The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1892-01-23

after the orderly officer has been his rounds
and all is quiet.
knew was not justified in giving this
permission, and if it leaked out stood a
good chance of getting into serious trouble
but reasoned with myself that three parts
of bottle of spirits between three men on
bitterly cold night would not be likely to
hurt them, and that there was no possible
ty ofits being found out
The general routine ola guard is very
monotonous The privates between their
turns of ''sentry go, the sentry being re-
iieved every two hours, are able to get an
hour or two of sleep, but for the "noncom
this is out of the question. He has to post
the sentries in their turns, attend to the
gate and see to hundred and one matters,
more or less important, that helps to keep
him employed
There is always something stirring till
10 or IL at night, but after that the time
begins to hang very heavily. The only
sounds that break the nocturnal silence are
the steady tramp of the sentry at his post
and the occasional snoring Of the other
members of the guard on the wooden guard
bed.
On this New Years eve all went well
until in the evening, when, while parad
ing the relief sentry pryor to posting him,
| noticed that instead of holding himself
as soldier should on parade he appeared
inclined to make light of the matter and
was grinning all over his face reminded
him that he was on parade and not in the
regimental canteen, and also that there was
a prisoners room in the vicinity. This little
hint had the desired effect, inducing him
to keep a straight face.
This incident, unimportant as it may
appear, made me uneasy. had PRESENT.
ment that something was wrong, but what
| could not tell [ fancied that the man,
knowing it to be my first guard, was inclined
to take advantage of me. determined, if
such was the case | would exercise my au-
thority.
At about o'clock Mcdonald came to
me for permission to fetch bucket of wa
ter from the pump to drink. gave him
leave, requesting him to be quick about it,
as the first spostr would sound in few
minutes and I would have to turn out the
guard. He promised he would be back in
a "jif"
He did not come back in '.jiff." At $50
the ''post" sounded but no sign of Melon
aid returning Where had he gone? Or
dinarily it required but five minutes to 90
to the pump and back and he had been
away half an hour There was nothing to
do but turn out what remained of the guard
and to vow vengeance on the absentee on
his return
Ten O'Clock and no Mcdonald | was
obliged to relieve the sentry with the re-
manning man out of his turn. On enter
ing the guardroom the man relieved threw
himself on the guard bed and was soon
snoring like a grampus. | took up Il book
and tried to read soon found this i'm
possible McDonald's absence puzzled
and worried me- | felt inclined to report
the affair and have a search made for him.
The man had so frequently been in trouble
/ that hesitated being the cause of his get
ting any further punishment. So l re-
solved to give him a little more time to put
in an appearance.
got up to walk about and tried to
question the sleeper. Finally | noticed
that the sentry had not been pacing his beat
for some time; he, thought, was taking
too long rest in the sentry box. ! went
out to see what was the matter with him.
Oh horror! There was my sentry stretched
out on the ground on his back fast asleep,
his rifle three feet from him. kicked
him to wake him, but to no purpose; he lay
like log. Then it dawned on me that my
whole guard was drunk.
| did not know what to do. The only
thing | could think of was to give the
alarm and have the guard relieved But
here difficulty arose | would myself be
made prisoner and receive heavier pun
ishment than the men for allowing liquor
in the guardroom. | was responsible for
everything. If did not report the state
of affairs it would be sure to be found out
as the colonel bad not yet come into the
barracks, and the OF ierly officer must visit
the guard that night | quickly resolved
to get this man out of the way, post the
remaining one and trust to luck,
| dragged him into the guardroom,
pitched him into a corner and tried to wake
his comrade. He was in the same eondi-
ton. | could get no sense out of him, but
| could tell by the strong smell of spirits
that came from him that he was as bad, if
not worse, than the other My last chance
seemed to have slipped away from me.
Here was pretty kettle of fish. Me
Donald away, knew not where, leaving
me with two helpless, drunken wretches,
and no one on the post. Somebody must
90 on sentry to let the colonel in and chal-
lenge the orderly officer. But who?
In sheer desperation l caught hold of a
rife, and turning back the cuff of my great
coat to hide the stripes, ! weHt on the post
myself. After an hours pacing to and fro,