PRESIDENT LINCOLN AND THE DYING BOY.
By Lutheran
DURING the hard days of the war, President Lincoln made frequent visits to the hospitals, that were always overcrowded with the suffering and dying. On one occasion he stopped to speak to one of the patients, a mere boy of sixteen, who had been mortally wounded, and was nearing his end. President Lincoln, taking the thin, white hand, said: "My poor boy, what can I do for you?" With a beseeching look, the little fellow turned his eyes to the homely, kindly face, and asked, "Won't you write to my mother for me?" "That I will," answered the President, and, calling for a pen, ink, and paper, he seated himself, and wrote a long letter. When it was finished, the President rose, saying: "I will mail this as soon as I get back to the office. Now, is there anything else I can do for you?" In some way the boy had come to know it was the President. And so, looking at him in the most appealing sort of way he asked: "Won't you stay with me till it's all over? It won't be long and I want to hold on to your hand." That was too much for the great-hearted President to resist. The tears came to his eyes and he sat down by him, and took hold of his hand. The little fellow did not move or speak a word. This was some time before four o'clock, and it was long after six before the end came. But the President sat there, as if he had been the boy's father. When the end came, with a prayer he gently folded the boy's thin hands. The tears streamed down his cheeks unheeded. Was it a wonder that the soldiers loved him?
—Lutheran.