Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1922-04-21
CHAPTER /.
=


And wen all feel gay, when johnnie
comes marching home again!
The old man and the little boy, his
grandson, sat together In the shade of
the big walnut tree in the front yard,
watching the Decoration Day Pa
rade," as it passed up the long street !;
and when the last of the veterans was
out of sight the grandfather muir
INJURED the words Of the tune that came
drifting back from the now distant
band at the head Of the procession.
did you, Grandpa?" the boy asked.
did I what?'
did you all feel gay when the army
got homer
ut didn't get home all at once, pre-
cisely," the grandfather explained.
"When the war was over I suppose we
felt relieved. more than anything else"
"You didn't feel SO gay when the
war; was, though, l guessI' the boy
ventured.
81 guess we didn't"
"Were you scared, Grandpa? We're
you ever scared the Johnnies would
win?"
"No. We weren't ever afraid of
that"
"WeIl, weren't you ever scared your
self, Grandpa? I mean when you were
in battle"
"Oh, yes; I was" The old man
laughed. Scared aplenty!"
II don't see Why" the boy said
promptly. 81 wouldn't be scared in a
battle"
Wouldn't you?"
"'Course not! Grandpa, why don't
you march in the Decoration Day pa
rade? Wouldn't they let your"
"Pm not able to march any more.
Too short of breath and too shaky in
the legs and too blind"
"I wouldn't care" said the boy. I'D
be in the parade anyway, II I was you
If I'd been in your place, Grandpa, and
they'd let me be in that parade, I'd
been right up by the band. Look,
Grandpal Watch me, Grandpa This
is the way I'd be-, Grandpa"
He rose from the garden bench
where they sat, and gave a complex
imitation of what had most appealed
to him as the grandeurs of the pro-
cession, his prancing legs Stimulating
those of the horse Of the grand mar
shall, while his upper parts rendered
the drums and bugIes Of the band, as
well as the officers and privates Of the
militia company which had been a fea-
ture of the parade. The only thing
he left out was the detachment of
veterans.
"Putty-boom Putty-boom! Putty
boom-boom-boom" he vocifers ted, as
the drums-and then as the bugles ::
'Ta, ia, raj, tara !" He addressed his
re- stive legs: whoa, there, you
Whitley! Gee! Haw Git up" Then,
waving an imaginary sword: Sol
lumn right Farwud march! Halt!
Carry harmsw He Carried arms.''
"Show-dler harms I" He "shouldered
arms" and returned to his seat.
"That'd be me- Grandpa. That's the
way I'd do" And as the grandfather
nodded, seeming to agree, thought
recently dismissed returned to the
mind of the composite procession and
he asked:
"Well, why weren't you ever afraid
the Johannes would whip the Unions,
Grandpa?"
"Oh, we knew they couldn't"
81 guess So" The little boy laughed
disdainfully, thinking his question sat
isfactorily answered. 81 guess those
ole Johnnies couldn't whipped a flea
They didn't know how to fight any at
all, did they, Grandpa?"
"Oh, yes, they did,"
"What?' The boy was astounded.
weren't they all just regular ole cow
ards, Grandpa?'
NO." said the grandfather. '[rhey
were pretty fine soldiers"
'They were? Well, they ran away
whenever you began shootin' at em,
didn't they?"
Sometimes they did, but most times
they didn't. Sometimes they fought
like wildcats-and sometimes we were
the ones that ran away"
''But the Johnnies were bad men,
weren't they, Grandpa?"
mo"
The boys forehead, customarily va
cant. showed some little vertical
shadows, produced by struggle to
think swell. but" he began slowly.
"Listen, Grandpa, listen here! You
said-you said you never got scared
the ole Johnnies were goin' to win"
"They did win pretty often" said
the grandfather. "They won a good
many battles"
II mean, you said you never got
scared they'd win the war;"
''No, we were never afraid of that"
swell, but If they were good men
and fought like wildcats, Grandpa,
and KEEP winning battles and every
thing, how could that be? How could
you help bein' scared they'd win the
warp
The grandfather's feeble eyes twin
killed. brightly. why, we knew they
couldn't, Ramsey"
At this, the little vertical shadows
on Ramsey's forehead became more