I'd never shoot anybody that was a heap to me just because he was one of three or four hundred thousand who was on the other side.

I've never thought much of that old Roman father--I forget his name--who had his son executed just because he wasn't doin' exactly right.

There was never a rule that oughtn't to have exceptions under extraordinary circumstances." "If you can establish the principle of exceptions," replied the young Vermonter very gravely, "I will allow Dick to shoot in the air when he meets his cousin in the height of battle, but it is a difficult task to establish it, and if it fails Dick, according to all rules of logic and duty, must shoot straight at his cousin's heart." The other two looked at Warner and saw his left eyelid droop slightly.

A faint twinkle appeared in either eye and then they laughed.
"I reckon that Dick shoots high in the air," said the sergeant.
Dick, after a pleasant hour with his friends, went back to Colonel Newcomb's quarters, where he spent the entire evening writing despatches at dictation.

He was hopeful that all this writing portended something, but more days passed, and despite the impatience of both army and public, there was no movement.