Chapter 50 - Page 2

daya€™s shouting, exertion, and excitement, many had quite lost their voices, and so much of their strength that they could hardly stand. Then they were uncertain what to do next, fearful of the consequences of what they had done already, and sensible that after all they had carried no point, but had indeed left matters worse than they had found them. Of those who had come to The Boot, many dropped off within an hour; such of them as were really honest and sincere, never, after the morninga€™s experience, to return, or to hold any communication with their late companions. Others remained but to refresh themselves, and then went home desponding; others who had theretofore been regular in their attendance, avoided the place altogether. The half-dozen prisoners whom the Guards had taken, were magnified by report into half-a-hundred at least; and their friends, being faint and sober, so slackened in their energy, and so drooped beneath these dispiriting influences, that by eight oa€™clock in the evening, Dennis, Hugh, and Barnaby, were left alone. Even they were fast asleep upon the benches, when Gashforda€™s entrance roused them.

a€˜Oh! you are here then?a€™ said the Secretary. a€˜Dear me!a€™

a€˜Why, where should we be, Muster Gashford!a€™ Dennis rejoined as he rose into a sitting posture.

a€˜Oh nowhere, nowhere,a€™ he returned with excessive mildness. a€˜The streets are filled with blue cockades. I rather thought you might have been among them. I am glad you are not.a€™

a€˜You have orders for us, master, then?a€™ said Hugh.

a€˜Oh dear, no. Not I. No orders, my good fellow. What orders should I have? You are not in my service.a€™

a€˜Muster Gashford,a€™ remonstrated Dennis, a€˜we belong to the cause, dona€™t we?a€™

a€˜The cause!a€™ repeated the secretary, looking at him in a sort of abstraction. a€˜There is no cause. The cause is lost.a€™

a€˜Lost!a€™

a€˜Oh yes. You have heard, I suppose? The petition is rejected by a hundred and ninety-two, to six. Ita€™s quite final. We might have spared ourselves some trouble. That, and my lorda€™s vexation, are the only circumstances I regret. I am quite satisfied in all other respects.a€™

As he said this, he took a penknife from his pocket, and putting his hat upon his knee, began to busy himself in ripping off the blue cockade which he had worn all day; at the same time humming a psalm tune which had been very popular in the morning, and dwelling on it with a gentle regret.

His two adherents looked at each other, and at him, as if they were at