"Amandine, I hear nothing now," said Francois, approaching the door.
The two children, holding their breath, listened with anxiety.
"Now they return," said Francois, in a low tone, "I hear them walking in the corridor."
"Let us jump into bed; mother would kill us if she found us up," said
Amandine.
"No!" answered Francois, still listening: "they have just passed our door; they are running downstairs; now they open the kitchen door."
"You think so?"
"Yes, yes; I know the noise it makes."
"Martial's dog keeps on howling," said Amandine; then suddenly she cried, "Francois, brother calls us."
"Martial?"
"Yes, don't you hear him?" And, notwithstanding the thickness of the two closed doors, the stentorian voice of Martial, calling to the children, could be heard. "We cannot go to him—we are locked up," said Amandine: "they wish to do him some harm, for he calls to us."