The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-05-14
THE SENTINEL SLEPT.
But "A Fortunate Ci-cumstn.cc saw
ed Him From the Death Penalty.

But Fortunate Circumstance saw
ed Him From the Death Penalty.
From the Washington Star.
A Star reporter had an army officer as
a listener. and he was eNpatiating on the
way he would shoulder a musket and fight.
bleed and die for his beloved country, in
case there was war with England or any
other effete monarchy tottering on a tum-
bling throne, or words to that effect.
Did you ever do guard duty on a nasty
night in the enemys country?' inquired
the officer.
well, no." hesitated the reporter.
Then don't say what you would do
until you have tried fl. II reads nicely
in the papers, and lots Of men delight in
imagining the housekeeping style that
they would trot along the crimson path
that leads to glory or the grave, but when
the crimson is mud and the path is in
"a thicket, which at any moment may
blaze up with a vollcy il isn't half so nice
TO think about. The fighting is the least
disagreeable thing about war and the
glory is won at an amazingly high price"
Il wouldn't stand guard" asserted the
reporter; Il would be an officer and have
somebody else do the guarding"
Wei, / didn't begin my soldier career
that way said the officer. Il was a pri-
Vate and not yet 20 and the amount Of
guard duty L did seemed TO me to be
enough to protect all the armies In the
neld; Let me tell you story Of how 1
did II one night: 1t was a dark and dis
NAL time down on the Potomac, and we
had been wading around in the mud and
cold until the heart was entirely taken out
of US. We had moved forward and were
expecting an attack of the enemy at any
moment. Under such circumstances SEN
tnels are given extra orders TO be watch
tuL and for guard TO sleep on his post
means death at daylight, sure
Il had been placed in an exposed DO
sition and my orders We're very strict in
n 4a1
OF land between two EOrges and / had
monopoly of 1t and was entirely alone
but had a good command of the ground
IN 'front.' OF me, and with ordinary care
no enemy could approach without being
seen. l knew that much depended on
my vigilance. and I knew that If 1 be-
trayed my trust death would be my pOr-
ton at daylight but 1 was only a boy
and so dead tired that / could hardly
stand up. went on duty, though, like
how long.
But boy nature can't stand everything,
and ! was rudely aroused from a beautf-
Iul cream OF nome by violent shaking
and the hoarse whispers and curses Of
the officer of the guard. In a minute /
knew what had happened, and there
flashed through my mind a picture of a
blindfolded soldier sitting on his coffin
with firing party standing in front of
him. 1 got TO my feet by the help of a
jerk or TWO by the officer. and then 1 ex-
pected more abuse, and got II, and kept
on getting 1t until I got back to the Of
hcers tent. Fortunately l kept my mouth
shut until we reached the light of the
tent.
There the officer got a good look at
me and discovered that l was covered
with blood. SO did I, much TO my sur
prise but felt on the instant that l was
saved, for the officer asked what the
blood meant and told him I must have
burst a small blood vessel and fallen In
a faint on my beat 1 was scared sc
badly that 1 was sick, and l didn't have
/ to argue long to prove my case, notwth-
/ standing the very serious results thai
| might have followed my derelection OF
| duty. l had no guard duty TO perform
| after that for a long time, and an offenst
| that was punishablet by death actually
| turned out to be a fine snap for me, which
| as a boy l rather enjoyed"
| but the blood2" inquired the writer.
/ Simply a case of nose bleed, to which
| two or three years before / had been sub
| ject. | presume my weakened condition
| brought it back again, but why 1t SHOULD
| have resumed operations at such an op
! perfume time l cannot say. I can say
! though, that l never slept on my pos
| again. and the officer chuckled to thinl
of his narrow escape.