Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1890-08-20
A BEGIMENTAL MAGPlE.
His Antics Would Upset Almost Every
thing in the Army Camp.

Bis Antics Would Upset Almost Every
thing in the Army Camp.
He wa. only magpie, but such magpieI
At first he belonged to private in regi-
ment out on the aikali plains of Nevada.
Then the company adopted him as its own,
| and finally from the prop 'ietorship of Com
pany B, he became the regimental magpie,
| only, instead of the regiment owning him,
he owned the regiment. There never was
slicker, more self satisfied beast, and mischief
| and antics without end were on his pro-
gramme. He could whistles; he could dance
he sould mock anything That sings, and inn
| itate anything that walks; magpie, you
| know, doesn't hop, it wallis, like a crow or
blackbird On dress parade it would turn out
| with the regiment, and follow the officer of
the day up and down the ne with the most
dignified strut imaginable. The soldiers
| could hardly keep straight faces when the
| bird would scold the colonel as he gave his
orders.
Billy-that was his name-would OCCASION
ally steal, and only close and constant watch
| ing would reveal his hiding places Some
| times he would succeed in cachins his thefts
| for two or three months bel ore detection fol-
| lowed. Then a couple of quarts of coins
| currency, stamps, buttons, pipes, tobacco,
| cigars, straps, thread, forks, spoons and
small trities would be ulearthed If he
caught any one spying upon him he would
| he as crafty as fox, and put up all Sorts Of
| lodges TO throw the detective off the track
| He would make false leads, fly off a mile in
| the sage bush, and then sneak into the fort
! close to the ground, so that no one might see
| him.
Finally the regiment was ordered to an.
other post. Billy went along after much
protesting and scolding on his part. He
knew something up, AMI hustled around
after his various treasures, which he brought
| in from every quarter and dumped in a heap
| in one of the quartermaster's wagons. Some
things were recovered which had been miss.
| ing for over year. When the troops
marched Billy flew alongside, with numerous
| private excursions and picnic parties all by
himself off into the surrou nding country,
but he was always on hand al meal times and
| ut night.
At San Francisco ship taken for
| Portland, Ore, and Billy came, too. He
! didn't like it much, and made several trips
| back and forth between ship and dry land
| Chinatown seemed to strike his fancy, but
he finally concluded to hold fast to his old
! friends.
|
| ond day out. The window of the captains
state room was down and Billy perched on
| the ledge. He watched the captain picking
out the ships course on the chart and max
| ing calculations and entries. After while
the captain walked out and Billy flew ill.,
Everything was handy. He stuck his blu in
| the ink bottle and took "a swallow 1t didn't
| suit his stomach as well as it did his com
plexion. and he proceeded to wipe his face
on the charts. The nibs of / is bill made a
| very good pen and drew bes utiful lines, so
| he tried it with another mouthful Bee-auti.
| full The chart looked finer than before. He
| dropped a whole mouthful on the chart and
| walked in it. Then he walked over the table
cloth and the white counterpane of the cap
| tains berth, and wound up by tipping the
ink over, wiping his mouth ont with piece
| of the log book, and flying off With "a pair of
silver dividers
When the captain came in here was blue
lightning The tell tale tracks betrayed the
| culprit.
The captain grabbed down loaded shot
gun from its brackets over the door. and
started on deck swearing that he would kill
the magpe on sight. When the soldiers heard
his threats fifty of them grnbte their rifles,
and threatened to shoot the captain if he
harmed Billy. There was dan ger of mutiny
right there, and the officers had sense enough
to see it. They pacified the Infatuated mari
ner, aud Billy escaped His end was untime-
ly. Some months later he got TO fooling with
the mechanism of q breech loading field
piece, ard the lever fell down on him and
smashed his inquisitive head Washington
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