He obtained all these particulars from each man. Then he got up and came round the table, and looking right into the eyes of the clerk from Lewisham, he said:
“We know, of course, in which direction your brigade is advancing, but from which direction is the brigade commanded by Major-General Forbes Fittleworth advancing?”
The three of them all knew this, for it was common gossip of the march. But the clerk from Lewisham said:
“I don’t know.”
The German turned from him to the Scotsman and repeated the question.
“I don’t know,” answered the Scotsman.
“From which direction is the brigade commanded by Major-General Forbes Fittleworth advancing?” he said to Ned.
“Naw! I doan’t know,” replied Ned.
And then a horrible episode occurred. The German suddenly whipped out a revolver and shot the clerk from Lewisham through the body twice. He gave a faint cry and crumpled forward. Without taking the slightest notice of this horror, the German turned deliberately and held the revolver pointed at Ned’s face. In a perfectly unimpassioned, toneless voice he repeated:
“From which direction is the brigade commanded by Major-General Forbes Fittleworth advancing?”