"I don't know that anything can be done," said the chaplain. "It would be horrible to make such a mistake as that. You are entitled to a trial, anyway. Where is the man who made the charges against you?"
"I don't know," said Noel, "but I don't think he's here. My belief is that he is a spy, anyway, and part of the time is in the other army."
"Let me take the number of your company and regiment and I shall very gladly see what can be done. I don't want you to build your hopes too high, but you may rest assured that I shall do for you all that is in my power."
As soon as their visitor had jotted down in his notebook the few facts and figures which he asked for, he at once left the tent.
CHAPTER XXVI
THE TEST
The sufferings of Noel and Dennis were increased by the feeling of suspense which followed the departure of the chaplain. Rumor had been busy in the camp and had reached even the men in the guard-house concerning the execution of the deserters and the penalty which now might be visited upon the men who were still under guard.
The feeling in the heart of Dennis was more one of anger than of alarm. With Noel, however, uncertainty and fear combined to make the young soldier much cast down. When Dennis occasionally tried to arouse his spirits, the effort of the young Irishman was so manifest that the effect sometimes was the exact reverse of what he had intended.
More and more Noel became alarmed as the hours passed. When the chaplain returned, as he did a few hours later, not even his cheery words could disguise the fact that as yet he had not received any information concerning the two young sharpshooters which would justify the colonel in making an exception of their cases.