Omaha daily bee., 1883-08-22

in the old tobacco warehouse. Floors
packed with men as boxes
are packed with ''sardines' on
the coast of Maine, q lantern
burning dimly here and there, and a
long stream of light flowing up the well
and breaking in circles ON the unceiled
%rafters. Imagine the still, the sadness,
the loneliness of that crowded old box.
One night Major Mccarthy (that wasn't
his name, but never mind), n tall, broad
shouldered, red-faced lrishman, with a
big heart, and a Jolly soul, whom every
body loved despite his Jokes and tricks,
whose sleeping. place was halfway down
the great room i'll the top story, found
himself unable to sleep. His hands were
always idle those days, so that when he
was awake he went from n piece of
mischief to another, and nobody be
grudged him the fun that SO few could
share. 1t helped to keep hope alive and
the devil out. 1t wa the most natural
thing in the world, therefore us the
major lay there wide awake, looking at
the ripples Of light floating up the cur
rent from The lantern far below, for
some tricky idea to take possession of
his mind. 1t prompted him with irresisti.
BILE promptings to rouse his next neigh
Dor, a happy-go-lucky fellow like himself,
and take him down the long room to the
well. Noiselessly the majors friend
awokc, and noiselessly the two men
glided down the heavy floor, which could
not vibrate beneath their tread, to
the bright spot at the end of
the room. The major had
no well-deiined purpose in mind
nothing more than a desire to look down
a forbidden well. 1t was %forbidden;
wasn't that enoughl 1t certainly was for
the major and his friend. But upon
looking down they saw the poor fellow at
the bottom-a half-fed, half clad, white.
haired country boy-fast asleep, his tired
head rolling on his thin left shoulder, his
hands clasped on his gun, so that he kept
it in place between his legs and over his
right shoulder as he sat on his little bench
nodding at the lantern on the ground be-
fore him, A demon of fun entered into
them, casting out their fears and scruples.
Without a word they turned to the swill-
barrel, noiselessly raised it and poised it
over the edge. lone, two, three howl
counted the major, slowly. As he said
''now," the barrel slowly descended to
the first floor, then faster to the next, and
so on until it reached the bottom of the
well. AS it fell the major and his friend
skunk back to their sleeping places, chok-
ing with laughter that could not be ut
tered. The sleeping guard below, warned
by some occult premonition, awoke just
as the barrel started downward. When
it reached the bottom he had rolled deft-
ly off of his bench into the corner, and
had his gun in his hand. But it struck
the lantern squarely with a crash that
awoke nearly everybody in the building
as the stream of light suddenly ceased to
flow up the well. Everything was still
for a moment, for no one dared to speak
, or stir, and then the guard, having found
the well again, fired through it at the
, roof. His gun awoke the next guard
his the next, and so on until the alarm
had gone the grand rounds of the city
. and the forts and then the fleet in Jane
river, and, as the major afterward said,
! "the crash of that barrel was heard al
the other end of the army of northern
Virginia" The shivcring prisoners heard
every shot, and the baying of the dogs
and the rumble of the cannon Just out.
= side the prison walls made them tremblc,
In n very short time the captain of tn,
4 guard came tumbling in with lights ant
: bayonets. Every floor was examined ant
the roll was called in every room. "Ah
ha!" said the captain of the guard on TIL,
! top floor; their barrel is gone. w,
! have the culprit." Then he called tn,
roll. Nov some of you fellows die
f this" he said, when rol.-call was ended
S "No use lying about it. Might just n
G well own up and face the music" III,
stopped and looked at the prisoners. TIL,
silence was u%nbroken. Every well, yer,
. well" he said, with an oath, after h,
had waited Il moment or two. "Breat
and water for the whole room till W,
have a confession. Forward march.
o AMI the prisoners lay down agaii
t and watched the stream o
0 light flowing up the well again unit
morning. Next day they breakfasted OF
bread and water. ] guess they skippe'
lunch. And so it was on the next day
> Each day at roll call the captain of tn
guard asked for confessions, and eacI
y day the confessions were withheld. Oh
the third morning at roll call the glllan
Mccarthy, who was as well known to tn
guards as to the prisoners, stepped fron
the ranks. Captain, he said, III
e getting tired of this bread and waite
diet. / can't live on bread and water
(slapping his brawny chest.) I'd as lie
o die by a bullet rs by starvation. Som
cowardly sneak in the ranks here wa
n guilty of the crime, (here his eye twink
d led suspiciously), and he is not ma
enough to confess. Now, l don't like t
see a roomful of fine fellows suffer fo
the fault of n miserable wretch like that
- Rather than have them pine away o
bread and water I'll take the RESPONSE
"a bility and say ! did it. Now take III
away and give them poor devils som
Va breakfast" Perhaps the captain didn'
:, join in the laugh that followed. PEI
haps not, but Mccarthy, led away wit
- all the outward marks of disgrace, wa
. brought back in an hour or two, the her
of the house, and with him came the oil
%rations, such as they were. To the en-
of bis imprisonment no one but himse
and his chum knew that he was the re,
e. culprit.
4 N-A T.