s to contrive to take from him as a favour, was
one of the most easy of the whole troop to deal with, the lazy,
phlegmatic, somnolent Godlamb Gideon, he whose very nickname was an augury
and a warrant of success, the wight yclept Go-to-bed Godlamb.

After waiting till the assembled soldiers had dispersed, and a proper time
had elapsed before seeking Gideon, Gerald again returned to the outer
court before the house, where he knew it was the habit of the indolent
soldier to bask and doze upon a certain sheltered bench, in the last rays
of the setting sun, absorbed, he himself would declare, in his devotions.
And there, in truth, he found the man he sought. But, confusion! there was
another by his side, and that other was the man who, among all, he would
have the most avoided. It was Mark Maywood. He stood by the side of
Gideon's reclining form, and was speaking with much earnestness to the
phlegmatic soldier, whose widely-opened eyes seemed to express more
animation than of wont. No time, however, was to be lost. The night was
approaching, and it was necessary to come at once to an arrangement with
the allotted sentinel of the midnight watch.

Overcoming his repugnance, and fully determined to act with caution,
Gerald assumed an air of unconcern, and sauntered to the spot where sat
Godlamb Gideon. After greeting sulkily the handsome young recruit, to whom
Gerald's presence seemed in nowise pleasing, he commenced with affected
indifference his attack upon the heavy soldier.

"You are ever zealous, friend, in the good work," he said.

"Yea, and of a truth these crumbs of comfort have a blessed and pleasant
savour in my nostrils," replied Godlamb Gideon, pressing his book between
his hands, turning up the whites of his eyes, and snuffing through his
nose, as though that member were stuffed up by the pleasant savour of
which he spoke.

"But have a care that your zeal be not overmuch," continued Gerald, "and
that you faint not by the way from the heaviness of your burden. Methinks
your cheek is already pale from exceeding watching and prayer."

"Verily I have fought the good fight, and I have run the good race, and
peradventure the flesh faileth me," snorted the Puritan soldier.

"Your allotted post, then, falls heavy upon you" said Gerald, with an air
of kind concern, "for you have the midnight watch, methinks. Indeed, I
pity you, my good friend. Hear me. I will perform the duties of your part,
and you shall rest this n