The man who had cut the cord which tied my arms now searched me, as if he supposed I had weapons hidden under my clothing. In so doing, he stripped off my coat, and finding my shirt sleeve soaked in blood, looked in my face narrowly, and then made some remark to Vliet, which caused him to take the lantern from one of the men and poke it against my nose. He sat down after the inspection, and laughed until his face grew purple. Then he poured out a huge glassful of spirit, half of which he took down at a gulp, and laughed again. When his fit was over, I said-- "You recognise me, I believe, Mynherr Vliet?" He could speak English, I found, though abominably, and with a drunken stutter. "Oh yes, mister--devil take your name! I know you." "You cannot suppose that I came to Sandtoft with any ill intent." "By heaven and hell, but I can suppose it, and be sure of it. Thousand devils, yes. You are a spy, a traitor, a Judas." Then he turned to his men, gabbling fast them in Dutch, finally issuing an order to one of the men, which he went out to execute. "These hurts got in defending your people should certify you, M. Vliet," I said, pointing t my shoulder. "Ah! you are crafty, Mister-Judas. You fight a little in the daylight for us, that you may plot against us in the dark. You designing devil!" Although I knew, looking at Vliet's countenance, in which raging hatred was no less visible than drunkenness, that there was but a step between me and death, I could not refrain from smiling at the character he gave me. "You laugh! You will look very funny when you are hanged!" he said. "Be sure of this," I said, speaking slowly, and as plainly as I could, if perchance some of the Dutchmen, might have English enough to take my meaning: "if you hang me, you will be hanged, and every man who aids you." I saw by the look of one of the fellows that he understood me. He whispered to Vliet, who looked up and asked-- "What lie have you to tell why you came here?" "I came to speak with Doctor Goel and his daughter on private business." "Under cover of darkness, like a thief! You creep on the bank at an unguarded place. To see the doctor! Liar!" "I set out early this morning, but was hindered by the way, and, being fatigued, I got out of my boat at the first spot I touched." I saw I had somewhat impressed the one man, for he asked Vliet a question, in which he mentioned the doctor's name, to which the answer was a roaring negative; and as he gave it, Vliet took a pistol from a drawer under the table, and looked at the man threateningly. Then he turned to me.