“The robbers, I beg to point out to you, Ebearhard, are successful. It is success we are after, also a portion of that gold of which Herr Kurzbold has pathetically proclaimed his need.”
“Do you consider us your men-at-arms, then, in the same sense that a Rhine Baron would employ the term?”
“Certainly.”
“You claim the liberty of expelling any one you choose?”
“Yes; I claim the liberty to hang any of you if I find it necessary.”
“Oh, the devil!” cried Ebearhard, sitting down as if this went beyond him. He gazed up and down the table as much as to say, “I leave this in your hands, gentlemen.”
The meeting gave immediate expression of its agreement with Ebearhard.
“Gentlemen,” said Roland, “I insist that Conrad Kurzbold apologizes to me for the expressions he has used, and promises not again to offend in like manner.”
“I’ll do nothing of the sort,” asserted Kurzbold, with equal firmness.
“In that case,” exclaimed Roland, “I shall retire, and I ask you to put me in a position to repay Herr Goebel the money I extracted from him. I resign the very thankless office of so-called leadership.”