Thus Sir Archibald de Hagenbach raved, with a raised voice and inflamed countenance, lashing himself as it were into passion, until the steps of the soldiers, and the clash of their arms, as they retired with the prisoners, were no longer audible. His complexion, when these had ceased, waxed paler than was natural to him--his brow was furrowed with anxious wrinkles--and his voice became lower and more hesitating than ordinary, as, turning to his esquire, he said, "Kilian, we stand upon a slippery plank, with a raging torrent beneath us--What is to be done?" [Illustration: THE EXAMINATION. Drawn and Etched by R. de Los Rios.] "Marry, to move forward with a resolved yet prudent step," answered the crafty Kilian. "It is unlucky that all these fellows should have seen the packet, and heard the appeal of yonder iron-nerved trader. But this ill luck has befallen us, and the packet having been in your excellency's hands, you will have all the credit of having broken the seals; for, though you leave them as entire as the moment they were impressed, it will only be supposed they have been ingeniously replaced. Let us see what are the contents, before we determine what is to be done with them. They must be of rare value, since the churl merchant was well contented to leave behind all his rich mule's-load of merchandise, so that this precious packet might pass unexamined." "They may be papers on some political matter. Many such, and of high importance, pass secretly between Edward of England and our bold Duke." Such was the reply of De Hagenbach. "If they be papers of consequence to the Duke," answered Kilian, "we can forward them to Dijon.--Or they may be such as Louis of France would purchase with their weight of gold." "For shame, Kilian!" said the Knight. "Wouldst thou have me betray my master's secrets to the King of France? Sooner would I lay my head on the block." "Indeed? And yet your excellency hesitates not to"---- Here the squire stopped, apparently for fear of giving offence, by affixing a name too broad and intelligible to the practices of his patron. "To plunder the Duke, thou wouldst say, thou impudent slave? And, saying so, thou wouldst be as dull as thou art wont to be," answered De Hagenbach. "I partake, indeed, in the plunder which the Duke takes from aliens; and reason good. Even so the hound and the hawk have their share of the quarry they bring down--ay, and the lion's share too, unless the huntsman or falconer be all the nearer to them. Such are the perquisites of my rank; and the Duke, who placed me here for the gratification of his resentment, and the bettering of my fortune, does not grudge them to a faithful servant. And, indeed, I may term myself, in so far as this territory of La Ferette extends, the Duke's full representative, or, as it may be termed, ALTER EGO--and, thereupon, I will open this packet, which, being addressed to him, is thereby equally addressed to me."