The mountain sentinel. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1844-1853, 1851-10-02
FROM THE HOME JOURNAL.
SERVICE WiNDERINGS.
BY AN OFFICER OF ARTILLERY

4 KIND offer Close quarters.-Notice curiosity.
A quid pro quo.-Poisoned per Dios-T1e
troa1aaea general and has parole-DipzoDocy
and ,car.-The house in The lazueHd-Reii-
giOn and heTeties.-The deserfers-Touchiaq
incfdent.-The prior and tie petitton-No Sc
pUede.-The execution
WHERE was [? Oh! | remember: tbun-
dering away at the barred and bolted portal
Of Don Manuel
Don Manuelito.p No answer "Portero -
"Confound the greaser, how he sleeps,''
"Oh never mind, said B, s'come and
sleep with me; I'll give you a bed
Now, my bed was particularly good one
and | revolved the matter in my mind before
accepting his offer. However, thought l. he is
on the staff, and the staff live like princes; SO
I'll go.
Leaving Don Manuers house to its usual
quiet, L went with the aid to q staff bed. Alas :
in the bitter language of Rothsay, the staff
that leaned upon proved q spear. We en-
tered his room
Tired" said he; "if you are, turn in, - and
he pointed to single buffalo robe on the stone
floor, with one blanket for cover My heart
sunk. Soldering when you must-comfort
when you can.
but" said |, where is your bed?"
That's it, said he.
We'll, then, where is mine?''
''Oh there's plenty of room for both"
There was no alternatives so l turned in and
the smaller of the two turned out, and silent
upon the stones the rest of the night, alongside
OF the buffalo. Reader, he was six feet two. and
| am not monster. The earliest glimmer of day
found me on my way to my own bed, repeating
in recollection of the soiree, the Spanish pro
verb, 9 Il eada gusto su sustO, - Every rose
has its thorn"
Pending these occurrences, the armistice had
established a sort of underhanded communication
with the capital, and, through the medium of
Don Carlos Beuerer, a young Swiss in some way
associated with my host, | sent into Mexico for
wine, brandy, and other good things, of which
we had been long deprived. These, my place of
residence, and my smattering of the language
soon made for me number of acquaintances
some of whom should be 10th to acknowl-
edge under other circumstances-gentlemen of
the long robe, alias Sarope, who carry a sharp
pointed knife in its folds, and who receive abso-
luton once a month, for every crime which the
decalogue denounces, especially y those condemned
by the sixth and eighth commandments How
ever, they crowded around my door to see .eL
joreas ccidI que sa6e ha6Lar Castellano -. The
young officer who spoke Spanish For their
credit, let me say they never intrude at meal
time; and If present when one is being served.
it only needs TO say, ''Quiere usted conner 2''
| "Wil you take some," to ensure speedy re-
treat.
To the mass of them, the Americans were.
what the Children of the Sun were to the SUBJ
Jects of Montezuma-a distinct ra ce of beings
! In one OF these sittings, ploticaude-chatting
about the peace and the Estados JRidos. 4
como peude mascdr Tobacco pr. How can vou
chew tobacco?" said young gentleman who
| lived opposite, and who was a constant yisiter.
I l was taking quid from my box-for this vile
practice Is military as well as American-and in
the forlorn hope to pallate, not excuse it. let me
say, that it is marvellous companion on guard.
| or march, Il gave it up when l came back in
] To mil IOhf mad \ Il
! Puerca, he added 1t is very filthy"
| 'Es muy dulce," said |. "a Uer," said he.
stretching out his hand. l handed him the
/ box, and he took little and put it into his
mouth. We continued our conversation when
suddenly he exclaimed, ' Ne nauero me nquero -
I'm dying" He was too yellow to turn pale
| but he looked dreadfully.
lie begged me to take him home, and two
| of MS supported him across the street and
dragging him up the circuitous staircase. we
presented this singular tableau to his mother
| and sisters, who were sitting in the parlour
( Jesus Mdrad!' screamed the naGdre 8. Esta
"'"erto mi h9o,-"M My son is dead '' Ia nt
! teugo hermano.'
| 1--WE have no brother left screamed the
sisters in chorus. 'Dios mio Dios mio.''
"No, Senorita," exclaimed; Escucha no.
por cieto." "Listen to US, for heavens sake.
81, escHcha, n'adre, b" gasped the unfortunate
youngster.
The matter was explained, and the tumul
subsided; but, to this day, those people believ,
that we attempted to poison their bov. Fo,
days after, our friends, the idle folk. had a nov
zest for their curiosity. 1t was to see tn,
''ta6dco de nadscdr;" and we were as strange II
them when we put it into our mouths as III,
opium eaters of the East are to American tray
ellers. In the whole territory l never saw ,
Mexican use tobacco in another way than cioa,
or cigarito.
And here permit me to digress for a moment
to make suggestion, which, through a wild,
circulating medium, may arrest an eve nerbans
IN every section of the Union. II is that N,
study of Spanish should be more universal q,
an item of good education. Considered in II
self, 1T is noble idiom-brother tn tbo portu
guese-cousln- german to the Italian. and mncI
purer than either; from Galicia and the Astn,;o
to Andalusla, the old CastiLian-barr;no, SOM
accents and aspirates-is spoken and nndcr
stood. The traveller in Italy well remember
how he lett language as well as space beb;pd
as he Journeyed from province to province. tb
| Tuscan, Venetian, Neapolitan, and n host n
Others to which Dante was n stranger an,
which Boccaccio ignored render the Italian a,
oyermatch for the tourist But the Snan;sb
once mastered, carries one from North 10 Sn,,,h
| and from Salamanca to the mouths of the Fbro
Thus much, at one stroke of the non for III
pure value and currency of the language: bu
this Is snght incentive to its study when com
1 pared with its peculiar claims upon us as Amer
leans; and these the Mexican war urged wit
great cogency. Not one officer out of fiftv kne,
anything of Spanish, and the awkward pcsition