For now she kept silence. The more he parleyed, the more time she gained. But she found one or two loose boards that had been used for laying in trestles for the support of the flock beds. She laid them across the trapdoor, but there was nothing to keep them down.
Then Tom Rising began to swear at the old woman.
"You fool! You blundering, silly, jenny ass of a fool. What the devil did you give her the candle for?"
"I didn't give it. She took it."
"Go, get another candle, then."
"There are no more candles, master," said the old woman in her feeble voice. "She's got the only one."
"Molly, if you won't come down I shall force my way up."
Still she kept silence.
He took two steps up the ladder and lifted the boards, showing the fingers of his left hand. Molly applied her knife, gently but dexterously; but it touched the bone, and taught him what to expect. He drew back with a cry of rage.
"Come down," he said, "or it will be worse for you. Come down, I say."