"Could I? Yes, I think I could. But I want to know something first. How far I am willing will depend on circumstances. What is going to become of Colonel Keith in this business?" "He takes Angus's place--don't you see?" "Yes, but when Angus has got away, how is he to escape?" "God knoweth. It is not likely that he can." "And do you mean to say that Colonel Keith is to be sacrificed to save Angus?" "The sacrifice is his own. The proposal comes from himself." "And you mean to _let_ him?" "Not if I could do it myself," was the quiet answer. "I don't want you to do it. Is there nobody else?" "No one except Keith, Raymond, and myself. Raymond is too tall, and I am not tall enough. Keith and Angus are just of a height." "And if Colonel Keith cannot escape, what will become of him?" Silence answered me,--a silence which said far more than words. "Ephraim, Colonel Keith is worth fifty of Angus." "I have not spent these weeks at his bedside, Cary, without finding that out." "And is the worse to be bought with the better?" "It was done once, upon the hill of Calvary. And `This is My commandment, that ye love one another as I have loved you.'" I was silent. I did not like the idea at all. "You must talk to Keith about it before we leave the house," said Ephraim. "But I am afraid it will be of no use. We have all tried in vain." I said no more. "Well, Cary,--will you undertake it?" "Ephraim," I said, looking up at last, "I cannot bear to think of sacrificing Colonel Keith. I could do it, I think, for anything but that. It would be hard work, no doubt, at the best; but I would go through with it to save Angus. But cannot it be done in some other way?" Ephraim shook his head. "We can see no other way at all. There are only three men who could do it--Colonel Keith, Mr Raymond, and myself; and Keith is far the best for personal reasons. Beside the matter of height, he has, or at any rate could easily put on, a slight Scots accent, which we should find difficult, and might very likely do it wrong. He is acquainted with all the places and people that Angus is; we are not. And remember, it is not only the getting Angus out of the place that is of consequence: whoever takes his place must personate Angus for some hours, till he can get safely away. [Note 3.] Only Keith can do this with any chance of success. As to sacrifice, why, soldiers sacrifice themselves every day, and he is a soldier. I can assure you, it seems to him a natural, commonplace affair. He is very anxious to do it." "He must be fonder of Angus--" I stopped. "Than we are?" answered Ephraim, with a smile. "Perhaps he is. But I think he has other reasons, Cary." "What made you think of me?" "Well, we must have a girl in the affair, and we were very much puzzled whom to ask. If Miss Keith had been here, we should certainly have asked her." "Annas? Oh, how could she?" I cried.