"
"Who was the girl?"
"I do not inform on women," said Helm.
Hamilton smiled grimly, with a vexed look in his eyes, then turned
to Captain Farnsworth and ordered him to bring up M. Roussillon,
who, when he appeared, still had his hands tied together.
"Tell me the name of the young woman who carried away the flag
from the fort. You saw her, you know every soul in this town. Who
was it, sir?"
It was a hard question for M. Roussillon to answer. Although his
humiliating captivity had somewhat cowed him, still his love for
Alice made it impossible for him to give the information demanded
by Hamilton. He choked and stammered, but finally managed to say:
"I assure you that I don't know--I didn't look--I didn't see--It
was too far off for me to--I was some-what excited--I--"
"Take him away. Keep him securely bound," said Hamilton. "Confine
him. We'll see how long it will take to refresh his mind. We'll
puncture the big windbag."
While this curt scene was passing, the flag of Great Britain rose
over the fort to the lusty cheering of the victorious soldiers.
Hamilton treated Helm and Beverley with extreme courtesy. He was a
soldier, gruff, unscrupulous and cruel to a degree; but he could
not help admiring the daring behavior of these two officers who
had wrung from him the best terms of surrender.
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