"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.
"But I cannot hold out any hopes that you will find him whom you seek in the city. It is among the hill forts you will find him, if he be alive. I have been turning the matter over, since you spoke to me last night, and the best plan I can think of is, that you should go as a travelling merchant, with Surajah as your assistant. You would want a good assortment of goods; fine muslins and silks, and a good selection of silver jewellery, from different parts of India. All these I could purchase for you here. If, by good luck, you could obtain a sight of the commander of one of these forts, you might possibly obtain permission from him to go up, and show your wares to the ladies of his establishment, and to those of other officers. The present of a handsome waist sash, or a silver-mounted dagger, might incline him favourably to your petition."
"I think that the idea is an excellent one," Dick said warmly. "If we cannot get in in that way, there seems to me to be no chance, save by taking a careful survey of the fortress, to discover where the rocks can be most easily climbed. There must surely be some spots, even among the steepest crags, where active fellows like Surajah and myself would be able to scale them. Of course, we should have to do it after dark; but once up there, one ought to be able to move about in the fort without difficulty, as we should, of course, be dressed as soldiers, and could take dark blankets to wrap round us. We ought then to be able to find where any prisoners who may be there are confined. There might be a sentry at the door, or, if there were no other way, one might pounce upon someone, force him by threats to tell us what prisoners there are, and where they are confined; and then bind and gag him, and stow him away where there would be no chance of his being discovered before daylight."
"There would be a terrible risk in such a matter," Pertaub said, shaking his head gravely.
"No doubt there would be risk, but we came here prepared to encounter danger, and if it were well managed, I don't see why we should be found out. Even if we were, we ought to be able to slip away, in the darkness, and make our way to the point where we went up. Once down on the plain, we could renew our disguise as traders, and, however hotly they scoured the country, pass without suspicion through them.
"I think that there will be more chance, in that way, than in going in as traders; for we should, in that case, have little chance of walking about, still less of questioning anyone. However, it is worth trying that first. We can always fall back upon the other, if it fails. We might, on our first visit, obtain indications that would be very useful to us on our second."
[Chapter 12]: A Tiger In A Zenana.
Another week passed, and by the end of that time, Dick was perfectly assured that his father was not at Seringapatam. It was then a question which of the hill forts to try first. Pertaub had already procured for them an assortment of goods and dresses, suitable for travelling merchants, and the purchase of these things had drawn heavily on their stock of money; although several of the traders, on receiving a hint from Pertaub of the purpose for which the goods were required, had given many articles without charge; while for the majority of the goods Dick gave an order on his mother, who had told him that he could draw up to five hundred pounds.
On the day before they were about to start, their plans were interrupted by the issue of a proclamation, saying that sports with wild beasts would take place on the following day; and they agreed that, as one day would make no difference, they would stop to see them, especially as Tippoo himself would be present. Hitherto, although they had several times seen him being carried in his palanquin, they had had no opportunity of observing him closely, as he was always surrounded by his guards.