"
"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.
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