"
"Glad to see you, however," said the general, "but sorry for the cause why
you have returned.--Who have we got here--what boy is that?"
"Why," responded the colonel, "that lad is one of the British officers of
the force that attacked us."
"Ha," said the general again, "how did you capture him?"
"The boat (one of four) in which he was, was blown to pieces by a
six--pound shot. He was the only one of the enemy who swam ashore. The
rest, I am inclined to think, were picked up by the other boats."
"So," grumbled the general, "British ships in the Elbe!"
The colonel continued. "I hope, Marshal, you will allow him his parole? he
is, as you see, quite a child."
"Parole!" replied the Marshall,--"parole! such a mere lad cannot know the
value of his promise."
A sudden fit of rashness came over me.
"He is a mere boy," reiterated the Marshall. "No, no--send him to prison;"
and he resumed the study of the printed paper he had been reading.
I struck in, impelled by despair, for, young as I was, I knew the
character of the man before whom I stood, and I remembered that even a
tiger might be checked by a bold front--"I am an Englishman, sir, and
incapable of breaking my plighted word."
He laid down the paper he was reading, and slowly lifted his eyes, and
fastened them on me,--"Ha," said he, "ha--so young--so reckless!"
"Never mind him, Marshal," said the colonel. "If you will grant him his
parole, I.
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