Cooper raised a hand in warning, said, "Mr. Greenglove, you'll have to put that rifle down before you come any farther."
"So be it," said Greenglove, handing the rifle to one of Jefferson Davis's corporals who had risen to bar his way. "I just needed it to make sure I got this far alive."
Ford came over to Auguste and said in a low voice, "I take it these men are offering to testify in your defense. Do you want them?"
"I think Wegner must be here to help me," said Auguste. "But I don't know why Greenglove is here." He remembered his conviction that Greenglove had missed him on purpose, and shrugged. "I haven't got much to lose."
Ford began with Wegner, asking him how he came to be in Victor when word was he had emigrated to Texas.
"My family and I only got as far as New Orleans, where we are buying provisions to join the colony at San Felipe de Austin. Then this gentleman comes to me." Wegner pointed to Greenglove, now sitting in the front row of spectators. "He tells me Herr Auguste is to be tried at Victor. At once we take the steamboat. I pay for both his passage and mine, using money my family needs. I tell you this not to praise myself but to show how much that man means to me." Now Wegner pointed to Auguste, who looked down at the floor, his face hot and his throat choked.
Ford nodded gravely. "I understand you were at Old Man's Creek, Mr. Wegner. What happened to you?"
Wegner told the story just as Auguste remembered it, ending, "I lost my leg, but I still have my life, thanks to Auguste de Marion, for whom I never did a single thing good."
If I could have taken him back to the Sauk camp, I might even have saved his leg.
Ford said, "Mr. Wegner, we've heard that Auguste de Marion is a murderer and a traitor to his country."