"Then I will have nothing to do with him. I have no dealings with the people of La Roque. Run your pikes into his calves and make him skip down the hill." The attendant retired but returned shortly with a slip of paper, which he put into the Captain's hand. Guillem would have thrust it aside. "A scribbling petitioner--worst of all! Does he look as if he had money? Can he be made to pay? If so we will put him in the mortar and pound him." With careless indifference Guillem opened the paper and read the lines-- Messire le Gros,--If you want a lodging in La Roque now is your opportunity. From one who has charge of the keys. "Eh! eh!" exclaimed the Captain, flushing over his bald head, and his long fingers crushed the paper in excitement. "What! a chance of that? Show him in--and you, guard, stand at a distance at the door." In another moment an old man with short-cut grey hair was introduced. He walked with the aid of a stick, and kept his eyes on the ground. He was habited in a shabby dark suit, out at elbows, somewhat clerical in cut, and he was shaved like a priest. His face was singularly mottled, in places yellow with sunburn, elsewhere white. He had bushy eyebrows that contrasted singularly with his close-clipped head and his smooth jaws. "So!" said Guillem, striding up to him, "you have the keys--and who are you?" "Messire Captain, I am your very humble servant." "To the point! What are you at La Roque, and what do you want with me?" "Messire, I am now caretaker of the fortress in the cliff. I hold the keys and am responsible for its custody." "And what brings you here?" "Messire, I am willing to let you in." "Ah! On what terms?" "Messire--I trust to your generosity." "That is not a usual mode of doing business. Why do you come to me? Why betray your trust? There is a reason--is it money? I will pay. What do you demand?" "I ask no money." "Then in Heaven's name what do you want?" "Revenge!" answered the old man, and bowed his head lower over his staff. "Revenge! Hah! I can understand that. Revenge on someone in La Roque?" "On someone who is not there now, but who will be there on the night that I admit you." "And you ask me to revenge your wrong." "I will do that for myself, Messire--only I can do nothing now. I am prepared to admit you within the walls of the town. I can do better than that--I will give you access to the castle--the town without the castle is nothing. The castle in itself is nothing. But the castle commands the town." "Hah! let us in, within the walls of La Roque, and we will soon have the castle."