He stayed him in the act of unbuckling his sword-belt.
"Wait, Joseph!" he cried dramatically.

"This is no time to disarm.

Keep your sword on your thigh, man; you will need it as you never yet have needed it." He paused, took a deep breath, and hurled the news at his brother.

"Roland Marleigh is here." And he sat down like a man exhausted.
Joseph did not start; he did not cry out; he did not so much as change countenance.

A slight quiver of the eyelids was the only outward sign he gave of the shock that his brother's announcement had occasioned.