"You claim the liberty of expelling any one you choose?"

"Yes; I claim the liberty to hang any of you if I find it necessary."

"Oh, the devil!" cried Ebearhard, sitting down as if this went beyond
him. He gazed up and down the table as much as to say, "I leave this in
your hands, gentlemen."

The meeting gave immediate expression of its agreement with Ebearhard.

"Gentlemen," said Roland, "I insist that Conrad Kurzbold apologizes to
me for the expressions he has used, and promises not again to offend in
like manner."

"I'll do nothing of the sort," asserted Kurzbold, with equal firmness.

"In that case," exclaimed Roland, "I shall retire, and I ask you to put
me in a position to repay Herr Goebel the money I extracted from him. I
resign the very thankless office of so-called leadership."

At this several wallets came out upon the table, but their contents
clinked rather weakly. The majority of the guild sat silent and sobered
by the crisis that had so unexpectedly come upon them. Joseph Greusel,
seeing that no one else made a move, uprose, and spoke slowly. He was a
man who never had much to say for himself; a listener rather than a
talker, in whom Roland reposed great confidence, believing him to be one
who would not flinch if trial came, and he had determined to make
Greusel his lieutenant if the expedition was not wrecked before it set
out.