He leads me in a southerly direction, takes a road toward the west, and goes on. Suddenly he says, "You are coming over to us?"
"Yes."
"Then let me have the gun," he says.
I do not reply at once. Why does he want the gun? Is it in order to claim that he has captured me? If so, my information will not be believed; it may be thought intended to mislead. Then again, it is not impossible that this man is a deserter; if that be the case, he wants to march me back to the rebels, just as I am marching him back to the Union army. He may be a Confederate spy. I shall not give him the gun. But I will make him talk.
"What do you want with the gun?"
"Oh, never mind. Keep your gun; it don't make any difference," he says.
He keeps on, going more rapidly than before. We go up hill and down hill, hardly changing direction.
Suddenly he says, without looking back at me, "Say, Johnny, what made you quit?"
"My mind changed," I say.
He looks back at me; I can see contempt in his face. He says, "I wouldn't say that, if I was you."