RECRUITING THEIR FUNDS
As soon as Gerald Burke began conversing with the merchants,
Geoffrey fell back and took his place among their servants, with
whom he at once entered into conversation. To amuse himself he
continued in the same strain that he had heard Gerald adopt towards
the merchants, and spoke in terms of apprehension of the dangers
of the journey, and of the rough treatment that had befallen those
who had ventured to offer opposition to the robbers. He was not
long in discovering, by the anxious glances they cast round them,
and by the manner of their questions, that some at least of the
party were not to be relied upon in case of an encounter.
He was rather surprised at Gerald remaining so long in company with
the merchants, for their pace was a slow one, as they were followed
by eight heavily laden mules, driven by two muleteers, and it would
have been much pleasanter, he thought, to have trotted on at their
usual pace. About midday, as they were passing along the edge of
a thick wood, a party of men suddenly sprang out and ordered them
to halt. Geoffrey shouted to the men with him to come on, and
drawing his sword dashed forward.
Two of the men only followed him. The others hesitated, until
a shot from a musket knocked off one of their hats, whereupon the
man and his comrades turned their horses' heads and rode off at
full speed. The merchants had drawn their swords, and stood on the
defensive, and Geoffrey on reaching them was surprised to find that
Gerald Burke was sitting quietly on his horse without any apparent
intention of taking part in the fight.
"Put up your sword, Geoffrey," he said calmly; "this affair is no
business of ours. We have nothing to lose, and it is no business
of ours to defend the money bags of these gentlemen."
The robbers, eight in number, now rushed up. One of the merchants,
glancing round, saw that two of their men only had come up to
their assistance. The muleteers, who were probably in league with
the robbers, had fled, leaving their animals standing in the road.
The prospect seemed desperate. One of the merchants was an elderly
man, the others were well on middle age. The mules were laden with
valuable goods, and they had with them a considerable sum of money
for making purchases at Cadiz. It was no time for hesitation.
"We will give you five hundred crowns if you will both aid us to
beat off these robbers."
"It is a bargain," Gerald replied. "Now, Geoffrey, have at these
fellows!"
Leaping from their ponies they ranged themselves by the merchants
just as the robbers attacked them. Had it not been for their aid
the combat would have been a short one; for although determined to
defend their property to the last, the traders had neither strength
nor skill at arms. One was unhorsed at the first blow, and another
wounded; but the two servants, who had also dismounted, fought
sturdily, and Gerald and Geoffrey each disposed of a man before
the robbers, who had not reckoned upon their interference, were
prepared to resist their attack.
The fight did not last many minutes. The traders did their best,
and although by no means formidable opponents, distracted the
attention of the robbers, who were startled by the fall of two of
their party. Geoffrey received a sharp cut on the head, but at the
same moment ran his opponent through the body, while Gerald Burke
cut down the man opposed to him. The other four robbers, seeing
they were now outnumbered, at once took to their heels.
"By St. Jago!" one of the traders said, "you are stout fighters,
young men, and have won your fee well. Methought we should have
lost our lives as well as our goods, and I doubt not we should have
done so had you not ranged yourselves with us. Now, let us bandage
up our wounds, for we have all received more or less hurt."
When the wounds, some of which were serious, were attended to, the
fallen robbers were examined. Three of them were dead; but the man
last cut down by Gerald Burke seemed likely to recover.
"Shall we hang him upon a tree as a warning to these knaves, or
shall we take him with us to the next town and give him in charge
of the authorities there?" one of the traders asked.
"If I were you I would do neither," Gerald said, "but would let him
go free if he will tell you the truth about this attack. It will
be just as well for you to get to the bottom of this affair, and
find out whether it is a chance meeting, or whether any of your
own people have been in league with him."
"That is a good idea," the trader agreed, "and I will carry it
out," and going up to the man, who had now recovered his senses,
he said to him sternly: "We have made up our minds to hang you;
but you may save your life if you will tell us how you came to set
upon us. Speak the truth and you shall go free, otherwise we will
finish with you without delay."
The robber, seeing an unexpected chance of escape from punishment, at
once said that the captain of their band, who was the man Geoffrey
had last run through, came out from Seville the evening before, and
told him that one Juan Campos, with whom he had long had intimate
relations, and who was clerk to a rich trader, had, upon promise that
he should receive one fifth of the booty taken, informed him that
his master with two other merchants was starting on the following
morning for Cadiz with a very valuable lot of goods, and twenty-five
thousand crowns, which they intended to lay out in the purchase of
goods brought by some galleons that had just arrived from the Indies.
He had arranged to bribe his master's two servants to ride away
when they attacked the gang, and also to settle with the muleteers
so that they should take no part in the affair. They had reckoned
that the flight of two of the servants would probably affect the
others, and had therefore expected the rich booty to fall into
their hands without the trouble of striking a blow for it.
"It is well we followed your suggestion," one of the traders said
to Gerald. "I had no suspicion of the honesty of my clerk, and
had we not made this discovery he would doubtless have played me a
similar trick upon some other occasion. I will ride back at once,
friends, for if he hears of the failure of the attack he may take
the alarm and make off with all he can lay his hands upon. Our
venture was to be in common. I will leave it to you to carry it
out, and return and dismiss Campos and the two rascally servants."
The three traders went apart and consulted together. Presently the
eldest of the party returned to the young men.
"We have another five days' journey before us," he said, "and but
two servants upon whom we can place any reliance. We have evidence
of the unsafety of the roads, and, as you have heard, we have a
large sum of money with us. You have already more than earned the
reward I offered you, and my friends have agreed with me that if
you will continue to journey with us as far as Cadiz, and to give
us the aid of your valour should we be again attacked, we will make
the five hundred crowns a thousand. It is a large sum, but we have
well nigh all our fortunes at stake, and we feel that we owe you
our lives as well as the saving of our money."
"We could desire nothing better," Gerald replied, "and will answer
with our lives that your goods and money shall arrive safely at
Cadiz."
The traders then called up their two serving men, and told them
that on their arrival at Cadiz they would present them each with a
hundred crowns for having so stoutly done their duty. The employer
of the treacherous clerk then turned his horse's head and rode back
towards Seville, while the others prepared to proceed on their way.
The two muleteers had now come out from among the bushes, and were
busy refastening the bales on the mules, the ropes having become
loosened in the struggles of the animals while the fight was going
on. The merchants had decided to say nothing to the men as to the
discovery that they were in league with the robbers.
"Half these fellows are in alliance with these bands, which are a
scourge to the country," one of the traders said. "If we were to
inform the authorities at the next town, we should, in the first
place, be blamed for letting the wounded man escape, and secondly
we might be detained for days while investigations are going on.
In this country the next worse thing to being a prisoner is to be
a complainant. Law is a luxury in which the wealthy and idle can
alone afford to indulge."
As soon, therefore, as the baggage was readjusted the party proceeded
on their way.
"What do you think of that, Geoffrey?" Gerald Burke asked as he
rode for a short distance by the side of his supposed servant.
"It is magnificent," Geoffrey replied; "and it seems to me that the
real road to wealth in Spain is to hire yourself out as a guard to
travellers."
"Ah, you would not get much if you made your bargain beforehand.
It is only at a moment of urgent danger that fear will open purse
strings widely. Had we bargained beforehand with these traders we
might have thought ourselves lucky if we had got ten crowns apiece
as the price of our escort to Cadiz, and indeed we should have been
only too glad if last night such an offer had been made to us; but
when a man sees that his property and life are really in danger he
does not stop to haggle, but is content to give a handsome percentage
of what is risked for aid to save the rest."
"Well, thank goodness, our money trouble is at an end," Geoffrey
said; "and it will be a long time before we need have any anxiety
on that score."
"Things certainly look better," Gerald said laughing; "and if Inez
consents to make a runaway match of it with me I sha'n't have to
ask her to pay the expenses."
Cadiz was reached without further adventure. The merchants kept
their agreement honourably, and handed over a heavy bag containing
a thousand crowns to Gerald on their arrival at that city. They
had upon the road inquired of him the nature of his business there.
He had told them that he was at present undecided whether to enter
the army, in which some friends of his had offered to obtain him
a commission, or to join in an adventure to the Indies. They had
told him they were acquainted with several merchants at Cadiz who
traded both with the east and west, and that they would introduce
him to them as a gentleman of spirit and courage, whom they might
employ with advantage upon such ventures; and this promise after
their arrival there they carried out.
"Now, Geoffrey," Gerald said as they sat together that evening at
a comfortable inn, "we must talk over matters here. We have five
hundred crowns apiece, and need not trouble any longer as to how
we are to support life. Your great object, of course, is to get out
of this country somehow, and to make your way back to England. My
first is to see Inez and find out whether she will follow my fortunes
or remain to become some day Marchesa of Sottomayor. If she adopts
the former alternative I have to arrange some plan to carry her off
and to get out of the country, an operation in which I foresee no
little difficulty. Of course if we are caught my life is forfeited,
there is no question about that. The question for us to consider
is how we are to set about to carry out our respective plans."
"We need only consider your plan as far as I can see," Geoffrey
said. "Of course I shall do what I can to assist you, and if you
manage to get off safely with the young lady I shall escape at the
same time."
"Not at all," Burke said; "you have only to wait here quietly
until you see an opportunity. I will go with you tomorrow to the
merchants I was introduced to today, and say that I am going away
for a time and shall be obliged if they will make you useful in any
way until I return. In that way you will have a sort of established
position here, and can wait until you see a chance of smuggling
yourself on board some English or Dutch vessel. Mine is a very
different affair. I may talk lightly of it, but I am perfectly
aware that I run a tremendous risk, and that the chances are very
strongly against me."
"Whatever the chances are," Geoffrey said quietly, "I shall share
them with you. Your kindness has saved me from what at best might
have been imprisonment for life, and not improbably would have been
torture and death at the hands of the Inquisition, and I am certainly
not going to withdraw myself from you now when you are entering
upon what is undoubtedly a very dangerous adventure. If we escape
from Spain we escape together; if not, whatever fate befalls you
I am ready to risk."
"Very well; so be it, Geoffrey," Gerald Burke said, holding out his
hand to him. "If your mind is made up I will not argue the question
with you, and indeed I value your companionship and aid too highly
to try to shake your determination. Let us then at once talk over
what is now our joint enterprise. Ribaldo estate lies about halfway
between this and Seville, and we passed within a few miles of it
as we came hither. The first thing, of course, will be to procure
some sort of disguise in which I can see Inez and have a talk with
her. Now, it seems to me, for I have been thinking the matter over
in every way as we rode, that the only disguise in which this would
be possible would be that of a priest or monk."
Geoffrey laughed aloud. "You would in the first place have to shave
off your moustachios, Gerald, and I fear that even after you had
done so there would be nothing venerable in your appearance; and
whatever the mission with which you might pretend to charge yourself,
your chances of obtaining a private interview with the lady would
be slight."
"I am afraid that I should lack the odour of sanctity, Geoffrey;
but what else can one do? Think it over, man. The way in which you
played the idiot when you were picked out of the water shows that
you are quick at contriving a plan."
"That was a simple business in comparison to this," Geoffrey
replied. "However, you are not pressed for time, and I will think
it over tonight and may light upon some possible scheme, for I own
that at present I have not the least idea how the matter is to be
managed."
As in the morning there were several other travellers taking
breakfast in the same room, the conversation was not renewed until
Gerald Burke strolled out, followed at a respectful distance by
Geoffrey, who still passed as his servant, and reached a quiet spot
on the ramparts. Here Geoffrey joined him, and they stood for some
minutes looking over the sea.
"What a magnificent position for a city!" Geoffrey said at last.
"Standing on this rocky tongue of land jutting out at the entrance
to this splendid bay it ought to be impregnable, since it can only
be attacked on the side facing that sandy isthmus. What a number
of ships are lying up the bay, and what a busy scene it is with the
boats passing and repassing! Though they must be two miles away I
fancy I can hear the shouts of the sailors."
"Yes, it is all very fine," Gerald said; "but I have seen it
several times before. Still, I can make allowances for you. Do you
see that group of small ships a mile beyond the others? Those are
the English and Dutchmen. They are allowed to trade, but as you see
they are kept apart, and there are three war galleys lying close
to them. No one is allowed to land, and every boat going off
is strictly examined, and all those who go on board have to show
their permits from the governor to trade; so, you see, the chance
of getting on board one of them is slight indeed. Higher up the
bay lies Puerto de Santa Maria, where a great trade is carried on,
and much wine shipped; though more comes from Jeres, which lies up
the river. You know we passed through it on our way here.
"Yes, this is a splendid position for trade, and I suppose the
commerce carried on here is larger than in any port in Europe;
though Antwerp ranked as first until the troubles began in the
Netherlands. But this ought to be first. It has all the trade of the
Atlantic seaboard, and standing at the mouth of the Mediterranean
commands that also; while all the wealth of the New World pours in
here. That is great already; there is no saying what it will be in
the future, while some day the trade from the far East should flow
in here also by vessels trading round the south of Africa.
"Cadiz has but one fault: the space on which it stands is too small
for a great city. You see how close the houses stand together,
and how narrow are the streets. It cannot spread without extending
beyond the rock over the sands, and then its strength would be gone,
and it would be open to capture by an enterprising enemy having
command of the sea. There now, having indulged your humour, let
us return to more important matters. Have you thought over what we
were talking about last night?"
"I have certainly thought it over," Geoffrey said; "but I do not
know that thinking has resulted in much. The only plan that occurs
to me as being at all possible is this. You were talking in joke
at Madrid of turning robber. Would it be possible, think you, to
get together a small band of men to aid you in carrying off the
young lady, either from the grounds of her father's house or while
journeying on the road? You could then have your talk with her.
If you find her willing to fly with you, you could leave the men
you have engaged and journey across the country in some sort of
disguise to a port. If she objected, you could conduct her back to
the neighbourhood of the house and allow her to return. There is
one difficulty: you must, of course, be prepared with a priest, so
that you can be married at once if she consents to accompany you."
Gerald Burke was silent for some time. "The scheme seems a possible
one," he said at last; "it is the question of the priest that bothers
me. You know, both in Seville and Cadiz there are Irish colleges,
and at both places there are several priests whom I knew before they
entered the Church, and who would, I am sure, perform the service
for me on any ordinary occasion; but it is a different thing asking
them to take a share in such a business as this, for they would
render themselves liable to all sorts of penalties and punishments
from their superiors. However, the difficulty must be got over
somehow, and at any rate the plan seems to promise better than
anything I had thought of. The first difficulty is how to get the
ruffians for such a business. I cannot go up to the first beetle
browed knave I meet in the street and say to him, 'Are you disposed
to aid me in the abduction of a lady?'"
"No," Geoffrey laughed; "but fortunately you have an intermediary
ready at hand."
"How so?" Gerald exclaimed in surprise. "Why, how on earth can you
have an acquaintance with any ruffians in Cadiz?"
"Not a very intimate acquaintance, Gerald; but if you take the
trouble to go into the courtyard of the inn when we get back you
will see one of those rascally muleteers who went in league with
the robbers who attacked us on the way. He was in conversation when
we came out with a man who breakfasted with us, and was probably
bargaining for a load for his mules back to Seville. I have no
doubt that through him you might put yourself into communication
with half the cutthroats of the town."
"That is a capital idea, Geoffrey, and I will have a talk with the
man as soon as we get back; for if he is not still there, I am sure
to be able to learn from some of the men about the stables where
to find him."
"You must go very carefully to work, Gerald," Geoffrey said. "It
would never do to let any of the fellows know the exact object for
which you engaged them, for they might be sure of getting a far
larger sum from the marquis for divulging your plans to carry off
his daughter than you could afford to pay them for their services."
"I quite see that, and will be careful."
On their return to the inn Gerald Burke at once made inquiries as
to the muleteer, and learned that he would probably return in an
hour to see if a bargain could be made with a trader for the hire
of his mules back to Seville. Gerald waited about until the man
came. "I want to have a talk with you, my friend," he said.
The muleteer looked at him with a suspicious eye. "I am busy," he
said in a surly tone; "I have no time to waste."
"But it would not be wasting it if it were to lead to your putting
a dozen crowns in your pocket."
"Oh, if it is to lead to that, senor, I can spare an hour, for I
don't think that anything is likely to come out of the job I came
here to try to arrange."
"We will walk away to a quieter place," Gerald said. "There are
too many people about here for us to talk comfortably. The ramparts
are but two or three minutes' walk; we can talk there without
interruption."
When they arrived upon the ramparts Gerald commenced the conversation.
"I think you were foolish, my friend, not to have taken us into
your confidence the other day before that little affair. You could
have made an opportunity well enough. We stopped to luncheon; if
you had drawn me aside, and told me frankly that some friends of
yours were about to make an attack upon the traders, and that you
would guarantee that they would make it worth my while--"
"What do you mean by saying my friends, or that I had any knowledge
of the affair beforehand?" the man asked furiously.
"I say so," Gerald replied, "because I had it on excellent authority.
The wounded robber made a clean breast of the whole affair, and of
your share in it, as well as that of the rascally clerk of one of
the traders. If it had not been for me the merchants would have
handed you over to the magistrates at the place where we stopped
that night; but I dissuaded them, upon the ground that they would
have to attend as witnesses against you, and that it was not
worth their while to lose valuable time merely for the pleasure of
seeing you hung. However, all this is beside the question. What I
was saying was, it is a pity you did not say to me frankly: 'Your
presence here is inopportune; but if you will stand apart if any
unexpected affair takes place, you will get say two thousand crowns
out of the twenty-five thousand my friends are going to capture.'
Had you done that, you see, things might have turned out differently."
"I did not know," the muleteer stammered.
"No, you did not know for certain, of course, that I was a soldier
of fortune; but if you had been sharp you might have guessed it.
However, it is too late for that now. Now, what I wanted to ask
you was if you could get me half a dozen of your friends to take
service under me in a little adventure I have to carry out. They
will be well paid, and I do not suppose they will have much trouble
over it."
"And what would you pay me, caballero?" the muleteer asked humbly;
for he had been greatly impressed with the valour displayed by the
young Irishman and his servant in the fray, and thought that he
intended to get together a company for adventures on the road, in
which case he might be able to have some profitable dealings with
him in the future.
"I will give you twenty crowns," Gerald replied; "and considering
that you owe your life to my interposition, I think that you ought
not to haggle about terms."
"The party who attacked us," the muleteer said, "lost their captain
and several of their comrades in that fray, and would I doubt not
gladly enter into your service, seeing that they have received such
proof of your worship's valour."
"Where could I see them?" Gerald asked.
"I think that they will be now in Jeres, if that would suit you,
senor; but if not I could doubtless find a party of men in this
town equally ready for your business."
"Jeres will do very well for me," Gerald said; "I shall be travelling
that way and will put up at the Fonda where we stopped as we came
through. When are you starting?"
"It depends whether I make my bargain with a man at your hotel,"
the muleteer replied; "and this I doubt not I shall do, for with
the twenty crowns your honour is going to give me I shall not stand
out for terms. He is travelling with clothes from Flanders, and if
your worship thought--"
"No," Gerald said. "I do not wish to undertake any adventures of
that sort until I have a band properly organized, and have arranged
hiding places and methods of getting rid of the booty. I will go
back with you to the inn, and if you strike your bargain you can
tell me as you pass out of the gate what evening you will meet me
at Jeres."
On arriving at the inn Gerald lounged at the gate of the courtyard
until the muleteer came out.
"I will meet your worship on the fifth night from this at Jeres."
"Very well; here are five crowns as an earnest on our bargain. If
you carry it out well I shall very likely forget to deduct them
from the twenty I promised you. Do not be surprised if you find me
somewhat changed in appearance when you meet me there."
At the appointed time the muleteer with his train of animals
entered the courtyards of the Fonda at Jeres. Gerald was standing
on the steps of the inn. He had altered the fashion of his hair,
had fastened on large bushy eyebrows which he had obtained from a
skilful perruquier in Cadiz, and a moustache of imposing size turned
up at the tips; he wore high buff leather boots, and there was an
air of military swagger about him, and he was altogether so changed
that at the first glance the muleteer failed to recognize him. As
soon as the mules were unburdened, Gerald found an opportunity of
speaking with him.
"I will go round at once," the man said, "to the place where I shall
certainly obtain news of my friends if they are here. I told your
honour that they might be here, but they may have gone away on
some affair of business, and may be on the road or at Seville. They
always work between this town and Seville."
"I understand that you may not meet them tonight; if not, I will
meet you again in Seville. How long will you be finding out about
them?"
"I shall know in half an hour, senor; if they are not here I shall
be back here in less than an hour, but if I find them I shall
be detained longer in order to talk over with them the offer your
worship makes."
"Very well; in an hour you will find me in the street opposite the
inn. I shall wait there until you come. If all is well make a sign
and I will follow you. Do not mention to them that I have in any
way disguised myself. Our acquaintance was so short that I don't
fancy they had time to examine me closely; and I have my own reasons
of wishing that they should not be acquainted with my ordinary
appearance, and have therefore to some extent disguised myself."
"I will say nothing about it," the muleteer replied. "Your worship
can depend upon my discretion."
"That is right," Gerald said. "We may have future dealings together,
and I can reward handsomely those I find trustworthy and punish
those who in the slightest degree disobey my orders."
In an hour and a half the muleteer returned, made a signal to Gerald
and passed on. The latter joined him at a short distance from the
hotel.
"It is all settled, senor. I found the men much dispirited at the
loss of their captain and comrades; and when I proposed to them
to take service under the caballero who wrought them such mischief
the other day, they jumped at the idea, saying that under such a
valiant leader there was no fear of the failure of any enterprise
they might undertake."
A quarter of an hour's walking took them to a small inn of
villainous appearance in one of the smallest lanes of the town.
Gerald was wrapped from head to foot in his cloak, and only his face
was visible. He had a brace of pistols in his belt, and was followed
at a short distance, unnoticed by the muleteer, by Geoffrey, who
had arranged to keep close to the door of any house he entered, and
was to be in readiness to rush in and take part in the fray if he
heard the sound of firearms within.
Gerald himself had not at first entertained any idea of treachery;
but Geoffrey had pointed out that it was quite possible that
the robbers and the muleteer had but feigned acquiescence in his
proposals in order to get him into their power, and take revenge
for the loss of their captain and comrades, and of the valuable
booty which had so unexpectedly slipped through their fingers owing
to his intervention.
The appearance of the six ruffians gathered in the low room, lighted
by a wretched lamp, was not very assuring, and Gerald kept his hand
on the butt of one of his pistols.
The four robbers who had been engaged in the fray, however, saluted
him respectfully, and the other two members of the band, who had
been absent on other business, followed their example. They had
heard from those present of the extraordinary valour with which
the two travelling companions of the trader had thrown themselves
into the fray, and had alone disposed of their four comrades,
and being without a leader, and greatly disheartened by their ill
luck, they were quite ready to forgive the misfortunes Gerald had
brought upon them, and to accept such a redoubtable swordsman as
their leader.
Gerald began the conversation. "You have heard," he said, "from
our friend here of the offer I make you. I desire a band of six men
on whom I can rely for an adventure which promises large profit.
Don't suppose that I am going to lead you to petty robberies on
the road, in which, as you learned to your cost the other day, one
sometimes gets more hard knocks than profit. Such adventures may
do for petty knaves, but they are not suited to me. The way to
get wealthy is to strike at the rich. My idea is to establish some
place in an out of the way quarter where there is no fear of prying
neighbours, and to carry off and hide there the sons and daughters
of wealthy men and put them to ransom. In the first instance I
am going to undertake a private affair of my own; and as you will
really run no risk in the matter, for I shall separate myself from
you after making my capture, I shall pay you only a earnest money
of twenty crowns each. In future affairs we shall act upon the
principle of shares. I shall take three shares, a friend who works
with me will take two shares, and you shall take one share apiece.
The risk will really be entirely mine, for I shall take charge of
the captives we make at our rendezvous. You, after lending a hand
in the capture, will return here and hold yourself in readiness to
join me, and carry out another capture as soon as I have made all
the necessary arrangements. Thus, if by any chance we are tracked,
I alone and my friend will run the risk of capture and punishment.
In that way we may, in the course of a few months, amass a much
larger booty than we should in a lifetime spent in these wretched
adventures upon travellers.
"Now, it is for you to say whether these terms will suit you, and
whether you are ready to follow my orders and obey me implicitly.
The whole task of making the necessary arrangements, or finding out
the habits of the families one of whose members we intend carrying
off, of bribing nurses or duennas, will be all my business. You
will simply have to meet when you are summoned to aid in the actual
enterprise, and then, when our captive is safely housed, to return
here or scatter where you will and live at ease until again summoned.
The utmost fidelity will be necessary. Large rewards will in many
cases be offered for the discovery of the missing persons, and
one traitor would bring ruin upon us all; therefore it will be
absolutely necessary that you take an oath of fidelity to me, and
swear one and all to punish the traitor with death. Do you agree
to my proposal?"
There was a unanimous exclamation of assent. The plan seemed to
offer probabilities of large booty with a minimum of trouble and
risk. One or two suggested that they should like to join in the
first capture on the same terms as the others, but Gerald at once
pronounced this to be impossible.
"This is my own affair," he said, "and money is not now my object.
As you will only be required to meet at a given hour some evening,
and to carry off a captive who will not be altogether unwilling
to come, there will be little or no risk in the matter, and twenty
crowns will not be bad pay for an evening's work. After that you
will, as I have said, share in the profits of all future captures
we may undertake."
The band all agreed, and at once took solemn oaths of fidelity to
their new leader, and swore to punish by death any one of their
number who should betray the secrets of the body.
"That is well," Gerald said when the oaths had been taken. "It
may be a week before you receive your first summons. Here are five
crowns apiece for your expenses up to that time. Let one of you
be in front of the great church as the clock strikes eight morning
and evening. Do not wait above five minutes; if I am coming I
shall be punctual. In the meantime take counsel among yourselves
as to the best hiding place that can be selected. Between you you
no doubt know every corner and hole in the country. I want a place
which will be at once lonely and far removed from other habitations,
but it must be at the same time moderately comfortable, as the
captives we take must have no reason to complain of their treatment
while in my hands. Think this matter over before I again see you."
Gerald then joined Geoffrey outside, and found that the latter
was beginning to be anxious at his long absence. After a few words
saying that everything had been successfully arranged, the two
friends returned together to their inn.