Part 75 (2/2)

There was a pause after he had done, and the general sat gazing straight before him.

”Well, Forrester,” he said at last, ”I have done my duty so far, and I must go on. We cannot leave this little nest of hornets in our rear to act as a point to which other insects will gather for the destruction of those who are fighting for their homes. It is of no use to give them time.”

”No,” said Colonel Forrester, sternly. ”I agree with you. They must fall, or be taken to a man.”

”And their blood be upon their own heads.”

”Amen,” said Colonel Forrester, in a deep voice; and as Fred glanced at him he saw that he was very pale, while a cold chill of dread ran through the lad's veins as, in imagination, he seemed to see stout, handsome Sir G.o.dfrey Markham borne down by numbers, with Scarlett making frantic efforts to save him; and then all seemed to be dark--a darkness which hung over his spirit, so that he led his horse mechanically to the improvised stabling beneath the trees, seeing nothing, hearing nothing, till a voice said--

”No, no, Master Fred, I'll see to your horse;” and he turned and found Samson there, and this set him thinking about poor Nat lying helpless in the wood.

CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE.

SAMSON VISITS HIS BROTHER.

No orders were given for attack that night, and Fred went to the rough shelter that served him for tent, to lie down, but not to sleep, for his thoughts were either at the Manor, which was to him as if it were a hundred miles away; at the Hall, where he knew that the little Royalist party were doing everything to resist the impending attack; or in the gloomy old patch of ancient forest they called the wilderness, where poor Nat lay helpless, and very little removed from death.

”I can't sleep,” said Fred, at last, as he rose from his bed, which consisted of a pile of heather, over which his horseman's cloak was thrown, and impetuously hurrying out, he stood gazing up at the bright stars, with the cool moist wind from the north-west bearing to his hot cheeks the freshness of the sea.

”Perhaps dying,” he said to himself at last. ”I can't lie there thinking about it. I will go, at all costs, and he shall go with me.”

He stepped back into his rough tent, buckled on his sword, threw the strap of a wallet over his head, and then took the remainder of his evening meal and a small flask, which he placed in the wallet. This done, he paused for a few moments, and then sought a scarf and a couple of handkerchiefs, which he also thrust into the wallet.

The next minute he was groping his way toward the place in a thick grove where the horses were picketed; and he had not far to look, on reaching his own, before finding Samson curled up in a half-sitting, half-lying position between the mossy b.u.t.tresses formed by the roots of a huge beech.

Stooping down, he seized his henchman's shoulder, and shook him, but only elicited a grunt.

He shook him again, but though his act was more vigorous, it only elicited a fresh series of grunts.

”You idle pig!” cried Fred, angrily, as he administered a kick; ”get up!”

_Snore_!

A long-drawn, deep-toned snore.

”Samson! I want you.” No response. Samson's senses were so deeply steeped in sleep that nothing seemed to rouse him.

”I wish I had a pin,” muttered Fred, as he kicked and shook again, without effect. ”And there isn't a thorn anywhere near. Spurs!” he exclaimed. ”No,” he added in a disappointed tone--”too blunt. There's no water to rouse him nearer than the lake; and if there was, it would be too bad to let him go about drenched. What shall I do? Samson, get up; I want you. I'll p.r.i.c.k you with my sword, if you don't wake up.”

”Tell him the enemy's here, sir,” said a sleepy man lying close by.

”Wouldn't wake him, if he did,” grumbled another.

The men's remarks suggested an idea which made Fred smile, as he went down on one knee, placed his lips close to Samson's ear, and whispered--

”Well, I wouldn't let him meddle with my garden. Your brother Nat.”

That one word, ”Nat,” seemed to run echoing through all the convolutions of Samson Dee's brain, and he started up at once, full of eagerness and thoroughly awakened, as if by a magic touch.

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