In Honour's Cause: A Tale of the Days of George the First by George Manville Fenn

  CHAPTER NINE.

  FRANK HAS A BAD NIGHT.

  "I wish I had a better head," sighed Frank, as he lay in bed that night;"it seems to get thicker and thicker, and as if every time I tried tothink out what is the best thing to do it got everything in a knot."

  He turned over, and lay hot and uncomfortable for a few minutes, andthen perhaps for the hundredth time he turned over again, found hispillow comfortless, and jumped up into a sitting position, to punch andbang it about for some minutes, before returning it to its place, lyingdown, and finding it as bad as ever.

  "It's of no use," he groaned; "I shall never get a wink of sleepto-night. I wish I could get up and dress, and go for a walk out therein the cool by the side of the water; but as soon as I got outside Ishould be challenged by the guard. I don't know the password, and Ishould be arrested and marched off to the guardroom. Even if I couldget down there by the canal, I should feel no better, for I should bethinking of nothing else but feeding the ducks."

  This thought made him twist and writhe in the bed to such an extent thatthe clothes refused to submit to the rough treatment, and glided off toseek peace and quietness upon the floor. The pleasant coolness wasgratifying for a few minutes; but the boy's love of order put an end tohis lying uncovered, and he sprang out of bed, dragged the truantclothing back, remade his bed extremely badly, and once more lay down.

  The occupation relieved him for a while, and he began to hope that hewould go to sleep; but the very fact of his endeavouring to loseconsciousness made him more wakeful, and he lay with wide-open eyes,going over the events of the evening, till he got into a passion withAndrew Forbes, with Mr George Selby, and most of all with himself.

  "How could I be such an idiot as to go? I ought to have known better.I might have been sure, after what I had seen, that there was somethingwrong. But then," he groaned, "I did fancy something was wrong, and Iwent to try and keep Drew out of mischief. Oh, what an unlucky fellow Iam!

  "It's of no use," was his next thought. "I shall never do any goodhere, only keep on getting into trouble. Why, if this were to be known,it would bring disgrace on my father and mother, and they would have toleave court--father would perhaps lose his commission."

  He sprang up again in horror at the very thought of this, drew up hisknees, and passed his arms round them, to sit for long enough packed upwith his chin upon his knees somewhat after the fashion of a Peruvianmummy.

  "It's horrible," he groaned to himself--"horrible, that's what it is.And this is being what mother calls a good son. They'll be nice andproud of me when they know.

  "Ah-h-h-ah! There goes that wretched old clock over the gateway again!It can't be five minutes since it chimed before. It seems to have beenchiming ever since I came to bed. What time is it, I wonder? Bah!three-quarters past. Three-quarters past what? Oh dear, how thirsty Iam! and I've had three glasses of water since I came to bed. Going tofeed the ducks! Oh, I wish I'd said I'd go out and fight with Drew, andpinked him as he calls it. He wouldn't have been able to lead me intothis scrape. But more likely he would have pinked me. Well, and aprecious good thing too. It would have been all right, and I couldn'tthen have gone.

  "Phew! how hot it is. My skin seems to prickle and tingle, as ifsomebody had been playing tricks with the bed; and all this time Ibelieve that miserable dandy Drew is snoring away, and not troubling abit. There, if it isn't chiming again! It can't be a quarter of anhour since I heard it last. Ting, tang. Last quarter. Well, go on;four quarters, and then strike, and I shall know what time it is. What!A quarter past? Well, a quarter past what? Oh, that clock's wrong.It chimed three-quarters just now. It can't have chimed the fourquarters since, and struck the hour; it's impossible. I'm sure it mustbe wrong."

  He threw himself down again in despair, feeling as if sleep were fartheroff than ever.

  "Oh dear!" he moaned; "Drew told me I seemed a year older after thatrow. I feel another year older since then; and if it goes on like this,I shall be like an old man by morning. But there, I'm not going to giveup in this cowardly way. I'll show Master Drew that I'm not such a boyas he thinks for. It's all nonsense! Just because I went and dinedthere with him and his friend, and was then led into standing up withthem and joining hands, I'm to be considered as having joined them, andbecome a Jacobite! Why, it's childish; and as to his threats of whatthey would do if I ran back, I don't care, I won't believe it. I'm notsuch a baby. Death indeed! I've only just begun to live.

  "Ugh! it was very ugly, very shocking to see those heads stuck up thereover Temple Bar; and yet Drew took it as coolly as could be. Why, itwas he who ought to have been frightened, not I. And I'm notfrightened--I won't be frightened. I won't say anything; but I'm notgoing there again. No, I won't speak--unless they do threaten me. ThenI must tell all. But only wait till morning, and I'll have it out withMaster Drew. Not quite so much of a schoolboy as he thinks me.

  "There'll be no sleep for me to-night," he said at last, in a resignedway. "Well, it's perhaps so much the better. I have been able to thinkout what I mean to do, and now I'll just try and arrange what I shallsay to Drew in the morning; and, after that, I'll get up and dress, andhave a long read. I do wonder, though, what time it is."

  He then lay wondering and waiting for the clock to chime again, but hedid not hear it chime its next quarter, for now that he had made up hismind not to go to sleep, sleep came to him with one of those suddenseizures which drop us in an instant into the oblivion which gives restand refreshment to the wearied body and brain.

  Then, all at once, as he lay with his eyes closed, he did hear itplainly.

  "Ah, at last!" he cried,--"first quarter, second quarter, third quarter,fourth quarter. Now, then, I shall know what time it is."

  The clock struck, and he counted--nine.

  Then he listened for more, opened his eyes, and stared in amazement atthe light streaming through the shuttered windows, and leaped out ofbed.

  "Why," he cried, "it's breakfast-time! I must have been asleep afterall."

  Then he stood looking back into yesterday, for the evening's proceedingscame to him with a flash.

  "A Jacobite!" he said aloud; "and those heads upon the top of the gate!"