"Then you won't enlist?"
"No, sir."
"Not even to save your life?"
"Not even to save my life!"
"Then," growled the man, turning away, "if you will be such a fool, I've nothing more to say."
So it only remained for Penn to submit quietly to his fate. The executioners laid hold of the table, and waited for the order to remove it.
But just then Carl, breaking through the crowd, threw himself before the officer's horse.
"O, Colonel Derring! hear me—von vord!"
"Von vord!" repeated the officer, with a coarse laugh, mocking him. "What's that, you Dutchman?"
"You vill let him go, and I shall wolunteer in his place!" said Carl.