"Surrender? No! not as long as there is a breath left in my body!" replied the leader of the ruffians, as fiercely as though he expected to have all his own way in spite of his disastrous defeat.
"What do you want, then?" demanded the colonel.
"I want justice!" stormed Captain Titus.
"If you got it you would be swinging to one of these trees; and that is where you would be if you were not the brother of Major Lyon."
"Major Lyon, as you call him, is a thief and a robber!" yelled Titus. "The very guns and cannon you have turned against us to-night were stolen from me by him!"
"At a meeting of the Union men of this vicinity last night, a vote of thanks was passed to Major Lyon for taking possession of the arms and ammunition found in a cavern; and we all stand by that vote," replied the colonel with dignity.
"What do we care for the vote of a set of traitors to the State!"
"This is not the time or the place to discuss the subject. I desire only to know what you and your mob are going to do about it."
"We are going to have justice if there is any such thing left in the State."
"It is your next move, Captain Titus."