The men, however, showed no disposition to disturb her.
They closed around the fire and held deep consultation together; but the low tone in which they spoke, and the cant language which they used, prevented Brown from understanding much of their conversation.

He gathered in general that they expressed great indignation against some individual.

'He shall have his gruel,' said one, and then whispered something very low into the ear of his comrade.
'I'll have nothing to do with that,' said the other.
'Are you turned hen-hearted, Jack ?' 'No, by G-d, no more than yourself, but I won't.

It was something like that stopped all the trade fifteen or twenty years ago.

You have heard of the Loup ?' 'I have heard HIM (indicating the corpse by a jerk of his head) tell about that job.