I gazed after the troops, when they had passed, like a fool bereft of his wits by fear, until a sound broke and roused me from my lethargy.
The sound was that of gunshots in the direction of the Palace. I guessed that the stern band had met with some opposition from the guard, and that the deadly work on which they were bent had already commenced. They had staked their lives on the issue; and even thus early, some had paid the forfeit.
It was just the spur my sluggish wits needed and I slipped from my hiding-place and ran at utmost speed in the direction of Gatrina’s house. It was nearly a quarter to two when I reached it, to find with intense satisfaction that all was still quiet there and that Karasch had arrived and was awaiting me with four companions.
Taking the utmost precaution to make sure we were unobserved, I unlocked the little door in the stable gates and we entered. Locking it behind me, and leaving the men at the end near the stable under the shadow of some trees, Karasch and I stole up the garden to the house, and found the unlocked door by which the spy had left.
The time was so short before we were to look for the coming of the soldiers that not a moment was to be lost in finding a place where we could carry out the plan of capture. Karasch, most thoughtfully, had brought a lantern with him, and stealing noiselessly through the passages, we explored the whole of the underpart of the house; and I decided upon two large cellars and explained to him hurriedly how to act.
We would let the men in two at a time, Karasch guiding one, I the other; and lead them each to a different cellar, where we would overpower and bind them. All would be in darkness on the plea that suspicion had been aroused in the house and any light would be dangerous; and as each man entered the cellar he would be seized.
He fetched the men and by the light of the lantern I had a good look at each. They were a sturdy, resolute lot; and when we explained the work to be done, they seemed to enter into it with willingness and determination.
The traps were in readiness before the hour struck, and Karasch and I went out again to the stable gate to wait for the soldiers.
We stood in deep shadow and I then told him what I had seen in the streets and of the firing I had heard at the Palace.
“The city will soon wake,” he muttered. “And if the people side with the troops, as I believe they will, we shall soon have the mob here.”