ng her behind him on
his arab and making a dash for Karnal, where she would be safe with Le
Bas Sahib; but Panipat was in the way: if it were not held by the sahibs
the risk was too great. On the other hand, even if he knew that the
Guides were now on the road south of him, he might not overtake them
before daylight, and no doubt there were other villages to pass through.
Were the girl seen by any passing native, he would soon have every
freebooter of the countryside upon his tracks, for he knew the
extraordinary speed with which the news of such a discovery would
travel. Then, his horse bearing a double burden, he could scarcely hope
to outride any pursuers.

But, since delay was dangerous, it was necessary for him to make up his
mind to some course, and he thought it best to push along the highway
southward, keeping a sharp look-out for hostile parties. No doubt he
would have sufficient warning of their presence to give him time to find
some temporary hiding-place by the roadside. The absence of any sound
from the north persuaded him that the Guides had already passed, and
then he bethought himself that he might possibly prove it by examining
the dust of the road. Dismounting, he struck a light with flint and
steel, ignited his tinder, and, shielding it with his pagri, blew up a
sufficient glow to throw a faint light on the road. The dust was marked
with a great number of foot-prints, both of men and of horses, many of
them so blurred as to be indistinguishable. But after a little Ahmed's
trained eye noticed several which were clearer than the rest; without
doubt they were made by the horses coming at the end of a troop. He
easily distinguished the four hoof-marks of a single horse: the mark of
the hind-foot coming close behind that of the fore-foot: and by the
distance between the successive impressions he knew that the horse had
been going at a walking pace. The print was very like that which would
be made by the shoe of one of the horses of the Guides; and the evidence
was so clear that a considerable troop had passed along the road not
many hours before that he felt sure his comrades were ahead of him.

He wondered whether there was any chance of catching them up. It
occurred to him that he might quicken the pace of the party by relieving
the palki-wallahs of their burden for a time, so he asked the missy
sahib, through one of the men, to alight and mount his horse while he
led the animal. Tired as she was of her