“But I love the little pigs and chickens, I like to care for them,” she pleaded, “and I am happy with Mollie—I do not wish to change.” “Do not wish to change, eh?” he mimicked her. She had drawn farther behind me now, as though for protection, and closer—I could feel her body touching mine. “Mollie can doubtless take care of her own pigs and chickens without help. If she has so many she cannot do it alone then she has too many, and we will see why it is that she is more prosperous than the rest of us—probably she should pay a larger income tax—we shall see.” “Oh, no!” cried Juana, frightened now on Mollie’s account; “please, she has only a few, scarcely enough that she and her man may live after the taxes are paid.” “Then she does not need you to help her,” said Or-tis with finality, a nasty sneer upon his lip. “You will come and work for me, girl!” And then Juana surprised me—she surprised us all, and particularly Or-tis. Before, she had been rather pleading and seemingly a little frightened; but now she drew herself to her full height and with her chin in air looked Or-tis straight in the eye. “I will not come,” she said, haughtily; “I do not wish to.” That was all. Or-tis looked surprised. His soldiers, shocked. For a moment no one spoke. I glanced at Mother. She was not trembling as I had expected. Her head was up, too, and she was openly looking her scorn of the man. Father stood as he usually did before them, with his head bowed; but I saw that he was watching Or-tis out of the corners of his eyes and that his fingers were moving as might the fingers of hands fixed upon a hated throat. “You will come,” said Or-tis, a little red in the face now at this defiance. “There are ways,” and he looked straight at me—and then he turned upon his heel and followed by his Kash Guard left the house. CHAPTER IV A FIGHT ON MARKET DAY When the door had closed upon them, Juana buried her face in her hands. “Oh, what misery I bring everywhere,” she sobbed. “To my father and mother I brought death and now to you all and to Jim and Mollie I am bringing ruin and perhaps death also. But it shall not be—you shall not suffer for me! He looked straight at you, Julian, when he made his threat. What could he mean to do? You have done nothing. But you need not fear. I know how I may undo the harm I have so innocently done.” We tried to assure her that we did not care—that we would protect her as best we could and that she must not feel that she had brought any greater burden upon us than we already carried; but she only shook her head and at last asked me to take her home to Mollie’s. She was very quiet all the way back, though I did my best to cheer her up. “He cannot make you work for him,” I insisted. “Even The Twentyfour, rotten as it is, would never dare enforce such an order. We are not yet entirely slaves.”