"Nay, nay," said the gallant Howard; "by Heaven, fellow, if thou makest another suggestion such as that, I will order the boatswain's mates to fling thee overboard in a hencoop! In the king's service I have usually carried more sail than ballast--but poison! a sailor's curse on't! Egad, 'tis a word never mentioned to a Howard, and moreover," he added, with a furious glance, as he rose from the table, "'twas a villain's thought in thee!" "Softly," said Sir Patrick Gray, with alarm; "let us not quarrel, Captain Howard, about poison or abduction; none of us are severe moralists--" "Scot--you speak for yourself, I presume." "I would rather marry the damsel myself than that we should have high words anent the disposal of her. Bethink thee, Englishman--'tis as much as your life is worth to be this night within gunshot of the Scottish shore; and this gentleman----" "What--Borthwick?" "Yes, he----" "Might inform Sir Andrew Wood, you mean to say," continued Howard. "Well, I should like to see your admiral's _Yellow Frigate_ come out of the river, with all her iron teeth bristling; for now that Barton is gone, he is the best and bravest seaman that treads upon a deck. Nay, nay, none of you will betray me, unless King James pays better than King Henry." Gray and Sauchie were stung by this bold remark, and the former hastened to say-- "How know we not but the prince may have wedded the Lady Margaret Drummond?" "Pshaw! what would it matter if he had? She is only the daughter of a subject--a baron." "Captain Howard, you talk like an Englishman, who knows not the temper of our Scottish barons. Her father can rouse all Strathearn, and set Scotland on fire. Beware lest the flames roll over the Border." "Master Borthwick, you did not inform me that the Lord Drummond was so powerful, or this amour so dangerous." "If King Henry had written to me----" Here the Englishman burst into a loud fit of laughter. "King Henry write to thee! By Jove, I like this impudence--it amuses me excessively!" "So it seems," growled Borthwick, every glance of whose sinister eyes indicated the restless and evil soul within. "Bah! people don't write that which is more safe when borne by word of mouth. Henry might hang me, or the King of Scots might hang us all, for letting our gaff too loose--our words would die with us; but letters will endure while ink and paper last. Yet where is our _bond in cipher_, of which King Henry has the key--we cannot do without that. Master Kraft, is it ready?" "Here it is, sir," replied the little secretary, laying a piece of parchment on the cabin table.