The age-herald., 1898-11-23
STORIES OF SOLDIERS
 AND SOLDIER LIFE

lie looked as if he had had the usual
 ''good time'' the soldier permits himsels around pay days. He was leaning against
 the wall outside a saloon. Suddenly hs
 strengthened up and came to soldierly 1 attention"
 A lieutenant stopped, eyed him sharply. and said in a severe tone: "Where have you beenT'
 'I was with Bob, sir" "where was Bob?" =
 Bob? Why, Bob was with me-"
 'Well, where were you and Bob?"
 Me and Bob? Why-we was together, 1 sir"
 1 The officer couldn't help 1t. He laughed, and with a Ego back to camp, you rascal,' he passed down the street. l That is too cool and clever to be put in a guard house, he said to an Age Herald reporter who happened to overhear l the colloquy.
 "A funny thing happened down in An- niston a month or so ago. said the liess l tenant, when the casual acquaintanceship had been expeditiously assisted ''rhere is an old sergeant by the name of McGinnls in certain company. He was in charge of the main guard and had among the guards about the greenest, rawest, rookey' you ever saw. 'Rookey? That's soldier talk for recruit. Well, he took the rookey to his post, told him to walk between this point and that, take care and keep watch on certain property and so forth, and then, by way of caution, he added: And look out for the officer of the day, for he's h--l of mean fellow
 "Mr. Rookey walked his post until about 10 o'clock at night, when, as Is his wont, "a Af6 0F a,.xyt,~o to see if the sentinels were properly alert and vigilant. He was duly challenged and advanced. He then demanded that the tinel repeat his orders. I've got to walk from this tent to that she'd said MT. Rookey, and watch all this stuff so nobody steals it. I've got to stop everybody ain't got pass and I've got to look out for the officer of the day. for he's h-l of a mean cuss " And the officer of the day. said the lieutenant, happens to be the man you're talking to. I was knocked out, for I knew he had been coached, and, say-Tm not a bad fellow, but I believe that recruit ought to be hung for general ignorance and stu pidity.'"
 T see Fred Remington has a story in late number of one of the magazines, in which he utilizes a theme unknown in the east, but very generally known in the west, of how an Indian acquires great prestige among his people as a medicine man be- cause he had a pair of field glasses and used them secretly and effectively. Old Geronimo, the craftiest, cruelest Indian America ever produced, played this trick for years. He robbed a dead cavalry off, cer's body of pair of glasses, and during the long Apache campaign would go up a mountain to make medicine, but really to watch the movements of the pursuing United States cavalry Then he'd come down and tell the Indians just where their pursuers were and how to avoid them, and the Indians believed and still believe him the greatest medicine man earth.
 And he Is a great man-the greatest In-N dian general that ever lived. For seven years he fought the entire western army of this country. His marches would be- revelation to European generals. His strat- egies are the products of superior brain; his courage is dauntless; his personal pres tige and magnetism are Napoleonic. His tornure would shame many of our leading statesmen. Calm, possessed of himself and his followers-he has all the attributes of an original primal genius.
 see he has broken away from Fort Sill, I. T., where he and 400 of his followers have been kept for some time as prisoners of war. He's struck the old western trail, and hopes to get back to Arizona. Well, rather hope he will. For I myself heard the old warrior declare he was born fight ing, had lived in war and would die in bat tie. And assure you he is a much more formidable opponent on his native heath of sand desert, heat and mountains, than any Spanish army we had to encounter. He'll give the boys hot time and I'd like to be in 1t.
 "I saw one little incident at the San Juan fight which convinced me of the truth of the fact that towards die many deaths, " said a member of the hospital corps who had joined the party. You all know about Bloody Ford and the improvsed hospital we had there. Well, just at this point the stream makes sharp turn and then shal- lows. About two hours after the fighting began l saw a soldier creep down along the bank and hide under the roots of big tree which overhung the stream. We were frightfully busy tending our wounded and lodging bullets for the infamous scoun- drels directed their sharpshooter fire and the Red Cross. But noticed that fel- low. He lay there in agony. I could see him shudder and hear him groan-he was twenty yards from us I finally thought he must be wounded he seemed to suffer much So when a sergeant happened along with eight or ten sharpshooters sent to pick Spaniards out of the trees, told him about this fellow. He walked over looked at him and said: Git up here you dirty coward, and off they marched.
 q saw the sergeant a few days later, \ and asked him what became of the fellow.
 q put him in the pit"
 What pit? What do you mean?"
 ''I put him in the pit and he never cama out alive