They said they were going to visit their mother,
who was sick.
"He asked if I was sure they were natives, and I counterfeited
surprise, and said that certainly they were; for which lie Allah will,
I trust, be merciful, since it was told to an enemy. I said that they
had left me, just when we had passed the last village; and had turned
off by the road to the right, saying they had many miles to go.
"They talked together and decided that, as you were the only people
who had been seen along the road, they must follow and find you; and
so started at once, and I daresay they're searching for you now, miles
away."
Their journey continued without any adventure, until within a few
miles of Calcutta. Hossein then advised them to take up their abode in
a ruined mud hut, at a distance from the road. He had bought, at the
last village, a supply of provisions, sufficient to last them for some
days.
"I shall now," he said, "go into the town, sell my grain, bullocks,
and cart, and find out where the soldiers are."
As soon as the news of the nabob's advance against Calcutta reached
Madras, Mr. Pigot, who was now governor there, despatched a force of
two hundred and thirty men, under the orders of Major Kilpatrick.
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