Page:In Maremma, by Ouida (vol 2).djvu/301

 hills; the men will come here after Ave Maria'

'Go out,' said Musa to Este. 'Hide under the shrubs till I call you; I will wait and give them welcome.'

She did not even look at Sanctis; she heard the words of warning, thinking of Este, taking their sense by instinct, but without attention to their speaker.

'I will not leave you. Can you think me so poor a creature?' he answered; the presence of another man stung the dulled spirit in him into life.

'What of me!' she cried, with agony of entreaty. 'I will show them that there is no gold; then they will go. But if they see you'

'Go, both of you,' said Sanctis, sternly. 'Since you dwell here together, go together; I will stay and receive these men. When I have dismissed them, you can return; I too shall be gone.'

'Why should you do this? Why should you think of us?' said Este.

'I do not think of you. I do not know you. I came to warn her, to save her from insult and violence, for when the men find there is no gold they will be brutal; she