“_Mon dieu!_ no! I am in the company of her Reverence the Abbess who came yesterday. I have only a little skill in such matters.” “So you are another Frenchman?” “_Oui_,” the prisoner however could swear as to the Italian accent. “I am a right Norman, from Rouen; do not insult me by calling me a Gascon like those rascals with the Vicomte.” The prisoner now was staring at the stranger very hard, but Jan did not observe him. “Surely it is tedious here,” commented the tinker, removing the hand from the clock. “Is this poor gentleman often violent?” “They tell me he is. Anyway I am well paid to watch him.” “A fly could watch him, he is so firmly chained.” “Well, orders are orders. You must hasten. Finish with the clock.” “Mon ami,” quoth the other, “I can never finish with anything while that sweet breath of yours is coming over my shoulder, and you are watching every turn of my fingers. Ha! what’s that by the door. A pigeon, I swear.” “A pigeon, I don’t understand.” “A pigeon in petticoats, oaf! Look and see if I’m right.” A comely maid was indeed lingering just outside the door. The hang of her red kirtle, the droop of her mouth, said one thing clearly, “Come and talk to me.” Jan did not wait for a second invitation. By this time the prisoner had lost all interest in Seneca’s _De Clementia_. Still with his back to the prisoner the red-headed stranger spoke suddenly though softly, and this time all his words were Italian. “Eccellenza, have the chains that confine your feet spread out smoothly on the floor so that it will take only one blow to sever them.” * * * * * As in kind of a trance I listened to Andrea while he talked in low whispers, interrupting his utterances frequently by loud pounding with his tools. “So your Excellency is surprised? Ah! it was not so hard, not, that is, after Trude at last got to us; Andrea had been suspicious already. Graf Moritz wished to go to the Emperor with loud outcry. I dissuaded. There was no water in that well. Did il Cardinale think he could get away from Worms by such a shallow devise? Bah! did not a man in our hire track him? But we could not follow always. We must needs separate. Graf Moritz took the road to Giessen, I found the Abbess of Quedlinburg leaving Worms, and needing a groom. Very easy to win her service. Said I was a Norman pilgrim bound for St. Sebald’s in Dantzic and working my way. She was pious and unsuspecting. I have talked with Donna Ilsa. She is very brave, worthy to be born in Siena. Yesterday I was sure il Cardinale was going to Marburg; I told the abbess the roads were better this way. The rest? Ecco! The moment your feet are free we escape across the passage to Donna Ilsa’s room. It is not so high above the ground as this. Easy to clamber down. Horses are below. Off for Giessen. A deed worthy of Andrea!”