one o'clock
Chester heard the laughter and chat as the young officers and their convoy of matrons and maids came tripping homeward after midnight . He was a crusty old bachelor , to use his own description , and rarely ventured into these scenes of social gayety , and , besides , he was officer of the day , and it was a theory he was fond of expounding to juniors that when on guard no soldier should permit himself to be drawn from the scene of his duties . With his books and his pipe Chester whiled away the lonely hours of the early night , and wondered if the wind would blow up a rain or disperse the clouds entirely . Towards one o'clock a light , bounding footstep approached his door , and the portal flew open as a trim-built young fellow with laughing eyes and an air of exuberant health and spirits came briskly in . It was Rollins , the junior second lieutenant of the regiment , and Chester 's own and only pet , -- so said the envious others . He was barely a year out of leading-strings at the Point , and as full of hope and pluck and mischief as a colt . Moreover , he was frank and teachable , said Chester , and did n't come to him with the idea that he had nothing to learn and less to do .