The Tiger of Mysore | Page 4

port, Mrs. Holland at once gave up her house and moved into a
smaller one; for, although her income would have been sufficient to
enable her to remain where she was, she determined to save every
penny she was able, for the sake of her boy. She was possessed of
strong common sense and firmness of character, and when Ben Birket
returned with his tale, he was surprised at the composure with which
she received it.
"I have always," she said, "had a conviction that John was still alive,
and have not allowed Dick to think of his father as dead; and now I
believe, as firmly as before, that someday John will be restored to me. I
myself can do nothing towards aiding him. A woman can do little, here.
She can do nothing in India, save among her own people. I shall wait
patiently, for a time. It may be that this war will result in his release.
But in the meantime, I shall continue to prepare Dick to take up the
search for him, as soon as he is old enough.
"I hear, once a year, from my brother, who is now rajah; and he will be
able to aid my boy, in many ways. However, for a time I must be
patient and wait. I have learnt to wait, during my husband's long
absences; and besides, I think that the women of India are a patient race.
I trust that John will yet come home to me, but if not, when it is time,
we will try to rescue him."
Ben said nothing, at the time, to damp her courage; but he shook his
head, as he left the cottage.
"Poor creature," he said. "I would not say anything to discourage her,
but for a woman and boy to try to get a captive out of the claws of the
Tiger of Mysore is just madness."
Each time he returned from a voyage, Ben called upon Mrs. Holland.
He himself had given up every vestige of hope, when it was known that
the name of her husband was not among the list of those whom Tippoo
had been forced to release. Margaret Holland, however, still clung to

hope. Her face was paler, and there was a set, pathetic expression in it;
so, when she spoke of her husband as being still alive, Ben would
sooner have cut out his tongue than allow the slightest word, indicative
of his own feeling of certainty as to the captain's fate, to escape him;
and he always made a pretence of entering warmly into her plans.
The training, as she considered it, of her son went on steadily. She
always conversed with him in her father's language, and he was able to
speak it as well as English. She was ever impressing upon him that he
must be strong and active. When he was twelve, she engaged an old
soldier, who had set up a sort of academy, to instruct him in the use of
the sword; and in such exercises as were calculated to strengthen his
muscles, and to give him strength and agility.
Unlike most mothers, she had no word of reproach when he returned
home from school with a puffed face, or cut lips; the signs of battle.
"I do not want you to be quarrelsome," she often said to him, "but I
have heard your father say that a man who can use his fists well is sure
to be cool and quick, in any emergency. You know what is before you,
and these qualities are of far more importance, in your case, than any
book learning. Therefore, Dick, I say, never quarrel on your own
account, but whenever you see a boy bullying a smaller one, take the
opportunity of giving him a lesson while learning one yourself. In the
days of old, you know, the first duty of a true knight was to succour the
oppressed, and I want you to be a true knight. You will get thrashed
sometimes, no doubt, but don't mind that. Perhaps, next time, you will
turn the tables."
Dick acted upon this advice and, by the time he was fifteen, had
established a reputation among, not only the boys of his own school,
but of the district. In addition to his strength and quickness, he had a
fund of dogged endurance, and imperturbable good temper, that did not
fail him; even on the rare occasions when, in combats with boys much
older than himself, he was forced to admit himself defeated.
The fact that he fought, not because he was angry, but as if it were a
matter of business, gave him a great advantage; and his readiness to

take up the cause of any boy ill-treated by another was