The Lincoln County leader. [volume] (White Oaks, Lincoln County, N.M.) 1882-189?, 1883-08-11
Il STORY.
ruI y II GRAVEYARD OF A
tR STIER MILITARY POST.

VI UP VI - nNA't ~ H Wv N'NF
An a persen'd think ~ that marble
shaft.
An the flowers a waving above the graft,
That II Major-gencral holds that tomb
But the corpse down there wore a privates
plume.
I remember the day they swore Mead in
lie was pale Completed, an rather thin'
llc'd.bin what thcycallcd a trampin' beat,
An Unlisted fur want O somethin' to eat;
It's always the case that n new recruit
Is the butt o. tricks from the older fruit;
An the way theiboys tormented the cuss
Was real down wicked an scandalous.
lie took it all with sickly smile,
An said if they'd wait till after awhile,
Till he got fed up in some sort o trim,
1t migAtn't be healthy to fool with him
An | knowed by the look o the fellows
eye,
For all he was backward. an kind o shy,
That behind his skeleton sort o breast,
A heart like Il lions found n nest.
one night as the guard, at IL o'clock,
Relieved the sentinel over the stock,
The corp'ral seen a kind of a glare
From towards the officers, quarters there .
The alarm was raised, an the big gun fired,
An the soldiers, not MORN half attired,
Came a rushin' out on the barrack ground
With a wild an excited sort of a bound.
The Colonel's headquarters was all atire .
An the flames a mountin' higher an high
er,
An what with the yells o men an shrieks
O. the officers wives, with their whitish
chesks,
An the roar O. the flames, an dev'lish
light
illumination the pitch dark night
'Twar such a night rs I've often thought
You could see in holl when it's bilin' hot q!
An then, with n wild. dispairin' yell.
The Colonel shouted, My God, where's
Nell p
His wife responded, shes in her bed p
Then fell to the ground like "A person dead!
Up thro' the roof the mad flames roared,
An blindin' smoke in IA dense mass pour'd
Thro' ev'ry crevice an crack, till the cloud
Hung above like a death black shroud
ct mightn't be out of place TO state
As kinder accountin' for this Mcad's fate,
That Nell was an angel, ten years OLD,
With a heurta as pure rs the virgin gold
An she had kind Of an ange! I TX
OF rcadin' an SIGH like to the sick
An many's the dainty her hands'd bear
10 Mad, al times. in the hospital there,)
My God it was 'nough to raise the hair
On the head of a marble statue There
Stood n crowd of al least two hundredmen
None daring to cntci that fiery pen
Men that were brave on an Injun trail,
Whose courage was never known to fail
But to enter the buildin' was certain death
SO they stood there starin an held their
breath.
Then all at once, with an eager cry,
An + bull dog look in his flashing eye
This Mead rushed up to the wailin' band.
I'm a paper thrust in the Colonel's hand,
My mothers address," he said, an then
lle sorter smiled on the crowd of men,
IN jast like a flash of lightnin' shot
Thro' the door, right into the seethin' pot.
With a yell of horror, the crowd loOkedon
Fur they felt with him twas good bye,
John"
But half a minute after the dash
An up stairs window burst with a crash
An there stood Mead, like a smilin' saint,
The gal in his arms in a death-li k faint,
lie yelled for a rope, and let her down,
To terra firma-which means the groun'.
Then he tied the rOps to a winder- sash,
Fur to follow down-bnt there came a
crash,
An the bla2in' roof, with a fearful din,
Throw'd lac boy to the ground as il tum-
bled in.
We carried him way from the fearful heat.
A hOpin' the noble heart still beat;
But the old post-surgeon shook his head,
And said. with a sigh, that Mead was dead
1t wasn't long afore little Nell
Got over tie sLo k, as soon as well
She circulated among the men,
With a sheet o paper, an ink, an pen,
An axed each one for to give his mite.
In remembrance O. Mead's brave work that
night
An as the result this monumedt stands,
Among flowers planted by Nellie's hands.
An every evenin' she walks up here.
The boys all say, fur to drop a tear
An I've seen her, too, on her knees right
there,
With her face turned upwards as if in
prayer
You see that lines mp above to tell
As how the stone was " Erected by Nell"
An down 1t the bottom, there you'll see
Some Bible uuOtin'-