long since that Fergus wooed no bride but Honour?'
answered Flora.

'And am I then incapable of being his assistant and counsellor in the
pursuit of honour?' said our hero, colouring deeply. 'Do I rank so low in
your opinion?'

'Far from it, Captain Waverley. I would to God you were of our
determination! and made use of the expression which displeased you,
solely

Because you are not of our quality,
But stand against us as an enemy.'

'That time is past, sister,' said Fergus; 'and you may wish Edward
Waverley (no longer captain) joy of being freed from the slavery to an
usurper, implied in that sable and ill-omened emblem.'

'Yes,' said Waverley, undoing the cockade from his hat, 'it has pleased
the king who bestowed this badge upon me to resume it in a manner which
leaves me little reason to regret his service.'

'Thank God for that!' cried the enthusiast; 'and O that they may be blind
enough to treat every man of honour who serves them with the same
indignity, that I may have less to sigh for when the struggle
approaches!'

'And now, sister,' said the Chieftain, 'replace his cockade with one of a
more lively colour. I think it was the fashion of the ladies of yore to
arm and send forth their knights to high achievement.'

'Not,' replied the lady, 'till the knight adventurer had well weighed the
justice and the danger of the cause, Fergus. Mr. Waverley is just now too
much agitated by feelings of recent emotion for me to press upon him a
resolution of consequence.'

Waverley felt half alarmed at the thought of adopting the badge of what
was by the majority of the kingdom esteemed rebellion, yet he could not
disguise his chagrin at the coldness with which Flora parried her
brother's hint. 'Miss Mac-Ivor, I perceive, thinks the knight unworthy of
her encouragement and favour,' said he, somewhat bitterly.

'Not so, Mr. Waverley,' she replied, with great sweetness. 'Why should I
refuse my brother's valued friend a boon which I am distributing to his
whole clan? Most willingly would I enlist every man of honour in the
cause to which my brother has devoted himself. But Fergus has taken his
measures with his eyes open. His life has been devoted to this cause from
his cradle; with him its call is sacred, were it even a summons to the
tomb. But how can I wish you, Mr. Waverley, so new to the world, so far
from every friend who might advise and ought to influence you,--in a
moment, too, of sudden pique and