where they have captured
one. To retreat from here would be to leave our whole frontier open to
their ravages, and would be an act of cowardice more contemptible than
that which Colonel Dunbar performed this morning, when he marched his
troops away."

I had never seen him so moved, and I caught the infection of his anger.

"Colonel Washington is right!" I cried hotly. "Our place is here."

Innes did not so much as look at me. His eyes were on Washington, and his
face was very red.

"Colonel Washington," he sneered, his lips curling away from his teeth
with rage, "was, I believe, an aide on the general's staff. Since the
general is dead, that position no longer exists. Consequently, Colonel
Washington is no longer an officer of the army, and I fail to see what
right he has to take part in this discussion."

Half a dozen of us were on our feet in an instant, but Washington was
before us and waved us back with a motion of his hand.

"Colonel Innes is right," he said, his deep-set eyes gleaming like two
coals of fire. "I am no longer an officer of the army, and I thank God
this is so, since it is about to further disgrace itself."

"Take care, sir," cried Innes, springing to his feet. "You forget there
is such a thing as court-martial."

"And you forget that I am no longer of the army, and so can defy its
discipline."

He stood for a moment longer looking Innes in the eyes, and then,
without saluting, turned on his heel and left the place. A moment later
the council broke up in confusion, for Innes saw plainly that the
sentiment of nearly all the other officers present was against him, and
he did not choose to give it opportunity of expression. I had scarcely
reached my quarters when I received a note from his secretary stating
that as the mortality among the Virginia companies had been so heavy, it
had been decided to unite the three into one, and my lieutenancy was
therefore abolished. Trembling with anger, I hurried to Washington's
quarters and laid the note before him.

"Why, Tom," he said, with a short laugh, after he had read it, "we seem
to have fallen into disgrace together. But come," he added more
cheerfully, seeing my downcast face, "do not despair. We may yet win out.
The governor and the House of Burgesses will not receive so quietly this
project to retire from the frontier. I had a letter from Dinwiddie but
the other day, in which he said as much. In the mean time, I am going
home to Mount Vernon