The commander Gideon knew that the king might try to regain his throne and further complicate the temporary peace they had negotiated with the Lamanites. Therefore he sent out secret agents to locate the king and arrest him or slay him. But they ran into a body of men who were the husbands and fathers who Noah had induced to forsake their families. They had quite a story to tell:
“And it came to pass that Gideon sent men into the wilderness secretly, to search for the king and those that were with him. And it came to pass that they met the people in the wilderness, all save the king and his priests. Now they had sworn in their hearts that they would return to the land of Nephi, and if their wives and their children were slain, and also those that had tarried with them, that they would seek revenge, and also perish with them. And the king commanded them that they should not return; and they were angry with the king, and caused that he should suffer, even unto death by fire. And they were about to take the priests also and put them to death, and they fled before them.”