As they retired from the grove they found that a single man was following them. They retreated to the lobby of the schoolhouse, with their revolvers in their hands. They had hardly resumed their stations at the door when the man presented himself before them. To the astonishment of his two nephews this person proved to be Titus Lyon. "Are you a Union man?" demanded Deck. "I am not," replied Titus. "Then you can't go into this meeting," added Deck, as firmly as he had spoken at any time before. The applicant could not fail to see that both of the boys had weapons in their hands. He looked earnest and determined, but he did not appear to be even angry. He halted and fixed his gaze upon the floor, apparently in deep thought. CHAPTER XVIII THE DEMAND OF CAPTAIN TITUS LYON Revolvers are dangerous weapons; and Deck and Artie had used them enough in sport to realize this truth. They had not yet become accustomed to seeing bullets fired into the bodies of human beings; to the sight of strong men falling with a death-wound in the head or heart, which was afterwards almost an everyday spectacle in the battles of the Great Rebellion. They had been brought up where human life was held to be more sacred than in the locality to which they had been transplanted; and if they had thought of discharging their weapons into the vital parts of even the ruffians who menaced the Union meeting with violence, they were certainly not ready to begin with one of their own flesh and blood, though Titus Lyon had proved himself to be one of the most virulent enemies of the public peace. "I have no weapons, as you have, boys, and I have something to say to this meeting," said Titus, after he had meditated for two or three minutes. "I want to go in; but I shall not stop there many minutes." "We can't let you in, Uncle Titus," replied Deck decidedly; "that's the order of the meeting." "But I'm going in if I'm shot for it," continued the applicant for admission very quietly, but with none of the bluster which had become almost a second nature to him. Perhaps the interest he felt in the mission which brought him to the schoolhouse had induced him to refrain from his usual potations, for he appeared to be perfectly sober. He used none of the intemperate language which was generally on his tongue, so that the boys were not roused to indignation, even if they were tempted to use their weapons; but both of them placed themselves in the doorway as though they intended to dispute his passage into the room. The meeting was proceeding with its business, though the orators had finished their speeches. A Union farmer was telling about one of his neighbors who had been threatened by the ruffians, as the Secessionists had come to be generally called by this time. He was quite earnest in his plea that something should be done to protect men who stood by the government.