“It is enough!” answered our heroine, her very lips becoming white as marble, and her heart sinking with despair at what she imagined their fate would be. Then suddenly assuming a haughty, defiant air, she added, “Go at once and tell your chief that I desire his presence immediately!”
“Oh, my lady, do not blame poor Nina, for she would gladly serve you if she could. But my lot is that of a slave here, and I dare not disobey, lest my life pay the forfeit. Were it not for my own dear mistress, I would gladly die.”
“What!” almost shrieked Dora, “are there others here, in the same situation with ourselves?”
“Ah, mademoiselle, there are seven as lovely ladies here as ever the sun shone upon.”
“Oh, heavens! and how long have they been held captive in such a place?”
“Some have been here three or four years; some not as long, but one has lived here many years. But I must not tell you more, lest I be overheard; only do not blame me for what you suffer,” she entreated, heaving a deep sigh.
“My poor child!” said Madame Alroyd, soothingly, while a shudder quivered through her frame. “We cannot regard you with any other feeling than that of pity. And rest assured, should kind Providence send friends to our rescue, we will not forget you and your poor mistress.”
The grateful girl seized her hand and kissed it passionately, and immediately glided from the room.
The two terror-stricken ladies then made a hasty toilet, and sat down with fear and trembling, to await the appearance of the much dreaded chief.
Presently Nina returned and said: