boys had heard that after pretending to be the friend of the whites, he
was now leading the assault against them, and that he was therefore a
traitor, and fighting as it were with a rope round his neck. At the hands
of such a man they had no mercy to expect.

"It is of no use trying to make a bolt, Ned?"

"Not the least in the world. The two fellows next to us are appointed to
watch us. Don't you see they are sitting with their guns across their
knees? We should be shot down in a moment."

There was a debate among the band whether to push on to Cawnpore at once;
but they had already made a long day's journey, and moreover thought that
they could create a greater effect by arriving with their prisoners by
daylight. The fire was made up, and the men wrapped themselves in their
cloths--the native of India almost invariably sleeps with his head
covered, and looking more like a corpse than a living being. Anxiously the
boys watched in hopes that their guards would follow the example. They
showed, however, no signs of doing so, but sat talking over the
approaching destruction of the English rule and of the restoration of the
Mohammedan power.

Two hours passed; the fire burned low, and the boys, in spite of the
danger of their position, were just dropping off to sleep, when there was
a mighty roar--a rush of some great body passing over them--a scream of
one of the natives--a yell of terror from the rest. A tiger stood with one
of the guards in his mouth, growling fiercely, and giving him an
occasional shake, as a cat would shake a mouse, while one of his paws held
down the prostrate figure of the other.