"It is that the bishop is in great hurry to try, sentence and witness the execution of the Vagres and their accomplices who are held prisoners in the _ergastula_ of this burg--above all because he wishes to witness the execution of the bishopess." "I still do not understand you, Chram. The two criminals, together with the women who are their accomplices, are to be taken to Clermont, so soon as they shall have recovered from their wounds, to be tried there by the _curia_." "According to the reliable rumors that have reached us, the bishop fears, and not without good reason, that the populace of Clermont may rise in revolt in order to set the bandits free the moment they arrive in the city of Clermont. The names of the hermit laborer and Ronan the Vagre are dear to the race of slaves and vagabonds. It would be just like them to raise a riot and seek to set the bandits free--while here, at the burg, nothing of the sort need be feared." "Such an uprising would be serious." "I promised Bishop Cautin that, if you consent, then I, Chram, now King in Auvergne in my father's name, shall issue orders that the criminals be tried, sentenced and executed here at this burg, before your own justiciary _mahl_." "If my good father Cautin thinks so, I shall accept his opinion. I am as desirous as himself to witness the execution of those bandits, and I would sooner give twenty gold sous than see them escape death, a thing that, as you say, might happen if they are taken to Clermont and the vile population of the city should rise in their favor. But what has this to do with the murder of your brothers?" "Is Ronan the Vagre healed of his wounds? I understand he is. He has the reputation of being a resolute bandit." "He is a demon--a prop of hell." "Suppose that after that demon shall have been sentenced to some frightful death he were told: 'You shall have grace, you shall be set free, but upon condition that you kill a certain person--after the murder is committed you will receive twenty gold sous for your reward'--do you think he would refuse such an offer?" "Chram, that devil of a Ronan and his band killed nine of my bravest leudes; they pillaged and set fire to the episcopal villa and the place is to be rebuilt at my expense. As sure as the great St. Martin is in paradise, the cursed Vagre shall not be set free, he shall not escape the death that his crimes deserve!" "Who says otherwise?" "You speak of granting him grace." "But after he shall have committed the murder, then, instead of counting out twenty gold sous to the Vagre, twenty blows with an iron bar will be counted out on his back, after which he can be quartered or otherwise disposed of in short order. Ah, that seems to amuse you."