"We'll have to wake Jasmine!" she said, as they hurried toward the
lift. Then she added in a sort of childish delight: "We'll be poor,
won't we? Like people in books. And I'll be an orphan and utterly
free. Free and poor! What fun!" She stopped and raised her lips to him
in a delighted kiss.
"It's impossible to be both together," said John grimly. "People have
found that out. And I should choose to be free as preferable of the
two. As an extra caution you'd better dump the contents of your jewel
box into your pockets."
Ten minutes later the two girls met John in the dark corridor and they
descended to the main floor of the chateau. Passing for the last time
through the magnificence of the splendid halls, they stood for a
moment out on the terrace, watching the burning negro quarters and the
flaming embers of two planes which had fallen on the other side of the
lake. A solitary gun was still keeping up a sturdy popping, and the
attackers seemed timorous about descending lower, but sent their
thunderous fireworks in a circle around it, until any chance shot
might annihilate its Ethiopian crew.
John and the two sisters passed down the marble steps, turned sharply
to the left, and began to ascend a narrow path that wound like a
garter about the diamond mountain. Kismine knew a heavily wooded spot
half-way up where they could lie concealed and yet be able to observe
the wild night in the valley--finally to make an escape, when it
should be necessary, along a secret path laid in a rocky gully.
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