Twenty good soldiers may make all the difference, and although I have, of course, no orders for such an emergency, the king can hardly blame me even if the worst happens for striking a blow against the Imperialists here.

Will you give me a man," he asked the farmer, "to guide us across the hills ?" "That will I right willingly," the farmer said; "but it seems to me a desperate service to embark in.

These townspeople are of little good for fighting, and probably intend only to make a show of resistance in order to procure better terms.

The count himself is a brave nobleman, but I fear that the enterprise is a hopeless one." "Hopeless or not," Malcolm said, "I will undertake it, and will at once put the men under arms.

The wagon and horses with the baggage I will leave here till I return, that is if we should ever come back again." A tap of the drum and the soldiers came running in hastily from various cottages where they were spending their last evening with their village friends, wondering at the sudden summons to arms.