The Warner weekly sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1885, 1885-01-09
| they INNS. be the killed and the wound-

cd and the missing. ..
"And all the while the moon didn't
give way at all. Pretty oon my poor
| stars began TO fall faster and faster,
until thousands and thousands went
dropping, falling down out of the sky
And I Just couldn't stand 1t any
longer. for O see, | was on the stars
| side. so | beat the Retreat as hard as |
| could, and then the army began to fall
back. But there were great gaps IN
the line and hundreds Of strAgBltrS.
Every little while some poor star, h a
| had been wounded and couldn't keep up
any longer, would go sinking slowly
down out ofsight.
90 lieutenant. How sorry / felt for
them. And I noticed that the night
had grown darker, and l thought, that
is because so many bright stars were
killed in the fight, and because the
eyes Of the rest are all full Of tears for
their lost comrades and their defeat.
Then they all looked so tired and
sleepy that | sounded Taps at Once, and
the whole army put out their lights and
turned in and went to sleep right away.
Pretty soon l thought it was sunrise,
and l jumped up and beat the Reveille,
and while l was ra~ttling away l thought
a part of Gen. Sherman's army came
marching by. There were the cavalry,
with their iangling sabres, and the ar
tillerv, with their brass guns as bright
as gold, and then thousands and thOus-
ands of infantry, with their muskets all
at right shoulders shift. And I thought
there was Il splendid drum corps.
The flies sounded out loud and shrill,
just as they used to, and the drums
there must have been twenty-five of
them,-and the rat-tat-tat of the snares,
and the boom, boom Of the big bass fell
lows fairly set me crazy.
ooh, I was Wild to be marching along
with the rest! They were playing
When Johnny Comes Marching Home
and I struck right in with the old drum
and played my very best. I don't know
what it was happened then, but I think
the drum must have got wings some
way, for it rose right up in the air, and
I with it, and We went up over the roofs
and %chimneys, and the woods and the
hills; but all the while I could hear
that splendid drum-corps playing
when Johnny Comes Marching Home,
though 1 couldn't see the troops any
more. So I kept on beating away for
dear life, for | was a little frightened
at first when I saw how high up we
were.
But soon the flies and the drums
began to sound fainter and fainter, and
at the very moment when I couldn't
hear them at all-only think of til I
looked down, and right there under us
was the very old schoolhouse where I
used to go to school. And then there
was old Deacon Ingalls,, who lives down
close by the swimming-hole, You know.
Just beyond was the saw-mill and
Charley Browns house and the Metho-
dist Church, and then, D lieutenant,
there was home and mother and the
children and Carlo, all looking up at
us.
"And then,-oh, the dear, sweet,
sweet mother!-I was down in the yard
like a flash, with my arms round hsr
neck, and she laughed and cried and
kissed me over and over again, and
called me her dear, brave soldier boy.
81 cried just like a baby, / was so
happy. It seemed as if never could
love her enough. And when / looked
around to speak to the children, the
neighbors were coming over from every
direction, and they all seemed to be
singing When Johnny Comes Marching
Home And there was the dear old
drum beating away all of itself, just as
hard as eYer it could, when Johnny
Comes Marching Home.
Isn't it too bad, lieutenant, that twas
only adream? Oh, if the good God
only knew how / want to see my moth
er, He'd surely make it come true. DC
you, do you really think / can start
pretty soon?"
He was wide awake and cheerful dur
ing the day, and talked a great deal
about his friends and his home, but he
was evidently sinking fast. Towards
evening he grew silent, and seemed un.
conscious of my presence. 1t may be
that he was listening to the gentle
voices of the angels, as they told hin
life had reached its close. may bs
that The plying heart of the Grea'
Father had granted the dying wish o.
the brave little soul, and given min
sight. and communion with the mothel
he so loved and longed for. After /
while the closed eyes slowly opened
and he gazed steadily into my face
Then, without q single trace of fear II
his countenance, but with such a deep
pitiful disappointment In his voice tina
It nearly broke my heart, he said
I know now, lieutenant. I shall
never see mother again"
He begged that I would not leav,
him, and reaching up his arms with
feeble effort, his eyes pleaded that
would take him in my arms. ALL
shall never forget the pathos Of thos