That was the last Father Roger knew of him; for, finding that the farther they went the worse became the treatment of the captives, until at last the only food thrown to them was offal and the bones the Mongols had done with, he had felt convinced that a massacre of the old and feeble was impending. "Then the Tartar-Magyar is not gone with them to Asia, and he could not protect you any longer?" asked Dora. "He could not protect us any longer," echoed Father Roger. "We, my faithful servant here and I, watched our opportunity and made our escape one night into the forest." And here we may mention that they had fled none too soon, as the massacre of those not worth keeping as slaves actually took place, as Father Roger had foreseen, and that within a very short time after his flight. The more Talabor thought of it, the more he felt that Father Roger was probably right as to Dalmatia, and Dora finally acquiesced in giving up her cherished plan. It was a comfort to be with Father Roger, broken down though he was; and for the rest, if she could not join her father, what did it matter where she went? She left it to him and Talabor to decide, without troubling her head as to their reasons, or even so much as asking what they had agreed; but the disappointment was grievous. The little party therefore journeyed on together, slowly and painfully, often hungering, often nearly frozen, until at last they reached the town now known as Carlsburg. But here again they found only ruins and streets filled with dead bodies, and they toiled on again till they came to the smaller town of Frata, where there were actually a good number of people, recently emerged from their hiding-places, and all busily engaged in strengthening and fortifying the walls to the best of their power. They had but little news to give, for all were in doubt and uncertainty both as to the King and the Mongols. The latter they did not in the least trust; and though Frata had hitherto escaped, no one felt any security that it might not be besieged any day, almost any hour. "Better the caves and woods than that," said Father Roger with a shudder. But if there were no safety for them in Frata itself, Talabor heard there of what seemed at least a likely refuge for Dora, and that with a member of her own family, a certain Orsolya Szirmay, who was said to have taken refuge among the mountains, and to have many of the Transylvanian nobility with her, and would certainly receive them.