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tied on with a leather thong.
    “What are you goin’ to do with me?”
    Drake was uncertain. He looked around for any officers or men of Company A but saw no one. “Come with me,” he said. “I’ll turn you over to the officers. They can decide what to do with you.”
    “I’ll get my rifle gun.”
    “Never mind!
I’ll
get your gun,” Drake retorted. He picked up the rifle and looked at it. It was an old gun, well-worn. “Where’d you get this rifle, fella?”
    “Belonged to my pa!”
    “Where’s your pa?”
    The black eyes dropped for a moment as the youngster looked down at his feet. “He’s dead now. Got killed two days ago. Shell fell on him.”
    Drake hesitated. He had seen the pain that came into the boy’s dark eyes at the mention of his father, and he wanted to say he was sorry. But this, after all, was the enemy, and Drake was still convinced that the young fellow had tried to shoot him in the back. “I can’t let you go. I’ll have to turn you over to the officers. They’ll make the decision. Come on.”
    He waited, and when the boy moved with him, he started back the way he had come.
    Back at the Union camp, Drake found that some of his squad had already returned. Major Bates was just coming out of his tent. Seeing no other officers, Drake walked up to him and said, “Major, sir, this here civilian tried to shoot me. I took his rifle away from him, but I was afraid to turn him loose.”
    A small crowd began to gather, and Major Bates, a tall man with a powerful voice, looked at the prisoner with some disdain. “We’re not supposed to be fightin’ civilians!”
    “I didn’t know what else to do with him, major. It’s up to you.”
    Major Bates hesitated. Some civilians had indeed been shooting at the troops, and this might be one of them. “We’ll just hold him here until we get the city secured. Where you from?” he asked the prisoner.
    “Used to be from Macon, but I ain’t from nowhere now!”
    Major Bates seemed taken aback. “What do you mean, you’re not from anywhere?”
    “I mean me and Pa came here a spell back, and then you Yankees come and surrounded the city. And day before yesterday my pa got killed when a cannonball fell on him.”
    Major Bates stared hard at the young face. “I’m sorry about your father. You have any other relatives?”
    “No, it was just me and Pa—now I guess there’s just me.”
    “Well, you can’t go running around the city. One of our men’s liable to shoot you if they see you sneakin’ around with a rifle.”
    “I don’t know where else to go! Pa sold the farm when we left from Macon, and now there ain’t nothin’ to go back to there.”
    Major Bates glanced around at the soldiers and saw Royal. “Sergeant,” he said, “take care of this young fella. Keep him close until the city is secured, then you can let him go.”
    “Yes, sir!”
    Major Bates turned and left.
    Royal came forward and said reassuringly to the boy. “You’ll be all right.” Then he looked at Drake. “I guess he’s your prisoner, Drake, so you can watch out for him.”
    “I ain’t baby-sittin’ no Reb prisoners!” Drake said. But he said it carefully, for he was still keenly aware of having ridden the wooden horse.
    “I don’t need nobody to take care of me!” the prisoner exclaimed.
    Drake turned on him with some irritation. “Well, you can’t take care of yourself! I’da shot you back there, only my rifle misfired.” He still could not see the boy’s face very well. “Take off that blasted hat so I can see what you look like!”
    Drake jerked the hat off the prisoner’s head, and a wealth of curly brown hair cascaded down over the shoulders of what was clearly a young woman.
    A gasp went around the group of soldiers that had gathered to watch the scene.
    “By george!” Rosie said. “That there’s a
girl
prisoner you got there, Drake!”
    “Boy, you’re some soldier, ain’t you, Drake?” Walter Beddows said. “Caught that young