"I shall do nothing at all with them; I am not the judge or the civil power of Russell County. We have beaten the enemy, and I have nothing further to do with the matter," answered Deck.
The colonel decided not to ask any more questions, though the lieutenant suspected he intended to dispose of the prisoners as he thought best.
"Up-stairs, there!" shouted the planter. "The commander is here now."
"Ask him to come up here, and we will arrange things," returned the ruffian with unblushing effrontery.
"The commander will do nothing of the sort," replied the colonel indignantly. "Do you really believe that he would trust himself with such cutthroats as you are?"
"We will agree not to hurt him, though he has used us very unfairly," said the spokesman. "He has tried to murder all of us!"
"You deserve to be hung; and it would be too merciful to shoot you!" roared the colonel, his wrath getting the better of him.
"Do Union men hang their prisoners?" demanded the ruffian bitterly.
"Prisoners!" exclaimed the planter contemptuously. "You are such prisoners as they shut up in the penitentiary, or hang in the public square."
"Can I see the commander?" asked the spokesman, quite gently by this time.