ied by Surajah.

"It is awful!" he exclaimed, with tears running down his cheeks; "and
to be able to do nothing! What must Father have gone through! I think,
Surajah, that if we were to come upon Tippoo I should go for him, even
if he were surrounded by guards. Of course it would cost me my life.
If I could kill him, I think I should not mind it. Such a villain is
not fit to live; and at any rate, whoever came after him, the
prisoners could not be worse off than they are now.

"Let us go back. I have had enough for this morning."

When they returned, Dick told Pertaub of the scene that he had
witnessed.

"Many of them have been starved to death," the old man said. "Possibly
one of their companions may have tried to escape. It is to prevent
this that Tippoo's greatest cruelties are perpetrated. It is not so
very difficult to get away, and take to the jungle. Some have
succeeded, but most of them are retaken, for a watch is vigilantly
kept up, at every village and every road leading on to the frontier;
and if caught, they are hung or forced to take poison. But whether
they are caught or not, Tippoo's vengeance falls upon their
companions. These are flogged, ironed, and kept without rations for
weeks--living, if they do live, upon the charity of their guards.

"This is why there are so few attempts at escape. A man knows that,
whether he himself gets off or not, he dooms his companions to
torture, perhaps death. One case I remember, in which an English
sailor, one out of nine, attempted to get away. He was captured and
killed at once, and his eight companions were all hung. So you see,
even if one of the captives sees a chance of escape, he does not take
it, because of the consequences that would fall upon his companions."

"It is horrible," Dick said, "and I can quite understand why so few
escape. The question for me, now, is whether there are any prisoners
kept in dungeons here."

"Not here, I think. Tippoo's policy is to make all his captives
useful, and though one might be ironed and confined for a time, I do
not think that any are so kept, permanently, here. There were, of
course, some confined to the fort by illness, and some in irons. It
may need some little search, before you are quite sure that you have
seen every one. However, I will try to find out how many there are
there, and to get as many of the names as possible. Some of my
friends, who keep shops in the fort, may be able to do this for me.
This wo