n greater danger than
I--no, I do not mean you. Mr. Hay"--she lowered her voice--"there may be
a chance of getting you out of this horrible place, but it is a very
faint chance. Will you promise me that if you get away you will leave
Russia at once?"

He shook his head.

"You asked me that once before, your Highness," he said. "I am less
inclined to leave Russia now than I was in the old days, when the danger
was not so evident."

"Highness"--it was the priest who spoke--"your magnificence has brought
me food also? Highness, I served your magnificent father. Do you not
remember Gregory the priest in the cathedral at Vladimir?"

She shook her head.

"I have food for you, father," she said, "but I do not recall you."

"Highness" he spoke eagerly and his eyes were blazing, "since you go
free, will you not say a prayer for me before the miraculous Virgin? Or,
better still, before the tomb of the holy and sainted Dimitry in the
cathedral of the Archangel! And, lady," he seized her hand in entreaty,
"before the relics of St. Philip the Martyr in our Holy Cathedral of the
Assumption."

Gently the girl disengaged her arm.

"Father, I will pray for you," she said. "Good-bye!" she said to
Malcolm, and again extended both her hands, "till to-morrow!"

Malcolm raised the hands to his lips, and stood like a man in a dream,
long after the door had slammed behind her.

"Gee!" said the voice of Cherry Bim with a long sigh. "She don't
remember me, an' I don't know whether to be glad or sorry--some peach!"

Malcolm turned on him savagely, but it was evident the man had meant no
harm.

"She is a friend of mine," he said sharply.

"Sure she is," said the placid Cherry, unpacking the basket, "and the
right kind of friend. If this isn't caviare! Say, shut your eyes, and
you'd think you were at Rectoris."

CHAPTER XIII

CHERRY BIM MAKES A STATEMENT

Malcolm was awakened in the night by a scream. He sprang from the bench,
his face bathed in perspiration.

"What was that?" he asked hoarsely.

Malinkoff was sitting on the edge of the bench rubbing his eyes.

"I heard something," he yawned.

Only Cheery Bim had not moved. He was lying on his back with his knees
up and his hands behind his head, wide awake.

"What was it, Cherry?" asked Malcolm.

Slowly the little man rose and stretched himself.

"I wonder what the time is," he said evasively.

Malcolm looked at his watch.

"Half-past three," he replied.