How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
The season of plenty in southern Illinois had not been touched by the war.
There might have been no war at all for an hour or so, as the men ate and joked in the mellow sunlight of the dooryard. (8.17-18)
The men pull an old-school Zack Morris "time-out" and take a break from the stresses of war to enjoy life again. But vacations from reality can't last too long, so it's back to battles and casualty counts once lunch is over.
Quote #8
Jethro smiled as he read that. What he would give to talk to Shad about those words of Mr. Lincoln's, to remember with him that night when they had looked at the long wavy line on a roughly drawn map and had wondered how long the fighting would go on. (10.17)
The questioned pondered by Jethro and Shad about how long the fighting would last all those months ago is now being lived out by both of them each day.
Quote #9
There had been a time when Matt Creighton brooked no criticism of a teacher from his children; they went to school when it was in session, the teacher's word was law, and their father wanted to hear no complaints concerning either discipline or the quality of instruction. But Matt had changed in his later years. He talked to the teacher for a while on afternoon; that night he gave Jethro permission to remain at home. (10.34)
Maybe Matt is getting more lenient in his older age, or maybe the war has just taken a toll on him, but allowing Jethro to stop going to school when previously he didn't allow his children to log a complaint is a rather impressive change.