"Sir, you astonish me," I exclaimed; "how am I so fortunate?"
"I will tell you a secret, boy—a secret long buried in my heart," he continued, in a voice that grew soft and kind; "your father and I were rivals—rivals for the love of the same girl, long, long years ago; but he was the successful wooer—I the discarded one! She was your mother, boy, and now, for her sacred memory, and the memory, too, of that early love, which brightened for a time the first days of my soldiering, I will save you, my poor lad, if I can. Nay more, I have some interest at head-quarters, and will serve you as if you had been my own son, and this will I do for her sake."
The voice of Captain Brook trembled, and I bowed low, for I could not speak.
"You know what the rules of the service prescribe," he resumed, "in such a case as yours?"
"You have already told me, sir."
"Death!"
"Yes."
"Yet, you shall not die, and your future promotion shall be my peculiar care. Comrades," cried he, to the men of the picket, "in Basil Gauntlet I have discovered the son of an early and dear friend. He is but a young soldier—a mere boy, and I would save him if I can."
"You may command us, sir," said Sergeant Duff.
"We will do anything for you, Captain Brook," added the men of the 11th, with enthusiasm.