lett, but I cannot but think that
your guide is taking you in the wrong direction. I looked at the
map before starting, and find that Dousi lies almost due north. We
are marching west."

"You are quite right, Mr. Hammond, but, you see, I don't want any
of the natives about the camp to guess where we are going. None of
these Oude fellows bears us any goodwill, and one of them might
hurry off, and carry information as to the line we were following.

"We will march four miles along this road, and then strike off by
another leading north. We must surprise them if we can. We don't
really know much about their force, and even if we did, they may be
joined by some other body before we get there--there are numerous
bands of them all over the country. And in the next place, if they
knew that we were coming, they might bolt before we got there.

"Besides, some of these villages are very strong, and we might
suffer a good deal before we could carry it if they had notice of
our coming. However, you were quite right to point out to me that
we were not going in what seemed the right direction."

The column started at four o'clock in the afternoon. It had been
intended that it should move off at daybreak on the following
morning, but Frank had suggested to the Colonel that it would be
advantageous to march half the distance that night.

"Of course, we could do the twenty miles tomorrow, Colonel," he
said, "but the men would hardly be in the best fighting trim when
they got there. Moreover, by starting in the afternoon, the natives
here would imagine that we were going to pounce upon some fugitives
at a village not far away."

The permission was readily granted, and accordingly, after marching
until nine o'clock in the evening, the column halted in a grove of
trees to which their guide led them, half a mile from the road.
Each man carried four days' cooked provisions in his haversack.
There was therefore no occasion for fires to be lighted, and after
seeing that sentries were placed round the edge of the grove, Frank
Mallett joined the officers who were gathered in the centre.

"What time shall we march tomorrow?" the officer in command of the
native infantry asked.

"Not until the heat of the day is over. We have come about twelve
miles, and have as much more to do; and if we start at the same
hour as we did today we shall get there about nine. I shall halt
half a mile away, reconnoitre the place at night, and if the ground