lved to cast in my lot with the
patriots who are striving to rescue this country from the grasp of
tyrants; they are not the evil-doers you think them. It is the King and
archbishop and their advisers who are traitors, not the Parliament, or
the brave, true men who are fighting for it."

He might have been hurried into saying much more, but at this moment
Maud fell to the ground with a piercing shriek; and at the same instant
Gilbert Clayton seized Harry's arm and dragged him from the room.

[Illustration: HARRY'S ANNOUNCEMENT.]

CHAPTER III.

TRAITOR OR HERO?

The confusion and dismay into which the orderly household of Hayslope
Grange was thrown by Harry's untimely and hasty confession baffles all
description. Fainting among young ladies was not so common in those
days, and the only orthodox remedy known to Mistress Mabel being burnt
feathers, these had to be fetched from the poultry-yard, and singed at
the kitchen fire, before anything else could be done for Maud, who still
lay unconscious on the floor; while Bessie and Bertram, thinking of
their aunt's words of the morning, cried and screamed, "Prithee, tell
them to let the archbishop go; poor Maud will die if you don't!"

Clayton had some difficulty in keeping Harry outside the house, whither
they had retreated when he heard that Maud was ill; but thinking that
his presence would only add to the confusion in the keeping-room if he
went in again, he prevailed upon him to remain where he was until Master
Drury came out and fetched them both into the study.

His face was white and rigid, with such a look of helpless woe about the
lines of his mouth that it touched Gilbert more deeply than the fiercest
expression of anger could have done. Harry's misery seemed complete when
he looked at his father's face in the dim light of the study lamp, and
falling on his knees, he exclaimed--

"Oh, my father, forgive me!"

But his father drew back hastily from the outstretched hands.

"Rise from your knees, Harry Drury!" he said, sternly, "and tell me what
you mean by the froward words you have this night spoken."

"My father, I spoke hastily and unadvisedly," said Harry, humbly. "I
should have come to you alone, and confessed that my opinions of the
King's doings had greatly changed of late, and begged your permission to
join the army now fighting for the Parliament."

"And do you think I would have given it, traitor-caitiff?" said Master
Drury, sternly.

"