I think he must have been the enemy's General coming to tell his men not to throw away their lives on a forlorn hope, for directly he said they were captured the enemy gave in and owned that they were.

The enemy's Colonel saluted and ordered his men to form quarter column again.

I should have thought he would have had about enough of that myself.
He had now given up all thought of sullen resistance to the bitter end.
He rolled a cigarette for himself, and had the foreign cheek to say to our Colonel-- 'By Jove, old man, you got me clean that time! Your scouts seem to have marked us down uncommonly neatly.' It was a proud moment when our Colonel laid his military hand on Oswald's shoulder and said-- 'This is my chief scout' which were high words, but not undeserved, and Oswald owns he felt red with gratifying pride when he heard them.
'So you are the traitor, young man,' said the wicked Colonel, going on with his cheek.
Oswald bore it because our Colonel had, and you should be generous to a fallen foe, but it is hard to be called a traitor when you haven't.
He did not treat the wicked Colonel with silent scorn as he might have done, but he said-- 'We aren't traitors.

We are the Bastables and one of us is a Foulkes.
We only mingled unsuspected with the enemy's soldiery and learned the secrets of their acts, which is what Baden-Powell always does when the natives rebel in South Africa; and Denis Foulkes thought of altering the sign-posts to lead the foe astray.

And if we did cause all this fighting, and get Maidstone threatened with capture and all that, it was only because we didn't believe Greek things could happen in Great Britain and Ireland, even if you sow dragon's teeth, and besides, some of us were not as e a out sowing them.' Then the Cocked-Hatted One led his horse and walked with us and made us tell him all about it, and so did the Colonel.