y till the trouble's over?"

"What!" cried Ralph fiercely.

"You surely don't want to fight, boy?"

"No, father, I don't want to fight; but if you are obliged to--Oh,
father, you will not send me away?"

Sir Morton looked searchingly at the flushed countenance before him for
some moments before speaking.

"If you wish to stay, Ralph, certainly I shall not send you away. I
only gave you the opportunity to go if you wished. However, perhaps we
shall hear no more of the matter. Eden may not listen to that
scoundrel. If he does, we may set to work and furbish up our arms, lay
in stores of provisions, and be prepared for our defence."

"Then I hope he will engage the men, father," cried Ralph.

"Eh? And pray why, boy?" exclaimed Sir Morton.

"Because, father," said the lad, speaking in a deeply-moved tone of
voice, his eyes flashing and his cheeks flushed. "You have done nothing
lately to show how deeply you resent all the old wrongs; and if the
Edens hire these men, it will be a good opportunity for fighting our old
foes, beating them and taking possession, and ending the feud."

"Yes," said Sir Morton, smiling, "a good opportunity, boy; but we might
lose the day."

"We will not lose the day, father," cried the lad hotly. "Those men who
fight for pay are cowards at heart, and they will lead the Edens to
their destruction."

"But suppose that, after all, the Darleys were the ones to blame?"

"Oh, father, we can't stop to think of that. We do know that they have
committed outrage after outrage against our family, and you have always
taught me that it was our duty to punish the Edens."

"Yes, my boy, I have, as my father and my grandfather taught me; but I
have often wished the wretched business were at an end. I want to be at
peace."

"And you shall be, father, and soon, too, now," cried Ralph excitedly.
"But you will begin at once?"

"What, making peace?"

"No, father, war," cried the lad eagerly.

"Yes," said Sir Morton sternly, "if the Edens do."

"Oh, father, how calmly you take it all. I should have thought you
would be ready to begin at once."

"Yes, Ralph, because you are young, and have never seen what even the
pettiest war means, not even the bright side, with its chivalry and
panoply, and gay show. I have seen that, and the other side too."

"But you would fight, father?" cried the lad, looking astonished.

"Yes," said Sir Morton, with his face turning hard and stern, "if the
ne