The soldier, pointing at them, interpreted the scene.
One man had a final objection: "How could yeh hear 'em talkin' ?" But the men, for a large part, nodded, admitting that previously the two friends had spoken truth.
They settled back into reposeful attitudes with airs of having accepted the matter.

And they mused upon it, with a hundred varieties of expression.

It was an engrossing thing to think about.

Many tightened their belts carefully and hitched at their trousers.
A moment later the officers began to bustle among the men, pushing them into a more compact mass and into a better alignment.

They chased those that straggled and fumed at a few men who seemed to show by their attitudes that they had decided to remain at that spot.