"I have a return from my scouts," said Captain Gordon, springing to the roof out of the skylight at this moment.
"Where are the enemy now?" asked the major anxiously.
"They were breaking camp when my men left," replied the captain. "I sent six men, the most intelligent in the company, in charge of Sergeant Knox, who has performed his duty very faithfully."
"He always does. Have your six men returned?" asked Major Lyon.
"No, sir; Knox returned alone to report. He left Sergeant Sluder and the other four as pickets in the road a mile and a half from here, to report the approach of the enemy if they came this way."
"But if they were breaking camp, why have we not heard from them before this time?" demanded the major.
"Some of the troopers that escaped from the fight on the east road must have reached the camp by this time," interposed Deck. "Of course they have informed the captain of the company what happened over there."
"What fight?" asked the captain sharply, as he turned to Deck.
The captain had to be informed of what the major had already learned.
"This puts an entirely different complexion on the situation," said Captain Gordon, when he had heard something about the fight with the Texan cavalry. "That detachment of forty-five men were sent over to the bridge. Now, the question is, What were they sent for?"