"He must be here at his old work--that devil's work, I call it!--translating the Scriptures, meaning to scatter his pestilential stuff far and wide, seducing the people who read it to heresy." The man at the table stared at Cochlaeus incredulously. "William Tyndale, that arch-heretic, here, in this city, did you say?" he asked, in an amazed tone. "Yes, I said 'here.' Where could that mean but in this city?" Margaret's heart beat so wildly that she held her hands to her bosom as if to still it; but she waited eagerly for what would follow. There was no thought about eavesdropping now, much as she abhorred it, for she was asking herself what this would mean for the man who was lodging in Herman's home. "Where does he lodge?" asked Buchsel, standing up so suddenly that the chair fell to the floor noisily. He was staring hard at the heresy hunter. Margaret felt faint with fear of what the answer might be. "Where? I've got to find out. He is here in the city. I know that much. But he shall be found, and then--ah, me!--I will hand him over to the tormentors. He shall be lodged in the dungeon of the Holy House, and the Familiars shall deal with him!" He paused, and there was silence for a few moments--silence so intense to Margaret that she could hear her heart-beats and the quick breathing of the startled man at her side. Cochlaeus broke the silence. "Only to-day I heard it, not an hour since, in fact. I was passing the Gurzenich, where two men were talking in whispers, but my sharp ears---- Buchsel," he broke off, "if ever you go on the hunt for heretics, be sure to thank God if He has given you a quick ear! He has given me that, and I praise Him! My sharp ears caught the words, for I was going softly, my noiseless shoes giving no token of my passing in the dense darkness, so I halted, scarcely daring to breathe lest I should betray my presence." "And the man--what did he say?" interposed the other, for Cochlaeus went so slowly with his story, lingering over it as though he enjoyed it. "Ah yes! He said that William Tyndale was inside the walls, somewhere, that he had spoken with him, and had been told that he was prospering with his translation here, because England had become too hot to hold him. And that was not all. He was on the look out for a printer who would put his vile sheets through the press! This accursed printing!" Cochlaeus burst forth, in savage anger. "It will be the ruin of the Church! It will render the whole world Lutheran, unless we find the fellow and crush him!" Silence followed again, and those who stood on the landing could not move on. They seemed compelled to take the risk of discovery rather than miss what was to follow. "What do you propose to do?" asked Buchsel, presently.