"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.
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