On the opposite side were the sullen defenders.

Carlisle, the leader of the boat party, stood silent, with lips
tightly compressed, not far from where Dunwody leaned against the
rail. He made no comment on the scene and was apparently not
unused to such spectacles. Occasionally he bent over, the better
to observe the results of the surgeon's work, but he ventured no
comment and indulged in no recriminations. His slight but erect
figure was military now in its formality. His face was not
handsome, but the straight eyes showed fearless. The brow was
strong, the nose straight and firm. Once he removed his
"wideawake" hat and passed a hand through the heavy tangle of his
reddish hair. The face was that of a fanatic. It was later not
unknown in yet bloodier fighting.

The night faded after all, at last. Along the level of the water's
surface came some glints from the eastern sky. The horizon paled
slightly. At last a haggard dawn came to light the scene. The
shadows of the willow flat opened, and there lay exposed what now
was a coast possessed by embattled forces.

"Captain," began Dunwody at last, turning to the commander of the
boat forces. "We will be leaving before long. As to you, you will
have to turn back. You will take your boat down-stream, if you
please."

"It's not as I please," rejoined the other. "You order us back
from our journey at your own peril."

"Why argue the matter?" said Dunwody dully. "It would do no good.
We're as much in earnest as you are about it, and we have beaten
you. You belong to the army, but these are not enlisted men, and
you're not carrying out any orders."

"That part of the argument is plain," rejoined the young officer.
"But you are mistaken if you think you can order me. I'm an
officer, and I'm on my own way, and I am, therefore, under orders.
I was following a prisoner late in my charge when I fell in with
this party bound up the river, to the Kansas front."

"The courts may take all that up. This is Missouri soil."

"It's no case for courts," answered the other sternly. "This will
come before the court of God Himself."

A bitter smile played over the face of the Missourian. "You
preach. Yet you yourself are lawless as the worst law-breakers.
Who made our laws--you, or the whole people of this country? And
if God is your court, why did you have no better aid to-night.
It's the long arm wins. You see, we will fight."

"That I agree. It's force