Ai n't it odd how fellers fall to thinkin ' of thar little women , when they get a quiet spell like this ? '' `` Fortunate for us that we do get it , and have such memories to keep us brave and honest through the trials and temptations of a life like ours . '' October moonlight shone clearly on the solitary tree , draped with gray moss , scarred by lightning and warped by wind , looking like a venerable warrior , whose long campaign was nearly done ; and underneath was posted the guard of four . Behind them twinkled many camp-fires on a distant plain , before them wound a road ploughed by the passage of an army , strewn with the relics of a rout . On the right , a sluggish river glided , like a serpent , stealthy , sinuous , and dark , into a seemingly impervious jungle ; on the left , a Southern swamp filled the air with malarial damps , swarms of noisome life , and discordant sounds that robbed the hour of its repose . The men were friends as well as comrades , for though gathered from the four quarters of the Union , and dissimilar in education , character , and tastes , the same spirit animated all ; the routine of camp-life threw them much together , and mutual esteem soon grew into a bond of mutual good fellowship . Thorn was a Massachusetts volunteer ; a man who seemed too early old , too early embittered by some cross , for , though grim of countenance , rough of speech , cold of manner , a keen observer would have soon discovered traces of a deeper , warmer nature hidden behind the repellent front he turned upon the world . A true New Englander , thoughtful , acute , reticent , and opinionated ; yet earnest withal , intensely patriotic , and often humorous , despite a touch of Puritan austerity . Phil , the `` romantic chap , '' as he was called , looked his character to the life . Slender , swarthy , melancholy-eyed , and darkly-bearded ; with feminine features , mellow voice , and alternately languid or vivacious manners . A child of the South in nature as in aspect , ardent and proud ; fitfully aspiring and despairing ; without the native energy which moulds character and ennobles life . Months of discipline and devotion had done much for him , and some deep experience was fast ripening the youth into a man . Flint , the long-limbed lumberman , from the wilds of Maine , was a conscript who , when government demanded his money or his life , calculated the cost , and decided that the cash would be a dead loss and the claim might be repeated , whereas the conscript would get both pay and plunder out of government , while taking excellent care that government got very little out of him . A shrewd , slow-spoken , self-reliant specimen , was Flint ; yet something of the fresh flavor of the backwoods lingered in him still , as if Nature were loath to give him up , and left the mark of her motherly hand upon him , as she leaves it in a dry , pale lichen , on the bosom of the roughest stone . Dick `` hailed '' from Illinois , and was a comely young fellow , full of dash and daring ; rough and rowdy , generous and jolly , overflowing with spirits and ready for a free fight with all the world . Silence followed the last words , while the friendly moon climbed up the sky . Each man 's eye followed it , and each man 's heart was busy with remembrances of other eyes and hearts that might be watching and wishing as theirs watched and wished . In the silence , each shaped for himself that vision of home that brightens so many camp-fires , haunts so many dreamers under canvas roofs , and keeps so many turbulent natures tender by memories which often are both solace and salvation . Thorn paced to and fro , his rifle on his shoulder , vigilant and soldierly , however soft his heart might be . Phil leaned against the tree , one hand in the breast of his blue jacket , on the painted presentment of the face his fancy was picturing in the golden circle of the moon .
XXXXX lounged on the sward , whistling softly as he whittled at a fallen bough .
Dick Flint Phil Puritan Thorn camp-fires damps fro left lichen