small water bottle, and, hung upon his matchlock, a
change of clothing. In the folds of his turban, Dick had a packet of
the powder used for making dye, so that he could, at any time, renew
the brown shade, when it began to fade out.

For a time but few words were spoken. Dick knew that, although his
mother had borne up bravely till the last, she would break down as
soon as he left her; and the thought that he might never see her again
weighed heavily upon him. Surajah, on the contrary, was filled with
elation at the prospect of adventures and dangers, and he was silent
simply because he felt that, for the present, his young lord was in no
humour for speech.

As soon as the sun rose, Dick shook off his depression. They were now
a considerable distance up the hillside. There was no path, for the
people of Tripataly had no occasion to visit Mysore, and still less
desire for a visit from the Mysoreans. Periodically, raids were made
upon the villages and plains by marauders from the hills, but these
were mostly by the passes through the ghauts, thirty or forty miles
left or right from the little state which, nestling at the foot of the
hills, for the most part escaped these visitations--which, now that
the British had become possessed of the territories and the hills,
had, it was hoped, finally ceased. Nevertheless, the people were
always prepared for such visits. Every cultivator had a pit in which
he stored his harvest, except so much as was needed for his immediate
wants. The pit was lined with mats, others were laid over the grain.
Two feet of soil was then placed over the mats and, after the ground
had been ploughed, there was no indication of the existence of the
hiding place.

The town itself was surrounded by a wall, of sufficient strength to
withstand the attacks of any parties of marauders; and the custom of
keeping a man on a watch tower was still maintained. At the foot of
the tower stood a heavy gun, whose discharge would at once warn the
peasants for miles round of an enemy, calling those near to hasten to
the shelter of the town, while the men of the villages at a distance
could hurry, with their wives and families, to hiding places among the
hills.

Dick and Surajah had no need of a path, for they were well acquainted
with the ground, and had often wandered up, nearly to the crest of the
hills, in pursuit of game. An hour before noon, they took their seats
under a rock that shaded them from the sun's ra