During the
North African
campaign a bunch of
soldier boys had been
on a long hike
And they arrived in
a little town
called Casino
The next day
being Sunday,
several of the boys
went to chinch
A sergeant commanded
the boys in chinch
And after the Chaplin
had read the prayer
the text was
taken up next
Those of the boys
who had a
prayer book
took them out but
This one boy had
only a deck of cards
and so he
spread them Out
The sergeant saw
the cards and
said: "Soldier, put
away those cards"
After the services were
over the soldier was
taken prisoner
and brought before
the provost marshal
The marshal said:
"Sergeant, why
have you brought
this man here?"
"For playing cards
in church, Sir"
"And what have you
to say for
yourself, son?"
"Much Sir",
replied the soldier
The Marshal said
"I hope so"
"For if not I shall
punish you more
than any man
was ever punished
The soldier said:
"Sir, I have been on
the march for
about six days
I have neither Bible
nor prayer book
But I hope to satisfy
you, Sir with the
purity of my
intentions"
And with that
the boy started
his story
"You see Sir,
when I see the Ace
it reminds me that
there is but one God
And the Deuce reminds
me that the Bible is
divided into two parts
The Old and the
New Testament
When I see the Trey
I think of the Father,
the Son and the
Holy Ghost
And when I see
the Four I think of the
four evangalists who
preached the gospel
There was Matthew,
Mark, Luke
and John
And when I see the
Five, it reminds me of
the five
wise virgins who
trimmed their lamps
There were
ten of them
Five were wise and
were saved.
Five were foolish and
were shut out
When I see the Six
it reminds me that
in six days God made
this great Heaven
and Earth
When I see
the Seven
It reminds me that
on the seventh day
God rested from his
great work
And when I see the
Eight I think of the
eight righteous persons
God saved when he
destroyed this Earth
There was Noah,
his wife, their sons
and their wives
And when I see the
Nine I think of the
lepers our Saviour
cleansed and
Nine out of the
ten didn't
even thank him
When I see the Ten
I think of the Ten
Commandments God
handed down to
Moses on a table
of stone
When I see the King
it reminds me that
there is one King of
heaven
God Almighty
And when I see
the Queen
I think of the blessed
Virgin Mary who is
Queen of Heaven
And the Jack
of Knave is
the devil
When I count the
number of spots on
the deck of cards
I find three hundred
and sixty five
The number of days
in the year
There are fifty two
cards, the number of
weeks in a year
There are four suits,
the number of
weeks in a month
There are twelve
picture
cards, the number of
months in a year
There are thirteen
tricks, the number of
weeks in a quarter
So you see Sir,
my pack serves
me as a Bible
Ail almanac and
a prayer book
And friends this
story is true
I know I was
that soldier