nd Surajah being colonels
in Tippoo's household, for almost anything; but I certainly never
dreamt of your returning here with an English girl."

"I suppose not, Uncle. Such a thing certainly never entered into my
calculations. I did not even know there was a white girl in the
Palace, until one day she stopped me, as I was passing along the
corridor near the harem, to thank me for saving her life--for it was
this girl that the tiger had struck down, and was standing upon, when
I fired at him. Of course, she had no idea that I was English. We only
said a few words then, for if I had been seen talking to a slave girl
belonging to the harem, I might have got into a scrape. However, I saw
her afterwards, and she told me about herself, and how she was afraid
that she would be given away to one of Tippoo's officers. Of course, I
could not leave her to such a fate as that.

"There was really no difficulty in getting her away. She was dressed
as a boy, and only had to ride, with our servant, after us. We had
arranged so that our absence would not be noticed, until we had been
away for at least twenty-four hours, and of course, as officers of the
Palace, no one questioned us on the journey, so that it is a very
simple affair altogether, and the only difficulty there was, rose from
her being completely tired out and exhausted by the journey, as she
was utterly unaccustomed to travelling. I had to carry her one night,
in front of me on my saddle, for she was scarce able to stand."

"I am not surprised at that. A journey of a hundred and fifty miles,
to anyone who has never been on horseback, would be a terrible trial,
especially to a young girl. I really wonder that she did not break
down altogether. Why, you can remember how stiff you were, yourself,
the first day or two you were here, and that after riding only an hour
or two."

"I know, Uncle, and I should not have been in the least surprised, if
she had collapsed. I talked it over with Surajah, and we agreed that,
if she could not go on, we must hire a vehicle of some sort, and let
her travel, every day, in front of us with Ibrahim, and that if it
delayed us so much that there was any possibility of our being
overtaken, we would have put on our peasant's dresses, got rid of our
horses, and have gone forward on foot.

"However, she kept up wonderfully well, and always made the best of
things."

"We won't ask you to tell us anything more, Dick, till your mother
joins us,