But he reined in his steed; and Ceph obediently came to a full stop, while he unslung his carbine, his companions doing the same without any suggestion from him. They came up to him, and ranged their horses at his side. The carbines were ready for use in a moment, and all three of them were aimed at the five men surrounding the planter. The actors in the tragedy very plainly did not like this demonstration; for they did not fire, though all of them had aimed at the intruders on this side of them. The distance was still considerable, and probably they had no great faith in the arms in their hands. "Now we will go ahead, if you are ready, Fox and Owens," said Deck, though he had no authority whatever to direct their movements. The speed and sagacity of Ceph appeared to have placed him in command of the little squad, for his horse always kept away ahead of every other when he was permitted to do so. Deck was a brave fellow; he seemed to have no idea of anything like fear when he was required to face an enemy; but his father, who thought his son was inclined to be reckless, had carefully instilled into his mind the necessity of prudence. Knox had said that he intended to do most of the work on the present occasion; but just now it looked as though the whole of it had fallen on Deck's party. It was possible that he and his men had been entangled in the bushes and young trees, or had come to some water they could not easily pass. Deck led the way, and his companions kept close to him. The man in the tree had passed the line over the branch, and thrown the end down to the others. "Halt where you are!" shouted the man who had spoken before; and this time his voice gave Deck a thrill which caused him to stop his horse. The two parties were not more than two hundred feet apart; and the leader believed the speaker was his uncle, Captain Titus Lyon. This gave him much to think of besides the identity of the commander of the expedition upon which the squadron had fallen. It was evident to him that the first work of the cavalry squadron raised at Riverlawn was to be fighting the Home Guards, or "ruffians" as they had hitherto been called. Deck was annoyed and disconcerted at the discovery he had made, and it checked his enthusiasm; for the quarrel with Uncle Titus, which he insisted upon carrying to extremes, was in the family. The forces at Riverlawn had defeated and driven off him and his command three times, and it was an old story. He had hoped and expected that the campaign would present the war in a new aspect. It gave the young soldier his first lively impression of the results of civil war. He was not at all inclined to shoot his father's brother; though he was just as earnestly determined to do his whole duty to his country, without regard to his relationship with any of the combatants on the other side. They were there by their own choice, and were responsible for the consequences.