"Have you any evidence to support this amazing statement?" asked the major.
"Plenty," answered Jimmy, and then, briefly, he told what he and his chums had seen. During the dramatic recital, which was corroborated at several points by Roger and Bob, as well as Franz and Iggy, the captain never said a word. He continued calmly smoking a cigarette he had lighted.
"Can this be possible?" exclaimed a lieutenant, and he seemed to shrink away from Captain Dickerson.
"Have you anything to say regarding the accusation of these lads,
Captain Dickerson?" asked the major, at length.
The accused flicked away the end of his cigarette. He looked at the boys, smiling cynically, and then answered calmly:
"No, I have nothing to say!"
"It is my duty—my painful duty—to order you under arrest then," said the major. "And it breaks my heart to do it. You were once my lieutenant and—"
Emotion overcame him, but he signaled to a captain, who summoned two orderlies, and in charge of these Captain Dickerson was led away under arrest.
"This matter will be taken up later, Sergeant Blaise," said the major. "It will have to wait until after the battle. He might better have been killed in action a dozen times than have this happen," he added rather ambiguously. "This is terrible!"
"It was hard to do this, after he had saved our lives," said Jimmy, "but it had to be."