heard by the inhabitants, none stirred, for the mutineers took what they
wanted without paying, and were already behaving as masters of the
country; and even thus early the country people were beginning to doubt
whether the fall of the English Raj, and the substitution of the old
native rule, with its war, its bloodshed, and its exactions, was by any
means a benefit, so far as the tillers of the soil were concerned. Just
before morning, on the third day, the troop halted in a thick grove,
having watered their horses at a tank a half-hour before. They had ridden
some seventy miles, and were, they calculated, about fifteen miles from
the place where they had left the girls. It might have been possible to
push on at once, but the day was breaking, and it would have been
inexpedient to tire out the horses when they might want all their speed
and strength on the return journey. Very slowly passed the day. Most of
the men, after seeing to their horses and eating some food, threw
themselves down and slept soundly. But Major Warrener, his sons, and
Captains Dunlop and Manners were far too anxious to follow their example,
for some time. It was more than a fortnight since the boys had left the
ladies, and so many things, of which they hardly dare think, might have
happened since.

"Don't let us talk about it any more," Major Warrener said at last; "we
only add to each other's anxiety. Now, Dunlop, you must positively lie
down; you know Johnson said it was mad in you to get on horseback till
your bone had set firmly, and that it was ten to one in favor of
inflammation coming on again. You have much to go through yet."

[Illustration: AFTER FIVE MINUTES' RIDING, THEY DREW UP THEIR HORSES WITH
A CRY OF DISMAY.]

Gradually sleepiness overcame excitement, and with the exception of ten