Then he added, addressing Captain Hugues: “Leave us—go away.”
“Alone with this robber, M. Commander?”
“We are three,” said Pierre des Anbiez, pointing to his arms hanging on the wall.
“Do you take me, then, for an assassin?” said Hadji, with scorn.
The artillery officer shrugged his shoulders, and went out with evident regret, although the tall stature and robust figure of the commander, compared to the slender proportions of the Bohemian, ought to have reassured him.
“Speak, as I do not wish to have you crucified yet at the prow of my galley,” said Pierre des Anbiez to the Bohemian.
The latter, with his accustomed insolence, replied: “When my hour comes it shall find me. Pog-Reis, captain of the Red Galleon, sends me to you, monseigneur. It was he who attacked La Ciotat that night; it is he certainly who has Reine des Anbiez in his power.”
“Enough, enough, wretch, do not boast longer of your crimes, or I will have your tongue torn out! What have you come to demand? I am eager to chastise your accomplices and make a terrible example of them. If you come to speak of favour and ransom, hear well what fate awaits you and yours; let them try to defend themselves or not, they shall all be carried in chains to La Ciotat, and burned in the middle of the town hall square. Do you understand clearly?”
“I understand clearly,” said the Bohemian, with imperturbable coolness. “Pog-Reis will not object to your burning his crew.”
“What do you mean? That he will deliver his accomplices to me, if I grant him his life? It is natural that barbarity like his should hide an ignoble cowardice. If that is his opinion, I am of another mind. The two captains of the galleys and you, all three shall be quartered before being burned, even if you deliver to me your accomplices bound hand and foot, to receive the punishment they deserve. So, go at once, and tell that to your confederates. Go! my blood boils when I think of that unfortunate city and my brother! Go! I do not wish to soil my hands with the blood of a bandit, and I wish you to warn your associates of the fate which awaits them!”