" After a week or two, when he lay dying, I
received from his hand the flag and the verses pinned together, and
addressed to "Miss Annie ----," in some part of Arkansas; but as I
hoped to retain, and finally to deliver safely, the articles so
addressed, I did not tax my memory with it, and when afterwards, in
Macon, all my belongings were taken by the raiders, I had nothing left
to recall the name, and only remember one of the verses, which ran
thus:
"Your father fought under this flag,
This bonny flag so true,
And many a time, amidst the fray,
The bullets whistled through--
_So, Annie, keep the flag_."
The verses were headed, "Annie, Keep the Flag," and each one ended
with the same words.
The sad days of winter passed slowly away; with the spring came
changes. Dr. Thornton was ordered to another post (I had forgotten
just where), and of course Mrs. Thornton accompanied him. Everybody
connected with the post regretted their departure, especially the loss
of Mrs. Thornton, who was a general favorite. We had not ceased to
miss her when tidings came of Dr. Thornton's death, and of the wild
grief of the stricken wife, which resisted all control.
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