“If we are to earn the gold so easily as that,” said the woman, eagerly, “there they sleep above. Take them and welcome.”
“Perhaps it will not be quite so easy as you think,” said Sugden. “They, more than likely, will object to accompanying us.”
“What!” cried the woman, with a laugh, “would they so stand in the way of our earning a trifle of money? That would be uncivil of them.”
“Nevertheless,” said Hawkins, “they would object.”
The great red face of the woman became overspread with a grin.
“It may be,” she said, “that they will not care to make their objections very strong. We have a way with us—if you do not forbid it—of persuading those who do not fall in with our desires.”
“Rest assured,” said Hawkins, “that we forbid nothing.”
“Ah!” The huge body of the woman seemed to quiver like a jelly as she chuckled. “I understand you completely, now.” She turned to her husband. “We are forbidden nothing,” she said. “Perhaps we can come upon them much as we——”
“Be still,” said the landlord, in a low, warning tone.
But the woman only chuckled the more.