"Good boy!" said Roland.
"There he is," said Ralph; "see him just turning the corner." With a bound Roland crossed the intervening space, and rushed around the shed in which the artillery was parked. He ran into the officer full face, and greeted him.
"Who are you? What and where is your command?" he inquired.
The man attempted to answer in French, but his foreign accent was readily detected.
Roland's revolver was in his hand, and he cried out: "Hold up your hands instantly."
"Turn about: you are under arrest. Forward march," ordered Roland.
Then turning to the boys he said: "Go up to him on either side and direct him down to headquarters. I will follow as a guard."
During the progress down the street a large crowd gathered and followed. The cry of "spy" was heard on all sides. The commandant was quickly advised of the cause of the commotion and he received and questioned the man, who could give no satisfactory replies to any of the questions put to him. He could not state where he obtained the uniform he wore. This in itself was incriminating evidence, and made him amenable to the laws governing the execution of spies.
He was found guilty, principally on his own confession, and executed within an hour of the trial.
When Alfred learned of the man's fate, he was greatly affected. He had been the cause of the man's death—the direct cause. How he now abhorred the shedding of blood. Some days prior to this, he had taken a gun in his hand, and shot with the intention of killing. But this was different. He had detected a spy; and the spy was shot.