Oh! suppose that son the pride of
your age, the solace and protection of your infant children, and then
pronounce my brother guilty, if you dare!"
"What right has Heath to make an executioner of me!" exclaimed the
veteran fiercely, rising with a face flushed like fire, and every vein
and artery swollen with suppressed emotion. "But I forget myself; come,
gentlemen, let us mount, our painful duty must be done."
"Mount not! go not!" shrieked Frances. "Can you tear a son from his
parent--a brother from his sister, so coldly? Is this the cause I have
so ardently loved? Are these the men that I have been taught to
reverence? But you relent, you do hear me, you will pity and forgive."
"Lead on, gentlemen," said the colonel, motioning towards the door, and
erecting himself into an air of military grandeur, in the vain hope of
quieting his feelings.
"Lead not on, but hear me," cried Frances, grasping his hand
convulsively. "Colonel Singleton, you are a father!--pity--mercy--mercy
for the son! mercy for the daughter! Yes--you had a daughter. On this
bosom she poured out her last breath; these hands closed her eyes; these
very hands, that are now clasped in prayer, did those offices for her
that you condemn my poor, poor brother, to require."
One mighty emotion the veteran struggled with, and quelled; but with a
groan that shook his whole frame.
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