_Enter_ GERVAISE, followed by COL. G. _Ger._ What a time you have been, William! _Col. G._ I'm sorry, sir. Did you want anything? _Ger._ No. But I don't like to be left. You are the only friend I have. _Col. G._ Thank you, sir. A man _must_ do his duty, but it's a comfort when his colonel takes notice of it. _Ger._ Is it _all_ from duty, William? Yet why should I look for more? There was a little girl I tried to do my duty by once--My head's rather queer still, William. _Col. G._ Is there nothing to be done, sir? _Ger._ No; it's here--(_putting his hand to his head_)--inside. _Col. G._ I meant about the little girl, sir.--I can keep dark as well as another.--When there's anything on a man's mind, sir--good _or_ bad--it's a relief to mention it. If you could trust me--(_A pause_.) Men _have_ trusted their servants and not repented it. _Ger._ No doubt--no doubt. But there is no help for me. _Col. G._ You cannot be sure of that, sir. _Ger._ You would help me if you could, I believe. _Col. G._ God knows I would, sir--to the last drop of my blood. _Ger._ That's saying much, William. A son couldn't say more--no, nor a father either. _Col. G._ Oh! yes, he could, sir. _Ger._ And mean it? _Col. G._ Yes. _Ger._ If I had a father, William, I would tell him all about it. I was but two years old when he left me. _Col. G._ Then you don't remember him, sir? _Ger._ I often dream about him, and then I seem to remember him. _Col. G._ What is he like, sir?--in your dreams, I mean. _Ger._ I never see him distinctly: I try hard sometimes, but it's no use. If he would but come home! I feel as if I could bear anything then.--But I'm talking like a girl! _Col. G._ Where is your father, sir? _Ger._ In India. _Col. G._ A soldier, sir? _Ger._ Yes. Colonel Gervaise--you must have heard of him. Sir Walter he is now. _Col. G._ I've heard of _him_, sir--away in the north parts he's been, mostly. _Ger._ Yes. How I wish he would come home! I would do everything to please him. I have it, William! I'll go to India. I did think of going to Garibaldi--but I won't--I'll go to India. I _must_ find my father. Will you go with me? _Col. G._ Willingly, sir. _Ger._ Is there any fighting there now? _Col. G._ Not at present, I believe. _Ger._ That's a pity. I would have listed in my father's regiment, and then--that is, by the time he found me out--he wouldn't be ashamed of me. I've done nothing yet. I'm nobody yet, and what could he do with a son that was nobody--a great man like him! A fine son _I_ should be! A son ought to be worthy of his father. Don't you think so, William? _Col. G._ That wouldn't be difficult, sir!--I mean with most fathers. _Ger._ Ah! but _mine_, you know, William!--Are you good at the cut and thrust? _Col G._ Pretty good, sir, I believe. _Ger._ Then we'll have a bout or two. I've got rusty.--Have I said anything odd--or--or--I mean since I've been ill? _Col. G._ Nothing you need mind, sir.