"Let us try it; I don't think we'll come off second best," answered the matter-of-fact captain of the seventh company.
Deck raised his pistol and Life did the same. "I'll cover the fellow beside the white horse," he explained.
"Correct; I'll cover both of the others," was Life's reply, as he produced another weapon.
The next moment Deck called upon the three signalmen to surrender. His command started the three very much, and they stopped their talk and gazed around them in bewilderment.
"What's that?" questioned the captain, nervously.
"I call on you to surrender. Down with your arms or you are dead men."
"Who are you?"
"A major in the Union army, in command of a detachment of sharpshooters," answered Deck, telling the exact truth.
"Stand ready to fire, boys," he continued, as if addressing a full company behind him.
"We surrender," said the leader of the signalmen, promptly.