I shall just leave the bolt as it is, and they would not dare to force the door; it would make too much noise, and they would be caught at it; they're not so silly as that, never fear." "But I should have shrieked at the top of my voice, and clung to the bedstead with all my might, if they had tried to take me," exclaimed Isabelle excitedly, "so that I would have been heard by the people in the neighbouring rooms, and I'm sure they would have come to my rescue." "A good gag will stifle any shrieks," said Chiquita sententiously, with a lofty contempt for Isabelle's ignorance that was very amusing, "and a blanket rolled tightly about the body prevents any movements; that is an easy matter you see.

They would have carried you off without the slightest difficulty, for the stable boy was bribed, and was to open the back door for them." "Who has laid this wicked plot ?" asked the poor, frightened, young girl, with a trembling voice, horror-stricken at the danger she had escaped.
"The great lord who has given them all such heaps of money; oh! such quantities of big gold pieces--by the handful," said Chiquita, her great dark eyes glittering with a fierce, covetous expression, strange and horrible to see in one so young.

"But all the same, YOU gave me the pearls, and he shall not hurt you; he shall not have you if you don't want to go.

I will tell them that you were awake, and there was a man in the room, so that I could not get in and open the door for them; they will all go away quietly enough; you need not be afraid.

Now let me have one good look at you before I go--oh, how sweet and pretty you are--and I love you, yes, I do, ever so much; almost as much as Agostino.