“I am a soldier, sir,” he began with dignity. “I fought for my country through four bloody years in a hundred skirmishes and twenty-six great battles. I have the right to bear arms. I have won that right with my blood. I claim it before any court on earth over which a soldier presides.”
The commander fixed him with a stern look.
“You have disobeyed the proclamation of the Governor-General, the servant of my Imperial Master. You have therefore forfeited all rights.”
“I demand a trial by drum-head court martial!” Holland answered.
“You shall have it—you and your companion. Take them away.”
Between two soldiers they were marched across the fields.
The children burst into incontrollable weeping.
The Colonel spoke in sharp tones:
“Come, come, my children. It is nothing. I must respect the forms. Their lives are forfeited, but I spare them for your sakes. They will return, both, tomorrow—have no fear!”
Zonia seized the officer’s hand still sobbing: