His employment, then, at the court of the rajah, would have an effect the exact reverse of that which it would have done, had he appeared in his proper character.
Deserters were, of all men, the most opposed to their countrymen, to whom they had proved traitors.

In battle they could be relied upon to fight desperately, for they fought with ropes round their necks.
Therefore, while the appearance of an English officer, as instructor of the forces of the rajah, would have drawn upon himself the instant hostility of all opposed to the British; the circulation of a report that his troops were being disciplined by some English and native deserters, from the Company's forces, would excite no suspicion whatever.
To avoid attracting attention, Charlie Marryat and his party set out before daylight from Madras.

Their appearance, indeed, would have attracted no attention, when they once had passed beyond the boundaries of the portion of the town occupied by the whites.

In the native quarter, the appearance of a small zemindar, or landowner, attended by four or five armed followers on foot, was of such common occurrence as to attract no attention whatever; and, indeed, numbers of these come in to take service in the Sepoy regiments, the profession of arms being always considered honorable, in India.
For a fortnight they travelled, by easy stages, without question or suspicion being excited that they were not what they seemed.

They were now among the hills, and soon arrived at Ambur, the seat of the rajah.
The town was a small one, and above it rose the fortress, which stood on a rock rising sheer from the bottom of the valley, and standing boldly out from the hillside.