But this would entail a long sea voyage, and they therefore determined
to make for Caveripatam, going by the road that led through Anicull,
and then through Ryacotta, which stood just outside the line of
territory ceded to England, and from whence a road led direct down the
passes. Anicull lay nearly due south of Bangalore, but the road they
would follow would not be the one by which Tippoo would return, as he
would come by the main road, which ran in a direct line between the
two cities.
Ibrahim was informed of their plans, and was told to warn the syce to
get their horses saddled and in readiness at eight o'clock, and that,
as they were going for a long day's ride, he would not be required to
accompany them--as he always did when they rode only into the town,
for then he might be wanted to hold the horses, if they dismounted and
went into a shop.
He was also to give notice, in the kitchen, that they would not return
to the midday meal, and that dishes for them would therefore not be
required. Thus it would be unlikely that any suspicion would be
aroused by their absence until they had been gone twenty-four hours,
by which time they would be more than halfway to the frontier.
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