Two men slipped through the door as I held it; and the instant the second was through, I locked it behind him.
“Follow us,” I said, not giving either of them time to see my face; and we led them to the house. “Give me your hand,” I told the man with me. “We daren’t have a light, and the place is pitch dark.”
He suspected nothing and I led him into the cellar, clapping my hand on his mouth as he entered, while the two men in waiting seized him and in less than a minute he lay bound and gagged. The other had been dealt with in the same way.
Karasch and I went back to the stables; but the time occupied, swiftly as we had acted, had roused some kind of suspicion; and when I opened the little door, one of the men thrust the butt of his musket in the way and despite my strenuous efforts, before I could close it all four had forced themselves through.
“We’ll go in together, my man,” said one of them, linking his arm in mine and holding me firmly. Another man did the same to Karasch.
It spelt crisis; and for a moment or two I breathed hard. My fingers closed round my revolver, and his life hung by a much thinner thread than he dreamt.
I stood fighting with the impulse and thus the chance passed.
“See if he’s armed,” cried the soldier, and his companion plunged a hand into my pocket and wrenched my weapon roughly from me. Karasch was served in the same way; and from the confidence of success we were thus suddenly brought face to face with the threat of disastrous failure.
CHAPTER XXV.
IN GATRINA’S HOUSE.
In the moment of crisis Karasch took his cue from me and neither resisted nor protested against the soldiers’ conduct. I knew, however, that he would watch me closely and be prepared to help the moment I had decided what to do.