ory which
his audacity had won for us grew dim. His sons, hitherto held under firm
control, became more and more drunken and debauched. Moreover, each day
added some new peril to their expeditions.

Except for the few trusty vassals whom we treated well, and who were all
devoted to us, we were becoming more and more isolated and resourceless.
People had left the neighbouring country in consequence of our violent
depredations. The terror that we inspired pushed back daily the bounds
of the desert around us. In making our ventures we had to go farther
afield, even to the borders of the plain. There we had not the upper
hand; and my Uncle Laurence, the boldest of us all, was dangerously
wounded in a skirmish. Other schemes had to be devised. John suggested
them. One was that we should slip into the fairs under various
disguises, and exercise our skill in thieving. From brigands we became
pick-pockets, and our detested name sank lower and lower in infamy.
We formed a fellowship with the most noisome characters our province
concealed, and, by an exchange of rascally services, once again managed
to avoid destitution.

I say we, for I was beginning to take a place in this band of cutthroats
when my grandfather died. He had yielded to my entreaties and allowed
me to join in some of the last expeditions he attempted. I shall make
no apologies; but here, gentlemen, you behold a man who has followed the
profession of a bandit. I feel no remorse at the recollection, no more
than a soldier would feel at having served a campaign under orders from
his general. I thought that I was still living in the middle ages. The
laws of the land, with all their strength and wisdom, were to me words
devoid of meaning. I felt brave and full of vigour; fighting was a joy.
Truly, the results of our victories often made me blush; but, as they in
no way profited myself, I washed my hands of them. Nay, I remember with
pleasure that I helped more than one victim who had been knocked down to
get up and escape.

This existence, with its movement, its dangers, and its fatigues, had a
numbing effect on me. It took me away from any painful reflections which
might have arisen in my mind. Besides, it freed me from the immediate
tyranny of John. However, after the death of my grandfather, when our
band degraded itself to exploits of a different nature, I fell back
under his odious sway. I was by no means fitted for lying and fraud. I
displayed not only aversi