uiet, sister,
and in a short time you will see him here repentant, as I have said; and
if not, we will write verses on him that shall make him roar with rage."

"Let us write by all means," returned Juliana, "for I have a thousand
things to say to him."

"And I will be your secretary, if need be," rejoined Monipodio, "for
although I am no poet, yet a man has but to tuck up the sleeves of his
shirt, set well to work, and he may turn off a couple of thousand verses
in the snapping of a pair of scissors. Besides, if the rhymes should not
come so readily as one might wish, I have a friend close by, a barber,
who is a great poet, and will trim up the ends of the verses at an
hour's notice. At present, however, let us go finish our repast; all the
rest can be done afterwards."

Juliana was not unwilling to obey her superior, so they all fell to
again at the O-be-joyful with so much goodwill that they soon saw the
bottom of the basket and the dregs of the great leather bottle. The old
ones drank _sine fine_, the younger men to their hearts' content, and
the ladies till they could drink no more. When all was consumed, the two
old men begged permission to take their leave, which Monipodio allowed
them to do, but charged them to return punctually, for the purpose of
reporting all they should see or hear that could be useful to the
brotherhood; they assured him they would by no means fail in their duty,
and then departed.

After these gentlemen had left the company, Rinconete, who was of a very
inquiring disposition, begged leave to ask Monipodio in what way two
persons so old, grave, and formal as those he had just seen, could be of
service to their community. Monipodio replied, that such were called
"Hornets" in their jargon, and that their office was to poke about all
parts of the city, spying out such places as might be eligible for
attempts to be afterwards made in the night-time. "They watch people who
receive money from the bank or treasury," said he, "observe where they
go with it, and, if possible, the very place in which it is deposited.
When this is done, they make themselves acquainted with the thickness of
the walls, marking out the spot where we may most conveniently make our
_guzpataros_, which are the holes whereby we contrive to force an
entrance. In a word, these persons are among the most useful of the
brotherhood: and they receive a fifth of all that the community obtains
by their intervention, as his majes