lain, and
turning his back on Maskew, walked slowly to and fro among the
bramble-plumps.

Though Maskew's words about his daughter seemed but to feed Elzevir's
anger, by leading him to think of David, they sank deep in my heart; and
if it had seemed a fearful thing before to stand by and see a
fellow-creature butchered, it seemed now ten thousand times more fearful.
And when I thought of Grace, and what such a deed would mean to her, my
pulse beat so fierce that I must needs spring to my feet and run to
reason with Elzevir, and tell him this must not be.

He was still walking among the bushes when I found him, and let me say
my say till I was out of breath, and bore with me if I talked fast, and
if my tongue outran my judgement.

'Thou hast a warm heart, lad,' he said, 'and 'tis for that I like thee.
And if thou hast a chief place in thy heart for me, I cannot grumble if
thou find a little room there even for our enemies. Would I could set thy
soul at ease, and do all that thou askest. In the first flush of wrath,
when he was taken plotting against our lives, it seemed a little thing
enough to take his evil life. But now these morning airs have cooled me,
and it goes against my will to shoot a cowering hound tied hand and foot,
even though he had murdered twenty sons of mine. I have thought if
there be any way to spare his life, and leave this hour's agony to read a
lesson not to be unlearned until the grave. For such poltroons dread
death, and in one hour they die a hundred times. But there is no way out:
his life lies in the scale against the lives of all our men, yes, and thy
life too. They left him in my hands well knowing I should take account of
him; and am I now to play them false and turn him loose again to hang
them all? It cannot be.'

Still I pleaded hard for Maskew's life, hanging on Elzevir's arm, and
using every argument that I could think of to soften his purpose; but he
pushed me off; and though I saw that he was loth to do it, I had a
terrible conviction that he was not a man to be turned back from his
resolve, and would go through with it to the end.

We came back together from the brambles to the piece of sward, and there
sat Maskew where we had left him with his back against the stone. Only,
while we were away he had managed to wriggle his watch out of the fob,
and it lay beside him on the turf, tied to him with a black silk riband.
The face of it was turned upwards, and as I passed I saw the ha