" As
he spoke he drew it out, and thrusting the corner of his scarf into his
bosom, staunched the wound.
"So is your mercy rewarded!" exclaimed Kirkpatrick.
"So am I true to a soldier's duty," returned Wallace, "though De
Valence is a traitor to his!"
"You treated him as a man," replied Kirkpatrick, "but now you find him
a treacherous fiend!"
"Your eagerness, my brave friend," returned Wallace, "has lost him as a
prisoner. If not for humanity or honor, for policy's sake, we ought to
have spared his life, and detained him as an hostage for our countrymen
in England.
Kirkpatrick remembered how his violence had released the earl, and he
looked down abashed. Wallace, perceiving it, continued, "But let us
not abuse our time discoursing on a coward. He is gone, the fortress
is ours, and our first measure must be to guard if from surprise."
As he spoke, his eyes fell upon Edwin, who, having recovered from the
shock of Murray's exclamation, had brought forward the surgeon of their
little band. A few minutes bound up the wounds of their chief, even
while beckoning the anxious boy towards him. "Brave youth," cried he,
"you, at the imminent risk of your own life, explored these heights,
that you might render our ascent more sure; you who have fought like a
young lion in this unequal contest! here, in the face of all your
valiant comrades, receive that knighthood which rather derives luster
from your virtues than gives additional consequence to your name.
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