The Wadsworth dispatch. [volume] (Wadsworth, Nev.) 1892-1899, 1897-03-31
lC0AMaued [rom paae tMo.l

"Welll" said the little lieutenant upde
MS hIeatn' as he turned away with a kind
OF puzzled twinkle in his eye.
Wilson was put to duty tie next dav and
caught commanding officers orderly the
lsst Time he went on guard. All Of us
VINO occupied hunks in the old timers
squad room bad to confess that Wilson was
rs me II soldier as We had ever seen.
None of us ever asked him what outfit
ne had Ieen in Eefcre he came to our lay
out as u recruit. Wilson was a very quiet
man, well educated-we used to see him
reading queer looking books In foreign
languages, as he lay on his bunk on rainy
afteIhoons-and we didn't care to bother
him with questions. 1t was zone of oar
blasted business, anyhow. A young whelp
OF a rookie was watching Wilson daddynck
his cartridge belt one day, and, like the
pup tIat lie WAS, he said So that the other
fellows IN the room could hear him:
Ono, but hasn't Wilson done that a
lot OF times before, Id just like to known,
Ohe OF us reached over, caught the cub
by the scrHff OF the neck and dropped him
over tie bGnistcrs of the double decker
quarters. Wilson said nothing, although
there was al odd sort Of CLEAN In his black
eyes. There were no illusions to his past
after that, you can bet.
Fort Candy is Il beautiful, gloomy post.
1t is ut the mouth Of the Columbia river,
under the shadow of the mountain thnt
forms the extremity of Cape Disappoint-
ment. oh, but the Pacific EATERS wildly,
wildly at those black rocks! In the quor-
tiers We could always hear the roar of the
sea. The sound used to break some of us
up a little, kind of, at night, after the
lights went out. / don't know why. The
sea Is mcurnful anyhow, l think. A hun
dred salmon fishermen from Astoria aud
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 be wasn't ON
duty down by the sea. He had a big
dragon tattooed ON his kuotty left arm
and a barkentine In three colors on his
breast. Besides, he knew a great doal
about Japan and South America, as some
Of us found out without being inquisitive.
and we knew that he had been to sea,
when, how or in what capacity we had no
idea. But he was fond Of the sight Of the
sea. Only once In awhile did he join In
the football game with the gang on the
parade ground. When he did, he always
kicked a 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 a lot of ugly looking black bears on
that trail, too, l can tell you-and. we'll,
we'd load up on Jawbones' barbarous
Siwash whisky. Jawbones was the hall
breed Siwash who sold 1t. Wilson never
went along with US. He didn't drink. We
kind of liked him for that, too, for, with
big heads and sore stomachs, we were all
swearing off every pay day-after our
money Wal spent ut Jawbones'.
No, Wilson put In his off duty time
tramping through the pine and spruce for
ests along tho beach, with a stick In his
hand, always alone. Orc day th. 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
a little when l told him 80, He'd been
aloft on ships, you know.
Well, this is the finish. 1t has been a
long time In coming, but you had to I'M
derstand what manner of man Wilson was.
One bright day the sentry up at the
llRilIDOloO ytllGu dOWD W OiO ocA Gcaho "a
the guard that an American maD-of-war
was coming over the bar. Candy Is a salut-
ing station, so hat men-of-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 of, relieved by the
new n Wilson went up to the lighthouse
with one of us to have a look through the
glass at the man-of-war. He grew a little
pale as he made her out through the coast
guard 8 binocular, but said nothing. She
was one of the old black ships OF the old
navy, and had dropped her mud hook OF
Astoria, ten miles across the bay. Her
steam launch, dancing on the rollers way
of 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 ON
Ger of the ship TO the commanding officer
of Our pest.
The launch ruffed mp alongside the dock,
and as the guard came to a present a hne
looking young naval officer stepped ashore.
He was the living image of Wilson, only
younger. All of the fellows of the guard
noticed tie resemblance instantly, but
they did not see Wilson, who bad 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 oilicer
of the day got into an ambulance and were
driven II tie commanding officers quar-
tiers. hess call went in u few minutes,
and we we're all marched in to dinner. The
mess ball was On the floor below the sleep
ing quarters.
We had scarcely sat down and begun to
bully the kitchen police before we heard