'He is not in this affair with you?'
'Mark? of course he is not. He knows nothing of our purpose.'
Zita advanced along the path. She was uneasy; desirous, if possible, to warn Drownlands.
Presently she heard a rush of water.
She turned, and was caught almost immediately by one of the men.
'It is of no use your attempting to go home,' he said. 'It is of no use your thinking of telling Tiger Ki to be on his guard. It is now too late.' The man took her wrist and said, 'Go your way, but take care not to step on the ice—not as you value your life.'
'The ice?—why so?'
'Listen.'
A shrill whine—then a crash. The icy surface of the Lark had split, then gone down in fragments under its own weight, as the water that had sustained it was withdrawn.