going well with me, very well indeed--and then this comes.
It's a degrading thing for a man to hide for a day and a night in a
cupboard." His teeth began to chatter then so that he could scarcely
speak. He seemed to be shaking with ague.

He caught Vera's hand. "Save me--save me!" he said. "Put me
somewhere.... I've done nothing disgraceful. They'll shoot me like a
dog--"

The sisters consulted.

"What are we to do?" asked Nina. "We can't let him go out to be killed."

"No. But if we keep him here and they come in and find him, we shall all
be involved.... It isn't fair to Nicholas or Uncle Ivan...."

"We can't let him go out."

"No, we can't," Vera replied. She saw at once how impossible that was.
Were he caught outside and shot they would feel that they had his death
for ever on their souls.

"There's the linen cupboard," she said.

She turned round to Nina. "I'm afraid," she said, "if you hide here,
you'll have to go into another cupboard. And it can only be for an hour
or two. We couldn't keep you here all night."

He said nothing except "Quick. Take me." Vera led him into her bedroom
and showed him the place. Without another word he pressed in amongst the
clothes. It was a deep cupboard, and, although he was a fat man, the
door closed quite evenly.

It was suddenly as though he had never been, Vera went back to Nina.

They stood close to one another in the middle of the room, and talked in
whispers.

"What are we going to do?"

"We can only wait!"

"They'll never dare to search your room, Vera."

"One doesn't know now... everything's so different."

"Vera, you _are_ brave. Forgive me what I said just now.... I'll help
you if you want--"

"Hush, Nina dear. Not that now. We've got to think--what's best...."

They kissed very quietly, and then they sat down by the table and
waited. There was simply nothing else to do.

Vera said that, during that pause, she could see the little policeman
everywhere. In every part of the room she found him, with his fat legs
and dirty, streaky face and open collar. The flat was heavy, portentous
with his presence, as though it stood with a self-important finger on
its lips saying, "I've got a secret in here. _Such_ a secret. You don't
know what _I've_ got...."

They discussed in whispers as to who would come in first. Nicholas or
Uncle Ivan or Bohun or Sacha? And supposing one of them came in while
the soldiers were there? Who would be the most dangerous? Sac