"He who has come here so many times of late with fair words and fairer smiles, it is he who hath done this thing."
The others agreed that it was only he who could have, for no one else had ever penetrated to their abode or shared their confidence. Too late they bitterly rued having ever received the stranger.
They sat long that night talking. One said—
"We have no proof save our own conviction that he whom we met as a friend and a brother has robbed us; therefore what can we do?"
The others answered him—
"We will seek the King, to our requests he has always leant a kind and willing ear."
Meanwhile homeward through the sultry night rode a horseman with a heavy load.
When the dawn broke, they who had been robbed set out together to seek the Court of the King.