k your father if Father Laxabon does not say so. The name of
God is for ever in the mouths of the whites at Cap; but they reviled the
king; and, true enough, the king was altogether on our side,--we had all
his protection."

"All that is a good deal changed now, I hear," said Paul. "The whites
at Cap are following the example of the rebels at Paris, and do not rely
upon God, as on their side, as they used to do."

"Will God leave off taking care of them, then?" asked Denis, "and take
care only of us?"

"No," said Aimee. "God is willing, Isaac says, to take care of all men,
whether they serve him or not."

Denis shook his head, as if he did not quite approve this.

"Our priest told Isaac," continued Aimee, "that God sends his rain on
the just and on the unjust. And do not you know that he does? When the
rains come next month, will they not fall on all the plantations of the
plain, as well as in the valley where the camp is? Our waterfalls will
be all the fresher and brighter for the rains, and so will the springs
in Cap."

"But if he is everybody's master, and takes care of everybody," said
Denis, "what is all this fighting about? We are not fighting for Him,
are we?"

"Your father is," said Margot; "for God is always on the side of kings.
Father Laxabon says so."

The boy looked puzzled, till Aimee said--

"I think there would be none of this fighting if everybody tried to
please God and serve Him, as is due to a master--as father did for the
king. God does not wish that men should fight. So our priest at Breda
told Isaac."

"Unless wicked rebels force them to it, as your father is forced," said
Margot.

"I suppose so," said Aimee, "by Isaac's choosing to go."

CHAPTER SIX.

THE HOUR.

The lads found some of the details of military training less heroic and
less agreeable than they had imagined--scarcely to be compared, indeed,
under either aspect, to the chase of the wild goats, and search for
young turtle, to which they had been of late accustomed. They had their
pleasures, however, amidst the heats, toils, and laborious offices of
the camp. They felt themselves men, living among men: they were young
enough to throw off, and almost to forget, the habits of thought which
belong to slavery; and they became conscious of a spirit growing up
within them, by which they could look before and after, perceive that
the future of their lives was in their own hands, and therefore
understand the i