Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1897-04-03

parade ground. When he did, he always
kicked goal. On pay days some of us
used to go across the trail from the post
to II Waco, three miles away-and there
were lot of ugly looking black bears on
that trail, too, can tell you-and, well,
we'd load ~ on Jawbones' barbarous
Siwash whisky. Jawbones was the half
breed Siwash who sold it. Wilson never
went along with us. He didn't drink. We
kind of liked him for that too, for, with
big heads and sore stomacbs, we were all
swearing off every pay day-after our
money was spent at Jawbones'.
No, Wilson put in his off duty time
tramping through the pine and spruce for
ests along the beach, with stick in his
hand, always alone. One day the tide
rushed in suddenly and caught him at the
foot of the cape. He had to climb the 600
foot rock, which was almost perpendicular.
wouldn't have tried it for a million, even
to save myself from drowning. He smiled
little when told him SO. He'd been
aloft OH ships, you know.
Well, this is the finish. 1t has been a
long time in coming, but you had to UNI
derstand what manner of man Wilson was.
One bright day the sentry up at the
lighthouse yelled down to the sergeant of
the guard that an American man-of- war
was coming over the bar. Candy is salut-
ing station, so that men war are always
reported by the guard. Wilson was walk
ing No. post, in front of the guardhouse,
and he repeated the lighthouse sentry's
call to the sergeant inside. When the old
guard was marched off, relieved by the
new one, Wilson went up to the lighthouse
with one of us to have a look through the
glass at the man-of-war. He grew little
pale as he made her out through the coast
guard binocular, but said nothing. She
was one of the old black ships of the old
navy, and had dropped her mud hook off
Astoria, ten miles across the bay. Her
steam launch, dancing on the rollers way
off in the distance, WAS heading our way
as Wilson looked through the glass. AS
the launch began to come near Wilson
went down to the little dock alone. The
officer of the day and three men of the
guard were on the dock, waiting to receive
the naval officer in the launch who carried
the compliments of the commanding Off
Ger of the ship to the commanding officer
Of our post.
The launch pulled up alongside the dock,
and as the guard came to a present fine
looking young naval officer stepped ashore.
He was the living image of Wilson, only
younger. All of the fellows of the guard
noticed the resemblance instantly, but
they did not see Wilson, who had hurried
ly left the dock when his counterpart with
the sword and the silver anchors on his
blouse collar stepped from the launch.
The young naval officer and the officer
of the day got into an ambulance and were
driven to the commanding officers quar-
tiers. Mess call went in few minutes,
and we were all marched in to dinner. The
mess hall was on the floor below the Sleep
ing quarters.
We had scarcely sat down and begun to
bully the kitchen police before we heard
| loud shot from The floor above. We made
a rush for the stairs to find out what the
matter was. As we scrambled up, the am
bulance carrying the young naval officer,
returning to the launch from his mission,
drew UP out in front Of the quarters. The
sea officer had heard the shot and was hop
ping out of the ambulance to investigate
We found Wilson sitting on the edge Of
his bunk in his shirt sleeves. His shirt
was soaked with blood, and there was a
big hole in his right breast. His rifle lay
on the floor beside the bunk. He had tax
Ell off his right shoe and pulled the trigger
with his great toe. He was very white in
the face, but smiling.
"Well," he said in a low voice as we
stopped over to examine him, you fellows
can sit around the stove and have some
thing to talk about on rainy afternoons
now. But it's all right-all right
just then the young naval officer pushed
through the crowd of us around the bunk
When he caught sight Of his brothers. face,
he reeled, and one of us had to catch him
to prevent him from falling
"Jack! Oh, my Godr' was all the young
fellow with the silver anchor could say. 1t
was easy for us fellows standing around to
see how his heart was aching under his
blouse.
"It's all right, Ed; all right We all
sneaked away then. WE'LL no, can't say
that any of us felt very hilarious just then
for n fact.
The little lieutenant of our battery went
in. In a few minutes he came out, just al
most carrying the young naval officer, a
man about twice as big as he was.
We all volunteered for the firing party,
| and the four young wind pushers who
trumpeted for the batteries quarreled over
which of them should blow taps" over
the grave. We'd all spent many an after.
noon cleaning our guns after firing volleys
to those passed from our outfit over the
| divide, but that certainly was the-well,
the breakingest up funeral that Candy ever
saw. Wilson'S brother was there, in full
dress. But the name that was printed by
| the post painter on Wilson'S maidstone
was not Wilson. 1t was the same name as
that Of the young naval officer. The ceme-
terry at Candy is only couple Of hundred
| feet from the roaring sea. In few weeks
two ladies, one quite old and white haired,
the other young, pretty, but sad looking,
came to Candy in mourning. They had
"Wilson's" body sent somewhere back to
the states
1t was long time before we got at the
inside of the story. Then we found out
that "Wilson" had got his commission at
West Point and had resigned year after
| his graduation on account Of some diff
Guilty. He had shipped in the navy as a
bluejacket. After his first cruise he had
been drafted to ship on which his broth
or, who had meanwhile graduated with
distinction at Annapolis, was serving as a
watch and division officer. The humilia-
ton Of it had been too much for him, and
wilson had promptly deserted. Then
we got him. He had probably been medi.
tating suicide for a long time, and the final
sight Of his brothers. face in such an off
the earth place as Fort Candy wrought
upon him as the working Of a fate that
seemed to him to be crushing. Thus the
rife ball We did not talk Of him around
the stove at ALL. But his gun was taken
out of the rife rack and slowed away out
of sight. Clarence l.. Cullen in Washing
ton Star