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after a period of profound quiet, during which could be heard the squeaking of the wheels, the jingling of the teaainst a pine tree and the distant crowing of a delusional rooster, there followed a bray of laughter Not of the funeral bell variety, but rather of a drunken loon

Matthew had never before heard Greathouse laugh with such rib-splitting abandon He feared the rip not only of the reins but also of his senses, as his face was getting so blood-red, and topple off his seat into the weeds

"Oh, that&039;s a good one!" Greathouse gasped, when at last he&039;d found his power of speech His eyes had actually sprung tears "a grand try, Slaughter! Now I knohy you were in that asyluain, until Matthew thought he hter&039;s expression rehtly-raised eyebrows "Sir, I would appreciate your reht then, Mister Slaughter!" Greathouse was barely containing his hue of it "Do you think we&039;re a pair of damned foolsi Turn off the pike onto a road to nowherei Christ, save hter done," came the silken response "When you can listen with any sense in your ears, letyou, the road has a destination, and at its end is a pretty pot of gold"

"That&039;s enough" Greathouse&039;s voice was firain, harder this time, but the horses steadfastly refused to hurry "You can tell us all about it when you&039;re in the gaol"

"Noho is the insane one here, siri Why in the na devils would I want to tell you about it when I&039;aoli The purpose is to tell you about it so that I will not be in the gaol"

"Oh, you&039;ll be in the gaol, all right Just shut up"

"Mr Corbetti" Slaughter&039;s iaze went to Matthew "as I said, I believe you to be the ht I at least explain to you what I&039; abouti"

"No!" said Greathouse

"Mr Corbetti" Slaughter urged "The road is co up soon Once we pass it and cross the river, neither one of you is going to want to co an opportunity that I have never offered anyone on earth and that I would not offer anyone on earth if I wasn&039;t um just a little anxious about my future" He paused to let Matthew consider it "May Ii"

"This ought to be entertaining!" Greathouse said, with a disdainful puff of air "Lies from a madman! Have at it, then!"

Matthew nodded warily, his hand still on the pistol "Go ahead"

"I thank you Do you wish to knohy constables-armed mercenaries, is a better ter with coaches and to guard travelers on this roadi Because Ratsy and I were so damned successful We worked the pike between the river and Philadelphia for alentle the pike a bad na nervous about their sterling reputations as upholders of law and order So they brought out the musketeers, and unfortunately Ratsy went doith a lead ball in his brain, dead before he hit the ground"

"Too bad a second shot didn&039;t " Greathouse fished for the word "Polish you off"

"Oh, I was shot at, all right My horse was hit, and he bucked , knocked senseless, and woke up in chains in the back of a wagon e of a bloody head to cry my case of lunacy, which I knew the Quakersso dahwaylance "Pardon me if I don&039;t shed any tears"

"You reat success The very reason ere considered such a threat to be captured and contained" Slaughter looked from the back of Greathouse&039;s head into Matthew&039;s eyes "We stole a lot of hter repeated "at the end of the road you&039;re going to be passing in about tenh again, or to make so

"andfiercely at Matthew "Gold rings, jewels in elegant brooches, silver stickpins, and what have you Two years&039; worth of treasure, taken fro merchants, dandies and damsels I&039;d say in all, a fortune worth well over a hundred pounds I&039;her What is a string of pearls selling for these daysi"

"Drool on," Greathouse answered "Do you think we&039;re complete idiotsi" He flicked the reins once ain distance between hiain Slaughter&039;s brows lifted "are you a complete idioti"

Matthew returned the hter&039;s eyes, his expression, or soiveaway in how he held his head or clenched his hands He could not; the ," Matthew said

"Do youi Reallyi Or are you thinking, as your companion probably is, that when I am taken across the river and carried the rest of our journey, aaol at New York and then aboard a ship to be hanged in London, that the safebox at the end of that road entlehter showed his teeth "I can see the a shovel on a buried box! and when they open it, and see all that gleaoodness, just ill they think, Mr Corbetti What will they thinki That soo told a lie, to save their skini Someone trussed in chains, with a pistol held on themi No, they&039;ll think what complete idiot left this treasure box buried here, and never caht will be: well, now it belongs to us, for the one, and dead htly, as if to offer a secret "But livingmen need a lot of money, to live well and that&039;s no lie"

Mattheas silent, studying Slaughter&039;s face There was not a clue to determine the truth or fiction of his story "Tell me this, then," he said in a flat, even tone "Why were you burying your loot all this distance out here, so far froe I determined it would be safer to have two places to hide in, and to split the money between In case one was found, ays had the second The first is a house in the woods a few miles northwest of the city There, also, a safebox is buried holding about thirty pounds and so that one to you; it&039;s not part of our accord"

"Our accordi" Greathouse shouted, and for all their age and slowness the horses seehter&039;s voice was quiet and controlled, almost otherworldly in its calm cadence "I will lead you to the second house, which is at the end of the road coift of the safebox, and all its contents For that, you will unlock my chains and set me free at that location I&039;ll take care ofto the air "Have I caught lunatic&039;s diseasei"

"Frohter continued in the same manner as before, "I vow before you as a subject of the Queen and a citizen of England that I will take the e to " He paused "Where would you like oi amsterdami The South Seasi I don&039;t necessarily like the sun, but-"

"I a disehter was speaking to theland, as well all I want to do is be gone"

"We&039;re not going to let you go," Matthew said "That&039;s the end of it"

"Yes, but what endi Why not say I was shot while trying to escape, and that my body fell into the riveri Who would ever know differentlyi"

"We would know"

"Oh, dear God!" Slaughter cast his eyes skyward "Have I met a pair of noble imbecilesi Two men out of all creation who have no need for money, and who can live just as well on the sweet but worthless jelly of good deedsi Here! The road&039;s co into the forest on the left was a narrow, rutted track hardly the width of their wagon The underbrush ild and the trees thick around as winekegs, their branches and leavescolors far above

"That&039;s it!" Slaughter said "Right there, gentle!"

Greathouse kept the teahtly forward

"More than fifty pounds in ether the jewelry and other items and you&039;ll both be richyoui" Still the wagon trundled onward "I vow I&039;ll leave the country! Whaton the gallows for killing vile creaturesi Do you think the people who sent you here would turnbut theoing, right on past, and damn your soul for it, too! Just know you could have been rich, but you were too stupid to claihter&039;s strained face, which had begun to blotch red during this tirade

The wagon&039;s wheels made three more revolutions

and then Matthew heard Greathouse say, "Whoa," to the team as if he had a stone in his throat

Greathouse eased back on the reins The horses stopped

"What are you doingi" Matthew asked sharply

Greathouse set the brake "I have to piss" He put the reins aside, clihter had closed his eyes and leaned his head back again He said nothing, nor did he th for another try, Matthew suspected