3 A Conversation with a Friend

CHAPTER 3 A Conversation with a Friend Henry walked by himself in the darkness. He lay down in the grass and felt sorry for himself. He wished he was at home again, making the rounds from the house to the barn, the barn to the fields, the fields to the barn, and the barn to the house. Henry remembered how he had often yelled at the cows and her mates, but now he thought of them with happiness. He told himself he wasn't made to be a soldier, and thought about how different he was from the other men in his troop.

Henry heard the rustle of grass. He looked around, saw the loud soldier, and called out, "Oh, Wilson!" "Why, hello, Henry," said Wilson. "Is that you? What are you doing here?" "Oh, just thinking," said Henry. Wilson began talking about the fight they thought they would be in soon. "Oh, we've got them now!" he said. "At last, we'll get them good." "Well, Jim Conklin says we'll get plenty of fighting," said Henry.

"He's right for once, I guess. We're in for a big battle. That's for certain," said Wilson. "You're going to do great things, suppose," said Henry. "Oh, I don't know," said Wilson. "I guess I'll do as well as the rest. I'm going to try like thunder." "How do you know you won't run when the time comes?" asked Henry. "Run?" said Wilson, and he laughed. "Run? Of course I won't run." "Well, a lot of good men thought they were going to do great things before the fight," said Henry. "But when the time came, they ran away." "That's true, I guess," said Wilson. "But I'm not going to do that. The man that bets on my running will lose his money." "Oh, shucks," said Henry. "Are you the bravest man in the world?" "No, I'm not," said Wilson. "And I didn't

say I was, either. I said I was going to do my share of fighting. And I am, too. Who are you to talk to me like that, anyhow?" He glared at Henry for a moment and then walked away. Henry yelled after him, "Well, you don't need to get mad about it!" Henry felt alone and miserable. No one else seemed to be struggling with whether or not he would run. He felt like an outsider. He went back to his tent and lay on a blanket next to Jim, who was snoring. In the darkness, Henry saw visions of fear that would make him run away while others stayed and fought. He knew that he wouldn't be able to deal with this monster. He stared at the reflection of a fire on the wall of his tent until, tired and sick of worrying, he fell asleep.