dier:

"A soldier of the Army of the Potomac was being carried to the rear of
battle with both legs shot off, who, seeing a pie-woman, called out,
'Say, old lady, are them pies sewed or pegged?'

"And there was another one of the soldiers at the battle of
Chancellorsville, whose regiment, waiting to be called into the fight,
was taking coffee. The hero of the story put to his lips a crockery
mug which he had carried with care through several campaigns. A stray
bullet, just missing the tinker's head, dashed the mug into fragments
and left only the handle on his finger. Turning his head in that
direction, he scowled, 'Johnny, you can't do that again!'"

BAD TIME FOR A BARBECUE.

Captain T. W. S. Kidd of Springfield was the crier of the court in the
days when Mr. Lincoln used to ride the circuit.

"I was younger than he," says Captain Kidd, "but he had a sort of
admiration for me, and never failed to get me into his stories. I was a
story-teller myself in those days, and he used to laugh very heartily at
some of the stories I told him.

"Now and then he got me into a good deal of trouble. I was a Democrat,
and was in politics more or less. A good many of our Democratic voters
at that time were Irishmen. They came to Illinois in the days of the
old canal, and did their honest share in making that piece of internal
improvement an accomplished fact.

"One time Mr. Lincoln told the story of one of those important young
fellows--not an Irishman--who lived in every town, and have the cares
of state on their shoulders. This young fellow met an Irishman on the
street, and called to him, officiously: 'Oh, Mike, I'm awful glad I
met you. We've got to do something to wake up the boys. The campaign is
coming on, and we've got to get out voters. We've just had a meeting up
here, and we're going to have the biggest barbecue that ever was heard
of in Illinois. We are going to roast two whole oxen, and we're going to
have Douglas and Governor Cass and some one from Kentucky, and all the
big Democratic guns, and we're going to have a great big time.'

"'By dad, that's good!' says the Irishman. 'The byes need stirrin' up.'

"'Yes, and you're on one of the committees, and you want to hustle
around and get them waked up, Mike.'

"'When is the barbecue to be?' asked Mike.

"'Friday, two weeks.'

"'Friday, is it? Well, I'll make a nice committeeman, settin' the
barbecue on a day with half of the Dimocratic party of Sangamon