"I needn' 'a' come," he said, doggedly. "Where's them boys? I don' want the boys hurted. I seen 'em comin' here, an' I jes' followed 'em to see they didn't get in no trouble. But——"
This speech about the boys effected what the offer of personal service to the General himself had failed to bring about.
"Sit down and let me talk to you," said the General, throwing himself on the grass.
Mills seated himself cross-legged near the officer, with his gun across his knees, and began to bite a straw which he pulled from a tuft by his side.
The boys had come up out of their retreat, and taken places on each side of the General.
"You all take to grass like young partridges," said the hunter. The boys were flattered, for they considered any notice from him a compliment.
"What made you fool us, and send us to catch that conscript-guard?" Frank asked.
"Well, you ketched him, didn't you? You're the only ones ever been able to ketch him," he said, with a low chuckle.
"Now, Mills, you know how things stand," said the General. "It's a shame for you to have been acting this way. You know what people say about you. But if you come back to camp and do your duty, I'll have it all straightened out. If you don't, I'll have you shot."
His voice was as calm and his manner as composed as if he were promising the man opposite him a reward for good conduct. He looked Mills steadily in the eyes all the time. The boys felt as if their friend were about to be executed. The General seemed an immeasurable distance above them.