Here the Englishman burst into a loud fit of laughter.
"King Henry write to thee! By Jove, I like this impudence—it amuses me excessively!"
"So it seems," growled Borthwick, every glance of whose sinister eyes indicated the restless and evil soul within.
"Bah! people don't write that which is more safe when borne by word of mouth. Henry might hang me, or the King of Scots might hang us all, for letting our gaff too loose—our words would die with us; but letters will endure while ink and paper last. Yet where is our bond in cipher, of which King Henry has the key—we cannot do without that. Master Kraft, is it ready?"
"Here it is, sir," replied the little secretary, laying a piece of parchment on the cabin table.
"Then, sirs," said the English captain, "when you have signed it, this shall acquaint King Henry that ye are his liegemen, and pledge yourselves, with life, limb, and fortune, to further the English alliance of His Grace the Duke of Rothesay, on the understanding that Henry, by his new ambassador, urges your claims to the peerage, and that, on the espousal day, you each receive the sum of twenty thousand English crowns."
"It is agreed," said Shaw of Sauchie, as he and Gray touched the pen of Kraft, who wrote the names they were unable to sign; but Borthwick, having been educated as a priest, wrote in a bold hand, amid a multitude of flourishes, Heu Bortwyck, Knyt, at the bottom of this precious document.
"From the Inchcape, gentlemen, we must run over to St. Abb's-head; and after hanging off the land for a day or two, we will stand again towards the Tay. Here, on the evening of the 10th—St. Anthony's Day—we will be in the offing; if by that time you can give me this dainty dame to stow under hatch, all your fortunes are made."
"Enough—we shall see to it, Captain Howard," said Sir Patrick Gray, resuming his mask and cloak.
"Remember this, sir captain," said Borthwick: "the king's chaplain, James, Bishop of Dunblane, who is returning from Rome, will pass through England in disguise. I would recommend his capture, and the seizure of whatever papers may be found in his possession, for they may prove of much service to Henry, your king."