Page:Songs from the Southern Seas and Other Poems (1873).djvu/230

226 And we—what did we do? you ask. Well, boy, we did not cheer, Nor not one sound of welcome reached our hero comrade's ear; But, as he rode along the ranks, each soldier's head was bare,— Our hearts were far too full for cheers,—we welcomed him with prayer. Ah! boy, we loved that dear old flag,—ay, loved it so, we cried Like children, as we saw it wave in all its tattered pride! No, boy, no cheers to greet him, though he played a noble part,— We only prayed 'God bless him!' but that prayer came from the heart. He knew we loved him for it,—he could see it in our tears,— And such silent earnest love as that is better, boy, than cheers. Next day we fought the Frenchman, and we drove him back, of course.