"God bless you," he said, kissing her hand.
"And you," she returned in low tones. "Listen. There is a man here who is in Joseph's regiment."
"Have you spoken to him?"
"No. But the Princess says he told her the name of his captain. He has gone on to Warsaw. The regiment, he says, must be there by now. Will you?----"
"Yes, I'll find out. And tell him you are safe."
Then he thanked the Princess who returned his hand-kiss in true Russian fashion, with a salute on his forehead.
"God with you," she said in her native tongue. "It's more hearty in Russian than in French." She knew the Polish dislike for the language of the bureaucrats and government who had oppressed them for generations. "Your little family is safe with me." Then in French: "I'm your friend, Count, and sha'n't forget you."
A moment later he had helped her into the train, which left. He had to hurry back to his own. Healy and Minnie had disappeared.
The Germans were packed into cattle-trucks without roofs or benches. Over each truck were two sentry boxes, at either end, facing one another. Each of the guards had a rifle, taken from the Germans. But there was no ammunition. A weary-looking subaltern came up as they were getting settled and told them to use bayonet and butt if their charges gave any trouble.
Ian's peasants were distributed amongst the Russian sentries. He was with Ostap opposite him, Germans packed like cattle in between. Martin formed the subject of heated talk with the subaltern.