They were taking it as a rare and unexpected bit of politics.

The thrill of opposition invested them.

They scoffed at surrender.
Buck Chizler, however, was seriously affected.

He was courting one of the nurses and he, for one, saw peril in preliminary defeat.
"There won't be any living with 'em," he proclaimed, scowling darkly.

"I know what it is to have 'em get the bit in their teeth.