With the Colors | Page 9

the street;
Coal men and
plumbers
(If they have good feet);
Showmen and film stars,
All
have mislaid fear.
Funny crowd; but we should fret--
We're all right
here!
Keen men and dull men,
Razor-edged or dumb,
High-grade and
low-grade,
Some, plain medium;
Feet upon the drill-ground,

Hearts all beating high;
_You_ are glad that you are here,
And so,
old top, _am I!_
That's the meaning of the call; ev'ry man is proud
He is in the
common cause, with a bunch of men
Fighting for democracy, lined
up with this crowd--
God! It's pretty nifty _just to be a man again!_
REPRISAL
Sister Susie's sittin' knittin'
Sweaters, wristlets, scarfs, an' socks;

She ain't "sewin' shirts for soldiers"
'Cause she got so many knocks

From th' papers 'bout her sewin'--
Now she's knittin' pounds of yarn

Into things to send away.... Well,
I don't care,
Don't care a darn!
Hasn't knit no scarf or sweater,
Hasn't made no socks for me;
Little
brother, he can rustle
For himself alone, you see!
Maw is on the
Help Committee,
Paw is drillin' with th' Guard;
Brother's
soldierin'--and sister's
Knittin' fast
An' awful hard!
No, they won't pay me no 'tention,

So I'm goin' to run away,
Join th'
army as a--as a
Bellboy, may be, without pay.
Then I'll get a scarf
an' sweater
And some socks, soon as I go,
From some _other_
feller's sister
That I do not
Even _know_.

THE SOUL OF SERGEANT TODD
"I wasn't so much of a soldier," said the soul of Sergeant Todd,
(Fumbling at his medal, that statement sounded odd.)
"I wasn't so
much of a fighter, but when they came, and came, Yelling and shooting,
I just got mad, and I reckon I did the same. Into my trench they
piled--just boys--
Making a most outlandish noise."
A Corporal's soul beside him nodded and mustered a smile:
"You
handled a dozen at once," he said; "they didn't come single file. If you
wasn't 'much of a soldier,' or shirked in your duty--well, say, What sort
of a chance have other men got when tested on Judgment Day? You
fought them all, you did; and when
They quit, you started in again!"
"Shut up!" said the soul of Sergeant Todd; "you're still in my squad,
McQuade,
I say that I lacked what you did not lack--courage to die,
unafraid. I was a coward, a trembling coward, deep in my craven heart;
I fought with the fear of that fear at my soul, playing no hero's part!
You can't understand it--but I
Had none of the courage--_to die!_
"And now that I'm dead," said the troubled soul of the one-time
Sergeant Todd,
"It didn't seem right that those who live should think I
have met our God As a brave man does: his honor clear, with his
courage unscathed
and whole.
On this high plane there is no room for a fear-troubled
human soul; So Sergeant Todd" (he bowed his head)
"_Fears no
more_--for his body's dead!"
THE BUSY LADY
We meet ev'ry week to make surgical dressings--
And one woman
does it dead wrong;
I watched her a day--then I just _had_ to say,

"My dear! If I may--that's too long!"
While I was explaining the
teacher came by--
She's so cross that her mouth's just a _line_--


And found fault with me and my work....
After that
I'll mind _no one's_ business _but mine!_
To-day I was filling my neighbor's slow mind
With War-Garden
ideas and lore,
When a dog I don't _know_ just _ruined_ mine--so

I'll not advise _her_ any more!
Then a talk that I gave to the Home
Service Group
On "Waste" was _quite_ spoiled--though 'twas fine--

By my bread burning up while I talked....
After this
I'll mind _no one's_ business but _mine!_
At a lecture on "Hospital Units at Work"
A woman (who looked
fifty-three)
Ere the talk had _begun_ started _crying_....
Her son
Has gone, she confided to me.
"But you should be _brave_
and 'buck up'," I remarked.
"And _yours_?" she asked.... How did she
divine
That _I_ am not married?... Oh, well, after this
I'll mind _no
one's_ business--b-but mine!
OVERDOING IT
This horrid old war is right _in_ our house
Making itself _at home_,
goodness sakes!
The scraps from our table won't feed a _mouse_

We've cut out desserts, salads, and cakes.
Monday is meatless and
Tuesday is dry,
Wednesday is _sugarless_, too, gee whiz!
Our
plates must be _cleaned_, they tell us. That's why
We _eat_ the
garbage before it _is_!
So I bought a melon the other day
When ma was 'tending a Red Cross
tea.
I wanted it _awful_ bad.... Anyway
It wasn't so _big_--just
right for me--
And then, just to keep from wasting a _drop_,
I _ate
it all up!_... Our colored Liz
Says Pa told the doctor, "My fault, old
top--
"'We eat the garbage before it is.'"

The doctor was writing a 'scription note
When I come to, turned over
and grinned,
And he frowned at Pa, as he wrote and wrote,
Till Pa
grew red like his cheeks was _skinned_.
"Eating the garbage? Now,
listen, man,
If that's your game it's good for _my_ biz.
But if _I_
was _you_, I surely would 'can'
"'We eat the garbage before it is!'"
THE GIVERS
_"I've given a lot of