"It means that we have been up here since midnight and are nearly
frozen," replied Bob, trying to smile and looking as innocent as a
guilty boy could. "We were out 'coon-hunting in the river bottoms and
came through your fields, because that was the nearest way home; but
the dogs saw us and drove us up here."
The General had but to use his eyes to find all the evidence he
needed to prove this story false. The meal bags, in which the boys
expected to carry away the stolen quails, were lying on the ground
in plain sight, one of them having fallen in such a position that
the owner's name, which was painted on it in large black letters,
was plainly visible. More than that, under one of the planks which
protected the window, was the iron lever with which Bob had tried to
force an entrance into the cabin. He left it sticking there when he
fell off Lester's shoulders.
"Well, you may come down now," said the General. "The hounds will not
trouble you."
It was easy enough to say come down, but it was not so easy to do it,
as the boys found when they began working their way over the frosty
roof. The shingles were as slippery as glass, and their hands seemed
to have lost all their strength; but they reached the ground without
any mishap, and were about to hurry away as fast as their cramped
legs would carry them, when the General asked:
"Hadn't you better go up to the house and get warm?"
"O, no, thank you, sir," replied Bob.
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