_Crom._ [_To William._] Hither! sirrah! It is well I know the master that thou servest, or else thy back had paid the license of thy speech. Tell him I would speak with him two hours hence in his own quarters. [_Exit William, U.E.L._] Good friend, [_to a soldier_] I am thirsty in the flesh. Get me, I prithee, a cup of thine ale. [_Soldier goes out._] [_To another soldier._] Give me thy pipe, Ruxton! is it right Trinidado?--[_To them all._] Think ye now, the generals fare better than ye do--I mean now, Desborough or Rossiter, or our brave Ireton? _A Soldier._ Ay! do they. But just now we saw a store of good things carried into Desborough's tent. Lo! there goes Jepherson and Fight-the-good-Fight Egerton this instant to feast on the fat things of the earth. [_Here the soldier gives him a cup of ale._] _Crom._ [_Pausing ere he drinks._] What is thy name, friend? _A Soldier._ [_Near._] Born-again Rumford. _Crom._ A babe, I do protest, a babe of grace. See you not, he cannot speak himself. [_Drinks, and throws the remainder over Born-again Rumford's beard. Returns the cup and prepares his pipe._] Now, Born-again! I think thou art baptized again! [_The soldiers laugh._] So there is feasting and gluttony amongst our captains. Hearken ye, I shall call a conference straightway. When the generals be come, which they will do with sore grumbling, then do ye fall to and spare not! I will stand between you and the fierce wrath of them that be spoiled. Three rolls on the kettledrum shall be the signal. See that ye leave nothing. [_Going, L._] [_As he goes he strikes his pipe on the back of the corslet of one of the soldiers; so that the ashes fall on his neck._] _Sol._ Now may the devil! _Crom._ Ho! swearest thou?--fy! fy! for shame, Orderly officer! set Hezekiah Sin-Despise down in thy book five shillings for an oath. Truly Sin-Despise is no fitting name for thee, but rather 'Overcome-by-Sin.' Come, as I did tempt thy railing, I will pay thy fine. [_Gives him money._] Tush! grin not so, man. I thought my Ironsides were proof against fire as well as steel. [_Exit, L._] _Shouts of the Soldiers._ Live, Cromwell! live, our worthy general! [_WILLIAM re-enters and joins the Soldiers. Exeunt, B._] _Enter ARTHUR reading a letter, U.E.L._ "----and so, cousin, I am very miserable, and if you have this influence with the General Cromwell, whose fair daughter I do so well remember, get me a home with her; for, alas! I can stay no longer here. And yet my father? But to wed with one that I despise, it is impossible, and all things are prepared, I look to you alone for rescue. Farewell. _Florence._"