What indeed are sordid thorns when the "large white plumes are dancing"-- what indeed?
That was a busy night in Sycamore Ridge--the night before the men left for war in the summer of '61.

And the busiest man in all the town was Philemon R.Ward.Every man in the town was going, and most of the men were going who lived in the county--an area as large as a New England state, and yet when they were all gathered in Main Street, there were less than fivescore of them.

They had agreed to elect Ward captain, Martin Culpepper first lieutenant, Jake Dolan second lieutenant.

It was one of the diversions of the occasion to call out "Hello, Cap," when Ward hustled by a loitering crowd.

But his pride was in his work, and before sundown he had it done.