But Sonya and Drexel had not time to glance at the dead. Bang—bang—bang went their pistols; and before this fierce, protected fire the gendarmes again turned and fled pell-mell from the house.
The captain first cursed his men, then his voice raged in through the open door: “We’ll have you out of there in five minutes!” And to his men he said: “When they come out, seize the woman and kill the foreigner.”
He moved away. Several minutes passed. Sonya and Drexel wondered what their assailants were doing. Then a low crackling sound came to their ears.
“They’ve fired the house!” cried Drexel.
“Yes,” said she.
“They have us now. It’s stay here and be roasted, or march down into their arms.”
The former alternative seemed not many minutes off. The air began to grow furnace-hot; smoke oozed through the floor.
“Shall we go down and surrender?” asked Sonya.
“If we do, I’ll be dead the minute we step outside the door. Did you hear Captain Nadson give special orders to kill the foreigner?”
“Yes, but why especially kill you?”