"The wind blows cold in the room to-night," she exclaimed, with a troubled look on her face. "I like it not. To-morrow we shall have you laid up again."
She looked round the room as she spoke, as if to discover where the draught came from. Failing to discover its source, she turned again to her companion.
"The time is even now at hand," she said, with deliberation. "To-morrow, Naoum will be here, when he will explain everything that you should know. Remember, every word that he speaks with you must be graven on your heart, nothing must be forgotten, for the lives of thousands of innocent souls depend upon your undertaking."
At this moment a sound attracted her attention and she turned round with a look of uneasiness in her eyes. Presently she continued—
"I ask not, in my own name, that you should do aught to show the gratitude you may feel for what has been done for you, but if you feel that gratitude you have so often expressed, show it by carrying out Naoum's instructions to you as if your life depended upon it, and the debt will be largely on our side."
Without waiting for reply, she left the room.
So engrossed were these two in the subject of their conversation, that neither observed the shaking tapestry on the wall, or the faint exclamation that proceeded from it, as Mariam took her departure.
