“Of course, father; but one cannot quite forget the past.”
“No, certainly not. But do your duty to your country, my boy, and leave the rest.”
“Yes, father,” said Fred; “but are we going to attack the place again soon?”
“Yes; and this time most vigorously. The nest of hornets must be cleared out, eh, Hedley?” he said, as the general came up from the rough tent erected under one of the spreading trees.
“Of what are you talking?”
“My boy, here, asks me if we are going to attack the Hall again.”
“Yes; if they do not march out by to-night, and give themselves up, I shall attack, and as I shall send them word, they must expect little mercy. By the way, Forrester, I want to talk to you.” The pair marched slowly away, leaving Fred to his contemplation of the Hall and its surroundings; and he seated himself upon the mossy roots of a huge beech on the slope facing the old red stone building, and gazed eagerly at the distant figures which appeared at the window openings from time to time, wondering whether either of them was Scarlett, if he was with his father, for he was not among the wounded, or whether he had escaped among the scattered Royalists after that last fierce charge.
“He is sure to be there,” said the lad to himself, as he sat on the rough buttress with his sword across his knees. “Poor old Scar! how I remember our taking down the swords and fighting, and Sir Godfrey coming and catching us. It seemed a grand thing to have a sword then—much grander than it seems now,” he added, as he looked gloomily at the weapon he held.
He gazed moodily across the lake again, and then thought of his father’s words about his duty to his country; and his young brow grew more and more wrinkled.
“Yes,” he said; “I ought to do my duty to my country. Those people can hold us off, and there’ll be a desperate fight, and some of our men will be killed, and nearly all theirs. I could stop it all and make an end of the fight easily enough by doing my duty to my country. But if I did, I should be sending Sir Godfrey and poor old Scar to prison, perhaps get them killed, because they would fight desperately, and I should make Lady Markham and poor little Lil miserable, and be behaving like a wretch. I don’t like doing such duty.”