As Horace had expected, she refused point-blank.
"No," she said, "I'm not going, no matter what happens. I said I'd stay, and I'll stay. If they kill me they'll have to fight America. If they take me to Germany as a prisoner, I'll probably find something for my fingers to do there. But run—that I won't."
"And the boy?" asked Croquier.
"He's got to go," the old maid replied sharply, "that's quite different. Those beasts wouldn't hesitate to fire on him when, perhaps, their officers might succeed in preventing the murder of their nurse.
"You're right, Monsieur Croquier, Horace must go."
"It's a matter of minutes," the hunchback warned.
"Then what are you waiting for?" she retorted testily. "Go, and go quick, both of you. And take that bird! I don't want it around here."
"You don't think I'd leave that, do you?" the hunchback said emphatically, and, grabbing it, he swung himself out of the window.
"Good-bye, Aunt," said Horace, and prepared to follow.