It lent itself well enough to such a purpose. It formed a square, on one side of which were the stairs; and it was thus possible to place men so that they could command the doors by which the men must come out; and my simple plan was to form a sort of barricade with some heavy pieces of furniture from behind which we could operate.
With Boreski came Helga full of pluck, resource and ideas. I explained my plan to them and sent two men downstairs to keep watch against a further surprise.
“We can keep the watch, the Duchess and I,” said Helga instantly; “and thus leave you much stronger.” But the Duchess as promptly declared she had no nerve for work of the kind and further tried to induce Boreski to stay with her.
He was no coward, however, and when Helga vetoed the suggestion with great indignation and I joined with her, he sided with us and she had to give way, doing so with great reluctance.
Helga then went downstairs and our preparations were soon complete.
Meanwhile the men in the room were suspiciously quiet. Probably they realized, as we did, that they had gained very little by getting into the house by the way they had chosen and were really caught in a kind of trap, from which further progress into the house would be attended with more danger than they cared to face.
A glance at my watch showed me, to my surprise, it was nearly eleven o’clock. The hours had flown very quickly.
“At what hour is it daylight?” I asked Boreski.
“About half-past three,” he said.
“Then we shall have four or five hours of this. They’ll clear off when the light comes.”