"Scott, here!" Poor Scott came trembling in every limb.
"Colonel," said Scott, shaking so he could hardly talk, "before God, I know nothing about the escape of the prisoner. I had not been on guard more than ten or fifteen minutes before the shot was fired. Up to that time, not a prisoner had stirred."
"Did you notice the boy?"
"No, Colonel, I did not. I do not know whether he escaped before I came on guard or after the alarm. The sergeant will bear me witness that during the alarm I stayed at my post and kept the prisoners from escaping. The boy might have slipped away in the confusion, but I do not think he did."
"Whom did you relieve?" asked the colonel.
"Robert Ferror."
"Call Ferror."
The sergeant soon returned with the information that Ferror could not be found.
The colonel bit his lip. He cast his eye over the group of officers standing around him, and then suddenly asked: "Where is Captain Bascom?"