CHAPTER VIII.
GEORGE AT THE FORT.
"Colonel, that young fellow has had a very hard time of it," said George when Bob had closed the door behind him.
"I expected it," replied the officer carelessly. "It is a wonder to me that the deserters didn't kill him, for there were some hard characters among them and they were well armed."
This remark would seem to indicate that the colonel was a most unfeeling man, and that he did not set much if any value upon the life of a non-commissioned officer; but such was not really the case. When he was a subaltern his superiors had often assigned to him some very hazardous undertakings, and when he attained to a rank that entitled him to a command he sent others into danger and thought nothing of it. A soldier's first and last duty was to obey any orders he might receive, and if he lost his life while in the act of executing those orders, why, it was nothing more than might be expected.
"They did try to kill him," said George. "Didn't you notice that hole in the breast of his coat?"
"I did, and I thought it looked as though it had been made by a bullet."