any longer.  Jimmy is a sensitive little fellow & took it quietly but pretty hard & cried over it.  I did not hear of it until after dinner.  I reflected over it a short time, & acted on the impulse of a heart that I trust may never be callous to the tear of an Orphan & went right to him & found him as I said packing his scanty supply of clothing in his knapsack. (one old shirt & a blanket) the clothes he had on are raged - he was in tears. - I hardly knew what to say to assume the responsibility of offering him a home was something not to be lightly thought of - but I did so in as kind a way as my hitherto rough manner of life would permit. - of course he accepted.  He is an Orphan his father died when he was eight years old & his mother in two weeks after, he has one brother - 21 years old in the 25th Kentuck Vols. he is 17 but very small of his age - looks to be about 12 - 13 - he is a stout little bunch of a fellow - appears to be well satisfied with his prospect - & also appears to have confidence in me - which is more than could be expected after the treatment he received at the hands of my brother (?) Officer.  I have not inquired particularly into his past life, he is from Zanesville, Ohio - was put on a farm at eight years of age - he & his brother left Dayton O. for the army - a year or less ago, may be because of ill treatment, or it may be from a longing as too many boys have for the army - Did I do right to take him?  And by the way, did you get the little girl you wrote me about?  I hope you have.  Let us do our duty by the unfortunate, trusting that God will so guide & assist us that we may be their benefactors.  But what of our own dear boy - my heart bleeds for him.  I have only learned that he was captured during an engagement & taken as a prisiner of war - will he receive treatment due a prisiner of war?  He should have been released long ago & acording to Orders from the War Department at the time should be mustered out - sometimes I hope that this may be the case, & then the darker shades of the picture appear & I dread to contemplate the result - O' that God would deliver him from the thralldom of captivity & restore him to the delights of home & friends.  And now my dear wife trusting we may each enjoy the intervening weeks that separate us - I bid you good bye.  Ever your affectionate husband, "Mary"   L A Garrett
"Mary"
