My God!

MICHAEL
This is war, this is! And you can't expect war to be all cakes and cream.

[_They laugh and drink_.]

ARRAM
You ought to think yourself damned lucky to be alive, and have two men
quartered on you instead of one. If your husband and the rest of the
villagers hadn't made such a disturbance, _they_ might have been alive,
too.

NANKO
Exactly! Exactly! I used to be a schoolmaster, you know, in the old days;
and, if you knew what I know, you'd understand, my dear, it's entirely a
question of the survival of the fittest! The survival of the fittest!
That's what it is.

ARRAM
Wouldn't they have done the same to us, if they'd had the chance? We've
got women and children at home snivelling and saying, "O my God, O my
God," just like you. Don't you trouble about God. What can _He_ do when
both sides go down on their marrow-bones? He can't make both sides win,
can He?

RADA
O God! God! God!

MICHAEL
[_Getting up and standing in front of her_.]
Look here. We've had enough of this music. We've been cutting throats all
day, and now we want to unbuckle a bit. There'll be hell to pay when the
other boys come back. A pretty wild-goose chase you've sent them on, too,
with your tale about the old Jew's money-bags. What was the game? You
seemed mighty anxious to wheedle us all out of the house; and you'd never
get out of the village alive to-night. Listen to that!

[_There is an uproar outside, a shot, and a woman's scream, followed by
the terrified cry of a child_: "Ah! Ah! Father!"]

ARRAM
The men are mad with zaki and blood and--other things. There's no holding
them in, even from the children. What chance would there be for a
fine-looking wench like yourself?

MICHAEL
Don't tell me you were going out into that?
[_He points in the direction of the uproar_.]
Something to hide on the spot, eh? Well, now you've got the others out of
the way, we're going to have a look. What's in there?
[_He points to the little door on the left_.]

RADA
[_Rising to her feet slowly, steadying herself with one hand against the
wall, and fixing her eyes on his face_.]
This is war, isn't it? If I choose to revenge myself on those I hate--
listen to me. I suppose you--want money. And I can tell you where to find
it.

ARRAM
Another wild-goose chase to the other end of the valley?

RADA
No. In the old mill-house. Not a hundred yards away. Money, money enough
to make us all rich. But [_a cunning expression comes into her