Granny Bent catches him trying to steal eggs from her hen house and takes him in. A Confederate officer tells Charley that he doesn't belong in prison and advises that he go west.Ĭharley escapes to the Blue Ridge Mountains but is hungry. As he runs, some men call him "Charley Skedaddle." Some try to stop him but he gets away and is taken prisoner by the Confederates. The elation he'd expected is replaced by horror that he has taken a man's life and Charley runs away. He sees a man who had befriended him lying dead and picks up the man's weapon, firing on an enemy soldier. But when the fighting starts, Charley discovers that he's afraid. He plans to take the first opportunity to avenge Johnny's death. When they arrive at their destination, Charley is taken on as a drummer boy. Though he's only twelve, Con encourages the decision and helps him sneak aboard a military transport ship. As he pours out his troubles to Con, Charley decides that he wants to run away and join the army.
He recognizes Con Sullivan, a man he believes to have been Johnny's friend. At the end of that conversation, Noreen agrees that if Charley can't stay out of trouble she'll send him to a school for incorrigible boys.Ĭharley is furious and goes out where he encounters a military parade. While Charley is changing, he hears Noreen talking with her fiancé. Noreen is angry that he has ruined his good clothes and that he had been fighting. A police officer breaks it up and takes Charley home.
As Charley is returning home one day with a hatbox, he encounters a member of the rival gang and gets into a fight. Charley is a member of the street gang known as the Bowery Boys. He picks up supplies and hats for her sewing business and delivers them when Noreen is finished with them. Meanwhile, he works as an errand boy for his older sister, Noreen. Charley can't wait for the opportunity to avenge Johnny's death by killing off some Rebel soldiers. Charley Quinn is twelve years old the summer after his older brother, Johnny, is killed at Gettysburg.
0 kommentar(er)
