The girl ran quickly to a shutter and threw it open, whereupon the light streamed in through a myriad of small glass panes set in lead. Quickly she set before Joseph and the man in black, small goblets which she filled with wine; a few pieces of broken bread were placed before them on the table, and they all ate, Joseph rather voraciously, although striving to disguise his hunger. “Now tell us your story,” the man bade him. Joseph related it briefly, emphasizing for the most part the arrival of his father and mother and himself in the city that morning, and the dilemma that faced them in procuring lodgings. The man in the black robe listened attentively, and when the boy had finished he struck the table a light blow. “I think I have it,” he said. “Wait here for me and take what refreshment you will. I will be back in a few moments.” He went out through the door and hurried down the stairs to one of the apartments below. The girl pushed her chair closer to Joseph’s and looked up into his eyes. “What is your name?” she asked. “I am Joseph Charnetski.” “Joseph,” she said. “I like the name much. Mine is Elzbietka.” “My father is Andrew Charnetski,” continued Joseph, “and we lived in the country of the black lands in the Ukraine. It was lonely in our neighborhood, for the nearest neighbor was sixty staja away, yet we never felt fear of Cossack or Tartar, though others did, for my father always treated them well. We were therefore surprised not long ago when there came to us a former servant, a friendly Tartar, who said that we were in some danger, and although my father laughed, I know that he gave the report some credence since he took the Tartar aside and talked with him privately for a long time. He is not one to reveal his fear, however, and we remained in our house as before with the warning all but forgotten by my mother and me. “Then one night before we went to bed, my mother, who was working upon some sewing, saw a man’s face peeping in through the thatch at one corner of our house. It was a face that she had never seen before; it was not one of the servants of our place or any place next to ours; it was a villainous face and it made such an impression on her that she screamed aloud, alarming us all.” “Yes?” the blue eyes were full of interest. “That night my father came into the room where I was sleeping, bade me dress quickly, and in a short time led me and my mother through a little door in the rear of the house that I had never seen opened before, since it had always been fastened with nails. Outside this door we found ourselves in a passageway dug out of the earth like a cave, and through this we crept until we emerged into a shed some distance from the other dwellings where two of our best horses were hitched to a cart. That my father had already taken such precautions unknown to us assured me that he had feared something, the nature of which he had kept from us.” “But you know now?”