“All right!” said the spokesman of the teamsters. “Boys, tie him to that gum-tree.
“Hicks, you have just five minutes to explain that paper and say anything else you may want to say.
“Let me go,” he groaned, “and I’ll tell the truth.”
“Tell the truth!” shouted the men, “and we’ll see.”
“Colonel Deming,” Hicks began, “is the boys’ grandfather. Their mother married against his wishes. He disinherited her, and made a will that Chesterton, a distant relative, should fall heir to the Deming plantation, which is very valuable, if no children of his daughter were found before January 1st, 1864.
“Chesterton learned about the two lads and hired me to keep the two boys out of sight. I didn’t mean to harm them.”
“Like blazes you didn’t!” cried the spokesman. “You deserted them when the Indians broke out.
“Boys, get a rope; the fellow is too rank rotten for our bullets!”
An officer with a patrol came along and inquired what all the row was about, and the teamsters told him the story, which was corroborated by Barker.
“I don’t want him hanged,” Barker added, “but I don’t want to see his face again.
“Hicks,” he spoke calmly, turning to the prisoner, “I’ll shoot you on sight, if you ever cross my trail again!”
“Let him go, men,” he decided. “Don’t soil your hands on him.
“Here,” he ordered two soldiers, “take him out of our lines to that open field. He is to trot straight for the timber east. If he stops running, you shoot him.
“Hicks, if you ever show your face inside our lines again, we’ll find a tree for you pretty quick. March!
“My regiment can make good use of these three horses.”
[Illustration: “Take him out of our lines to that open field.”]
“What about these two fellows? Can we hang them? We’ve got the rope all ready.” The men asked their questions half in earnest and half in grim jest.
The two prisoners protested their innocence, claiming that they had believed the story of Hicks about kidnapped nephews and stolen horses.
“Give us a chance to go back north or put us to work here. We’re innocent of any crime.”
“That sounds good,” said the officer, “the transport _Northern Star_ leaves for St. Louis to-night or to-morrow. She is short of men. Restler and Stone, take these men back to Haynes Bluff and turn them over to the captain of the _Northern Star_. Tell the captain he will furnish me a good dinner when he returns from St. Louis.”