Beresteyn and Stoutenburg walking home together in the small hours of New Year's morning spoke very little together at first. They strode along side by side, each buried in his own thoughts, and only a few curt remarks passed at intervals between them. But something lay on the minds of both--something of which each desired to speak to the other, yet neither of them seemed willing to be the first to broach the absorbing topic. It was Stoutenburg who at last broke the silence. "A curious personality, that knave," he said carelessly after awhile, "an unscrupulous devil as daring as he is reckless of consequences I should say ... yet trustworthy withal ... what think you?" "A curious personality as you say," replied Beresteyn vaguely. "He might have been useful to us had we cared to pay for his services ... but now 'tis too late to think of further accomplices ... new men won or bought for our cause only mean more victims for the gallows." "You take a gloomy view of the situation," said Beresteyn sombrely. "No! only a fatalistic one. With our secret in a woman's keeping ... and that woman free and even anxious to impart it to one of my most bitter enemies ... I can see nought that can ward off the inevitable." "Except...." "Yes, of course," rejoined Stoutenburg earnestly, "if you, Nicolaes, are ready to make the sacrifice which alone could save us all." "It is a sacrifice which will involve my honour, my sister's love for me, my father's trust...." "If you act wisely and circumspectly, my friend," retorted Stoutenburg dryly, "neither your father nor Gilda herself need ever know that you had a share in ... in what you propose to do." Beresteyn made no reply and he and his friend walked on in silence until they reached the small house close to the "Lame Cow" where Stoutenburg had his lodgings. Here they shook hands before parting and Stoutenburg held his friend's hand in his tightly grasped for a moment or two while he said earnestly: "It is only for a few days, Nicolaes, a few days during which I swear to you that--though absent and engaged in the greatest task that any man can undertake on this earth--I swear to you that I will keep watch over Gilda and defend her honour with my life. If you will make the sacrifice for me and for our cause, Heaven and your country will reward you beyond your dreams. With the death of the Stadtholder my power in the Netherlands will be supreme, and herewith, with my hand in yours, I solemnly plight my troth to Gilda. She was the first woman I ever loved, and I have never ceased to love her. Now she fills my heart and soul even--at times--to the exclusion of my most ambitious hopes. Nicolaes--my friend--it is in your power to save my life as well as your own: an you will do it, there will be no bounds to my gratitude." And Beresteyn replied calmly: