“And you have served on board those corsairs from Barbary.”
“Never! Never!”
“I tell you that one who has not sailed with the pirates of Algiers or Tunis cannot have the habit of making that triple knot that you have just made. Only pirates fasten tie anchor to the ring in that manner!”
The Bohemian now, in his turn, bit his lips until they bled, but, regaining his self-possession, he said:
“Come now, you have a sharp eye; you are both right and wrong, my lord watchman, this knot was taught me by one of our people, who joined us in Languedoc, after having been made a slave on a corsair from Algiers.”
Losing all patience, and furious at the villain’s impudence, the watchman cried:
“I tell you that you are lying. You came here to prepare some villainous scheme. Look at this!”
And the watchman held up the little satchel The Bohemian, struck with amazement, uttered a curse in Arabic in spite of himself.
If the watchman had felt the least doubt concerning the character of the Bohemian, this last exclamation, which had so often met his ears in his combats with the pirates, would have sufficed to prove the truth of his suspicions.
The eyes of the Bohemian flashed with rage.