St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1893-04-15
FRENZY OF THE DESERT.
An Awful Mania OF Fear Brought -
Strong Men by the Loneliness.

/, FRENZY OF THE DESERT.
An Awful Mania OF Fear Broughs o.
Strong Men by tho Loneliness.
1T is the afternoon Of the third day
since we left the Canadian river and
headed to the southwest across the
great staked plains of Texas ON our
way to Fort Stanton. Sand! sand! sand!
Here and there q bush dead or dying.
Hero and there an ugly cactus, with
three or four rattlesnakes coiled up at
its root Always the same monotonous
landscape. always the hot and burning
sand under foot
"For ap hour past I have observed
that certain Of The troopers are acting
queerly. Their lips are blue and their
faces pale, and they look about in a
nervous way. Twice when ! have
spoken to Corporal johnson he has
seemed to be overcome with emotion.
We arc carrying plenty Of water, and
there is no danger from the Indians
What can be the matter with these
men?
''Thc captain and lieutenant have
been riding in advance They now
! gradually drop back until the second
| officer is at the rear of the column. I
notice the captain exchanging signs
| with some of the scrgeants and corpo-
| rails, and the mystery deepenS We jog
along ut \ walk. The August sun blis-
tiers the troopers and the hot sands
bake the feet of the horsea The col
umn struggles out like an Indian village
| on the move.
Halt that man! Sombody grab
him! Here, you. Corporal Johnsonv
"An of a sudden the corporal had
flung his carbiuc to the ground, un-
buckled his 81 Der. and started to dash
away. Luckily for him he was over
| taken almost at once. Every vestige Of
color has fed from his face as the cap
tain rides up. His chin quivers. he
trembles all over. and there is . look Of
terror in his eyes
Get back in the ranks or I'll cut
you down. shouts the captain as he
fiourishes his sword about Don't you
hear me! Get back, / say! Take THAR
''Therc was q blow with the fiat Of
the sword and the corporal turned
his horse into the column and received
the carbine and saber handed up to
him by comrade. Then he began to
weep and sob. and lament and grim
old trooper whispered to me:
That's good! He will be all right,
nowr
'Eut what ais him%
Taken with the frenzy. It always
comes to some Of them when crossing
the desert II he'd got away we should
lasver have seen him again Hello!
There goes anothsrr
1T was sergeant inis tims, q men who
had grown gray in the ranks He had
beeo glAAcing shout him in furtive way
: Tor some time and IT, - b1sido him
were ready for his move. BoUG101n1R
uttered q scream, drove his spurs into
his horse. and was pulled out Of the
saddle in trying to get away. He stood
help. His face was fairly blue, his-hair
stood up like bristles, and he held up
his hands as II to protect his face.
Now, then. Small said the cap
tain, as he rode mp to him with cooked
revolver, I'll give You one minute to
get up and reach your horse! You cur!
You coward! You disgrace! II don't
shoot you now you'll be court-martialcd
and the regiment forever disgraced! If
had whip I'd lash you for pol
troon!
"Thc sergeant broke down as the cor.
poral had done and began weeping, and
in three minutes he was back in the
saddle and riding in his place.
Would the captain have done it?' l
queried
".No He felt pity for him, but he
had to be harsh. The object is to make
them weep That relieves the mental
strain and brings them back to reason.
It is the terrible monotony, the feeling
If loneliness. the fear of being lost out
here that overcomes them The officers
always look for it when they cross. and
they always do as you have seen them
But do men ever get awayY
"'Look there to the right-and there
TO the left!'
There were ribs of human skeletons
showing above the sands-skeletons Of
men who had dashed out Of marching
columns when the frenzy was upon
them, had distanced pursuit and had
then wandered about for who can say
how many days and nights before they
finally sank down and died of hunger
and thirst or perhaps fired a bullet
through their own heads
There was another break and yet
another before sunset came and we
went into camp Tho frenzy came to
all in the same way-passed away after
an hour in each case, leaving no re-
menbrance. 1t was the madness which
has dotted every mile of that great sea
of sand with human skeletons and
woven q thousand mysteries around the
fate of emigrants who disappeared.
never to be heard Of again.
Tribune.
An Observing Brother.
Little Boy-How soon arc You and
Sis goin' to be married?
Accented SuitOr-She has not named