The Conscript

The Poor Man From America

The Poor Man From America

During the American Civil War, there was a man who was poor in New York. He lived in a shack that was simply put, a dump. The grass and garden untidy, and the dirt road leading to his "home" had the veins of oak trees running through it. The man had eleven children, some of them were his own before his wife died, some were from the streets. Nevertheless, he took care of them for his entire life. He did not care who was his actual child and who was adopted. He loved them all. He worked hardly under the worst of conditions in the factory for the small wages that fed his family.

A man in a suit and his black assistant turned up one day at this man's home. The children greeted the man and the slave civilly, and though they could not afford it, they fed them bread and water. "Do any of you know where Mister-" the man shuffled his papers, "Godfrey?" inquired the man. The children answered back that they did know him, and that he was currently at work.
"Thank You. Out of curiosity, should you all be in school?" the man inquired. He placed his papers to his assistant. The eldest of the children, Bethany was her name, spoke up. "Maybe." was all she said.

"Then why are you not in school?" he asked

"I am sorry sir, but I cannot say. It's a secret." she replied

"Well then, if you see Mr. Godfrey, please tell him that I would like to meet him. I'm on official business from the government, see, and I need to see him. My office is at the end of Waldburg Street, right across from the bookstore. Would you be so kind as to ask him to come over when he can?"

"Yes, sir."

"Thank You." And with that, he and his assistant left.

Later, Mr.Godfrey met a surprise at his home. He was tired from work at the factory. And all he wanted to do was sleep. But when he opened the door, he found eleven pairs of eyes looking at him, smiling. Bethany was holding a cake.
"Surprise!" the children shouted. Mr.Godfrey had forgotten about his own birthday, but he did not forget each child's birthday. He almost died of a heart attack. He had the time of his life, the cake was bitter-sweet from lack of sugar, but that was fine for the family of twelve. The children could only afford a book, from which he read out loud to them as they went slowly to sleep. Another child, BIlly was his name, had always been with a crutch, Mr.Godfrey lifted him to bed as Billy could not do so himself. Another child, Wilma, was blind, and also required Mr.Godfrey's help.

After he had made sure that they were comfortable as possible (and that they did not fall off of the bed in Wilma's case), he slept on the most uncomfortable area of the house, (he made sure the children were off better than he was) contemplating what Bethany told him of the man and his assistant.

When he was done with his work on the next day, he went to the man's office. "Ah, Mr.Godfrey," greeted the man. "I have a message to deliver to you. As I am sure that you have heard, this nation is at war with itself. And it needs men to fight it. You are hereby conscripted to the US Army. And yes, this is mandatory." said the man. Mr.Godfrey already knew this the second he heard it from Bethany. He was hoping that this had to do with taxes.

"Please, sir, I cannot bear to leave my family, they ar-"

"No time for arguing, Mr.Godfrey. Everyone must leave something when war is underway. However, there is a way for you to avoid conscription-if your wallet is big enough. Someone has already paid to have you conscripted instead of himself. Seeing the state of the pig sty that you live in, you cannot afford to pay the fee. And thus you will leave tomorrow."

"Tomorrow!"

"Yes, Mr.Godfrey, tomorrow. Pack your bags-if you have any-immediately and you are required by law to show up at the train station tomorrow at six o'clock in the afternoon. That is all."

"But, but, my family!"

"I could care less about your family. Now get out of my office. I need to send someone else to war."

Mr.Godfrey slowly got up from his chair, and he left the office. Out in the street he was stopped by the assistant.

"I am sorry for the trouble my master has given you" the assistant said in his deep, African voice.

"I've seen your family-and I just want you to know, that in Africa, you would be considered the richest man in the village simply by your large family. You are rich. No matter what any may say."

Mr.Godfrey was speechless, he burst into tears.

"Thank you, friend. If I die, can you manage my riches?"

The assistant was silent before answering "Yes."

Weeks later, a telegram arrived for Bethany. The groaning that followed from the Godfrey household lasted several days. They body was not found. The assistant helped the Godfrey family as much as he could until the end of the war. At which point, a man leaning on his staff showed up at the Godfrey household looking for his family. Bethany rushed out the door to hug her father, but he was not Mr.Godfrey. The man showed up at the wrong house.

Out of curiosity, the assistant talked to his master about Mr.Godfrey. His master said that he remembered Mr.Godfrey faintly, but he vibrantly remembered the man who paid for pardon during the war-the pardoned man's last name was Roosevelt.