“Nay, by my oath, that he will never do more! The man is no coward, and he will not refuse me the amende I 'll ask for.”
“Were he on board, it is a loop and a leap I 'd treat him to,” said Enrique.
“So should I, perhaps,” said Cashel, “but the circumstances change with the place. Here he shall have the privilege of the class he has belonged to and disgraced.”
“Not a bit of it, Roland. He is an average member of the guild; the only difference being, with more than average ability. These fellows are all alike. Leave them, I say. Come and rough it with me in the Basque, where a gallant band are fighting for the true sovereign; or let us have another dash in the Far West, where the chase is as the peril and glory of war; or what say you to the East? a Circassian saddle and a cimeter would not be strange to us. Choose your own land, my boy, and let us meet this day month at Cadiz.”
“But why leave me, Enrique? I never had more need of a true-hearted friend than now.”
“No, I cannot stay; my last chance of seeing Maritaña depends on my reaching Naples at once; and as to your affair with Linton, it will be one of those things of etiquette, and measured distance, and hair-trigger, in which a rough sailor like myself would be out of place.”
“And Maritaña—tell me of her. They said that Rica had come to England.”
“Rica! He dared not set foot on shore. The fellow has few countries open to him now: nor is it known where he is.”
“And is she alone? Is Maritaña unprotected?”
“Alone, but not unprotected. The girl who has twice crossed the Cordilleras with a rifle on her shoulder need scarcely fear the insults of the coward herd that would molest her.”