5MODE0
   10*KEY2 RUN |M
   20CLS
   30VDU2
   40VDU1,14:PRINT"THE STORY OF WHISPERING BILL"
   50VDU1,14:PRINT"-------===============------"'
   60:
   70PRINT"So you are taking the census mister, well there's three of us living here"
   80PRINT"my wife and I and our only son that folks call whispering Bill,"
   90PRINT"But Bill could not give you his name sir, so it's hardly worth given,"
  100PRINT"for you see a bullet has killed his mind and left his body liven."
  110PRINT"Sit down for a minute mister. You see Bill was only sixteen at the time of"
  120PRINT"the war and as likely a boy that ever this world did see,"
  130PRINT"But what with news of battles lost the speeches and all the noise, I"
  140PRINT"guess every farm in the neighbourhood lost part of it's crop of boys."'
  150:
  160PRINT"It was harvest time when Bill left home, every stalk in that field of"
  170PRINT"rye seemed to stand on tiptoe to see him off and bid him a fond goodbye."
  180PRINT"His sweetheart was here with some other girls and the sassy little lass"
  190PRINT"she pretended she wanted to whisper in his ear and she gave him a rousing"
  200PRINT"Kiss. O he was a handsome fella and tender and brave and smart and though"
  210PRINT"he was bigger than I was the boy had a womans heart."
  220PRINT"His mother she often told him when she knew he was going away that God "
  230PRINT"would take care of him maybe if he didn't forget to pray."'
  240:
  250PRINT"On the bloodiest battlefields when bullets wizzed in the air, when"
  260PRINT"Bill was fighting desperate he used to whisper a prayer."
  270PRINT"His comrades have often told me that Bill never flinched a bit when every"
  280PRINT"second the gap in the ranks told where a ball had hit."
  290PRINT"Then one night when the field was covered with the awful harvest of war"
  300PRINT"they found my boy amongst the martyrs for the cause he was fighting for."
  310PRINT"His fingers were clutched in the dewey grass, O no sir he wasn't dead,"
  320PRINT"he lay sort of helpless and crazy like with a rifle ball in his head."'
  330:
  340PRINT"If Bill had really died that night I'd give all i've got worth given."
  350PRINT"For you see the bullet that killed his mind had left his body liven."
  360PRINT"An officer wrote and told us how the boy had been hurt in the fight,"
  370PRINT"he said the doctors reckon they can bring him around all right."
  380PRINT"Then we heard from a neighbour disabled at Malvern hill and he thought"
  390PRINT"that in the course of a week or so he'd be coming home with Bill."
  400PRINT"We waited and watched for a month or more and the summer was nearly passed,"
  410PRINT"then a letter came one day that said they had started for home at last."'
  420:
  430PRINT"I'll never forget the day Bill came home, it was harvest time again and the"
  440PRINT"air blowing over the yellow fields was sweet with the scent of the grain."
  450PRINT"The barnyard was full of neighbours who had come to share our joy, then"
  460PRINT"all of a sudden somebody said,  'MY GOD DON'T THE BOY KNOW HIS MOTHER'"
  470PRINT"And bill stood a whispering fearful like and stareing from one to another."
  480PRINT"Don't be afraid Bill said he to himself as he stood in his coat of blue"
  490PRINT"'GOD WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU BILL, GOD WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU'."
  500PRINT"He's never known us since that day nor his sweetheart and never will,"
  510PRINT"father mother sweetheart they're all the same to Bill."'
  520:
  530PRINT"Now many's the time his mother sits up the whole night through till"
  540PRINT"the break of day has dimmed the stars and put out the northern lights,"
  550PRINT"unfortunate yes but we can't complain it's a living death but more sad"
  560PRINT"when the body clings to a life of shame and the soul has gone to the bad."
  570PRINT"Bill's out of the reach of harm and danger of every kind now"
  580PRINT"For we only take care of his body"'
  590:
  600VDU1,14:PRINT"> GOD TAKES CARE OF HIS MIND <"
  610PRINT"------******------"
  630VDU3
  640END
  650REM" ”<,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,l
  660REM"”5       ƒVerse  œ      ”j
  670REM"”5       ƒVerse  œ      ”j
  680REM" ”5 …    By An Unknown     ”j
  690REM" ”5 †       Author         ”j
  700REM" ”5ƒModified By Fred Price ”j
  710REM" ”5‚        260194         ”j
  720REM" ”-,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,.
  730REM" ‚     SAVE"WHISBILL"      œ