s as many as she ventures to send to the
stake, unless they recant, when they will have the honour of being
strangled or hung instead," answered Leslie, in a nonchalant tone. "He
and his counsellors are determined to extirpate heresy; but as the
Protestants are numbered by hundreds of thousands, and as there are a
good many men of high rank and wealth among them, his Majesty has
undertaken a difficult task."

"I pray that he may alter his mind, or fail in the attempt," exclaimed
Nigel, indignantly.

"I may whisper amen; although, as the foolish people bring the
punishment on their own heads, I am not inclined to throw down the
gauntlet in their cause, and must e'en do my duty and carry out the
orders of the master whose bread I eat," said Leslie.

Nigel did not reply, but he felt more than ever determined not to take
service on shore, however tempting the offers he might receive. Leslie
told him that of late years, throughout France, many hundreds, nay,
thousands of persons, after being broken on the wheel, or having had
their tongues cut out, or being tortured in some other way, had been
burnt at the stake for their religious opinions; but that,
notwithstanding, the Protestants increased in numbers, and that, for his
part, though himself a faithful son of the Church, he thought that a
wiser plan might have been adopted.

"For my part, I believe that had not the Pope and the priests and monks
interfered, and worked up some of our fanatic nobles and the ignorant
populace to persecute their fellow-countrymen, they might have lived
together on friendly terms; and, for the life of me, I cannot see why
people should not be allowed to worship God according to the dictates of
their consciences," added the shrewd Scotchman, with a shrug of his
shoulders.

Nigel, who had only heard rumours of such proceedings, felt his blood
boil with indignation, and instinctively touching the hilt of his sword,
he vowed that he was ready to do battle in the cause of justice and
humanity. His kinsman, who saw the act, smiled; and divining his
thoughts, said, "Let me advise you to avoid interference in quarrels not
your own, unless you receive a due recompense in pay, and then the less
you trouble yourself about the rights of the case the better. Come
along. The first thing we are to do is to look out for your steed.
Honest Jacques Cochut will supply you with one which will bear you from
one end of France to the other, and an attendan