Friends, though divided: A Tale of the Civil WarHenty, G. A. (George Alfred)
History
Friends, though divided: A Tale of the Civil War
Henty, G. A. (George Alfred)
Great Britain -- History -- Civil War, 1642-1649 -- Juvenile fiction
When, upon his return to the camp, Harry told his friends the purport of
the interview between himself and Argyll, of Alan Campbell being put
under arrest and the earl openly reproved by the king, Donald Leslie
raised his hands in despair.
"If you get through this, Furness," he said, "I shall for the rest of my
life be convinced that you have a charmed existence, and that your good
genius is more powerful than the evil one of Argyll. The gossips say
that he is in alliance with the evil one himself, and I can well believe
them. But I beg you, in all seriousness, to confine yourself to the
camp. So long as you are here you are safe. But once beyond its limits
your life will not be worth a straw."
Jacob added his entreaties to those of Leslie, and Harry promised that
until the decisive battle was over he would keep among his men, unless
compelled by duty to appear at court.
Four days afterward a soldier entered Harry's tent, and handed him a
missive. It was as follows: "Upon receipt of this, Colonel Furness will
proceed to Leith and will board the vessel, the Royalist, which has just
arrived from Holland. There he will inspect the newly arrived recruits,
who will be attached to his regiment. He will examine the store of arms
brought by her, and will report on their state and condition.--David
Leslie, commanding his majesty's armies."
The duty was one of mere routine. Harry showed the note to Jacob, and
said, "You may as well come with me, Jacob. Your drilling is over for
the day, and you can aid me looking through the stores. Mike," he said,
"we shall be back to supper. We are only going down to the port." The
two officers buckled on their swords, and at once started on foot for
the port, which was but half a mile distant. Mike looked anxiously after
his master. Since the day when danger had first threatened him he had
scarce let him out of his sight, following close to his heels like a
faithful dog. His present business seemed assuredly to forbode no
danger. Nevertheless, the lad felt restless and anxious when he saw his
master depart. A few minutes later he went to William Long's tent.
"Master Long," he said, "will you see that my master's servant gets
supper in readiness at the usual hour. He has gone down to the port to
inspect some recruits just arrived from Holland, by order of General
Leslie, and said he would return by supper. I know that it is foolish,
but since the affair with Alan Campbell I am never easy when he is not
near. In this case, I do not see that there can possibly be any lurking
danger. Argyll could not know of his proceeding to the port, nor would
he venture to attack him there where the streets swarm with our
soldiers. Nevertheless, I would fain go down and assure myself that all
is well."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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