"Captain Davidson," said the orderly as he returned, "the Commandant requests that you send in the prisoner and witnesses to him at once.'
"Very well," said the Captain. "Here they are and I hand them over to you together with Private Watkins, who arrested them."
They were then marched into the next room where they found a big white-haired man sitting at a desk busily engaged. The orderly stopped his charges at a respectful distance. The Commandant kept on writing for a few minutes but suddenly he turned around and gave a sharp and piercing look at the young Americans.
"Americans," said he, in rather a relieved tone. "Captain Abercrombie, let me know the gist of this affair."
"Major-General Norris, I shall have to ask Private Watson to give you the details at first hand, for as yet I know nothing about the matter, except that one of these young men is accused of being a spy."
"Private Watson, give me the details of the matter."
"Your Excellency," said Private Watson, "I know nothing more than that as I stood at my post on the Ramparts, near Gun No. 145, I saw this young man (pointing to Bill) suddenly produce one of those very small German cameras and try to take a photo of the gun and its location."
"Young man, is this so?" asked the Commandant in a serious voice.
"It is so, except that I did not intend to do any harm; the gun seemed very picturesque to me and I wanted a photo of it," said Bill.
"Were you not told that you should leave cameras of all kinds with the gateman?" asked the Commandant.