I think he was forgiven , for when at last he lay dead a smile was on his lips that never had been there before . Then the print was taken down , and I was used to pin up a bundle of red flannel by one of the women , and for months I lay in a dark chest , meditating on the lessons I had already learned . `` Suddenly I was taken out , and when a queer round pin-ball of the flannel had been made by a nice old lady , I was stuck in it with a party of fat needles , and a few of my own race , all with stout bodies and big heads . '' ` The dear boy is clumsy with his fingers , and needs strong things to use , ' said the old lady , as she held the tomato cushion in both hands and kissed it before she put it into a soldier 's ` comfort bag . ' '' ` Now I shall have a lively time ! ' I thought , and looked gaily about me , for I liked adventures , and felt that I was sure of them now . `` I can not begin to tell you all I went through with that boy , for he was brave as a lion and got many hard knocks . We marched , and camped , and fought , and suffered , but we never ran away , and when at last a Minie ball came smashing through the red cushion -LRB- which Dick often carried in his pocket as a sort of charm to keep him safe , for men seldom use pins -RRB- , I nearly lost my head , for the stuffing flew out , and we were all knocked about in a dreadful way . The cushion and the old wallet together saved Dick 's life , however , for the ball did not reach his brave heart , and the last I saw of him as I fell out of the hasty hand that felt for a wound was a soft look in the brave bright eyes , as he said to himself with a smile , -- '' ` Dear old mother has n't lost her boy yet , thank God ! ' `` A colored lad picked me up , as I lay shining on the grass , and pins being scarce in those parts , gave me to his mammy , who kept me to fasten her turban . Quite a new scene I found , for in the old cabin were a dozen children and their mothers making ready to go North . The men were all away fighting or serving the army , so mammy led the little troop , and they marched off one day following the gay turban like a banner , for she had a valiant soul , and was bound to find safety and freedom for her children at all risks . `` In my many wanderings to and fro , I never made so strange a journey as that one , but I enjoyed it , full of danger , weariness and privation as it was ; and every morning when mammy put on the red and yellow handkerchief I was proud to sit aloft on that good gray head , and lead the forlorn little army toward a land of liberty . `` We got there at last , and she fell to work over a washtub to earn the bread for the hungry mouths . I had stood by her through all those weary weeks , and did not want to leave her now , but went off pinning a paper round some clean clothes on a Saturday morning . '' ` Now I wonder what will come next ! ' I thought , as Thomas Jefferson , or ` Jeff , ' as they called him , went whistling away with the parcel through the streets . `` Crossing the park , he spied a lovely butterfly which had strayed in from the country ; caught and pinned it on his hat to please little Dinah when he got home . The pretty creature soon writhed its delicate life away , but its beauty attracted the eye of a pale girl hurrying along with a roll of work under her arm . '' ` Will you sell me that ? '
she asked , and XXXXX gladly consented , wondering what she would do with it .
Dick Jeff Minie day fro mammy months privation washtub weeks