"No," I replied roughly. Then I started, for I heard the clang of a bell resounding through the empty house.
"Not for the sake of King George?"
"I would rather some one else did it," I replied.
"But if no one else would do it, or could do it?"
I was silent.
"And if thereby you could possibly save your country from a great calamity?"
"I am not a mole," I replied. "I cannot burrow in the ground. I like to fight in the open."
At that moment we heard the sound of voices, among which I recognized that of old Colman Killigrew.
"We need not be alarmed," she said. "The Killigrews know nothing of this room." Then she sat gazing into the fire again, while I fell to wondering what was in her mind.
"You said just now that you wanted to serve me?" she said presently.