CHAPTER XXXII.
THE DOUBLE BRIBE.
"Sordid, mean, and miserly, he has made various compacts, he has made a compact with pride; a compact with avarice; a compact with knavery; a compact with ambition; a compact with contempt; a compact with mammon; a compact with all the evil passions, and with all the fiends!"—Tantalus.
"Welcome as a fair wind!" said Barton, leaping lightly ashore, though he was heavily armed in a suit of black unpolished armour, and carried in his hand a Jedwood axe—"Welcome, doughtie Davie."
"And welcome thou, my comrade and shipmate," replied Falconer, as they drew off their steel gloves, and shook hands, but without a smile, for their hearts were full of stern thoughts.
"What tidings are there 'long shore, eh?" asked Barton.
"Evil enough—the lords are all in arms in the Carse, and to-morrow we hope to give them battle."
"Would I might leave the ship and share it with thee!"
"And why not?" asked Falconer.
"The admiral——"
"True—true."