“I think not, sir,” O’Neil said, quietly.  “At any rate, we are quite ready to take our chance of that.  In order that you may feel at ease with us, I have no hesitation in telling you who we are.  We are the three French officers who, as no doubt you have heard, yesterday escaped from Newgate, and we are anxious to get out of the country as soon as possible.  It will be also a guarantee to you that we have no designs on either your pockets or your person.”

Angry as he still was, it was evident, by the expression of the treasurer’s face, that the information was a relief to him, for indeed he had supposed that he had been carried off by political enemies, and was very uncertain as to what would befall him.

“What is it that you require, then?” he asked, after a pause.

“Merely this, sir.  That you will give us an order, upon an agent through whom you communicate with France, to take us across the channel immediately.”

“Well, gentlemen,” Godolphin said, more calmly, “I must say your coolness surprises me.  Your escape yesterday was, of course, reported to us; and the manner in which you obtained that rope, by which you descended, is a mystery that the jail authorities are wholly unable to solve.

“If you obtain the order you desire, will you give me your word of honour that it shall be used in a manner in no way hostile to the interests of this country, but solely, as you say, for the purpose of conveying you across the channel?”

“That promise we give willingly.  We must ask you to pledge your honour, as a gentleman, that the order you give us will be a genuine one—­a matter that we cannot ascertain until we arrive at the address given.  We are willing to play fairly with you, sir, but if you do not do the same, we shall certainly return to London, though in some different guise, and, if so, I warn you that no guards will save you from our vengeance.”

“You need not threaten, sir,” Lord Godolphin said calmly.  “I will give you the order, to the person to whom such communications are addressed, and it shall be couched in the same words as usual.”

Desmond placed a sheet of paper, pen, and ink before him.  He, dating it from the Treasury, wrote: 

To John Dawkins, Mariner, High Street, Rye.  Urgent.

On the receipt of this, you will at once convey the bearer, and three persons with him, and land them in some convenient spot in France.

He then added his signature.

“Now, gentlemen, what next?” he said, looking up.

O’Neil looked at his companions, and then they spoke for a moment together.

“We are about to start at once, my lord,” he said, “and it was our intention to have left you bound and gagged, until the morning, when the woman of the house would have assuredly found you and released you.  But, as you have acceded to our request at once, we will, if you give us your word of honour that you will raise no alarm, and say no word of this business until eight o’clock tomorrow morning, let you depart at once.”