Jimmy and Roger hesitated. It was hardly ethics to talk about a fellow soldier, and yet Private Bixton was out of that class. He was a deserter, entitled to no consideration, and he was worse than a deserter—he was, in fact, a traitor.
"Well, to be frank, and not to spread bad information, we didn't know very much good about Bixton of Camp Sterling," said Jimmy.
"I thought so!" chuckled Anson. "I thought where there was so much smoke there must be a bit of fire."
"What do you mean?" asked Roger.
"Well, these Bixtons here," went on Anson, stepping aside to speak more confidentially to Roger and Jimmy, "are making quite a fuss over their cousin, Mike Bixton."
"What sort of fuss?" asked Jimmy.
"Oh, saying he didn't get fair treatment, that he was misunderstood, that everybody was down on him, and all that. I don't know all the particulars, but I judge Mike must have been punished in some way at Camp Sterling."
"He was sent to prison as a deserter," said Jimmy.
"Cracky! As bad as that! Well, well! I suspected there was an African gentleman in the fuel heap somewhere," chuckled Anson. "That accounts for a lot."
"A lot of what?" asked Roger.