“Then I ought to have put myself under arrest?”

“Certainly; obedience is necessary in our profession.”

“Would you have obeyed, if you had been in my place?”

“I cannot and will not tell you what I would have done, but I know that if I had disobeyed orders I should have been guilty of a crime:” 

“But if I surrendered now I should be treated like a criminal, and much more severely than if I had obeyed that unjust order.”

“I think not.  Come with me, and you will know everything.”

“What!  Go without knowing what fate may be in store for me?  Do not expect it.  Let us have dinner.  If I am guilty of such a dreadful crime that violence must be used against me, I will surrender only to irresistible force.  I cannot be worse off, but there may be blood spilled.”

“You are mistaken, such conduct would only make you more guilty.  But I say like you, let us have dinner.  A good meal will very likely render you more disposed to listen to reason.”

Our dinner was nearly over, when we heard some noise outside.  The lieutenant came in, and informed me that the peasants were gathering in the neighbourhood of my house to defend me, because a rumour had spread through the island that the felucca had been sent with orders to arrest me and take me to Corfu.  I told him to undeceive the good fellows, and to send them away, but to give them first a barrel of wine.

The peasants went away satisfied, but, to shew their devotion to me, they all fired their guns.

“It is all very amusing,” said the adjutant, “but it will turn out very serious if you let me go away alone, for my duty compels me to give an exact account of all I have witnessed.”

“I will follow you, if you will give me your word of honour to land me free in Corfu.”

“I have orders to deliver your person to M. Foscari, on board the bastarda.”

“Well, you shall not execute your orders this time.”

“If you do not obey the commands of the general, his honour will compel him to use violence against you, and of course he can do it.  But tell me, what would you do if the general should leave you in this island for the sake of the joke?  There is no fear of that, however, and, after the report which I must give, the general will certainly make up his mind to stop the affair without shedding blood.”

“Without a fight it will be difficult to arrest me, for with five hundred peasants in such a place as this I would not be afraid of three thousand men.”

“One man will prove enough; you will be treated as a leader of rebels.  All these peasants may be devoted to you, but they cannot protect you against one man who will shoot you for the sake of earning a few pieces of gold.  I can tell you more than that:  amongst all those men who surround you there is not one who would not murder you for twenty sequins.  Believe me, go with me.  Come to