He said nothing to this. He was abashed. His eyes sought the ground.
"Why don't you answer me, sir?" I asked.
He replied timidly, "I am not doing any harm."
"What do you mean by being here at all?"
"I got lost in the woods last night," he said, "and went to sleep here, waiting for day."
"Then get back to your company at once," said I; "what is your regiment?"
"The Seventh," he replied.
"And your brigade?"
He looked up wonderingly at this, and I feared that I had made an unnecessary mistake through over-carefulness in trying to secure another corroboration of what I already knew well enough. I thought I could perceive his idea, and I added in an instant: "Don't you know that troops have come up in the night? What brigade is yours?"
"Branch's," he said.