"I aint a guerrilla, am I?" put in Pete Gendron eagerly.
"N—no, he is not a—a guerrilla," stammered the surgeon. "There must be some mistake."
"I want to be taken to the Confed'rate hospital," went on Pete Gendron.
"But he and his comrades were trying to steal our horses," said Jack firmly.
"As I said before, my dear Jack, there must be some mistake," returned the surgeon smoothly. Suddenly his face brightened. "Gendron, you made a mistake by leaving the hospital so soon. Your fighting in to-day's battle must have made you light-headed. You probably came here by mistake."
The guerrilla was crafty enough to seize upon the cue thus given.
"Thet must be the size on it," he murmured. "My head has felt queer ever since I got out in the sun. Reckon I aint accountable fer all my actions, doc."
"He is a perfectly honest man," said Dr. Mackey to Jack. "I have seen him fight most bravely in half a dozen battles."
Jack felt that the surgeon was falsifying, but how could he prove it? Then he felt that there would be no use in keeping the guerrilla at the plantation.
"Well, take him away, if you want to," he answered. "But I shall still hold my opinion of the rascal."