another to the lift, an’ Oi’ll be the lifthand man.  Thin kape wan eye on me an’ the other before yeez, and advance whin Oi advance undher cover av the stumps and finces and things.  Riddy now—­extind!” The movement was well executed, and, as the veteran was eager for the fray, he led them more rapidly than it could be thought the old man had the power to run, until they reached the spot where the waggon had halted.  It was gone, without a sign; so the gallant skirmishers re-formed in the road and marched back to quarters.  When they arrived at the gate, Coristine could not resist the temptation of a challenge, unnecessary as it was.  The dominie was leading, and him he hailed:  “Who goes there?” With momentary hesitation, Wilkinson answered in the same undertone:—­

“Friends.”

“The word, friends?”

“Idiot.”

“The countersign, Idiot?”

“Boy.”

“Pass, Idiot Boy, and all’s well!”

The schoolmaster could have boxed that sentry’s ears, have slapped his face, have caned him within an inch of his life; for there was a light in an upper window, and he knew that bright eyes were looking down through the slats of the closed green shutters, and that sharp ears had caught the sound of the obnoxious words.  He could detect the accents of a voice, which he knew so well, pleading the cause of silence with another that trembled with suppressed laughter as it made ineffectual promises to be quiet.  The two clergymen also heard the friendly altercation at the window, so still was everything else, and chuckled as they filed past the legal sentry, now on the broad grin.  The Captain and Mr. Terry were above taking notice of such trifles, for they were eagerly persuading each other to take just the least drop before going out into the heavy night dews.  No sooner had the five entered the guard-room than the Squire re-formed them and marched them off to relieve the old sentries.  The lawyer’s place was taken by the dominie, Toner’s by the Captain, that of Sylvanus by Perrowne, that of Timotheus by Errol, and Rufus’ post of honour by the veteran, who would accept no other.  There was a sixth guard in the person of Muggins, who kept his master company and behaved with the greatest propriety and silence.  Sylvanus and Timotheus, Rufus and Ben had a separate guard-house of their own in the kitchen, where Mrs. Carmichael, who could not sleep because of her apprehensions of evil to some unknown defender, furnished them with bread and cheese and innocuous hot elderberry wine and cold cider.  After partaking plentifully of the refreshments, Sylvanus and Ben lit their pipes, and the latter communicated to the company the story of his woes in the case of Serlizer.  Sylvanus related his adventure in capturing Tryphosa, which caused Timotheus to move into a corner with Rufus and declare solemnly and in a low tone, that “Ef Sylvanus warn’t my brother and older’n me, and the next thing t’ engaged to Trypheeny, I’d be shaved an’ shampooed ef I wouldn’t bust his old cocoanut open.”  Rufus, however, replied that girls had no business to be about in war times, unless it was to nurse the sick and wounded, which was only done in hospitals, thus justifying Sylvanus’ action as a pure matter of military duty, and reconciling Timotheus to the slight put upon his lady love.