"’T is all rot you should ask for more money," answered the first speaker doggedly. "We have no more money with us; ’t is enough, too; the weight of it has gallded me with every jolt of the horse. Say, will you take it or leave it? Let me but have a look at the paper! I ’ve a sample of their cipher here to gauge it by. Come, work smart, I tell ye! You ’ll be too drunk to deal with soon, and we must quick begone." Dickson, swearing roundly at them, got some papers out of his pocket, and held one of them in his hand. "Give me the money first!" he growled. "Give us the paper," said the other; "’t is our honest right." There was a heavy tramping in the room above, as if some one had risen from sleep, and there was a grumble of voices; a door was opened and shut, and steady footsteps came down the creaking stair and through the dark entry; a moment more, and the tall figure of a young man stood within the room. "Well, then, and is my supper ready?" asked Wallingford, looking about him cheerfully, but a little dazed by the light. There was a smothered outcry; the table was overset, and one of the three men sprang to his feet as if to make his escape. "Stand where you are till I have done with you!" cried the lieutenant instantly, facing him. "You have a reckoning to pay! By Heaven, I shall kill you if you move!" and he set his back against the door by which he had just entered. "Tell me first, for Heaven’s sake, you murderer, is the Ranger within our reach?" "She is lying in the port of Brest," answered the trapped adventurer, with much effort. He was looking about him to see if there were any way to get out of the kitchen, and his face was like a handful of dirty wool. Outside the nearest window there were two honest faces from the Roscoff boat’s crew pressed close against the glass, and looking in delightedly at the play. Dickson saw them, and his heart sank; he had been sure they were waiting for Paul Jones, half a dozen miles down shore. "Who are these men with you, and what is your errand here?" demanded Wallingford, who saw no one but the two strangers and his enemy. "None of your damned business!" yelled Dickson, like a man suddenly crazed; his eyes were starting from his head. The landlady came scolding across the kitchen to bid him pay and begone, with his company, and Dickson turned again to Wallingford with a sneer. "You ’ll excuse us, then, at this lady’s request," he said, grinning. The brandy had come to his aid again, now the first shock of their meeting was past, and made him overbold. "I ’ll bid you good-night, my hero, ’less you ’ll come with us. There’s five pounds bounty on his head, sirs!" he told the messengers, who stood by the table.