Nothing was wasted in politeness.
Visitors were no longer allowed to gratify curiosity.

Women and girls in their white or pink dresses were not permitted to come near and smile at their husbands or brothers or sweethearts in the trenches.

The ammunition was stacked neatly behind the guns, and every man was compelled to be ready at an instant's notice.
"Looks like business," Langdon whispered joyfully to his comrades.
"I'm hoping that fleet will come just as soon as it can." "Happy, you sanguinary wretch," Harry whispered back, "I'm thinking the fleet will come soon enough for you and all the rest of us." The afternoon faded.

The sun sank in the hills behind them, and dusk came over city and harbor.

But Harry, from the battery, could still see the black bulk of Sumter, and above it the gleaming red and blue of a flag.
Coffee and food were served to his comrades and himself in the battery, and then they remained by their guns waiting.