“I know a treek——” began the interpreter airily, but here his memory failed him; “double valuable to zat one,” he concluded hastily, beckoning to another brigand for the rope twisted round his waist. Cutting off a short length, he fastened one end round Wylie’s neck, and made a loop at the other. “Ze lady may hold zat,” he said, chuckling.
“All right,” said Wylie, checking with a glance a horrified outburst from Zoe. “Quite mediæval, isn’t it, Miss Smith—mounted ladies leading captive knights on foot? Lucky for me that I’m not assigned to your sister, or she might avenge her wrongs by strangling me—accidentally, of course.”
“Will you endure it?” demanded Eirene fiercely of Maurice, as Zoe, trembling with indignation, submitted to be blindfolded and lifted on one of the horses, with a rug for a saddle.
“What can’t be cured must be endured,” he responded easily. “What would you suggest I should do?”
“Die!” she hurled at him. “I would, in your place.”
“If you really wish that, I can oblige you in a minute or two. You have only to refuse to be blindfolded or to mount your horse. The brigands will naturally proceed to handle you roughly, and I shall feel bound to throw myself forward in your defence. I think I could manage to get killed then. Wylie will be there to look after you and Zoe, and you will be able to think well of me.”
“You say that to prevent my offering any resistance!” she said angrily.
“Well, do you wonder that I prefer living to dying?”
“You English have no sense of honour! But I am unjust. You are not noble; why should you prefer death to disgrace?”
At this Maurice laughed, quite unintentionally, disgusting Eirene so much that she submitted as meekly as Zoe had done to be blindfolded and mounted, and slipped the loop of cord over her wrist with a kind of fierce satisfaction. After this humiliation, she thought, even Zoe could no longer pretend that Maurice and Wylie were her equals! The reflection pleased her, and she rode along almost contentedly, reviewing her own past conduct and approving it, which is always a soothing occupation. Maurice, his arm gripped by one of the brigands, who acted both as guide and guard, trudged silently beside her horse, which was led by another of the band. Behind them came Zoe and Wylie, similarly escorted, and the rest of the brigands acted as front and rear guards respectively, their moccasin-clad feet making no sound on the stony soil. The chief had commanded perfect silence, and the horses’ feet were muffled.