“Look here, Anstruther--we must keep it dark as long as possible that North is gone and that you are here in his place. It strikes me that the fellows who were looking for you yesterday all went too far afield, and that’s how they missed you. To-day they will argue that they had better look at home first, and they will set to work to search the ruins down below, and the rocks near the spot where we halted, and any caves there may be in the neighbourhood. I don’t know what sort of trackers they are here, but if they are anything like so good as the natives in India, they will find out in no time that the ruins were occupied until last night, and that a man on horseback left them and took a certain course. They may even be able to discover our way up and down the cliff by means of your footprints and North’s. Still, it will all take a certain amount of time, and every hour of delay is so much gain for North. On the other hand, if they don’t happen to light upon his trail, and we keep you well out of sight, they may waste the whole day in an exhaustive search of the desert just round here, which would be nuts for us. You must pretend to be seedy, and stay in your room. If you don’t show up, perhaps they won’t find out the state of affairs for a day or two.” “Beastly dull for me!” grumbled Fitz; but he yielded to the inevitable, and returned to his room, resolved to make up for the fatigues of the night by a few hours’ additional sleep. Indeed, the whole party slept late that morning, and when Abd-ur-Rahim came in to inquire after the health of his prisoners, he found only Stratford prepared to receive him. This was fortunate, in that it postponed the danger of discovery, and Stratford gladly accepted the old man’s offer of a ride round the city in his company, as tending still further to avert suspicion. By one means or another, the whole of the day was tided over successfully, and the spirits of the captives began to rise. The next day, however, a new difficulty confronted them, in the shape of a deputation from the mutinous cavalry escort, who had found their way to Bir-ul-Malik, and demanded an interview with their hero Dick. In vain were they assured that he could not and would not see them. They expressed their readiness to await his convenience for any length of time; and Stratford guessed that, fearing they had made their native land too hot to hold them, they entertained the design of crossing the frontier under Dick’s leadership, taking their women and children with them, and transferring their allegiance to Her Most Gracious Majesty, as a preliminary to enlisting in the Khemistan Horse. It was a distinct relief to Stratford, when he considered the spirit in which Dick would probably have received this precious offer of service, to remember that he was not in the place; but it was a very embarrassing thing to have these men continually waiting and watching for an opportunity of seeing him. They were not interfered