“So they made you a lieutenant, did they?” queried Nat; and it was easy to be seen that he was envious of Dave’s promotion. “Funny the luck some fellows have!”
While this talk was going on the boy had been edging farther and farther away from the Americans. Now he suddenly took to his heels, running off as if for dear life.
“Now see what you have done!” grumbled Nat. “I wanted that boy to carry this bundle into town for me.”
“What’s the matter with carrying it yourself, Nat?” suggested Roger. “You are more able to do it than that poor half-starved kid.”
“Humph! I wasn’t brought up to lug bundles,” grumbled the money lender’s son.
“Is it your own?” questioned Phil.
“No! It belongs to our captain. He detailed me to take it into town for him.”
“If he did, he must have done it as a punishment for you,” returned Dave quickly. He well knew that privates were often punished by their superiors for slight infringements of the regulations by having disagreeable duties assigned to them. He himself had seen unlucky engineers set to work carrying bundles, cleaning up in camp, and even peeling potatoes and onions for weeks at a time.
“Never mind why I was carrying the bundle. I can’t see that it’s any of your business, even if you are a lieutenant.”
“I won’t argue the point, Nat; but in the future you take my advice and leave the poor French boys alone.”