well as
I do that his life is unsafe in this country, and yet, before I left
London I heard--for we have friends everywhere--that he had got his
passport for Russia again. It is to be presumed that he is coming back,
so you must be prepared. In case anything should happen to confirm these
suspicions that come to us from Cracow, you know that I have no control
over certain members of the party. If it was thought that you or Martin
had betrayed anything--"

"I or Martin would be assassinated," said the prince with his loud
laugh. "I know that. I have long known that we are going back to the
methods of the sixties--suspicion and assassination. It has always been
the ruin of Poland--that method."

"But you have no feelings with regard to this man?" asked Kosmaroff,
sharply, looking from father to daughter, with a keen sidelong
glance, as if the suspicion that had come from Cracow had not left him
untouched.

"None whatever," answered the prince. "He is a mere passing
acquaintance. He must be allowed to pass. We will drop him--you can tell
your friends--it will not be much of a sacrifice compared to some that
have been made for Poland."

Wanda glanced at her father. Did he mean anything?

"You know what they are," broke in Kosmaroff's eager voice. "They see
a mountain in every molehill. Martin was seen at Alexandrowo with
Cartoner. Wanda was seen speaking to him at the Mokotow. He is known to
have called on you at your hotel in London."

"It is a question of dropping his acquaintance, my friend," said the
prince, "and I tell you, he shall be dropped."

"It is more than that," answered Kosmaroff, half sullenly.

"You mean," said the prince, suddenly roused to anger, "that Martin and
I are put upon our good behavior--that our lives are safe only so long
as we are not seen speaking to Cartoner, or are not suspected of having
any communication with him."

And Kosmaroff was silent.

He had ceased eating, and had laid aside his knife and fork. It was
clear that his whole mind and body were given to one thought and one
hope. He looked indifferently at the simple dishes set before him, and
had satisfied his hunger on that nearest to him, because it came first.

"I tell you this," he said, after a silence, "because no one else dared
to tell you. Because I know, perhaps better than any other, all that you
have done--all that you are ready to do."

"Yes--yes. Everything must be done for Poland," said the prince,
suddenl