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The Soldier Tramp

The Soldier Tramp image
Parent Issue
Day
2
Month
June
Year
1886
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

xer íionor, i pieaas guiity; 1'm a bummer; I don't deiiy the cop here found me drunk, I aon dcny that through the whole summer The sun warmcd earth has been my only bunk. I h.iin't been able to earn a livin'; A n.an with one leg planted ia the tomb Can't (fit a job- an' I've a strong misgivin' 'Bout belng cooped up in a Soldier's Home. "Whar'did I lose m v leg?' At Spottsylvania- Perhaps you've read about that bloody fight- But then I guess th story won't rest ra In you Krom doing what the law sets down as right. I'm not a vag through choice but through mislortune, An' as fur drink - well, all men have their fa u lts, An' judge, I guess I've had my lawful portioa O' rough experience in prison vaults. "1 served as private in the Tenth New Jersey, An' all the boys'll say I done w'at's right- Thar' ain't a man kin say th;it Abram Bursey War' ever found a-shirkin' in a fight. Right in the hell-born friglitful roar of battle, Whar, shot an' shell shneked through the darksome wood, Amiil the blindin' snioke an' muskct's rattle, You'd always find me, doin' the best I could. "We had a brave ol' feller for a colonel - Wecalled him Sweety, but his name was Sweet - Why, judge, I swear ït by the Great Ktcrnal, That brave ol' cuss'd rather fight than eat ! An' you could allus bet your bottom dollar In battle Swcet 'tl never hunt a tree - Hc'd allus dash into the front and holler; Brace up, my gallant boys, and foller met' "Well, jest afore the Spottsylania battte Oi' Sweety cum to me an' says, says he ; 'I teil you, Abe, 'taint many things 'II rattle A tough old wcather-bcaten cnss like me; But in my very soul I've got a teel in' That I'm a-goin' to xet a dose to-day, An' taint no use fur me to be concealin' The akittUh thoughts that in my bosom play. 'Fur many ye&rs you've been my ncighbor, Bursey, An' I hev allus found you squaH an' truc- Back in our littlc town in old New Jersey No one has got a bettcr name than you. An' now I want yer promise, squar'ly given, That if our cause to-day demands my hfe, An' you yoursell' are lelt among the livin', You'll take me back an lay me by my wife, "Well, judge, that day, amidst the most infernal An' desperate bloody fight I ever secd, 'Way up 111 front I saw tne daring coloncl Throwup his hands and tumble off his stecd. In half a minute I was bendin' o'cr him, An' seein' that he wasn't killed outright, I loaded him upon my back and bore him Soine littlc dUtance back out o' the nght. 'The blood from out the ghastly wound was tlowin', An' so I snatched the shirt from off my back, ''ur I could see the brave ol' cus war goin' To die, unless I held that red tidc b.-irlc. An' purty soon I seed he was revivin' An' heard him whisper; 'Abe, you've saved my fcr ol' woot shirt, along with your connivin', Has kept me from that grare besidt: my info.' 'Well, judire, while I stood thar beside him, schemin' Ai how to get him in a doctor care, A ten-pound shell toward us come a screamin' Just like a raviu' demon in the air. An' w'en it passed 1 found myself a-lvin' A cross old Sweety's body, an' I see That tarnal sheli that by us went a-tlyln' Had tuk my leg along fur company. "Well, judge, that's ail, 'cept when tlie war was over, I found myself a cripple, an' since then I've been a sort o' shiltless, worthless, rover, lïut jest as honcst as the most o' men. I neverstole a dirrtc frora livin' mortal. Nor never harmed a woman, child nor man - I've simply been a bum and hope the court '11 13e jest as easy on me as it can.'1 Then spakc the judge: "Such hclpless, worth less creatures Should never be allowed to bum and be?; Your case, 'Us true, has some redeeming features, For in your country's cause you lost a lei{. And yet I feel the world needs an example To check the tendency of men to roam; The sentence is that all your life vour camp '11 Be in the best room in ray humble home." The soldier sta red f Dumbl Silent as a statue! Then in a voice of tremblin pathos, said : "Judge, turn your had and gvft me otie look at' you- That voke is like ao echo from the dead." Then forward limped hc, grimy hand extended, While tears down his sun-browned cheeks did roll, And said, with slaag and pathos stmngely blended "Why, Colonel Sweety, durn your brave ol' oul."

Article

Subjects
Ann Arbor Courier
Old News