to pieces, the moment they heard
from my captors that I was an Englishman; therefore I feel that you
have saved my life.

"How was it that you were not also surprised?"

When he heard how the alarm had been given, and how they had at
once mounted and ridden out, just as a party were about to enter
the hut, he said:

"It was well done, and shows that you are quick fellows, as well as
brave. I shall report your conduct when we join the army, and shall
myself give you a batta of six months' pay.

"Now, we will ride on for a few miles, and then leave the road and
take shelter, till morning, in a wood. The horses have had five
hours' rest at the village, and there will be time for them to have
as much more, before we mount again.

"It is lucky that you bought some grain for them, this evening,
instead of waiting till the morning, so they can have a good feed
before starting."

Henceforth they avoided the villages as much as possible, and
passed unquestioned until they reached the Hustoo river which, at
this point, formed the eastern boundary of Berar. They swam the
horses across and, after stopping for a few hours at Dundava, rode
on; and continued their journey due north, and crossed the Sone
river at Maunpoor, having accomplished a journey of nearly a
thousand miles in twenty days.

On arriving there Harry found that General Lake had left, six weeks
before, and had encamped at Secundara where, on the 26th of August,
despatches had been received from the Governor General, authorizing
active operations against Scindia and his allies; and two days
later the force halted on the Mahratta frontier, within sight of
the mosque at Coel, where Perron was encamped.

Perron, a French officer in Scindia's service, commanded no less
than forty-three thousand men, and four hundred and sixty-four
guns. About half of these were with Scindia in the Deccan, and the
force encamped at Coel numbered about twenty thousand.

Perron, an active and ambitious man, had assumed an almost
independent position. A large grant of territory had been given him
by Scindia, and in this he ruled with absolute authority and, had
it not been for the interposition of the British, it is probable
that he would, ere long, have assumed the position of an
independent prince. Indeed, his army of partially disciplined men
was more than a match for the whole force of Scindia.

At a short distance from Coel was the fortress of Alighur, which
was considered