Calico Illustrated Classics: The Red Badge of Courage

Calico Illustrated Classics: The Red Badge of Courage — page 3
hung upon the log walls along with three rifles Tin dishes lay scattered among the firewood Henry felt as if he were in a trance So at last we’re going to fight He knew that perhaps tomorrow there would be a battle and he’d be in it He couldn’t accept that he was about to mingle in a battle and dance with death He had of course dreamed of battles all his life In these dreams he saw himself in bloody struggles that had thrilled him He imagined the taste of victory But awake he had thought of those battles as things that happened long ago and ones he would never face in reality After reading about the marches sieges and conflicts of this war he had longed to see it all A desire burned deep within his soul to enlist All battles were glorified but he didn’t know to what extent He wanted to find out His mother had discouraged him She had given him hundreds of reasons why he was more important on the farm than on the field of battle But the power of the glory he had read 6