"Well—well," exclaimed Zingary: "I will not upbraid the young man more, since even my pretty Eva takes his part. You see," he continued, addressing himself especially to the gipsies, "it is as we thought. Skilligalee deserted us in order to liberate Margaret Flathers. I always believed that such was the case, from the moment we received the account of her escape. But I have one more question to ask our guest. Let him satisfy us how he traced Anthony Tidkins to the Palace, and how he learnt that Anthony Tidkins was wounded in the Palace."
"On that head I must remain silent," said Richard. "I will not invent a falsehood, and I cannot reveal the truth. Be you, however, well assured that I never betrayed the secrets and mysteries of your establishment in Saint Giles's."
"Our guest is an honourable man," observed Morcar. "We ought to be satisfied with what he says."
"I am satisfied," exclaimed the King. "Aischa, answer you the questions which it is now the young man's turn to put to us."
"I wish to know whether Anthony Tidkins died of the wound which he received?" said Richard.
"It was my lot to attend to his wound," began Aischa. "When he was so far recovered as to be able to speak—which was about half an hour after the blood was stanched—he implored me to have him removed from the Palace. He told me a long and pathetic story of persecutions and sufferings which he had undergone; and he offered to enrich our treasury if we would take him beyond the reach of the person who had wounded him. His anxiety to get away was extreme; and it was in consequence of his representations and promises that I prevailed upon the King to issue orders to those who were to leave London with us, to hurry the departure as much as possible. That accounts for the abrupt manner in which we left at such an hour, and for the removal of the wounded man with us. In answer to your direct question, I must inform you that he did not die of the wound which he received."
"He did not die!" repeated Markham. "Then he is still alive—and doubtless as active as ever in purposes of evil."
"Is he such a bad man?" asked Aischa.
"He belongs to the atrocious gang called Burkers," answered Richard emphatically.
"Merciful heavens!" cried Eva, with a shudder. "To think that we should have harboured such a wretch!"