Evening star., 1898-12-24
TOOK HIM FOR A HERO

junior lieutenant In the navy NOW on de-
partment duty), who is noted throughout
the sea service as an athlete. Il had the
luck to figure in a little Christmas incident
on the high seas three years ago that had
a peculiar and pleasant termination on dry
Land only week or SO before Christmas
last year. AS, upon the whole. my naval
life has been singuarly lacking in unusual
occurrences cI rever had no chanst, as the
boys saD. I'm bound to regard the thing
I'm going to tell you about somewhat
out of the ordinary.
Three years ago 1 was attached to one
of the gunboats cruising on the south Pa
cific station. The ship had been ordered
down the west coast as far as La Libertad
salvador. III the late autumn. and about
the middle of December we started I'D the
coast again for the Mare Island navy yard
We put in at Acapulco, Mexico with the
expectation of getting some mail that was
que by one of the down steamers, but the
steamer. for some reason or other was a
couple OF days overdue. So, on the after
noon of December a. we pulled out of the
harpor OF Acapulco, knowing that we'd
meet up with the Colima, the expected Pa
citic mail liner, not far out A careful look
out was kept for the Colima-which by the
way, went down not long afterward with
the loss of more than hundred lives
during the night, but her lights weren't
sighted. Christmas day dawned hot. bu.
OF the sea, and at about 10 o'clock in the
morning the boy up on the foreyard sighted
the smoke OF steamer. The watch officer
made her out to be the Colima with his
giass, and when she got within signaling
distance we signaled her to heave to when
she came alongside, in order to transfer
our mail to us. Fifteen minutes later the
steamer was resting about three hundred
feet away on our starboard BEAM all of
the passengers being lined up on the rail
to have a look at us in our fore-to-mizzen
holiday bunting. All of the women on the
Colima were in thin white clothes, for the
weather was very hot, and they waved
their handkerchiefS at us enthusia stically.
The executive officer detailed me for the
pleasant job of going off to the steamer In
the cutter to get the bag of mail for our
ship. AS the cutter drew near to the Co
lima, the young women pressed against
the steamers rail continued to wildly wave
their he ndkerchiefs, when suddenly q gate
in the rail, just amidships, slipped open.
and one of the young women fell headlong
into the water. Our cutter wasn't twenty
feet away when this happened and 1t only
took one sweep of the oars by the cutters
crew to pull the boat alongside the girl
when she came up. l was sitting, free
handed, in the stern sheets, and it was of
course the simplest job in life for me to
reach over and pick the girl out of the
CLASSY sea She was a very scared and
very pretty little Guatemalan girl, under
twenty years of age, who had been at
California convent for six years, and who
was being taken back to her fathers Qua
temalan estate by duenna. She laughed
Historically when lifted her up the ladder
of the steamer, and then she began to
weep and to thank me for my dead-easy
performance in lifting her into the boat.
had to suffer the continued embrace of the
duenna, who was quite an elderly Guate-
malan lady, and, altogether, l felt rather
silly, standing there on the promenade deck
of the Colima. listening to the exagger-
atedly flattering talk of all the surrounding
passengers.
a. If my father was only here to see your
the pretty Guatemalan girl said to me a
great number OF times before the purser
appeared with our mail pouch but. as for
me. l was almighty glad that the old gen.
tleman wasn't on hand, when 1 reflected
that he. too, would probably want to en-
brace me. Now, if only the girl herself,
wet as she is, would care to follow suit
be something like it. But 1 was pretty
glad, all the same, to get our bag of mail
and to depart over the side to be rowed
back to the ship. All of the ward room
whistling See, the Conquering Hero Comes
when / reached the ship, and in general
they strung me heap over my .heroism'
Then the Colima dipped her flag to us, and
started or our respective paths through
the seas
II forgot all about the incident until
about couple of months later, when re-
through the commandant a very enthu-
siastic and grateful letter from the father
of the pretty Guatemalan young woman
The planter didn't know my name, but he
described the affair to the commandant,
who, having heard about it, passed it up
to me with a smile. The father OF the girl
asked me what in life l most desired, and
told me it was mine for the asking. 1t was
really a mighty nice sort of letter, sadly as
the writer of it overestimated my 1ion-like
nobility Chats what he called iD in reach
ing over the stern-sheets of a boat in a
tranquil sea and picking up a pretty girl
out of the wet. ] replied to the letter with
becoming modesty. saying that. l didn't
want anything much in life except to fight
shy of courts-martial and to get an ad-
miralty in time, and then l forgot all about
the matter again.
"One night, about a week before Christ
mas last year. 1 went alone to the Metro
politan Opera House in New York to see
performance of The Rhengold,' for I've
got enough of the Teuton in my makeup to
enjoy Wagners music. The house was
packed, and. after the manner Of chaps
who have put in long periods at sea with
out seeing much of novelty in the way of
human kind, did deal of gazing about
at the people. Just before the curtain went
UP looked up to take In the iewelry dis
play in the second tier of boxes, when I
caught the eye of pretty, dark-eyed and
dark-haired woman, reSplendent in jewels.
She was nodding and smiling and beckon-
ing at me. apparently, but I didn't know
her, and looked around me to see who 1t
could be she meant to honor by her smiles.
Then looked at her again, and she pouted
a bit aid then smiled again. Then she i'm
petuously beckoned to me, and when l rose
from my seat she nodded. as much as to
say, That's right; I mean you So I went
UP to the box, wondering heap what it
was all about. There was a mddle-aged,
fine-looking dark man in the box with the
young woman, and he looked at me Gu
riously, and with no recognition whatever
in his eyes, when 1 walked In and made
my bow to the pretty woman with all the
jewelry. Even then l hadn't a notion who
she was or what she wanted with me.
Your graciousness,' l said. stumbling
ly, is overwhelming believe me, Mss-er
-, but my memory has grown SO defective
of late
She looked at me quizzicaly and merrily,
and just then the curtain went up and dis
closed the water-syrens of the Rhine float
Ing about the imitation water in their flow
ing white draperies.
Nov. tell me- said the young woman,
with a decidedly musical accent, surely
did not look so free Of moisture, nor so
complaisant. nor anything like so graceful
when you rescued me. as those young Ia
dies? pointing to the Rhine maidens.
well, had to submit to the embrace of
patar fanjliaS after all He fairly i1lyppe1