DAVE'S BUSINESS
"I always keep something on hand for them—" she points to the haversacks too!—"ever since the war began!"
And Betsy filled them while they all clapped their hands, like at theaters. Doughnuts, pies, tied between tin plates so's they wouldn't get broke, bread wrapped in napkins, sweet cakes, coffee in little tin boxes, flour in bags, and even jam in sardine boxes! That s the kind of Union old Betsy was!
The soldiers took off their hats.
"Betsy," says the lieutenant, "it's such as you that's going to save the Union. You're worth a regiment of fighting men. You know, an army moves upon its belly. And you provide the belly. Boys, three cheers for Betsy!"
And they gave 'em, while Betsy wipes her eyes.
"I do my share, Lieutenant," says Betsy, "and a little more, because some others on the border don't!"
The officer got back to business right straight.
109
