ell to him, as a
sufficient guarantee against fresh troubles. As for me, I have been
ordered to conduct your grace to London, and I must fulfill my orders."

"You are very persistent, sir. When you have an idea, you keep to it."

"At whatever cost, my lord, I must carry out the orders given me. You
can see by the perfectly calm interview between us that I do not doubt
the success of my undertaking; your grace fully understands the motives
that influence me; and I do not doubt that you will follow me without
the slightest resistance."

Croustillac had prolonged this interview as far as he could; he had
decided either to follow the colonel or to tell him the whole truth. He
then said to Rutler, "And suppose, sir, that I consent to follow you
willingly, what will be the order of our march, as they say?"

"Your grace, though your hands are tied, permit me to offer you my left
arm; I shall hold my dagger in my right hand, ready at any moment to
plunge it into you, in case of a surprise, and we will proceed to your
house."

"And then, sir?"

"Once having reached your house, my lord, you will order one of your
slaves at once to direct your negro fishermen to get their boat in
readiness; it will suffice to transport us to Barbadoes. In that place
we will find a man-of-war which awaits us, and on board which, my lord,
you will be transported to London, and placed in the custody of the
governor of the Tower."

"And you seriously believe, sir, that I will myself give the order to
prepare for my own abduction?"

"Yes, my lord, and for a very simple reason; your grace will feel the
point of this dagger."

"Yes, doubtless; you always go back to that, you repeat it often, sir."

"We Dutchmen have little imagination; what would you have? There is
nothing more churlish than our manner of acting; but to resume, what is
more to the point, this blade of steel will suffice, for if you refuse
to obey my slightest injunction, my lord, I have already said by way of
warning that I shall kill you without mercy."

"I have also said to you, sir, that your manner of proceeding does not
lack originality; but I have slaves--friends, sir--and you see that, in
spite of your bravery----"

"My God! your grace, if I kill you it is evident that I shall be killed
in turn, either by your slaves or your familiars, the filibuster or the
buccaneer, or by the French authorities, who would do perfectly right in
shooting me because I come from Engla