"That's their side over there!" whispered the banker's son, who was next to Peterkin. "When we cross war begins," said the manufacturer's son. "I wonder if they are expecting us!" said the judge's son a trifle huskily, in an attempt at humor, though he was not given to humor. "Just waiting to throw bouquets!" whispered the laborer's son. He, too, was not given to humor and he, too, spoke a trifle huskily. "And we'll fix bayonets when we start and they will run at the sight of our steel!" said Eugene Aronson. He and Hugo alone, not excepting Pilzer, the butcher's son, spoke in their natural voices. The others were trying to make their voices sound natural, while Pilzer's voice had developed a certain ferocity, and the liver patch on his cheek twitched more frequently. "Why, Company B is in front! We have the post of honor, and maybe our company will win the most glory of any in the regiment!" Eugene added. "Oh, we'll beat them! The bullet is not made that will get me!" "Your service will be over in time for you to help with the spring planting, Eugene," whispered Hugo, who was apparently preoccupied with many detached thoughts. "And you to be at home sucking lollipops!" Pilzer growled to Hugo. "That would be better than murdering my fellowman to get his property," Hugo answered, so soberly that it did not seem to his comrades that he was joking this time. Pilzer's snarling exclamation of "White feather!" came in the midst of a chorus of indignation. Captain Fracasse, who had heard only the disturbance without knowing the cause, interfered in a low, sharp tone: "Silence! As I have told you before, silence! We don't want them to know that we are here. Go to sleep! You may get no rest to-morrow night!" But little Peterkin, the question in his mind breaking free of his lips, unwittingly asked: "Shall--shall we fight in the morning?" "I don't know. Nobody knows!" answered Fracasse. "We wait on orders, ready to do our duty. There may be no war. Don't let me hear another peep from you!" Now all closed their eyes. In front of them was vast silence which seemed to stretch from end to end of the frontier, while to the rear was the rumble of switching railway trains and the rumble of provision trains and artillery on the roads, and in the distance on the plain the headlight of a locomotive cut a swath in the black night. But the breathing of most of the men was not that of slumber, though Eugene and Pilzer slept soundly. Hours passed. Occasional restless movements told of efforts to force sleep by changing position. "It's the waiting that's sickening!" exploded the manufacturer's son under his breath, desperately. "So I say. I'd like to be at it and done with the suspense!" said the doctor's son. "They say if you are shot through the head you don't know what killed you, it's so quick. Think of that!" exclaimed Peterkin, huddling closer to Hugo and shivering. "Yes, very merciful," Hugo whispered, patting Peterkin's arm.