"They would not be of much use to us," the other said quietly. "It is four days since we had a mouthful of food, and they would make very short work of us." "All the better," the other exclaimed. "Death would be a thousand-fold preferable to this misery." Dick felt that, if he remained longer, he would be unable to contain himself; and turning hastily away, walked off, accompanied by Surajah. "It is awful!" he exclaimed, with tears running down his cheeks; "and to be able to do nothing! What must Father have gone through! I think, Surajah, that if we were to come upon Tippoo I should go for him, even if he were surrounded by guards. Of course it would cost me my life. If I could kill him, I think I should not mind it. Such a villain is not fit to live; and at any rate, whoever came after him, the prisoners could not be worse off than they are now. "Let us go back. I have had enough for this morning." When they returned, Dick told Pertaub of the scene that he had witnessed. "Many of them have been starved to death," the old man said. "Possibly one of their companions may have tried to escape. It is to prevent this that Tippoo's greatest cruelties are perpetrated. It is not so very difficult to get away, and take to the jungle. Some have succeeded, but most of them are retaken, for a watch is vigilantly kept up, at every village and every road leading on to the frontier; and if caught, they are hung or forced to take poison. But whether they are caught or not, Tippoo's vengeance falls upon their companions. These are flogged, ironed, and kept without rations for weeks--living, if they do live, upon the charity of their guards. "This is why there are so few attempts at escape. A man knows that, whether he himself gets off or not, he dooms his companions to torture, perhaps death. One case I remember, in which an English sailor, one out of nine, attempted to get away. He was captured and killed at once, and his eight companions were all hung. So you see, even if one of the captives sees a chance of escape, he does not take it, because of the consequences that would fall upon his companions." "It is horrible," Dick said, "and I can quite understand why so few escape. The question for me, now, is whether there are any prisoners kept in dungeons here." "Not here, I think. Tippoo's policy is to make all his captives useful, and though one might be ironed and confined for a time, I do not think that any are so kept, permanently, here. There were, of course, some confined to the fort by illness, and some in irons. It may need some little search, before you are quite sure that you have seen every one. However, I will try to find out how many there are there, and to get as many of the names as possible. Some of my friends, who keep shops in the fort, may be able to do this for me. This would shorten your task.