I bade
him go below and fetch the wine, telling the landlord that I, too
had a fancy for it.
"But what of Antoine?" he asked. "They will drug him."
"Let them. We can manage this affair, you and I, without his help.
If they did not drug him, they might haply stab him. So that in
being drugged lies his safety."
As I bade him so he did, and presently he returned with a great
steaming measure. This I emptied into a ewer, then returned it to
him that he might take it back to the host with my thanks and our
appreciation. Thus should we give them confidence that the way
was clear and smooth for them.
Thereafter there befell precisely that which already you will be
expecting, and nothing that you cannot guess. It was perhaps at
the end of an hour's silent waiting that one of them came. We had
left the door unbarred so that his entrance was unhampered. But
scarce was he within when out of the dark, on either side of him,
rose Gilles and I. Before he had realized it, he was lifted off
his feet and deposited upon the bed without a cry; the only sound
being the tinkle of the knife that dropped from his suddenly
unnerved hand.
On the bed, with Gilles's great knee in his stomach, and Gilles's
hands at his throat, he was assured in unequivocal terms that at
his slightest outcry we would make an end of him. I kindled a
light. We trussed him hand and foot with the bedclothes, and then,
whilst he lay impotent and silent in his terror, I proceeded to
discuss the situation with him.
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