“Halloo! there. You licked them, didn’t you?”
“Well, I’ll be dog-gone!” exclaimed the man, as he turned about and saw Leon advancing upon him through the bushes. “Where have you been? Your pap has been in a heap of worry about you.”
“And well he might be,” said Leon. “I have been a prisoner. Come on, Ballard; it’s all right.”
The men all straightened[straightened] up—they were busy getting ready to remove the wounded rebel—and presently saw Ballard coming through the woods leading his horse.
“And here’s the man who saved me,” added Leon. “Know him, boys. His name is Ballard. He was going to take me down to Mobile, but after he got out of sight of the rebels he asked me into the woods and gave me something to eat. How many of the Confederates did you kill?”
“But first, I want to know how you came to be taken prisoner?” said Bud. “Did you run onto the rebels before you knew it? The last time I saw you, you were up to old Newman’s house.”
“No, I didn’t run onto the rebels before I saw them,” said Leon; and he knew the confession he was about to make would not meet the entire approval of Bud McCoy. “One man made a prisoner of me.”
“Who was it?”
“Dan Newman.”
“And you had a revolver in your pocket?”