"Drummers, into the square!" ordered the captain. "Gentlemen, before we proceed further in this matter, this man must be tried for insubordination--a drum head court martial immediately. Sergeant Nixon, go to the orderly's room and bring the articles of war." "Nay, Captain Headley," interposed the sergeant, "poor Collins!" "What, sir! do you, too, disobey?" "No, sir," returned the non-commissioned officer, respectfully, "but I thought when brave men would so soon be wanted for the defence of those colors, your honor could not be serious in your threat to score their backs; and a braver and a better soldier than Corporal Collins is nowhere to be found in the American ranks. He is excited, sir, by the loss of Mrs.--" "Stay, Nixon," interrupted Ensign Ronayne, "not another word. Captain Headley," he resumed, sternly, turning round to his commandant, "if Corporal Collins is punished, you will have to punish me also, for I swear that be but a hand laid upon him, and I will incur such guilt of insubordination as must compel you to place me under arrest. This severity, sir, at such a moment, is misplaced, and not to be borne." "Mr. Ronayne, depend upon it, this conduct on your part shall not pass unnoticed. When the proper time arrives, expect to be put upon your trial for this most unofficer-like interference with my authority. At present, I can ill afford to spare your services, and placing you in arrest now would only be to affect the interests of my command. When we reach Fort Wayne, you may rely upon a proper representation of your behavior. Private Collins, retire to your place in the ranks." "Reach Fort Wayne!" returned the Virginian, emphatically. "Mark me, sir, we shall never reach Fort Wayne. Captain Headley," he continued, more calmly, "look at those colors; do you not think we shall find more spirit to defend them while floating there (and he pointed to them), calling upon us, as it were, to remember the day when first they were unfurled before the British Lion, than when carrying them off encased and strapped with the old kettles and pans of the company upon some raw-boned old pack-horse, as if ashamed to show themselves to an enemy." "And those colors especially," ventured Sergeant Nixon, emboldened by the warm language in his defence used by the high-spirited young officer. "They are the same worked by the hands of Mrs. Ronayne, and run up there on the day of her own marriage, on the fourth of July. I hoisted them with my own hands this morning, because I believed we were going out to the rescue of that dear lady, and, in my mind, I can only say that it would be much easier to send out half the force for her, with a few Indians for scouts to point out where the red devils are, and then, when we have got her safe, to return here and defend the place, or perish under the ruins."