"Chide her not, captain," said the harsh voice of Gideon Geddes; "for in one hour she hath dune mair than ten surgeons. The merciful are blessed, for they shall obtain mercy. But," he added in a friendly whisper, "take her awa—for this is nae place for dames of high degree."
"My good child," said Father Ignatius, with a kind smile on his long and lantern-jawed face, "I love most to see deeds of mercy when they come from a woman's hand, and brother Geddes hath quoted rightly."
"Brither Geddes meaneth, that the blessedness of the merciful consisteth in what they receive—not what they give," retorted our testy preacher; "for I do not believe that we can be saved by works alone; and, mairower, do not the Gospels say—" he continued, erecting his short punchy figure, and preparing even there to plunge into a controversy, which the doctor at once interrupted by despatching them on separate errands.
"Philip," said Ernestine, in a low voice; "take me away, for the atmosphere of this place is stifling."
I gladly led her out into the purer air of the street, where the noonday sun was shining, and where, overcome by all she had seen and heard, she burst into a flood of tears.
"Ay, Ernestine," said I, as a shot from the enemies' batteries whistled over our heads; "here is much to shock a girl like you: war, pestilence, and famine, are no trifling foes to encounter."
Another shot, a thirty-six pounder, struck a pinnacle of the church and hurled it into the street; for now, taking advantage of our lessened numbers, the Imperialists had pushed their batteries, trenches, and parallels, far round the flank of the Frankendör, and were almost within pistol-shot. In some places we could hear the voices of Carlstein's pioneers, as they laughed and sang at their work behind the ramparts of earth.
By a circuitous route, and through streets the ends of which Leslie had protected by barricades and traverses of earth, and timber, turf, and stone, I conveyed Ernestine back to her pretty mansion-house; and though I gave Phadrig and Gillian stricter orders than before concerning the admission of visitors, I feared much that the effect of her entering such a den of disease as the great church would prove fatal, and my forebodings were but too sadly realised.