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He had obtained, nay, invited, Warde's confidence; and he dared not abuse it. It was a time of anguish. He was unable to concentrate his mind upon work or play, deprived of sleep, haunted by the conviction that if Desmond knew all, he would turn from him for ever. Then, at the most difficult moment of his life, the way of escape was opened.
"I only came up to tell you that the thunderstorm up the river did a lot of damage; a house was struck by lightning in North Bridgeboro and a lot of trees were blown down." This was not what he had come up for, though indeed the news was true, but his pride was touched by that remark of Warde's and he would not now admit that he had tramped up there just to visit them.
Then he repeated what he had just said, with a slight variation for Warde's benefit. "Tell him I want to ask him a question about the house-subscriptions." "Right," said the fag, bustling off. Lovell waited to receive his house-master. He had very good manners. "Can I do anything for you, sir?" he asked. "Yes," said Warde, deliberately.
And so he had asked his patrol leader if it would be all right for three to go instead of two. It was a small matter and of course it was all right, as any scoutmaster or National Scout Somebody-or-other would have agreed. The point is that Warde's thinking about it was very characteristic of him. In this instance he accepted his patrol leader's decision....
He looked sharply at John, who did not understand. Then he added, "I've wired for confirmation. There may be a mistake." "What mistake?" said John. Warde's manner confused him, frightened him. "What mistake, sir?" Warde, twisting the paper, answered miserably "There has been an action, but not in Scaife's part of Africa. Beauregard's Horse were engaged and suffered severely.
John pushed quietly through the shrubberies, treading as lightly as possible. Every moment he expected to see the flash of a lantern, to hear Warde's voice, to feel an arresting hand upon the shoulder. It was quite impossible to guess with any reasonable accuracy what part of the garden Warde had selected for a hiding-place.
But Desmond had seen it played, had heart his father praise it as the most fascinating of card-games, and had determined to learn it at the first convenient opportunity. None the less Warde's words still echoed in his ear. "I think we ought to give Warde a chance," he said. "You don't mean to say you were taken in by him?" said Lovell, contemptuously.
Lord Exmouth afterwards declared that if he had proceeded to hostilities at his first visit, without having been furnished with Captain Warde's plan and observations, he should have assigned to the ships stations which they could not have occupied.
Vaguely aware that some of the School-prizes were within his grasp, he had not deemed them worth the winning. To him, therefore, Warde abruptly began "You pride yourself upon being straight eh, Verney?" "Why, yes," said John, meeting Warde's blue eyes not without misgiving. "Well, to me, you're about as straight as a note of interrogation.
Here ends the story of Gilbert Warde's crusading; for he had reached the end of his Via Crucis in the Holy City, and had at last found peace for his soul, and light and rest for his heart, after many troubles and temptations, and after much brave fighting for the good cause of the Faith against unbelievers.
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