we must?"

"I'll tell you why," said Martha suddenly. Her whisper cut like a
knife. "I'll tell you. Because I fear them. Boys as they are, I fear
them! There is a spirit in the eyes of the one who calls himself Ivan
that will never die until death blinds them. The little rat! The
smart little rat! Calling himself a prince! My, I wish I had had the
training of him. Well, whoever he is, he is a Pole, and he will hurt
us yet. I feel it. I can feel it, anyway, that harm will come to us
through those boys. I warn you, Michael. Patro, I warn you.

Once, twice, thrice! You know I never fail."

There was a silence, and Ivan heard Patro catch his breath sharply.

"Well, what would you?" he said finally.

There was a note of triumph in the woman's voice when she spoke.

"Tomorrow night," she said, "we will leave them here, tied to the
table. I will leave food on the table for them, just enough for one
meal. I have still my little friends in the pill box on the chimney
ledge. They are as strong as ever. We will not stay to see whether
they eat or not. But I think they will, because I will see to it that
they do not taste much food tomorrow. We will lock the door. I will
go down to Prague. They say it is but little harmed, and I have a
sister there. I will give the smaller child to her. I have a fancy
for the light one myself, and they are too unlike to pass off for
sisters."