"Captain—hem, hem!—Captain Tompkins," said a voice, as a head was thrust in the wagon front.
"Well, what will you have?"
"Are you alone?"
"Yes, come in."
Abner had lighted a small piece of candle, which he had placed on a box at the head of his couch.
A little round-faced man, with glasses on his nose, entered the wagon and seated himself on a camp-stool near the box, on which the captain had placed his light.
"Well, Diggs, we have had a disagreeable day for marching."
"Yes, captain," said the little fellow, removing a greasy sutler's cap. "It has thoroughly satisfied me that I am not for the army. A soldier's life may suit coarser natures, but one such as mine, one that recoils from uncleanliness and confusion, and death by torture, should not be brought in daily contact with sights and sounds so repellant."
"I thought," said Corporal Grimm, who had just come to the wagon front, "that you had resolved to become a preacher."
Mr. Diggs turned towards the new-comer with an unuttered oath.