"A-ho," said Mr. Dooley, "th' blue an' th' gray, th' blue an' th'
gray. Well, sir, Jawn, d'ye know that I see Mulligan marchin' ahead
with his soord on his side, an' his horse dancin' an' backin' into th'
crowd; an' th' la-ads chowlder arms an' march, march away. Ye shud 've
been there. Th' women come down fr'm th' pee-raries with th' childher
in their arms, an' 'twas like a sind-off to a picnic. 'Good-by, Mike.'
'Timothy, darlin', don't forget your prayers.' 'Cornalius, if ye do
but look out f'r th' little wans, th' big wans 'll not harm ye.'
'Teddy, lad, always wear ye'er Agnus Day.' An', whin th' time come f'r
th' thrain to lave, th' girls was up to th' lines; an' 'twas, 'Mike,
love, ye'll come back alive, won't ye?' an' 'Pat, there does be a pair
iv yarn socks in th' hoomp on ye'er back. Wear thim, lad. They'll be
good f'r ye'er poor, dear feet.' An' off they wint.
"Well, some come back, an' some did not come back. An' some come back
with no rale feet f'r to put yarn socks on thim. Mulligan quit down
somewhere in Kentucky; an' th' las' wurruds he was heard to utter was,
'Lay me down, boys, an' save th' flag.' An there was manny th' other
that had nawthin' to say but to call f'r a docthor; f'r 'tis on'y,
d'ye mind, th' heroes that has somethin' writ down on typewriter f'r
to sind to th' newspapers whin they move up. Th' other lads that dies
because they cudden't r-run away,--not because they wudden't,--they
dies on their backs, an' calls f'r th' docthor or th' priest. It
depinds where they're shot.
"But, annyhow, no wan iv thim lads come back to holler because he was
in th' war or to war again th' men that shot him. They wint to wurruk,
carryin' th' hod 'r shovellin' cindhers at th' rollin' mills. Some iv
thim took pinsions because they needed thim; but divvle th' wan iv
thim ye'll see paradin' up an' down Ar-rchey Road with a blue coat on,
wantin' to fight th' war over with Schwartzmeister's bar-tinder that
niver heerd iv but wan war, an' that th' rites iv sivinty-sivin. Sare
a wan. No, faith. They'd as lave decorate a confeatherate's grave as a
thrue pathrite's. All they want is a chanst to go out to th' cimitry;
an', faith, who doesn't enjoy that? No wan that's annything iv a
spoort.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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