"Now," he said, "do four of you lend me your assistance. It would be well to carry this sofa with your master into the next room; and then we will take your mistress in there, too, so that she will be spared seeing these ruffians scattered about, when she comes to herself."
The doors leading to the adjoining apartment were opened, candles lighted there, and the wounded man carried in on his sofa.
"And now for your mistress. It will be easier to lift her out of the chair, and carry her in bodily."
This he did, with the assistance of two of the servants.
"Now," he said to the young girl, "do you stay by her, my brave maid. I think she will recover in a minute or two. Her eyelids moved as I brought her in. I will look round and see about things.
"Were these the only two men in the house?" he asked the other women, as he joined them on the landing.
"No, sir. There were six men. The other four have gone to bed, but the two outside always waited up till the count and countess retired."
"Where are their rooms?" he asked, taking a candle.
One of the women led him upstairs. As he expected, he found the four men lying dead. One had apparently leapt up as the door was opened, and the other three had been killed in their beds.
"Where can I get help from?"