A sympathetic comparison of mental notes would have been a joy to him.
He occasionally tried to fathom a comrade with seductive sentences.

He looked about to find men in the proper mood.

All attempts failed to bring forth any statement which looked in any way like a confession to those doubts which he privately acknowledged in himself.

He was afraid to make an open declaration of his concern, because he dreaded to place some unscrupulous confidant upon the high plane of the unconfessed from which elevation he could be derided.
In regard to his companions his mind wavered between two opinions, according to his mood.

Sometimes he inclined to believing them all heroes.