Chapter 24 Summary

Billy is lying prone between two guns, experiencing for the first time in his optimistic young life the evil of the diabolical incarnate in some men. But he is calm now. The chaplain visits him and, though Billy acknowledges that he will die at dawn, he shows no more understanding of what that means than a child. He shows no fear of death. Billy listens to the chaplain talk about salvation and a Savior more out of his natural politeness than out of awe or reverence. The chaplain withdraws, feeling that innocence might be a better thing than religion with which to face judgment; he kisses him on the cheek before he leaves.

Why didn't the chaplain try to stop the execution? In the first place, it would have been futile. In the second place, it would be out of the bounds of...