. I knew you were
alive, for my brother mentioned you when he wrote last year."

Rajbullub was evidently greatly pleased at the recognition.

"I think I should have known you, lady," he said; "but eighteen
years makes more changes in the young than in the old. Truly I am
glad to see you again. There was great joy among us, who knew you
as a child, when the Rajah told us that you were here. He has sent
me on to say that he will arrive, tomorrow. I am to see to his
apartments, and to have all in readiness. He intends to stay here,
some days, before returning to Tripataly."

"Will he come to this hotel?"

"No, lady, he will take the house he always has, when he is
here. It is kept for the use of our princes, when they come down to
Madras. He bade me say that he hopes you will remain here, for that
none of the rooms could be got ready, at such a short notice.

"He has not written, for he hates writing, which is a thing that
he has small occasion for. I was to tell you that his heart
rejoiced, at the thought of seeing you again, and that his love for
you is as warm as it was when you were a boy and girl
together."

"This is my son, Rajbullub. He has often heard me speak of
you."

"Yes, indeed," Dick said, warmly. "I heard how you saved her
from being bitten by a cobra, when she was a little girl."

"Ah! The young lord speaks our tongue," Rajbullub said, with
great pleasure. "We wondered whether you would have taught it to
him. If it had not been that you always wrote to my lord in our
language, we should have thought that you, yourself, would surely
have forgotten it, after dwelling so long among the white
sahibs."

"No, we always speak it when together, Rajbullub. I thought that
he might, some day, come out here, and that he would find it very
useful; and I, too, have been looking forward to returning, for a
time, to the home where I was born."

There were many questions to ask about her brother, his wife and
two sons. They were younger than Dick, for Mrs. Holland was three
years senior to the Rajah.

At last, she said, "I will not detain you longer, Rajbullub. I
know that you will have a great deal to do, to get ready for my
brother's coming. At what time will he arrive?"

"He hopes to be here by ten in the morning, before the heat of
the day sets in."

"I shall, of course, be there to meet him."

"So he hoped, lady. He said that he would have come straight
here, first, but he thought it would be more pleasant for you to
meet him in privacy."

"Assuredly it would," she agreed.

"I will bring a carriage for you, here, at nine o'clock; and
take you and my young lord to the Rajah's house."

At the appointed time, a handsome carriage and pair drove up to
the door of the hotel, and in ten minutes Mrs. Holland and Dick
alighted in the courtyard of a large house. Four native servants
were at the door, and the old officer led the way to a spacious
room. This was carpeted with handsome rugs. Soft cushions were
piled on the divan, running round the room, the divan itself being
covered with velvet and silk rugs. Looking glasses were ranged upon
the walls; a handsome chandelier hung from the roof; draperies of
gauze, lightly embroidered with gold, hung across the windows.

"Why, Rajbullub, you have done wonders--that is, if the house
was unfurnished, yesterday."

"It is simple," the Hindoo said. "My lord your brother, like
other rajahs who use the house when they come down here, has a room
upstairs; in which are kept, locked up, everything required for
furnishing the rooms he uses. Four of his servants came down here,
with me. We had but to call in sweepers, to clear the house from
dust and wash down the marble floors, and then everything was put
into its place. The cook, who also came down, has hired assistants,
and all will be ready for my lord, when he arrives."

In half an hour, one of the servants ran in, and announced that
the Rajah was in the courtyard. There was a great trampling of
hoofs, and a minute later he ascended the stairs, and was met by
his sister and Dick at the door of the room.

Mrs. Holland had attired herself handsomely, not so much for the
sake of her brother, but that, as his sister, those with him would
expect to see in her an English lady of position; and Dick thought
that he had never seen her looking so well as when, in a dress of
rich brocade, and with a flush of pleasure and expectation on her
cheeks, she advanced to the door. She was still but a little over
thirty-three years old, and although the long years of anxiety and
sorrow had left their traces on her face, the rest and quiet of the
sea voyage had done much to restore the fulness of her cheeks, and
to soften the outline of her figure.

The Rajah, a young and handsome-looking man of thirty, ascended
the stairs with an eagerness and speed that were somewhat at
variance with Dick's preconceived ideas of the stateliness of an
Eastern prince.

"My sister Margaret!" he exclaimed, in English, and embraced her
with a warmth that showed that his affection for her was unimpaired
by the years that had passed since he last saw her.

Then he stood with his hands on her shoulders, looking earnestly
at her.

"I know you again," he said. "You are changed, but I can recall
your face well. You are welcome, Margaret, most welcome.

"And this is my nephew?" he went on, turning to Dick, and
holding out both his hands to him. "You are taller than I
expected--well nigh as tall as I am. You are like your mother and
my mother; and you are bold and active and strong, she writes me.
My boys are longing to see you, and you will be most welcome at
Tripataly.

"I have almost forgotten my English, Margaret "--and, indeed, he
spoke with some difficulty, evidently choosing his words--"I should
quite have forgotten it, had not I often had occasion to speak it
with English officers. I see, by your letters, that you have not
forgotten our tongue."

"Not in the least, Mortiz. I have, for years, spoken nothing
else with Dick, and he speaks it as well as I do."

"That is good," the Rajah replied, in his own tongue, and in a
tone of relief. "I was wondering how he would get on with us.

"Now, let us sit down. We have so much to tell each other, and,
moreover, I am ravenous for breakfast, as I have ridden forty miles
since sunrise."

Breakfast was speedily served, the Rajah eating in English
fashion.

"I cling to some of our mother's ways, you see, Margaret. As I
have grown older, I have become more English than I was. Naturally,
as a boy of thirteen, as I was when you last saw me, I listened to
the talk of those around me, and was guided by their opinions a
good deal. Among them, there was a feeling of regret that our
father had married an English woman; and I, of course, was ever
trying my hardest to show that in riding, or the chase, or in
exercises of any kind, I was as worthy to be the son of an Indian
rajah as if I had no white blood in my veins.

"As I grew up, I became wiser. I saw how great the English were,
how steadily they extended their dominions, and how vastly better
off were our people, under their sway, than they were in the days
when every rajah made war against his neighbour, and the land never
had rest. Then I grew proud of my English blood, and although I am,
to my people, Rajah of Tripataly, a native prince and lord of their
destinies, keeping up the same state as my father, and ruling them
in native fashion, in my inner house I have adopted many English
ways.

"My wife has no rival in the zenana. I encourage her to go
about, as our mother did, to look after the affairs of the house,
to sit at table with me, and to be my companion, and not a mere
plaything. I am sure, Margaret, your stay with us will do her much
good, and she will learn a great deal from you."

"You have heard no news since you last wrote, Mortiz?"

A slight cloud passed across the Rajah's animated face.

"None, Margaret. We have little news from beyond the mountains.
Tippoo hates us, who are the friends of the English, as much as he
hates the English themselves, so there is little communication
between Mysore and the possessions of the Nabob of Arcot. We will
talk, later on, of the plans you wrote of in your last letter to
me."

"You do not think that they are hopeless, Mortiz?" Mrs. Holland
asked, anxiously.

"I would not say that they are hopeless," he said gently,
"although it seems to me that, after all these years, the chances
are slight, indeed, that your husband can be alive; and the peril
and danger of the enterprise that, so far as I understood you, you
intend your son to undertake, would be terrible, indeed."

"We see that, Mortiz. Dick and I have talked it over, a thousand
times. But so long as there is but a shadow of a chance of his
finding his father, he is ready to undertake the search. He is a
boy in years, but he has been trained for the undertaking, and
will, when the trial comes, bear himself as well as a man."

"Well, Margaret, I shall have plenty of opportunities for
forming my own judgment; because, of course, he will stay with us a
long time before he starts on the quest, and it will be better to
say no more of this, now.

"Now, tell me about London. Is it so much a greater city than
Madras?"

Mrs. Holland sighed. She saw, by his manner, that he was wholly
opposed to her plan, and although she was quite prepared for
opposition, she could not help feeling disappointed. However, she
perceived that, as he said, it would be better to drop the subject
for a time; and she accordingly put it aside, and answered his
questions.

"Madras is large--that is, it spreads over a wide extent; but if
it were packed with houses, as closely as they could stand, it
would not approach London in the number of its population."

"How is it that the English do not send more troops out here,
Margaret?"

"Because they can raise troops here, and English soldiers cannot
stand the heat as well as those born to it. Moreover, you must
remember that, at present, England is at war, not only with France
and half Europe, but also with America. She is also obliged to keep
an army in Ireland, which is greatly disaffected. With all this on
her hands, she cannot send a large army so far across the seas,
especially when her force here is sufficient for all that can be
required of it."

"That is true," he said. "It is wonderful what they have done
out here, with such small forces. But they will have harder work,
before they conquer all India--as I believe they will do--than they
have yet encountered. In spite of Tippoo's vauntings, they will
have Mysore before many years are over. The Sultan seems to have
forgotten the lesson they taught him, six or seven years back. But
the next time will be the last, and Tippoo, tiger as he is, will
meet the fate he seems bent on provoking.

"But beyond Mysore lies the Mahratta country, and the Mahrattis
alone can put thirty thousand horsemen into the field. They are not
like the people of Bengal, who have ever fallen, with scarce an
attempt at resistance, under the yoke of one tyrant after another.
The Mahrattis are a nation of warriors. They are plunderers, if you
will, but they are brave and fearless soldiers, and might, had they
been united, have had all India under their feet before the coming
of the English. That chance has slipped from them. But when we--I
say 'we' you see, Margaret--meet them, it will be a desperate
struggle, indeed."

"We shall thrash them, Uncle," Dick broke in. "You will see that
we shall beat them thoroughly."

The Rajah smiled at Dick's impetuosity.

"So you think English soldiers cannot be beaten, eh?"

"Well, Uncle, somehow they never do get beaten. I don't know how
it is. I suppose that it is just obstinacy. Look how we thrashed
the French here, and they were just as well drilled as our
soldiers, and there were twice as many of them."

The Rajah nodded.

"One secret of our success, Dick, is that the English get on
better with the natives here than the French do--I don't know why,
except what I have heard from people who went through the war. They
say that the French always seemed to look down on the natives, and
treated even powerful allies with a sort of haughtiness that
irritated them, and made them ready to change sides at the first
opportunity; while the British treated them pleasantly, so that
there was a real friendship between them."

Dick, finding that the conversation now turned to the time when
his mother and uncle were girl and boy together, left them and went
downstairs. He found some twenty horses ranged in the courtyard,
while their riders were sitting in the shade, several of them being
engaged in cooking. These were the escort who had ridden with the
Rajah from Tripataly--for no Indian prince would think of making a
journey, unless accompanied by a numerous retinue.

Scarcely had he entered the yard than Rajbullub came up, with
the officer in command of the escort, a fine-looking specimen of a
Hindoo soldier. He salaamed, as Rajbullub presented him to Dick.
The lad addressed him at once in his own tongue, and they were soon
talking freely together. The officer was surprised at finding that
his lord's nephew, from beyond the sea, was able to speak the
language like a native.

First, Dick asked the nature of the country, and the places at
which they would halt on their way. Then he inquired what force the
Rajah could put into the field, and was somewhat disappointed to
hear that he kept up but a hundred horsemen, including those who
served as an escort.

"You see, Sahib, there is no occasion for soldiers. Now that the
whites are the masters, they do the fighting for us. When the
Rajah's father was a young man, he could put two thousand men under
arms, and he joined at the siege of Trichinopoly with twelve
hundred. But now there is no longer need for an army. There is no
one to fight. Some of the young men grumble, but the old ones
rejoice at the change. Formerly, they had to go to the plough with
their spears and their swords beside them, because they never knew
when marauders from the hills might sweep down; besides, when there
was war, they might be called away for weeks, while the crops were
wasting upon the ground.

"As to the younger men who grumble, I say to them, 'If you are
tired of a peaceful life, go and enlist in a Company's regiment;'
and every year some of them do so.

"In other ways, the change is good. Now that the Rajah has no
longer to keep up an army, he is not obliged to squeeze the
cultivators. Therefore, they pay but a light rent for their lands,
and the Rajah is far better off than his father was; so that, on
all sides, there is content and prosperity. But, even now, the fear
of Mysore has not quite died out."

"My position, Margaret," the Rajah said, after Dick had left the
room, "is a very precarious one. When Hyder Ali marched down here,
eight years ago, he swept the whole country, from the foot of the
hills to the sea coast. My father would have been glad to stand
neutral, but was, of course, bound to go with the English, as the
Nabob of Arcot, his nominal sovereign, went with them. His
sympathies were, of course, with your people; but most of the
chiefs were, at heart, in favour of Hyder. It was not that they
loved him, or preferred the rule of Mysore to that of Madras. But
at that time Madras was governed by imbeciles. Its Council was
composed entirely of timid and irresolute men. It was clear to all
that, before any force capable of withstanding him could be put in
the field, the whole country, beyond reach of the guns of the forts
at Madras, would be at the mercy of Hyder.

"What that mercy was, had been shown elsewhere. Whole
populations had been either massacred, or carried off as slaves.
Therefore, when the storm was clearly about to burst, almost all of
them sent secret messages to Hyder, to assure him that their
sympathies were with him, and that they would gladly hail him as
ruler of the Carnatic.

"My father was in no way inclined to take such a step. His
marriage with an English woman, the white blood in my veins, and
his long-known partiality for the English, would have marked him
for certain destruction; and, as soon as he received news that
Hyder's troops were in movement, he rode with me to Madras. At that
time, his force was comparatively large, and he took three hundred
men down with us. He had allowed all who preferred it to remain
behind; and some four hundred stayed to look after their families.
Most of the population took to the hills and, as Hyder's forces
were too much occupied to spend time in scouring the ghauts in
search of fugitives, when there was so much loot and so many
captives ready to their hands on the plains, the fugitives for the
most part remained there in safety. The palace was burnt, the town
sacked and partly destroyed, and some fifteen hundred of our
people, who had remained in their homes, killed or carried off.

"My father did some service with our horse, and I fought by his
side. We were with Colonel Baillie's force when it was destroyed,
after for two days resisting the whole of Hyder All's army. Being
mounted, we escaped, and reached Madras in safety, after losing
half our number. But all that I can tell you about, some other
day.

"When peace was made and Hyder retired, we returned home,
rebuilt the palace, and restored the town. But if Tippoo follows
his father's example, and sweeps down from the hills, there will be
nothing for it but to fly again. Tippoo commanded one of the
divisions of Hyder's army, last time, and showed much skill and
energy; and has, since he came to the throne, been a scourge to his
neighbours in the north. So far as I can see, Madras will be found
as unprepared as it was last time; and although the chiefs of
Vellore, Arcot, Conjeveram, and other places may be better disposed
towards the English than they were before--for the Carnatic had a
terrible lesson last time--they will not dare to lift a finger
against him, until they see a large British force assembled.

"So you see, sister, your position will be a very precarious one
at Tripataly; and it is likely that, at any time, we may be obliged
to seek refuge here. The trouble may come soon, or it may not come
for a year; but, sooner or later, I regard it as certain that
Tippoo will strive to obtain what his father failed to gain--the
mastership of the Carnatic. Indeed, he makes no secret of his
intention to become lord of the whole of southern India. The Nizam,
his neighbour in the north, fears his power, and could offer but a
feeble resistance, were Tippoo once master of the south and west
coast. The Mahrattis can always be bought over, especially if there
is a prospect of plunder. He relies, too, upon aid from France; for
although the French, since the capture of Pondicherry, have
themselves lost all chance of obtaining India, they would gladly
aid in any enterprise that would bring about the fall of English
predominance here.

"There are, too, considerable bodies of French troops in the pay
of the Nizam, and these would, at any rate, force their master to
remain neutral in a struggle between the English and Tippoo.

"However, it will be quite unnecessary that you should resume
our garb, or that Dick should dress in the same fashion. Did I
intend to remain at Tripataly, I should not wish to draw the
attention of my neighbours to the fact that I had English relations
resident with me. Of course, every one knows that I am half English
myself, but that is an old story now. They would, however, be
reminded of it, and Tippoo would hear of it, and would use it as a
pretext for attacking and plundering us. But, as I have decided to
come down here, there is no reason why you should not dress in
European fashion."

"We would remain here, brother," Mrs. Holland said, "rather than
bring danger upon you. Dick could learn the ways of the country
here, as well as with you, and could start on his search without
going to Tripataly."

"Not at all, Margaret. Whether you are with me or not, I shall
have to leave Tripataly when Tippoo advances, and your presence
will not in any way affect my plans. My wife and sons must travel
with me, and one woman and boy, more or less, will make no
difference. At present, this scheme of yours seems to me to border
on madness. But we need not discuss that now. I shall, at any rate,
be very glad to have you both with me. The English side of me has
been altogether in the background, since you went away; and though
I keep up many of the customs our mother introduced, I have almost
forgotten the tongue, though I force myself to speak it, sometimes,
with my boys, as I am sure that, in the long run, the English will
become the sole masters of southern India, and it will be a great
advantage to them to speak the language.

"However, I have many other things to see about, and the
companionship of Dick will benefit them greatly. You know what it
always is out here. The sons of a rajah are spoilt, early, by every
one giving way to them, and their being allowed to do just as they
like. Naturally, they get into habits of indolence and self
indulgence, and never have occasion to exert themselves, or to
obtain the strength and activity that make our mother's countrymen
irresistible in battle. They have been taught to shoot and to ride,
but they know little else, and I am sure it will do them an immense
deal of good to have Dick with them, for a time.

"If nothing comes of this search for your husband, I hope you
will take up your residence, permanently, at Tripataly. You have
nothing to go back to England for, and Dick, with his knowledge of
both languages, should be able to find good employment in the
Company's service."

"Thank you greatly, brother. If, as you say, my quest should
come to nothing, I would gladly settle down in my old home. Dick's
inclinations, at present, turn to the sea, but I have no doubt that
what you say is true, and that there may be far more advantageous
openings for him out here. However, that is a matter for us to talk
over, in the future."

The Rajah stayed four days at Madras. Every morning the carriage
came at nine o'clock to fetch Mrs. Holland, who spent several hours
with her brother, and was then driven back to the hotel, while Dick
wandered about with Rajbullub through the native town, asking
questions innumerable, observing closely the different costumes and
turbans, and learning to know, at once, the district, trade, or
caste, from the colour or fashion of the turban, and other little
signs.

The shops were an endless source of amusement to him, and he
somewhat surprised his companion by his desire to learn the names
of all the little articles and trinkets, even of the various kinds
of grain. Dick, in fact, was continuing his preparations for his
work. He knew that ignorance of any trifling detail which would, as
a matter of course, be known to every native, would excite more
surprise and suspicion than would be caused by a serious blunder in
other matters; and he wrote down, in a notebook, every scrap of
information he obtained, so as to learn it by heart at his
leisure.

Rajbullub was much surprised at the lad's interest in all these
little matters, which, as it seemed to him, were not worth a
thought on the part of his lord's nephew.

"You will never have to buy these things, Sahib," he said. "Why
should you trouble about them?"

"I am going to be over here some time, Rajbullub, and it is just
as well to learn as much as one can. If I were to stroll into the
market in Tripataly, and had a fancy to buy any trifle, the country
people would laugh in my face, were I ignorant of its name."

His companion shook his head.

"They would not expect any white sahib to know such things," he
said. "If he wants to buy anything, the white sahib points to it
and asks, 'How much?' Then, whether it is a brass iota, or a silver
trinket, or a file, or a bunch of fruit, the native says a price
four times as much as he would ask anyone else. Then the sahib
offers him half, and after protesting many times that the sum is
impossible, the dealer accepts it, and both parties are well
satisfied.

"If you have seen anything that you want to buy, sahib, tell me,
and I will go and get it for you. Then you will not be
cheated."

The start for Tripataly was made at daybreak. Dick and his
mother drove, in an open carriage that had been hired for the
journey. The Rajah rode beside it, or cantered on ahead. His escort
followed the vehicle. The luggage had been sent off, two days
before, by cart.

The country as far as Arcot was flat, but everything was
interesting to Dick; and when they arrived at the city, where they
were to stop for the night at the house the Rajah had occupied on
his way down, he sallied out, as soon as their meal was over, to
inspect the fort and walls. He had, during his outward voyage,
eagerly studied the history of Clive's military exploits, and the
campaigns by which that portion of India had been wrested from the
French; and he was eager to visit the fort, whose memorable
defence, by Clive, had first turned the scale in favour of the
British. These had previously been regarded, by the natives, as a
far less warlike people than the French, who were expected to drive
them, in a very short time, out of the country.

Rajbullub was able to point out to him every spot associated
with the stirring events of that time.

"'Tis forty-six years back, and I was but a boy of twelve; but
six years later I was here, for our rajah was on the side of the
English, although Tripataly was, and is now, under the Nabob of
Arcot. But my lord had many causes of complaint against him, and
when he declared for the French, our lord, who was not then a
rajah, although chief of a considerable district, threw in his lot
with the English; and, when they triumphed, was appointed rajah by
them, and Tripataly was made almost wholly independent of the Nabob
of Arcot. At one time a force of our men was here, with four
companies of white troops, when it was thought that Dupleix was
likely to march against us; and I was with that force, and so
learned all about the fighting here."

The next day the party arrived, late in the evening, at
Tripataly. A large number of men, with torches, received them in
front of the palace; and, on entering, Mrs. Holland was warmly
received by the Rajah's wife, who carried her off at once to her
apartments, which she did not leave afterwards, as she was greatly
fatigued by the two long days of travel.

Dick, on the contrary, although he had dozed in the carriage for
the last two or three hours of the journey, woke up thoroughly as
they neared Tripataly. As soon as they entered the house, the Rajah
called his two sons, handsome, dark-faced lads of twelve and
thirteen.

"This is your cousin, boys," he said. "You must look after him,
and see that he has everything he wants, and make his stay as
pleasant as you can."

Although a little awed by the, to them, tall figure, they
evinced neither shyness or awkwardness, but, advancing to Dick,
held out their hands one after the other, with grave courtesy.
Their faces both brightened, as he said in their own language:

"I hope we shall be great friends, cousins. I am older and
bigger than you are, but everything is new and strange to me, and I
shall have to depend upon you to teach me everything."

"We did not think that you would be able to talk to us," the
elder, whose name was Doast Assud, said, smiling. "We have been
wondering how we should make you understand. Many of the white
officers, who come here sometimes, speak our language, but none of
them as well as you do."

"You see, they only learn it after they come out here, while I
learnt it from my mother, who has talked to me in it since I was
quite a little boy; so it comes as naturally to me as to you."

In a few minutes, supper was announced. The two boys sat down
with their father and Dick, and the meal was served in English
fashion. Dick had already become accustomed to the white-robed
servants, at the hotel at Madras, and everything seemed to him
pleasant and home-like.

"Tomorrow, Dick," his uncle said, "you must have your first
lesson in riding."

The two boys looked up in surprise. They had been accustomed to
horses from their earliest remembrance, and it seemed to them
incredible that their tall cousin should require to be taught. Dick
smiled at their look of astonishment.

"It is not, with us in England, as it is here," he said. "Boys
who live in the country learn to ride, but in London, which is a
very great town, with nothing but houses for miles and miles
everywhere, few people keep horses to ride. The streets are so
crowded, with vehicles of all sorts, and with people on foot, that
it is no pleasure to ride in them, and everyone who can afford it
goes about in a carriage. Those who cannot, go in hired vehicles,
or on foot. You would hardly see a person on horseback once in a
week."

"I do not like walking," Doast said gravely.

"Well, you see, you have no occasion to walk, as you always have
your horses. Besides, the weather here is very hot. But in England
it is colder, and walking is a pleasure. I have walked over twenty
miles a day, many times, not because I had to do it, but as a day's
pleasure with a friend."

"Can you shoot, cousin?"

"No," Dick laughed. "There is nothing to shoot at. There are no
wild beasts in England, and no game birds anywhere near
London."

Dick saw, at once, that he had descended many steps in his
cousins' estimation.

"Then what can you find to do?" the younger boy asked.

"Oh, there is plenty to do," Dick said. "In the first place,
there is school. That takes the best part of the day. Then there
are all sorts of games. Then I used to take lessons in sword
exercise, and did all sorts of things to improve my muscles, and to
make me strong. Then, on holidays, three or four of us would go for
a long walk, and sometimes we went out on the river in a boat; and
every morning, early, we used to go for a swim. Oh, I can tell you,
there was plenty to do, and I was busy from morning till night. But
I want very much to learn to shoot, both with gun and pistol, as
well as to ride."

"We have got English guns and pistols," Doast said. "We will
lend them to you. We have a place where we practise.

"Our father says everyone ought to be able to shoot--don't you,
Father?"

The Rajah nodded.

"Everyone out here ought to, Doast, because, you see, every man
here may be called upon to fight, and everyone carries arms. But it
is different in England. Nobody fights there, except those who go
into the army, and nobody carries weapons."

"What! Not swords, pistols, and daggers, Father?" Doast
exclaimed, in surprise; for to him it seemed that arms were as
necessary a part of attire as a turban, and much more necessary
than shoes. "But, when people are attacked by marauders, or two
chiefs quarrel with each other, what can they do if they have no
arms?"

"There are no marauders, and no chiefs," Dick laughed. "In the
old times, hundreds of years ago, there were nobles who could call
out all their tenants and retainers to fight their battles, and in
those days people carried swords, as they do here. There are nobles
still, but they have no longer any power to call out anyone, and if
they quarrel they have to go before a court for the matter to be
decided, just as everyone else does."

This seemed, to Doast, a very unsatisfactory state of things,
and he looked to his father for an explanation.

"It is as your cousin says, Doast. You have been down with me to
Madras, and you have seen that, except the officers in the army,
none of the Europeans carry arms. It is the same in England.
England is a great island, and as they have many ships of war, no
enemy can land there. There is one king over the whole country, and
there are written laws by which everyone, high and low alike, are
governed. So you see, no one has to carry arms. All disputes are
settled by the law, and there is peace everywhere; for as nothing
would be settled by fighting, and the law would punish any one,
however much in the right he might be, who fought, there is no
occasion at all for weapons. It is a good plan, for you see no one,
however rich, can tyrannise over others; and were the greatest
noble to kill the poorest peasant, the law would hang him, just the
same as it would hang a peasant who killed a lord.

"And now, boys, you had better be off to bed. Your cousin has
had a long day of it, and I have no doubt he will be glad to do so.
Tomorrow we will begin to teach him to ride and to shoot, and I
have no doubt that he will be ready, in return, to teach you a
great deal about his country."

The boys got up. But Doast paused to ask his father one last
question.

"But how is it, Father, if the English never carry weapons, and
never fight, that they are such brave soldiers? For have they not
conquered all our princes and rajahs, and have even beaten Tippoo
Sahib, and made him give them much of his country?"

"The answer would be a great deal too long to be given tonight,
Doast. You had better ask your cousin about it, in the
morning."

Chapter 4: First Impressions.

The next morning Dick was up early, eager to investigate the
palace, of which he had seen little the night before. The house was
large and handsome, the Rajah having added to it gradually, every
year. On passing the doors, the great hall was at once entered. Its
roof, of elaborately carved stones, was supported by two rows of
pillars with sculptured capitals. The floor was made of inlaid
marble, and at one end was raised a foot above the general level.
Here stood a stone chair, on which the Rajah sat when he
adjudicated upon disputes among his people, heard petitions, and
gave audiences; while a massive door on the left-hand side gave
entrance to the private apartments. These were all small, in
comparison with the entrance hall. The walls were lined with marble
slabs, richly carved, and were dimly lighted by windows, generally
high up in the walls, which were of great thickness. The marble
floors were covered with thick rugs, and each room had its divan,
with soft cushions and rich shawls and covers.

The room in which they had supped the night before was the only
exception. This had been specially furnished and decorated, in
English fashion. The windows here were low, and afforded a view
over the garden. Next to it were several apartments, all fitted
with divans, but with low windows and a bright outlook. They could
be darkened, during the heat of the day, by shutters. With the
exception of these windows, the others throughout the house
contained no glass, the light entering through innumerable holes
that formed a filigree work in the thin slabs of stone that filled
the orifices.

The grounds round the palace were thickly planted with trees,
which constituted a grove rather than a garden, according to Dick's
English notions. This was, indeed, the great object of the planter,
and numerous fountains added to the effect of the overhanging
foliage.

Dick wandered about, delighted. Early as it was, men with water
skins were at work among the clumps of flowers and shrubs, that
covered the ground wherever there was a break among the trees. Here
and there were small pavilions, whose roofs of sculptured stone
were supported by shafts of marble. The foliage of shrubs and trees
alike was new to Dick, and the whole scene delighted him. Half an
hour later, his two cousins joined him.

"We wondered what had become of you," Doast said, "and should
not have found you, if Rajbullub had not told us that he saw you
come out here.

"Come in, now. Coffee is ready. We always have coffee the first
thing, except in very hot weather, when we have fruit sherbet.
After that we ride or shoot till the sun gets hot, and then come in
to the morning meal, at ten."

On going in, Dick found that his mother and the ranee were both
up, and they all sat down to what Dick considered a breakfast,
consisting of coffee and a variety of fruit and bread. One or two
dishes of meat were also handed round, but were taken away
untouched.

"Now come out to the stables, Dick," the Rajah said. "Anwar, the
officer who commanded the escort, will meet us there. He will be
your instructor."

The stables were large. The horses were fastened to rings along
each side, and were not, as in England, separated from each other
by stalls. A small stone trough, with running water, was fixed
against each wall at a convenient height, and beneath this was a
pile of fodder before each horse.

"This is the one that I have chosen for you," the Rajah said,
stopping before a pretty creature, that possessed a considerable
proportion of Arab blood, as was shown by its small head. "It is
very gentle and well trained, and is very fast. When you have got
perfectly at ease upon it, you shall have something more difficult
to sit, until you are able to ride any horse in the stable, bare
backed. Murad is to be your own property, as long as you are out
here."

A syce led the horse out. It was bridled but unsaddled, and
Anwar gave a few instructions to Dick, and then said:

"I will help you up, but in a short time you will learn to vault
on to his back, without any assistance. See! you gather your reins
so, in your left hand, place your right hand on its shoulder, and
then spring up."

"I can do that now," Dick laughed, and, placing his hand on the
horse's shoulder, he lightly vaulted into his seat.

"Well done, Dick," the Rajah said, while the two boys, who had
been looking on with amused faces, clapped their hands.

"Now, Sahib," Anwar went on, "you must let your legs hang
easily. Press with your knees, and let your body sway slightly with
the movement of the horse. Balance yourself, rather than try to
hold on."

"I understand," Dick said. "It is just as you do on board ship,
when she is rolling a bit. Let go the reins."

For half an hour the horse proceeded, at a walk, along the road
that wound in and out through the park-like grounds.

"I begin to feel quite at home," Dick said, at the end of that
time. "I should like to go a bit faster now. It is no odds if I do
tumble off."

"Shake your rein a little. The horse will understand it," Anwar
said.

Dick did so, and Murad at once started at a gentle canter. Easy
as it was, Dick thought several times that he would be off.
However, he gripped as tightly as he could with his knees, and as
he became accustomed to the motion, and learned to give to it,
acquired ease and confidence. He was not, however, sorry when, at
the end of another half hour, Anwar held up his hand as he
approached him, and the horse stopped at the slightest touch of the
rein.

As he slid off, his legs felt as if they did not belong to him,
and his back ached so that he could scarce straighten it. The Rajah
and his sons had returned to the palace, and the boys were there
waiting for him.

"You have done very well, cousin," Doast said, with grave
approval. "You will not be long before you can ride as well as we
can. Now you had better go up at once and have a bath, and put on
fresh clothes."

Dick felt that the advice was good, as, bathed in perspiration,
and stiff and sore in every limb, he slowly made his way to his
room.

For the next month, he spent the greater part of his time on
horseback. For the first week he rode only in the grounds of the
palace; then he ventured beyond, accompanied by Anwar on horseback;
then his two cousins joined the party; and, by the end of the
month, he was perfectly at home on Murad's back.

So far, he had not begun to practise shooting.

"It would be of no use," the Rajah said, when he one day spoke
of it. "You want your nerves in good order for that, and it
requires an old horseman to have his hand steady enough for
shooting straight, after a hard ride. Your rides are not severe for
a horseman, but they are trying for you. Leave the shooting alone,
lad. There is no hurry for it."

By this time, the Rajah had become convinced that it was useless
to try and dissuade either his sister or Dick from attempting the
enterprise for which they had come over. Possibly, the earnest
conviction of the former that her husband was still alive
influenced him to some extent, and the strength and activity of
Dick showed him that he was able to play the part of a man. He said
little, but watched the boy closely, made him go through trials of
strength with some of his troopers, and saw him practise with
blunted swords with others. Dick did well in both trials, and the
Rajah then requested Anwar, who was celebrated for his skill with
the tulwar, to give him, daily, half-an-hour's sword play, after
his riding lesson. He himself undertook to teach him to use the
rifle and pistol.

Dick threw himself into his work with great ardour, and in a
very short time could sit any horse in the stable, and came to use
a rifle and pistol with an amount of accuracy that surprised his
young cousins.

"The boy is getting on wonderfully well," the Rajah said one day
to his sister. "His exercises have given him so much nerve, and so
steady a hand, that he already shoots very fairly. I should expect
him to grow up into a fine man, Margaret, were it not that I have
the gravest fears as to this mad enterprise, which I cannot help
telling you, both for your good and his, is, in my opinion,
absolutely hopeless."

"I know, Mortiz," she said, "that you think it is folly, on my
part, to cling to hope; and while I do not disguise from myself
that there would seem but small chance that my husband has
survived, and that I can give no reason for my faith in his still
being alive, and my confidence that he will be restored to me some
day, I have so firm a conviction that nothing will shake it. Why
should I have such a confidence, if it were not well founded? In my
dreams, I always see him alive, and I believe firmly that I dream
of him so often, because he is thinking of me.

"When he was at sea, several times I felt disturbed and anxious,
though without any reason for doing so; and each time, on his
return, I found, when we compared dates, that his ship was battling
with a tempest at the time I was so troubled about him. I remember
that, the first time this happened, he laughed at me; but when,
upon two other occasions, it turned out so, he said:

"'There are things we do not understand, Margaret. You know
that, in Scotland, there are many who believe in second sight, as
it is called; and that there are families there, and they say in
Ireland, also, where a sort of warning is given of the death of a
member of the family. We sailors are a superstitious people, and
believe in things that landsmen laugh at. It does not seem to me
impossible that, when two people love each other dearly, as we do,
one may feel when the other is in danger, or may be conscious of
his death. It may be said that such things seldom happen; but that
is no proof that they never do so, for some people may be more
sensitive to such feelings or impressions than others, and you may
be one of them.

"'There is one thing, Margaret. The fact that you have somehow
felt when I was in trouble should cheer you, when I am away, for if
mere danger should so affect you, surely you will know should death
befall me; and as long as you do not feel that, you may be sure
that I shall return safe and sound to you.'

"Now, I believe that firmly. I was once troubled--so troubled,
that, for two or three days, I was ill--and so convinced was I that
something had happened to Jack, and yet that he was not dead, that
when, nigh two years afterwards, Ben came home, and I learned that
it was on the day of the wreck of his ship that I had so suffered,
I was not in the least surprised. Since then, I have more than once
had the same feelings, and have always been sure that, at the time,
Jack was in special danger; but I have never once felt that he was
dead, never once thought so, and am as certain that he is still
alive as if I saw him sitting in the chair opposite to me, for I
firmly believe that, did he die, I should see his spirit, or that,
at any rate, I should know for certain that he had gone.

"So whatever you say, though reason may be altogether on your
side, it will not shake my confidence, one bit. I know that Jack is
alive, and I believe firmly, although of this I am not absolutely
sure, that he will, someday, be restored to me."

"You did not tell me this before, Margaret," the Rajah said,
"and what you say goes for much, with me. Here in India there are
many who, as is said, possess this power that you call second
sight. Certainly, some of the Fakirs do. I have heard many tales of
warnings they have given, and these have always come true. I will
not try, in future, to damp your confidence; and will hope, with
you, that your husband may yet be restored to you."

One evening, Dick remarked:

"You said down at Madras, Uncle, that you would, someday, tell
me about the invasion by Hyder Ali. Will you tell me about it,
now?"

The Rajah nodded. His sons took their seats at his feet, and
Dick curled himself up on the divan, by his side.

"You must know," the Rajah began, "that the war was really the
result of the intrigues of Sir Thomas Rumbold, the governor of
Madras, and his council. In the first place, they had seriously
angered the Nizam. The latter had taken a French force into his
service, which the English had compelled Basult Jung to dismiss;
and Madras sent an officer to his court, with instructions to
remonstrate with him for so doing. At the same time, they gave him
notice that they should no longer pay to him the tribute they had
agreed upon, for the territory called the Northern Circars. This
would have led to war, but the Bengal government promptly
interfered, cancelled altogether the demands made by the Madras
government, and for the time patched up the quarrel. The Nizam
professed to be satisfied, but he saw that trouble might arise when
the English were more prepared to enforce their demands. He
therefore entered into negotiations with Hyder Ali and the
Mahrattis for an alliance, whose object was the entire expulsion of
the British from India.

"The Mahrattis from Poonah were to operate against Bombay; those
in Central India and the north were to make incursions into Bengal;
the Nizam was to invade the Northern Circars; and Hyder was to
direct his force against Madras. Hyder at once began to collect
military stores, and obtained large quantities from the French at
Mahe, a town they still retain, on the Malabar coast.

"The Madras government prepared to attack Mahe, when Hyder
informed them that the settlements of the Dutch, French, and
English on the Malabar coast, being situated within his territory,
were equally entitled to his protection; and that, if Mahe were
attacked, he should retaliate by an incursion into the province of
Arcot. In spite of this threat, Mahe was captured. Hyder for a time
remained quiet, but the Madras government gave him fresh cause for
offence by sending a force, in August, 1779, to the assistance of
Basult Jung at Adoni.

"To get there, this detachment had to pursue a route which led,
for two hundred miles, through the most difficult passes, and
through the territories both of the Nizam and Hyder. The Council
altogether ignored the expressed determination, of both these
princes, to oppose the march, and did not even observe the civility
of informing them that they were going to send troops through their
territory.

"I do not say, Dick, that this made any real difference, in the
end. The alliance between the three native Powers being made, it
was certain that war would break out shortly. Still, had it not
been for their folly, in giving Hyder and the Nizam a reasonable
excuse for entering upon hostilities, it might have been deferred
until the Madras government was better prepared to meet the
storm.

"The Bengal government, fortunately, again stepped in and undid
at least a part of the evil. It took the entire management of
affairs out of the hands of Rumbold's council; and its action was
confirmed by the Board of Directors, who censured all the
proceedings, dismissed Sir Thomas Rumbold and his two chief
associates from the Council, and suspended other members.

"The prompt and conciliatory measures, taken by the Bengal
government, appeased the resentment felt by the Nizam, and induced
him to withdraw from the Confederacy. Hyder, however, was bent upon
war, and the imbecile government here took no steps, whatever, to
meet the storm. The commissariat was entirely neglected, they had
no transport train whatever, and the most important posts were left
without a garrison.

"It was towards the end of June that we received the news that
Hyder had left his capital at the head of an army of ninety
thousand men, of whom twenty-eight thousand were cavalry. He
attempted no disguise as to his object, and moved, confident in his
power, to conquer the Carnatic and drive the English into the
sea.

"My father had already made his preparations. Everything was in
readiness, and as soon as the news reached him, he started for
Madras, under the guard of his escort, with my mother and myself,
most of the traders of the town, and the landowners, who had
gathered here in fear and trembling.

"It was a painful scene, as you may imagine, and I shall never
forget the terrified crowds in the streets, and the wailing of the
women. Many families who then left reached Madras in safety, but of
those who remained in the town, all are dead, or prisoners beyond
the hills. Hyder descended through the pass of Changama on the 20th
of July, and his horsemen spread out like a cloud over the country,
burning, devastating, and slaughtering. Hyder moved with the main
army slowly, occupying town after town, and placing garrisons in
them.

"You must not suppose that he devastated the whole country. He
was too wise for that. He anticipated reigning over it as its
sovereign, and had no wish to injure its prosperity. It was only
over tracts where he considered that devastation would hamper the
movements of an English army, that everything was laid waste.

"On the 21st of August he invested Arcot, and a week later,
hearing that the British army had moved out from Madras, he broke
up the siege and advanced to meet them. Sir Hector Munro, the
British general, was no doubt brave, but he committed a terrible
blunder. Instead of marching to combine his force with that of
Colonel Baillie, who was coming down from Guntoor, he marched in
the opposite direction to Conjeveram, sending word to Colonel
Baillie to follow him. Baillie's force amounted to over two
thousand eight hundred men, Munro's to five thousand two hundred.
Had they united, the force would have exceeded eight thousand, and
could have given battle to Hyder's immense army with fair hope of
success. The English have won, before now, with greater odds
against them.

"My father had marched out with his cavalry, one hundred and
fifty strong, with Munro. Of course, I was with him, and it was to
him that the English general gave the despatch to carry to Colonel
Baillie. We rode hard, for at any moment Hyder's cavalry might
swoop down and bar the road; but we got through safely, and the
next morning, the 24th, Baillie started.

"The encampment was within twenty-five miles of Madras, and with
one long forced march, we could have effected a junction with
Munro. The heat was tremendous, and Baillie halted that night on
the bank of the River Cortelour. The bed was dry, and my father
urged him to cross before halting. The colonel replied that the men
were too exhausted to move farther, and that, as he would the next
day be able to join Munro, it mattered not on which side of the
river he encamped.

"That night the river rose, and for ten days we were unable to
cross. On the 4th of September we got over; but by that time
Tippoo, with five thousand picked infantry, six thousand horse, six
heavy guns, and a large body of irregulars, detached by Hyder to
watch us, barred the way.

"Colonel Baillie, finding that there was no possibility of
reaching Conjeveram without fighting, took up a position at a
village, and on the 6th was attacked by Tippoo. The action lasted
three hours, and although the enemy were four times more numerous
than we were, the English beat off the attacks. We were not
engaged, for against Tippoo's large cavalry force our few horsemen
could do nothing, and were therefore forced to remain in the rear
of the British line. But though Colonel Baillie had beaten off the
attacks made on him, he felt that he was not strong enough to fight
his way to Conjeveram, which was but fourteen miles distant; and he
therefore wrote to Sir Hector Munro, to come to his assistance.

"For three days Sir Hector did nothing, but on the evening of
the 8th he sent off a force, composed of the flank companies of the
regiments with him. These managed to make their way past the forces
both of Hyder and Tippoo, and reached us without having to fire a
shot.

"Their arrival brought our force up to over three thousand seven
hundred men. Had Munro made a feigned attack upon Hyder, and so
prevented him from moving to reinforce Tippoo, we could have got
through without much difficulty. But he did nothing; and Hyder,
seeing the utter incapacity of the man opposed to him, moved off
with his whole army and guns to join his son.

"Our force set out as soon as it was dark, on the evening of the
9th; but the moment we started, we were harassed by the enemy's
irregulars. The march was continued for five or six miles, our
position becoming more and more serious, and at last Colonel
Baillie took the fatal resolution of halting till morning, instead
of taking advantage of the darkness to press forward. At daybreak,
fifty guns opened on us. Our ten field pieces returned the fire,
until our ammunition was exhausted. No orders were issued by the
colonel, who had completely lost his head; so that our men were
mowed down by hundreds, until at last the enemy poured down and
slaughtered them relentlessly.

"We did not see the end of the conflict. When the colonel gave
the orders to halt, my father said to me:

"'This foolish officer will sacrifice all our lives. Does he
think that three thousand men can withstand one hundred thousand,
with a great number of guns? We will go while we can. We can do no
good here.'

"We mounted our horses and rode off. In the darkness, we came
suddenly upon a body of Tippoo's horsemen, but dashed straight at
them and cut our way through, but with the loss of half our force,
and did not draw rein until we reached Madras.

"The roar of battle had been heard at Conjeveram, and the fury
and indignation in the camp, at the desertion of Colonel Baillie's
detachment, was so great that the general at last gave orders to
march to their assistance. When his force arrived within two miles
of the scene of conflict, the cessation of fire showed that it was
too late, and that Baillie's force was well-nigh annihilated. Munro
retired to Conjeveram, and at three o'clock the next morning
retreated, with the loss of all his heavy guns and stores, to
Madras.

"The campaign only lasted twenty-one days, and was marked by
almost incredible stupidity and incapacity on the part of the two
English commanders. We remained at Madras. My father determined
that he would take no more share in the fighting until some English
general, possessing the courage and ability that had always before
distinguished them, took the command. In the meantime, Hyder
surrounded and captured Arcot, after six weeks' delay, and then
laid siege to Amboor, Chingleput, and Wandiwash.

"In November Sir Eyre Coote arrived from England and took the
command. Confidence was at once restored, for he was a fine old
soldier, and had been engaged in every struggle in India from the
time of Clive; but with the whole country in the hands of Hyder, it
was impossible to obtain draft animals or carts, and it was not
until the middle of January that he was able to move. On the 19th
he reached Chingleput, and on the 20th sent off a thousand men to
obtain possession of the fort of Carangooly. It was a strong place,
and the works had been added to by Hyder, who had placed there a
garrison of seven hundred men. The detachment would not have been
sent against it, had not news been obtained, on the way, that the
garrison had fallen back to Chingleput.

"Our troop of cavalry went with the detachment, as my father
knew the country well. To the surprise of Captain Davis, who was in
command, we found the garrison on the walls.

"'What do you think, Rajah?' Captain Davis, who was riding by
his side, asked. 'My orders were that I was to take possession of
the place, but it was supposed that I should find it empty.'

"'I should say that you had better try, with or without orders,'
my father replied. 'The annihilation of Baillie's force, and the
miserable retreat of Munro, have made a terribly bad impression
through the country, and a success is sorely needed to raise the
spirits of our friends.'

"'We will do it,' Captain Davis said, and called up a few
English engineers, and a company of white troops he had with him,
and ordered them to blow in the gate.

"My father volunteered to follow close behind them, with his
dismounted cavalry, and, when the word was given, forward we went.
It was hot work, I can tell you. The enemy's guns swept the road,
and their musketry kept up an incessant roar. Many fell, but we
kept on until close to the gate, and then the white troops opened
fire upon Hyder's men on the walls, so as to cover the sappers, who
were fixing the powder bags.

"They soon ran back to us. There was a great explosion, and the
gates fell. With loud shouts we rushed forward into the fort; and
close behind us came the Sepoys, led by Captain Davis.

"It took some sharp fighting before we overcame the resistance
of the garrison, who fought desperately, knowing well enough that,
after the massacre of Baillie's force, little quarter would be
given them. The British loss was considerable, and twenty of my
father's little company were among the killed. Great stores of
provisions were found here, and proved most useful to the army.

"The news, of the capture of Carangooly, so alarmed the
besiegers of Wandiwash that they at once raised the siege, and
retreated; and, on the following day, Sir Eyre Coote and his force
arrived there. It was a curious thing that, on the same day of the
same month, Sir Eyre Coote had, twenty-one years before, raised the
siege of Wandiwash by a victory over the army that was covering the
operation. Wandiwash had been nobly defended by a young lieutenant
named Flint, who had made his way in through the enemy's lines, a
few hours before the treacherous native officer in command had
arranged with Hyder to surrender it, and, taking command, had
repulsed every attack, and had even made a sortie.

"There was now a long pause. Having no commissariat train, Sir
Eyre Coote was forced to make for the seashore, and, though hotly
followed by Hyder, reached Cuddalore. A French fleet off the coast,
however, prevented provisions being sent to him, and, even after
the French had retired, the Madras government were so dilatory in
forwarding supplies that the army was reduced to the verge of
starvation.

"It was not until the middle of June that a movement was
possible, owing to the want of carriage. The country inland had
been swept bare by Hyder, and, on leaving Cuddalore, Sir Eyre Coote
was obliged to follow the seacoast. When he arrived at Porto Novo,
the army was delighted to find a British fleet there, and scarcely
less pleased to hear that Lord Macartney had arrived as governor of
Madras.

1, 2, 3.	The enemy's masked batteries, placed to oppose our march to Cuddalore.
4, 5.	First and second positions of the English advancing.
6.	First English line during the cannondade.
7.	Second English line during the cannondade.
8.	A chain of Hyder's irregular horse posted as a decoy to the masked batteries.
9.	First position of the Mysoreans.
10.	Second position of Hyder's infantry, over whom his guns fired from the sand banks.
11.	Position of Hyder's horse during the cannonade.
12.	Attempt by Hyder's grenadiers to gain the hill.
13.	Attempt by Kiram Sahib to charge our line, where he and most of the party were killed.
14.	Hyder's station during the action.
15.	An armed ship firing upon the enemy.
16.	English camp after the battle.

"Hyder's army had taken up a strong position, between the camp
and Cuddalore, and Sir Eyre Coote determined to give him battle.
Four days' rice was landed from the fleet, and with this scanty
supply in their knapsacks, the troops marched out to attack Hyder.
We formed part of the baggage guard and had, therefore, an
excellent opportunity of seeing the fight. The march was by the
sea. The infantry moved in order of battle, in two lines. After
going for some distance, we could see the enemy's position plainly.
It was a very strong one. On its right was high ground, on which
were numerous batteries, which would take us in flank as we
advanced, and their line extended from these heights to the sand
hills by the shore.

"They had thrown up several batteries, and might, for aught we
knew, have many guns hidden on the high ground on either flank. An
hour was spent in reconnoitring the enemy's position, during which
they kept up an incessant cannonade, to which the English field
guns attempted no reply. To me, and the officers of this troop, it
seemed impossible that any force could advance to the attack of
Hyder's position without being literally swept away by the
crossfire that would be opened upon it; but when I expressed my
fears, my father said:

"'No; you will see no repetition of that terrible affair with
Baillie's column. The English have now got a commander who knows
his business, and when that is the case, there is never any fear as
to what the result will be. I grant that the lookout seems
desperate. Hyder has all the advantage of a very strong position, a
very powerful artillery, and has six or seven to one in point of
numbers; but for all that, I firmly believe that, before night, you
will see us in possession of those hills, and Hyder's army in full
flight.'

"Presently, we saw a movement. The two lines of infantry formed
into columns, and instead of advancing towards Hyder's position,
turned down towards the sea, and marched along between it and the
sand hills. We were at the same time set in motion, and kept along
between the infantry and the sea, so as to be under their
protection, if Hyder's cavalry should sweep down. All his
preparations had been made under the supposition that we should
advance by the main road to Cuddalore, and this movement entirely
disconcerted his plans. The sand hills completely protected our
advancing columns, and when they had reached a point almost in line
with Hyder's centre, the artillery dashed up to the crest of the
hills, and the first column passed through a break in them, and
moved forward against the enemy, the guns above clearing a way for
them.

"A short halt was made, until the artillery of the second line
came up, and also took their position on the hill. Then the first
column, with its guns, moved forward again.

"Hyder had, in the meantime, moved back his line and batteries
into a position at right angles to that they had before occupied,
and facing the passage through the sand hills by which the English
were advancing. As soon as the column issued from the valley, a
tremendous fire was poured upon it, but it again formed into line
of battle, and, covered by the fire of the artillery, moved
forward.

"It was a grand sight. My father and I had left the baggage,
which remained by the sea, and had ridden up on to a sand hill,
from which we had a view of the whole of the battleground. It was
astonishing to see the line of English infantry advancing, under
that tremendous fire, against the rising ground occupied by the
dense masses of the enemy.

"Presently there was a movement opposite, and a vast body of
cavalry moved down the slope. As they came the red English line
suddenly broke up, and, as if by magic, a number of small squares,
surrounded by glistening bayonets, appeared where it had stood.

"Down rode Hyder's cavalry. Every gun on our side was turned
upon them. But though we could see the confusion in the ranks,
caused by the shot that swept them, they kept on. It seemed that
the little red patches must be altogether overwhelmed by the
advancing wave. But as it came closer, flashes of fire spurted out
from the faces of the squares. We could see the horses recoil when
close to the bayonets, and then the stream poured through the
intervals between the squares. As they did so, crackling volleys
broke out, while from the batteries on the sand hills an incessant
fire was kept up upon them. Then, following the volleys, came the
incessant rattle of musketry. The confusion among the cavalry grew
greater and greater. Regiments were mixed up together, and their
very numbers impeded their action. Many gallant fellows, detaching
themselves from the mass, rode bravely at the squares, and died on
the bayonets; others huddled together, confused and helpless
against the storm of bullets and shot; and at last, as if with a
sudden impulse, they rode off in all directions, and, sweeping
round, regained their position in the rear of their infantry, while
loud cheers broke from our side.

"The squares again fell into line, which, advancing steadily,
drove Hyder's infantry before it. As this was going on, a strong
force of infantry and cavalry, with guns, was moved round by Hyder
to fall on the British rear. These, however, were met by the second
line, which had hitherto remained in reserve, and after fierce
fighting were driven back along the sand hills. But, as they were
retiring, the main body of Hyder's cavalry moved round to support
the attack. Fortunately a British schooner, which had sailed from
Porto Novo when the troops started, had anchored near the shore to
give what protection she could to the baggage, and now opened fire
with her guns upon the cavalry, as they rode along between the sand
hills and the sea; and with such effect that they halted and
wavered; and when two of the batteries on the sand hills also
opened fire upon them, they fell back in haste.

"This was Hyder's last effort. The British line continued to
advance, until it had gained all the positions occupied by the
enemy, and these were soon in headlong flight; Hyder himself, who
had been almost forced by his attendants to leave the ground, being
with them. It was a wonderful victory. The English numbered but
8,476 men, of whom 306 were killed or wounded. Hyder's force was
about 65,000, and his loss was not less than 10,000.

"The victory had an immense effect in restoring the confidence
of the English troops, which had been greatly shaken by the
misfortunes caused by the incapacity of Munro and Baillie. But it
had no other consequences, for want of carriage, and a deficiency
of provisions and equipment, prevented Sir Eyre Coote from taking
the offensive, and he was obliged to confine himself to capturing a
few forts near the coast.

"On the 27th of August the armies met again, Hyder having chosen
the scene of his victory over Baillie's force to give battle,
believing the position to be a fortunate one for himself. Hyder had
now been joined by Tippoo, who had not been present at the last
battle, and his force numbered 80,000 men, while the English were
11,000 strong.

"I did not see the battle, as we were, at the time, occupied in
escorting a convoy of provisions from Madras. The fight was much
better contested than the previous battle had been. Hyder was well
acquainted with the ground, and made skilful use of his
opportunities, by fortifying all the points at which he could be
attacked. The fight lasted eight hours. At last Sir Eyre Coote's
first division turned the enemy's left flank, by the capture of the
village of Pillalore; while his second turned their right, and
Hyder was obliged to fall back. But this was done in good order,
and the enemy claimed that it was a drawn battle. This, however,
was not the case, as the English, at night, encamped on the
position occupied by Hyder in the morning.

"Still, the scandalous mismanagement at Madras continued to
cripple us. But, learning from the commandant at Vellore that,
unless he were relieved, he would be driven to surrender for want
of provisions, Sir Eyre Coote marched to his help. He met the enemy
on the way. Hyder was taken by surprise, and was moving off when
the English arrived. In order to give his infantry time to march
away, he hurled the whole of his cavalry against the English. Again
and again they charged down, with the greatest bravery, and
although the batteries swept their ranks with grape, and the
squares received them with deadly volleys, they persevered until
Tippoo had carried off his infantry and guns; and then, having lost
five thousand men, followed him. The English then moved on towards
Vellore. Hyder avoided another encounter, and Vellore was relieved.
Sir Eyre Coote handed over, to its commandant, almost the whole of
the provisions carried by the army, and, having thus supplied the
garrison with sufficient food for six weeks, marched back to
Madras, his troops suffering greatly from famine on the way.

"Nothing took place during the winter, except that Sir Eyre
Coote again advanced and revictualled Vellore. In March a French
fleet arrived off the coast, landed a force of three thousand men
to assist Hyder, and informed him that a much larger division was
on its way. Fortunately, this did not arrive, many of the ships
being captured by the English on their way out. In the course of
the year there were several fights, but none of any consequence,
and things remained in the same state until the end of the year,
when, on the 7th of December, Hyder died, and Tippoo was proclaimed
his successor.

"Bussy arrived with fresh reinforcements from France in April,
and took the command of Hyder's French contingent, and in June
there was a battle between him and a force commanded by General
Stuart, the successor to Sir Eyre Coote, who had been obliged to
resign from ill health, and who had died in the spring.

"The French position was a very strong one, and was protected by
numerous field works. The battle was the most sanguinary fought
during the war, considering the numbers engaged. The English
carried a portion of the works, and captured fourteen guns, and, as
the French retired during the night, were able to claim a victory.
Their loss, however, was over a thousand, while that of the French
was not more than a third of that number.

"During that year there was little fighting down here. A Bombay
force, however, under the command of General Matthews, captured
Bednore; but Tippoo hastened against him with a great force,
besieged Bednore, and forced it to surrender, after a desperate
defence. Tippoo violated the terms of capitulation, and made the
defenders prisoners. Bangalore was next besieged by him, but
resisted for nearly nine months, and only surrendered in January,
1784.

"Tippoo had, by this time, lost the services of his French
auxiliaries, as England and France had made peace at home.
Negotiations between Tippoo and the English went on till March,
when a treaty was signed. By its provisions, Tippoo should have
handed back all his prisoners. He murdered large numbers of them,
but 1000 British soldiers, and 1600 Sepoys obtained their liberty.
No one knows how many were retained of the number, calculated at
200,000, of natives carried off from the countries overrun by
Hyder's troops. Only 2000 were released.

"More British would doubtless have been freed, had it not been
for the scandalous cowardice of the three men sent up, as British
commissioners, to Tippoo. They were treated with the greatest
insult and contempt by him, and, in fear of their lives, were too
glad to accept the prisoners he chose to hand over, without
troubling themselves in the slightest about the rest, whom they
basely deserted and left to their fate."

Chapter 5: War Declared.

"That gives you a general idea, Dick, of the war with Tippoo. I
saw little of the events after the battle of Porto Novo, as my
father was taken ill soon after, and died at Madras. Seeing that
there was no probability, whatever, of the English driving Hyder
back, until they had much larger forces and a much better system of
management, I remained in Madras until peace was made; then I came
back here, rebuilt the palace, and have since been occupied in
trying to restore the prosperity of my poor people.

"It is, I feel, a useless task, for it is certain that, ere
long, the English will again be engaged with Mysore; and if they
are, it is well-nigh certain that Tippoo's hordes will again sweep
down from the hills, and carry ruin and desolation everywhere.

"He would, as Hyder had, have the advantage on his side at the
beginning of the war. He has a score of passes to choose from, and
can descend on to the plain by any one he may select. And, even
were there a force here capable of giving battle to the whole
Mysorean army, it could not watch all the passes, as to do so the
army would have to be broken up into a dozen commands. Tippoo will
therefore again be able to ravage the plains, for weeks, perhaps,
before the English can force him to give battle.

"But there is no army, at present, in existence of sufficient
strength to meet him. The Madras force would have to wait until
reinforcements arrived from Calcutta. It was bad before, but it
will be worse, now. Hyder, no doubt, slaughtered many, but he was
not cruel by nature. He carried off enormous quantities of people,
with their flocks and herds, but he did this to enrich Mysore with
their labour, and did not treat them with unnecessary cruelty.

"Tippoo, on the other hand, is a human tiger. He delights in
torturing his victims, and slays his prisoners from pure love of
bloodshed. He is proud of the title of 'Tiger.' His footstool is a
tiger's head, and the uniforms of his infantry are a sort of
imitation of a tiger's stripes. He has military talent, and showed
great judgment in command of his division--indeed, most of the
successes gained during the last war were his work. Since then, he
has laboured incessantly to improve his army. Numbers of regiments
have been raised, composed of the captives carried off from here
and from the west coast. They are drilled, in European fashion, by
the English captives he still holds in his hands."

"But why, Uncle, instead of giving time to Tippoo to come down
here, should we not march up the passes, and compel him to keep his
army up there to defend Seringapatam?"

"Because, Dick, in the first place, there is not an army strong
enough to do so; but even were there a force of fifty thousand men
at Madras, they could not take the offensive in time. An English
army cannot move without a great train to carry ammunition, stores
and provisions; and to get such a train together would be the work
of months. As I have been telling you, during the three years the
last war lasted, the Madras authorities were never able to collect
such a train, and the consequence was that their army was unable to
go more than two or three days' march from the city.

"On the other hand, Tippoo could, any day, order that three
days' supply of rice or grain should be served out to each soldier,
and could set out on his march the following morning; as, from the
moment he reached the plains, his cavalry would have the whole of
the resources of the country at their mercy."

"I see, Uncle. Then, if war broke out, you would at once go to
Madras again?"

"There would be nothing else to do, Dick. I should send
everything of value down there, as soon as I saw that war was
inevitable. The traders here have already begun to prepare. The
shops are half empty, for they have not replaced goods they have
sold, and a very few hours would suffice for everything worth
taking to be cleared out of the town. The country round here is
comparatively uninhabited, and but a small portion of it tilled, so
great was the number carried off by Hyder. Next time they will take
to the hills at once, and I believe that many have already stored
up grain in hiding places there. This time it may be hoped that a
few weeks, or months at most, may see Tippoo driven back, and for
that time the peasants can manage to exist in the hills. No doubt
the richer sort, who have large flocks of goats, and many cattle,
will, as soon as danger threatens, drive them down to Madras, where
they are sure to fetch good prices for the use of the army.

"I have already told all men who have bullock carts and teams,
that they can, if forced to leave home, earn a good living by
taking service in the English transport train. I hope, therefore,
that the results will not be so disastrous as before. The town may
be burnt down again, but unless they blow up my palace, they can do
little harm to it. When I rebuilt it, seeing the possibility of
another war, I would not have any wood whatever used in its
construction. Therefore, when the hangings are taken down, and the
furniture from these rooms cleared out, there will be nothing to
burn, and they are not likely to waste powder in blowing it up.

"As to the town, I warned the people who returned that it might
be again destroyed before long, and therefore there has been no
solid building. The houses have all been lightly run up with wood,
which is plentiful enough in the hills, and no great harm,
therefore, will be done if it is again burnt down. The pagoda and
palace are the only stone buildings in it. They did some harm to
the former, last time, by firing shot at it for a day or two; and,
as you can see for yourself, no attempt has since been made to
repair it, and I do not suppose they will trouble to damage it
further.

"So you see, Dick, we are prepared for the worst."

"Will you fight again, as you did last time, Uncle?"

"I do not know, Dick. I show my loyalty to the English rule by
repairing to the capital; but my force is too small to render much
service. You see, my revenues have greatly diminished, and I cannot
afford to keep up so large a force as my father could. Fortunately,
his savings had been considerable, and from these I was able to
build this palace, and to succour my people, and have still enough
to keep up my establishment here, without pressing the cultivators
of the soil for taxes. This year is the first that I have drawn any
revenue from that source; but, at any rate, I am not disposed to
keep up a force which, while it would be insufficient to be of any
great value in a war like this, would be a heavy tax on my
purse."

"Even the force you have must be that, Uncle."

"Not so much as you would think, Dick, with your English
notions. The pay here is very small--so small that it would seem to
you impossible for a man to live on it; and yet, many of these men
have wives and families. All of them have patches of land that they
cultivate; only twenty, who are changed once a month, being kept on
duty. They are necessary; for I should have but little respect from
my people, and less still from other rajahs, did I not have
sentries at the gates, and a guard ready to turn out in honour of
any visitor who might arrive; to say nothing of an escort, of half
a dozen men, when I ride through the country. Of course, all can be
called out whenever I want them, as, for example, when I rode to
Madras to meet you. The men think themselves well off upon the pay
of three rupees a month, as they are practically only on duty two
months each year, and have the rest of the time to cultivate their
fields. Therefore, with the pay of the officers, my troop only
costs me about four hundred rupees a month, which is, you know,
equivalent to forty English pounds; so that you cannot call it an
expensive army, even if it is kept for show rather than use."

"No, indeed, Uncle! It seems ridiculous that a troop of a
hundred men can be kept up, for five hundred pounds a year."

"Of course, the men have some little privileges, Dick. They pay
no rent or taxes for their lands. This is a great thing for them,
and really costs me nothing, as there is so much land lying
uncultivated. Then, when too old for service, they have a pension
of two rupees a month for life, and on that, and what little land
they can cultivate, they are comparatively comfortable."

"Well, it does not seem to me, Uncle, that soldiering is a good
trade in this country."

"I don't know that it is a good trade, in the money way,
anywhere. After all, the pay out here is quite as high, in
comparison with the ordinary rate of earning of a peasant, as it is
in England. It is never the pay that tempts soldiers. Among young
men there are always great numbers who prefer the life to that of a
peasant, working steadily from daylight to dark, and I don't know
that I altogether blame them."

"Then you think, Uncle, there is no doubt whatever that there
will be war?"

"Not a shadow of doubt, Dick--indeed, it may be said to have
begun already; and, like the last, it is largely due to the
incapacity of the government of Madras."

"I have just received a message from Arcot," the Rajah said, two
months later, "and I must go over and see the Nabob."

"I thought," Mrs. Holland said, "that Tripataly was no longer
subject to him. I understood that our father was made independent
of Arcot?"

"No, Margaret, not exactly that. The Nabob had involved himself
in very heavy debts, during the great struggle. The Company had
done something to help him, but were unable to take all his debts
on their shoulders; and indeed, there was no reason why they should
have done so, for although during most of the war he was their
ally, he was fighting on his own behalf, and not on theirs.

"In the war with Hyder it was different. He was then quite under
English influence, and, indeed, could scarcely be termed
independent. And as he suffered terribly--his lands were wasted,
his towns besieged, and his people driven off into slavery--the
Company are at present engaged in negotiations for assisting him to
pay his debts, which are very heavy.

"It was before you left, when the Nabob was much pressed for
money, and had at that time no claim on the Company, that our
father bought of him a perpetual commutation of tribute, taxes, and
other monies and subsidies payable by Tripataly; thus I am no
longer tributary to Arcot. Nevertheless, this forms a portion of
the Nabob's territories, and I cannot act as if I were an
independent prince.

"I could not make a treaty with Mysore on my own account, and it
is clear that neither Arcot nor the English could allow me to do
so, for in that case Mysore could erect fortresses here, and could
use Tripataly as an advanced post on the plain. Therefore, I am
still subject to the Nabob, and could be called upon for military
service by him. Indeed, that is one of the reasons why, even if I
could afford it, I should not care to keep up a force of any
strength. As it is, my troop is too small to be worth summoning.
The Nabob has remonstrated with me more than once, but since the
war with Hyder I have had a good excuse, namely, that the
population has so decreased that my lands lie untilled, and it
would be impossible for me to raise a larger force. I have,
however, agreed that, in case of a fresh war, I will raise an
additional hundred cavalry.

"I expect it is in relation to this that he has sent for me to
Arcot. We know that the English are bound, by their treaty with
Travancore, to declare war. They ought, in honour, to have done it
long ago, but they were unprepared. Now that they are nearly ready,
they may do so at any time, and indeed the Nabob may have learned
that fighting has begun.

"The lookout is bad. The government of Madras is just as weak
and as short sighted as it was during Hyder's war. There is but one
comfort, and that is that Lord Cornwallis, at Calcutta, has far
greater power than his predecessors; and as he is an experienced
soldier, and is said to be an energetic man, he may bring up
reinforcements from Calcutta without loss of time, and also set the
troops of Bombay in motion. I expect that, as before, things will
go badly at first; but hope that, this time, we shall end by giving
Mysore so heavy a lesson that she will be powerless for mischief,
in future."

"And release all the captives," Mrs. Holland exclaimed, clasping
her hands.

"I sincerely trust so, Margaret," her brother said gravely;
"but, after what happened last time, we must not be sanguine.
Scattered about as they may be, in the scores of little hill forts
that dot the whole country, we can, unhappily, never be sure that
all are delivered, when we have only the word of a treacherous
tyrant like Tippoo. We know that, last time, he kept back hundreds
of prisoners, among whom, as we may hope, was your husband; and it
may be that, however completely he may be defeated, he may yet
retain some of them, knowing full well it is impossible that all
these hill forts and their dungeons can be searched. However,
doubtless if an English army marches to Seringapatam, many will be
recovered, though we have reason to fear that many will, as before,
be murdered before our arrival."

When the Rajah returned from Arcot, on the following day, he
brought back the news that General Meadows had moved to the
frontier at Caroor, fifty miles beyond Trichinopoly, and that the
war was really about to begin.

"You know," he said, "how matters stand, up to now. Tippoo,
after making peace with the Nizam and the Mahrattis, with whom he
had been engaged in hostilities for some time, turned his attention
to the western coast, where Coorg and Malabar had risen in
rebellion. After, as usual, perpetrating horrible atrocities, and
after sending a large proportion of the population as slaves to
Mysore, he marched against Travancore. Now, Travancore was
specially mentioned, in the treaty of Mangalore, as one of the
allies of the English, with whom Tippoo bound himself not to make
war; and had he not been prepared to fight the English, he would
not have attacked their ally. The excuse for attacking Travancore
was that some of the fugitives, from Coorg and Malabar, had taken
refuge there.

"Seeing that Tippoo was bent upon hostilities, Lord Cornwallis
and his council at Calcutta directed, as I learnt from an official
at Madras, the authorities there to begin at once to make
preparations for war. Instead of doing so, Mr. Holland, the
governor, gave the Rajah the shameful and cowardly advice to
withdraw his protection from the fugitives. The Rajah refused to
comply with such counsel, and after some months spent in
negotiations, Tippoo attacked the wall that runs along the northern
frontier of Travancore.

"That was about six months ago. Yes, it was on the 28th of
December--so it is just six months. His troops, fourteen thousand
strong, made their way without difficulty through a breach, but
they were suddenly attacked by a small body of Travancore men. A
panic seized them. They rushed back to the breach, and in the wild
struggle to pass through it, no less than two thousand were either
killed or crushed to death.

"It was nearly three months before Tippoo renewed his attack.
The lines were weak, and his army so strong that resistance was
impossible. A breach, three-quarters of a mile in length, was made
in the wall, and marching through this, he devastated Travancore
from end to end.

"His unaccountable delay, before assaulting the position, has
been of great advantage to us. Had he attacked us at once, instead
of wasting his time before Travancore, he would have found the
Carnatic as defenceless and as completely at his mercy as Hyder
did. He would still have done so, had it depended upon Madras, but
as the authorities here did nothing, Lord Cornwallis took the
matter into his own hands. He was about to come here himself, when
General Meadows, formerly Governor of Bombay, arrived, invested by
the Company with the offices of both governor and of
commander-in-chief.

"He landed here late in February, and at once set to work to
prepare for war. Lord Cornwallis sent, from Calcutta, a large
amount of money, stores, and ammunition, and a battalion of
artillerymen. The Sepoys objected to travel by sea, as their caste
rules forbade them to do so, and he therefore sent off six
battalions of infantry by land, and the Nabob tells me they are
expected to arrive in four or five weeks' time. The Nabob of Arcot
and the Rajah of Tanjore, both of whom are very heavily in debt to
the government, are ordered, during the continuance of the war, to
place their revenues at its disposal, a liberal allowance being
made to them both for their personal expenses.

"Tippoo is still in Travancore--at least, he was there ten days
ago, and has been endeavouring to negotiate. The Nabob tells me he
believes that the object of General Meadows, in advancing from
Trichinopoly to Caroor, is to push on to Coimbatoor, where he will,
if he arrives before Tippoo, cut him off from his return to his
capital; and as Meadows has a force of fifteen thousand men, he
ought to be able to crush the tyrant at a blow.

"I fear, however, there is little chance of this. The Mysore
troops move with great rapidity, and as soon as Tippoo hears that
the English army is marching towards Caroor, he is sure to take the
alarm, and by this time has probably passed Coimbatoor on his way
back. With all his faults, Tippoo is a good general, and the
Nabob's opinion--and I quite agree with him--is that, as soon as he
regains the table land of Mysore, he will take advantage of the
English army being far away to the south, and will pour down
through the passes into this part of the Carnatic, which is at
present absolutely defenceless. This being the case, I shall at
once get ready to leave for Madras, and shall move as soon as I
learn, for certain, that Tippoo has slipped past the English.

"The Nabob has called upon me to join him with my little body of
cavalry, and as soon as the news comes that Tippoo is descending
the passes, I shall either join him or the English army. That will
be a matter to decide afterwards."

"You will take me with you, of course, Uncle?" Dick asked
eagerly.

"Certainly, Dick. If you are old enough to undertake the really
perilous adventure of going up in disguise to Mysore, you are
certainly old enough to ride with me. Besides, we may hope that,
this time, the war is not going to be as one-sided as it was the
last time, and that we may end by reaching Seringapatam; in which
case we may rescue your father, if he is still alive, very much
more easily than it could be managed in the way you propose."

The news that the English army had marched to Caroor, and that
there was no force left to prevent the Mysoreans from pouring down
from the hills, spread quickly; and when Dick went out with the two
boys into the town, groups of people were talking earnestly in the
streets. Some of them came up, and asked respectfully if there was
any later news.

"Nothing later than you have heard," Dick said.

"The Rajah is not going away yet, Sahib?"

"No; he will not leave unless he hears that Tippoo has returned,
with his army, to Seringapatam. Then he will go at once, for the
sultan might come down through the passes at any moment, and can
get here a fortnight before the English army can return from
Caroor."

"Yes; it will be no use waiting here to be eaten up, Sahib. Do
you think Conjeveram would be safe? Because it is easy to go down
there by boat."

"I should think so. Hyder could not take it last time, and the
English army is much stronger than it was then. Besides, there will
be six thousand men arriving from Bengal, in a month's time, so I
should think there is no fear of Conjeveram being taken."

"It is little trouble getting there," the trader said, "but it
is a long journey to Madras. We could go down with our families and
goods in two days, in a boat; but there would not be boats enough
for all, and it will be best, therefore, that some should go at
once, for if all wait until there is news that Tippoo is coming,
many will not be able to get away in time."

"No, not in boats," Dick agreed; "but in three days a bullock
cart would get you there."

Next day, several of the shops containing the most valuable
goods were shut up; and, day by day, the number remaining open grew
smaller.

"It is as I expected," the Rajah said, one morning, as he came
into the room where the family was sitting. "A messenger has just
come in from the Nabob, with the news that sickness broke out among
the army, as soon as they arrived at Caroor, and in twenty-four
hours a thousand men were in hospital. This delayed the movement,
and when they arrived at Coimbatoor they were too late. Tippoo and
his army had already passed, moving by forced marches back to
Mysore.

"Finish your packing, ladies. We will start at daybreak tomorrow
morning. I secured three boats, four days ago, and have been
holding them in readiness. Rajbullub will go in charge of you.
There is not the least fear of Tippoo being here for another
fortnight, at the earliest.

"I shall ride with the troop. Dick and the boys will go with me.
We shall meet you at Conjeveram. I have already arranged with some
of our people, who have gone on in their bullock carts, with their
belongings, and will unload them there, to be in readiness to take
our goods on to Madras, so there will be no delay in getting
forward."

By nightfall, the apartments were completely dismantled. The
furniture was all stowed away, in a vault which the Rajah had had
constructed for the purpose, when the palace was rebuilt. Access
was obtained to it through the floor in one of the private
apartments. The floor was of tessellated marble, but some ten
squares of it lifted up in a mass, forming together a trapdoor,
from which steps led down into the vault. When the block was
lowered again, the fit was so accurate that, after sweeping a
little dust over the joint, the opening was quite imperceptible to
any one not aware of the hiding place. The cushions of the divans
were taken down here, as well as the furniture, and all the less
valuable carpets, rugs and hangings, while the costlier articles
were rolled up into bales, for transport.

The silver cups and other valuables were packed in boxes, and
were, during the night, carried by coolies down to the boats, over
which a guard was placed until morning. Provisions for the journey
down the river were also placed on board. The palace was astir long
before daybreak. The cushions that had been slept on during the
night were carried down to the boats, the boxes of wearing apparel
closed and fastened, and a hasty meal was taken.

The sun was just rising when they started. One boat had been
fitted up with a bower of green boughs, for the use of the two
ladies and their four attendants. The other two carried the
baggage.

After seeing them push off, the Rajah, his sons, and Dick
returned to the palace. Here for a couple of hours he held a sort
of audience, and gave his advice to the townspeople and others who
came, in considerable numbers, to consult with him. When this was
done they went into the courtyard, where all was ready for their
departure.

The troop had, during the past week, been raised to two hundred
men, many of the young cultivators coming eagerly forward, as soon
as they heard that the Rajah was going to increase his troop, being
anxious to take a share in the adventures that might be looked for,
and to avenge the sufferings that had been inflicted on their
friends by Hyder's marauders. They were a somewhat motley troop,
but this mattered little, as uniformity was unknown among the
forces of the native princes.

The majority were stout young fellows. All provided their own
horses and arms, and although the former lacked the weight and bone
of English cavalry horses, they were capable of performing long
journeys, and of existing on rations on which an English horse
would starve.

All were well armed, for any deficiency had been made up from
the Rajah's store, and from this a large number of guns had, three
days before, been distributed among such of the ryots as intended
to take to the hills on the approach of the enemy. Ammunition had
also been distributed among them. Every man in the troop carried a
shield and tulwar, and on his back was slung a musket or spear; and
there were few without pistols in their girdles.

They rode halfway to Conjeveram, and stopped for the night at a
village--the men sleeping in the open air, while the Rajah, his
sons, and Dick, were entertained by the chief man of the place. The
next afternoon they rode into Conjeveram, where, just at sunset,
the boats also arrived.

The troop encamped outside the town, while the Rajah and his
party occupied some rooms that had been secured beforehand for
them. In the morning, the ladies proceeded in a native carriage;
with the troop, an officer and ten men following, in charge of the
bullock carts containing the baggage.

On reaching Madras, they encamped on the Maidan--a large, open
space used as a drill ground for the troops garrisoned there--and
the Rajah and his party established themselves in the house
occupied by him on the occasion of his last visit. The next day,
the Rajah went to the Government House, and had an interview with
the deputy governor.

"I think," the latter said, after some conversation, "that your
troop of cavalry will be of little use to the Nabob. If Tippoo
comes down from the hills, he will not be able to take the field
against him, and will need all his forces to defend Arcot, Vellore,
and his smaller forts, and cavalry would be of no real use to him.
Your troop would be of much greater utility to the battalions from
Bengal, when they arrive. They will be here in three weeks or so,
and as soon as they come, I will attach you to them. I will write
to the Nabob, saying that you were about to join him, but that, in
the interest of the general defence, I have thought it better, at
present, to attach you to the Bengal contingent. You see, they will
be entirely new to the country, and it will be a great advantage to
them to have a troop like yours, many of whom are well acquainted
with the roads and general geography of the country. Your speaking
English, too, will add to your usefulness."

"I have a nephew with me who speaks English perfectly, and also
Hindustani," the Rajah said. "He is a smart young fellow, and I
have no doubt that the officer in command would be able to make him
very useful. He is eager to be of service. His father, who was an
Englishman, was wrecked some years ago on the west coast, and sent
up a prisoner to Mysore. He was not one of those handed over at the
time of the peace, but whether he has been murdered, or is still a
prisoner in Tippoo's hands, we do not know. My sister came out with
the boy, three or four months ago, to endeavour to obtain some news
of him."

"I will make a note of it, Rajah. I have no doubt that he will
be of great use to Colonel Cockerell."

In the last week in July, the Rajah moved with his troop to
Conjeveram, and on the 1st of August the Bengal forces arrived
there. They were joined, at once, by three regiments of Europeans,
one of native cavalry, and a strong force of artillery, raising
their numbers to nine thousand, five hundred men.

Colonel Kelly took command of the force, and begged the Rajah to
advance with his horsemen, at once, to the foot of the ghauts, to
break it up into half troops, and to capture or destroy any small
parties of horse Tippoo might send down, by any of the passes, to
reconnoitre the country and ascertain the movements and strength of
the British forces. He was also to endeavour to obtain as much
information as he could of what was going on in Mysore, and to
ascertain whether Tippoo was still with his army, watching General
Meadows in the west; or was moving, as if with the intention of
taking advantage of the main force of the English being away south,
to descend into the Carnatic.

The order was a very acceptable one to the Rajah. His troop made
a good appearance enough, when in company with those of the Nabob
of Arcot, but he could not but feel that they looked a motley body
by the side of the trained native and European troops; and he was
frequently angered by hearing the jeering comments of English
soldiers to each other, when he rode past them with his troop; and
had not a little astonished the speakers, more than once, by
turning round on his horse, and abusing them hotly in their own
language.

He was, therefore, glad to be off. For such work, his men were
far better fitted than were even the native cavalry in the
Company's service. They were stout, active fellows, accustomed to
the hills, and speaking the dialect used by the shepherds and
villagers among the ghauts.

Proceeding northward through Vellore, he there divided his force
into four bodies. He himself, with fifty men, took up a position at
the mouth of the pass of Amboor. Another fifty were sent to the
pass of Moognee, to the west of Chittoor, under the command of
Anwar, the captain of the troop. The rest were distributed among
the minor passes.

Dick remained with his uncle, who established himself in a
village, seven miles up the pass. He was well satisfied with the
arrangement, for he was anxious to learn to go about among the
hills as a spy, and was much more likely to get leave from his
uncle to do so, than he would have been from any of the officers of
the troop, who would not have ventured to allow the Rajah's nephew
to run into danger.

In the second place, his especial friend among the officers, a
youth named Surajah, son of Rajbullub, was with the detachment.
Surajah had been especially picked out, by the Rajah, as Dick's
companion. He generally joined him in his rides, and they had often
gone on shooting excursions among the hills. He was about three
years Dick's senior, but in point of height there was but little
difference between them.

Every day half the troop, under an officer, rode up the pass
until within a mile of the fort near the summit, garrisoned by
Mysorean troops. They were able to obtain but little information,
for the villages towards the upper end of the pass were all
deserted and in ruins, the inhabitants never having ventured back
since Hyder's invasion.

The Rajah was vexed at being able to learn nothing of what was
passing on the plateau, and was therefore more disposed than he
might otherwise have been to listen to Dick's proposal.

"Don't you think, Uncle," the latter said one evening, "that I
might try to learn something by going up with Surajah alone? We
could strike off into the hills, as if on a shooting expedition,
just as we used to do from Tripataly, except that I should stain my
face and hands. The people in the villages on the top of the ghauts
are, every one says, simple and quiet. They have no love for Tippoo
or Mysore, but are content to pay their taxes, and to work quietly
in their fields. There will be little fear of our being interfered
with by them."

"You might find a party of Tippoo's troops in one of the
villages, Dick, and get into trouble."

"I don't see why we should, Uncle. Of course, we should not go
up dressed as we are, but as shikarees, and when we went into a
village, should begin by asking whether the people are troubled
with any tigers in the neighbourhood. You see, I specially came out
here to go into Mysore in disguise, and I should be getting a
little practice in this way, besides obtaining news for you."

"I am certainly anxious to get news, Dick. So far, I have had
nothing to send down, except that the reports, from all the passes,
agree in saying that they have learned nothing of any movement on
the part of Tippoo, and that no spies have come down the passes, or
any armed party whatever. This is good, so far as it goes, but it
only shows that the other passes are, like this, entirely deserted.
Therefore, we really know nothing whatever. Even at this moment,
Tippoo may have fifty thousand men gathered on the crest of the
hills, ready to pour down tomorrow through one of the passes; and
therefore, as I do not think you would be running any great danger,
I consent to your going with Surajah on a scouting expedition, on
foot, among the hills. As you say, you must, of course, disguise
yourselves as peasants. You had better, in addition to your guns,
each take a brace of pistols, and so armed, even if any of the
villagers were inclined to be hostile, they would not care about
interfering with you."

"Thank you, Uncle. When would you expect us back, if we start
tomorrow morning?"

"That must be entirely in your hands, Dick. You would hardly
climb the ghauts and light upon a village in one day, and it might
be necessary to go farther, before you could obtain any news. It is
a broken country, with much jungle for some distance beyond the
hills, and the villages lying off the roads will have but little
communication with each other, and might know nothing, whatever, of
what was happening in the cultivated plains beyond. At any rate,
you must not go into any villages on the roads leading to the heads
of the passes; for there are forts everywhere, and you would be
certain to find parties of troops stationed in them.

"Even before war broke out, I know that this was the case, as
they were stationed there to prevent any captives, native or
European, escaping from Mysore. You must, therefore, strictly avoid
all the main roads, even though it may be necessary to proceed much
farther before you can get news. I should think, if we say three
days going and as many returning, it will be as little as we can
count upon; and I shall not begin to feel at all uneasy, if you do
not reappear for a week. It is of no use your returning without
some information as to what is going on in Mysore; and it would be
folly to throw away your work and trouble, when, in another day or
two, you might get the news you want. I shall, therefore, leave it
entirely to your discretion."

Greatly pleased at having succeeded beyond his expectations,
Dick at once sought out Surajah. The latter was very gratified,
when he heard that he was to accompany the young Sahib on such an
expedition, and at once set about the necessary preparations. There
was no difficulty in obtaining, in the village, the clothes
required for their disguises; and one of the sheep intended for the
following day's rations was killed, and a leg boiled.

"If we take, in addition to this, ten pounds of flour, a gourd
of ghee, and a little pan for frying the cakes in, we shall be able
to get on, without having to buy food, for four or five days; and
of course, when we are once among the villages, we shall have no
difficulty in getting more. You had better cut the meat off the
bone, and divide it in two portions; and divide the flour, too;
then we can each carry our share."

"I will willingly carry it all, Sahib."

"Not at all, Surajah. We will each take our fair share. You see,
we shall have a gun, pistols, ammunition, and a tulwar; and that,
with seven or eight pounds of food each, and our water bottles,
will be quite enough to carry up the ghauts. The only thing we want
now is some stain."

"I will get something that will do, and bring it with me in the
morning, Sahib. It won't take you a minute to put on. I will come
for you at the first gleam of daylight."

Dick returned to the cottage he occupied with his uncle, and
told him what preparations they had made for their journey; and
they sat talking over the details for another hour. The Rajah's
last words, as they lay down for the night, were:

"Don't forget to take a blanket, each. You will want it for
sleeping in the open, which you will probably have to do several
times, although you may occasionally be able to find shelter in a
village."

By the time the sun rose, the next morning, they were well upon
their way. They had a good deal of toilsome climbing, but by
nightfall had surmounted the most difficult portions of the ascent,
and encamped, when it became dark, in a small wood. Here they
lighted a fire, cooked some cakes of flour, and, with these and the
cold meat, made a hearty meal. They had, during the day, halted
twice; and had breakfasted and lunched off some bread, of which
they had brought sufficient for the day's journey.

"I suppose there is no occasion to watch, Surajah?"

"I don't know, Sahib. I do not think it will be safe for us both
to sleep. There are, as you know, many tigers among these hills;
and though they would not approach us, as long as the fire is
burning brightly, they might steal up and carry one of us off, when
the fire gets low. I will, therefore, watch."

"I certainly should not let you do that, without taking my
turn," Dick said; "and I feel so tired with the day's work, that I
do not think I could keep awake for ten minutes. It would be better
to sleep in a tree than that."

"You would not get much sleep in a tree, Sahib. I have done it
once or twice, when I have been hunting in a tiger-infested
neighbourhood; but I got scarcely any sleep, and was so stiff, in
the morning, that I could hardly walk. I would rather sit up all
night, and keep up a good fire, than do that."

Dick thought for a minute or two, and then got up and walked
about under the trees, keeping his eyes fixed upon the branches
overhead.

"This will do," he said at last. "Come here, Surajah. There! Do
you see those two branches, coming out in the same direction? At
one point, they are but five or six feet apart. We might fasten our
blankets side by side, with the help of the straps of our water
bottles and the slings of the guns; so as to make what are called,
on board a ship, hammocks, and lie there perfectly safe and
comfortable."

Surajah nodded.

"I have a coil of leather thong, Sahib. I thought that it might
be useful, if we wanted to bind a prisoner, or for any other
purpose, so I stuffed it into my waist sash."

"That is good. Let us lose no time, for I am quite ready for
sleep. I will climb up first."

In ten minutes, the blankets were securely fastened side by
side, between the branches. Surajah descended, threw another armful
of wood on to the fire, placed their meat in the crutch of a bough,
six feet above the ground, and then climbed the tree again. Thus,
they were soon lying, side by side, in their blankets. These bagged
rather inconveniently under their weight, but they were too tired
to mind trifles, and were very soon fast asleep.

Dick did not wake until Surajah called him. It was already broad
daylight. His companion had slipped down quietly, stirred up the
embers of the fire, thrown on more wood, and cooked some chupatties
before waking him.

"It is too bad, Surajah," Dick said, as he looked down; "you
ought to have woke me. I will unfasten these blankets before I get
down. It will save time after breakfast."

Half an hour later, they were again on their way, and shortly
came upon a boy herding some goats. He looked doubtfully at them,
but, seeing that they were not Mysorean soldiers, he did not
attempt to fly.

"How far is it to the next village, lad?" Surajah asked; "and
which is the way? We are shikarees. Are there any tigers
about?"

"Plenty of them," the boy said. "I drive the goats to a strong,
high stockade every evening; and would not come out, before the sun
rose, for all the money they say the sultan has.

"Make for that tree, and close to it you will see a spring.
Follow that down. It will take you to the village."

After walking for six hours, they came to the village. It was a
place of some little size, but there were few people about. Women
came to the doors to look at Surajah and Dick as they came
along.

"Where are you from?" an old man asked, as he came out from his
cottage.

"From down the mountain side. Tigers are getting scarce there,
and we thought we would come over and see what we could do,
here."

"Here there are many tigers," the old man said. "For the last
twenty years, the wars have taken most of our young men away. Some
are forced to go against their will; for when the order comes, to
the head man of the village, that the sultan requires so many
soldiers, he is forced to pick out those best fitted for service.
Others go of their own free will, thinking soldiering easier work
than tilling the fields, besides the chance of getting rich booty.
So there are but few shikarees, and the tigers multiply and are a
curse to us.

"We are but poor people, but if you choose to stay here for a
time, we will pay something for every tiger you kill; and we will
send round to the other villages, within ten miles, and doubtless
every one of them will contribute, so that you might get enough to
pay you for your exertions."

"We will think of it," Surajah replied. "We did not intend to
stop in one village, but proposed to travel about in the
jungle-covered district; and wherever we hear complaints of a tiger
committing depredations, we will stop and do our best to kill the
evil beast. We mean, first, to find out where they are most
troublesome, and then we shall work back again. We hear that the
sultan gives good prices, for those taken alive."

"I have heard so," the old man said, "but none have been caught
alive here, or by anyone in the villages round. The sultan
generally gets them from the royal forests, where none are allowed
to shoot, save with his permission. Sometimes, when there is a lack
of them there, his hunters come into these districts, and catch
them in pitfalls, and have nets and ropes with which the tigers are
bound and taken away."

A little crowd had, by this time, collected round them; and the
women, when they heard that the strangers were shikarees, who had
come up with the intention of killing tigers, brought them bowls of
milk, cakes and other presents.

"I suppose, now that the sultan is away at war," Dick said, "his
hunters do not come here for tigers?"

"We know nothing of his wars," a woman said. "They take our sons
from us, and we do not see them again. We did hear a report that he
had gone, with an army, to conquer Travancore. But why he should
want to do it, none of us can make out. His dominions are as wide
as the heart of man can require. It is strange that he cannot rest
contented, but, like his father, should be always taking our sons
away to fight. However, these things are beyond the understanding
of poor people like us; but we can't help thinking that it would be
better if he were to send his armies to destroy all the tigers. If
he would do that, we should not grudge the sums we have to pay,
when the tax gatherers come round."

After pausing for an hour in the village, they continued on
their way. Two or three other small collections of huts were
passed, but it was not until the evening of the next day that they
issued from the jungle-covered country, onto the cultivated plain.
At none of the places they had passed was there anything known, as
to Tippoo or his army, but they were told that there were parties
of troops, in all the villages along the edge of the plain, as well
as in the passes.

"We must be careful now, Surajah," Dick said, as, after a long
day's march, they sat down to rest, at a distance of half a mile
from a large village. "Our tale, that we are shikarees, will not do
here. Had that really been our object, we should have stopped at
the first place we came to, and, at any rate, we should not have
come beyond the jungle. We might still say that we are shikarees,
but that tigers had become scarce on the other side of the hills,
and, hearing a talk that Tippoo and the English are going to war
with each other, we made up our minds to go to Seringapatam, and
enlist in his army."

"That would do very well," Surajah agreed. "They would have no
reason for doubting us, and even if the officer here were to
suggest that we should enlist under him, we could do so, as there
would be no difficulty in slipping away, and making off into the
jungle again."

They waited until the sun set, and then walked on into the
village. They had scarcely entered, when two armed men stopped
them, and questioned them whence they came.

Surajah repeated the story they had agreed upon, and the men
appeared quite satisfied.

"You will be just in time," one said. "We have news that the
sultan has just moved, with his army, to Seringapatam. Officers
came here, only yesterday, to buy up cattle and grain. These are to
be retained here, until orders are received where they are to be
sent, so I should say that he is coming this way, and will be going
down the passes, as Hyder did.

"We shall be very glad, for I suppose we shall join, as he
passes along. It has been dull work here, and we are looking
forward to gaining our share of the loot. It would be just as well
for you to join us here now, as to go on to Seringapatam."

"It would save us a long tramp," Surajah agreed. "We will think
it over, and maybe we will have a talk with your officer, tomorrow
morning."

They sauntered along with the men, talking as they went, and so
escaped being questioned by other soldiers. Presently, they made
the excuse that they wanted, to buy some flour and ghee before the
shops were closed; and, with a friendly nod to the two soldiers,
stopped before the stall of a peasant who had, on a little stand in
front of him, a large jar of ghee. Having purchased some, they went
a little farther, and laid in a fresh supply of flour.

"Things are very dear," Surajah remarked.

"There is very little left in the village," the man said. "All
the flour was bought up yesterday, for the sultan's army, which,
they say, is coming in this direction; and I have only got what you
see here. It has been pounded, by my wife and some other women,
since morning."

"That is good enough," Dick said, as they walked away. "Our work
is done, Surajah, and it is not likely that we should learn
anything more, if we were to stop here for a week. Let us turn down
between these houses, and make our way round behind. We might be
questioned again, by a fresh party of soldiers, if we were to go
along the street."

They kept along on the outskirts of the village, regained the
road by which they had come, and walked on until they reached the
edge of the jungle. Going a short distance among the trees, they
collected some sticks, lit a fire, and sat down to cook their
meal.

At the last village or two, they had heard but little of tigers,
and now agreed that they could safely lie down, and that it would
not be necessary for them to rig up their blankets as hammocks, as
they had done on the first two nights.

Chapter 6: A Perilous
Adventure.

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.

Chapter 7: Besieged.

Dick hastily clambered up the wall, ran to the gate, blew the
tinder, and then applied it to the slow match. A moment later, this
began to fizz.

"Round the corner of the wall, Surajah!" he exclaimed, running
back himself.

A few anxious seconds passed, then came a sharp explosion. In an
instant they ran up. The gate stood two or three inches open. It
yielded to a push, and they ran out.

Loud shouts were heard from the men above, and a hubbub of cries
from the guard house.

"Run, Surajah! We must risk it. Keep on the edge of the road,
and dodge as you go. The chances are they will run down below, to
see what has happened."

At the top of their speed, they dashed down the road. No shot
was fired from the wall, Dick's conjecture that the first impulse
of the sentries would be to run down below having been justified.
They were a couple of hundred yards away, before two shots were
fired from the gate. The bullets whistled by harmlessly.

"We are all right now," Dick cried. "They can scarcely see us,
and we shall soon be out of sight altogether."

Five or six more shots were fired a few seconds later, as the
men from the guard house reached the gate. On looking back, when
they had gone another hundred yards, they saw a number of figures
on the road.

"Not quite so fast, Surajah," Dick said. "It is going to be a
long chase, now. We have got three hundred yards start, and they
won't be able to load again, running at full speed."

For a time, their pursuers gained somewhat upon them; then,
gradually, they began to straggle, as the effect of the speed at
which they were running told upon them. When they reached the
ruined village, there were four men running together, some three
hundred yards behind. The rest were a considerable distance in the
rear.

"Another mile or two, and they will all give up the chase except
these four, Surajah, and if they turn out better runners than we
do, we can make a stand. There are some more huts another two miles
farther, and we will fight them there."

They were going slower now, for although the downward course of
the road helped them a good deal, the run was telling on them. Not
a word was spoken, until they reached the second village. When they
came to the first house, they stopped simultaneously, and looked
round. Their pursuers were not more than two hundred yards behind
them.

"In here, Surajah," Dick said, as he ran into the ruined
hut.

Its roof was gone, its door hung loose on its hinges. It had but
one window, a small one, looking up the valley. Dick laid his gun
on the sill, which was nearly level with his shoulder.

"I must wait until they get pretty close," he said, "for I am
panting so that I can't keep the barrel steady, even with this
rest."

"I will kneel down outside," Surajah said.

"Mind, I will fire first, Surajah. Don't you fire until they are
within twenty yards of you. By that time I shall have loaded
again."

Dick had more time than he had expected, for as soon as their
pursuers saw them enter the hut, they slackened their pace
considerably. They were within about eighty yards, when Dick held
his breath and standing, for a moment, immovable, took a steady aim
and fired.

One of the men stumbled in his run, took a step or two forward,
and then fell on his face. The others paused for a moment, and
then, with a fierce yell, ran forward.

The moment he had fired, Dick dropped the stock of his gun on to
the ground, snatched a cartridge from the bandolier, bit off the
end, and emptied the powder into the barrel, gave the gun a shake,
so as to be sure that it ran into the touch hole, and then rammed
down the bullet. As he was in the act of doing so, Surajah fired,
and a loud yell told that his shot had been successful.

Dick sprang to the door as Surajah entered. Two shots at the
same instant rang out; but, at even so short a distance, the
bullets went wide. Dick stepped out, and in turn fired. One of the
two men fell; the other threw down his musket, and fled up the
road.

"Thank goodness that is over," Dick exclaimed. "I thought they
had no chance with us, here. Now the first thing is to get our wind
again."

They stood for two or three minutes, breathing heavily; then, as
their breath came again, they prepared to move, when Dick exclaimed
suddenly, "What is that noise?"

There was a dull, confused sound in the air, and then Surajah,
pointing up the road, exclaimed, "Cavalry!"

Far away on the white road, a dark mass could be seen. At first,
Dick instinctively turned to resume their flight, but then he
said:

"It is of no use, Surajah. The sides of the valley are too steep
to climb, and they will be up in five or six minutes. We must fight
it out here. Run out to that man I shot, and bring in his gun,
bandolier, pistols if he has any, and sword. I will take them from
these two. It will make all the difference, having spare
weapons."

Surajah, without a word, hurried up the road, while Dick ran
over to the house opposite, which seemed to be larger than the one
they had first entered. He looked round. It contained only one
room, but this was twenty feet square. There were three small
windows, one looking into the street, one looking up the valley,
and one behind. The floor was littered with the beams of the roof.
The door was still in its place. Having ascertained this, he ran
back to the bodies of the two men, picked up the three guns, took
off their bandoliers, and removed the pistols from their sashes;
and with these, and one of their swords, returned to the house,
just as Surajah came back.

"This is the best house to defend, Surajah. There are some beams
with which we can block up the door."

Laying down the arms inside, they set to work with the beams,
and barricaded the door so firmly that, short of its being
splintered to pieces, no entry could be effected. This done, they
re-charged the six guns, examined the pistols, and finding that
they were loaded, placed three of them in each of their sashes, and
hung the swords by their sides. Then they went to the window
looking up the valley. The horsemen, some twenty in number, were
but a short quarter of a mile away, and were coming along at a
gallop.

"Don't fire, Surajah," Dick said. "They will have heard, from
the man who has got away, that we are in the house opposite, and if
they don't find us there, they will think that we have gone on, and
will ride down the valley till they are sure they must be ahead of
us. Then they will search the ground carefully, as they come back,
and altogether we may gain an hour; and every moment is of use. It
must be two o'clock now, and our troop generally gets here soon
after seven."

As he spoke, the horsemen drew up in front of the opposite hut.
There was a momentary pause, and then a voice said:

"It is empty."

Then followed the command:

"Ride on, men. They can't have got very far. We shall overtake
them in ten minutes."

As soon as they started, Dick said:

"Take a ramrod, Surajah, and make some holes through the walls,
to fire through. If we were to show ourselves at the windows, we
might get shot."

The walls were built of mud and clay, and with the iron ramrods
they had no difficulty in making four holes, an inch wide and two
inches high, on each side of the house.

"Now we are ready for them," Dick said, when they had finished.
"They have been gone half an hour, and it won't be long before they
are back."

In a few minutes, they heard the clatter of horses' hoofs. It
ceased some forty or fifty yards away, and by the sound of voices
and orders, it was evident that the other houses were being
searched. Voices were also heard at the back of the house, and they
guessed that the ground was being closely examined, up to the foot
of the rock walls which enclosed the valley.

"Now, Surajah, you can take a shot from the window of that side.
The others will be here in a minute, and it is just as well to let
them know where we are, before they get close up to our door."

Surajah went to the window at the back. Four horsemen were
making their way, at a walk, along the level ground between the
rocks and the huts. The nearest was but some forty yards away.
Surajah fired, and the man at once fell from his horse. The others
instantly galloped on at full speed up the valley, and from the
window at the end, Surajah saw them gather on the road three or
four hundred yards away; and then, after a short consultation,
cross to the other side of the valley, with the intention, he had
no doubt, of rejoining their comrades.

The sound of the gun had been followed by shouts and
exclamations from the party in the village. Dick could hear a
conference in low tones; then all was silent. He went to the
loophole at the corner, laid his rifle in it, and waited, looking
along the barrel. Two or three minutes later the hole was darkened,
and he fired at once. There was a sound of a heavy fall, followed
by cries of rage, and a moment later there was a rush of men
against the door.

Surajah ran across. Two spare guns were pushed through the
loopholes, one on each side of it. These had not been bored
straight through the wall, but at angles that would enable them to
fire at anyone attacking it. Looking along the barrels, each could
see one of the group in front, and fired at the same moment. With a
yell of rage and surprise, the assailants of the door sprang back
and ran down the street.

"There are four less, anyhow," Dick said, as he and Surajah
reloaded the empty guns. "Those loopholes will puzzle them, and I
don't think they will care to come on again, for a bit."

There was a pause for some minutes, and then, from the huts
opposite, and from various points higher up the valley and behind,
a dropping fire was opened.

"Keep out of the line of the windows, whatever you do, Surajah;
and it will be just as well to lie down for a bit, until we see
whether any of their shots come through the wall. I think we are
quite safe from the distant fire, but from the house opposite it is
possible they may penetrate it. Anyhow, don't stand in the line of
a loophole. A stray ball might find its way in."

For a few minutes, the enemy fired away unanswered, and then
Dick, who had been seated on the ground with his back against the
end wall, got up and went along that facing the street, carefully
examining it.

"I don't think any of their balls have come through, Surajah. I
should be able to see out into the moonlight, if they had done so.
Now it is time for us to be doing something. I expect they are
getting a little bolder, and will perhaps give us a chance.

"You take this loophole. It is exactly in a line with the
opposite hut, and the fellows in there must come to their door to
fire. I will take this slanting hole by the doorpost. I can see one
of the windows of the next hut to that we were in. I have no doubt
that they are firing from there also. Don't wait for them to shoot,
but fire directly a figure shows itself."

In a very short time Surajah fired. Dick heard the clatter of a
gun, as it fell to the ground.

"You have hit him, Surajah."

"Yes, but only wounded him. I think I hit him on the shoulder.
He let his gun drop, and ran into the house."

"Take a spare gun at once. If there are others there, they will
think that you are loading, and may show themselves again."

A moment later, Dick saw a gun thrust out through the window he
was watching. Then the head and shoulders of a man appeared behind
it. He fired, and the figure disappeared. Almost at the same
instant, Surajah fired again.

"I had one that time, Sahib!"

It was now quiet for some little time. Then a horseman dashed
suddenly past, and galloped up the valley at full speed.

"The end window, Surajah! Bring him down, if you can."

Surajah ran there and fired.

"I have missed him!" he said, in a tone of deep
disappointment.

"It does not make much difference. If you had hit him, they
could have sent another off close to the opposite side of the
valley. There is no doubt as to what he has gone for. You see, they
have lost six killed and one wounded, and they must know that they
have not the slightest chance of taking this hut. I have no doubt
that he has ridden back to bring down the infantry from the fort.
From the number of huts round the gate, and the sound of talking, I
should think there were fifty or sixty at least--perhaps a
hundred.

"If they send down fifty, we shall have sharp work. Our
difficulty will be to prevent them from making a rush at all the
windows together. If they were to get there, they could riddle us
with balls."

"Could we block them up, Sahib?"

"That is just what I was thinking," Dick replied. "We might try,
anyhow. It will be an hour and a half before they are down here. It
must be past four now, and in another hour daylight will begin to
break.

"There is any amount of the old thatch down on the floor. The
best way would be to fill up the window holes with it first, then
to put two or three bits of wood across, and a strong piece down
behind it, and to keep that in its place by wedging one of the long
beams against it. If they came up and tried to pull the thatch out,
we could fire through it with our pistols; and we will make a
loophole below each when we have got the work done."

It was not so difficult a business as they thought it would be.
The windows were little more than a foot across and two feet high.
It was but the work of a few minutes to fill these up with the
masses of thatch. When this was done, they picked out thick pieces
of wood for crossbars. Then they took a beam, eight feet long, made
a hole with their tulwars in the clay floor close to the wall, put
one end of the beam into it, and reared it upright against the
window. Dick held it in its place, while Surajah hacked a deep
notch in it--a by no means difficult matter, for it was half rotten
with exposure.

The notch was cut just opposite the middle of the window. The
three crosspieces were then put into their place, and the upright
pressed firmly against them. One end of a long beam was placed in
the notch, the other in a slight hole made in the ground, thus
forming a strut, which held the rest firmly in their positions.

"That is a good job done," Dick said, "but a very hot one. Now,
Surajah, sharpen three or four pieces of wood, and drive them down
into the ground at the foot of that strut; then it will be as firm
as a rock."

They then proceeded, in the same way, with the other two
windows.

"It is getting light fast," Dick said, as he wiped the
perspiration from his face. "Take a look out up the valley. They
ought to be coming by this time."

Surajah applied his eye to one of the loopholes.

"I can see them," he said. "They are half a mile away. There are
two mounted men. I expect one is their officer, and the other the
man who rode back to fetch them."

"Let us set to work at the loopholes under the windows, Surajah.
It is most important to get them done. You make the one at the end,
I will do that one looking into the street. Put it as close to the
beam as you can."

They worked hard, and it was not long before the walls were
pierced.

"Now, Surajah, you do the one at the back. The fellows will soon
be within range, and I will give them a lesson to be careful. They
will naturally break up, and go round behind the houses opposite,
as they can find shelter nowhere else; and, for a bit at any rate,
we shall get them all on one side of us, which is what we
want."

Dick carried the six guns to the end of the hut, and then
applied his eye to the loophole there. The enemy were coming along
at a run, in a confused mass.

"I can't very well miss them," he muttered to himself, as he
thrust his gun through a loophole, and fired. Without waiting to
see the result, he thrust another gun out, aimed, and fired.

"Never mind the hole, Surajah," he said. "Come here and
reload."

The four other shots were discharged in rapid succession. The
Mysoreans at first opened an irregular fire on the hut. When the
sixth shot was fired, they left the road in a body, and ran across
the valley, leaving four of their number on the ground behind
them.

As soon as the guns were reloaded, Surajah returned to his work.
It was now broad daylight, and the sun was shining upon the
hilltops. A quarter of an hour passed, without a movement from the
enemy. Dick and his companion occupied the time in further
strengthening the door with crossbeams, kept in their place by
struts.

"If they break it to splinters," Dick said, when they had
finished, "they will hardly be able to force their way in, for if
they were to try to crawl in between those crossbeams, they would
be completely at our mercy.

"Now, we must get ready for a rush. I expect they will come all
together. There are the six guns, and three pistols each. Keep one
of the latter in reserve. We ought not to waste a shot; and if they
lose ten men, I should think they will give up the attack on the
door.

"Stand clear of it, Surajah. They will probably fire into it
before they charge--keep down below the level of the
loopholes."

Presently a volley of musketry was fired, and the door was
riddled by bullets. Then a number of figures sprang from between
the two opposite houses, and rushed at the door. Two of them
carried a long, heavy beam.

Two shots flashed out in return, from the hut. One of the men
carrying the beam fell, as did an officer who was leading them; but
instantly another caught up the end of the timber, and in a moment
a crowd were clustered round the door. Several caught hold of the
beam, and swung it as though they meant to use it as a battering
ram.

Two more puffs of smoke spurted out from the loopholes, and
again two of the men fell. The others, however, swung it forward
with a crash against the door. The end of the beam went right
through the rotten woodwork. Dick and Surajah fired their last
musket shots with as deadly effect as before. The next blow dashed
the door from its hinges, and, split and shattered by the former
shocks, it fell forward into the road, while a yell of triumph
broke from the Mysoreans.

This died away, however, when they saw the three crossbars
blocking their entrance. Again two pistol shots carried death among
them.

"Load your guns, Surajah."

But before Surajah had time to do so, the Mysoreans made a rush
at the door. The defenders stepped forward and fired between the
crossbars, and then, drawing their tulwars, ran the two men in
front through the body. As they dropped, those behind them drew
back.

"The last pistols!" Dick shouted, and they fired two shots into
the crowd.

This completed the consternation of the enemy. It seemed to them
that the defenders possessed an unlimited supply of firearms.
Already twelve shots had been fired, and not one had failed to take
effect. With a cry of consternation they fled down the street,
leaving the ground in front of the fatal door strewn with
bodies.

The defenders instantly set about the work of recharging their
firearms. They were not interrupted, but presently an irregular
fire opened upon them, from the jungle that had taken the place of
the garden between the opposite houses.

"We may as well lie down at full length," Dick said, setting the
example. "There is no use in running risks. You keep that side, and
listen attentively. It is likely enough that they will work round
behind, next time, and try the windows. By the way they are firing,
I fancy there are not more than five or six of them opposite."

Another half hour passed. Then Surajah exclaimed, "I can hear
them on this side."

Dick got up, and crossed at once.

"I will take the loophole under this window. You go to the one
at the end. I expect they will try both windows at once."

Dick placed the muzzle of his gun in the loophole, and, glancing
along, saw that something dark barred his view. He fired at once.
There was a loud cry and a fall, then a rush to the window, and a
moment later a hole appeared in the thatch. Dick discharged two
pistols through it, and as he did so Surajah fired.

The thatch was speedily pulled down, as the enemy had learned to
avoid the loopholes. A yell of rage rose, as the fallen thatch
showed them that the window was defended with crossbars, in the
same way as the door. Immediately afterwards, Dick had a narrow
escape from a shot fired through a loophole close to him.

"Stoop down," he cried, and, crouching below the level of the
loopholes, made his way to the end of the hut. "Recharge the guns
first, Surajah. They may fire away through the loopholes as long as
they like. It is lucky we made them so high, except the three under
the windows. We must be careful in keeping out of the line of
those.

"You sit down where you can command the end window, and the one
behind--I will watch the front window and door. A bold fellow might
put his musket through, and pick one of us off, and that is what we
have to prevent. So keep your gun in readiness, and if you see a
head appear, don't miss it."

The enemy now kept up a constant fire through the loopholes at
the end and back of the house; but as these were shoulder high, and
there was no altering the elevation of the guns, the shots flew
harmlessly over the heads of the defenders. Several times, Dick
went to one or other of the loopholes, pistol in hand, and,
standing close beside it, waited until a shot was fired; and then,
thrusting the barrel into the loophole, fired before another gun
could be inserted, the discharge being generally followed by a
sharp cry of pain.

After this had gone on for nearly an hour, the assailants
evidently became discouraged. The shots came from the loopholes
less frequently, and presently ceased altogether.

"I would give a good deal to know what they are up to," Dick
said, after a long pause.

"Shall I look through the loophole?" Surajah asked.

"Certainly not. There will be a man standing at each of them,
waiting in expectation of our taking a look out."

"But there are none in front," Surajah said.

"That is more than we can say. They have not been firing on that
side, but they may have men there now. No, we will leave well
alone, Surajah. The longer they delay, the better for us.

"Keep your eye on the top of the wall, as well as on the window.
They may have made some ladders by this time, and may intend to try
a shot."

"Perhaps they are gone?" Surajah suggested.

"It is quite possible. They must know that our troop comes up
here early, and as they have four miles to walk back to the fort,
and several wounded to carry with them, they certainly won't stay
much longer--if, as you say, they have not gone already."

It was indeed well that Surajah had not attempted to look out at
one of the loopholes; for, at the time he asked the question, a
dark figure was standing at each, looking along the barrel of his
gun, in readiness to fire the moment the light was obscured.

A few minutes later Dick exclaimed:

"How stupid! We can easily test whether there is any one there,
Surajah;" and, taking up a piece of thatch he pushed it suddenly
across one of the loopholes.

No shot followed the action, and he went round the hut, and
repeated the experiment at each of them.

"They have all gone," he said confidently. "Had they been
outside, they would certainly have fired directly the light was
obscured."

Standing a short distance back from the end window, he looked
out between the crossbeams.

"Hurrah!" he shouted. "There they go up the road. They are a
quarter of a mile away. They are not more than half as strong as
they were when they came down. They are carrying eight or ten
figures on their shoulders, on litters, or doors."

"I don't see the cavalry," Surajah said, as he joined him.

"No. It is likely enough that they may be in hiding among the
huts opposite, and are waiting, in hopes that we may be foolish
enough to take it for granted that they are all gone, and pull down
the bars of the door. I expect they will stay until they see our
troop coming up the valley."

They continued to look out from the window, from which they had
now removed the bars. Half an hour later, Dick exclaimed:

"There they go, up that side of the valley. I have no doubt they
see our troop, and that in a few minutes we shall hear them
coming."

It was not long before they heard a trampling of horses, and a
moment later the Rajah's voice exclaimed:

"Why, what is this? Here are a dozen dead bodies. They are
Mysoreans, by their dress."

"All right, Uncle," Dick shouted, "we will be out as soon as we
get these bars down. We have been standing a siege."

It did not take long to remove the bars. The Rajah and his men
had dismounted, as soon as some of the latter had gone round the
hut, and had brought back the report that there were five more dead
on that side. As Dick and his companion stepped out, the Rajah
exclaimed:

"What, are you alone?"

"Yes; there is no one with us, Uncle."

"Do you mean to say that you two have defended this place alone,
and killed sixteen of the enemy, besides some I see lying farther
up the road?"

"Yes, Uncle. You see, it was a pretty strong position, and we
had time to block up the doors and windows, and to make loopholes
to fire through."

"What think you of that, Anwar?" the Rajah exclaimed to the
captain of the troop. "My nephew and Rajbullub's son have shown
themselves brave fighters, have they not?"

"It is wonderful," the captain said; and exclamations of
admiration broke from the men standing round.

"Tell us all about it, Dick," the Rajah went on.

"It is a long story, Uncle; but the real news is that Tippoo,
with his army, has left the head of the western passes, and has
gone to Seringapatam. He is going to march down one of the passes,
this side, at once. Provisions have been collected for his army to
consume on the march. No one knows yet which pass he will come down
by; but it will not be far from here, for they are buying up cattle
in the villages at the top of the ghauts."

"That is important, indeed, Dick, and we must ride off without
delay; but first, I must have a look at this fortress of
yours."

He entered the hut, the soldiers crowding in after him, and
examined the defences at the windows, and the loopholes; while Dick
explained how the bars had been arranged to defend the door.

"We began on the other side, Uncle. We had a fight with four men
who came up with us there. Only one of them got away--and he left
his gun behind. It was lucky, for their guns and pistols were of
immense use to us. We could not have held out with only our own
weapons.

"About twenty of their cavalry came up a few minutes afterwards.
We beat them off, and then they sent up to the fort for infantry,
and about fifty men came down and attacked us, just at sunrise.
They kept it up to within half an hour ago. Then the infantry
marched back, knowing, of course, that your troop generally got
here about seven.

"The horsemen stayed here till within a few minutes of your
arrival. No doubt they thought that we should suppose they had all
gone, and might venture out, and let them get a shot at us."

"Why, it must have been a veritable battle, Dick."

"There was a good deal of noise, Uncle, though not much danger.
So long as we kept below the level of the loopholes and windows,
and out of the line of the door, there was no chance of our being
hit."

"They must have made a strong attack on the door," the Rajah
said. "I see that the two lying next to it were both killed by
sword thrusts."

"Yes, that was the most critical moment, Uncle. We had emptied
nearly all our barrels, and if they could have broken down the
bars, which I have no doubt they could have done, if they had stuck
to it, they would have made very short work of us."

"Now let us be going," the Rajah said. "You can tell me the
whole story, as we go along."

Two of the sowars were ordered to give up their horses to Dick
and Surajah, and to mount behind comrades. Then they started down
the valley, Dick riding between his uncle and the captain, while
Surajah took his place with the two other officers of the troop.
They rode so rapidly that Dick's story was scarcely concluded by
the time they reached the village where the troops were
quartered.

"Well, you have done marvelously well, Dick," his uncle said.
"Surajah deserves the highest praise, too. Now I will write a note
to the British officer with the Nabob, giving the news of Tippoo's
movements, and will send it off by two of the troopers, at once.
Where Colonel Maxwell's force is, I have no idea. It marched to
join General Meadows, on the day we came up here.

"In the meantime you can have a wash, while breakfast is being
cooked. I have no doubt that you are ready for it."

"I am indeed, Uncle. We had nothing, yesterday, but a few cakes
made of flour and water; and have had nothing at all, since."

"All right, lad. I will be ready almost as soon as breakfast
is."

After the meal was over, the Rajah lit his hookah, and said:

"You must go through the story again, this evening, Dick. You
cut short some of the details, as you told it to me on the road,
and I want to understand it all thoroughly. You had better turn in
now for a long sleep. You must want it badly enough, lad, after the
work of the two last nights."

Dick slept until his uncle roused him, at six o'clock.

"Dinner will be ready in ten minutes. It is just as well that
you should get up, for two or three hours. After that, you will be
good for another sleep till morning. We shall have to look out
sharp now, and keep a couple of vedettes always at that village;
as, for all we know, this may be the pass by which Tippoo is coming
down."

Dick got up rather reluctantly, but he was not long in shaking
off his drowsiness, and after dinner was able to go through the
story again, with full details of his adventures.

"I don't know what I should have done without Surajah, Uncle. He
is a capital fellow, and if ever I go up by myself, into Mysore, to
look for my father, I hope that you will let me take him."

"That I will certainly do, Dick. Ever since I first heard of
your plans, I have quite decided that you ought not to go alone. I
daresay I should have chosen an older man to accompany you, but
after what you and the lad have done together, I don't think you
could do better than take him. Of course, such an affair would
demand infinitely greater caution and care, though not greater
courage, than you had occasion to use on this excursion. It is one
thing to enter a village, to ask a few questions, make a purchase
or two, and be off again; but it is a very different thing to be
among people for weeks, or perhaps months, and to live as one of
themselves. However, we may hope that this war will end in our army
marching to Seringapatam, when we shall recover many of the
prisoners in Tippoo's hands.

"I do not say all. We know how many hundreds remained in his
power last time, in spite of his promise to deliver them all up;
and maybe something of the same sort will occur next time. Numbers
may be sent away, by him, to the hill fortresses dotted all over
the country; and we should never be able to obtain news of them.
However, we must hope for the best."

The next morning, the troopers arrived with a letter from the
English resident at Arcot. The Rajah glanced through it, and handed
it to Dick, with the remark:

"You will not get the honour you deserve, Dick."

The letter ran:

"Dear Rajah:

"Your news would be extremely valuable, were it correct; but
unfortunately it is not so, and doubtless the reports brought down
by your nephew were spread by Tippoo, for the purpose of deceiving
us. Or, possibly, he may have intended to have come that way, but
afterwards changed his mind. We have news that, just after Colonel
Maxwell effected his junction with General Meadows, near
Caveripatam, and was about to ascend the ghauts by the Tapour pass,
Tippoo came down by that very route, slipped past them, and is
marching on to Trichinopoly. That being the case, I see no further
utility in your remaining with your troop in the passes, but think
it were best that you should re-assemble them at once, and march
here. There is no chance of Tippoo capturing Trichinopoly before
Meadows, who is following him, can come up and force on a battle;
so it is likely that the Mysore army may continue their march in
this direction, in which case every fighting man will be of use, to
defend this place until it is relieved by the general."

Dick uttered an exclamation of disgust, as he laid the letter
down.

"It does not matter about my news turning out wrong," he said,
"but it is very bad that General Meadows should have allowed Tippoo
to pass him, as he may do frightful damage to the country, before
he can be overtaken."

"He never can be overtaken, as long as he chooses to keep ahead.
He is hampered with no baggage train. He lives on the plunder of
the country he passes through; and the British army, with all its
baggage and provision train, has no more chance of overtaking him
than it has of flying."

Messengers were at once sent off, to call in the scattered
portions of the troop. These were assembled in twenty-four hours,
and at once started for Arcot, where they arrived after a two days'
march. They there learned that Tippoo had appeared before
Trichinopoly, and after pillaging and laying waste the sacred
island of Seringham, had marched north.

Day after day, news arrived of the devastation he was committing
on his march. At Thiagur, however, he met with a serious repulse.
Great numbers of the inhabitants from the surrounding country had
crowded into the town with their valuables, and Tippoo, expecting a
rich booty, attacked the town; but although its fortifications were
insignificant, the little garrison was commanded by Captain Flint,
the officer who had so bravely defended Wandiwash in the previous
war, and two assaults were repulsed with serious loss.

At Trinalee, thirty-five miles farther north, he was more
successful, capturing the town, and putting the inhabitants to the
sword. Here Tippoo changed his course, and marched for Pondicherry,
capturing Permacoil by the way.

The news that Tippoo had changed his course, to the southeast,
was received with great joy at Arcot. Although confident that this
capital would be able to resist any sudden attack, the belief had
been general that the whole territory would be laid waste, as it
had been by Hyder; and hopes were now entertained that the British
army would arrive in time to bar Tippoo's further progress.

Chapter 8: The Invasion Of
Mysore.

For some time, there was a pause in the hostilities. Tippoo
remained with his army near Pondicherry, carrying on negotiations
with the French governor, and arranging for the despatch of an
envoy to France, with a request that the Republic would furnish him
with six thousand French troops. While he was thus wasting his
time, General Meadows was slowly moving, with the army, towards an
encampment formed at Vellout, some eighteen miles west of
Madras.

On the 14th of December, a messenger arrived with the news that
Lord Cornwallis had arrived from Calcutta, two days before, with
considerable reinforcements, and that he was about to assume the
supreme command of the army. The news caused unbounded
satisfaction. By the extreme dilatoriness of his movements, and
especially by the manner in which he had allowed Tippoo to pass him
near Caveripatam, when he might easily have attacked him, while his
army was still struggling through the pass, General Meadows had
disgusted his troops. He had frittered away, without striking a
single blow, the finest army that the British had, up to that time,
ever put into the field in India; and had enabled Tippoo,
unmolested, to spread destruction over a large extent of
country.

The only countervailing success that had been gained, by the
British, was a brilliant victory won by Colonel Hartley, who was in
command of a Bombay force, consisting of a European regiment and
two battalions of Sepoys. With these, he engaged Hossein Ali, who
had been left by Tippoo in Malabar, with a force of 9000 men, when
the sultan first retreated before General Meadows' advance. This
force was defeated, with a loss of 1000 men killed and wounded,
900, including Hossein himself, taken prisoners on the field, and
1500 in the pursuit; the total British loss being only 52 men. A
few days after this victory, General Abercrombie arrived from
Madras with reinforcements, and the whole of Tippoo's fortified
places in Malabar were captured, one after another, and the entire
province conquered.

As soon as Lord Cornwallis reached the camp at Vellout, with a
large train of draught animals that had been brought by sea from
Calcutta, the Rajah and his troops received orders to join him. It
was on the 29th of January, 1791, that the commander in chief
arrived at Vellout, and the Rajah arrived there on the 4th of
February. As he was the bearer of a letter from the Resident at
Arcot, he was at once enabled to have an interview with Lord
Cornwallis. On finding that he could speak English, the general
received him with much courtesy.

"I am glad, indeed, to have a troop like yours with us, Rajah,"
he said. "There are few of my officers who know anything of this
part of the country, and your local knowledge will be invaluable.
Moreover, as I do not speak the language myself, it will be a great
advantage to have someone with me through whom I can communicate
freely with the people of the country. There is no doubt that such
communications are much more effectual, when they come through one
of their own princes, than through English officers. I shall
therefore order that, on the march, a space be allotted for the
encampment of your troop by the side of that occupied by my own
escort; and hope that, when not employed on scouting or other
duties, you will ride with my staff.

"Your mother, Rajah, was an English lady, I am told."

"She was, sir. My sister, who married an Englishman, is at
present in Madras with my family, and her son is with me.

"I beg to recommend him to your lordship. He speaks my language
perfectly, and having been brought up in his father's country,
naturally speaks English as well as Hindustani; and will
understand, far better than I can do, any orders that you may give.
He has come out, with his mother, in the hopes of finding his
father, who has, if alive, been a prisoner for several years in the
hands of Tippoo.

"He is a fine young fellow. The other day, he made a most
dangerous reconnaissance into Mysore, in order to ascertain
Tippoo's movements. He had with him a young officer of mine, two or
three years older than himself; and when I tell you that the two
young fellows held a ruined hut, for hours, against the attack of
some seventy of Tippoo's troops, and beat them off with a loss of
upwards of twenty killed, I need hardly say that he has no lack of
courage."

"You are right, indeed, Rajah. Let the lad ride beside you, with
my staff. Some day he will, perhaps, shorten a long day's march by
giving me details of this adventure of his."

On the 5th of February the army started on its march, and on the
11th reached Vellore. Tippoo had, for two months, been wasting his
time at Pondicherry; but, upon hearing news that instead of, as he
expected, the English general having marched south from Vellout to
meet him, he had turned westward; and that Mysore, itself, was
threatened with invasion, he hastily broke up his camp, and marched
at full speed for the ghauts; and, reaching the table land, hurried
to oppose the British army, as it endeavoured to ascend the pass
going from Vellore through Amboor, by which he made sure he would
come.

Lord Cornwallis encouraged him in the idea, by sending a
battalion a considerable distance up the pass; while he started
north and entered the easy pass of Mooglee, leading west from
Chittoor to Moolwagle. He pushed rapidly up the pass, and gained
the summit before Tippoo could reach the spot and oppose him. It
took four days longer for the battering train, baggage, and
provisions to reach the top of the pass. After a delay of a day or
two, to rest the animals, which included sixty-seven elephants
which had been brought from Bengal, the army set out for Bangalore,
the second largest town in Mysore.

The Rajah's troops had been busily employed, from the time the
army moved from Vellout. The men, on their tireless little horses,
carried his messages to the various divisions and brigades, brought
up news of the progress of the train, or rode on ahead with the
officers of the quartermaster's department, whose duty it was to
precede the army, to decide on the camping ground, and to mark off
the spots to be occupied by the various corps. In this way, they
saved the regular cavalry from much fatiguing duty.

Surajah and Dick were generally with the party that went on with
the quartermasters, and, as soon as the camping ground was fixed
upon, aided them in the purchase of forage and food from the
natives, as it was most desirable that the forty days' provisions
the army carried with it should remain intact, until the army had
passed up the ghauts. Beyond that, it was expected that it would be
harassed by the Mysore horse, who would render it impossible for
the cavalry to go out to collect forage, or provisions, from the
country through which it marched.

So well did the Rajah's troop perform its duties, that Lord
Cornwallis ordered it to be taken on the strength of the army, and
to receive the pay and rations of native cavalry in the service. On
the day after leaving Vellore, the general sent an orderly to
request the Rajah and his nephew to ride with him.

"I have not had an opportunity of hearing of your scouting
expedition," he said to Dick, "and shall be glad if you will give
me full details of it."

Dick related the adventure, from the time they had started.

"You were wonderfully lucky, in getting back safely," the
general said, when he had finished. "At least, luck is not the
proper word, for your safety was due to your quick wittedness and
courage; and your escape with your companion from the guard house,
the manner in which you got through the fort in the pass, and your
defence of that hut, until the Rajah's troop arrived to your
rescue, were all of them admirably managed."

He then proceeded to inquire further into the object for which
Dick had come out to India.

"I heartily wish you success in your search," he said, "and
sincerely hope we may obtain news of your father. I do not know
what your intentions may be, afterwards, but should you wish to
enter the army, I will at once nominate you to a commission, in one
of our native cavalry regiments."

"I am deeply obliged to your Excellency," Dick replied, "but as,
if we learn nothing of my father during the war, I am quite
resolved to spend, if necessary, some years in Mysore in the search
for him, I must therefore be free to devote my time to that."

"At any rate," the general said, "if at any time you should feel
free to accept my offer, it will be open to you. In the meantime, I
will appoint you one of the interpreters to the army, during the
expedition, and will attach you to my own staff. It will give you a
recognised position, and it is only right that, as you are doing
good service, you should receive pay. You shall be put in orders
this evening. You can, of course, continue to camp and live with
the Rajah."

The change made very little difference in Dick's duties, and he
continued at his former work, in the quartermasters' department,
until the army was ready for its advance to Bangalore. To the
general surprise, as the army moved forward, nothing was seen of
Tippoo's cavalry, by which they had expected to be continually
harassed. The sultan had, as soon as he perceived that Bangalore
was threatened, hurried the whole army to that city, where he had
sent his harem when he started from Seringapatam to attack
Travancore; and instead of sending off a few hundred horsemen, to
escort them to the capital, while with his army he opposed the
advance of the British, he took his whole force with him, in order
to remove his harem with all the pomp and ceremony with which their
passage through the country was generally accompanied.
Consequently, it was not until after taking, without resistance,
the forts of Colar and Ooscotah, and arriving within ten miles of
Bangalore, that the army encountered Tippoo's cavalry.

This was on the 4th of March. They made an attempt to reach the
baggage trains, but were sharply repulsed, and on the following day
the army took up its position before Bangalore. As they approached
the town, three horsemen dashed out from a small grove, and rode
furiously towards a little group, consisting of Lord Cornwallis,
General Meadows, and the staff, who were reconnoitring at some
little distance from the head of the column. It was evident that
their intention was to cut down the general.

The Rajah, who was riding as usual with the staff, dashed
forward with four or five other officers, and encountered the
horsemen before they could reach him. The Rajah cut down one of
them, another was killed by one of the staff, and the third knocked
off his horse and captured.

It was learned that the enterprise was not a planned one, but
was the result of a quarrel between the men, themselves. One had
charged the others with cowardice, and in return they had
challenged him to follow them where they dared go. All had prepared
themselves for the enterprise by half intoxicating themselves with
bhang, and thus made but a poor fight, when they found their object
thwarted by the officers who threw themselves between them and
their intended victim.

Bangalore was a fine town, situated on a plain so elevated that
the climate was temperate, the soil fertile, and vegetation
abundant. The town was of considerable extent, that portion lying
within the fortifications being a mile and a quarter long, by half
a mile broad. It was surrounded by a strong rampart, a thick hedge,
and a deep, dry ditch. The wall, however, did not extend across the
side facing the fort, whose guns were supposed to render it ample
protection.

The fort was oval in shape, and about nine hundred yards across,
at its greatest diameter. It was defended by a broad rampart,
strengthened by thirty semicircular bastions and five outworks. The
two gates, one at each end, were also protected by outworks. In the
fort stood the splendid palace built by Tippoo. Here also were
immense foundries of cannon, factories for muskets, the arsenal,
and large magazines of grain and ammunition.

The position taken up by the army lay to the northeast of the
petah, or town, and the next morning a reconnoitring party,
escorted by Colonel Floyd, with the whole of the cavalry and a
brigade of infantry, went out to examine the defences of the town
and fort. Seeing a large body of laden elephants and camels,
escorted by a strong body of horsemen, Colonel Floyd rode with the
cavalry to attack them. The movement was a rash one, as the guns on
the fort opened fire, and although at first he defeated the Mysore
horse, a heavy fire was poured upon him, when entangled in broken
ground. He himself was shot by a musket ball which, striking him in
the face, passed through both jaws. It was at first believed that
he was dead, but he was carried back to camp, and ultimately
recovered. This rash attack cost the lives of seventy-one men, and
of four times as many horses.

As Tippoo's army was lying at a distance of only six miles away,
the general determined that it would be best, in the first place,
to capture the town without delay; and to assault the fort on that
side, as he could then do so without any fear of an attack by
Tippoo; who would be able to harass him, constantly, were he to
approach the fort from any other direction. Orders were therefore
issued for the 36th Regiment, supported by the 26th Bengal Sepoys,
and a party of artillery under Colonel Moorhouse, to prepare to
storm the north gate of the town at daybreak the next morning.

As soon as dawn broke, the troops rushed forward against the
gate. The outside work was speedily stormed, but as they issued
from it, towards the gate itself, they were received with a very
heavy fire from the walls, together with a storm of hand grenades.
Colonel Moorhouse brought forward a six pounder, receiving two
wounds as the piece was run up to the gate. The first time it was
fired, it had no effect beyond making a small hole, and the next
shot had no greater success. Colonel Moorhouse ordered a
twelve-pounder to be brought up, but as he was aiding to put it
into position, another ball struck him, and he fell dead.

While the artillerymen were pouring shot after shot into the
gate, the roar of musketry was unceasing, the 36th keeping up an
incessant fire upon the enemy upon the wall, in order to cover, as
much as possible, the operations of the gunners. At last, the gate
gave way. The troops poured in, cheering loudly, and the enemy at
once fled.

Many, however, took up their positions in the houses, and kept
up a galling fire, until their places of refuge were stormed by
detachments of troops, scattered through the town. By nine o'clock
all was over, and the town completely in the possession of the
British.

Tippoo, furious at its having been so speedily captured, moved
down early in the afternoon with a strong force of infantry; and,
marching along by the side of the fort, endeavoured to force his
way into the town through the open space at that end. He was aided
by the guns of the fort, while his artillery kept up a heavy
cannonade upon the British encampment.

When the sultan was seen marching towards the town, with the
evident intention of endeavouring to retake it, the 76th Regiment
was sent in to reinforce the garrison; and the three battalions
opposed so steady a resistance to Tippoo's infantry that the latter
were forced to fall back, after sustaining a loss of five hundred
men. The troops began next morning to erect batteries.

The position was a singular one. A small army was undertaking
the siege of a strong fortress, while an army vastly outnumbering
it was watching them; and was able, at any moment, to throw large
reinforcements into the fort through the Mysore gate, which was at
the opposite end of the fort to that attacked, the efforts of the
British being directed against the Delhi gate, which faced the
town.

The advantage which had been gained, by the employment of the
great train carrying the provisions for the troops, was now
manifest; for, unless the army had been so provided, it would have
been forced to retreat; as, in the face of Tippoo's army, with its
great host of cavalry, it would have been impossible to gather
provisions.

The first batteries erected by the engineers proved to be too
far distant from the wall of the fort to effect any material
damage, and others were commenced at a much shorter range. The work
was performed with great difficulty, for the guns of the defenders
were well served, and a storm of missiles were poured, night and
day, into the town and against the batteries. The garrison, which
consisted of eight thousand men, were frequently relieved by fresh
troops from the sultan's army, and were thus able to maintain their
fire with great vigour.

On the 17th, Tippoo cannonaded the British camp from a distance,
but without doing great damage. In the meantime, the fire of our
siege guns was steadily doing its work, in spite of the heavy fire
kept up on them. The stone facing of the bastion next to the
gateway was soon knocked away, but the earth banks behind, which
were very thick and constructed of a tough red clay, crumbled but
slowly. Still, the breach was day by day becoming more practicable,
and Tippoo, alarmed at the progress that had been made, moved his
army down towards the east side of the fort, and seemed to meditate
an attack upon our batteries. He placed some heavy guns behind a
bank surrounding a large tank, and opened some embrasures through
which their fire would have taken our trenches, which were now
pushed up close to the fort, in flank.

Lord Cornwallis at once directed a strong force to advance, as
if with the intention of attacking the new work, and Tippoo ordered
his troops to retire from it. It was evident, however, that he had
determined to give battle in order to save the fort, and the
English general therefore determined to storm the place that very
night, the 21st of March. The preparations were made secretly, lest
the news should be taken to Tippoo by one of the natives in the
town, and it was not until late in the evening that orders were
issued to the troops which were to take part in the assault.

The column was to be composed of the grenadier and light
companies of all the European regiments, and these were to be
followed and supported by several battalions of Sepoys. The force,
commanded by Colonel Maxwell, at eleven o'clock issued from the
town and advanced through the trenches. The besieged were vigilant,
and the instant the leading company sprang from the trenches and,
in the bright moonlight, ran forward to the breach, a number of
blue lights were lighted all along the ramparts, and a heavy
musketry fire was opened.

The scene was eagerly watched by the troops in the camp, every
feature being distinctly visible. The storming party could be seen,
rushing up the breach and mounting, by ladders, over the gateway,
which was the central object of attack. The enemy gathered in
masses at the top of the breach, but as soon as the stormers
collected in sufficient strength, and charged them with the
bayonet, they broke and dispersed.

The grenadiers moved along the ramparts to the right, clearing
it of its defences as they went along. The light companies did the
same along the ramparts to the left, while the Sepoys descended
into the body of the fort. The whole of the defenders fled towards
the Mysore gate at the other end of the fort, and when the three
bodies of troops met there, they found the gate blocked by the
masses of fugitives.

They charged them on all sides. The governor, a brave old
soldier, and a great favourite of the sultan, died fighting
gallantly to the last. Six hundred of the garrison fell, and three
hundred, for the most part wounded, were taken prisoners. The
British loss was only fifty officers and men, killed and
wounded.

The body of the governor was found, next morning, among the
slain; and Lord Cornwallis sent a message to Tippoo, with an offer
to have the body carried to his camp for burial. Tippoo, however,
replied that the proper place for a soldier to be buried was where
he fell, and accordingly the brave old soldier was laid to rest, in
the fort, by the Mohammedan troops in the Sepoy regiments; with all
military honours.

While the assault was going on, Tippoo--who, in spite of the
precautions taken, had received news of the intention of the
general, and had warned the garrison of the fort to be
prepared--despatched two heavy columns, as soon as the fire opened,
to attack the British camp on its flank. The movement had been
foreseen and prepared against, and the attacks were both repulsed
with heavy loss.

The capture of the fort was effected but just in time, for the
provisions were almost entirely consumed, and the scanty rations
were eked out by digging up the roots of grasses and vegetables
within the circuit of our pickets. The draught and carriage cattle
were dying daily, by hundreds. The few remaining, intended for
food, were in so emaciated a state that the flesh was scarcely
eatable. And, worst of all, the supply of ammunition was almost
exhausted.

The news of the fall of the fortress, considered by the natives
to be almost impregnable, under the very eyes of the sultan himself
and his great army, produced a widespread effect; greatly
depressing the spirit of Tippoo's adherents, while it
proportionately raised those of the British troops, and excited the
hopes of the peoples conquered by Tippoo and his father. One result
was that the polagars, or chiefs, of a tribe that had but recently
fallen under the yoke of Mysore, were at once emboldened to bring
in provisions to the town. As great stores were found in the
magazines in the fort, the starving animals regained some of their
condition during the ten days that the troops were occupied in
repairing the breaches, burying the dead, and placing the fort in a
condition to stand a siege, should Tippoo return during the absence
of the army.

When this was done, and the stores of ammunition replenished
from the magazines, the army started on its march north to
Deonhully, where they were to effect a junction with the cavalry
that the Nizam had agreed to furnish. As it marched, it passed
within three miles of Tippoo's army, which was proceeding in a
westerly direction. Tippoo could here have brought on a general
engagement, had he wished it; but the capture of Bangalore had for
the time cowed his spirit, and he continued his march, at a rate
that soon placed him beyond the reach of the British.

At Deonhully a junction was effected with the Nizam's horse, ten
thousand in number. These proved, however, of no real utility,
being a mere undisciplined herd, who displayed no energy whatever,
except in plundering the villagers. The united force now moved
southeast, to guard a great convoy which was advancing up the pass
of Amboor; and, when this had been met, returned to Bangalore.

During the operations of the siege, the Rajah's troop had
remained inactive, and Dick's duties as interpreter had been
nominal. At Bangalore, no English prisoners had been found, and he
was heartily glad when he heard that it was the intention of Lord
Cornwallis to march directly upon Seringapatam.

It was, indeed, a necessity for the English general to bring the
campaign to a speedy termination. The war was entailing a
tremendous strain upon the resources of the Company. The Nizam and
Mahrattis were not to be depended upon in the slightest degree, and
might at any moment change sides. The French revolution had broken
out, and all Europe was alarmed, and many of the English regiments
might, at any moment, be ordered to return home. Therefore,
anything like a thorough conquest of Mysore was impossible, and
there was only time to march to Seringapatam, to capture Tippoo's
capital, and to dictate terms to him.

Immense exertions were made to restore the efficiency of the
baggage train, and on the 3rd of May, the army marched from
Bangalore.

Tippoo, devoured alike by rage and fear, had taken no efficient
steps to meet the coming storm. His first thought was to prevent
the English from discovering the brutal cruelty with which his
white captives had been treated. He had, over and over again, given
the most solemn assurances that he had no white prisoners in his
hands; and he now endeavoured to prevent their obtaining evidence
of his falsehood and cruelty, by murdering the whole of those who
remained in his hands at Seringapatam. Having effected this
massacre, he next ordered all the pictures that he had caused to be
painted on the walls of his palace and other buildings, holding up
the English to the contempt and hatred of his subjects, to be
obliterated; and he also ordered the bridge over the northern loop
of the Cauvery to be destroyed. He then set out with his army to
bar the passage of the British to Seringapatam.

The weather was extremely bad when the British started. Rain
storms had deluged the country, and rendered the roads well nigh
impassable, and the movement was, in consequence, very slow. Tippoo
had taken up a strong position on the direct road and, in order to
avoid him, Lord Cornwallis took a more circuitous route, and Tippoo
was obliged to fall back.

The whole country through which the English passed had been
wasted. The villages were deserted, and not an inhabitant was to be
met with. Suffering much from wet, and the immense difficulties of
bringing on the transport, the army, on the 13th of May, arrived on
the Cauvery, nine miles east of Seringapatam. Here it had been
intended to cross the river, but the rains had so swollen the
stream that it was found impossible to ford it. It was, therefore,
determined to march to a point on the river, ten miles above
Seringapatam, where it was hoped that a better ford could be found;
and where a junction might be effected with General Abercrombie's
Bombay army, which was moving up from the Malabar coast, and was
but thirty or forty miles distant.

To effect this movement, it was necessary to pass within sight
of the capital. Tippoo came out, and took up a strong position, on
a rugged and almost inaccessible height. In front was a swamp
stretching to the river, while batteries had been thrown up to
sweep the approaches.

By a night march, accomplished in the midst of a tremendous
thunder and rain storm, Lord Cornwallis turned Tippoo's position.
The confusion occasioned by the storm, however, and the fact that
several of the corps lost their way, prevented the full success
hoped for from being attained, and gave Tippoo time to take up a
fresh position.

Colonel Maxwell led five battalions up a rocky ledge, held by a
strong body of the Mysore troops, carried it at the point of the
bayonet, and captured some guns. Tippoo immediately began to fall
back, but would have lost the greater portion of his artillery, had
not the Nizam's horse moved forward across the line by which the
British were advancing. Here they remained in an inert mass,
powerless to follow Tippoo, and a complete barrier to the British
advance. So unaccountable was their conduct, that it was generally
believed in the army that it was the result of treachery; and it
was with difficulty that the British troops could be restrained
from firing into the horde of horsemen, who had, from the time they
joined the force, been worse than useless.

As soon as the British could make their way through, or round,
the obstacle to their advance, they pursued the retreating force of
Tippoo, until it took refuge under the guns of the works round
Seringapatam. Their loss had been 2000, that of the British
500.

But the success was of little benefit to the latter. The
terrible state of the roads, and the want of food, had caused the
death of great numbers of draught animals, and the rest were so
debilitated as to be absolutely useless; and during the two days'
marches, that were required to reach the point on the river
previously determined upon, the battering train, and almost the
whole of the carts, were dragged along by the troops.

The position of the army was bad in the extreme. Neither food
nor forage were to be obtained from the country round. The troops
were almost on famine rations, worn out by fatigue, and by the
march through heavy rains, and nights spent on the sodden ground.
Tippoo's horsemen hovered round them. The cavalry of the Nizam,
which had been specially engaged to keep the foe at a distance,
never once ventured to engage them. It was absolutely impossible to
communicate with General Abercrombie, and after remaining but a
couple of days in his new camp, Lord Cornwallis felt that the army
could only be saved from destruction by immediate retreat.

No time was lost in carrying out the decision, when once arrived
at. Some natives were paid heavily to endeavour to make their way
to Abercrombie, with orders for him to retire down the ghauts again
into Malabar. Then the whole of the battering train, and the heavy
equipments, were destroyed; and on the 26th of May, the army
started for its long march back to Bangalore.

It had made but six miles when a body of horsemen, some two
thousand strong, were seen approaching. Preparations were instantly
made to repel an attack, when a soldier rode in, and announced that
the horsemen were the advance party of two Mahratta armies, close
at hand. This was welcome news, indeed, for Lord Cornwallis had no
idea that the Mahrattis were within two hundred miles of him, and
had come to believe that they had no intention, whatever, of
carrying out their engagements.

They had, it appeared, sent off a messenger, every day, to
inform him of their movements; but so vigilant were Tippoo's
cavalry, that not one of them ever reached the British. In a few
hours, the junction was completed, and the sufferings of the army
were at an end. Stores of every kind were abundant with the
Mahrattis, and not only food, but clothing, and every necessary of
life, could be purchased in the great bazaars, occupied by the
Mahratta traders who accompanied the army.

Had the two Mahratta armies arrived a couple of days earlier,
the destruction of the siege train would have been avoided,
Seringapatam would have been besieged, Abercrombie's army of eight
thousand men have joined, and the war brought at once to a
conclusion. It was now, however, too late. The means for
prosecuting the siege of so powerful a fortress were altogether
wanting, and the united armies returned, by easy marches, to
Bangalore.

On the march, the future plan of operations was decided upon.
Lord Cornwallis sent orders for the sum of 1,500,000 rupees, that
had been intended for China, to be at once despatched to Bangalore
for the use of the army, and the allies. The larger of the Mahratta
forces, under Purseram Bhow, with a detachment of Bombay troops
that had accompanied it, were to march to the northwest, and reduce
some of the forts and towns still held by the troops of Mysore. The
other Mahratta force, consisting chiefly of cavalry, under Hurry
Punt, were to remain at Bangalore.

The cause of the long delay, on the part of the Nizam and the
Mahrattis, was now explained. The Nizam's troops had spent six
months in the siege of the fortress of Capool, while an equal time
had been occupied, by Purseram Bhow, in the siege of Durwar, a very
strong place, garrisoned by ten thousand men.

Tippoo began negotiations immediately after his defeat near
Seringapatam, and these were continued until July, when they were
finally broken off. Some months were occupied in reducing a number
of the hill forts, commanding the entrances to the various passes.
Among these, two, deemed absolutely impregnable, Savandroog and
Nundidroog, were captured, but the attack upon Kistnagherry was
repulsed with considerable loss.

By the capture of these places, Lord Cornwallis obtained access
to supplies from the Malabar and Carnatic coasts, and was thus free
from the risk of any recurrence of the misfortunes that had marred
his previous attempt to lay siege to Seringapatam; and, on the 5th
of February, 1792, he again came within sight of Tippoo's
capital.

Chapter 9: News Of The Captive.

During the nine months that had elapsed since the retreat from
before Seringapatam, Dick had been occupied in following out the
main object of his presence in Mysore. Finding that Purseram Bhow's
army was the first that would be engaged in active service, he
asked permission from the general to join it. This was at once
granted, and Lord Cornwallis introduced him to the officer in
command of the Bombay troops attached to that army, informing him
of the object that he had in view.

"He will not be of much use as an interpreter," he said, "for as
the country in which you are going to operate formed, until lately,
a part of the Mahratta dominions, Mahratti will be principally
spoken. He will, therefore, go simply as an officer of my staff,
attached for the present to your command. He has asked me to allow
him to take with him twenty men, belonging to the troop of his
uncle, the Rajah of Tripataly. His object, in doing so, is that he
will be able to traverse the country independently, and can either
rejoin me here, or go to one of the other columns operating against
the hill forts, if it should seem to him expedient to do so. Should
you desire to make a reconnaissance at any time, while he is with
you, you will find him useful as an escort, and will not be obliged
to ask Purseram Bhow for a party of his cavalry."

Dick was sorry to leave his uncle, whose tent he had now shared
for the last ten months. He found himself, however, very
comfortable with the Bombay troops, being made a member of the
mess, consisting of the officer in command and the four officers of
his staff. Wishing to have some duties with which to occupy
himself, he volunteered to act as an aide-de-camp; and although the
work was little more than nominal, it gave him some employment.
When not otherwise engaged, he generally rode with Surajah, whom
his uncle had appointed to command the twenty troopers.

In the year that had elapsed since his arrival in India, Dick
had grown considerably, and broadened out greatly, and was now a
powerful young fellow of over seventeen. He had, since the troop
joined the army of Lord Cornwallis, exchanged his civilian dress
for the undress uniform of an officer, which he had purchased at
the sale of the effects of a young lieutenant on the general's
staff, who had died just as the army arrived before Bangalore. It
was, indeed, necessary that he should do this, riding about, as he
did, either on the staff of the general, or with the officers of
the quartermasters' department. There would be no difficulty in
renewing his uniform, for hardship, fever, and war had carried off
a large number of officers, as well as men; and the effects were
always sold by auction, on the day following the funeral.

Many hill fortresses were captured by the Mahrattis, but few
offered any resistance; as their commanders knew well that there
was no chance of their being relieved, while the men were, in most
cases, delighted at the prospect of an escape from their enforced
service, and of freedom to return to their homes. In a few of these
forts, English captives were found. Some had been there for years,
their very existence being apparently forgotten by the tyrant. Some
had been fairly treated by the Mysore governor, and where this was
the case, the latter was furnished by the British officers with
papers, testifying to the kindness with which they had treated the
prisoners, and recommending them to the officers of any of the
allied forces they might encounter on their way home, or when
established there.

Upon the other hand, some of the prisoners were found to have
been all but starved, and treated with great brutality. In two
cases, where the captives said that some of their companions had
died from the effects of the ill treatment they had received, the
governors were tried by court martial and shot, while some of the
others they sentenced to be severely flogged.

Every captive released was closely scrutinised by Dick, and
eagerly questioned. From one of them, he obtained news that his
father had certainly been alive four years previously, for they had
been in prison together, in a hill fort near Bangalore.

"I was a civilian and he a sailor," he said, "consequently
neither of us were of any use in drilling Tippoo's battalions, and
had been sent up there. Your father was well, then. The governor
was a good fellow, and we had nothing much to complain of. Mr.
Holland was a favourite of his, for, being a sailor, he was handy
at all sorts of things. He could mend a piece of broken furniture,
repair the lock of a musket, and make himself generally useful. He
left there before I did, as the governor was transferred to some
other fort--I never heard where it was--and he took your father
with him. I don't know whether he had Tippoo's orders to do so, or
whether he took him simply because he liked him.

"At any rate, he was the only prisoner who went with him. The
rest of us remained there till a few months back, when the fort was
abandoned. It was just after the capture of Bangalore, and the
place could have offered no resistance, if a body of troops had
been sent against it. At any rate, an order arrived one morning,
and a few hours afterwards the place was entirely abandoned, and we
and the garrison marched here."

"My father was quite well?"

"Quite well. He used to talk to me, at times, of trying to make
his escape. Being a sailor, I have no doubt that he could have got
down from the precipice on which the fort stood; but he knew that,
if he did so, we should all suffer for it, and probably be all put
to death, as soon as Tippoo heard that one of us had escaped--for
that was always done, in order to deter prisoners from trying to
get away."

"Do you think that there is any chance of his being still
alive?"

"That is more than I can possibly say. You see, we have not
known much of what is passing outside our prison. Some of the
guards were good natured enough, and would occasionally give us a
scrap of news; but we heard most from the ill-tempered ones, who
delighted in telling us anything they knew that would pain us.

"Three or four months ago, we heard that every white prisoner in
Seringapatam had been put to death, by Tippoo's orders, and that
doubtless there would be a similar clearance everywhere else. Then,
again, we were told that the English had retreated, beaten, from
before Seringapatam, and that the last of them would soon be down
the ghauts. But whether the prisoners have been killed in other
hill forts like this, I cannot say, although I suppose not, or we
should not have escaped."

"Certainly no such orders can have been sent to the forts here,
for we have found a few prisoners in several of them. Of course, it
may be otherwise in the forts near the capital, which Tippoo might
have thought were likely to fall into our hands; while he may not
have considered it worth while to send the same orders to places so
far away as this, where no British force was likely to come. Still,
at any rate, it is a great satisfaction that my father was alive
four years ago, and that he was in kind hands. That is all in
favour of my finding him, still alive, in one of the places we
shall take, for Lord Cornwallis intends to besiege some of the
fortresses that command the passes, because he cannot undertake
another siege of Seringapatam until he can obtain supplies, freely
and regularly, from beyond the ghauts; as nothing whatever can be
obtained from the country round, so completely is it wasted by
Tippoo's cavalry. I have, therefore, great hopes that my father may
be found in one of these forts."

"I hope, indeed, that you may find him. I am convinced that the
governor would save his life, if he could do so; though, on the
other hand, he would, I am sure, carry out any order he might
receive from Tippoo. Of course, he may not be in charge of a fort
now, and may have been appointed colonel of one of the regiments.
However, it is always better to hope that things will come as you
wish them, however unlikely it may seem that they will do so. We
have been living on hope here, though the chances of our ever being
released were small, indeed. Of course, we did not even know that
Tippoo and the English were at war, until we heard that an English
army was besieging Bangalore; and even then we all felt that, even
if Tippoo were beaten and forced to make peace, it would make no
difference to us. He kept back hundreds of prisoners when he was
defeated before, and would certainly not surrender any he now
holds, unless compelled to do so; and no one would be able to give
information as to the existence of captives in these distant
forts.

"And yet, in the teeth of all these improbabilities, we
continued to hope, and the hopes have been realised."

The capture of forts by the Mahratta army was abruptly checked.
Having, so far, met with such slight opposition, Purseram Bhow
became over confident, and scattered his force over a wide extent
of country, in order that they might more easily find food and
forage. In this condition they were suddenly attacked by Tippoo,
who took advantage of the English being detained at Bangalore,
while the transport train was being reorganised, to strike a blow
at the Mahrattis.

The stroke was a heavy one. Many of the detached parties were
completely destroyed; and the Mahratta general, after gathering the
rest to his standard, was forced to retreat, until strong
reinforcements were sent him from Bangalore.

Learning, from them, that it was probable Lord Cornwallis would
advance as soon as they rejoined him, Dick determined to go back to
Bangalore, as it was unlikely that, after the severe check they had
received, the Mahrattis would resume the offensive for a time.

Surajah and the men were glad to return to the troop, and as
soon as the Mysorean force returned to Seringapatam, Dick, without
waiting for the infantry to get in motion, rode rapidly across the
country with his little party.

He accompanied the English army during their operations,
obtaining permission to go with the columns engaged in the siege of
the hill fortresses, and was present at the capture of all the most
important strongholds. To his bitter disappointment, no English
prisoners were found in any of them, and it was but too certain
that all who might have been there had been massacred, by Tippoo's
orders, on the first advance of the British against Seringapatam.

1.	Bangalore gate.
2.	Mysore gate.
3.	Old bridge.
4.	New bridge.
5.	Place for breaching batteries.
6.	Place intended for the enfilading battery.
7.	Battery to defend the bridge.
8.	Montresor's redoubt.
9.	Hyder Ali's tomb.

Great indeed was the satisfaction of the army when they at last
came in sight of the city. The capital of Mysore stood on an
island, in the river Cauvery. This was four miles in length, and
two in breadth. The town stood in its centre, the fort at the
northern end. The island was approached by two bridges, one close
to the fort, the other at the south, both being defended by strong
batteries. There were also three fords, two of these being at the
north end of the island, and also defended by batteries; the third
was near the centre of the island, a mile below the fort, and
leading to the native town.

The fort was separated from the rest of the island by a deep
ditch cut across it. It was defended by numerous batteries. There
were two gardens on the island, full of large trees, one of them
being the burial place of Hyder Ali. This was connected with the
fort by two avenues of trees. The country round was flat, a
considerable portion being almost level with the river, and devoted
to the cultivation of rice, while at other points a forest
extended, almost to the bank.

After obtaining a view, from some high ground, of the city and
of Tippoo's army encamped beyond its walls, the British force took
up its position six miles to the northwest of the city. No sooner
had the army reached their camping ground than Lord Cornwallis,
with his staff, reconnoitred the approaches.

A thick hedge, formed by a wide belt of thorny shrubs,
interlaced and fastened together by cords, extended from the bank
of the river, about a thousand yards above Seringapatam; and,
making a wide sweep, came down to it again opposite the other end
of the island.

It was within the shelter of this formidable obstacle that
Tippoo's army was encamped. Within the enclosed space were seven or
eight eminences, on which strong redoubts had been erected. Fearing
that Tippoo might, as soon as he saw the position taken up by the
assailants, sally out with his army, take the field, and, as
before, cut all his communications, Lord Cornwallis determined to
strike a blow at once.

At sunset, orders were accordingly issued for the forces to
move, in three columns, at three o'clock; by which time the moon
would be high enough to light up, thoroughly, the ground to be
traversed. The centre column, consisting of 3,700 men, under Lord
Cornwallis himself, was to burst through the hedge at the centre of
the enemy's position, to drive the enemy before them, and, if
possible, to cross the ford to the island with the fugitives.

This, however, was not to be done until the centre column was
reinforced by that under General Meadows, which was to avoid a
strong redoubt at the northwest extremity of the hedge, and,
entering the fence at a point between the redoubt and the river,
drive the enemy before it, until it joined the centre column.
Colonel Meadows had 3,300 under his command. The left column,
consisting of 1,700 men under Colonel Maxwell, was first to carry a
redoubt on Carrygut Hill, just outside the fence; and, having
captured this, to cut its way through the hedge, and to cross the
river at once, with a portion of the centre column.

Unfortunately, owing to a misunderstanding as to the order, the
officer guiding General Meadow's column, instead of taking it to a
point between the northwestern redoubt and the river, led it
directly at the fort. This was stoutly defended, and cost the
British eighty men and eleven officers. Leaving a strong garrison
here, the column advanced, but came upon another redoubt, of even
greater strength and magnitude; and the general, fearing that the
delay that would take place in capturing it would entirely
disarrange the plan of the attack, thought he had better make his
way out through the hedge, march round it to the point where the
centre column had entered it, and so give Lord Cornwallis the
support he must need, opposed as he was to the whole army of
Tippoo.

In the meantime, Colonel Maxwell's force had stormed the work on
Carrygut Hill, and had made its way through the hedge; suffering
heavily, as it did so, from the fire of a strong body of the enemy,
concealed in a water course. The head of the centre column, under
General Knox, after cutting its way through the hedge, pushed on
with levelled bayonets, thrust its way through the enemy's
infantry, and, mingling with a mass of fugitives, crossed the main
ford close under the guns of the fort, and took possession of a
village, half way between the town and the fort.

Unfortunately, in the confusion but three companies had followed
him. The rest of the regiment and three companies of Sepoys crossed
lower down, and gained possession of a palace on the bank of the
river. The officer in command, however, not knowing that any others
had crossed, and receiving no orders, waited until day began to
break. He then recrossed the river and joined Lord Cornwallis, a
portion of whose column, having been reinforced by Maxwell's
column, crossed the river nearly opposite the town.

As they were crossing, a battery of the enemy's artillery opened
a heavy fire upon them; but Colonel Knox, with his three companies,
charged it in the rear, drove out the defenders, and silenced the
guns.

All this time Lord Cornwallis was with the reserve of the
central column, eagerly waiting the arrival of General Meadows'
division. This, in some unaccountable way, had missed the gap in
the hedge by which the centre column had entered, and, marching on,
halted at last at Carrygut Hill, where it was not discovered until
daylight.

The Mysore army on its left was still unbroken, and had been
joined by large numbers of troops from the centre. On discovering
the smallness of the force under Lord Cornwallis, they attacked it
in overwhelming numbers, led by Tippoo himself. The British
infantry advanced to meet them with the bayonet, and drove them
back with heavy loss. They rallied, and returned to the attack
again and again, but were as often repulsed; continuing their
attacks, however, until daylight, when Lord Cornwallis, discovering
at last the position of General Meadows, joined him on Carrygut
Hill.

When day broke, the commanders of the two armies were able to
estimate the results of the night's operations. On the English
side, the only positions gained were the works on Carrygut Hill,
the redoubt at the northwest corner of the hedge, another redoubt
captured by the centre column, and the positions occupied by the
force under Colonels Stuart and Knox, at the eastern end of the
island.

The sultan found that his army was much reduced in strength, no
less than twenty-three thousand men being killed, wounded, or
missing. Of these, the missing were vastly the most numerous, for
ten thousand Chelahs, young Hindoos whom Tippoo had carried off in
his raids, and forced to become soldiers, and, nominally,
Mohammedans, had taken advantage of the confusion, and marched away
with their arms to the Forest of Coorg.

Tippoo made several determined efforts to drive Colonel Stuart's
force off the island, and to recapture the redoubts, but was
repulsed with such heavy loss that he abandoned the attempt
altogether, evacuated the other redoubts, and brought his whole
army across on to the island.

Tippoo now attempted to negotiate. He had already done so a
month before, but Lord Cornwallis had refused to accept his
advances, saying that negotiation was useless, with one who
disregarded treaties and violated articles of capitulation.

"Send hither," he wrote, "the garrison of Coimbatoor, and then
we will listen to what you have to say."

Lord Cornwallis alluded to the small body of troops who, under
Lieutenants Chalmers and Nash, had bravely defended that town when
it had been attacked by one of Tippoo's generals. The gallant
little garrison had surrendered at last, on the condition that they
should be allowed to march freely away. This condition had been
violated by Tippoo, and the garrison had been marched, as
prisoners, to Seringapatam. The two officers had been kept in the
fort, but most of the soldiers, and twenty-seven other European
captives who had lately been brought in from the hill forts, were
lodged in the village that Colonel Knox had first occupied, on
crossing the river, and had all been released by him. Some of these
had been in Tippoo's hands for many years, and their joy at their
unexpected release was unspeakable.

Preparations were now made for the siege. General Abercrombie
was ordered up, with a force of six thousand men, but before his
arrival, Lieutenant Chalmers was sent in with a letter from Tippoo,
asking for terms of capitulation. Negotiations were indeed entered
into, but, doubting Tippoo's good faith, the preparations for the
siege were continued; and upon the arrival of General Abercrombie's
force, on the 15th of February, siege operations were commenced at
the end of the island still in British possession.

A few days afterwards, the army was astounded at hearing that
the conditions had been agreed upon, and that hostilities were to
cease at once. So great was the indignation, indeed, that a spirit
of insubordination, and almost mutiny, was evinced by many of the
corps. They had suffered extreme hardships, had been engaged in
most arduous marches, had been decimated by fever and bad food, and
they could scarce believe their ears when they heard that they were
to hold their hands, now that, after a year's campaigning,
Seringapatam was at their mercy; and that the man who had butchered
so many hundred English captives, who had wasted whole provinces
and carried half a million people into captivity, who had been
guilty of the grossest treachery, and whose word was absolutely
worthless, was to escape personal punishment.

Still higher did the indignation rise, both among officers and
men, when the conditions of the treaty became known, and it was
discovered that no stipulation whatever had been made for the
handing over of the English prisoners still in Mysore, previous to
a cessation of hostilities. This condition, at least, should have
been insisted upon, and carried out previous to any negotiations
being entered upon.

The reasons that induced Lord Cornwallis to make this treaty,
when Seringapatam lay at his mercy, have ever been a mystery.
Tippoo had proved himself a monster unfitted to live, much less to
rule, and the crimes he had committed against the English should
have been punished by the public trial and execution of their
author. To conclude peace with him, now, was to enable him to make
fresh preparations for war, and to necessitate another expedition
at enormous cost and great loss of life. Tippoo had already proved
that he was not to be bound either by treaties or oaths. And,
lastly, it would have been thought that, as a general, Lord
Cornwallis would have wished his name to go down to posterity in
connection with the conquest of Mysore, and the capture of
Seringapatam, rather than with the memorable surrender of York
Town, the greatest disaster that ever befell a British army.

The conditions were, in themselves, onerous, and had they been
imposed upon any other than a brutal and faithless tyrant, might
have been deemed sufficient. Tippoo was deprived of half his
dominions, which were to be divided among the allies, each taking
the portions adjacent to their territory. A sum of 3,300,000 pounds
was to be paid for the expenses of the war. All prisoners of the
allied powers were to be restored.

Two of Tippoo's sons were to be given up as hostages. Even after
they had been handed over, there were considerable delays before
Tippoo's signature was obtained, and it was not until Lord
Cornwallis threatened to resume hostilities that, on the 18th of
March, a treaty was finally sealed. Of the ceded territory the
Mahrattis and the Nizam each took a third as their share, although
the assistance they had rendered in the struggle had been but of
comparatively slight utility. It may, indeed, be almost said that
it was given to them as a reward for not accepting the offers
Tippoo had made them, of joining with him against the British.

The British share included a large part of the Malabar coast,
with the forts of Calicut and Cananore, and the territory of our
ally, the Rajah of Coorg. These cessions gave us the passes leading
into Mysore from the west. On the south we gained possession of the
fort of Dindegul, and the districts surrounding it; while on the
east we acquired the tract from Amboor to Caroor, and so obtained
possession of several important fortresses, together with the chief
passes by which Hyder had made his incursions into the
Carnatic.

Dick felt deeply the absence of any proviso, in the treaty, that
all prisoners should be restored previous to a cessation of
hostilities; at the same time admitting the argument of his uncle
that, although under such an agreement some prisoners might be
released, there was no means of insuring that the stipulation would
be faithfully carried out.

"You see, Dick, no one knows, or has indeed the faintest idea,
what prisoners Tippoo still has in his hands. We do not know how
many have been murdered during the years Tippoo has reigned. Men
who have escaped have, from time to time, brought down news of
murders in the places where they had been confined, but they have
known little of what has happened elsewhere. Moreover, we have
learned that certainly fifty or sixty were put to death, at
Seringapatam, before we advanced upon it the first time. We know,
too, that some were murdered in the hill forts that we have
captured. But how many remain alive, at the present time, we have
not the slightest idea. Tippoo might hand over a dozen, and take a
solemn oath that there was not one remaining; and though we might
feel perfectly certain that he was lying, we should be in no
position to prove it.

"The stipulation ought to have been made, if only as a matter of
honour, but it would have been of no real efficiency. Of course, if
we had dethroned Tippoo and annexed all his territory, we should
undoubtedly have got at all the prisoners, wherever they were
hidden. But we could hardly have done that. It would have aroused
the jealousy and fear of every native prince in India. It would
have united the Nizam and the Mahrattis against us, and would even
have been disapproved of in England, where public opinion is
adverse to further acquisitions of territory, and where people are,
of course, altogether ignorant of the monstrous cruelties
perpetrated by Tippoo, not only upon English captives, but upon his
neighbours everywhere.

"Naturally, I am prejudiced in favour of this treaty, for the
handing over of the country from Amboor to Caroor, with all the
passes and forts, will set us free at Tripataly from the danger of
being again overrun and devastated by Mysore. My people will be
able to go about their work peacefully and in security, free alike
from fear of wholesale invasion, or incursions of robber bands from
the ghauts. All my waste lands will be taken up. My revenue will be
trebled.

"There is another thing. Now that the English possess territory
beyond that of the Nabob of Arcot, and are gradually spreading
their power north, there can be little doubt that, before long, the
whole country of Arcot, Travancore, Tanjore, and other small native
powers will be incorporated in their dominions. Arcot is powerless
for defence, and while, during the last two wars, it has been
nominally an ally of the English, the Nabob has been able to give
them no real assistance whatever, and the burden of his territory
has fallen on them. They took the first step when, at the beginning
of the present war, they arranged with him to utilise all the
resources and collect the revenues of his possessions, and to allow
him an annual income for the maintenance of his state and family.
This is clearly the first step towards taking the territory into
their own hands, and managing its revenues, and the same will be
done in other cases.

"Lord Cornwallis the other day, in thanking me for the services
that you and I and the troop have rendered, promised me that an
early arrangement should be made, by which I should rule Tripataly
under the government of Madras, instead of under the Nabob. This,
you see, will be virtually a step in rank, and I shall hold my land
direct from the English, instead of from a prince who has become,
in fact, a puppet in their hands."

A few days later, the army set off on its march from Mysore, and
the same day the Rajah, after making his adieus to Lord Cornwallis,
started with his troop for Tripataly, making his way by long
marches, instead of following the slow progress of the army. After
a couple of days at Tripataly, they went down to Madras, and
brought back the Rajah's household.

The meeting between Dick and his mother was one of mixed
feeling. It was twenty months since the former had left with his
uncle, and he was now nearly eighteen. He had written whenever
there was an opportunity of sending any letters; and although his
position as interpreter on the staff of the general had relieved
her from any great anxiety on his account, she was glad, indeed, to
see him again.

Upon the other hand, the fact that, as the war went on, and
fortress after fortress had been captured, no news came to her that
her hopes had been realised; and that the war had now come to a
termination, without the mystery that hung over her husband being
in any way cleared up, had profoundly depressed Mrs. Holland, and
it was with mingled tears of pleasure and sorrow that she fell on
his neck on his return to Madras.

"You must not give way, Mother," Dick said, as she sobbed out
her fears that all hope was at an end. "Remember that you have
never doubted he was alive, and that you have always said you would
know if any evil fate had befallen him; and I have always felt
confident that you were right. There is nothing changed. I
certainly have not succeeded in finding him, but we have found many
prisoners in some of the little out-of-the-way forts. Now, some of
them have been captives quite as long as he has; therefore there is
no reason, whatever, why he should not also be alive. I have no
thought of giving up the search as hopeless. I mean to carry out
our old plans; and certainly I am much better fitted to do so than
I was when I first landed here. I know a great deal about Mysore,
and although I don't say I speak the dialect like a native, I have
learnt a good deal of it, and can speak it quite as well as the
natives of the ghauts and outlying provinces. Surajah, who is a
great friend of mine, has told me that if I go he will go too, and
that will be a tremendous help. Anyhow, as long as you continue to
believe firmly that Father is still alive, I mean to continue the
search for him."

"I do believe that he is alive, Dick, as firmly as ever. I have
not lost hope in that respect. It is only that I doubt now whether
he will ever be found."

"Well, that is my business, Mother. As long as you continue to
believe that he is still alive, I shall continue to search for him.
I have no other object in life, at present. It will be quite soon
enough for me to think of taking up the commission I have been
promised, when you tell me that your feeling that he is alive has
been shaken."

Mrs. Holland was comforted by Dick's assurance and confident
tone, and, putting the thought aside for a time, gave herself up to
the pleasure of his return. They had found everything at Tripataly
as they had left it, for the Mysore horsemen had not penetrated so
far north, before Tippoo turned his course east to Pondicherry. The
people had, months before, returned to their homes and
avocations.

One evening the Rajah said, as they were all sitting
together:

"I hear from my wife, Dick, that your mother has told her you
still intend to carry out your original project."

"Yes, Uncle. I have quite made up my mind as to that. There are
still plenty of places where he may be, and certainly I am a good
deal more fitted for travelling about in disguise, in Mysore, than
I was before."

The Rajah nodded.

"Yes. I think, Dick, you are as capable of taking care of
yourself as anyone could be. I hear that Surajah is willing to go
with you, and this will certainly be a great advantage. He has
proved himself thoroughly intelligent and trustworthy, and I have
promised him that someday he shall be captain of the troop. You are
not thinking of starting just yet, I suppose?"

"No, Uncle. I thought of staying another month or two, before I
go off again. Mother says she cannot let me go before that."

"I fancy it will take you longer than that, Dick, before you can
pass as a native."

Dick looked surprised.

"Why, Uncle, I did pass as a native, eighteen months ago."

"Yes, you did, Dick; but for how long? You went into shops,
bought things, chatted for a short time with natives, and so on;
but that is not like living among them. You would be found out
before you had been a single day in the company of a native."

Dick looked still more surprised.

"How, Uncle? What do I do that they would know me by."

"It is not what you do, Dick, but it is what you don't do. You
can't sit on your heels--squat, as you call it. That is the
habitual attitude of every native. He squats while he cooks. He
squats for hours by the fire, smoking and talking. He never stands
for any length of time and, except upon a divan or something of
that sort, he never sits down. Before you can go and live among the
natives, and pass as one for any length of time, you must learn to
squat as they do, for hours at a stretch; and I can tell you that
it is not by any means an easy accomplishment to learn. I myself
have quite lost the power. I used to be able to do it, as a boy,
but from always sitting on divans or chairs in European fashion, I
have got out of the way of it, and I don't think I could squat for
a quarter of an hour, to save my life."

Dick's mother and cousins laughed heartily, but he said,
seriously, "You are quite right, Uncle. I wonder I never thought of
it before. It was stupid of me not to do so. Of course, when I have
been talking with Surajah or other officers, by a camp fire, I have
sat on the ground; but I see that it would never do, in native
dress. I will begin at once."

"Wait a moment, Dick," the Rajah said. "There are other things
which you will have to practise. You may have to move in several
disguises, and must learn to comport yourself in accordance with
them. You must remember that your motions are quicker and more
energetic than are those of people here. Your walk is different;
the swing of the arms, your carriage, are all different from
theirs. You are unaccustomed to walk either barefooted or in native
shoes. Now, all these things have to be practised before you can
really pass muster. Therefore I propose that you shall at once
accustom yourself to the attire, which you can do in our apartments
of an evening. The ranee and the boys will be able to correct your
first awkwardness, and to teach you much.

"After a week or two, you must stain your face, arms, and legs,
and go out with Rajbullub in the evening. You must keep your eyes
open, and watch everything that passes, and do as you see others
do. When Rajbullub thinks that you can pass muster, you will take
to going out with him in the daylight, and so you will come, in
time, to reach a point that it will be safe for you to begin your
attempt.

"Do not watch only the peasants. There is no saying that it may
not be necessary to take to other disguises. Observe the traders,
the soldiers, and even the fakirs. You will see that they walk each
with a different mien. The trader is slow and sober. The man who
wears a sword walks with a certain swagger. The fakir is everything
by turns; he whines, and threatens; he sometimes mumbles his
prayers, and sometimes shrieks at the top of his voice.

"When you are not riding or shooting, lad, do not spend your
time in the garden, or with the women. Go into the town and keep
your eyes open. Bear in mind that you are learning a lesson, and
that your life depends upon your being perfect in every
respect.

"As to your first disguise, I will speak to Rajbullub, and he
will get it ready by tomorrow evening. The dress of the peasant of
Mysore differs little from that here, save that he wears rather
more clothing than is necessary in this warm climate."

Chapter 10: In Disguise.

On the following evening, Dick appeared in the room where the
others were sitting, in the dress Rajbullub had got for him, and
which was similar to that of other peasants. The boys had already
been told that he was shortly going on a journey, and that it would
be necessary for him to travel in disguise, but had been warned
that it was a matter that was not to be spoken of, to anyone. The
early respect, that Dick's strength and activity had inspired them
with, had been much shaken when they discovered that he was unable
either to ride or shoot; but their father's narrative of his
adventures, when scouting with Surajah, had completely reinstated
him in their high opinion.

When he entered, however, they burst out laughing. The two
ladies could not help smiling, and Dick was not long before he
joined in the laugh against himself. He had felt uncomfortable
enough when he started, in an almost similar dress, with Surajah,
although there was then no one to criticise his appearance. But
now, in the presence of his mother and aunt, he felt strangely
uncomfortable.

"Never mind, Dick," his uncle said, encouragingly. "The boys
would feel just as uncomfortable as you do now, if they were
dressed up in European fashion. Now, while we are talking, make
your first attempt at sitting on your heels."

Dick squatted down until his knees nearly touched his chest, and
a moment later lost his balance and toppled over, amid a roar of
laughter. Next time, he balanced himself more carefully.

"That is right, Dick. You will get accustomed to it, in time.
But you must see, already, that there is a good deal more to be
done than you thought of, before you can pass as a native.
Remember, you must not only be able to balance yourself while
sitting still, but must be able to use your hands--for cooking
purposes, for example; for eating; or for doing anything there may
be to do--not only without losing your balance, but without showing
that you are balancing yourself."

"It is much more difficult than I thought, Uncle. Of course, I
have always seen the natives squatting like this, but it seemed so
natural that it never struck me it was difficult at all. I say, it
is beginning to hurt already. My shin bones are aching
horribly."

"Yes; that is where the strain comes, my boy. But you have got
to stick to it, until your muscles there, which have never been
called into play in this way before, get accustomed to the
work."

"I understand that, Uncle. It was just the same with my arms,
when I began to climb. But I can't stand this any longer. I can no
more get up than I can fly;" and Dick rolled over on to his
side.

Again and again he tried, after a short rest between each trial.
As he gave it up, and limped stiffly to the divan, he said:

"I feel as if some one had been kicking me on the shins, until
he had nearly broken them, Mother. I have been kicked pretty badly
several times, in fights by rough fellows at home in Shadwell, but
it never hurt like this;" and he rubbed his aching legs
ruefully.

"Well, Uncle, I am very much obliged to you for putting me up to
practising this position. It seemed to me that it would be quite a
simple thing, to walk along quietly, and to move my arms about as
they do; but I never thought of this.

"I wonder, Mother, you never told me that, above all things, I
should have to learn to squat on my heels for any time. It would
not have been so difficult to learn it, five or six years ago, when
I was not anything like so heavy as I am now."

"It never once occurred to me, Dick. I wish it had. I thought I
had foreseen every difficulty, but it never once came into my mind
that, in order to pass as a native, you must be able to sit like
one."

"Ah, well, I shall learn in time, Mother," Dick replied
cheerfully. "Every exercise is hard at first, but one soon gets
accustomed to it."

Dick threw himself with his usual energy into his new work.
Although of a morning, when he first woke, his shins caused him the
most acute pain, he always spent half an hour in practice.
Afterwards he would sit for some time, allowing the water from the
tap at the side of the bath to flow upon the aching muscles. Then
he would dress and, as soon as breakfast was over, go for a run in
the garden. At first it was but a shamble, but gradually the
terrible stiffness would wear off, and he would return to the house
comparatively well.

Of an evening the practice was longer, and was kept up until the
aching pain became unendurable. At the end of four or five days, he
was scarcely able to walk at all, but after that time matters
improved, and three weeks later he could preserve the attitude for
half an hour at a time.

In other respects, his training had gone on uninterruptedly
every day. He went out into the town, accompanied sometimes by
Rajbullub, sometimes by Surajah, in the disguises of either a
peasant, a soldier, or a trader; and learnt to walk, and carry
himself, in accordance with his dress. Before putting on these
disguises, he painted himself with a solution that could easily be
washed off, on his return to the palace, where he now always wore a
European dress.

"You cannot be too careful," the Rajah said. "There are, of
course, Mohammedans here; and, for aught we know, some may act as
agents or spies of Tippoo, just as the English have agents and
spies in Mysore. Were one of them to send word that you had taken
to Indian attire, and that it was believed that you were about to
undertake some mission or other, it would add considerably to your
difficulties and dangers. As it is, no one outside our own circle
ever sees you about with me or the boys, except in your European
dress, and Rajbullub tells me that, in no single instance while you
have been in disguise, has any suspicion been excited, or question
asked by the people of various classes with whom you and he
converse in the streets."

Another month passed, and by this time Dick could, without any
great fatigue, squat on his heels for an hour at a time. As the
date for his departure drew near, his mother became more and more
nervous and anxious.

"I shall never forgive myself, if you do not come back," she
said one day, when they were alone. "I cannot but feel that I have
been selfish, and that really, on the strength of a conviction
which most people would laugh at as whimsical and absurd, I am
risking the substance for a shadow, and am imperilling the life of
my only boy, upon the faint chance that he may find my husband. I
know that even your uncle, although he has always been most kind
about it, and assisted in every way in his power, has but little
belief in the success of your search; although, as he sees how bent
I am upon it, he says nothing that might dash my hopes.

"If evil comes of it, Dick, I shall never forgive myself. I
shall feel that I have sacrificed you to a sort of
hallucination."

"I can only say, Mother," Dick replied, "that I came out here,
and entered into your plans, only because I had the most implicit
faith that you were right. I should now continue it on my own
account, even if tomorrow you should be taken from me. Of course, I
see plainly enough that the chances are greatly against my ever
hearing anything of Father; but from what has taken place during
the campaign, I have seen that there must be many British captives
still hidden away among the hill forts, and it is quite possible he
may be among them. I do not even say that it is probable, but the
chances are not so very greatly against it; and even if I thought
they were smaller--much smaller than I believe them to be--I should
still consider it my duty to go up and try and find him. So, even
if it should happen that I never come back again, you will not have
yourself to blame, for it is not you that are sending me, but I who
am going of my free will; and indeed, I feel it so much my duty
that, even were you to turn round now and ask me to stay, I should
still think it right to undertake this mission.

"But indeed, Mother, I see no great danger in it; in fact,
scarcely any danger at all--at any rate, unless I find Father. If I
do so, there might certainly be risk in attempting to get him away;
but this, if I am lucky enough in discovering him, will not weigh
with me for an instant. If I do not find him, it seems to me that
the risk is a mere nothing. Surajah and I will wander about,
enlisting in the garrisons of forts. Then, if we find there are no
prisoners there, we shall take an early opportunity of getting
away. In some places, no doubt, I shall be able to learn from men
of the garrison whether there are prisoners, without being forced
to enter at all; for although in the great forts, like Savandroog
and Outradroog, it is considered so important the defences should
be kept secret, that none of the garrison are allowed to leave
until they are discharged as too old for service, there is no
occasion for the same precaution in the case of less important
places. Thus, you see, we shall simply have to wander about,
keeping our eyes and ears open, and finding out, either from the
peasants or the soldiers themselves, whether there are any
prisoners there."

"I wish I could go with you, Dick. I used to think that, when
the work of searching for your father had begun, I could wait
patiently for the result; but instead of that, I find myself even
more anxious and more nervous than I was at Shadwell."

"I can quite understand, Mother, that it is very much more
trying work, sitting here waiting, than it is to be actively
engaged. The only thing is, that you must promise me not to trouble
more than you can help; for if I think of you as sitting here
fretting about me, I shall worry infinitely more than I otherwise
should over any difficulties we may have to encounter. You must
remember that I shall have Surajah with me. He is a capital
companion, and will always be able to advise me upon native
business. He is as plucky as a fellow can be, and I can trust him
to do anything, just as I would myself."

The preparations for departure now began in earnest. There was
some discussion as to the arms that were to be taken, but at last
it was decided that, with safety, they could carry nothing beyond a
matchlock, a pistol, and a sword each.

Great pains were taken in the selection of the matchlocks. In
the armoury were several weapons of high finish, with silver
mountings, that had belonged to the Rajah's father and grandfather.
These were tried against each other, and the two that were proved
to be the most accurate were chosen. Dick found, indeed, that at
distances up to a hundred yards, they were quite equal to the
English rifle he had brought out. The silver mountings were taken
off, and then the pieces differed in no way, in appearance, from
those in general use among the peasantry.

The pistols were chosen with equal care. The swords were of
finely tempered steel, the blades being removed from their jewelled
handles, for which were substituted rough handles of ordinary
metal.

Ten gold pieces were sewn up underneath the iron bands
encircling the leathern scabbard, as many under the bosses of their
shields, and five pieces in the soles of each of their shoes. In
their waist sashes, the ordinary receptacle of money, each carried
a small bag with native silver coins.

At last all was ready and, an hour before daybreak, Dick took a
cheerful farewell of his mother, and a hearty one of his uncle,
and, with Surajah, passed through the town and struck up into the
hills. Each carried a bag slung over his shoulder, well filled with
provisions, a small water bottle, and, hung upon his matchlock, a
change of clothing. In the folds of his turban, Dick had a packet
of the powder used for making dye, so that he could, at any time,
renew the brown shade, when it began to fade out.

For a time but few words were spoken. Dick knew that, although
his mother had borne up bravely till the last, she would break down
as soon as he left her; and the thought that he might never see her
again weighed heavily upon him. Surajah, on the contrary, was
filled with elation at the prospect of adventures and dangers, and
he was silent simply because he felt that, for the present, his
young lord was in no humour for speech.

As soon as the sun rose, Dick shook off his depression. They
were now a considerable distance up the hillside. There was no
path, for the people of Tripataly had no occasion to visit Mysore,
and still less desire for a visit from the Mysoreans. Periodically,
raids were made upon the villages and plains by marauders from the
hills, but these were mostly by the passes through the ghauts,
thirty or forty miles left or right from the little state which,
nestling at the foot of the hills, for the most part escaped these
visitations--which, now that the British had become possessed of
the territories and the hills, had, it was hoped, finally ceased.
Nevertheless, the people were always prepared for such visits.
Every cultivator had a pit in which he stored his harvest, except
so much as was needed for his immediate wants. The pit was lined
with mats, others were laid over the grain. Two feet of soil was
then placed over the mats and, after the ground had been ploughed,
there was no indication of the existence of the hiding place.

The town itself was surrounded by a wall, of sufficient strength
to withstand the attacks of any parties of marauders; and the
custom of keeping a man on a watch tower was still maintained. At
the foot of the tower stood a heavy gun, whose discharge would at
once warn the peasants for miles round of an enemy, calling those
near to hasten to the shelter of the town, while the men of the
villages at a distance could hurry, with their wives and families,
to hiding places among the hills.

Dick and Surajah had no need of a path, for they were well
acquainted with the ground, and had often wandered up, nearly to
the crest of the hills, in pursuit of game. An hour before noon,
they took their seats under a rock that shaded them from the sun's
rays and, sitting down, partook of a hearty meal. There was no
occasion for haste, and they prepared for rest until the heat of
the day was passed.

"We are fairly off now, Surajah," Dick said, as he stretched
himself out comfortably. "I have been thinking of this almost as
long as I can remember, and can hardly believe that it has come to
pass."

"I have thought of it but a short time, my lord."

"No, no, Surajah," Dick interrupted. "You know it was arranged
that, from the first, you were to call me Purseram, for unless you
get accustomed to it, you will be calling me 'my lord' in the
hearing of others."

"I had forgotten," Surajah replied with a smile, and then went
on. "It is but a short time since I was sure I was going with you,
but I have ever hoped that the time would come when, instead of the
dull work of drilling men and placing them on guard, I might have
the opportunity of taking part in war and adventure, and indeed had
thought of asking my lord, your uncle, to permit me to go away for
a while in one of the Company's regiments, and there to learn my
business. Since the English have become masters, and there is no
longer war between rajah and rajah, as there used to be in olden
times, this is the only way that a man of spirit can gain
distinction. But this adventure is far better, for there will be
much danger, and need for caution as well as courage."

Dick nodded.

"More for caution and coolness than for courage, I think,
Surajah. It will only be in case we find my father, or if any grave
suspicion falls on us, that there will be need for courage. Once
well into Mysore, I see but little chance of suspicion falling upon
us. We have agreed that we will first make for Seringapatam,
avoiding as much as possible all places on the way where inquiries
whence we come may be made of us. Once in the city, we shall be
safe from such questions, and can travel thence where we will; and
it will be hard if we do not, when there, manage to learn the
places at which any prisoners there may be are most likely to be
kept.

"Besides, my father is as likely to be there as anywhere, for
Tippoo may, since our army marched away, have ordered all prisoners
to be brought down from the hill forts to Seringapatam."

When the sun had lost its power, they proceeded on their way
again. Their start had been timed so that, for the first week, they
would have moonlight; and would, therefore, be able to travel at
night until they arrived at Seringapatam. It was considered that it
was only necessary to do this for the first two or three nights as,
after that, the tale that they were coming from a village near the
frontier, and were on their way to join Tippoo's army, would seem
natural enough to any villagers who might question them.

They continued their course until nearly midnight, by which time
they were both completely fatigued, and, choosing a spot sheltered
by bushes, lay down to sleep. It took another two days before they
were clear of the broken country, and the greater portion of this
part of the journey they performed in daylight. Occasionally they
saw, in the distance, the small forts which guarded every road to
the plateau. To these they always gave a very wide berth, as
although, according to the terms of peace, they should all have
been evacuated, they might still be occupied by parties of Tippoo's
troops.

Indeed, all the news that had arrived, since the army left,
represented Tippoo as making every effort to strengthen his army
and fortresses, and to prepare for a renewal of the war.

Several times they saw bears, which abounded among the ghauts,
and once beheld two tigers crossing a nullah. They had, however,
other matters to think of, and neither the flesh nor the skins of
the bears would have been of any use to them. The work was severe,
and they were glad when at last they reached the level country. In
some of the upper valleys, opening on to this, they had seen small
villages. Near one of these they had slept, and as in the morning
they saw that the inhabitants were Hindoos, they fearlessly went
out and talked with them, in order to gain some information as to
the position of the forts, and to learn whether any bodies of
Tippoo's troops were likely to be met with.

They found the people altogether ignorant on these matters. They
were simple peasants. Their whole thoughts were given to tilling
their land, and bringing in sufficient to live upon, and to satisfy
the demands of the tax gatherers when they visited them. They had
little communication with other villages, and knew nothing of what
was passing outside their own. They evinced no curiosity whatever
concerning their visitors, who bought from them some cakes of
ground ragee, which formed the chief article of their food.

The country through which they passed, on emerging from the
hills, was largely covered with bush and jungle, and was very
thinly populated. It was an almost unbroken flat, save that here
and there isolated masses of rock rose above it. These were
extremely steep and inaccessible, and on their summits were the
hill forts that formed so prominent a feature in the warfare of
both Mysore and the Nizam's dominions to the north. These forts
were, for the most part, considered absolutely impregnable, but the
last war with the British had proved that they were not so, as
several of the strongest had been captured, with comparatively
slight loss.

Whenever they passed within a few miles of one of these hill
fortresses, Dick looked at it with anxious eyes; for there, for
aught he knew, his father might be languishing.

After two days' walking across the plain, they felt that there
was no longer any necessity for concealment, except that it would
be as well to avoid an encounter with any troops. Although,
therefore, they avoided the principal roads, they kept along beaten
paths, and did not hesitate to enter villages to buy food.

They no longer saw caste marks on the foreheads of the
inhabitants. The Hindoos had been compelled by force to abandon
their religion, all who refused to do so being put to death at
once. Dick and Surajah found that their dialect differed much more
from that of the country below the ghauts than they had expected
and, although they had no difficulty in conversing with the
peasants, they found that their idea that they would be able to
pass as natives of one of these villages was an altogether
erroneous one.

"This will never do, Surajah," Dick said, as they left one of
the villages. "We shall have to alter our story somehow, for the
first person we meet, in Seringapatam, will see that we are not
natives of Mysore. We must give out that we come from some village
far down on the ghauts--one of those which have been handed over to
the English by the new treaty. You know the country well enough
there to be able to answer any questions that may be asked. We must
say that, desiring to be soldiers, and hating the English raj, we
have crossed the hills to take service of some sort in Mysore. This
will be natural enough: and of course there are many Mohammedans
down in the plains, especially among the villages on the
ghauts."

"I think that would be best, Purseram."

"There is one comfort," Dick went on. "It is evident that Tippoo
is hated by all the Hindoos. He has forced them to change their
religion, and we need have no fear of being betrayed by any of
them, except from pressure, or from a desire to win Tippoo's
goodwill."

"Yes, that might be the case with those who are fairly well off,
but would scarcely be so among the poorer classes. Besides, even
they, were we living among them, would have no reason for
suspecting our story. There seems no doubt, from what they say,
that Tippoo is preparing for war again, and I think that we shall
do well, as soon as we enter the city, to change our attire, or we
might be forced into joining the army, which would be the last
thing we want. What I should desire, above all things, is to get
service of some kind in the Palace."

After six days' travel, they saw the walls of Seringapatam. Dick
had made many inquiries, at the last halting place, as to the
position of the fords on that side of the town; and learned that
only those leading to the fort were guarded. The ford opposite the
town was freely open to traffic, and could be crossed without
question by country people, although a watch was kept to see that
none of the very numerous prisoners escaped by it.

It was here, therefore, that they crossed the river, the water
being little more than knee deep. No questions were asked by the
guard as they passed, their appearance differing in no way from
that of the peasants of the neighbourhood.

After a quarter of a mile's walk they entered the town. It was
open, and undefended by a wall. The streets were wide, and laid out
at right angles. The shops, however, were poor, for the slightest
appearance of wealth sufficed to excite the cupidity of Tippoo or
his agents, and the possessor would be exposed to exorbitant
demands, which, if not complied with, would have entailed first
torture and then death.

The streets, however, presented a busy appearance. They were
thronged with soldiers. Battalions of recruits passed along, and it
was evident that Tippoo was doing all in his power to raise the
strength of his army to its former level. They wandered about for
some time, and at last, in a small street, Dick went up to an old
man whose face pleased him. He was standing at the door of his
house.

"We desire to find a room where we can lodge for a time," he
said. "Can you direct us where we can obtain one?"

"You are not soldiers?" the old man asked.

"No. We desire to earn our living, but have not yet decided
whether to join the army."

"You are from the plains?" the native said sharply, in their own
dialect.

"That is so," Dick replied.

"And yet you are Mohammedans?"

"Every one is Mohammedan here."

"Ah! Because it is the choice of 'death or Mohammed.' How comes
it that two young men should voluntarily leave their homes to enter
this tiger's den? You look honest youths. How come you here?"

"I trust that we are honest," Dick said. "We have assuredly not
ventured here without a reason, and that reason is a good one; but
this is not a city where one talks of such matters to a stranger in
the street, even though his face tells one that he can be trusted
with a secret."

The old man was silent for a minute; then he said:

"Come in, my sons. You can, as you say, trust me. I have a room
that you can occupy."

They followed him into the house, and he led them into a small
room at the back. It was poorly furnished, but was scrupulously
clean. A pan of lighted charcoal stood in one corner, and over this
a pot of rice was boiling.

"I bid you welcome," he said gravely.

And as the salutation was not one in use by the Mohammedans,
Dick saw that his idea that the old man was a Hindoo, who had been
forced to abjure his religion, was a correct one. The old man
motioned to them to take their seats on the divan.

"I do not ask for your confidence," he said, "but if you choose
to give it to me, it will be sacred, and it may be that, poor as I
am, I am able to aid you. I will tell you at once that I am a
native of Conjeveram and, of course, a Hindoo. I was settled as a
trader at Mysore, the old capital. But when, four years ago, the
tyrant destroyed that town, I, with over a hundred thousand of our
religion, was forced to adopt Mohammedanism. I was of high caste
and, like many others, would have preferred death to yielding, had
it not been that I had a young daughter; and for her sake I lived,
and moved here from Mysore.

"I gained nothing by my sin. I was one of the wealthiest traders
in the whole city, and I had been here but a month when Tippoo's
soldiers burst in one day. My daughter was carried off to the
Tiger's harem, and I was threatened with torture, unless I divulged
the hiding place of my money.

"It was useless to resist. My wealth was now worthless to me,
and without hesitation I complied with their demands; and all I had
was seized, save one small hoard, which was enough to keep me thus
to the end of my days. My wants are few: a handful of rice or grain
a day, and I am satisfied. I should have put an end to my life,
were it not that, according to our religion, the suicide is
accursed; and, moreover, I would fain live to see the vengeance
that must some day fall upon the tyrant.

"After what I have said, it is for you to decide whether you
think I can be trusted with your secret, for I am sure it is for no
slight reason that you have come to this accursed city."

Dick felt that he could safely speak, and that he would find in
this native a very valuable ally. He therefore told his story
without concealment. Except that an exclamation of surprise broke
from his lips, when Dick said that he was English, the old man
listened without a remark until he had finished.

"Your tale is indeed a strange one," he said, when he had heard
the story. "I had looked for something out of the ordinary, but
assuredly for nothing so strange as this. Truly you English are a
wonderful people. It is marvellous that one should come, all the
way from beyond the black water, to seek for a father lost so many
years ago. Methinks that a blessing will surely alight upon such
filial piety, and that you will find your father yet alive.

"Were it not for that, I should deem your search a useless one.
Thousands of Englishmen have been massacred during the last ten
years. Hundreds have died of disease and suffering. Many have been
poisoned. Many officers have also been murdered, some of them here,
but more in the hill forts; for it was there they were generally
sent, when their deaths were determined upon.

"Still, he may live. There are men who have been here as many
years, and who yet survive."

"Then this is where the main body of the prisoners were kept?"
Dick asked.

"Yes. All were brought here, native and English. Tens of
thousands of boys and youths, swept up by Tippoo's armies from the
Malabar coast and the Carnatic, were brought up here and formed
into battalions, and these English prisoners were forced to drill
them. It was but a poor drill. I have seen them drilling their
recruits at Conjeveram, and the difference between the quick sharp
order there, and the listless command here, was great indeed.
Consequently, the Englishmen were punished by being heavily ironed,
and kept at starvation point for the slackness with which they
obeyed the tyrant's orders. Sometimes they were set to sweep the
streets, sometimes they were beaten till they well nigh expired
under the lash. Often would they have died of hunger, were it not
that Tippoo's own troops took pity on them, and supplied them from
their store.

"Some of the boys, drummer boys, or ship's boys, or little
ship's officers, were kept in the Palace and trained as singers and
dancers for Tippoo's amusement. Very many of the white prisoners
were handed over to Tippoo by Admiral Sufferin. Though how a
Christian could have brought himself to hand over Christians to
this tiger, I cannot imagine.

"Others were captured in forays, and there were, till lately,
many survivors of the force that surrendered in Hyder's time. There
are certainly some in other towns, for it was the policy of Hyder,
as it is of Tippoo, always to break up parties of prisoners. Many
were sent to Bangalore, some to Burrampore, and very many to the
fort of Chillembroom; but I heard that nearly all these died of
famine and disease very quickly.

"While Tippoo at times considers himself strong enough to fight
the English, and is said to aim at the conquest of all southern
India, he has yet a fear of Englishmen, and he thus separates his
captives, lest, if they were together, they should plot against him
and bring about a rising. He knows that all the old Hindoo
population are against him, and that even among the Mohammedans he
is very unpopular. The Chelah battalions, who numbered twelve or
fourteen thousand, made up entirely of those he has dragged from
their homes in districts devastated by him, would assuredly have
joined against him, were there a prospect of success, just as they
seized the opportunity to desert six months ago, when the English
attacked the camp across the river.

"Now, if you will tell me in what way I can best serve you, I
will do so. In the first place, sturdy young peasants are wanted
for the army, and assuredly you will not be here many days before
you will find yourselves in the ranks, whether you like it or not;
for Tippoo is in no way particular how he gets recruits."

Chapter 11: A Useful Friend.

"I agree with you that it would be a disadvantage to go as a
soldier," Dick said, after a pause; "but what disguise would you
recommend us to choose?"

"That I must think over. You both look too straight and active
to be employed as the assistants of a trader, or I could have got
some of my friends to take you in that capacity. The best disguise
will be a gayer attire, such as would be worn by the retainers of
some of the chiefs; and were it not that, if questioned, you could
not say who was your employer, that is what I should
recommend."

"I saw a number of men working at a battery they are erecting by
the river side. Could we not take service there until something
better presents itself?"

"I should not advise that," the native replied, "for the work is
very hard, and the pay poor. Indeed, most of those employed on it
are men driven in from the country round and forced to labour,
getting only enough pay to furnish them with the poorest food.
There would also be the disadvantage that, if you were so employed,
you would have no opportunity of seeing any English captives who
may have been brought here of late.

"All that I can at present do, myself, is to speak to some of my
friends who have been here for a long time, and ask them whether
they can remember an English captive being sent up here from Coorg,
some eight years ago, and whether they ever heard what was his
fate. I should say, of course, that I have received a message from
friends at Conjeveram; that some of the man's relations have sent
out to make inquiries concerning him, and asking me if I can find
any news as to his fate. My friends may not know themselves, but
they may be able to find out from others. Very many of our people
were forced into the ranks of the army, and there is not a regiment
which has not some men who, although regarded as Mohammedans, are
still at heart, as we all are, as true to our faith as ever.

"It is from these that we are more likely to obtain information
than in any other way. You will not be very long before you will be
able to satisfy yourself as to whether or not he whom you seek is
in this city; and if he should not be here, there remain but the
two towns that I have named, and the hill forts. As to these, it
will be well-nigh impossible to obtain an entrance, so jealously
are they all guarded. None save the garrisons are allowed to enter.
The paths, which are often so steep and difficult that men and
provisions have to be slung up in baskets, are guarded night and
day, and none are allowed to approach the foot of the rocks within
musket shot--lest, I suppose, they might find some spot where an
ascent could be made. The garrisons are seldom changed. The
soldiers are allowed to take their wives and families up with them,
but once there, they are as much prisoners as those in the
dungeons. That is one reason why captives once sent up there never
come down again, for were they to do so they might, if by chance
they escaped, be able to give information as to the approaches that
would assist an assailing force.

"I do not say that all are killed, though undoubtedly most of
them are put to death soon after they arrive; but it may be that
some are retained in confinement, either from no orders being sent
for their execution, or from their very existence being, in time,
forgotten by the tyrant here. Some of these may languish in
dungeons, others may have gained the goodwill of the commanders of
the fort--for even among the Mohammedans there are doubtless many
good and merciful men.

"Now for the present. This house has but one storey in front,
but there is a room over this, and that is at your service.
Furniture it has none, but I will, this evening, get a couple of
trusses of straw. It is but a loft, but you will not want to use
it, save to sleep in. You need not fear interruption in this house.
There is scarce a man here that is not, like myself, a Hindoo, for
when we were brought here from Mysore, the piece of ground on which
the street stands was assigned to us, and we were directed to build
houses here. Few besides ourselves ever enter it, for those who
still carry on trade have booths in the marketplace.

"There is one thing I will tell you at once. We, the persecuted,
have means of recognising each other. Outward signs there are none,
neither caste mark nor peculiarity of dress; but we know each other
by signs. When we salute, we turn in the thumbs as we raise our
hands to our turbans--so. If we have no occasion to salute, as we
move our hands, either to stroke our faces, or to touch the handles
of our daggers, or in other way, we keep the thumb turned in. If
the man be one of ourselves, he replies in the same way. Then, to
prevent the possibility of error, the one asks the other a
question--on what subject it matters not, providing that before he
speaks, he coughs slightly.

"You must remember that such communication is not made lightly.
Were it to be so, it would soon attract notice. It is used when you
want to know whether you can trust a man. It is as much as to say,
'Are you a friend? Can I have confidence in you? Will you help
me?'--and you can see that there are many occasions on which such
knowledge may be most useful, even to the saving of life."

"I do indeed see it," Dick said, "and greatly are we indebted to
you for telling us of it."

They remained talking with their host, whose name was, he told
them, Pertaub, until darkness came on. They had shared his rice
with him, and had requested him to lay in such provision as was
necessary for them; and as soon as it became dark they went out,
leaving their guns behind them.