Eben was about to give the boy a piece of his mind, but checked himself in time.
"It's a what?" asked the lad.
"Very unlikely story, I was about to say, but thought that I would not."
"Why?"
"Because a man who would think such a thing about Col. Allen is not worth contradicting."
"Oh, that is it. So you believe in this man, Allen?"
"I do."
"So does father. He says that he will stick by him as long as he has a hand to hold a gun."
"What is your father's name?"
"Why do you want to know?"