The Jungle Fugitives | Page 7

you named?"
"None; my wife and I buried two children last Summer; Mr. Turner has
none, and Mr. Wharton and his young wife were but recently married."
"You have not told me why you come to me?"
"Chiefly to warn you of your peril and to beseech you to fly before it is

too late."
"I thank you very much for your solicitude; it was kind on the part of
you and your friends, but it strikes me that one place is about as safe as
another."
"We are so far from the large cities and the coast that it is useless to
attempt to reach any of them. Our first aim was to get as far from
Meerut as possible; then as we found ourselves approaching your home,
it seemed to us there was a chance for our lives by pushing to the
northward, into the wilder and less settled country, where the flames of
the insurrection may not reach."
"Your sentiments are our own; you have been wonderfully fortunate in
getting this far; my friends and I have seen enough to warn us to lose
no time, and we were on the point of starting when I saw you."
"May I ask what course you intend to take?"
"I have lived here for twenty years, so that I am acquainted with the
section. My intention was to follow a slightly travelled road, which, in
fact, is little more than a bridle path, until several miles beyond Akwar,
when we should come back to the main highway and keep to that for
fifty or perhaps a hundred miles. By that time, we should be safe, if
such a thing as safety is possible."
"Your plan is a good one, but is not mine better?"
"What is that?"
"I, too, am familiar with this part of the country; a stream empties into
the Ganges just eastward of your house, hardly a half mile distant; it
must have its source somewhere among the foothills of the Himalayas.
At any rate, it is navigable for all of a hundred miles. It seems to me
that when paddling up that stream at night, between the wooded banks,
there will be less chance of being discovered by enemies than when
travelling overland, as you contemplate."

"I am favorably impressed with your plan; do I understand you to invite
us to join your party?"
"You are more than welcome; our boat will accommodate us all
without crowding, but I regret to say we have but a single gun among
us. That is mine, which I left with my friends against my return."
"We are well supplied in that respect; we accept your invitation with
many thanks."
As the doctor spoke he stepped down from the veranda, followed by the
others, and Mr. Anderson led the way across the lawn to the river,
where his friends were awaiting his coming with many misgivings. A
general introduction followed. A common danger makes friends of
strangers, and in a few minutes all were as well acquainted as if they
had known one another for days and weeks. Anderson and Turner were
men in middle life, while Wharton was of about the same age as Jack
Everson. They had lived for several years on the outskirts of Meerut,
but it was young Wharton who discovered the impending peril, and it
was due to him that the three families escaped the fate of hundreds of
others on that woful night. The young wife and Mary Marlowe became
intimate friends at once, while, as has been said, there was a hearty,
genuine comradeship immediately established among all.
The boat was larger than Dr. Marlowe and his companions suspected. It
was more than twenty feet in length, with a cabin at the stern, a place
for a mast, though there was neither mast nor sail on board. Anderson
had spoken of paddling to this point, when, had he spoken correctly, he
would have said that no paddles were used, but that the craft was
propelled by means of poles.
CHAPTER VI.
ON THE GANGES.
While all the members of the party were cheered by hope, none forgot
that a dreadful peril impended. Enough time had passed since the revolt
at Meerut for the news to spread even beyond the little town of Akwar,

which was within a fourth of a mile of the home of Dr. Marlowe. He
was aware that some of the most fanatical Mussulmans in all India
lived there. The action of the servant Mustad, who owed his life to the
father and child, was proof of what might be expected from these
miscreants when swept off their feet by the delirium that was spreading
with the frightful swiftness of a prairie fire.
Accordingly no time was lost. There was a hurried