Litchfield enquirer., 1872-04-04
From the Atlantic Monthly.
 QUITE so.

za
 L
 Of course that was not his name. Even ln the Stase of AIaine, whsre it is stia . custom to main child for lifs by Christ ening him Arioch or Shadrach or Ephra- i'm, nobody would dream of calling boy Quite So." It was merely nickname which we gave him in camp but it stuck with such burr-ike tenacity, and is SO in seperable from my memory of him, that I do not think I could write definitely of John Bladburn if I were to call him any thing but ssQuite So."
 It was one night shortly after the first battle of Bull Run. The Army of the Potomac, shattered, stunned, and forlorn, was back in it's old quarters behind the earthworks.. The melancholy line of am balances bearing wounded to Washing ton was not done creeping over Long Bridge 1; the blue smocks and gray still laJ in windows on the field of Manassas ]; and the gloom that weighed down our hearts was like the fog that stretched along the bosom of the Potomac and in- folded the valley of the Shenandoah. A drizZlng rain had set in at twilight and, growing bolder with the darkness, was beating dismal tattoo on our tent,-the tent of Mess 6, Company X, -th Regi- msnt N. '. Volunteers. Our mess, con sisting of originally of eight men, was re- duced to four. Little Billy, as one of the boys grinly remarked, concluded to remain at Manassas Corporal Steele we had to leave at Fairfax Court House, shot through the hip; Hunter and Ssydam we had said good-byt to that afternoon. "Tell Johnny Reb, says Hunter, lifting up the leather side-piece of the ambulance, 'sthat I'll be back again as soon as get a new leg" But Suydam said nothing; he on- ly unclosed his eyes languidly and smiled farewell to us.
 The four of us who were left alive and rnhurt that shameful July day sat gloomi- ly smoking our brierwood pipes, thinking oar thoughts, and listening to the rain patterlng against the canvas. That, and the occasional whine of hungry cur, foraging on the outskirts of the camp for stray bone, alone broke the silence, save when vicious drop of rain detached itself meditatively from the ridge-pole of the tent and fell upon the wick of our tanow candle, making it ''cuss," as Ned Strong described it. The candle was in the midst of one of it's most profane fits when Blakely, knocking the ashes from his pipe and addressing no one in partic- ulsr, but giving breath unconsciously as 1t were, to the result of his cogitations, observed that ''it was considerable of 8 fzzle.''
 .'The 'on to Richmond business r,
 "Yes."
 CT wonder what they'll do abont it over yonder, said Curtis pointing over his right shoulder. By ''over yonder" he meant the North in general, and New England especially. Curtis was.a Boston boy, and his sense of locality was so strong that, during all his wanderings in Virginia, do not believe there was a moment, day or night, when he could not have made bee line for Faneuil Hall.
 ''Do about it ?'' cried Strong. They'll make about two hundred thousand blue flannel trousers and send them along, each pair with man in it-all the short men iR tRs bff6ftt bffft tt664esa' 6Qessa, he added, ruefui. ly contemplating his own leg-gear, which reached scarcely to his ankles.
 ''That's so, said Blakely. "Just now when I was tackling the commissary for an extra candle, I saw a crowd of new fel- lows drawing blankets
 'I say there, drop that r cried Strong.
 "An right, sir, didn't know it was you. , he added hastily, seeingit was Lieutenant Haines who had thrown back the flap of the tent and let in gust of wind and rain that threatend the most serious bronchial consequences to our discontented tallow dip.
 You're to bunk in here," said the lieu tenant, speaking to some one outside. The some one steppted in, and Haines van- ished in the darkness.
 When Strong had succeeded in restor- ing the candle to consciousness, the light fell upon tall, shy-looking man of about thirty five, with long, hay colored beard and moustache, upon which the raindrops stood in clusters, like the night-dew on patches of cobweb in a meadow. It was an honest face, with unworldly sort of blue eyes, that looked out from under the broad visor of the infantry cap. With a deferential glance towards us, the new comer unstrapped his knapsack, spread his blanket over 1t, and sat down unobtrusiye- ly.
 "Rather damp night out," remarked Blakely, whose strong hand was suppos- ed to be conversation.
 Quite so," replied the stranger, not curtly, but pleasantly, and with an air as if he had said all there was to be said about it.
 Come from the North recentlyP" in- quired Blakely, after pause.
 "Yes."
 'From any place in particularr'
 s'Maine."
 ''People considerably stirred up down there?" continued Blakely, determined not to give up.
 "Quite so."
 Blakely threw puzzled look over the tent, and seeing Ned Strong on the broad grin, frowned severely. Strong instantly assumed an abstracted air and began hum. ming softly,
 1T wish were in Dixie.''
 s"The State of Maine" observed Blake ly, with certain defiance of manner not at all necessary in discussing geographi- cally question, 'sis pleasant State"
 "In summer, suggested the stranger.
 s1n summer, I mean, returned Blake ly with animation, thinking he had bro ken the ice. tsCold as blazes in winter. though, ,-ain't it ?"
 The new recuit merely nodded.
 Blakely eyed the man homicidally for a AAO1ACAsS 0AA eAOAAp SAAA4AAS Ouo O1 b4OSe smiles of simulated gayety which the nov. elists inform us are more tragic than tears, turned upon him with whitening irony.
 Crust you left the old folks pretty comfortable ?'
 "Dead."
 ssThe old folks dead ?''
 Quite so.'
 Blakely made sudden dive for his blanket, tucked it around him with pain ful precision, and was heard no more
 Just then the bugle sounded flights out, "-bugle answering bugle in far of camps. When our not elaborate night toilets were complete, Strong threw some. body else's old boot at the candle with in. falible aim, and darkness took possession of the tent. Ned, who lay on my left, presently reached over to me and whisp. cred, T say. our friend quite SO is a garrulous old boy! He'll talk himself to death some of these odd times, if he is nj careful. How he did rua on r
 The next morning. when I opened my eyes, the new member of Mess 6 was sit ting on his knapsaek, combing his beard