THE SOLDIER BOY;

OR,

TOM SOMERS IN THE ARMY.




CHAPTER I.

THE BATTLE OF PINCHBROOK.


"Fort Sumter has surrendered, mother!" shouted Thomas Somers, as he rushed
into the room where his mother was quietly reading her Bible.

It was Sunday, and the exciting news had been circulated about the usually
quiet village of Pinchbrook Harbor. Men's lips were compressed, and their
teeth shut tight together. They were indignant, for traitors had fired
upon the flag of the United States. Men, women, and children were roused
by the indignity offered to the national emblem. The cannon balls that
struck the walls of Sumter seemed at the same time to strike the souls of
the whole population of the North, and never was there such a great
awakening since the Pilgrim Fathers first planted their feet upon the rock
of Plymouth.