Page:American Boy's Life of William McKinley.djvu/96

68 Some of them had children with them, and the youngsters cried bitterly because of the rain and other hardships.

"Major McKinley was with us,—he was only a lieutenant then,—and he had to take his dose of the disagreeable the same as all of us. Everybody in the ranks was covered with mud, and the officers weren't any better off, although the major always was a sticker to keep his uniform bright. He helped around the supply wagons,—he was used to that kind of work, having been a commissary sergeant himself,—and once I saw him help a poor contraband who had his wife and three children with him, and several heavy bundles of household goods, probably everything the poor fellow had in the world. McKinley helped carry one of the children along the road for at least a mile, and he helped the woman over more than one ditch. And he did those things just as if he thought it was no more than his duty to do them. I don't wonder his old mother said, 'William was always a good boy.' Guess he was thinking of her when he helped the contraband and his family."