"They state that any officer or soldier who shall shamefully abandon any fortress, _post or guard_, committed to his charge, or who shall be found sleeping on his post, whether upon the land or the sea, shall suffer DEATH, or such other punishment as a court martial may award." I was so completely stunned by all this as to be incapable of speech; but Duff of ours, a kind and grey-haired old sergeant, said-- "Captain Brook, the lad is a good lad, and a steady one; we have few better in the Greys--" "Then I am very sorry for the Greys!" "I do hope, sir," continued the sergeant, "that his life, at least, may not be forfeited?" "My life!" I exclaimed, mechanically. "Yes, that may be forfeited, and I disgraced!" said Captain Brook, bitterly. "I have commanded many a post, but never one that was surprised before. To-morrow I shall hand you over to the guard of the provost marshal. What is your name, fellow?" "Basil Gauntlet." On hearing this, he started and became so visibly affected, that the soldiers of the picket who crowded round us holding their horses by the bridle, glanced at each other with inquiry and surprise. Brook surveyed me keenly for a moment, and then a sorrowful frown seemed to deepen on his features. "Was your father ever in the service?" he asked, abruptly. "He was an officer of Granby's Dragoons." Then a malignant light sparkled in the eyes of Captain Brook, and he struck his spurred heel into the turf. "Was my father your friend?" I asked, with hesitation. "Friend!" he reiterated, bitterly; "no--no--not my friend. But your mother, what of her?" he added, in an altered voice. "She is in her grave," I replied, with faltering accent; "else, perhaps, I had not stood before you thus to-night, a private soldier and a prisoner." After a pause-- "My God!" said Brook, in a low voice, as he took off his helmet and passed a hand across his flushed brow. Then seeming to recollect himself, he said, "Fall back, sergeant; and fall back, men--picket your horses, and lie down if you please till daybreak, when the outpickets are called in. Leave the prisoner with me. Gauntlet," he continued, after we were somewhat alone, "step with me this way. I shall do all in my power to serve you, and to be your friend." "Sir, you astonish me," I exclaimed; "how am I so fortunate?" "I will tell you a secret, boy--a secret long buried in my heart," he continued, in a voice that grew soft and kind; "your father and I were rivals--rivals for the love of the same girl, long, long years ago; but he was the successful wooer--I the discarded one! She was your mother, boy, and now, for her sacred memory, and the memory, too, of that early love, which brightened for a time the first days of my soldiering, I will save you, my poor lad, if I can. Nay more, I have some interest at head-quarters, and will serve you as if you had been my own son, and this will I do for _her_ sake."