“I don’t know what to do with you,” he said. “What were you doing?”
“Dick and I were trying to reach the Mississippi River hoping that we might get home,” said Jeanne.
“Were you carrying anything beyond the lines?”
“No, sir.”
“How came you within our lines?” persisted the officer, attracted by her youth and innocence, yet determined to probe the affair to the bottom.
“I came from New Orleans,” said Jeanne. “I was visiting my uncle. When they left the city they took me with them but left me at a deserted plantation. I started back to New Orleans but fell in with Colonel Peyton’s camp and he was bringing me to Jackson where he said that he would send me to our side. I met Dick and so went with him because he is my brother.”
“But what was Dick doing here?” queried the man. “What business has a Union soldier in this part of the country?”
“I was a prisoner,” answered Dick, speaking for himself. “I had escaped and when I knew that my sister was in the hands of you fellows I waited to take her away.”
And Dick awaited the effect of his bold declaration anxiously for he was uneasy for his sister.
“I don’t know what to do with you,” said the provost again.