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 scrambling on board, the water fortunately being deep enough near shore to allow all to step upon the boat dry shod.  The faint moon revealed the smooth surface of the Ganges for nearly a hundred yards from land, but the further shore was veiled in darkness.  It was at this juncture that Miss Marlowe made an annoying discovery.

“Oh, papa, I have forgotten my pistol!”

“Wait and I’ll soon get it,” she added, starting to leap the short distance from the gunwale to land, but Jack Everson caught her arm.

“You must not think of it; tell me where you left the weapon and I’ll bring it.”

“I laid it on the table in the dining-room and in the hurry forgot it when we left.”

Jack turned to his friends.

“Don’t wait here,” he said, aware of the nervousness of the whole party.  “Push down stream, and I’ll quickly overtake you.”

Without waiting for further explanation, he leaped the slight space and started up the lawn on a loping trot.  For convenience he left his rifle behind, but made sure that his revolver was in his hip pocket.  He did not apprehend that he would need the weapon in the short time he expected to be absent, but if anything went awry it would be more useful than the rifle.

In that moment of profound stillness following the disappearance of the young man among the trees grouped about the lawn, the motionless people on the boat felt a thrill of terror at the unmistakable sound of oars from some point on the river not distant.

“Let us land and take refuge in your house,” suggested young Wharton; “we cannot make a decent fight in this boat.”

“We shall have a better chance than in the house,” was the reply of the physician; “the bank of the river is shaded by trees a little further down; we must lose no time in getting there, and avoid the least noise.”