You see, there
are very few changes ever made, and as many of the ladies are, like my
wife, no longer young, we treat them as comrades."
In the morning Dick and Surajah mounted their horses, took a hearty
farewell of the governor, and rode down to the gate. A soldier had
been sent down, half an hour before, and they found their escort in
readiness to move. They had decided that, before going to the next
fort, they would ride round the foot of the hill of Savandroog. This
they did, going at a foot pace, and scanning the cliffs and slopes as
they passed. Sometimes they reined up their horses and rode a little
farther back, so as to have a view to the very summit.
When they completed the round, they agreed that there were but two
spots where it seemed to them that an ascent was barely possible, and
they were very doubtful whether the difficulties, when examined more
closely, would not prove to be absolutely insurmountable.
"That is not a satisfactory outlook," Dick said, "but fortunately
there is, now, no motive for climbing the precipice. Certainly those
places would be of no use to a party wanting to make an attack. In the
first place, though you and I might get up, with soft shoes on, I am
sure that English soldiers, with muskets and ammunition pouches, could
never do it, especially at night; and in the daytime, even if a body
of troops strong enough to be of any use could get up, those who first
arrived at the top would be killed before the others could come to
their assistance, and a few stones rolled down would sweep all behind
them to the bottom.
Pages:
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368