104 UNHOPED-FOR DELIVERANCE. 



At length the evening closed in, and to his 

 great joy he saw the troopers descend the 

 rocks, and mount their horses, which some of 

 them did with difficulty, and one he perceived 

 required a horseman on either side to support 

 him. Then the Mullah returned thanks to 

 God for his almost unhoped-for deliverance 

 from great peril, and his pious ejaculation of 

 Al-humd-O'lillah was no doubt uttered in the 

 ftdlest sincerity. By that time it was pitch 

 dark, and to descend without light to guide his 

 stej^s would have been almost certain destruc- 

 tion, as the chances were he would have fallen 

 down a precij)ice and been dashed to pieces; 

 so he patiently waited till the moon rose, and 

 then retraced his steps, and luckily before morn- 

 ing discovered a cattle track into the hills ; this 

 he followed for a great distance, and at length 

 to his joy fell in with some of the Murree tribe, 

 when almost exhausted, for food had not j)assed 

 his lips for eight-and-forty hours. Mullah Ma- 

 homed informed me that he had never parted 

 with the stick which had so effectually served 

 him in a moment of imminent peril." 



''That is a capital story," said I, ''Hukeem 

 Sahib ; and now it will not be out of place to 



