him. We will walk
round and see if there is any rope lying about. If not, I will tear my
sash into strips. We can use yours to lower ourselves over the wall. I
should like to get our weapons, if we could. The guns do not matter,
but the pistols are good ones. And, if there is an alarm given, we may
have to fight. Besides, it is not impossible that we may come across a
tiger, as we go along. I vote that, when we have secured the sentry,
we pay the officer a visit."

Surajah nodded. He was quite ready to agree to anything that Dick
might suggest, and felt a strong desire to repossess himself of his
arms, for it seemed to him that it would be a humiliation to go back
without them.

"Of course," Dick went on, "if the sentry gives the alarm, before we
can secure him, we must give up part of our plan; for, in that case,
we should have to bolt. Once over the wall, we should be all right.
They may fire away at us as we run, but there is no fear of their
hitting us, half asleep as they will be, and not quite sure what it is
all about. If we get a fair start of them, we need not have much fear
of their catching us."

"Not as long as it is straight running, Sahib; but if they follow us
far, they may come up within range of us as we are making our way down
some of those nasty places, where we came up the face of the ghaut."

"If we once get well away from them, we will hide up somewhere, and
then strike off on another line."

"We might do that," Surajah agreed; "but you know, the place where we
came up was the only one that seemed to us climbable, and it would be
certainly better to make for it again, if we can find our way."

"I quite agree with you there, Surajah. It would never do to go and
find ourselves on the edge of a precipice that we could not get down,
with the soldiers anywhere near us. Besides, it is of the greatest
importance that we should take the news back as soon as possible, as
every hour may be of importance. I only wish we could find out which
pass Tippoo means to go by, but I don't suppose that will be known
until he starts for it. Anyhow, our news will be very valuable, for at
present he is supposed to be over on the other side, and he would have
taken our troops entirely by surprise, if he had suddenly poured out
onto the plain. So we must give up my idea of hiding up, for if we did
so we should have to lie there all day, and it would mean the loss of
twenty-four hours; for I would not go down those g