"I should think it will be fully four or five years before he is ready
to fight again. At any rate, if we once get well away from here with
the girl, we ought to have no difficulty in getting across the
frontier. It would mean but a fortnight lost in the search for my
father, and, anyhow, we are not making any progress that way as long
as we stop here. The only drawback would be, so far as I can see, that
we should lose the benefit of our official positions, but unless we
happen to be sent off with orders to other hill forts, that position
will only hamper our movements. Besides, we should still have our
badges of office, and Tippoo's official orders to the governors.
Possibly, the news that we had disappeared might reach the governors
of some of the forts in this neighbourhood, but it would not be likely
to travel very far. His officers so frequently fall into disgrace, and
are either killed or thrown to the tigers, that the fact of our being
missing would scarce excite a remark, and those who heard of it would
suppose that we had either been secretly made away with, or that,
having learned that Tippoo was displeased with us, we had fled."
Surajah nodded. His confidence in his leader was complete, and he was
always ready to follow unquestioningly.
Pages:
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383