t him.

"Captain Davenant," he said, "I thank you most sincerely, on the part of
myself, my wife and son, and, I may say, of my father, too, although at
present he may not realize the kindness of your offer. I do not think it
likely that, if James Stuart prevails, and Ireland is rent from England,
we shall avail ourselves of your offer, for we have more than sufficient
of this world's goods to remove to England, and there settle ourselves
and our son, for assuredly Ireland would be no place where a Protestant
could dwell in peace and quietness. Nevertheless, I thank you heartily,
and shall ever gratefully bear in mind the promise you have made, and the
fact that, although you have the power to turn us from our home, you have
stayed from doing so. There has been much wrong done on both sides; and,
from a boy, when I have seen you ride into or from your home, I have felt
that I and mine wronged you, by being the possessors of your father's
lands."

"They were the spoil of battle," Zephaniah broke in fiercely.

"Yes, they were the spoil of battle," his son repeated; "but there are
limits, even to the rights of conquerors. I have read history, and I know
that nowhere but in Ireland did conquerors ever dispossess whole peoples,
and take possession of their lands."

"The Israelites took the land of Canaan," Zephaniah interrupted.

"I am speaking of modern wars, father. For centuries, no such act of
wholesale spoliation was ever perpetrated; and considering, as I do, that
the act was an iniquitous one, although we have benefited by it, I
consider the offer which Captain Davenant has made to us to be a noble
one.

"I have to thank you, sir, also, for your kindness to my son--a kindness
which doubtless saved his life, as well as that of many others in
Londonderry; and believe me that, whatever comes of this horrible war, I
and mine will never forget the kindnesses we have received at your
hands."

"The affair was my son's, rather than mine," Captain Davenant said; "but
I was glad to be able to assist him in aiding your brave boy. He is a
noble fellow, and you have every reason to be proud of him."

"I must add my thanks to those of my husband," Hannah said, coming out
from the house, having listened to the conversation through an open
window. "We had suffered so, until your son brought us news of John, two
days since. It is strange, indeed, that your son should have been the
means of saving one of a household whom he ca