“And perhaps if I were a man, we should both be dead by now,” said Katerin. “This is a war of wits, and we women have had to use our wits for many years. And if those in the high places had heeded the women, Russia might not have come to what she has.”
“It is good that there are wits between the two of us, for mine are gone, my daughter. I am a hindrance. I am but a millstone about your neck, else you would have escaped from Chita long before this.”
“You won’t be a millstone if you will obey what I advise in this affair with the American officer. If we cannot go through with this thing, it is better not to try our hands at it.”
“Have no fear—I’ll say black is white if it does you any good,” said Michael, now once more with his face trussed in the bandages.
“Listen well to what I say,” cautioned Katerin. “And you, too, Wassili. For if we fail, we have not one enemy, but two—this stranger as well as the Ataman. And if we succeed, we have none, for one will save us from the other. What better can we ask than that a man who is an enemy should deliver us from danger?”
“Give me two enemies, if that can be done,” said Michael.
“Mind what must be done. Our name shall be Natsavaloff. You were banished for plotting against the government of the Czar. First, we must learn why the American seeks Kirsakoff—for he may not be alone in his reasons, but have others who are equally dangerous. We must get to the bottom of why he seeks you, though the reason does not matter for our purpose. We shall have Slipitsky’s advice, too, before we bring the American to this room to learn where Kirsakoff may be found. And we are not to tell the American where Kirsakoff may be found unless he takes us to the city where we shall say Kirsakoff is hidden—anywhere, it does not matter, so long as we get away from Chita.”
“And how is Wassili to help in all this?” asked Michael. “Where lies his task?”
“When we bring the American here, Wassili shall stand behind his chair. We must be on our guard against the stranger every second, and if the American should recognize—or make a move to draw a weapon——”
Wassili finished the sentence for her in pantomime with a quick and eloquent gesture—a short thrust, done quickly, and an explanatory grunt.