“Oh, how I have suffered!” moaned Nadia. “But why are you here? I do not understand it. You—you are English or American. You cannot be——”
“Hush! Do not speak so loud.”
“No one can hear us. I have screamed until I lost my voice. These terrible walls smother all sounds.”
The strange girl was looking around searchingly. Leaving Nadia, she made a quick circuit of the room, searching the walls with her eyes. She paused to try the door and then returned to the couch.
“Listen,” she whispered, lifting her finger warningly. “Keep your nerve now. Do not utter a cry. I am here to save you.”
Nadia showed her incredulity.
“To save me?” she whispered back. “How can that be? Who are you?”
“One of your best friends.”
“I will not believe it! It is another trick!”
“It is no trick, as far as you are concerned. It may be a trick on Hafsa Pasha.”