Page:Patriotic pieces from the Great War, Jones, 1918.djvu/204

200 THE KID HAS GONE TO THE COLORS

By permission of the author

The Kid has gone to the Colors,

And we don't know what to say;

The Kid we have loved and cuddled

Stepped out for the flag to-day.

We thought him a child, a baby,

With never a care at all;

But his country called him man-size—

And the Kid has heard the call.

He paused to watch the recruiting,

Where, fired by the fife and drum,

He bowed his head to Old Glory,

And thought that it whispered "Come!"

The Kid not being a slacker,

Stood forth with patriot-joy

To add his name to the roster

And, God! we're proud of the boy!

The Kid has gone to the Colors;

It seems but a little while

Since he drilled a schoolboy army

In a truly martial style.

But now he's a man, a soldier,

And we lend him a listening ear;

For his heart is a heart all loyal,

Unscourged by the curse of fear.