When Bob saw him he wished most heartily that the roof would open and let him down out of sight.
"Why, boys, what is the meaning of this ?" asked the General, as soon as he came within speaking distance.
"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.