ears and misfortunes, and
at the last die in misery. Looking back upon the past it would certainly
seem that there had been virtue in this curse, for already through
Lysbeth and his dealings with her, he had suffered the last degradation
and the toil, which could not be called light, of nearly fourteen years
of daily occupation in the galleys.

Well, he was clear of them, and thenceforward, the curse having
exhausted itself for the time being, he had prospered--at any rate to a
moderate extent. But if once more he began to interfere with Lysbeth van
Goorl and her relatives, might it not re-assert its power? That was one
question. Was it worth while to take his risk on the chance of securing
Brant's fortune? That was another. Brant, it was true, was only a cousin
of Lysbeth's husband, but when once you meddled with a member of the
family, it was impossible to know how soon other members would become
mixed up in the affair.

The end may be guessed. The treasure was at hand and enormous, whereas
the wrath of a Heavenly or an earthly king was problematical and far
away. So greed, outstripping caution and superstitious fear, won the
race, and Ramiro threw himself into the adventure with a resource and
energy which in their way were splendid.

Now, as always, he was a man who hated violence for its own sake. It was
no wish of his that the worthy Heer Brant should be unnecessarily burnt
or tortured. Therefore through his intermediaries, as Brant had narrated
in his letter, he approached him with a proposal which, under the
circumstances, was liberal enough--that Brant should hand over
two-thirds of his fortune to him and his confederates, on condition
that he was assisted to escape with the remaining third. To his disgust,
however, this obstinate Dutchman refused to buy his safety at the price
of a single stiver. Indeed, he answered with rude energy that now as
always he was in the hands of God, and if it pleased God that his life
should be sacrificed and his great wealth divided amongst thieves, well,
it must be so, but he, at least, would be no party to the arrangement.

The details of the plots and counter-plots, the attack of the Ramiro
company, the defences of Brant, the internecine struggles between the
members of the company and the agents of the Government, if set out
at length, would fill a considerable book. Of these we already know
something, and the rest may be divined.

In the course of the affair Ramiro had