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[Illustration]

TALES OF DARING AND DANGER.

[Illustration]




[Illustration: SIGHTING THE WRECK OF THE STEAMER.]




TALES OF

DARING AND DANGER.

BY

G.A. HENTY,

Author of "Yarns on the Beach;" "Sturdy and Strong;" "Facing Death;" "By
Sheer Pluck;" "With Clive in India;" &c.

_ILLUSTRATED._

[Illustration]

LONDON: BLACKIE & SON, 49 & 50 OLD BAILEY, E.C. GLASGOW, EDINBURGH, AND
DUBLIN.

1890.




CONTENTS.

                             Page
BEARS AND DACOITS,              7

THE PATERNOSTERS,              37

A PIPE OF MYSTERY,             71

WHITE-FACED DICK,              99

A BRUSH WITH THE CHINESE,     119




[Illustration]

BEARS AND DACOITS.

A TALE OF THE GHAUTS.




CHAPTER I.


A merry party were sitting in the verandah of one of the largest and
handsomest bungalows of Poonah. It belonged to Colonel Hastings, colonel
of a native regiment stationed there, and at present, in virtue of
seniority, commanding a brigade. Tiffin was on, and three or four
officers and four ladies had taken their seats in the comfortable cane
lounging chairs which form the invariable furniture of the verandah of a
well-ordered bungalow. Permission had been duly asked, and granted by
Mrs. Hastings, and the cheroots had just begun to draw, when Miss
Hastings, a niece of the colonel, who had only arrived the previous week
from England, said,--

"Uncle, I am quite disappointed. Mrs. Lyons showed me the bear she has
got tied up in their compound, and it is the most wretched little thing,
not bigger than Rover, papa's retriever, and it's full-grown. I thought
bears were great fierce creatures, and this poor little thing seemed so
restless and unhappy that I thought it quite a shame not to let it go."

Colonel Hastings smiled rather grimly.

"And yet, small and insignificant as that bear is, my dear, it is a
question whether he is not as dangerous an animal to meddle with as a
man-eating tiger."

"What, that wretched little bear, Uncle?"

"Yes, that wretched little bear. Any experienced sportsman will tell you
that hunting those little bears is as dangerous a sport as tiger-hunting
on foot, to say nothing of tiger-hunting from an elephant's back, in
which there is scarcely any danger whatever. I can speak feelingly about
it, for my career was pretty nearly brought to an end by a bear, just
after I entered the army, some thirty years ago, at a spot within a few
miles from here. I have got the scars on my shoulder and arm still."

"Oh, do tell me all about it," Miss Hastings said; and the request being
seconded by the rest of the party, none of whom, with the exception of
Mrs. Hastings, had ever heard the story before--for the colonel was
somewhat chary of relating this special experience--he waited till they
had all drawn up their chairs as close as possible, and then giving two
or three vigorous puffs at his cheroot, began as follows:--

"Thirty years ago, in 1855, things were not so settled in the Deccan as
they are now. There was no idea of insurrection on a large scale, but we
were going through one of those outbreaks of Dacoity, which have several
times proved so troublesome. Bands of marauders kept the country in
confusion, pouring down on a village, now carrying off three or four of
the Bombay money-lenders, who were then, as now, the curse of the
country; sometimes making an onslaught upon a body of traders; and
occasionally venturing to attack small detachments of troops or isolated
parties of police. They were not very formidable, but they were very
troublesome, and most difficult to catch, for the peasantry regarded
them as patriots, and aided and shielded them in every way. The
head-quarters of these gangs of Dacoits were the Ghauts. In the thick
bush and deep valleys and gorges there they could always take refuge,
while sometimes the more daring chiefs converted these detached peaks
and masses of rock, numbers of which you can see as you come up the
Ghaut by railway, into almost impregnable fortresses. Many of these
masses of rock rise as sheer up from the hillside as walls of masonry,
and look at a short distance like ruined castles. Some are absolutely
inaccessible; others can only be scaled by experienced climbers; and,
although possible for the natives with their bare feet, are
impracticable to European troops. Many of these rock fortresses were at
various times the head-quarters of famous Dacoit leaders, and unless the
summits happened to be commanded from some higher ground within gunshot
range they were all but impregnable except by starvation. When driven to
bay, these fellows would fight well.

"Well, about the time I joined, the Dacoits were unusually troublesome;
the police had a hard time of it, and almost lived in the saddle, and
the cavalry were constantly called up to help them, while detachments of
infantry from the station were under canvas at several places along the
top of the Ghauts to cut the bands off from their strongholds, and to
aid, if necessary, in turning them out of their rock fortresses. The
natives in the valleys at the foot of the Ghauts, who have always been a
semi-independent race, ready to rob whenever they saw a chance, were
great friends with the Dacoits, and supplied them with provisions
whenever the hunt on the Deccan was too hot for them to make raids in
that direction.

"This is a long introduction, you will say, and does not seem to have
much to do with bears; but it is really necessary, as you will see. I
had joined about six months when three companies of the regiment were
ordered to relieve a wing of the 15th, who had been under canvas at a
village some four miles to the north of the point where the line crosses
the top of the Ghauts. There were three white officers, and little
enough to do, except when a party was sent off to assist the police. We
had one or two brushes with the Dacoits, but I was not out on either
occasion. However, there was plenty of shooting, and a good many pigs
about, so we had very good fun. Of course, as a raw hand, I was very hot
for it, and as the others had both passed the enthusiastic age, except
for pig-sticking and big game, I could always get away. I was supposed
not to go far from camp, because, in the first place, I might be wanted;
and, in the second, because of the Dacoits; and Norworthy, who was in
command, used to impress upon me that I ought not to go beyond the sound
of a bugle. Of course we both knew that if I intended to get any sport
I must go further afoot than this; but I merely used to say 'All right,
sir, I will keep an ear to the camp,' and he on his part never
considered it necessary to ask where the game which appeared on the
table came from. But in point of fact, I never went very far, and my
servant always had instructions which way to send for me if I was
wanted; while as to the Dacoits I did not believe in their having the
impudence to come in broad daylight within a mile or two of our camp. I
did not often go down the face of the Ghauts. The shooting was good, and
there were plenty of bears in those days, but it needed a long day for
such an expedition, and in view of the Dacoits who might be scattered
about, was not the sort of thing to be undertaken except with a strong
party. Norworthy had not given any precise orders about it, but I must
admit that he said one day:--

"'Of course you won't be fool enough to think of going down the Ghauts,
Hastings?' But I did not look at that as equivalent to a direct
order--whatever I should do now," the colonel put in, on seeing a
furtive smile on the faces of his male listeners.

"However, I never meant to go down, though I used to stand on the edge
and look longingly down into the bush and fancy I saw bears moving
about in scores. But I don't think I should have gone into their country
if they had not come into mine. One day the fellow who always carried my
spare gun or flask, and who was a sort of shekarry in a small way, told
me he had heard that a farmer, whose house