it."

"Oh, you want to throw the responsibility upon me, and to embroil me
with your father and Mistress Vickars as an abettor of my cousin
Francis in the kidnapping of children? Well, Francis, you had better
explain to them what their duties will be if they go with you."

"You will be my pages," Francis Vere said, "and will perform the usual
duties of pages in good families when in the field. It is the duty of
pages to aid in collecting firewood and forage, and in all other ways
to make themselves useful. You will bear the same sort of relation to
the gentlemen volunteers as they do towards the officers. They are
aspirants for commissions as officers as you will be to become
gentlemen volunteers. You must not think that your duties will be
light, for they will not, and you will have to bear many discomforts
and hardships. But you will be in an altogether different position from
that of the boys who are the pages of the company. You will, apart from
your duties, and bearing in mind the difference of your age, associate
with the officers and the gentlemen volunteers on terms of equality
when not engaged upon duty. On duty you will have to render the same
strict and unquestionable obedience that all soldiers pay to those of
superior rank. What say you? Are you still anxious to go? Because, if
so, I have decided to take you."

Geoffrey and Lionel both expressed their thanks in proper terms, and
their earnest desire to accompany Captain Vere, and to behave in all
ways conformably to his orders and instructions.

"Very well, that is settled," Francis Vere said. "The earl is
journeying down to Hedingham to-morrow, and has kindly promised to take