Still keeping her sensible that she was in our power, and that we would have her punished if she did not do as we bade her, Rivers succeeded in pacifying her to some extent.
"There are four of us," he said, when she rose from the ground; "two are here, two are with your brother and his child, who without our aid will starve if you are put in prison or can no longer rob your master of food. It is with you, madame; you can save or ruin them, you can save or ruin yourself."
"What is it that I shall do?" she quavered. "Tell me, and I will do it."
"That is as it should be," said Rivers, "and you shall be rewarded. We must know everything about the master you serve. We are here from England for that purpose, and he must not be told that you have spoken with us. You will swear it by the cross which is hanging from your neck."
She lifted the black wooden cross to her lips, and kissed it. "I swear it, sir," she said. "He shall not be told; he shall not know. But if you keep me here now he will discover it without being told. He will be waiting for supper, and I shall not be there to serve it. He will come and look for me, and then it will be ruin for me and you. He is a hard man, a bad man, a wicked man, and I hate him."
"That pleases me," said Rivers blithely. "Why do you remain in his service?"
"Should I not starve if I went away? I get my food, and I save it and give it to my dying brother and the little child. That is something. Do not keep me here too long. Englishmen are rich; you have a watch. What hour is it?"
"At eleven they have supper. If I am not in the house----"
"You shall be there. Let us walk on, Mme. Bernstein. In ten minutes we shall reach the gate, and he will not know. Does he go to bed late?"
"Sometimes at twelve, sometimes at one; it is not certain."
"Keep watch, madame, to-night, and when he goes to his room and the house is quiet, you will come out to us, and we will talk."
"By the back gate, madame; we shall be on the hill. Do not forget--you shall be rewarded, And do not forget that you have sworn upon the cross. Here, to commence with, are two francs, to prove that we are in earnest, and are men of our word."
She clutched the coins eagerly, and said in a whisper: "We are near the house--do not speak loud, or he will hear us. There is something strange and terrible. You shall be told of it. I will come when they sleep."