CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT.
A NIGHT ALARM.
It was very plain to Frank that the officers did not look upon hisoffence in a very serious light, for the younger men received him with acheer, and the elders with a smile, as they shook hands, while thedoctor 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 youto take his place."
"No, sir," said Frank, flushing. "I don't want to take my father'splace. I want to see him back in it."
"Well said!" cried the colonel; "what we all want. But get to be a bitmore of a man, and then coax the Prince to give you a commission. Ithink 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 yourguest, 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 youngfirebrand like you, ready to whip out his sword and use it, is the stufffor a soldier."
Frank wished the old officer would hold his tongue, and not drawattention to him, for every one at the table was listening, and CaptainMurray sat smiling with grim satisfaction. But the colonel went on:
"Very glad to see you here this evening, my boy. Why, I hear that youare quite a favourite with the Prince."
"It does not seem like it, sir," said Frank, who was beginning to feelirritated. "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'sson."
Frank flushed with pleasure to find how warmly his father's name wasreceived; and the colonel went on:
"Don't you trouble your head about being under arrest, boy. The Princewas obliged to have you marched off. It wouldn't do for him to haveevery young spark drawing and getting up a fight in the Palace. By theway, what was the quarrel about? You struck young Forbes?"
"Yes, sir."
"Well, of course he would draw upon you; but how came you to strikehim?"
The boy hesitated; but the colonel's keen eyes were fixed upon him sosteadfastly, that he felt that he must speak and clear himself of thesuspicion of being a mere quarrelsome schoolboy, and he said firmly:
"He said insulting things about my father, sir." There was a chorus ofapproval at this; and as soon as there was silence, the colonel lookedsmilingly round the table:
"I think we might forgive this desperate young culprit for committingthat 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 alittle 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 ouryoung friend's company. The Prince is a good soldier himself, even ifhe is a German. Gowan will hear no more of it, I should say; and Idon't want to raise his hopes unduly, but on the strength of thisrising, 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 toCaptain Sir Robert Gowan to come back to his company."
Frank flushed again, and looked at Captain Murray, who smiled andnodded.
"By the way, Murray," said the colonel, "why did you not bring the otheryoung desperado to dinner?" The captain shrugged his shoulders. "A bitsulky," he said. "Feels himself ill-used."
"Oh!" ejaculated the colonel; and seeing Frank's troubled face, hechanged the conversation, beginning to talk about the news of a risingin the north, where certain officers were reported to have landed, andwhere the Pretender, James Francis, was expected to place himself attheir head, and march for London.
"A foolish, mad project, I say, gentlemen," exclaimed the colonel; "andwhatever my principles may have been, I am a staunch servant of hisMajesty King George the First, and the enemy of all who try and disturbthe peace of the realm."
A burst of applause followed these words; and the conversation becamegeneral, giving Frank the opportunity for thinking over the colonel'swords, and of what a triumph it would be for his father to return andtake up his old position.
"Poor old Drew!" he said to himself, with a sigh. "What would he thinkif he heard them talking about its being a mad project?"
Then he went on thinking about how miserable his old companion must bein the guardroom, watched by sentries; and as he kept on eating forform's sake, every mouthful seemed to go against him, and he wished thedinner was over. For, in addition to these thoughts, others terriblypainful would keep troubling him, the place being full of sad memories.He recalled that he was sitting in the very seat occupied by the Germanbaron upon that unlucky evening; and the whole scene of the angryencounter came vividly back, even to the words that were spoken. Thenatural sequence to this was his being called by Andrew Forbes in thedull grey of the early morning to go and witness that terrible swordfight in the Park; and he could hardly repress a shudder as he seemed tosee the German's blade flashing and playing about his father's breast,till the two thrusts were delivered, one of which nearly brought thebaron's career to a close.
Nothing could have been kinder than the treatment the young guestreceived from the officers; but nothing could have been more painful tothe lad, and again and again he wished himself away as the dinnerdragged its slow length along, and he sat there feeling lonely, occupiedtoward the end almost entirely with thoughts of his father, Andrew'sfalse charge about him being generally uppermost, and raising theindignant 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'sideas 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 thehope all the same.
The only time when he was relieved from the pressure of his sad thoughtswas when the conversation around grew animated respecting theprobabilities of the country being devastated by civil war; but eventhen it made his heart ache on Andrew Forbes's account, as he heard thequiet contempt with which the elder officers treated the Pretender'sprospects, the colonel especially speaking strongly on the subject.
"No," he said, "England will never rise in favour of such a monarch asthat. It is a mad business, that will never win support. The poorfellow had better settle down quietly to his life in France. The reignof the Stuarts is quite at an end."
"Poor old Drew," thought Frank. "I wish he could have heard that; buthe would not have believed if he had."
Then the officers went on talking of the possibility of their regimentbeing called upon for active service, and the boy could not help afeeling of wonder at the eager hopes they expressed of having to takepart in that which would probably result in several of those presentlosing their lives or being badly wounded.
"I wonder whether I shall be as careless about my life when I amgrown-up and a soldier?" he thought.
The regular dinner had long been over, and the members of the mess hadbeen sitting longer than usual, the probability of the regiment goinginto active service having supplied them with so much food fordiscussion that the hour was getting late, and the young guest hadseveral times over felt an intense longing to ask permission to leavethe table, his intention being to get Captain Murray to let him joinAndrew Forbes. But he felt that as a guest he could not do this, andmust wait till the colonel rose.
He was thinking all this impatiently for the last time, feeling weariedout after so terribly exciting a day as he had
passed through, when thecolonel and all present suddenly sprang to their feet; for a shot rangout from close at hand, followed by a loud, warning cry, as if from asentry; then, before any one could reach the door to run out and seewhat was wrong, there was another shot, and again another, followed by afaint and distant cry.