“Thanks, Colonel.”
“And if the Free Sword should really be captured upon the information given by you, you will be entitled to a considerable portion of the large reward offered for his apprehension.”
“Your pardon, sir. What I did was done for the service of my country and for the pleasure of my Colonel. But not to save myself from perishing would I touch a cent of the blood money!”
“Upon the whole I think you are right, Wing. In your place, I would not touch the reward, certainly. But the lieutenant’s commission—that is an affair of another color, eh, boy?”
“Yes, sir. I hope I have earned that, or shall earn it in some nobler manner than spying out and giving information against outlaws.”
As they spoke, they emerged from the forest out upon the broad high road that skirted it.
“We are now about thirty miles from W., I think, Wing?” said the colonel.
“Thirty-eight,” answered the boy.
“So far? Well, at least we shall reach the town by nightfall,” concluded the colonel.