I shall feel a warm interest in this brave boy, and I fervently hope that the chances of war will leave him unscathed.
"I must give you a description of Hiram Marden, another of our small company, a very different kind of person from Frank Grover.

But it takes all sorts of characters to make an army, as well as a world, and Marden is one of the oddities.

Imagine a tall young fellow, with a thin face, lantern jaws, and long hair 'slicked' down on either side.

Though he may be patriotic, he was led into the army from a different cause.

He cherished an attachment for a village beauty, who did not return his love.