"Do you mean to shoot them down as they stick in the mud there? We are not murderers, Captain," replied the major sternly.
"I meant nothing of the kind," returned the captain with a blush. "I could have ordered my men to do that before it appeared that the action was finished."
"Pardon me, Captain; I know you are not a murderer."
"They are stuck fast there, eighty-one of them, according to Deck's figures; and we can make prisoners of them as they get out of the bog, as I think they will before morning, for they have hit upon an effective plan."
"It would take one of our companies to capture them, and to dispose of them as prisoners, so that we should gain nothing," replied the major, vetoing the plan at once. "The Union Home Guards may be here early in the morning, for they have had time enough to make the march."
The meeting closed; and officers and privates were tired enough after the long day to wrap themselves in their blankets and sleep.
CHAPTER XXVIII
A MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE