The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1886-04-29
PATRIOTISM.
The Instructive Story of an Humble SOL
dier who Saved Washington's Life.

The Instructive Story of an Humble SOL
dier who Saved washington's Life.
His was just that specimen OF
physique that is required to make a
shadow, about an hour before old Sol
begins to wrap about him the mysteri-
Gus drapery of solemn twilight, that
would resemble an old-time four-story
French clock. He heard the boys
through with their tales of warfare and
soldiers life, as we sat in the public
| room of the village hotel; then he
lcisurely rolled his quid back between
the wisdom teeth of his lantern
| jaws, determinedly elected a stream of
amber at glowing coal that had
strayed from its companions and then
lay just without the stove door, and
forever put out its light, and as it
whimpered and wept, he remarked:
"Waal, boys, | aint no ole soljer;
but reckin 1 come as nigh on to being
one, not to be, as er feller well Good
Fur Tn posterity of er reglar soljer
family, which fit like hornets in several
wars, and eff er war shood come up /
CESS the family speerit wood rule, and
me be counted in. I knoU 'twould be
sich, eff 'twarnt for Jane and the chill
un; it runs in our blood, or my name
amt Zeke Scruggs; but howsomever,
through some strange fertility it never
got into the books; yet, boys, do say
that one of my ancestring was the
prime cause of the 'Mericans whipping
the British!'
Another coal of fire wept aloud, and
the stove-door sent up enough steam
to have run a steam mill, a little one
for nickel, a day or SO. One of the
boys said:
''You don't say so, Zeke! Come,
| tell us all about it; how became he the
means of such great result?"
| "Waal, sir, [ do say so. One of my
forefathers saved the life of Gineral
Washington hisself'
"Ah! indeed, history should have
told of it. Congress should have voted
him medal. In what battle was it.
Eeke?''
"Y-a-a-s, but history don't git down
co talking about private soldiers. and
fur all Congress is consarned she'd no
jewrisdiction of the matter and didn' t
nledd'e with it. Now, as to how it
came about, 'twarnt in no battle egg
zactly, but as it were told by the old
wuns of the family, it commenced at
the battle of Brandywine. You see
when the fight commenced my ancestor
war in front, but jest happening to look
back to whar the wagons was, he seed
that one of the head mules of the Gen
erals waggin war powerfully skeered,
and was about to make the team run
off; so he jist laid down his gun and
rushed back there spontaneously
and kotch that mule, and hili
him too! yes sir! hilt him till the fight
was over. Oh! he was a mighty stout
man. Waal, you see, Generil Wash
, ington seed my fore-pap. and in the
eggscitement of ther fight, he took q
!. wrong look at the matter, and con.
cluded that my ancestry had run from
the British, had run cause he was
skeern! The Generil, you see, didn't
know the family, and he didn'i
see the mule a-cavortin. Now. a few
, days after the fight. when the army
, was gone into camp, Generil Washing
ton made the ole man 1--WE call him olt
, man now, but he was a younker then,
tote rail and lead a mule through
camp fur three hours each day fur foul
! days. This proceedin' disgusted tn,
ole man, made him ALFRED mad, ant
fur time actooly drew all the patrit
| ism right outen of him; and he 81
entirely furgot hisself for the time
bein' that he loaded his gun up fur tt
kill Generil Washington with it th'
very next morning! Yes, sir! he don,
! that; but doorin' the night he thunk i
= = over, took in all the barrins. and h,
seed that if he did kill the Generi
:. 'twould ruinate the country; flu
what Good the army do without chief
: in-commander! SO he guy up his owl
! | feelns fur the good of the country; an,
didn't kill Generil Washington! Yes
!. !. sir, pono bublico! an rite thar an thel
! the 'Merican eagle picked the shelli''
= Noble man! Glorious sacrifice! an
= you are descendant of that man
= Zeke?n
s'Yaas, sir! that very man wus m
! wife's pap's grand-pap! Oil talk abou
:. your patritism nowadays, they don
= know what it is; thar's patritism fu
: your
: : And this noble man of his (wife's
= !. noble sire took fresh quid, and we al
!. laughed at a story we were thinkin
about, and one of the boys immediatel
+ narrated it that Zeke might be sure W
. : did laugh at our own thoughts. Peck
= | Csy1a