`` I shall depend on being invited to your wedding , then , and yours , too , Miss Ruth , '' added Randal , shaking hands with `` the little baggage , '' as if he had quite forgiven her mockery and forgotten his own brief lapse into sentiment . Before she could reply Aunt Plumy said , in a tone of calm conviction , that made them all laugh , and some of them look conscious , -- `` Spring is a good time for weddin 's , and I should n't wonder ef there was quite a number . '' `` Nor I ; '' and Saul and Sophie smiled at one another as they saw how carefully Randal arranged Emily 's wraps . Then with kisses , thanks and all the good wishes that happy hearts could imagine , the guests drove away , to remember long and gratefully that pleasant country Christmas . ON PICKET DUTY `` Better late than never . '' `` What air you thinkin ' of , Phil ? '' `` My wife , Dick . '' `` So was I ! 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 XXXXX both pay and plunder out of government , while taking excellent care that government got very little out of him .
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