lter escaped, it is certain he
would lose his office of Vice-Admiral and the six hundred pounds he had
paid for it.

"As to that, you shall be at no loss," Sir Walter assured him. "I could
not suffer it. I pledge you my honour, Lewis, that you shall have a
thousand pounds from my wife on the day that I am safely landed in
France or Holland. Meanwhile, in earnest of what is to come, here is a
toy of value for you." And he presented Sir Lewis with a jewel of price,
a great ruby encrusted in diamonds.

Thus reassured that he would be immune from pecuniary loss, Sir Lewis
was ready to throw himself whole-heartedly into Sir Walter's plans,
and to render him all possible assistance. True, this assistance was a
costly matter; there was this person to be bought and that one; there
were expenses here and expenses there, incurred by Sir Lewis on his
kinsman's behalf; and there were odd presents, too, which Stukeley
seemed to expect and which Sir Walter could not deny him. He had no
illusions now that King had been right; that here he was dealing with
a rogue who would exact the uttermost farthing for his services, but
he was gratified at the shrewdness with which he had taken his cousin's
measure, and did not grudge the bribes by which he was to escape the
scaffold.

De Chesne came again to the house in London, to renew his master's offer
of a ship to carry Sir Walter overseas, and such other assistance as Sir
Walter might require But by now the knight's arrangements were complete.
His servant Cotterell had come to inform him that his own boatswain,
now in London, was the owner of a ketch, at present lying at Tilbury,
admirably suited for the enterprise and entirely at Sir Walter's
disposal. It had been decided, then, with the agreement of Captain King,
that they should avail themselves of this; and accordingly Cotterell
was bidden desire the boatswain to have the craft made ready for sea at
once. In view of this, and anxious to avoid unnecessarily compromising
the French envoy, Sir Walter gratefully declined the latter's offer.

And so we come at last to that July evening appointed for the flight.
Ralegh, who, having for some time discarded the use of Manourie's
ointment, had practically recovered his normal appearance, covering his
long white hair under a Spanish hat, and muffling the half of his face
in the folds of a cloak, came to Wapping Stairs--that ill-omened place
of execution of pirates and sea-rovers--accompanied b