all, could
restore to him the rank and station he had forfeited, and which he
coveted more than anything in life. For, low as he had fallen, Montalvo
could not forget that he had been born a gentleman.

He would take his chance; he would go to Leyden. Had he weighed the
matter in the gloom of night, or even in a dull and stormy hour,
perhaps--nay probably--he would have decided otherwise. But this morning
the sun shone brightly, the wind made a merry music in the reeds; on the
rippling surface of the lake the marsh-birds sang, and from the shore
came a cheerful lowing of kine. In such surroundings his fears and
superstitions vanished. He was master of himself, and he knew that all
depended upon himself, the rest was dream and nonsense. Behind him lay
the buried gold; before him rose the towers of Leyden, where he could
find its key. A God! that haunting legend of a God of vengeance, in
which priests and others affected to believe? Now that he came to think
of it, what rubbish was here, for as any agent of the Inquisition knew
well, the vengeance always fell upon those who trusted in this same God;
a hundred torture dens, a thousand smoking fires bore witness to the
fact. And if there was a God, why, recognising his personal merits,
only this morning He had selected him out of many to live on and be the
inheritor of the wealth of Hendrik Brant. Yes, he would go to Leyden and
fight the battle out.

At the entry of the gut the Senor Ramiro landed from his boat. At first
he had thought of killing his companion, so that he might remain the
sole survivor of the catastrophe, but on reflection he abandoned this
idea, as the man was a faithful creature of his own who might be useful.
So he bade him return to The Hague to tell the story of the destruction
of the ship _Swallow_ with the treasure, her attackers and her crew,
whoever they might have been. He was to add, moreover, that so far as
he knew the Captain Ramiro had perished also, as he, the steersman, was
left alone in charge of the boat when the vessel blew up. Then he was to
come to Leyden, bringing with him certain goods and papers belonging to
him, Ramiro.

This plan seemed to have advantages. No one would continue to hunt for
the treasure. No one except himself and perhaps Black Meg would know
that Foy van Goorl and Martin had been on board the _Swallow_ and
escaped; indeed as yet he was not quite sure of it himself. For the rest
he could either lie hidden, or