The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1873-01-16

the granite with covered face and rocked
| to and fro.
| In half an hour the deserter had lost in
one of the most desperate ventures of life.
and had taken his place in the common
| guard-house, among men as desperate
| and hardened as common crimes and mis-
fortunes ever placed in chains together
But before he entered the post the woman
who seemed in some degree to have re-
gained her composure, found means to
come near and tell him something in
Spanish, which the commandant did not
hear, and no one near him seemed to un-
derstand. AS he listened there seemed
to come into his melancholy face, and to
| CLEAN from his black eyes, new hope
and purpose. With glance eloquent of
defiance and hate, which took in at once
the commandant and all his minions, the
girl turned and was gone. The hand
some, sinister, defiant face he remembered
| long afterward in connection with this
strange scene, and though she watched
his footsteps and haunted the purleus of
his command he was ignorant of her
presence. and, knowingly, never saw her
again. Long afterwards he knew that
her party had gone and that she had
stayed behind; that she had taken up her
abode with the Mexican guide near the
post, and that there, with all the cunning
Of her race and the perseverance Of her
sex, she had watched and waited.
The guard-house of a frontier post is
one of the means by which the few con-
! troll the many. 1t is not light and
pleasant place. There are no soft luxu-
ries there-idleness and comfort are un-
known within its grimy walls. Had he
| been kings son there was no better
| place for him. And here the unfortunate
| deserter took up his abode. The COM
mandant passed him as he walked among
| the prisoners. AS he came near, the new
prisoner threw aside his broom and asked
| permission to speak of himself
| There was never a soldier who had
! nothing whereof to complain in his best
estate, and most certainly every deserter
can urge the act. This was what the
commandant expected. and he deemed it
wise to forestall his petitioner:
"Are you deserter?" said he,
| 81 am, butt
"Are you aware that desertion, accord
| ing to the law under which you live, is Il
crime without possible excuse ?'
"Certainly, and / do not wish to make
any excuse. I only want to show you
that | had justification in deserting, for
the sake Of your good opinion
Now, words like these the commandant
had never heard spoken by one man to
another under like circumstances. Here
was man in the chain gang, guilty by
his own confession of crime which
ought to keep him there, talking of ''good
Hlo
pondering the curious case he had got on
his hands-a man with the iewclry of crime
upon him still claiming respect and tacity
advancing his claim to be regarded as a
gentleman by one who also claimed that
distinction
Ere long the two or three ladies of the
small garrison began to inquire concern
ing a good-looking prisoner who had been
seen piling up wood and carrying Stops
in their back areas Contrary to orders
in such eases, savory meals were passed
out to him through windows, and dainty
morsels were enclosed in napkins and
sent to him All this the cOmmandant
saw-and did not see Nay, more, he
became convinced that the man who ex-
cited so much pity was daily fed from his
own table, much to the envy and dissats-
faction of other prisoners, and he so care
less that he neither saw nor heard.
BY and by it was discovered that the
prisoner was possessed of great clerical
ability, and he was placed in an upper
| room which was so constructed that a
window opened from it through the
wall to the outside of the post, He was
caused to make Typographical drawings
and copy the letters of the post-adiutant,
and in order that he might be near his
work he was allowed to sleep IN his room
All night long the sentinel paced to and
fro beneath the window. and Immediately
beneath was the guard d-house.
AS time passed, little by little his story
came out, all of which, when it reached
their ears, the tender-hearted ladies did
religiouslv believe Much as his condi-
ton had improved, in was a pity (said
they) that this much-wrOnged and endur-
ing man (who was so interesting and so
handsome) should still be compelled to
wear a ball-and-chain. But by this time
the commandant had received printed de-
scriptions of the deserter from headquar-
ters, with special directions for his appre-
henson. The ladies could feel and pity
the unfortunate, but, for a wonder, they
did not succeed in ridding him of the
odious jewelry This may be specially
set down against the hard hearted Smythe,
who had much to endure silently at their
hands, and who had known whole districts
to be ruled by the commanding officers
wife. But had they only known it, they
need not have troubled their heads on this
point. There was another woman equally
interested in the case, in comparison with
fIoca off ortc thoirc nntbinr
Much of the success of particular indi-
viduals has been attained by their ability
to perceive intimately the place they hold
tions at glance. Much against his will,
the commandant knew that the prisoner
regarded him as his friend. He did not
say Or act it but it was apparent neverthe-
less. So interesting a piece of humanity
had the deserter become, with skill, his
good looks, and his friends. that the COM
mander sincerely wished he had never
seen HIM. But there was at least one act
of kindness which he had thought he could
show the prisoner with perfect consistency; !;
he could counsel him in view of his ap-
preaching trial. One day he offered as
much, and the deserter showed him an
elaborately written defence to be used on
that occasion. He had imagined with
astounding acuteness every stage of the
prosecution. He had thought out the
probable evidence against himself, and
had written out the whole in faultless
English. Without access to any of the
textbooks Of military law, he had re-
membered and used some former study
of them with an erudition and faculty
of arrangement which caused the amiable
commander to retire with decent pre-.
cipitancy from the position of legal ad-
wiser.
By this time Stein had gained COM
plete ascendancy over the whole guard
house. He was their friend and they his,
and indeed all his acquaintances in the
garrison yielded him allegiance. By some
means he became possessed of money.
The Mexican men and women who live
near acting as guides and laundresses, OF
claiming protection from the Indians,
passed in and out unquestioned, almost
unobserved. They had always done 50,
and they were regarded as harmless
and useless people. Sentinels and SER
frooptc Of tho I'd - ,, avail