"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.
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