`` Yes , we will smooth it out , '' said De Aquila . He nodded to me , and Jehan and I heaved up Fulke -- he was a heavy man -- and lowered him into the shaft by a rope , not so as to stand on our gold , but dangling by his shoulders a little above . It was turn of ebb , and the water came to his knees . He said nothing , but shivered somewhat . ` Then jehan of a sudden beat down Gilbert 's wrist with his sheathed dagger . `` Stop ! '' he said . `` He swallows his beads . '' ' `` Poison , belike , '' said De Aquila . `` It is good for men who know too much . I have carried it these thirty years . Give me ! '' ` Then Gilbert wept and howled . De Aquila ran the beads through his fingers . The last one -- I have said they were large nuts -- opened in two halves on a pin , and there was a small folded parchment within . On it was written : '' The Old Dog goes to Salisbury to be beaten . I have his Kennel . Come quickly . '' ' `` This is worse than poison , '' said De Aquila , very softly , and sucked in his cheeks . Then Gilbert grovelled in the rushes , and told us all he knew .
The letter , as we guessed , was from Fulke to the Duke -LRB- and not the first that had passed between them -RRB- ; Fulke had given it to XXXXX in the chapel , and Gilbert thought to have taken it by morning to a certain fishing boat at the wharf , which trafficked between Pevensey and the French shore .
Aquila Fulke Gilbert Jehan Salisbury beat dagger pin shoulders years