But it seems
hard, sir."

"Yes, Lennox, speaking to you not as your colonel but as a friend,
terribly hard."

"Then the sooner I am arrested and tried by court-martial, sir, the
better. I was ready to return to my duty, but to go on with every one
in the regiment looking upon me as a coward is more than I could bear."
The colonel was silent. "Have I your leave, sir, to go back to my
quarters?" said Lennox at last.

"Not yet," said the colonel. "Look here, Lennox; this wretched charge
has been made, and I cannot tell my officers and men what they shall and
what they shall not believe. An inquiry must take place--by-and-by.
Till it is held, the task rests with you to prove to your brother
officers and the men that they have misjudged you."

"And to you, sir," said Lennox coldly.

"I do not judge you yet, Lennox," said the colonel gravely. "I am
waiting."

"And how am I to prove, sir, that I am not what they think me?"

The colonel shrugged his shoulders and smiled sadly.

"You need not go and publish what I say, Lennox," he replied; "but I
have very good reason to believe that the Boers are heartily sick of
waiting for us to surrender, and that they have received orders to make
an end of our resistance."

"Indeed, sir?"

"They have been receiving reinforcements, and the blacks bring word in
that they have now two more guns. There will be plenty of chances for
you to show that you are no coward, and that before many hours are
past."

"Do you mean, sir, that I can take my place in the company?"

"I do."

"Thank you, sir. Something within me seems to urge me to hold aloof,
for the coldness I have experienced since the doctor said I was fit for
service is unbearable."

"Would not standing upon your dignity, Lennox, and letting your comrades
face the enemy, look worse than manfully taking your place side by side
with the men who are going forward to risk wounds or death?"

"Yes, sir; much," said Lennox, flushing. "I will live it down."

"Shake hands, Lennox," said the colonel, holding out his own. "Now I
feel that you have been misjudged. Those were the words of a brave man.
Mind this: the matter must be properly heard by-and-by, but let it
remain in abeyance. Go and live it down."

The young officer had something more to say, but the words would not
come; and the colonel, after a glance at him, turned to a despatch he
had been writing, and began to read it over as if in ignorance of his
visi