“I don’t mind doing the fakir a bit,”
Ned said. “Fortunately the sun has done
his work, and the color of our skins can be hidden
by a good coat of dirt, which will look as natural
as possible. Now let us set about it at once.”
It took an hour’s preparation; for, although
Ned’s toilet was quickly made, needing in fact
nothing but a coating of mud, it took some time to
sew Dick up in the skin, the opening being sewn up
by means of the small blade of the knife and some
string. It was by this time quite dark, and the
operation had been completed so perfectly that once
Ned was dressed they had no fear whatever of interruption.
“Now, Ned, before we go I will set fire to the
straw. I don’t suppose any one will go
down and. make any discoveries, but they may be looking
for wood, so it’s as well to prevent accidents.
We will throw that big piece of matting over the opening
in the floor, so the light won’t show till we
get well away.”
He ran down the ladder, struck a match, lit the straw,
and then ran quickly up again. The mat was dragged
across the opening, and then the boys went boldly
out into the yard, Ned striding along, and Dick trotting
on all-fours beside him. The night was dark, and
although there were many men in the yard, sitting
about on the ground round fires, no one noticed the
boys, who, turning out through a gateway, took the
road into the heart of Lucknow.
OUT OF LUCKNOW.
One hundred yards or so after starting the disguised
fakir and his bear entered a locality teeming with
troops, quartered there in order to be close at hand
to the batteries, to assist to repel sorties, or to
join in attacks. Fortunately the night was very
dark, and the exceedingly awkward and unnatural walk
of the bear passed unseen. Over and over again
they were challenged and shouted to, but the hoarse
“Hoo-Hac,” which is the cry of the fakirs,
and the ring of the iron-bound staff with its clanking
rings on the ground, were a sufficient pass.
Ned guessed, from the fact of their having been met
with so close to the fort, that the fakir and his
bear would be well known to the mutineers; and this
proved to be the case.
Several of the men addressed him, but he waved his
arm, shook his head angrily, and strode on; and as
fakirs frequently pretend to be absorbed in thought,
and unwilling to converse, the soldiers fell back.
Beyond this, the streets were deserted. The most
populous native quarter lay far away, and few of the
inhabitants, save of the lowest classes, cared to be
about the streets after nightfall.
The instant that they were in a quiet quarter Dick
rose on to his feet.
“My goodness,” he whispered to Ned, “that
all-fours’ work is enough to break one’s
back, Ned.”
