However, all this is beside the question. What I
was saying was, it is a pity you did not say to me frankly: 'Your
presence here is inopportune; but if you will stand apart if any
unexpected affair takes place, you will get say two thousand crowns
out of the twenty-five thousand my friends are going to capture.'
Had you done that, you see, things might have turned out differently."
"I did not know," the muleteer stammered.
"No, you did not know for certain, of course, that I was a soldier
of fortune; but if you had been sharp you might have guessed it.
However, it is too late for that now. Now, what I wanted to ask
you was if you could get me half a dozen of your friends to take
service under me in a little adventure I have to carry out. They
will be well paid, and I do not suppose they will have much trouble
over it."
"And what would you pay me, caballero?" the muleteer asked humbly;
for he had been greatly impressed with the valour displayed by the
young Irishman and his servant in the fray, and thought that he
intended to get together a company for adventures on the road, in
which case he might be able to have some profitable dealings with
him in the future.
"I will give you twenty crowns," Gerald replied; "and considering
that you owe your life to my interposition, I think that you ought
not to haggle about terms.
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