Kings Pinnacle by Robert Gourley Page B

the commandant and the
major.
    “ May I help you, Colonel
Barkley?” asked the officer, saluting his superior
officer.
    “No, not necessary,” replied
the commandant returning the salute. “The major here with me has
orders to take custody of the prisoner, but I told him that I could
not release the prisoner until the questioning was completed. I see
that it is still in progress, so I will have to send the major away
empty-handed.”
    “ Pity,” was the only thing
the major said while maintaining his bored expression.
    “ Who wants my
prisoner?”
    “ General Howe,” relied the
commandant.
    “ Why does General Howe
want my prisoner?” the officer asked, turning toward the
major.
    “ The general does not
explain his reasoning to me,” replied the major
haughtily.
    The officer and the
commandant knew that General Howe was a rising star in the British
Army, and both desperately wanted to advance in the British Army.
The gears in their minds began to turn as they weighed the cost of
holding onto Hugh and continuing the questioning versus the benefit
of giving Hugh to the major and thus pleasing General Howe. After
several days of fruitless questioning, everyone was becoming bored
with the interrogation anyway, and it looked as if Hugh would die
before he talked. So the officer and the commandant reached the
same conclusion--they might as well cut their losses and try to
make something of benefit out of the situation.
    “This interrogation is in
fact at an end. I have no objections to releasing my prisoner to
this major,” said the officer, who received a nod of assent from
the commandant.
    The officer then turned to the major
and said, “Major, mention my name and generosity to General Howe,
if you please.”
    “ You can rest assured that
I will,” replied the major.
    “ Can you clean him up a
bit and tie him onto a horse for me?” asked the major, with a
disgusted look on his face, as he held his monocle up to his eye to
look at Hugh.
    Hugh stared back at the major with a
blank expression.
    “He’s so dirty and smells
terrible. I don’t want my aides to have to touch him. I doubt he
will be able to ride without being tied into the saddle,” said the
major, pulling out a scented handkerchief from the sleeve of his
jacket and holding it to his nose.
    “ Of course we can, sir,”
replied the sergeant, who was in charge of the detail and had been
Hugh’s chief tormentor and questioner.
    The commandant and the major strolled
back to the commandant’s office to wait for the soldiers to deliver
Hugh.
    “ May I offer you a glass
of sherry while we wait?” asked the commandant.
    “I’d be most pleased. It
would help settle the trail dust and wash away that disgusting
smell,” replied the major.
    A short time later, the sergeant
entered the commandant’s office, saluted and said, “The prisoner is
outside and waiting, sirs.”
    “Thank you, Sergeant. You
are dismissed,” replied the commandant as the sergeant executed an
about face and walked out of the commandant’s office.
    “Major, it has been a
pleasure meeting you. Here are your countersigned orders,” said the
commandant, as he handed the orders back to the major.
    “ I will mention your
cooperation, efforts and willingness to fulfill his orders to
General Howe,” said the major, standing and saluting the
commandant.
    “ Thank you very much and
good luck,” replied the commandant.
    The major turned and walked
out of the commandant’s office. He gave his aides some brief
instructions for escorting the prisoner and then mounted up to lead
his party, now with the prisoner in tow, out past the gate of Fort
Craghead.
    As soon as they were a few
miles out of sight of the fort, the major turned off the main road
and onto a side trail that led into the marshes. He followed the
side trail a short distance until he came to a small pond, where he
led his party into a grove that was shielded from sight of the
trail and gave orders to dismount.
    “