O Diabo gave a bellow of laughter. 'Listen, comrades. The fool thinks he can buy his life because he has a few gold pieces on him.'
'I've more than a few,' said Roger quietly, 'but I…'
The other cut him short. 'That's all to the good. Let's have them.'
Roger put his hands to his waist, in order to get at his money belt, but he was still very weak and fumbled with the buttons of his suit. Seeing his intention, O Diabo impatiently pushed his hands aside, undid the buttons, made Roger sit up and pulled the belt from under his vest.
The others now crowded round as their leader emptied the pockets of the belt on a nearby table. There were packets of Spanish, Portuguese, English and French gold coins and the special reserve Roger always carried, a little wash-leather bag containing a number of small diamonds.
When the bandits had finished exclaiming on their luck at having made such an unusually rich haul, O Diabo turned back to Roger and grinned, 'St. Christopher himself must have sent you to us, Frenchie, Out of your money we'll buy him a score of candles. But don't fool yourself that you're going to live. When we'd stripped you, as we're about to now, we'd have come on. the belt and taken it anyhow.'
'Of course.' Roger gave a slight nod. Tm not such a fool as to have failed to realise that; but you did not let me finish.'
'What more have you to say?'
'As you will have gathered from the contents of my money belt, I am a man of some importance. That I am a French officer, I now admit. I am Colonel Comte de Breuc, and a Commander of the Legion of Honour.' Roger was still in considerable pain and the effort of talking had made the sweat again break out on his forehead. As he paused to wipe it away with the back of his hand, O Diabo shrugged his great shoulders and said:
'Save your breath, Frenchie. You were going to tell us that your friends will pay a fine ransom for you, weren't you? Maybe they would, but maybe they'd put the thumbscrews on my messenger until he brought them here to make an end of us. That is, if there was a Frenchie General in this neighborhood. But there isn't. Now the English have chivvied Massena away from Lisbon, there's not a French army within a hundred miles. So put that out of your mind and choose your death. Come on now!'
Roger had thought of suggesting that he should get himself ransomed; not by the French, whom he had realised were much too far away, but by the British. Knowing that he was quite a wealthy man, Sir Charles Stuart would not have hesitated to provide the money. But an appeal to the British Minister meant having to declare himself an Englishman. He had no possible means of proving that, and it was certain beyond all doubt that O Diabo would not believe him. With a calmness that he was far from feeling, he played his last card.
'All you say is true enough; but I was not thinking of asking you to send a request to my General to ransom me. I am capable of ransoming myself.'
'And how, Frenchie, would you do that?' O Diabo gave him a cynical smile. ' 5Tis known that your Emperor and Satan are one, so maybe you think a prayer to him would bring you a shower of gold. But I'll wager he won't answer.'
Managing a smile, Roger replied, "And I certainly wouldn't take you. I've a far more reliable way of producing a fortune. Some two and a half years ago, when General Junot entered Lisbon, I was with him. I need hardly tell you that it is the custom of French officers of high rank to collect souvenirs of the cities they capture. I collected the jewels of the Marquis de Pombal, before he left for Brazil. Later, you will remember, the English landed in Portugal, our army was defeated and, by the Convention of Cintra, we were shipped back to France.
Fearing to have the jewels taken from me, I buried them in a safe place a few miles outside Lisbon. Ever since then the English have occupied that part of the country; so I've had no chance to collect them. They must still be there,'
O Diabo's blue eyes had opened wide with interest as he listened to this story. Having roused his cupidity, Roger hurried on, 'You can have no idea of this treasure unless you see it. There are ropes of pearls, tiaras blazing with gems, crosses with rubies and emeralds, a girdle of solid gold set with turquoises, high combs studded with diamonds, rings, ear-rings, watches and breast ornaments, all fashioned from gold and jewels. Their value is fabulous. They would fetch many million moredores. Enough for all of you never to have to work or risk your lives as robbers again, When the war is over you could live in a town as rich people, or buy farms on which others would labour for you. Promise me my life, and all this is yours.'
There was a moment's silence, then the group broke into an excited babble, With the mentality of children they began to tell one another of the splendid figures they would cut when they had all this money. O Diabo slowly nodded his bearded head:
'You shall take us to it. But don't get any idea that we shall give you a chance to escape on the way. Any tricks and we'll hang you by your thumbs to the branch of a tree, then light a small fire under you that will burn your feet away.'
The effort to tell his story while still in great pain had completely exhausted Roger. Closing his eyes he lay back on the chaise tongue. A sense of unutterable relief flooded through him at knowing that he was not now to die a ghastly death within the next hour. But he had gained no more than a reprieve. The treasure he had described so temptingly did not exist. It was only a figment of his vivid imagination; and already that vivid imagination was beginning to conjure up the awful treatment he would receive when O Diabo and his gang discovered mat they had been fooled.
The childish excitement of Roger's captors was coupled with a childish faith in his fairy story. He was now a being to be humored and cherished. They put pillows under his head, gave him more wine and put to rights his clothes which had become disheveled when his money belt had been pulled from round his waist.
The woman who had not been wounded went off to cook the evening meal. A small table was put beside the chaise longue, so that he could eat in comfort. The meal consisted of a rabbit stew, highly flavored with garlic, and slabs of a coarse cake, in which there was a generous supply of the locally dried raisins. Roger loathed garlic but, knowing how important it was to recruit his strength, he managed to get most of his portion down by swiftly adding to each mouthful a swig of wine.
When he had finished the meal, O Diabo asked Roger anxiously if he thought he would be sufficiently recovered to start the next morning. For a moment Roger remained silent, weighing the pros and cons. As long as his captors remained ignorant that the treasure was a myth, his life was safe, so it was very tempting to postpone setting out for Lisbon for a day or two. On the other hand, the moment of truth had to be faced sooner or later, and the suspense to which he would be subjected until it did would be harrowing. So he said that, after a night's rest, he hoped to be well enough.
The powerfully made, red-headed man, whose name was Paolo, supported him upstairs to a bedroom, and helped him to undress; but, when he lay down on the bed, took the precaution of tying his wrists with lengths of cord to the wooden bed head. There was sufficient slack in the cords for them not to cause him any discomfort; but, eyen had he been in good shape, they would have prevented any attempt to escape.
Paolo had only just left him when the woman who had cooked their supper came in. Pulling down the blanket with which. Roger was covered, she eased up his vest, exposing his private parts. As his hands were attached to the bed head, he could not resist her, and was seized by panic. His terror that she meant to inflict further injury upon him entirely eliminated any embarrassment he might have felt. But, as he squirmed away from her and began to shout, she only laughed and held a pot of ointment up for him to see. She began gently to massage his testicles with the cream. It was a concoction of crushed poppy seeds in fat, and it soon dulled the ache from which he was still suffering. Some twenty minutes after she had blown out the solitary candle and closed his door behind her, he drifted off to sleep.