They ran after the boy and, numbed as he was lying in the wagon in the winter's cold, he could not run fast, and they caught him.

Then they remembered that they had left Old Man Bunker hanging when they chased off after the boy; and when they cut him down he was dead.
They were scared, drunk as they were, and after holding a council of war, they decided that they would make a clean sweep and hang the boy too--I forgot this boy's name.

This they did, and came back telling the story that the prisoners had escaped, or been shot while escaping.

I do not recall which.

It was kind of pitiful; but nothing was ever done about it, though the story leaked out--being too horrible to stay a secret.
There was a great deal of sympathy with the Bunkers all over the country, I know where one of the men who did the deed lives now, out in Western Iowa, near Cherokee.