"Well, Bathurst, what do you think of the outlook?" the Doctor
asked, as late in the evening they sat together on some sandbags
in a corner of the terrace.
"I think that if we get past Cawnpore in safety there is not much to
fear. There is no other large place on the river, and the lower we
get down the less likely the natives are to disturb us, knowing, as
they are almost sure to do, that a force is gathering at Allahabad."
"After what you heard of the massacre of the prisoners at Cawnpore,
whom the Nana and his officers had all sworn to allow to depart in
safety, there is little hope that this scoundrel will respect the
arrangements made here."
"We must pass the place at night, and trust to drifting down unobserved
--the river is wide there--and keeping near the opposite shore,
we may get past in the darkness without being perceived; and even
if they do make us out, the chances are they will not hit us. There
are so few of us that there is no reason why they should trouble
greatly about us."
"I am sorry to say, Bathurst, that I don't like the appearance of
the Major's wound. Everything has been against him; the heat, the
close air, and his anxiety of mind have all told on him, he seems
very low, and I have great doubts whether he will ever see Allahabad."
"I hope you are wrong, Doctor, but I thought myself there was a
change for the worse when I saw him an hour ago; there was a drawn
look about his face I did not like.
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