affording no opportunity for
concealment. Hitherto he had been running well within his powers;
but he now quickened his pace, and ran at full speed. He calculated
that Wasil would have at least half an hour's start of him; and
that, as he would urge the pony to the top of his speed, he would
by this time have joined Sufder; and he was sure that the latter
would not lose an instant before starting to meet him. He had
hesitated, for a moment, whether he should break into a quiet walk
and allow the troopers to overtake him, relying upon the alteration
of his costume; but he reflected that Balloba might have foreseen
that he would change his disguise, and have ordered the arrest of a
young man with curiously light eyes.

Harry had always attempted to conceal this feature, as far as
possible, by staining his eyelashes a deep black; but when he
looked up, the colour of his eyes could hardly fail to strike
anyone specially noticing them.

His constant exercise as a boy had given him great swiftness of
foot, and the year passed as a shikaree had added to his endurance
and speed and, divested of clothing as he was, he felt sure that
the horsemen, who were more than a mile in his rear when he first
caught sight of them, would not overtake him for some time. He was
running, as he knew, for life; for he was certain that, if caught,
Balloba would have him at once put to death as a spy. Although
hardy and of great endurance, the Mahratta horses, which were small
in size, were not accustomed to being put to the top of their speed
except for a short charge; and the five miles that they had
galloped already must have, to some extent, fatigued them.

After running at the top of his speed for about a mile, he looked
back. The party was still a long distance in his rear. Again he
pressed forward, but his exertions were telling upon him and,
before he had gone another half mile, the Mahrattas had approached
within little more than half that distance.

Far ahead he thought he could perceive a body of horsemen, but
these were nearly two miles away, and he would be overtaken before
they could reach him; therefore he turned suddenly off, and took to
one of the little banks dividing one irrigated field from another.
As soon as the horsemen reached the spot where he had left the
road, they too turned off; but Harry, who was now husbanding his
strength, saw a sudden confusion among them.

The little bank of earth on which he was running was