Lincoln and His Boys by Rosemary Wells

Author:Rosemary Wells [Wells, Rosemary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Ages 8 & Up
ISBN: 9780763654351
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Published: 2009-07-11T07:00:00+00:00

Father strides in and out of our fort with his hands in his pockets. He looks at the southern sky, which is just losing the sun’s last light. “Who is that?” asks Father. He points to Jack. Jack is a doll in a Zouave uniform — red pants and a blue tunic. “Why is he hanging by the neck?” asks Father.

Taddie answers. “Jack’s a rebel spy,” he says. “We have to file charges against him for treason and hang him. Then we bury him in the rose garden. Then we dig him up. The gardener gets mad at us, Papa-day.”

Father turns Tad upside down and swings him by his feet. “You must not annoy the gardener, Taddie. He is doing his job, and he doesn’t like little boys ruining his roses. You know that. Your mother told you that last week.”

“Papa-day, I want a goat, please?” says Taddie.

“Promise not to annoy the gardener?” asks Father.

“Promise!” says Taddie. “When can I have my goat?”

“We will see in the morning,” says Father. “In the meantime, boys, I don’t think any rebel army is going to come up this way with your seige guns trained right on ’em. No indeed, they won’t!”

“You think we’d really scare ’em, Pa?” I ask.

“Scare the pants off ’em!” he says. “Now, come to supper. Mama’s waiting.”

“Can my goat sleep in the bed with me, Papa-day?” asks Tad.

“He may turn up his nose at your bed and prefer the stables, son,” says Father. “We’ll have to ask him!”

At supper Mama has covered the dining table with swaths and squares of velvet and silk. Many pieces have gold thread. All are bright colors and soft materials.

“The President’s House is not just our house,” says Mama. “It’s the people’s house too. And it is a filthy mess at the moment. We are getting rid of the rotting furniture, the moldy drapes, and the carpets with holes in the middle. Shameful!”

“Mother, don’t spend too much of the people’s money on the people’s house!” says Father, spooning up chicken fricassee. “This is the best place we’ve ever lived. It’s good enough for me without a lot of extra expensive flub-dubs.”

“Too many bachelors all in a row!” Taddie and I sing to Pa. That’s what Mama says about the house. We know Mama will make the president’s mansion beautiful because Mama has top-rail taste, which Father doesn’t care about. We also like Mama busy.

“Bachelors!” says Father. “What’s bachelors got to do with it?”

“Papa-dear,” says Mama. “The last president was a sloppy old bachelor, and the ones before not much better. The one before last let his drooling spaniels up on the furniture. If we don’t spruce this old house up, the spiders will take over!”

Later, before bedtime, Taddie asks me, “What is a bachelor?”

“An old man with no wife, no kids, and hair in his nose and ears,” I say.

“Just like all those old men in the Cabinet! Just like Governor Chase and Senator Seward and General Scott!” says Taddie.

Governor Chase is the Secretary of the Treasury.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.