“I was, really. Look at it whisking about. It’s quite absurd.”
“Humph, yes; but the brute shuffles along pretty well. I’m glad it’s old Hulton the chief has got up there instead of me. I’ll be bound Hulton wishes himself back upon his horse.”
“Shall we camp out to-night as usual?” said Dick after they had ridden a little way.
“I’m beginning to think not,” said Wyatt; “the chief isn’t poor, that’s certain, and the place yonder looks big. I expect we shall have a palace apiece, and be left to toss up who is to entertain the doctor. Really, though, I expect we shall find some kind of barracks and stables set apart for us.”
A couple of hours later the procession was crossing the river by a well-built bridge, held by a strong force of sturdy-looking men in white, armed with crooked, heavy knives and shields; while the road leading to the principal gate was lined with the Rajah’s troops—swarthy, active-looking men, but with weapons of the most antique kind, principally long-barrelled matchlocks.
“But they look as if they’ve got some fight in them,” said Wyatt.
“Yes,” said Dick; “those little dark fellows seem as active as cats.”
“And they are,” said Wyatt. “Hillmen, that’s what they happen to be. I say, though, the Rajah has plenty of subjects.”
For the narrow, bazaar-like streets and the housetops were crowded with people, who seemed to devour the new-comers with their eyes, till suddenly, in a long street kept by troops, one side of which was formed by a building with a carved gateway, the procession halted, the elephant knelt, and Captain Hulton rose.
“Pass the word along for the captain’s charger,” said Wyatt sharply, and the next minute one of the gunners hurried forward with the led horse in time for his chief.