“He has not tried,” answered General Murray dryly.
“Hasn’t tried?” ejaculated Dave. “Why, what——”
“He escaped from prison and left Quebec some time ago.”
“Is it possible!” came from Dave, his face full of conflicting emotions.
“Do you mean to say the boy up an’ run away?” came from Barringford.
“Yes.”
Both Dave and the old frontiersman shook their heads at this. The news was so unexpected it stunned them.
“I am half inclined to believe that he was not guilty,” went on General Murray. “I have learned that one of the fellows mixed up in the affair, a soldier named Prent, has a bad reputation, and one of Prent’s friends, Harkness, is a man who once served time in a Scotch prison. More than this, I received a letter from some party unknown, which would tend to prove that Henry Morris was the victim of circumstances or a plot.” And here the general drew out the letter already given in full in a former chapter.
“And nothing has been seen or heard of Henry since he ran away from here?” asked Dave.
“Nothing. How he got out of Quebec is unknown, and it is barely possible that he may be in hiding here, although I do not think so. He was foolish to run away.”