"
"Thou didst not question yonder young soldier thus," returned the
stranger, whose eye kindled, as even the meek repel unprovoked outrage,
though his frame trembled violently at being subject to open insults from
men so rude and unprincipled; "thou didst not dare to question yonder
young soldier thus!"
"By the prayers of San Gennaro! which are known to stop running and melted
lava, I would rather thou should'st undertake that office than I. Yonder
young soldier is an honorable decapitator, and it is a pleasure to be his
companion on a journey; for, no doubt, some six or eight of the saints are
speaking in his behalf daily. But he we seek is the outcast of all, good
or bad, whether in heaven or on earth, or in that other hot abode to which
he will surely be sent when his time shall come."
"And yet he does no more than execute the law!"
"What is law to opinion, friend? But go thy way; none suspect thee to be
the redoubtable enemy of our heads. Go thy way, for Heaven's sake, and
mutter thy prayers to be delivered from Balthazar's axe."
The countenance of the stranger worked, as if he would have answered; then
suddenly changing his purpose, he passed on, and instantly disappeared in
the bark.
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