"Come hither, little brothers,
And listen now to me,
And I will read a story
To both, while at my knee."

Then Johnnie's flag hung idly,
And Charlie hushed his drum;
To hear sweet Mary's story
The mimic soldiers come.

"'Tis of a boy no larger,
My little Charles, than you;
But he had been in battle,
And all its terrors knew.

"His father was a captain;
He had no child beside;
And while he was an infant
His mother dear had died.

"And so from camp to battle,
From fight to camp again,
Had lived, this little hero,
On many a bloody plain.

"One day, when shouts were loudest
Upon the reddened field,--
When came the victor's war-cry,
'See! see! they fly! they yield!'--