"He declines to go up. He chucks the whole thing!"
The first thing that struck young Lechmere in the case was the freshness it had imparted to the governor's vocabulary.
"He doesn't want to go anywhere. He gives up the army altogether. He objects," said Mr. Coyle, in a tone that made young Lechmere almost hold his breath, "to the military profession."
"Why, it has been the profession of all his family!"
"Their profession? It has been their religion! Do you know Miss Wingrave?"
"Oh, yes. Isn't she awful?" young Lechmere candidly ejaculated.
"She's formidable, if you mean that, and it's right she should be; because somehow in her very person, good maiden lady as she is, she represents the might, she represents the traditions and the exploits of the British army. She represents the expansive property of the English name. I think his family can be trusted to come down on him, but every influence should be set in motion. I want to know what yours is. Can _you_ do anything in the matter?"
"I can try a couple of rounds with him," said young Lechmere reflectively. "But he knows a fearful lot. He has the most extraordinary ideas."
"Then he has told you some of them--he has taken you into his confidence?"
"I've heard him jaw by the yard," smiled the honest youth. "He has told me he despises it."
"What _is_ it he despises? I can't make out."
The most consecutive of Mr. Coyle's nurslings considered a moment, as if he were conscious of a responsibility.
"Why, I think, military glory. He says we take the wrong view of it."
"He oughtn't to talk to _you_ that way. It's corrupting the youth of Athens. It's sowing sedition."
"Oh, I'm all right!" said young Lechmere. "And he never told me he meant to chuck it. I always thought he meant to see it through, simply because he had to. He'll argue on any side you like. It's a tremendous pity--I'm sure he'd have a big career."
"Tell him so, then; plead with him; struggle with him--for God's sake."
"I'll do what I can--I'll tell him it's a regular shame."
"Yes, strike _that_ note--insist on the disgrace of it."
The young man gave Mr. Coyle a more perceptive glance. "I'm sure he wouldn't do anything dishonourable."
"Well--it won't look right. He must be made to feel _that_--work it up. Give him a comrade's point of view--that of a brother-in-arms."