The commoner cloths, knives, beads, and trinkets were almost all disposed of, by the end of the day, for as no traders had come up for six months, and as a long time might elapse before others did so, the garrison were glad to lay in a store of useful articles for themselves and families, especially as the prices of all the goods were at least as low as they could have been bought in a town.
"We sha'n't leave much behind us," Dick said, as he looked round after the last customer had left, and they had sat down to their evening meal. "Almost all the silver work and the better class of goods have gone, and I should say three-quarters of the rest. I daresay we shall get rid of the remainder tomorrow. I don't suppose many of the soldiers stationed down by the gate have come up yet; but when they hear that we sell cheaply, some of them will be here tomorrow. We have made no money by the transaction, but at any rate we shall have got back the outlay. Of course, I should not have cared if we had got nothing back. Still, it is satisfactory to have cleared oneself.
"I wonder how Ibrahim is getting on, down in the wood."
"He won't be expecting us today," Surajah replied, "but I have no doubt he will begin to feel anxious by tomorrow night. I wish we could have seen some way of getting the horses down. It will be awkward doing without them."
"Yes. I hope we shall get a good start. Of course, we must put on our peasant's dresses again. I am glad enough to be rid of that rope, though I have had to put on two or three additional things, to fill me out to the same size as before. Still, I don't feel so bound in as I did, though it is horribly hot."
"I am sure I shall be glad to get rid of all this stuffing," Surajah said. "I felt ready to faint today, when the room was full."
"Well, we have only one more day of it," Dick said. "I do hope Father will be able to get out by ten o'clock. Then, before eleven we shall be at the edge of the rock. Say we are two hours in getting down, and walking round to join Ibrahim. That will take us till one, and we shall have a good five hours before Father's escape will be discovered. They will know that he can't have gone down the road, and it will take them fully two hours to search the fort, and all over the rock. It will be eight o'clock before they set out in pursuit, and by that time we ought to be well on the road between Cenopatam and Anicull.
"If we can manage to buy horses at Cenopatam, of course we will do so. We shall be there by five o'clock, and ought to be able to get them in a couple of hours. Once on horseback, we are safe. I don't think they will pursue very far--perhaps not even so far as Cenopatam; for the governor will see that he had better not make any fuss about a white captive having escaped, when it was not known that he had one there at all. I think it more likely that, when he finds Father has got fairly away, he will take no steps at all. They have no cavalry here, and he will know, well enough, that there will be no chance of our being tracked and overtaken by footmen, if we had but a couple of hours' start."
"I think that is so, Dick. He has done his duty in keeping your father a prisoner, but I don't think he will be, at heart, at all sorry that he has made his escape."
"I think, Surajah, I will write a letter to him, and leave it here, to be found after we have got away, thanking him in Father's name for the kindness that he has always shown him, saying who I am, why I came here, and asking his pardon for the deception that I have been obliged to play upon him. He is a good old fellow, and I should think it would please him."