noon
Simple as was the act , it at once relieved me , in my own mind , of all obligations to have a more tender feeling for my Southern fellow-beings than is consistent with a proper emotion of hatred against the enemies of my country . After all , we can learn much more from brutes than from men ; and as Balaam 's ass saw the angel before his master did , so the Angel of Victory is likely to be distinctly obvious to any poor ass in the country , before he becomes visible to the sight of our strategic great men . -LRB- I turn a pretty sharp corner in that last sentence , my boy ; but that is only safe strategy when you find your argument getting ahead of you . -RRB- It was high noon when I reached the Mackerel camp , and I found the spectacled veterans hastily preparing to cross Duck Lake after the manner of aquatic warriors . By some strange fatality , all the pontoons were at hand in time , greatly to the distress of our more venerable troops , who seemed to fear that such unheard-of punctuality must be an evil omen . As there were a great many pontoons , and it was not deemed best to waste any of them , two bridges were built instead of one , -- it being considered that , inasmuch as it was purposed to surprise the unseemly Confederacies on the other side , two bridges would be just twice as surprising to them as one would be . There was logic in this idea , my boy -- much logic and consummate strategy .