It was very plain to Frank that the officers did not look upon his
offence in a very serious light, for the younger men received him with a
cheer, and the elders with a smile, as they shook hands, while the
doctor came and clapped him on the shoulder.
"Hallo, young fire-eater!" he cried; "when are you coming to stay?"
"To stay, sir?" said the boy, feeling puzzled.
"Yes, with your commission. We've lost your father. We must have you
to take his place."
"No, sir," said Frank, flushing. "I don't want to take my father's
place. I want to see him back in it."
"Well said!" cried the colonel; "what we all want. But get to be a bit
more of a man, and then coax the Prince to give you a commission. I
think we can make room for Robert Gowan's son in the corps, gentlemen?"
There was a chorus of assent at this; and the colonel went on:
"Come and sit by me, my lad. We can find a chair for you and your
guest, Murray, at this end. Why, you're not fit for a page, my lad;
they want soft, smooth, girlish fellows for that sort of thing. A young
firebrand like you, ready to whip out his sword and use it, is the stuff
for a soldier."
Frank wished the old officer would hold his tongue, and not draw
attention to him, for every one at the table was listening, and Captain
Murray sat smiling with grim satisfaction. But the colonel went on:
"Very glad to see you here this evening, my boy. Why, I hear that you
are quite a favourite with the Prince."
"It does not seem like it, sir," said Frank, who was beginning to feel
irritated. "I am a prisoner."
There was a laugh at this, which ran rippling down the table.
"Not bad quarters for a prisoner, eh, gentlemen?" said the colonel.
"Pooh! my lad, you are only under arrest; and we are very glad you are,
for it gives us the opportunity of having the company of Robert Gowan's
son."
Frank flushed with pleasure to find how warmly his father's name was
received; and the colonel went on:
"Don't you trouble your head about being under arrest, boy. The Prince
was obliged to have you marched off. It wouldn't do for him to have
every young spark drawing and getting up a fight in the Palace. By the
way, what was the quarrel about? You struck young Forbes?"
"Yes, sir."
"Well, of course he would draw upon you; but how came you to strike
him?"
The boy hesitated; but the colonel's keen eyes were fixed upon him so
steadfastly, that he felt that he must speak and clear himself of the
suspicion of being a mere quarrelsome schoolboy, and he said firmly:
"He said insulting things about my father, sir." There was a chorus of
approval at this; and as soon as there was silence, the colonel looked
smilingly round the table:
"I think we might forgive this desperate young culprit for committing
that heinous offence, gentlemen. What do you say?"
There was a merry laugh at this; and the colonel turned to the lad.
"We all forgive you, Mr Gowan. It is unanimous. Now, I think we are a
little hard upon you; so pray go on with your dinner."
"I don't think his arrest will last long, sir," said Captain Murray,
after a while.
"Pooh! No: I'm afraid not," said the colonel; "and we shall lose our
young friend's company. The Prince is a good soldier himself, even if
he is a German. Gowan will hear no more of it, I should say; and I
don't want to raise his hopes unduly, but on the strength of this
rising, when we want all good supporters of his Majesty in their places,
I should say that the occasion will be made one for sending word to
Captain Sir Robert Gowan to come back to his company."
Frank flushed again, and looked at Captain Murray, who smiled and
nodded.
"By the way, Murray," said the colonel, "why did you not bring the other
young desperado to dinner?" The captain shrugged his shoulders. "A bit
sulky," he said. "Feels himself ill-used."
"Oh!" ejaculated the colonel; and seeing Frank's troubled face, he
changed the conversation, beginning to talk about the news of a rising
in the north, where certain officers were reported to have landed, and
where the Pretender, James Francis, was expected to place himself at
their head, and march for London.
"A foolish, mad project, I say, gentlemen," exclaimed the colonel; "and
whatever my principles may have been, I am a staunch servant of his
Majesty King George the First, and the enemy of all who try and disturb
the peace of the realm."
A burst of applause followed these words; and the conversation became
general, giving Frank the opportunity for thinking over the colonel's
words, and of what a triumph it would be for his father to return and
take up his old position.
"Poor old Drew!" he said to himself, with a sigh. "What would he think
if he heard them talking about its being a mad project?"
Then he went on thinking about how miserable his old companion must be
in the guardroom, watched by sentries; and as he kept on eating for
form's sake, every mouthful seemed to go against him, and he wished the
dinner was over. For, in addition to these thoughts, others terribly
painful would keep troubling him, the place being full of sad memories.
He recalled that he was sitting in the very seat occupied by the German
baron upon that unlucky evening; and the whole scene of the angry
encounter came vividly back, even to the words that were spoken. The
natural sequence to this was his being called by Andrew Forbes in the
dull grey of the early morning to go and witness that terrible sword
fight in the Park; and he could hardly repress a shudder as he seemed to
see the German's blade flashing and playing about his father's breast,
till the two thrusts were delivered, one of which nearly brought the
baron's career to a close.
Nothing could have been kinder than the treatment the young guest
received from the officers; but nothing could have been more painful to
the lad, and again and again he wished himself away as the dinner
dragged its slow length along, and he sat there feeling lonely, occupied
toward the end almost entirely with thoughts of his father, Andrew's
false charge about him being generally uppermost, and raising the
indignant colour to his cheeks.
"I wonder where he is now," he thought, "and what he is doing?"
Then once more about what delight his mother would feel if the colonel's
ideas came to pass, and Sir Robert came back in triumph.
"Oh, it's too good to be true," thought the boy; but he clung to the
hope all the same.
The only time when he was relieved from the pressure of his sad thoughts
was when the conversation around grew animated respecting the
probabilities of the country being devastated by civil war; but even
then it made his heart ache on Andrew Forbes's account, as he heard the
quiet contempt with which the elder officers treated the Pretender's
prospects, the colonel especially speaking strongly on the subject.
"No," he said, "England will never rise in favour of such a monarch as
that. It is a mad business, that will never win support. The poor
fellow had better settle down quietly to his life in France. The reign
of the Stuarts is quite at an end."
"Poor old Drew," thought Frank. "I wish he could have heard that; but
he would not have believed if he had."
Then the officers went on talking of the possibility of their regiment
being called upon for active service, and the boy could not help a
feeling of wonder at the eager hopes they expressed of having to take
part in that which would probably result in several of those present
losing their lives or being badly wounded.
"I wonder whether I shall be as careless about my life when I am
grown-up and a soldier?" he thought.
The regular dinner had long been over, and the members of the mess had
been sitting longer than usual, the probability of the regiment going
into active service having supplied them with so much food for
discussion that the hour was getting late, and the young guest had
several times over felt an intense longing to ask permission to leave
the table, his intention being to get Captain Murray to let him join
Andrew Forbes. But he felt that as a guest he could not do this, and
must wait till the colonel rose.
He was thinking all this impatiently for the last time, feeling wearied
out after so terribly exciting a day as he had passed through, when the
colonel and all present suddenly sprang to their feet; for a shot rang
out from close at hand, followed by a loud, warning cry, as if from a
sentry; then, before any one could reach the door to run out and see
what was wrong, there was another shot, and again another, followed by a
faint and distant cry.