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He stopped. His son was now looking up and speaking to the Princess, but
in too low a tone for them to hear. Young Redwood raised his face, and
she bent down towards him, and glanced aside before she spoke.
"But if we are beaten," they heard the whispered voice of young Redwood.
She paused, and the red blaze showed her eyes bright with unshed tears.
She bent nearer him and spoke still lower. There was something so
intimate and private in their bearing, in their soft tones, that
Redwood--Redwood who had thought for two whole days of nothing but his
son--felt himself intrusive there. Abruptly he was checked. For the
first time in his life perhaps he realised how much more a son may be to
his father than a father can ever be to a son; he realised the full
predominance of the future over the past. Here between these two he had
no part. His part was played. He turned to Cossar, in the instant
realisation. Their eyes met. His voice was changed to the tone of a grey
resolve.
"I will deliver my message now," he said. "Afterwards--... It will be
soon enough then."
The pit was so enormous and so encumbered that it was a long and
tortuous route to the place from which Redwood could speak to them all.
He and Cossar followed a steeply descending way that passed beneath an
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