"
Dick took a bottle from his holster, opened it, and gave her some in a
tin cup. Then one of the rugs was spread on the ground, with another
one rolled up as a pillow, and then they led the horses farther into
the wood, leaving Annie to herself.
"She won't be able to ride again, tonight," Surajah said, as they sat
down, while Ibrahim took out the provisions that he had, on the
previous day, carried across to the farm.
"No, I must carry her before me. We will shift my saddle a little
farther back, and strap a couple of rugs in front of it, so as to make
a comfortable seat for her. There is no doubt she will not be able to
ride again, by herself. I am sure that, after my first day's riding, I
could not have gone on again for anything.
"We won't start until it begins to get dusk. Of course, she ought to
have a good twenty-four hours' rest, before she goes on, but we dare
not risk that. I don't think there is any chance of pursuit for days;
or, indeed, of any pursuit at all, for by the time they begin to
suspect that we have really deserted, they will know that we have had
time to get to the frontier. Still, I don't want to run the slightest
risk, and at any rate, if we have to halt, it would be better to do so
fifty miles farther on than here.
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