Mountain Home Republican. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1915-1946, 1922-03-04
CHAPTER |.

j
When Johnnie comes marching home
Hurrah! Hurrah!
Wen give him hearty welcome then.
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The men with cheers. the boys with
shouts,
The ladies they will all turn out.
And we'll 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 1t passed up the long street I;
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, Grandpaf" the boy asked.
did | 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 suppose we
felt relieved. more than anything else"
"You didn't feel so gay when the
war was, though, / guess!' the boy
ventured.
II guess we didn't"
"Were you scared, Grandpa? We're
you ever scared the Johnnies would
VIM"
mo. We weren't ever afraid of
that"
"Well, weren't you ever scared your
self, Grandpa? l mean when you were
In a battle"
'Oh, yes; was" The old man
laughed. Scared aplenty!"
81 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"
I'm not able to march any more.
Too short of breath and too shaky in
the legs and too blind"
Il wouldn't care,' said the boy. "I'd
be In the parade anyway, if | 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,
Grandpa Watch me, Grandpa This
Is the way I'd be, Grandpa"
He rose from the garden bench
where they sat, and gave 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
shal, while his upper parts rendered
the drums and bugles Of the band, as
we'll as the officers and privates Of the
militia company which had been fea-
ture of the parade. The only thing
he left out was the detachment Of
veterans.
"Putty-boom Putty-boom Putty
,oom-boom- boomf r. he vociferated, as
the drumsv-and then as the bugles:
"Ta, ia, ra, tara!" He addressed his
FESTIVE legs: whoa, there, you
Whitey Gee! Hawl Git up!" Then,
waving an imaginary sword: "Col-
lumn right! Farwud march, Halt
Carry harms - He carried arms"
"Show-dler harms !" 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, a thought
recently dismissed returned to the
nind Of the composite procession and
re asked:
"Well, why weren't you ever afraid
the Johnnies would whip the Unions,
GrandpaP
"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 flea
They didn't know how to fight any at
all, did they, Grandpa"
"0h, yes, they did,"
"What?' The boy was astounded.
Weren't they all just regular ole cow
ards, Grandpa?"
NO" said the grandfather. "They
were pretty fine soldiers"
"They were? Well, they ran away
whenever you began shootn' at EN-,
didn't they"
Sometimes they did, but most times
they didn't. Sometimes they fought
like wildcats land sometimes we were
the ones thss ran away"
But the johnnles were bad men,
weren't they. GrandpaT
mo"
The Boys forehead, customsrily va
cant, showed some little vertical
shadows. produced by struggle to
think. "Well. but 1e began slowly.
"Litten, Grandpa, listen here! You
snid- you said you ne-er got scared
the ole Johnnies were goin to win"