St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-06-17

myself like" and he shuddered at the
memory. rs az
"All right, Tommy" said, "you come
blowout as you had the Mission last
Christmas "a -
"You don't mean it p Hef cried.
"But, do mean it, Come along"
took him to a neighhoring restaurant and
ordered dinner, or rather let Tommy the Kid
order for himself, and he did it in a way that
showed he was thinking of the quantity
rather than the qualityss & a n ~
l had been q prisoner OF war and I knew
what it was to be hungry but must confess
that never up to that time nor since had
seen such capacity for beefsteak, onions,
bread and butter and coffee as that boy dis
played. Now and then he would stop with
his mouth full to say:
eyed better see, boss, if yer pile IL stand
it, if I tackle anodder steak
was beginning to feel that the boy might
iniure himself when to my great relief he
finished up the last section of mince pie,
pushed back his chair, and said with a sigh of
supreme satisfaction: -'s '4''3'
''Well, I never thought a fellow could feel
SO good.
I suggested that he walk down to camp
with me, and he agreed. On the way to the
boy of his own age against whom he had a
grudge, and he did it, am satisfied, far
more thoroughly and quickly than he could
have done before dinner. 1 have noticed
that men fight better when they are well
fed. a's So
Tommy the Kid could read and write a
little, his learning, as far as it went, being
largely obtained through the medium of
theatrical posters. But never before met
a human being SO entirely alone in the
world, or who appeared to have less to hold
him to life. .,t3. sss.55s.
He told me that he twas just dyin' to be
soier, but dem goold lace buffers bounced
him when he tried to enlist.
The officers of my regiment were quartered
at the Astor House, across from the camp.
and thither went, after bidding Tommy the
Kid good night and telling him that if he
showed up in the morning he could have all
the breakfast he could stow away
Tommy must have hung about the camp all
night, for when appeared at roll-call at five
the following morning, he was on hand, and
greeted me by waving his ragged cap above
his head.
The men gave the boy breakfast, and Col
onel Fellows, when I interested in the case,
told me that he needed another drummer,
but as the boy was under age, he could
not be enlisted without the consent of q
guardian.
'But," added the kind hearted colonel,
with a smile, "there is no reason why you
can't take the boy before a judge, have your
self appointed his guardian, and then, If you
want to enlist him, you'll have no one to
object
I stated the case to Tommy de Kid, and he
said:
"Do it, boss; jest be gardin' to me, an
den won't keer dam if you fill me up wild
dinner, and den take me out and shoot me
dead.'
I followed the coloneps advice, and before
noon was Tommy de Kids guardian, and
Tommy himself, with my consent, was SOL
der of the Republic.
had him measured for uniform at once.
had his hair cut, and ran him through
Turkish bath, and so transformed him that,
to use his own language, he "didn't know
himself from a gineral.''
For purposes of recognition he was en-
tered on the regimental rolls as "Thomas
Lincoln" but from first to last he continued
to be known as Tommy de Kid
I never saw a better Illustration of the
effect of good feeding than Tommy pre-
sented. Two days after he joined we were
ordered to the front, and before he had been
one month with US, his cheeks were rosy, he
seemed to have grown several inches, and he
carried himself like a soldier
Although his past life was such as would
have ruined most boys Tommy was at heart
a gentleman. He made. friends of all who
knew him, he never complained, and after
his first action at Gettysburg his character
for undaunted courage was established.
''The great pint" hewould say to me, sis to
lick dem dam Johnnies; den wen dey cries
huff, why I'm for lethn':u on 'em, if dey'u
gree not to do so no more.H,s
That was the boys military creed, and it
was not bad one.
We had fought from the Wilderness to Cold
Harbor, and from the James to Petersburg
Our regiment dwindled away under disease