Part 12 (1/2)

Pen's voice had died away almost to a whisper.

”And that,” said the colonel, ”is your only excuse?”

”Yes, sir. Except that I didn't mean it; not any of it.”

”Of course you didn't mean it. If you had meant it, it would have been a crime instead of a gross offense. But the fact remains that, in the heat of pa.s.sion, without forethought, without regard to your patriotic ancestry, you have wantonly defamed your country and heaped insults on her flag.”

Pen tried to speak, but he could not. He clung to the back of his chair and stood mute while the colonel went on:

”My paternal grandfather, sir, fought valiantly in the army of General Putnam in the Revolutionary war, and my maternal grandfather was an aide to General Was.h.i.+ngton. My father helped to storm the heights of Chapultepec in 1847 under that invincible commander, General Worth. I, myself, shared the vicissitudes of the Army of the Potomac, through three years of the civil war. And now it has come to this, that my grandson has trodden under his feet the flag for which his gallant ancestors fought, and has defamed the country for which they shed their blood.”

The colonel's voice had risen as he went on, until now, vibrant with emotion, it echoed through the room. He rose from his chair and began pacing up and down the library floor.

Still Pen stood mute. Even if he had had the voice to speak there was nothing more that he could say. It seemed to him that it was hours that his grandfather paced the floor, and it was a relief to have him stop and speak again, no matter what he should say.

”I have decided,” said the colonel, ”that you shall apologize for your offense. It is the least reparation that can be made. Your apology will be in public, at your school, and will be directed to your teacher, to your country, to your flag, and to Master Sands who was bearing the colors at the time of the a.s.sault.”

Before his teacher, his country and his flag, Pen would have been willing to humble himself into the dust. But, to apologize to Aleck Sands!

Colonel Butler did not wait for a reply, but sat down at his desk and arranged his materials for writing.

”I shall communicate my purpose to Miss Grey,” he said, ”in a letter which you will take to her to-morrow.”

Then, for the first time in many minutes, Pen found his voice.

”Grandfather, I shall be glad to apologize to Miss Grey, and to my country, and to the flag, but is it necessary for me to apologize to Aleck Sands?”

Colonel Butler swung around in his swivel-chair, and faced the boy almost savagely:

”Do you presume, sir,” he exclaimed, ”to dictate the conditions of your pardon? I have fixed the terms. They shall be complied with to the letter--to the letter, sir. And if you refuse to abide by them you will be required to withdraw to the home of your maternal grandfather, where, I have no doubt, your conduct will be disregarded if not approved. But I will not harbor, under the roof of Bannerhall, a person who has been guilty of such disloyalty as yours, and who declines to apologize for his offense.”

Having delivered himself of this ultimatum, the colonel again turned to his writing-desk and proceeded to prepare his letter to Miss Grey.

Apparently it did not occur to him that his demand, thus definitely made, might still be refused.

After what seemed to Pen to be an interminable time, his grandfather ceased writing, laid aside his pen, and turned toward him holding a written sheet from which he read:

”Bannerhall, Chestnut Hill, Pa.

February 22.

”_My dear Miss Grey:_

”It is with the deepest regret that I have to advise you that my grandson, Penfield Butler, on Sat.u.r.day last, by his own confession, dishonored the colors belonging to your school, and made certain derogatory remarks concerning his country and his flag, for which offenses he desires now to make reparation. Will you therefore kindly permit him, at the first possible opportunity, to apologize for his reprehensible conduct, publicly, to his teacher, to his country and to his flag, and especially to Master Alexander Sands, the bearer of the flag, who, though not without fault in the matter, was, nevertheless, at the time, under the protection of the colors.

”Master Butler will report to me the fulfillment of this request.

With personal regards and apologies, I remain,

”Your obedient servant, ”Richard Butler.”