CHAPTER XXIX
IN THE STREET OF ST. GREGORY
THE luck seemed to be dead against us. Volna could scarcely put her foot to the ground and, although she struggled gamely to continue the flight, Ladislas and I were all but carrying her.
The crowd went streaming past us as we could make only the slowest progress; and as no vehicle of any sort was in sight, capture appeared inevitable.
Volna perceived this and begged us to leave her. “It will be far better for me to be arrested alone than for all three to be taken; and you see it is hopeless now that the three can escape.”
“I am not going,” said Ladislas.
“Mr. Anstruther, you have the proofs that will free my mother. If you will escape and destroy them, she will be safe. Please go.”
It was a shrewd plea.
I took out the papers and held them toward Ladislas. “You go. I can trust my friends to get me out of any mess.”
“No; to-day’s business with Bremenhof is too serious for that,” he answered. “Besides, this is my affair. Go, Robert. It is sheer madness for you to remain. You can do no good.”
“If my mother is safe, Mr. Anstruther, I do not care. For her sake as well as your own, get those papers away.”