“Only a lot of geese, but who cares for their hissing? Listen, my friends, you see I am here all safe and sound; don’t you think that there has been enough of all this nonsense? It is time to go to work, and now, some of you tell me where we can go to plan for what must be done.”
“You can come to my forge, if you like,” said Gangnot, and led the way; soon we were all gathered there in the darkness, with the door tight shut. The place smelt of burnt horn and horses, and a lantern standing on the rough floor threw our monstrous shadows on the smoky beams of the roof. At first no one dared to speak a word, and then they all broke out and talked at once, until Gangnot seized his great hammer and struck a resounding blow on the anvil, which shook the loud voices again into silence; whereupon I managed to make myself heard.
“Friends,” said I, “don’t waste your breath in telling me what has happened, for I know as much as you do about it;—you say the brigands are here,—I say we must throw them out; you say the mob is on their side,—well, what of that? Mobs are men, just like you and me, who want to wet their throats when they see others drinking. We are told it is a sin to tempt Providence, but it is still worse to dangle a lot of rich booty before the eyes of poor devils, who have not one penny to rub against another; they may not be thieves themselves, but they have no objection to profit by the stealings of others. You know, there are all sorts of people in the world, and as the Lord says, we must divide the sheep from the goats.”
“Master Racquin is an Alderman, and he ordered us to do nothing,” said some of the more timid. “The whole authority of the city rests in his hands, you know, and now that the Lieutenant, the Procurator, and all the others are absent, he is charged to keep order.”
“Well, does he do it?”
“He tries his best.”
“I ask you, has he kept the town in order? No! Well then, we will do it ourselves!”
“Master Racquin has solemnly promised us that if we keep perfectly quiet, all our property shall be protected, and the disturbances be confined to the suburbs.”
“And how is he going to keep that promise?”
“He was forced to make some kind of a treaty with the brigands, but he says that it was only to get them in his power.”