Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1898-11-25
A MANS MAKING.

The Judge" paused long enough to
change tho position Of the stick he was
whiting, shift tho chew Of tpbaoco
| from one side OF his mouth to the other
and then glance around at the two
young men sitting on the plank side
walk on either side Of him.
The judge was 90; not fat and
49, but fatter and 90. His six feet Of
height was burdoned with the painful
necessity Of carrying 300 pounds when
he walked and of supporting the same
weight when he did not move. The
judge supported it usually, and that
was the reason his clothes wore out 30
much more quickly at one certain place
than at any other. He went up and out
from his feet 10 his waist and then up
and In from his waist to the top Of his
head-an hourglass cut In two and put
together again with the large ends In
the middle A fringe Of long. dirty
looking hair showed from under the
band Of his SLOUGH hat. Through the
hole in the top of the hat one caught
an occasional glimpse Of bald and
shining spot. the peak Of his head try
ing to get through into the fresh air.
But the strength had gone from his hair
to his beard. for his whiskers were long
and bushy and his mustaohes equally
80, Judge spoke, not with a drawl,
but with that slow movement peoulia
to fat and lazy people Yet thellittle
gray eyes sparkled all the time. us
though thoy had absorbed all the energy
In the man
"Well boys" he continued, after
completing his survey. "where'd you
be now II you'd enlistedf'
Tho younger Of his auditors answered:
"If we'd gone with the state regi.
ment, we'd be at Manila probably. But
II we'd gone with Grigsby's cowboys
we'd be at ChickRmauga, judge
Eyes. that's 1t. boys. And it'sd----d
hot there In the summer time. spent
u couple Of summers in that country In
1894 with the army. Had q good
place. too, boys. where didn't have
much hard work TO do. but IL was hot
all the same"
"What did you do fatherl" asked
Charlie, who was the judges youngest
son.
~ was Judge advocate Of the regi-
ment But soldering IL hard work, no
matter what you've got TO do. It's q
dogs life"
Yes we know that, judge, 4" the 9th
or boy. Henry, said, ''but we decided
we could stand II and had sand enough
to do what we were told to do without
kicking. and we thought II we did all
that and did IL we'll we might have o
chance for promotion. -
"W Tell, boys don't believe I'd 20
AZ private In any company You can't
tell what kind Of an ass you re going TO
have bossing you. Some Of the bosses
may be all right, but there's bound TO
be one you can't get along with"
Eyes, father, we know 1t would be
hard, but we thought wo could stand IL,
even II we didn't like II"
''That'r all right, boys. but you don't
know anything about II. You've got TO
enliit and SEQ for yourself. It's bad
enough when you are an officer, but
when you're just private it's id
bad. -
Did you enlist as u private, judgof"
Henry asked,
"No Hal | organized u company and
was elected captain and held that rank
until got to be judge. You SOC, came
out to Iowa from Ohio when was quite
kid and had been living there for some
time when the war broke out. 30 every
body knew me, and az was always
good natured cuss they all seemed TO
like me"
The judges stick and tobacco needed
attention, and he was silent while he
looked after them. Then he went on:
1--WE had "A colonel that was the big
gest ass ever raw. He got the Office
through political friends, and no didn't
know Is from bulls foot. Our Heuten-
ant colonel was pretty decent sort Of
Y man, aad tho two majors were fair
But that colonel He was 10 mean that
never saw him, but didn't want to
snatch gun from one Of my men and
shoot him. had enough sense not TO
say anything. although the colonel did
know | didn't like him extra we'll
Finally | got the chance | had been
longing for to tell him what thought
Of him. But SEQ here. boys. II you ever
get into the army don't you think Of do
ing anything like it. / was young then
aud little foolish"
"Tho cOlonel--I shan't call any
names-Rot us into such bad FIX on
,he battlefield that he had to resign to
keep from being kicked out. And thore
was big feast In honor Ut his depar.
ture. Of course 1t was supposed 10 have
been got up an n token Of his under
officers regard for him. After we had
finished eatinB--it was In tho lieuten-
ant oolonel's tent--and the whisky and
wine and cigars were on the speech
making began. The colonel made lit
tie talk, saying how sorry ms was TO
leave u.s. and all that sort Of thing.
Then the lieutenant colonel and the two
majors made little speech. They all
said something about tho colonel being
such fn0 man and officer and how
sorry they were 10 see him leave--evsry
bit q Odd lie. ="
The judge stopped and laughed. His
iAugh wasn't loud, and one could not
got the full benefit Of IL unless one saw
him. His whole body shook with the
amusement Of 1t. and his features took
on such a comical expression that 1t
made one laugh Just 10 sec him.
"Then," he continued they called
ON me for q speech. l didn't want 10
respond and told them no. They would
not rest, and finally told them l had
never made an after dinner speech or
departure speeoh In my lifs and didn't
know whether or not could naks one,
but that II l did got up I'd say some
things I thought, and / didn't care
about doing that But they Vouidn Z
hear Of II. 30 l got up"