next room, crying her eyes out, Dick. You had better
look in there, and say goodbye to her. She is not fit to go down to
the door."

After parting with his mother, Dick went in to see Annie.

"You must not cry so, child," he said, as she rose from the divan,
with her face swollen with crying. "I am sure that you will be very
happy here, until I come back."

"I know, Dick; but it won't be at all the same, without you."

"Oh, you will have plenty to do, and you will soon fall into regular
ways. Besides, you know, you have got to comfort my mother, and keep
up her spirits, and I quite rely upon you to do that."

"I will try, Dick," she said earnestly.

"Now, goodbye, Annie."

He held out his hand, but she threw her arms round his neck, and
kissed him.

"You have never kissed me, not once," she said reproachfully, "and you
were going away without it, now. Your mother kisses me, and the
English girls in the harem always used to do so."

"But that is different, Annie. Girls and women do kiss each other, but
boys and girls do not kiss, unless they are brothers and sisters, or
are relations, or something of that sort."

"But you are not a boy. You are a great big man, Dick."

"I am not much more than a boy yet, Annie. However, there is no harm
in kissing, when one is saying goodbye, so there.

"Now be a good girl, and don't fret;" and he ran downstairs to the
door, where his uncle and the two boys were standing.

"Take care of yourself, lad," the Rajah said, as, after bidding them
goodbye, Dick sprang upon his horse. "Whenever you get a chance, send
down a letter as we arranged last night, to the care of Azol Afool,
trader, Tripataly. That will seem natural enough, whoever you send it
by, while a letter directed to me might excite suspicion.

"Goodbye."

"Goodbye, Uncle;" and, with a wave of his hand, Dick rode off and
joined Surajah, who was waiting for him a short distance off. And
then, followed by Ibrahim--who had begged so earnestly to be allowed
to accompany them that Dick had consented to take him, feeling indeed
that his services would be most useful to them--and the two troopers,
they rode off at a sharp pace.

At Amboor they assumed their disguises. Dick purchased a pack pony,
and some goods suitable to their appearance as pedlers, and then they
started up the pass on foot. They passed the frontier line without any
interruption, stopped and chatted for a few minutes with the guard,
and then passed