The money taken from the bag in the possession of Pike had been distributed among the two Arnolds and Adil, so that it did not show. All the white men except Pike carried rifles and revolvers, and Jai Singh had his spear, as usual.
William Pike led the way from their rooms and through the palace without any attempt at concealment. He often walked about the palace, and the guards all knew him.
“There is nothing to fear,” he assured Nick Carter.
The others kept close behind, with a vigilant eye upon Pike’s every movement.
Through the gateway, under the great portcullis, and along the drawbridge over the lake they followed, still without any one interfering with their departure.
“Look here, chief!” whispered Chick into Nick Carter’s ear. “This isn’t natural. There is something crooked about it. We are supposed to be prisoners, and yet we are going out without anybody interfering. What do you make of it?”
“We are called guests, but of course we are really looked on as prisoners,” returned Nick. “I can’t exactly understand it. But, at the first sign of treachery, you know what you are to do?”
“Shoot Pike?”
“Yes,” replied Nick Carter, through his set teeth. “Then dash for the hills.”
They had almost cleared the drawbridge, and the two Arnolds held their pistols against William Pike’s sides, as they had said they would.