The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-05-08
Tradition of a Marine Who Tried
to Take French Leave.
BECAME FOOD FOR FISHES
Every Friday He Keeps ace With the
Sentry on No. 7-Lieutenant Barn.
well Once Saw a Strange Sem
try Who Carried a Gun.
From the Philadelphia Times.

ware isiand, Cal. Traditlon had 1t
that one night, years back. a marine
taking French leave had tried to swim
from there over to the town of Vallejo.
opposite. What the crabs and fishes
left of the marine they buried a week
later. but regularly every Friday night.
soon after the second relief lis posted
AT ii o'clock, the sentry on No. : hears
footsteps keeping time To- mis- own.
HAT! Who Is there" comes the
challenge, but there is M reply and
the footsteps cease. The sentry feels
he Is mistaken, shoulders his musket
and commences again his monotonous
pacing to and fro.
fat-pat-aSain the footsteps are
heard and the sentry feeling that they
are close by, wheels quickly around to
see who is stealing upon him from the
rear. There is not a soul. and again
all is quiet. The feeling becomes I'M
canny; cold chills creep down the SEN
Try $ back and he feels his hair stiffen-
ing under his zap. Pat-pat-pat. still
those footsteps logging, and the SEN
Try In desperation goes under the
lamp post at the further end of his most
ana in the comforting radiance of the
ilght tries to reason IL out calmly-an
impossibility with a pulse beating at
the rate his is.
Softly in the distance is heard the
striking of eight bells on the old In
dependence and the sentry i'm re-
sponse sings out:
Post No. 1-l2 o'clock-and a-a-Irs
we'll
The word well is hardly out of his
mouth when there is a splash i'm the
water. followed by a biooG-curdling
groan. Some of the new men nav,
been known to throw down their mus
kets. and on a dead run burst into the
guard room white as a sheet. and.
W~lld-eyed, attempt to tell their story
To the sergeant of the guard and be-
coming lncoherent. end i'm hystericaI
laughter. The commanding officer
doesn't court martial a man for leay-
ing his post under these circumstance
there have been too many men re- ,
ported for the same thing-so the X.
o., who knows that the sentry is only
human, let's him off with ten days
double irons. =.
The old soldier who was assigned to :
Post No. :, when his tour of guard /
duty came on Friday. would swan I
guard with a Johnny-come-lately. all. !
of course, for the convenience of the :
greeny. Z
one night, not long ago. several
marine officers had gathered i'm the :
officer of the days office at one of the Z
marine barracks on the Atlantic coast.
Naturally they drifted into yarn-spin- :
ming, with the scene shifting from :
aboard ship i'm every cline to any Z
Whefe ashore on the seaboard Of the .
United States. One of them-calI him :
Lieutenant Barnwell-told the story T
that follows; he gave no explanation. Z
fou can explain IL to suit yourself: :
Three years ago | was stationed al :
the barracks at Mare Island. and ON =
the night ] speak of | had been doing &
duty at the post for more than a veal. :
OF course. ! had heard the yarn about :
Post No. :. and had seen men punished q
Tor leaving that post. However, | nm :
no believer in the supernatural. Time !
and again | had visited No. Z at night. =
seeing nothing or hearing nothing un- z
usual ana laughed at the story of the q
sentry r
One night | was on duty as the Off =
'er on the day. and the early part of =
ne evening | spent in the office read ~
some work on military surveying. So
win my head full of this tuff, short Sc
y before midnight / started out to 81
iisit sentries. Than ghosts nothing
'ould nave been further from ny mind er
'lfst l visited No. 9, then No. s and th
apldly came up toward No. Z. With nc
'ut any ~assignable reason, unless il Nv
the resonance of my footsteps. TO
'Nperienced an uncomfortable nervous su
ceiling of being cold. l walked more IN
apidiy' but the feeling only increased st
ma | became colder and more ner-
Gus. ~
There under the lamplight stood the II
entry. who challenged me I'm clear, ca
harp tones, his rifle rafting as he :
rought II up tn port arms halted III
gave the countersign and the sem SIN
~ ordered Advance. officer of the 81,
al ! walked up to him and as ] did ce
% | broke into a cold perspIration. At RI,
rst there seemingly was nothing I'M vs
suai about the sentry, though I did vi
OF know the mans face. I ordered
i'm In g1panI tho ..l..a 90 4. ---.
nj he did so. hut instead of giving .
ne recent orders of the post gave
nose that were in force several years ar
reNiously. Then ! noticed that the 81
IAN was ghostly pale and that his SUI
yes burned with a deep hollow fire Tu
nj that ms rifle was rusty and damn. i've
frankly confess tina a. Wild feeling ms
terror overcame me. Cutting the tbs
short in what he was yin rel
heeled about and rapidly moved off. the
hen reached the end of his post. exI
voluntarily turned to take another ka,
the man had disappeared. Crit the
Use me II you will. but l am no cow ka,
ri. The strain was too much and l ku,
roke into "A run. In a moment. how ka,
l controlled myself. and visiting chi
Re other posts ! finally reached my roy
nee utterly exhausted Sleep that XIII
sht could not. and 1 feverishly tina
ssea' waiting until day came when ing
could investigate and xplain mat ecu
rs. of
The following morning I started i'm lior
ld called up the sergeant Of the hor
iard. In reply Ia my inquiry the SER son
ant said: imr
II was about 20 minutes to II sels
hen the officer of the day informed usu
e mat ne was going out To visit sem gar
-
Could possibly have been walk
< IN my sleep, s~ergeant?' A
No. sir I'm SURPRISED tones. both III
e corpora Of the guard and myself orc
sie standing outside the guard room sppsen
- VI uS uoticVo ohN- on. :
us uhusual in m
Very wei. sergeant Find our who Of III
as on No. = i'm tba saaona r.,ias ara dang