“‘Bring him along then, Pat.’
“‘Plase yer honner, he won’t come.’
“‘Come without him, then.’
“‘Plase, yer honner, he won’t let me.’”
“Suppose that’s our position, Dicky. It seems to me that we’re going right into a trap, and mayn’t be able to get away again. I don’t think we ought to have been sent.”
“Why, you’re not afraid?” said Dick.
“Not a bit, lad; only thoughtful. I say we oughtn’t to have been sent, because this isn’t the sort of country for horse artillery. We want to be out in wide plains where there’s room to gallop. Here, for instance, we could do nothing but sit on our horses while the enemy lined the sides of this valley with sharp-shooters to pick us off.”
“Perhaps Soojeepur may turn out to be a plain country.”
“Hope it is,” said Wyatt abruptly; “but I don’t think it is. We ought to be rifles, not what we are. Here’s a pretty place for an ambush. If the Rajah’s enemies know we’re coming they’ll be collected up yonder, and as soon as we get near enough they’ll begin playing a game of skittles. We shall be the skittles, and the rocks the balls.”
“I say,” said Dick merrily, “would you mind going to the rear, to ride beside Captain Hulton?”