The camp is not the court.' It was evident to me that my father's suit was infinitely better, both in texture and material, than that which our visitor had brought with him.

As he had withdrawn his head, however, entirely beneath the bedclothes, there was nothing more to be said, so I descended to the lower room, where I found toy father busily engaged fastening a new buckle to his sword-belt while my mother and the maid were preparing the morning meal.
'Come into the yard with me, Micah,' quoth my father; 'I would have a word with you.' The workmen had not yet come to their work, so we strolled out into the sweet morning air, and seated ourselves on the low stone bankment on which the skins are dressed.
'I have been out here this morning trying my hand at the broadsword exercise, 'said he; 'I find that I am as quick as ever on a thrust, but my cuts are sadly stiff.

I might be of use at a pinch, but, alas! I am not the same swordsman who led the left troop of the finest horse regiment that ever followed a kettledrum.

The Lord hath given, and the Lord hath taken away! Yet, if I am old and worn, there is the fruit of my loins to stand in my place and to wield the same sword in the same cause.

You shall go in my place, Micah.' 'Go! Go whither ?' 'Hush, lad, and listen! Let not your mother know too much, for the hearts of women are soft.