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Show 17 his big belly and rubbing his puffy eyelids. "Yes, what is it?" he barked at the priest. Father Johann squinted his eyes and folded his hands across his chest, trying to hide his nervousness. "This morning...on the church steps...two dead rats." "God in heaven!" Master Hermann gasped. "So it really is starting. That stranger knows a way to get rid of them, I'm sure of it, but he's holding out until we offer him a fat fee. Well, we'll offer him fifty schillings and no more, and if he won't do it, we'll run a sword through his middle, by God." The priest winced again. "...the Lord's name in vain," he protested, and, "...spilling blood is never the right way...." "And if you kill him, you won't learn his secret," I said softly. Usually I never dared speak to Master Hermann unless I was spoken to first, but since Gast had said that Master Hermann was a sheep, I was less afraid of him. Master Hermann aimed a blow at my head, but his mind was on other things and when I ducked out of the way he let me alone. "However, if we kill him, we won't learn his secret," he said to the priest as though it were his own idea. "So I suppose we must promise him any sum he wishes." When he smiled smugly and scratched his fat stomach, I knew he had no intention of paying any more than the fifty schillings. "The other members of the council...," the priest ventured. "They will take my advice in this matter. After all, I was the one who found the stranger. The boy is to meet him at noon, and I will |
