“Fall in the prisoner! Escort left face! Forward—March!” cried the Sergeant.
At that moment a man, breathless from having run rapidly, entered the room by the window. His uniform was that of an officer, and he wore a Lieutenant’s shoulder-straps.
“Halt!” he cried, as he burst into the room. “Are you in command, Sergeant?”
“Yes, sir.”
“General Randolph’s on the way here with orders. You will please wait until——”
But Arrelsford now interposed.
“What orders, Lieutenant? Anything to do with this case?”
The officer looked greatly surprised at this intervention by a civilian, but he answered civilly enough:
“I don’t know what his orders are. He has been with the President.”
“But I sent word to the Department,” said Arrelsford, “that we had got the man, and were going to drumhead him on the spot.”