“We don't propose to play anything on you now, since we're satisfied you're union soldiers. We were afraid you might be guerrillas in disguise, and so told the horse-stealing story that we'd made up for our protection.”
“Well, what are you, anyway, and where are you going?”
“We're from General Curtis's army, and are going to Fort Scott as soon as we can get there.”
Instantly the captain's manner changed. He arose from his seat and said he thought they were the very boys he wanted to find.
“Anyway,” he continued, “we 'll accommodate you by taking you to Fort Scott. If you've told the truth it will be all right, and if you've lied and are the secesh you first made yourselves out to be you 'll have a taste of the guard-house that 'll cure you of a habit of wandering from the truth.”
Then the captain gave orders that the youths should be carefully looked after and not have a chance of escaping, but at the same time they should be permitted to ride their own horses and have every privilege consistent with being carefully guarded. “They are probably all right, but they may be all wrong, and so we won't take any chances on them,” the captain remarked to his lieutenant, as the youths disappeared in charge of their guard.
Bright and early the next morning the whole party was on the road toward Fort Scott, where they arrived safely, but not without a slight brush with a small band of guerrillas whom they encountered about a mile from their camping place. A few shots were exchanged, but at such long range that it is doubtful if anybody was hurt. Certainly nobody was injured on the union side, though several bullets whistled very near.
The party which captured our young friends had been sent from Fort Scott for the double purpose of looking for messengers from General Curtis, and also to ascertain the whereabouts of any guerrilla bands that might be infesting the country. Having no proof of their character, the captain was naturally disinclined to believe their second story. He had supposed they were lying when they were first brought before him, and, therefore, was not inclined to accept without a great deal of reserve the subsequent explanation.
But all doubt was cleared up when the scouting party reached Fort Scott and handed its captives over to the commandant of the post. Colonel Hinton, the officer who then held that position, questioned the youths briefly and learned when and how they were sent away. When satisfied on this point he asked for their dispatches.
“We have n't any,” Harry answered. Then he told the circumstances attending their departure.