The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1863-03-12
,s4s asna, ,fTorthef ,copri.r,l ,,lr,eo SO rsii
The Little Soldier Boy and His
iDY " n. GREEN.

snte7si' iDroy.s n. GREEN. S'bH'1
The love Of mother i. jas truly, Sc,
forth in the life Of . soldier, as in any
others which !, may be selected.l lq To
hear the, soldier while seated around
their calnpaires, telling the innocent
tales Of youthful days and their past.
times while underthcr charge Of par
sents and friends, and how they enjoy
| ed those days Of youth, is always. rer
Tie 1lliissing to tie bearer, and many a
time will il cause a tear,drop to- steal
|.sl silently down the cheek without the
sconscions : effect it has made. x ne
incident as nrillustrations---1q IS "a
FIElt, ~, ,..9yg7G snf ,sSasS.e.A :ssFT2a 9"
csW bile commaDder, Of the GONZALES
cent barracks, At ,Bardstowp,, KY, in
FeMuary,1t ls62, 50 one cold, stormy
night, Ilpassed through the wards
Fnbout the dead hour Of night, as Twas
accustomed to do. In one Of the
wards. during the day previous, I had
noticed a small hoy, not exceeding
fifteen years Of age, who was. from all
iapFpee pe' pearance, n rapidly declining, with a
severe, congh, .occassioned by having
had the measles. His place, d under
che circumstances, should have been
in theihospitalgd He had come from
that Institution afew DAYS previous,
and not been entered upoE the books
of the barracks. When l entered the
ward, / found him sitting upon his
bed, weeping and as ] entered / heard
him reproaching one of bis obedmates
as follows :sci3EiiqEs ,di 7g 10 .hsgga69 ~
na9ssYou had no business'to throw the
sock away, SO you hadn't, for you
know I thought SO much of it. s''
aYou can 60 and get Bill now, for
your meanness. You can have your
trouble go and get it or III tell the
Captain" said one of The -warders. se
/ 81 Bill went out ofthe room, and soon
returned with an,old sock, land threw
itspitefully to thelittle boy upon the
bod, uttering an oath az he turned
away. 80 Hh ,bai!itQs $50 gtSls kas 'Ga
e The little fellow caught itiup and a
placed itin his bosom, and Isid down
as if content. 80 ), n
I passed through without making
any remark, and returned to my of
Ihce.mca npaixsa sdt 10 llr5-sao o. ra
- During the night Iyfelt al though
i should have talked to TIE little sick
boy, and then there appeared some.
thing singular about the tenacity with
which he clinged to his sock, and,
finally, 1 again went back at breakfast,
hour to his ward. The soldiers were
eating their breakfast but thsg little
fellow still slept. 3IHstood ssover him
and watched his breathings. Hsfest
ed upon his back, with his right hand
on his BOSOM. His eyes were set, and
cold perspiration stood in large drops
upon his white forehead. he appear 3
ed to be dreaming, and occasionally,
a, sigh would, interrupt bis .slumbers.
], gently shook him, when he awoke,
pulled bis hand from his bosom, in
which was clutched : his, little sock,
and instantly returning it, he looked
me gently id the face and exclaimed: =
7aa"Oh!it is you, Captain, thank you;
thank you for waking me- . &C. II
.sYou are sick" !" said I. u i -, IA
&c Yes, sir, I am SICK he replied. 4
ri HAWhy did You come out eftheg hos
pital ?" asked. .b9a 5
T ssThe; Medical director gtola sme II
was no account, and might as well be
dead as alive; besides the Doctor in
hospital number two gets drunk, and
I am afraid ofhim, and that great
man, the director, andI sliped out
and come here; 1 want to, stay with
you, Castain, fl can.''s d sds.as p
h.'You can stay i returned: ..but
YOU must eat something, and Iswill
have Doctor MCGOWAN to give you
nd'7u' q cd baA .AS- ,as2 Il
e."Will You, sir, I win be much obrgl
ed, Captain, and take the medicine,
but ! can't eat, and he, shed tears,
and his little chin quiyered,4 ao has
tsYiBut You must not weep,n said ],
aCheer up, and Iiwi i'll haveyou cured
up, and send you back home.p To
this he smiled. .ssa aaisFu hf's .11sss' 'ese
- .But tell me now" continued l.,
awhy you hold on to that sock Why |
keep it SO close,? What is there So
precious about it?'' .s,s,s bs;isT 49, Il
81 keep il. Captain, and bis voice filtered.
keep i because il was given to me by my
mother; il Was knit BY her fasees. and it is
al I have that she gave me.s and she didn't
want mc TO come ether" and hs bprst in-
to nood OF tears. "a g9lsss bs.iaJ y sdl o. q
sssaWell, well, never mind the sock. ~ said
I. Lets have ,sSme breakfast now. what
..r vo,, ..x VI, s,~.s a AZ InA ~ - !