"You might find a party of Tippoo's troops in one of the villages, d.i.c.k, 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, d.i.c.k. So far, I have had nothing to send down, except that the reports, from all the pa.s.ses, agree in saying that they have learned nothing of any movement on the part of Tippoo, and that no spies have come down the pa.s.ses, or any armed party whatever. This is good, so far as it goes, but it only shows that the other pa.s.ses 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 pa.s.ses; 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, d.i.c.k. 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 pa.s.ses; 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, d.i.c.k 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."

d.i.c.k 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," d.i.c.k 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."

d.i.c.k 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.

d.i.c.k 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," d.i.c.k 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 d.i.c.k 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," d.i.c.k 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 pa.s.sed, 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 pa.s.sed 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 pa.s.ses.

"We must be careful now, Surajah," d.i.c.k 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 pa.s.ses, as Hyder did.

"We shall be very glad, for I suppose we shall join, as he pa.s.ses 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."