"All the better for us, for then they will not be able to pursue us that way if they find out how we have escaped."
"But if the cellar burn, the house may burn too."
"And what then? Is there anything burning there which my pretty mistress or myself would greatly miss?"
CHAPTER XXIV.
A true relation of the thoughtlessness of youth, and the artifices whereby women enthrall their lovers.
"I am afraid!" said Michal, when she found herself in the middle of the dark forest.
"What's there to be afraid of?" cried Pirka. "The wild beasts, the bears, and the wolves, have been scared away into other regions by the shooting match between the county militia and the robbers, so that they won't come back again in a hurry. The robber bands, too, have been rooted out. At this moment they are dancing in the air round the bastions of Eperies. We shall have peace and quiet now for at least a year to come. Not that the people have been terrified by the fate of the executed robbers; not a bit of it. On the contrary, many a man will be thereby stimulated to live and die as bravely as they have done. But it will be a year at least before the new robber bands seek (and perhaps find) the treasures hidden by the older ones. No amount of torture could force from the prisoners the secret of their hidden treasures. They endured everything rather than give up their gold and silver. Till there is another outbreak of highwaymen, therefore, every traveler may go singing through the woods without the slightest fear. From robbers and wild beasts you are now quite secure."
"It is God that I am afraid of," said Michal.
The witch pressed the wrists of the young woman together till they cracked again.