nd by
moving off.

Once more Ahmed climbed the tree to keep watch. The sun rose higher and
higher, and yet there was no sign of a movement among the party. But
after some time he noticed the man who had gone over the brow of the
hill returning. He came much faster than he had gone. Rejoining his
waiting comrade, he mounted his horse, and the two galloped down to the
rest. Instantly the whole party sprang to their feet, loosened their
horses, and sprang into the saddle. A few even started to ride across
the plain in a straight line for the nullah, and Ahmed feared that in a
few minutes the fugitives would be discovered. He knew that if they were
seen there was no help for them; with his single hand he could do
nothing against a troop of horse. The sowars came on until they were
within a hundred yards of the nullah, and Ahmed shrank back among the
leaves, fearing lest he might be seen and so draw the men on. But they
suddenly wheeled half round and cantered to the road, where they halted.

Their comrades meanwhile, though they had mounted their horses, had not
left the plantation. Apparently they were waiting to see if the report
brought to them by their scout was correct. After some time they
appeared to decide that it was a false alarm, for half-a-dozen now left
the main body and rode up the hillock, dismounting as the others had
done previously, and skirmishing forward over the crest. In a few
minutes they returned and trotted back again. The smaller body who had
taken panic returned slowly to rejoin their comrades. They all
dismounted, tethered their horses, and once more stretched themselves at
ease under the shade of the plantation.

Ahmed watched them for a long time. There was no sign of further
movement among them. It looked as if they had settled down to doze
through the hot hours of the day. The prospect of being kept at a
standstill became more and more unendurable. To say nothing of the
torture of remaining through the long hours of torrid heat without
adequate protection or sufficient food, there was the danger that, if
his journey could not be resumed until nightfall, he would reach the
encampment of the Guides only to find them gone. Was it not possible, he
wondered, in some way to get past or round the men who lay between him
and safety? Obviously the whole party, with the palki, could not advance
openly across the bare plain. Nor could he alone venture to go, in the
tell-tale uniform of the Guides, to