"What are you doing?" said Annouschka, wild with terror, trying to stop her.
"I am going to bury our secret in the ashes of this house," answered Vaninka.
"But my brother, my poor brother!" said the girl.
"Your brother is a wretch who has betrayed me, and we are lost if we do not destroy him."
"Oh, my brother, my poor brother!"
"You can die with him if you like," said Vaninka, accompanying the proposal with a smile which showed she would not have been sorry if Annouschka had carried sisterly affection to that length.
"But look at the fire, madam—the fire!"
"Let us go, then," said Vaninka; and, dragging out the heart-broken girl, she locked the door behind her and threw the key far away into the snow.
"In the name of Heaven," said Annouschka, "let us go home quickly: I cannot gaze upon this awful sight!"
"No, let us stay here!" said Vaninka, holding her back with a grasp of almost masculine strength. "Let us stay until the house falls in on them, so that we may be certain that not one of them escapes."