'Who would you like him to be?' inquired Gyp, smiling.
At this all the Brethren looked at one another and winked mysteriously. Yellow-cap, who was fast becoming wise, and who knew more about this matter than he cared to admit, could not help wondering at his queer position—the Head of a Secret Society hostile to the very monarch who had offered him his kingdom that same afternoon. The thought of it made him feel quite hot; and he was so far forgetting himself as to be on the point of taking off his cap to cool his forehead, when Gyp caught his arm, and a murmur of horror ran through the assembly.
'Forbear! as you value your credit!' cried Ruba.
'And your gentility!' exclaimed Dubb.
'And your influence!' called out Dubsix.
'And your success!' shouted Menin.
'And your reputation!' bawled Atub.
'It is against the first law of the Brotherhood,' added Ruba.
'We all have headaches,' asserted Dubb.