“We shall wait, Maria. But not much longer—!”
The girl was silent. With her sad eyes she seemed to be seeking the speaker among the crowd.
A man who stood before her spoke up to her:
“And if we fight—where will you be then?”
“With you!” said the girl, opening her hands with the gesture of one sacrificing. “Have you ever found me faithless?”
“Never!” said the men. “You are like gold to us. We shall do what you expect of us.”
“Thank you,” said the girl, closing her eyes. With bowed head she stood there, listening to the sound of retiring feet—feet which walked in hard shoes.
Only when all about her had become silent and when the last footfall had died away she sighed and opened her eyes.
Then she saw a man, wearing the blue linen and the black cap and the hard shoes, kneeling at her feet.
She bent down. He raised his head. She looked at him.