"Well, except for the soft, dark eyes, common to the race, and the good
temper and lightheartedness, also so general among Hindu girls, and the
tenderness which women feel towards a creature whose life they have
saved, whether it is a wounded bird or a drowning puppy, I suppose they
were nothing remarkable in the way of beauty, but at the time I know
that I thought them charming.




CHAPTER II.


"Just as I was getting strong enough to walk, and was beginning to think
of making my escape, a band of five or six fellows, armed to the teeth,
came in, and made signs that I was to go with them. It was evidently an
arranged thing, the girls only were surprised, but they were at once
turned out, and as we started I could see two crouching figures in the
shade with their cloths over their heads. I had a native garment thrown
over my shoulders, and in five minutes after the arrival of the fellows
found myself on my way. It took us some six hours before we reached our
destination, which was one of those natural rock citadels. Had I been in
my usual health I could have done the distance in an hour and a half,
but I had to rest constantly, and was finally carried rather than helped
up. I had gone not unwillingly, for the men were clearly, by their
dress, Dacoits of the Deccan, and I had no doubt that it was intended
either to ransom or exchange me.

"At the foot of this natural castle were some twenty or thirty more
robbers, and I was led to a rough sort of arbour in which was lying, on