“You should keep it for a better purpose,” she said. “Mine I regard as a dagger.”
“Do you mean to say that was all you had in your hand this afternoon?” cried Zoe.
“Why not? I would have used it, as I said, and it would kill if one struck hard enough.”
“I only wish I had known!” murmured Wylie, with heartfelt earnestness. “There, Miss Smith! now your room is ready, you see. You can make capital nests in the hay, and here are these two greatcoats to cover you. It won’t be luxurious, of course, but it’s only for one——” He broke off suddenly, and changed the subject. “Smith and I have this other rug, so we shall do well. We shall all sleep without rocking to-night, I think.”
“But can’t we manage to escape while the brigands are asleep?” said Maurice, lowering his voice.
“Scarcely, since they are safe to take away the ladder, and it wouldn’t do much good to drop down in the middle of them. The fire’s there, you know.”
“If we were in a Henty book,” said Zoe thoughtfully, “we should cut a hole through the roof and let ourselves down outside.”
“Unfortunately they have sentries all round,” said Wylie. “I heard the chief placing them. The only chance would be to bribe one, and we have nothing to do it with.”
Eirene laughed. “If you had not robbed me of my jewels this afternoon, we should not have been destitute,” she remarked, as if to explain her mirth.
“I shall begin to wish I had left you to be searched in Balkan fashion,” muttered Wylie.