"
"Deceit!" echoed Wharton. "I thought it prudent to guard against capture
from my enemies."
"A soldier, Captain Wharton, should never meet his enemy but openly, and
with arms in his hands. I have served two kings of England, as I now
serve my native land; but never did I approach a foe, unless under the
light of the sun, and with honest notice that an enemy was nigh."
"You are at liberty to explain what your motives were in entering the
ground held by our army in disguise," said the other judge, with a
slight movement of the muscles of his mouth.
"I am the son of this aged man before you," continued Henry. "It was to
visit him that I encountered the danger. Besides, the country below is
seldom held by your troops, and its very name implies a right to either
party to move at pleasure over its territory."
"Its name, as a neutral ground, is unauthorized by law; it is an
appellation that originates with the condition of the country. But
wherever an army goes, it carries its rights along, and the first is the
ability to protect itself."
"I am no casuist, sir," returned the youth; "but I feel that my father
is entitled to my affection, and I would encounter greater risks to
prove it to him in his old age."
"A very commendable spirit," cried the veteran.
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