“And what did he learn?” asked Peter, sitting down by the writing table with his back to the window. He was calmer now, resolved to play his part of utter ignorance of the truth about Kirsakoff.
“The last word that has come to Chita is that—Kirsakoff is in Harbin.” She looked straight at Peter to gauge the effect of her story upon him.
“In Manchuria,” he said, without surprise. “In that case, we should go to Harbin. Could you and your father get away to Harbin with me?”
“It might be possible—with your help.” Her face took on a trace of color as her heart began to respond to her rising hope that what she planned with Peter could be carried through. At least, he had interposed no objection to going to Harbin to find Kirsakoff, and actually had in mind a willingness to take her and her father along.
“But could we find him when we got there?” he asked.
“We have friends there who know where he could be found. It should not be difficult—there are not so many Russians in Harbin, after all.”
“You are a brave woman,” he said quietly. “You must know that this whole plan holds naked menace for your father—and yourself.”
“There is greater menace here,” she replied, looking steadily into his eyes.
He wondered if she could mean that he was part of the menace. It was possible that she knew Lutoff had been talking—and that what Lutoff had said was already known to her. If the latter were true, she must realize that it would be impossible to manipulate Peter so that he would save them from Zorogoff. He dismissed the thought—she was bent now on leading him on a fool’s errand to Harbin, and once safe from the Ataman, disappear in the Manchurian city.
It now struck Peter that it might be wise to get away from the Valley of Despair with the Kirsakoffs. Harbin offered possibility not only to the Kirsakoffs, but to himself. He could hardly expect to kill Kirsakoff in Chita and cover his own tracks.