A young lady of the gushing sort, while passing through one of the military hospitals, overheard the remark that a young lieutenant had died that morning.
“Oh, where is he? Let me see him! Let me kiss him for his mother!” exclaimed the maiden.
The attendant led her into an adjoining ward, when, discovering Lieutenant H., of the Fifth Kansas, lying fast asleep on his hospital couch, and thinking to have a little fun, he pointed him out to the girl. She sprang forward, and, bending over him, said:
“Oh, you dear lieutenant, let me kiss you for your mother!”
What was her surprise when the awakened “corpse” ardently clasped her in his arms, returned the salute with interest, and exclaimed:
“Never mind the old lady, miss; go it on your own account. I haven’t the slightest objection.”
From the lyrics perpetrated by the “satirical wags” during the popularity of the above well-known phrase, we cite the following:
Let me kiss her for her mother—
The bewitching Polly Ann—
Let me kiss her for her mother,