by G. A. Henty
Chapter 10: In Evil Plight.
When Charlie recovered his senses, he found himself lying bound ina room lighted by a dim lamp, which sufficed only to show that thebeams were blackened by smoke and age, and the walls constructed ofrough stone work. There was, so far as he could see, no furniturewhatever in it, and he imagined that it was an underground cellar,used perhaps, at some time or other, as a storeroom. It was sometime before his brain was clear enough to understand what hadhappened, or how he had got into his present position. Graduallythe facts came back to him, and he was able to think coherently, inspite of a splitting headache, and a dull, throbbing pain at theback of his head.
"I was knocked down and stunned," he said to himself, at last. "Iwonder what became of Stanislas. I hope he got away.
"This does not look like a prison. I should say that it was acellar, in the house of one of the gang that set upon me. It isevident that someone has betrayed me, probably that Jew, BenSoloman. What have they brought me here for? I wonder what are theygoing to do with me."
His head, however, hurt him too much for him to continue the strainof thought, and, after a while, he dozed off to sleep. When heawoke, a faint light was streaming in through a slit, two or threeinches wide, high up on the wall. He still felt faint and dizzy,from the effects of the blow. Parched with thirst, he tried to callout for water, but scarce a sound came from his lips.
Gradually, the room seemed to darken and become indistinct, and heagain lapsed into insensibility. When he again became conscious,someone was pouring water between his lips, and he heard a voicespeaking loudly and angrily. He had picked up a few words of Polishfrom Stanislas--the names of common things, the words to use incase he lost his way, how to ask for food and for stabling for ahorse, but he was unable to understand what was said. He judged,however, that someone was furiously upbraiding the man who wasgiving him water, for the latter now and then muttered excuses.
"He is blowing the fellow up, for having so nearly let me slipthrough their fingers," he said to himself. "Probably they want toquestion me, and find out who I have been in communication with.They shall get nothing, at present, anyhow."
He kept his eyes resolutely closed. Presently, he heard a dooropen, and another man come in. A few words were exchanged, and,this time, wine instead of water was poured down his throat. Thenhe was partly lifted up, and felt a cooling sensation at the backof his head. Some bandages were passed round it, and he was laiddown again. There was some more conversation, then a door openedand two of the men went out; the third walked back to him,muttering angrily to himself.
Charlie felt sure that he had been moved from the place in which hehad been the evening before. His bonds had been loosed, and he waslying on straw, and not on the bare ground. Opening his eyelids theslightest possible degree, he was confirmed in his belief, byseeing that there was much more light than could have entered thecellar. He dared not look farther, and, in a short time, fell intoa far more refreshing sleep than that he before had.
The next time he woke his brain was clearer, though there was stilla dull sense of pain where he had been struck. Without opening hiseyes, he listened attentively. There was some sound of movement inthe room, and, presently, he heard a faint regular breathing. Thiscontinued for some time, and he then heard a sort of grunt.
"He is asleep," he said to himself, and, opening his eyes slightlylooked round. He was in another chamber. It was grimy with dirt,and almost as unfurnished as the cellar, but there was a windowthrough which the sun was streaming brightly. He, himself, lay upona heap of straw. At the opposite side of the room was a similarheap, and upon this a man was sitting, leaning against the wall,with his chin dropped on his chest.
The thought of escape at once occurred to Charlie. Could he reachthe window, which was without glass and a mere opening in the wall,without awakening his guard, he could drop out and make for AllanRamsay's. As soon as he tried to move, however, he found that thisidea was for the present impracticable. He felt too weak to lifthis head, and, at the slight rustle of straw caused by the attempt,the man opposite roused himself with a start.
He gave another slight movement, and then again lay quiet with hiseyes closed. The man came across and spoke, but he made no sign.Some more wine was poured between his lips, then the man returnedto his former position, and all was quiet.
As he lay thinking his position over, Charlie thought that thosewho had set his assailants to their work must have had twoobjects--the one to put a stop to his efforts to organize anagitation against the king, the second to find out, by questioninghim, who were those with whom he had been in communication, inorder that they might be arrested, and their property confiscated.He could see no other reason why his life should be spared by hisassailants, for it would have been easier, and far lesstroublesome, to run him through as he lay senseless on the ground,than to carry him off and keep him a prisoner.
This idea confirmed the suspicion he had first entertained, thatthe assault had been organized by Ben Soloman. He could have noreal interest in the king, for he was ready to join in theorganization against him, could he have obtained his own terms. Hemight intend to gain credit with the royal party, by claiming tohave stopped a dangerous plot, and at the same time to benefithimself, by bringing about the expulsion or death of many of hisforeign trade rivals. For this end, the Jew would desire that heshould be taken alive, in order to serve as a witness against theothers.
"He will not get any names from me," he said. "Besides, none ofthem have promised to take any active measures against Augustus. Idid not ask them to do so. There is no high treason in trying toinfluence public opinion. Still, it is likely enough that the Jewwants to get me to acknowledge that an insurrection was intended,and will offer me my freedom, if I will give such testimony. As Iam altogether in his power, the only thing to do is to pretend tobe a great deal worse than I am, and so to gain time, till I amstrong enough to try to get away from this place."
All this was not arrived at, at once, but was the result ofhalf-dreamy cogitation extending over hours, and interrupted byshort snatches of sleep. He was conscious that, from time to time,someone came into the room and spoke to his guard; and that, threeor four times, wine was poured between his lips. Once he was raisedup, and fresh cloths, dipped in water, and bandages applied to hishead.
In the evening, two or three men came in, and he believed that herecognized the voice of one of them as that of Ben Soloman. One ofthe men addressed him suddenly and sharply in Swedish.
"How are you feeling? Are you in pain? We have come here to giveyou your freedom."
Charlie was on his guard, and remained silent, with his eyesclosed.
"It is of no use," Ben Soloman said in his own language. "Thefellow is still insensible. The clumsy fool who hit him would farebadly, if I knew who he was. I said that he was to be knocked down,silenced, and brought here; and here he is, of no more use than ifhe were dead."
"He will doubtless come round, in time," another said in anapologetic tone. "We will bring him round, if you will havepatience, Ben Soloman."
"Well, well," the other replied, "a few days will make nodifference; but mind that he is well guarded, directly he begins togain strength. I will get him out of the town, as soon as I can.Allan Ramsay has laid a complaint, before the mayor, that hiscountryman has been attacked by a band of ruffians, and has beeneither killed or carried off by them. It is a pity that servant ofhis was not killed."
"We thought he was dead. Two or three of us looked at him, and Icould have sworn that life was out of him."
"Well, then, you would have sworn what was not true, for he managedto crawl to Ramsay's, where he lies, I am told, dangerously ill,and an official has been to him, to obtain his account of the fray.It was a bungled business, from beginning to end."
"We could not have calculated on the fellows making such aresistance," the other grumbled. "This one seemed but a lad, andyet he killed three of our party, and the other killed one. A nicebusiness that; and you will have to
pay their friends well, BenSoloman, for I can tell you there is grumbling at the price, whichthey say was not enough for the work, which you told them would beeasy."
"It ought to have been," the Jew said sullenly. "Fifteen or twentymen to overpower a lad. What could have been more easy? However, Iwill do something for the friends of the men who were fools enoughto get themselves killed, but if I hear any grumbling from theothers, it will be worse for them; there is not one I could not layby the heels in jail.
"Well, as to this young fellow, I shall not come again. I do notwant to be noticed coming here. Keep a shrewd lookout after him."
"There is no fear about that," the man said. "It will be long erehe is strong enough to walk."
"When he gets better, we will have him taken away to a safe placeoutside the town. Once there, I can make him say what I like."
"And if he does not get well?"
"In that case, we will take away his body and bury it outside. Iwill see to that myself."
"I understand," the other sneered. "You don't want anyone to knowwhere it is buried, so as to be able to bring it up against you."
"You attend to your own business," the Jew said angrily. "Whyshould I care about what they say? At any rate, there are somematters between you and me, and there is no fear of your speaking."
"Not until the time comes when I may think it worth my while tothrow away my life, in order to secure your death, Ben Soloman."
"It is of no use talking like that," the Jew said quietly. "We areuseful to each other. I have saved your life from the gibbet, youhave done the work I required. Between us, it is worse thanchildish to threaten in the present matter. I do not doubt that youwill do your business well, and you know that you will be well paidfor it; what can either of us require more?"
Charlie would have given a good deal to understand theconversation, and he would have been specially glad to learn thatStanislas had escaped with his life; for he had taken a great fancyto the young Lithuanian, and was grieved by the thought that he hadprobably lost his life in his defence.
Three days passed. His head was now clear, and his appetitereturning, and he found, by quietly moving at night, when his guardwas asleep, that he was gaining strength. The third day, there wassome talking among several men who entered the room; then he waslifted, wrapt up in some cloths, and put into a large box. He feltthis being hoisted up, it was carried downstairs, and then placedon something. A minute afterwards he felt a vibration, followed bya swaying and bumping, and guessed at once that he was on a cart,and was being removed, either to prison or to some other place ofconfinement. The latter he considered more probable.
The journey was a long one. He had no means of judging time, but hethought that it must have lasted two or three hours. Then therumbling ceased, the box was lifted down, and carried a shortdistance, then the lid was opened and he was again laid down onsome straw. He heard the sound of cart wheels, and knew that thevehicle on which he had been brought was being driven away.
He was now so hungry that he felt he could no longer maintain theappearance of insensibility. Two men were talking in the room, andwhen, for a moment, their conversation ceased, he gave a low groan,and then opened his eyes. They came at once to his bedside, withexclamations of satisfaction.
"How do you feel?" one asked in Swedish.
"I do not know," he said in a low tone. "Where am I, how did I gethere?"
"You are with friends. Never mind how you got here. You have beenill, but you will soon get well again. Someone hit you on the head,and we picked you up and brought you here."
"I am weak and faint," Charlie murmured. "Have you any food?"
"You shall have some food, directly it is prepared. Take a drink ofwine, and see if you can eat a bit of bread while the broth ispreparing."
Charlie drank a little of the wine that was put to his lips, andthen broke up the bread, and ate it crumb by crumb, as if it were agreat effort to do so, although he had difficulty in restraininghimself from eating it voraciously. When he had finished it, heclosed his eyes again, as if sleep had overpowered him. An hourlater, there was a touch on his shoulder.
"Here is some broth, young fellow. Wake up and drink that, it willdo you good."
Charlie, as before, slowly sipped down the broth, and then reallyfell asleep, for the jolting had fatigued him terribly.
It was evening when he awoke. Two men were sitting at a blazingfire. When he moved, one of them brought him another basin ofbroth, and fed him with a spoon.
Charlie had been long enough in the country to know, by theappearance of the room, that he was in a peasant's hut. He wonderedwhy he had been brought there, and concluded that it must bebecause Allan Ramsay had set so stringent a search on foot in thecity, that they considered it necessary to take him away.
"They will not keep me here long," he said to himself. "I am surethat I could walk now, and, in another two or three days, I shallbe strong enough to go some distance. That soup has done me a dealof good. I believe half my weakness is from hunger."
He no longer kept up the appearance of unconsciousness, and, in themorning, put various questions, to the man who spoke Swedish, as towhat had happened and how he came to be there. This man wasevidently, from his dress and appearance, a Jew, while the otherwas as unmistakably a peasant, a rough powerfully-built man with anevil face. The Jew gave him but little information, but told himthat in a day or two, when he was strong enough to listen, a friendwould come who would tell him all about it.
On the third day, he heard the sound of an approaching horse, andwas not surprised when, after a conversation in a low tone outside,Ben Soloman entered. Charlie was now much stronger, but he hadcarefully abstained from showing any marked improvement, speakingalways in a voice a little above a whisper, and allowing the men tofeed him, after making one or two pretended attempts to convey thespoon to his mouth.
"Well, Master Englishman," Ben Soloman said, as he came up to hisbedside, "what do you think of things?"
"I do not know what to think," Charlie said feebly. "I do not knowwhere I am, or why I am here. I remember that there was a fray inthe street, and I suppose I was hurt. But why was I brought here,instead of being taken to my lodgings?"
"Because you would be no use to me in your lodging, and you may bea great deal of use to me here," Ben Soloman said. "You know youendeavoured to entrap me into a plot against the king's life."
Charlie shook his head, and looked wonderingly at the speaker.
"No, no," he said, "there was no plot against the king's life. Ionly asked if you would use your influence among your friends toturn popular feeling against Augustus."
"Nothing of the kind," the Jew said harshly. "You wanted himremoved by poison or the knife. There is no mistake about that, andthat is what I am going to swear, and what, if you want to saveyour life, you will have to swear too; and you will have to givethe names of all concerned in the plot, and to swear that they wereall agreed to bring about the death of the king. Now you understandwhy you were brought here. You are miles away from another house,and you may shout and scream as loud as you like. You are in mypower."
"I would die rather than make a false accusation."
"Listen to me," the Jew said sternly. "You are weak now, too weakto suffer much. This day week I will return, and then you had bestchange your mind, and sign a document I shall bring with me, withthe full particulars of the plot to murder the king, and the namesof those concerned in it. This you will sign. I shall take it tothe proper authorities, and obtain a promise that your life shallbe spared, on condition of your giving evidence against thesepersons."
"I would never sign such a villainous document," Charlie said.
"You will sign it," Ben Soloman said calmly. "When you findyourself roasting over a slow charcoal fire, you will be ready tosign anything I wish you to."
So saying, he turned and left the room. He talked for some time tothe men outside, then Charlie heard him ride off.
"You villain," he said to himself. "
When you come, at the end of aweek, you will not find me here; but, if I get a chance of having areckoning with you, it will be bad for you."
Charlie's progress was apparently slow. The next day he was able tosit up and feed himself. Two days later he could totter across theroom, and lie down before the fire. The men were completelydeceived by his acting, and, considering any attempt to escape, inhis present weak state, altogether impossible, paid but little heedto him, the peasant frequently absenting himself for hourstogether.
Looking from his window, Charlie saw that the hut was situated in athick wood, and, from the blackened appearance of the peasant'sface and garments, he guessed him to be a charcoal burner, andtherefore judged that the trees he saw must form part of a forestof considerable extent.
The weather was warm, and his other guard often sat, for a while,outside the door. During his absence, Charlie lifted the logs ofwood piled beside the hearth, and was able to test his returningstrength, assuring himself that, although not yet fully recovered,he was gaining ground daily. He resolved not to wait until theseventh day; for Ben Soloman might change his mind, and returnbefore the day he had named. He determined, therefore, that on thesixth day he would make the attempt.
He had no fear of being unable to overcome his Jewish guard, as hewould have the advantage of a surprise. He only delayed as long aspossible, because he doubted his powers of walking any greatdistance, and of evading the charcoal burner, who would, on hisreturn, certainly set out in pursuit of him. Moreover, he wished toremain in the hut nearly up to the time of the Jew's return, as hewas determined to wait in the forest, and revenge himself for thesuffering he had caused him, and for the torture to which heintended to put him.
The evening before the day on which he decided to make the attempt,the charcoal burner and the Jew were in earnest conversation. Theword signifying brigand was frequently repeated, and, although hecould not understand much more than this, he concluded, from thepeasant's talk and gestures, that he had either come across some ofthese men in the forest, or had gathered from signs he hadobserved, perhaps from their fires, that they were there.
The Jew shrugged his shoulders when the narration was finished. Thepresence of brigands was a matter of indifference to him. The nextday, the charcoal burner went off at noon.
"Where does he go to?" Charlie asked his guard.
"He has got some charcoal fires alight, and is obliged to go andsee to them. They have to be kept covered up with wet leaves andearth, so that the wood shall only smoulder," the man said, as helounged out of the hut to his usual seat.
Charlie waited a short time, then went to the pile of logs, andpicked out a straight stick about a yard long and two inches indiameter. With one of the heavier ones he could have killed theman, but the fellow was only acting under the orders of hisemployer, and, although he would doubtless, at Ben Soloman'scommands, have roasted him alive without compunction, he had notbehaved with any unkindness, and had, indeed, seemed to do his bestfor him.
Taking the stick, he went to the door. He trod lightly, but in thestillness of the forest the man heard him, and glanced round as hecame out.
Seeing the stick in his hand he leaped up, exclaiming, "You youngfool!" and sprang towards him.
He had scarce time to feel surprise, as Charlie quickly raised theclub. It described a swift sweep, fell full on his head, and hedropped to the ground as if shot.
Charlie ran in again, seized a coil of rope, bound his hands andfeet securely, and dragged him into the hut. Then he dashed somecold water on his face. The man opened his eyes, and tried to move.
"You are too tightly bound to move, Pauloff," he said. "I couldhave killed you if I had chosen, but I did not wish to. You havenot been unkind to me, and I owe you no grudge; but tell yourrascally employer that I will be even with him, someday, for theevil he has done me."
"You might as well have killed me," the man said, "for he will doso when he finds I let you escape."
"Then my advice to you is, be beforehand with him. You are asstrong a man as he is, and if I were in your place, and a man whomeant to kill me came into a lonely hut like this, I would takeprecious good care that he had no chance of carrying out hisintentions."
Charlie then took two loaves of black bread and a portion of goat'sflesh from the cupboard; found a bottle about a quarter full ofcoarse spirits, filled it up with water and put it in his pocket,and then, after taking possession of the long knife his captivewore in his belt, went out of the hut and closed the door behindhim.
He had purposely moved slowly about the hut, as he made thesepreparations, in order that the Jew should believe that he wasstill weak; but, indeed, the effort of dragging the man into thehut had severely taxed his strength, and he found that he was muchweaker than he had supposed.
The hut stood in a very small clearing, and Charlie had nodifficulty in seeing the track by which the cart had come, for themarks of the wheels were still visible in the soft soil. Hefollowed this until, after about two miles' walking, he came to theedge of the wood. Then he retraced his steps for a quarter of amile, turned off, and with some difficulty made his way into apatch of thick undergrowth, where, after first cutting a formidablecudgel, he lay down, completely exhausted.
Late in the afternoon he was aroused from a doze by the sound offootsteps, and, looking through the screen of leaves, he saw hislate jailers hurrying along the path. The charcoal burner carried aheavy axe, while the Jew, whose head was bound up with a cloth, hada long knife in his girdle. They went as far as the end of theforest, and then retraced their steps slowly. They were talkingloudly, and Charlie could gather, from the few words he understood,and by their gestures, something of the purport of theirconversation.
"I told you it was of no use your coming on as far as this," theJew said. "Why, he was hardly strong enough to walk."
"He managed to knock you down, and afterwards to drag you into thehouse," the other said.
"It does not require much strength to knock a man down with a heavyclub, when he is not expecting it, Conrad. He certainly did drag mein, but he was obliged to sit down afterwards, and I watched himout of one eye as he was making his preparations, and he could onlyjust totter about. I would wager you anything he cannot have gonetwo hundred yards from the house. That is where we must search forhim. I warrant we shall find him hidden in a thicket thereabouts."
"We shall have to take a lantern then, for it will be dark beforewe get back."
"Our best plan will be to leave it alone till morning. If we sitoutside the hut, and take it in turns to watch, we shall hear himwhen he moves, which he is sure to do when it gets dark. It will bea still night, and we should hear a stick break half a mile away.We shall catch him, safe enough, before he has gone far."
"Well, I hope we shall have him back before Ben Soloman comes," thecharcoal burner said, "or it will be worse for both of us. You knowas well as I do he has got my neck in a noose, and he has got histhumb on you."
"If we can't find this Swede, I would not wait here for any money.I would fly at once."
"You would need to fly, in truth, to get beyond Ben Soloman'sclutches," the charcoal burner said gruffly. "He has got agents allover the country."
"Then what would you do?"
"There is only one thing to do. It is our lives or his. When herides up tomorrow, we will meet him at the door as if nothing hadhappened, and, with my axe, I will cleave his head asunder as hecomes in. If he sees me in time to retreat, you shall stab him inthe back. Then we will dig a big hole in the wood, and throw himin, and we will kill his horse and bury it with him.
"Who would ever be the wiser? I was going to propose it last time,only I was not sure of you then; but, now that you are in it asdeep as I am--deeper, indeed, for he put you here specially to lookafter this youngster--your interest in the matter is as great asmine."
The Jew was silent for some time, then he said:
"He has got papers at home which would bring me to the gallows."
"Pooh!" the other
said. "You do not suppose that, when it is foundthat he does not return, and his heirs open his coffers, they willtake any trouble about what there may be in the papers there,except such as relate to his money. I will warrant there are papersthere which concern scores of men besides you, for I know that BenSoloman likes to work with agents he has got under his thumb. But,even if all the papers should be put into the hands of theauthorities, what would come of it? They have got their hands fullof other matters, for the present, and with the Swedes on theirfrontier, and the whole country divided into factions, who do youthink is going to trouble to hunt up men for affairs that occurredyears ago? Even if they did, they would not catch you. They havenot got the means of running you down that Ben Soloman has.
"I tell you, man, it must be done. There is no other way out ofit."
"Well, Conrad, if we cannot find this fellow before Ben Solomancomes, I am with you in the business. I have been working for himon starvation pay for the last three years, and hate him as much asyou can."
When they reached the hut they cooked a meal, and then prepared tokeep alternate watch.
Charlie slept quietly all night, and, in the morning, remained inhis hiding place until he heard, in the distance, the sound of ahorse's tread. Then he went out and sat down, leaning against atree by the side of the path, in an attitude of exhaustion.
Presently he saw Ben Soloman approaching. He got up feebly, andstaggered a few paces to another tree, farther from the path. Heheard an angry shout, and then Ben Soloman rode up, and, with atorrent of execrations at the carelessness of the watchers, leaptfrom his horse and sprang to seize the fugitive, whom he regardedas incapable of offering the slightest resistance.
Charlie straightened himself up, as if with an effort, and raisedhis cudgel.
"I will not be taken alive," he said.
Ben Soloman drew his long knife from his girdle. "Drop that stick,"he said, "or it will be worse for you."
"It cannot be worse than being tortured to death, as you said."
The Jew, with an angry snarl, sprang forward so suddenly andunexpectedly that he was within the swing of Charlie's cudgelbefore the latter could strike. He dropped the weapon at once, andcaught the wrist of the uplifted hand that held the knife.
The Jew gave a cry of astonishment and rage, as they clasped eachother, and he found that, instead of an unresisting victim, he wasin a powerful grasp. For a moment there was a desperate struggle.
The Jew would, at ordinary times, have been no match for Charlie,but the latter was far from having regained his normal strength.His fury at the treatment he had received at the man's hands,however, enabled him, for the moment, to exert himself to theutmost, and, after swaying backwards and forwards in desperatestrife for a minute, they went to the ground with a crash, BenSoloman being undermost.
The Jew's grasp instantly relaxed, and Charlie, springing to hisfeet and seizing his cudgel, stood over his fallen antagonist. Thelatter, however, did not move. His eyes were open in a fixed stare.Charlie looked at him in surprise for a moment, thinking he wasstunned, then he saw that his right arm was twisted under him inthe fall, and at once understanding what had happened, turned himhalf over. He had fallen on the knife, which had penetrated to thehaft, killing him instantly.
"I didn't mean to kill you," Charlie said aloud, "much as youdeserve it, and surely as you would have killed me, if I hadrefused to act as a traitor. I would have broken your head for you,but that was all. However, it is as well as it is. It adds to mychance of getting away, and I have no doubt there will be many whowill rejoice when you are found to be missing.
"Now," he went on, "as your agents emptied my pockets, it is norobbery to empty yours. Money will be useful, and so will yourhorse."
He stooped over the dead man, and took the purse from his girdle,when suddenly there was a rush of feet, and in a moment he wasseized. The thought flashed through his mind that he had falleninto the power of his late guardians, but a glance showed that themen standing round were strangers.
"Well, comrade, and who are you?" the man who was evidently theleader asked. "You have saved us some trouble. We were sleeping ahundred yards or two away, when we heard the horseman, and saw, ashe passed, he was the Jew of Warsaw, to whom two or three of us oweour ruin, and it did not need more than a word for us to agree towait for him till he came back. We were surprised when we saw you,still more so when the Jew jumped from his horse and attacked you.We did not interfere, because, if he had got the best of you, hemight have jumped on his horse and ridden off, but directly he fellwe ran out, but you were so busy in taking the spoil that you didnot hear us.
"I see the Jew is dead; fell on his own knife. It is just as wellfor him, for we should have tied him to a tree, and made a bonfireof him, if we had caught him."
Charlie understood but little of this, but said when the otherfinished:
"I understand but little Polish."
"What are you then--a Russian? You do not look like one."
"I am an Englishman, and am working in the house of Allan Ramsay, aScotch trader in Warsaw."
"Well, you are a bold fellow anyhow, and after the smart way inwhich you disposed of this Jew, and possessed yourself of hispurse, you will do honour to our trade."
"I hope you will let me go," Charlie said. "My friends in Warsawwill pay a ransom for me, if you will let me return there."
"No, no, young fellow. You would of course put down this Jew'sdeath to our doing, and we have weight enough on our backs already.He is a man of great influence, and all his tribe would be pressingon the government to hunt us down. You shall go with us, and thepurse you took from Ben Soloman will pay your footing."
Charlie saw that it would be useless to try and alter the man'sdecision, especially as he knew so little of the language. Hetherefore shrugged his shoulders, and said that he was ready to gowith them, if it must be so.
The Jew's body was now thoroughly searched. Various papers werefound upon him, but, as these proved useless to the brigands, theywere torn up.
"Shall we take the horse with us?" one of the men asked the leader.
"No, it would be worse than useless in the forest. Leave itstanding here. It will find its way back in time. Then there willbe a search, and there will be rejoicing in many a mansionthroughout the country, when it is known that Ben Soloman is dead.They say he has mortgages on a score of estates, and, though Isuppose these will pass to others of his tribe, they can hardly beas hard and mercenary as this man was.
"I wonder what he was doing in this forest alone? Let us follow thepath, and see where he is going.
"Honred, you have a smattering of several languages, try then ifyou can make our new comrade understand."
The man tried in Russian without success, then he spoke in Swedish,in which language Charlie at once replied.
"Where does this pathway lead to?"
"To a hut where a charcoal burner lives. I have been imprisonedthere for the last fortnight. It was all the Jew's doing. It wasthrough him that I got this knock here;" and he pointed to theunhealed wound at the back of his head.
"Well, we may as well pay them a visit," the chief said, when thiswas translated to him. "We are short of flour, and they may havesome there, and maybe something else that will be useful."