ught it was a drug you were very likely
to need, on your journey."

"How much farther have we to ride?" she asked, after a pause.

"Only about thirty-five miles--that is to say, it is only that
distance to the frontier. There is a road that is rather more direct,
but it passes through Oussoor, a large town, which we had better
avoid. It is not more than fifty miles from the frontier to Tripataly,
but once across the line we can take matters easily, and stop whenever
you get tired."

"It will be all very strange to me, Dick. I sha'n't mind it, as long
as you are with me, but it will be dreadful when you go. I am afraid
your mother won't like me. You see, I know nothing of English ways,
and I am oh! so ignorant. I cannot even read--at least, very little.
One of the girls used to teach me, from a book she had when she was
carried off. It was a Bible--she used to tell me stories out of it.
But one day they found it, and she was beaten, very much, for
venturing to have it. I am afraid I have quite forgotten even my
letters; but she and the other girls used to teach me about religion,
and told me I must never forget that I was a Christian, whatever they
might do to me, and I was to say my prayers every night after I lay
down, and every morning before I got up. Of course, I have always done
it."

"You need not be afraid of my mother, Annie. She is very kind, and I
am sure she will take to you very much, and will be very glad that I
have brought you to Tripataly; for, you see, she has no girls of her
own. She will teach you to read and write, and if we go back to
England, I dare say you will go to school for a time, so as to learn
things like other girls."

"I can work very nicely," she said. "The ladies of the harem all used
to say that."

"Well, you will find that very useful, no doubt."

"And what else is there to learn?" she asked.

"No end of things, Annie--at least, there are no end of things for
boys to learn. I do not know anything about girls. But, of course, you
will have to get to know something of history and geography."

"What is geography, Dick?"

"Well, geography is where countries and places are. For instance, you
know something of the geography of India, without ever having learnt
it. You know that Madras and the Carnatic lie to the east, and
Travancore to the southwest, and Malabar to the west, and the Mahratta
country and the Nizam's dominions to the north. Well, that is the
geography of this pa