On the other hand,
if we can get in as traders we shall be able to move about
unwatched--to go to the soldiers' huts and offer goods to their wives,
and be able to find out, to a certainty, if there is a prisoner there,
and, if so, where he is kept. We may even see him; for while, if the
governor wished to keep his existence a secret, he would have shut him
up when he heard that two of Tippoo's officers were coming, he would
not trouble about it, one way or the other, in the case of a couple of
traders.
"The only objection to that course is that we were here but two or
three months since, and he and his servants, and that artillery
officer we went round with, would know us at once. If we go, we shall
have to alter our appearance completely. At any rate, we had better
provide means for disguise, and we can use them, or not, as we
please."
While they were at Tripataly, therefore, they had two false beards
made for themselves, and tried many experiments in the way of painting
their faces; and found that by tracing light lines on their foreheads,
and at the corners of their eyes, they were able, by the help of
beards, to counterfeit the appearance of old age, so well that it
could only be detected on close observation.
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