The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-02-26

other, and each thought the remarks were
intended for himself alone. AT last the
bugle sounded the retreat" anu, as | rose
to the surface, quite near the bow of the
Dale, saw, to my horror the dark eyes
OF my senior. officer. glowing like Goals of
fire. | then made a dive 81 deep that
thought l would never rte again-in fact,
l was SO frightened that cared little
whether l ever did SO.
As soon as | was dressed, fell into the
rear OF the column, as we marched over the
Santee's gangway, hoping that the cap
tain might not be able to distinguish me
from the rest of my class, as We were then
only three days cid. Though l was the
last TO cross the dreaded threshold, my
heart was in my mouth. The captain was
there, as l had anticipated, nervously
pacing the quarter-decE and carefully sur
veying each midshipman.
you. sir" said he, as came on board,
"walk aft into my cabin. / wish to speak
with you.n
The roar and din of battle could not have
terrified me more than did this command, for
all the horrible punishments that / had
ever read of in Marryatt's novels
keel~hauling, strinRing up by the thumbs,
flogging, and thousand others-arose be-
fore my boyish mind. and verify thought
my last hour had come. Near the cabin
door. a marine, with gun and bayOnet, con-
fronted me, and l could almost feel the
cold steel pierce my side.
Before had time to venture even an
explanation, the captain roared
Consider yourself under arrest sir.
was a witness Go your insulting aud mutin-
Gus conduct this afternoon. You arc a
dangerous character, and / cannot allow
you to associate with the rest of your cass
Your meals will be served to you alone,
until can bring you before a court
martial
but, captain" 1 began. you are
mistaken
mot word. sir--no explanation lie nsces-
sary. Here, orderly, SEES that this young
gentleman is confined till further orders"
With these cheering words | was marched
away to my dungeon celln-there to think
over my Insulting aud mutinous conduct. !"
AS look back upon it now, l think that
night was the most unhappy OF my life.
All through the long and dreary watches
/ could hear the merry voices OF my class
mates, the distant songs OF the sailors on
the fOrecastle, mingled with the tread of
the sentinel who guarded me. A thousand
thoughts flashed through my mind. What
an inglorious end to a naval career-begun
only three days agol II ever live TO reacn
my home, what will my parents and friends
sayl In my bOyish despair made q oon-
fidaut Of the marine, and when this defender
OF the nation discovered that 1 had still
little pocket money left, he waxed SYM
pathetic, as New York policeman might
under similar circumstances.
Thus far, things looked roster, but to whom
could | apply for reliefi l was an utter
stranger to all OF my classmates, and felt
that there was no one | knew sufficiently
we'll to ask his intercession with the inexor-
able captain. Hastily tearing fiyleaf out
Of an old book, 1 wrote the following:
DEAR JAcK-I am in the devil Of hole. Can
you not help me outf Being a stranger, L hest
tate about asking you to do act Of kindness
that might involve you in any uhpleasantuess
with our commanding officer. must apply to
some one however, or suffer undeserved punish
ment-and as you and / are both southerners,
feel that this, at least, is one bond OF affinity.
Blood is tn cker than water" they say. and.
therefore, beg hat you will come to me after
taps" tonight, and let me tell you my unfort-
nate position. / have 'hxed" the marine seuti-
mel, so you need have no fear on that score.
The captain says / am to be court martialed,
and, as you KnOw. court martial are convened
only to convict" Be assured that l would
do as mucn Tor you, If you were similarly
situated. DesQairinZiy, your classmate,
BILLY.
Here was his answer:
DEAR Billy Yours received. Sorry I can't
help you, old man, but we we're all Instructed
not to have any communication with you.
Yours. Jack
IL bucket Of cold water had been thrown
Iult III NY lhCb j COUkQ not nave Dee0
more shocked than l was when this unfeeling
reply was handed me. "Well" said to
myself, IF one Of my own countrymen re-
fuses to help me, will never apply to
yankee"
That night as was tossing about, from
care and anxiety, heard gentle rap on my
door. just at this time the marine found
it necessary TO get a drink OF water, and
in walked the boy from Vermont, to whom
l had never spoken a word in my life.
Pardon mo. old man." he said, "but
heard the fellows talking about a
note you wrote Jack, and, though
not a southerner l just made up my
mind that 1 would come and see IL l
could be Of any service to you.v
The offer was 80 generous-so spon-
taneous-that refused it, telling my newly
found friend that everything would be ali
right in the morning. He then urged me
to tell him the trouble anyway, promising
not to speak of IL. In IA few words, re-
lated all that had occurred, aud how the
captain had refused 20 listen to my explana-
ton. The next afternoon, to my surprise,
this officer sent for me, TO say that | "a as re-
leased from confinement, and could Join
my classmates, at the same time apologize
ing for not listening TO my explanation.
| afterward learned that my yankee
friend had voluntarily gone to the captain
and told my side of the story. This little
incident, trifling as It may seem. etched itself
upon my heart, and removed deep-rooted
prejudice, for a boy from Vermont became
the warmest friend of a boy from Georgia.