The letter had made Edmond heart sick and home sick. He stretched himself on his back and looked straight up at the blinking stars. But he was not thinking of them nor of anything but a certain spring day when the bees were humming in the clematis; when a girl was saying good bye to him. He could see her as she unclasped from her neck the locket which she fastened about his own. It was an old fashioned golden locket bearing miniatures of her father and mother with their names and the date of their marriage. It was her most precious earthly possession. Edmond could feel again the folds of the girl's soft white gown, and see the droop of the angel-sleeves as she circled her fair arms about his neck. Her sweet face, appealing, pathetic, tormented by the pain of parting, appeared before him as vividly as life. He turned over, burying his face in his arm and there he lay, still and motionless.
The profound and treacherous night with its silence and semblance of peace settled upon the camp. He dreamed that the fair Octavie brought him a letter. He had no chair to offer her and was pained and embarrassed at the condition of his garments. He was ashamed of the poor food which comprised the dinner at which he begged her to join them.
He dreamt of a serpent coiling around his throat, and when he strove to grasp it the slimy thing glided away from his clutch. Then his dream was clamor.
"Git your duds! you! Frenchy!" Nick was bellowing in his face. There was what appeared to be a scramble and a rush rather than any regulated movement. The hill side was alive with clatter and motion; with sudden up-springing lights among the pines. In the east the dawn was unfolding out of the darkness. Its glimmer was yet dim in the plain below.

那封信使爱德蒙心痛起来，并且开始想家。他站起身，伸了个懒腰，抬起头，仰望天上的繁星。但是他没有想家人，也没有想其他的什么。除了那个春日，蜜蜂嗡嗡地围着铁线莲，一个女孩站在那里，和他说再见。他清晰地看到姑娘从脖子上取下那个小饰盒。那是一个老式的金制的小饰盒，上面刻着她父母的名字还有他们的结婚日期。这是她最珍贵的东西。爱德蒙再一次感觉到她柔软白色睡衣的皱褶，她白皙的胳膊环绕着他的脖子，她的衣袖如天使翅膀般下垂着。她那甜美的脸庞，散发着魅力，满是哀愁，满是痛苦，这痛苦是因为即将与他离别。他转过身，把脸埋在胳膊里，一动不动。
深邃的夜空平静而安详，笼罩着整个宿营地。他梦到白皙的Octavie带给他一封信，他没有椅子给她坐，他的衣服让他觉得尴尬和难为情。他为他简陋的食物感到难堪，恳求她加入他们中间来。
他梦见一条蛇缠到他的脖子上，当他奋力地去抓它的时候，那个粘滑的东西逃离了他的紧握。他在梦里大声喊叫着。
“闭上你的嘴！说你呢，法国人！”尼克朝着他愤怒地吼叫。这看起来是个仓促的行动，比起正规的运动来说显得仓促多了。山的那一边因喧闹而活跃起来，在松树之间可见光亮慢慢地显现。东方晨曦初现，黑暗渐去。朦胧的光线下平原依稀可见。