ache at the
back of her eyes, and her throat felt dry and swollen. One thought ran
through her mind, over and over: Dan must not be sacrificed, Dan must
not suffer; even if Germany must triumph....

Then, suddenly, from overhead, came the sound of a sharp scuffle and a
heavy fall. She fancied she could hear voices raised in anger. The slam
of a door echoed through the house. A moment later came a series of
savage blows, of rending crashes, as though the house itself was being
torn to pieces;--and then silence.

Kasia stood as though turned to stone, listening, listening. Was it Dan?
Was it her father? What was happening in that room upstairs? What did
that sudden silence mean? Her imagination pictured frightful things....

And then, from overhead, she heard the pacing of swift feet, up and
down, up and down; back and forth a hundred times, as though driven by
some raging spirit, scourging, scourging. And then again silence.

Horrible as the sounds had been, the silence frightened her still more;
it was filled with menace, it was charged with terror. Movement,
sound--those meant life, at least; silence might mean anything--might
mean death!

She could endure it no longer. She ran wildly into the other room and
flung herself face-downward on the bed, covering her ears, burying her
eyes in the pillow....

But the terror passed; and at last she rolled over and stared up into
the darkness and tried again to think. She must, must, must escape! Once
free, once in the street, she could summon aid, could raise the town,
could storm the house! But to escape! She pressed her hands to her
aching temples.

And then a sound from the outer room brought her upright; she listened
with bated breath, pressing her hands against her breast to still the
beating of her heart. There it was again, stealthy, scraping....

Slowly, cautiously, she stole to the door of the bedroom; the noise
again; and the sound of heavy breathing. And then her heart leaped
suffocatingly; for there against the grey light of the window was
silhouetted the figure of a man. In frantic terror, she sprang for the
switch, found it after an instant's frenzied groping, and turned on the
lights. The sudden flare blinded her; then her straining eyes saw who
stood there.

"Dan!" she cried. "Dan!"

He was standing on the window-sill, steadying himself by a knotted sheet
secured somewhere overhead; and at the sound of her voice, he reeled and
nearly fell. Then, wi