They were absorbed so deeply in their game that they did not notice the boys on the crest of the bank looking over at them.
Colonel Leonidas Talbot and Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St.Hilaire had not changed a particle--to the eyes, at least--in a year and a half of campaigning and tremendous battles.

They may have been a little leaner and a little thinner, but they were lean and thin men, anyhow.

Their uniforms, although faded and worn, were neat and clean, and as each sat on a fragment of log, while the board rested on a stump between, they were able to maintain their dignity.
It was Colonel Talbot's move.

His hand rested on the red king and he pondered long.

Lieutenant-Colonel St.Hilaire waited without a sign of impatience.