Far away in the air she could see the tiny yellow lights of
the monastery, lonely sentinel on the mountain top. From the heights
near that abode of peace and penitence an enemy could destroy the
fortress to the south. Had not Baldos told her so? One big gun would do
the work if it could be taken to that altitude. Baldos could draw a
perfect map of the fortress. He could tell precisely where the shells
should fall. And already the chief men in Edelweiss were wondering who
he was and to what end he might utilize his knowledge. They were
watching him, they were warning her.
For the first time since she came to the castle, she felt a sense of
loneliness, a certain unhappiness. She could not shake off the feeling
that she was, after all, alone in her belief in Baldos. Her heart told
her that the tall, straightforward fellow she had met in the hills was
as honest as the day. She was deceiving him, she realized, but he was
misleading no one. Off in a distant part of the castle ground she could
see the long square shadow that marked the location of the barracks and
messroom. There he was sleeping, confidently believing in her and her
power to save him from all harm. Something in her soul cried out to him
that she would be staunch and true, and that he might sleep without a
tremor of apprehensiveness.
Suddenly she smiled nervously and drew back into the shadow of the
pillar.
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