'
'Young gentleman, I am extremely sorry that this painful duty has fallen
to my lot.'
'Duty, Major Melville, renders apologies superfluous.'
'True, sir; permit me, therefore, to ask you how your time has been
disposed of since you obtained leave of absence from your regiment,
several weeks ago, until the present moment?'
'My reply,' said Waverley, 'to so general a question must be guided by
the nature of the charge which renders it necessary. I request to know
what that charge is, and upon what authority I am forcibly detained to
reply to it?'
'The charge, Mr. Waverley, I grieve to say, is of a very high nature, and
affects your character both as a soldier and a subject. In the former
capacity you are charged with spreading mutiny and rebellion among the
men you commanded, and setting them the example of desertion, by
prolonging your own absence from the regiment, contrary to the express
orders of your commanding officer. The civil crime of which you stand
accused is that of high treason and levying war against the king, the
highest delinquency of which a subject can be guilty.'
'And by what authority am I detained to reply to such heinous calumnies?'
'By one which you must not dispute, nor I disobey.
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