Then sank on the rude white floor of deal,
Poor, brave, exhausted Jennie McNeal.
The startled colonel sprang, and pressed
His wife and children to his breast,
And turned away from his fireside bright;
And glided into the stormy night;
Then soon and safely made his way
To where the patriot army lay.
But first he bent, in the dim firelight,
And kissed the forehead broad and white,