two hours before noon
`` Ah , do n't , lad , do n't ! '' Tom flung one arm about the other 's shoulder and Crailey was silent , but rested his hand gently on his friend 's head . In that attitude Fanchon found them when she came . The volunteers gathered at the court-house two hours before noon . They met each other dismally , speaking in undertones as they formed in lines of four , while their dispirited faces showed that the heart was out of them . Not so with the crowds of country folk and townspeople who lined the streets to see the last of them . For these , when the band came marching down the street and took its place , set up a royal cheering that grew louder as Jefferson Bareaud , the color-bearer , carried the flag to the head of the procession .