What next, Mr. Garvald?"
"The next thing is to march. After what befell on the Rapidan, we
cannot sit still."
He started. "I have heard nothing of it."
Then I told him the horrid tale. He got to his feet and strode up and
down the room, with his dark face working.
"God's mercy, what a calamity! I knew the folk. They came here with
letters from his Grace of Shrewsbury. Are you certain your news is
true?"
"Alas! there is no doubt. Stafford county is in a ferment, and the next
post from the York will bring you word."
"Then, by God, it is for me to move. No Council or Assembly will dare
gainsay me. I can order a levy by virtue of His Majesty's commission."
"I have come to pray you to hold your hand till I send you better
intelligence," I said.
His brows knit again. "But this is too much. Am I to refrain from doing
my duty till I get your gracious consent, sir?"
"Nay, nay," I cried. "Do not misunderstand me. This thing is far graver
than you think, sir. If you send your levies to the Rapidan, you leave
the Tidewater defenceless, and while you are hunting a Cherokee party
in the north, the enemy will be hammering at your gates."
"What enemy?" he asked.
"I do not know, and that is what I go to find out.
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