Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1897-02-08
with kind of puzzled twinkle in his

eye.
Wilson was put to duty the next
day, and caught commanding officer g
orderly the first time he went on
| guard. All of us who occupied hunks in
the old-timers' squad room Lad to con-
Tess that Wilson was as fine soldier
as we had ever seen.
None of us ever asked him what
outfit he had been in before he came to
our layout as recruit. Wilson was a
very quiet man, we'll educated-we
used to see him reading queer-looking
books in foreign languages, rs he lay
on his bunk on rainy afternoons-and
We didn't care to bother him with
questions. 1t was none of our bust
ness, anyhow. A young whelp of q
rookie was watching Wilson daddyack
his cartridge belt one day, and, like
the pup that he was, he said SO that
the other fellows in the room could
hear him:
"Oho, but hasn't Wilson done that
a lot O times before, I'd just like to
know"
One of US reached over, caught the
cub by the scruf of the neck and
dropped him over the bannisters of
the donble-decker quarters. Wilson
said nothing, although there was an
odd sort of CLEAN in his black eyes.
There were no illusions to his past
after that. you can bet.
Fort Candy is beautiful, gloomy
post. 1t is at the mouth of the Colum-
bia River, under the shadow of the
mountain that forms the extremity of
Cape Disappointment. Oh. but the
Pacific batters wildly, wildly at those
black rocks. In the quarters we could
always hear the roar of the sea. The
sound used to break some of us up
little, kind of, at night, after the
lights went out. l don't know why.
The sea is mournful, anyhow, think.
A hundred salmon fishermen from As
toria and II Waco got upset and
drowned on that wicked Columbia bar
while we were there.
Well, anyhow, Wilson used to spend
nearly all of the time that he wasn't
on duty down by the sea. be had
big dragon tattooed on his knotty left
arm, and barkentine in three colors
on his breast. Besides, he knew
great deal about Japan and South
America, as some of us found out
without being inquisitive, and we
knew that he had been to seq. When,
how, or in what capacity, we had no
idea. But he was fond of the sight
of the sea. Only once in while did
he join in the football game with the
gang on the parade ground. When
he did, he always kicked q goal. On
pay days some OF us used to go across
the trail from the post to IL 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 up on Jawbones's barbarous
Siwash whisky. Jawbones was the
half breed Siwash who sold it. Will
son never went along with us. He
didn't drink. We kind O. liked him
for that, too, for, with big heads and
sore stomachs, we were all swearing
off every pay dsy-after our money
was spent at Jawbones's.
No, Wilson put in his off duty time
tramping through the pine and spruce
forests along the beach, with a 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. I wouldn't
have tried it for a million, even to save
myself from drowning. He smiled
xut,n I fA1 Hnto hna
aloft on ships, you know.
Well, this is the finish. 1t has been
long time in coming, but you had to
understand what manner OF man Will
son 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. Can
by is saluting station, so that men
of-war are always reported by the
guard. Wilson was walking number
one post, in front of the guard house,
and he repeated the lighthouse sen.
try's call to the sergeant inside. When
the old guard was marched off, re-
lieved by the new one, Wilson went
| up 10 une lighthouse WIN one OF US TO
have look through the glass at the
man of-war. He grew little pale as
he made her out through the coast
guards 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 rs Wilson looked
through the glass. AS tho launch be-
gan to como 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 com.
manding officer of the ship to tho COM
manding officer of our post.
The launch pulled up alongside the
dock, and, as the guard came to q
present, q ine.looking young naval
officer stepped ashore. He was the
living image of Wilson, only Younger.