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.
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