"Toro," said Hunston to the Italian, "to you I may speak as the leader of these brave fellows; also to you, comrades in general, I may talk without fear of my motives being in any way misconstrued."
"Speak on."
"Here is the reply of the cold-blooded Englishman Harkaway to my demand for ransom, and you are all my witness that I did not exact a very unreasonable sum."
"No, no."
"What says he?"
"He sends this," returned Hunston, holding up a single hundred pound note: "one hundred pounds—two thousand, five hundred francs—in a word, one-fifth of the sum we demanded, and with it a letter."
A murmur of indignation followed.
"What does the letter say?" they demanded.
"He defies us; he offers this sum, but says that if the boys are not released before sunrise, he will come and fetch them."
"Let him come."