"We must break and charge, or the savage will be too speedy!" he said, in
tones that grew thick from breathing quicker than was wont for one of his
calm temperament. "See! they enter the orchard! in another minute, they
will be masters of the dwelling!"
But his companion marched with a firmer step and looked with a cooler
eye. There was, in his gaze, the understanding of a man practised in
scenes of sudden danger, and in his mien the authority of one accustomed
to command.
"Fear not," he answered; "the art of old Mark Heathcote hath departed from
him, or he still knoweth how to make good his citadel against a first
onset. If we quit our order, the superiority of concert will be lost, and
being few in numbers, defeat will be certain; but with this front, and a
fitting steadiness, our march may not be repulsed. To thee, Captain
Content Heathcote, it need not be told, that he who now counsels hath seen
the strife of savages ere this hour."
"I know it well--but dost not see my Ruth, laboring at the ill-fitted
shutter of the chamber? The woman will be slain, in her heedlessness--for,
hark! there beginneth the volley of the enemy!"
"No, 'tis he who led my troop in a far different warfare!" exclaimed the
stranger, whose form grew more erect, and whose thoughtful and
deeply-furrowed features assumed something like the stern pleasure which
kindles in the soldier as the sounds of contention increase.
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