The Young Castellan Part 41

"Then bring them in there, and I'll help to dress their wounds; but I must keep that."

"Surely you can manage without depriving Master Pawson of that place, Roy," said Lady Royland.

"Thank you, thank you, Lady Royland.--Yes, you hear that, Roy. You can--you must--you shall spare me that poor place. It is so small."

"And suppose we have an accident, and the powder bestowed in your chamber above is blown up?"

"Well, I shall have died doing my duty," said the secretary, with humility.

"Wouldn't it be doing your duty more to try and avoid danger, so as to be useful to us all?" said Roy; and his mother's eyes flashed with pleasure, while the secretary started to hear such utterances from the mere boy he despised.

"Perhaps so," he said, with a faint laugh; "but really, Roy, you will not be so hard upon me as to refuse that favour. Do not make me think that now you are castellan, you are becoming a tyrant."

"There is no fear of my son becoming a tyrant, Master Pawson," said Lady Royland, smiling, and with something suggesting contempt for the speaker in her tones.--"Roy, dear, I think you might manage to let the lower room remain as it is for Master Pawson's use, if the upper floor is given up to the men. He could have the room next to yours for a bedchamber."

"Oh, that would not be necessary," said the secretary, eagerly. "The one room is all I want--it can be my bedchamber too."

"I hardly know what to say, mother," said the boy, gravely.--"Well, then, Master Pawson, keep your study; but we must have the upper room at once, and if you are annoyed by the going to and fro of the men on the staircase, you must not blame me."

"My dear boy," he cried, with effusion, "pray do not think me so unreasonable. I am most grateful to you, Lady Royland, and to you too, Roy. I shall never forget this kindness. I will go and see to the new arrangement at once. Can I have two servants to help to move down the few things I shall want?"

"You can have two of the garrison, Master Pawson," replied Roy, smiling; "they all consider themselves to be soldiers now."

"Thank you, thank you," he cried, in a voice which sounded as if it were choked by emotion, and he hastily left the room.

"I wish he would not be so dreadfully smooth," said Roy, petulantly. "I want to like Master Pawson, but somehow he always makes me feel cross."

"He is rather too fond of thanking one for every little favour; but it is his manner, dear, and he has certainly been doing his best to help us in this time of need."

"Yes," said Roy; "and we should have thought bad enough of him if he had gone and left us in the lurch. There, mother, I must go and see Ben Martlet and tell him what has been arranged. He will not like it, though; but he will have two things out of three."

"You must not give up too much to Martlet, my boy," said Lady Royland, retaining her son's hand as he rose to go. "He is a faithful old servant, and will fight for us to the death; but remember that you are governor of the castle."

"He makes me remember it, mother," cried Roy, merrily. "Don't you be afraid of his being presuming, for he will not do a thing without I give the order. There, good-bye."

"Good-bye? You will be back soon."

"No," replied Roy; "I must be on the battlements all night, visiting posts and helping to keep watch. You forget that the enemy surround us now."

"Alas! no, Roy. I know it only too well. Come back in an hour's time-- you will want some refreshment. I will see that it is ready, and I hope by then you will find things so quiet that you can take a few hours'

rest."

"We shall see, mother," said Roy, kissing her affectionately. "How brave you have grown!"

She shook her head sadly as she clung to him for a few moments; and, as soon as the door had closed, and his steps died away on the oaken floor of the corridor, she sank in a chair sobbing as if her heart would break.

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.

A GRAND SURPRISE.

Roy had to go the whole round of the ramparts that night before he found Ben, who had always been visiting the parts he reached a few minutes before. But he came upon him at length, just at the door-way of the south-east tower, where it opened upon the southern rampart between that place and the great gate-way.

"Ladys.h.i.+p says I'm to have the garden to turn back to a proper court-yard?" said Ben, after hearing his master's report.

"Yes."

"And Master Pawson is turning out of his chamber, but he is to keep the lower place?"

"Yes; that is the arrangement, Ben; and you can have the upper chamber for use at once."

"Well, that's a good thing for the men who'll be up there, sir; but what does Master Pawson want with that lower room? I meant to have three firelock men there."

"Be content with what you can have, Ben. My mother did not want to be too hard upon Master Pawson."

"No, sir; she wouldn't be. But you've come all round the ramparts?"

"Yes."

"Kep' looking out of course, sir? What did you hear?"

"I? Nothing."

"Then you didn't try."

"Yes, I did; twice on each rampart. There was nothing to hear."

Ben chuckled.

"Ears aren't so sharp for night-work as they will be, sir, before you've done. I heard them on the move every time I stopped."

"What! the enemy?"

"Yes, sir; they're padrolling the place round and round. You listen."

Roy reached over the battlement, and gazed across the black moat, trying to pierce the transparent darkness of the dull soft night. The dew that was refres.h.i.+ng the herbage and flowers of field, common, and copse sent up a deliciously moist scent, and every now and then came the call of a moor-hen paddling about in the moat, the soft piping and croaking of the frogs, and the distant _hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo_! of an owl, but he could make out nothing else, and said so.

"No; they're pretty quiet now, sir; don't hear nothing myself.--Yes; there!"

"Yes, I heard that," said Roy; "it was a horse champing his bit; and there again, that must have been the jingle of a spur."

"Right, sir, right. You'll hear plenty of that sort of thing if you keep on listening. There, hear that?"

"Yes, plainly. A horse stumbled and plunged to save itself."

"Enough to make it," said Ben, gruffly; "going to sleep, and him on it jigged the spurs into its flanks to rouse it up. There, you can hear 'em on the move again, going to and fro."