"'I discovered their treason in time; but they also obtained the information that I had found it out; and one night they got on board a small bark, which was ready to sail, and fled from my wrath. I, hearing of this, flew on the wings of my just anger to the sea-shore, and found that they had been gone about twenty hours. Blind with fury, and full of a desire for vengeance, without waiting to take any counsel or prudent consideration, I embarked in this vessel, and followed them, not with the authority and paraphernalia of a monarch, but as a private enemy. I found them at the end of ten days in an island, called the Isle of Fire; I had them seized and immediately confined in the manner you have seen, to convey them back to Norway, and deliver them up to the punishment due to their crime.
"'This is the plain truth. Those are the delinquents; I am a king; and I promise to give you as my ransom one hundred thousand pieces of gold; not that I have them with me, but I give you my word of honour to send them wheresoever you please; and as a security, if my word suffices not, take me along with you in your own ship, and let some of your people go in mine until they reach Norway, and fetch the money, to carry it whither it pleases you. I have no more to say.'
"My companions looked one on the other, and gave me time to answer for all, which, as their captain, I had a right to do; but, nevertheless, I wished to take the opinion of Carino and Solercio, and some of the others, that they might not think I presumed upon the command they had themselves given me over them; and so the answer I gave the king was to say—'My lord, these men you see before you are not in arms for lucre of gain, nor for any of the ambitious ends which commonly influence people; we are in search of robbers, we are seeking to chastise some ruffians, and to destroy some pirates, and as you are none of these, your life is safe with us; but if we can serve you in any way, you have only to ask us: and, although we thank you for the rich ransom you offer, we absolve you from giving any, since, as you are not a prisoner, you cannot be obliged to act like one. Follow your own course in peace, and all that I would ask of you is, to beseech your pardon for the offenders, as the greatness of a king shines forth more in acts of mercy than even of justice.' He would fain have humbled himself at my feet, but I prevented this, and begged that he would give us some powder and divide his provisions with us, which he did immediately. I also said to him, that in case he did not like to forgive the two criminals entirely, I would advise him to allow me take them away in my vessel, and I would convey them to a distant land, where they could never more offend him. He agreed to this, for he said that the presence of the guilty pair would always revive the memory of their crime. I then gave my command that we should return to our ship, with the provisions and the powder, that the king had given us, and was going to send for the two prisoners, already free from their confinement, when a fresh breeze suddenly sprung up which prevented this: it quickly separated the two vessels without a possibility of their coming again together. I stood upon the deck, and cried aloud, 'Adieu!' to the old king, who had ordered himself to be lifted from his bed, and supported in the arms of his servants, he waved his farewell to our ship—and I also must take my leave of you for the present, as I shall need rest before I begin upon my next adventure."
FOOTNOTES:
[H] ] Danea in the original.
CHAPTER XV.
He relates what passed concerning Sulpicia, the Niece of Cratilius, King of Lithuania.