t upon my gallant comrades.

"Whoever said so was a liar, and a base coward, to boot!" cried I,
springing down from the height and confronting them both where they
stood. They started back, and, seizing their guns, assumed an attitude
of defense, and then, quickly perceiving that I was alone--for the boy
had taken to flight as fast as he could--they stood regarding me with
faces of intense astonishment.

"Yes," said I, still boiling with passion, "you are two to one, on your
own soil besides, the odds you are best used to; and yet I repeat it,
that he who asperses the character of General Humbert's force is a
liar."

"He's French."

"No, he's Irish," muttered the elder. "What signifies my country, sirs,"
cried I passionately, "if I demand retraction for a falsehood."

"It signifies more than you think of, young man," said the elder,
calmly, and without evincing even the slightest irritation in his
manner. "If you be a Frenchman born, the lenity of our government
accords you the privilege of a prisoner of war. If you be only French by
adoption, and a uniform, a harsher destiny awaits you."

"And who says I am a prisoner yet?" asked I, drawing myself up, and
staring them steadily in the face.

"We should be worse men, and poorer patriots, than you give us credit
for, or we should be able to make you so," said he quietly, "but this is
no case for ill-temper on either side. The expedition has failed. Well,
if you will not believe _me_, read that. There, in that paper, you will
see the official account of General Humbert's surrender at Boyle. The
news is already over the length and breadth of the island; even if you
only landed last night, I can not conceive how you should be ignorant of
it!" I covered my face with my hands to hide my emotion; and he went on:
"If you be French, you have only to claim and prove your nationality,
and you partake the fortunes of your countrymen."

"And if he be not," whispered the other, in a voice which, although low,
I could still detect, "why should _we_, give him up?"

"Hush, Tom, be quiet," replied the elder, "let him plead for himself."

"Let me see the newspaper," said I, endeavoring to seem calm and
collected; and taking it at the place he pointed out, I read the heading
in capitals, "CAPITULATION OF GENERAL HUMBERT AND HIS WHOLE FORCE." I
could see no more. I could not trace the details of so horrible a
disaster, nor did I ask to know by what means it occurred. My attitude