know not what thy foul work may be, but foul it is I know from the secrecy
which you have demanded, an' I dare say there will be some who would pay
well to learn the whereabouts of the old woman and the child, thy sister
and her son you tell me they be, who you are so anxious to hide away in old
Til's garret. So it be well for you, my Lord, to pay old Til well and add
a few guilders for the peace of her tongue if you would that your prisoner
find peace in old Til's house."

"Fetch me the bundle, hag," replied De Vac, "and you shall have gold
against a final settlement; more even than we bargained for if all goes
well and thou holdest thy vile tongue."

But the old woman's threats had already caused De Vac a feeling of
uneasiness, which would have been reflected to an exaggerated degree in the
old woman had she known the determination her words had caused in the mind
of the old master of fence.

His venture was far too serious, and the results of exposure too fraught
with danger, to permit of his taking any chances with a disloyal
fellow-conspirator. True, he had not even hinted at the enormity of the
plot in which he was involving the old woman, but, as she had said, his
stern commands for secrecy had told enough to arouse her suspicions, and
with them her curiosity and cupidity. So it was that old Til might well
have quailed in her tattered sandals had she but even vaguely guessed the
thoughts which passed in De Vac's mind; but the extra gold pieces he
dropped into her withered palm as she delivered the bundle to him, together
with the promise of more, quite effectually won her loyalty and her silence
for the time being.

Slipping the key into the pocket of his tunic and covering the bundle with