"
"Thank you, Pertaub. You have, I see, brought a pickaxe. It will save
us half an hour's work; and besides, I am glad to say goodbye again.
"All has gone well. This is the young lady."
"She is well disguised," Pertaub said, bowing his head to Annie. "She
looks so like a boy that, even now you tell me, I can scarce believe
she is a white girl. Truly you can go on without fear that anyone will
suspect her."
Leading the way to the spot where the caskets had been buried, Dick
looked on while Surajah and Ibrahim dug them up. They were then
wrapped up in rugs, and strapped securely behind their owners'
saddles. Then, after a warm adieu to the kind old man, they turned
their horses' heads, and rode back out of the woods.
After riding for three hours at a canter, Dick saw that, although
Annie still spoke cheerfully, her strength was failing her, and on
arriving at a wood, he said:
"We will wait here till the heat of the sun has abated. We have done
very well, and the horses, as well as ourselves, will be glad of a few
hours' rest."
He alighted from the saddle, gave his horse to Ibrahim, and then
lifted Annie from her seat. As he set her down on her feet, and loosed
his hold of her, she slipped down on to the ground.
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