Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1899-02-20
AT FORT THOMAS.

The moonlight lies softly upon beauti-
full Fort Thomas, lending a mystic and
enchanting charm to the picturesque
beauty.
The shadows cast by the thick foliage
of late summer are mysterious and allur-
ing, the tall elm trees lean toward each
other and whisper softly and %joyously to-
gether, and the huge gray water tower
stands like a faithful sentinel, mutely
calling out to each passerby: Halt! Who
goes there?"
Far out past the barracks, in the open
country, under the white light Of the har-
vest moon, lies a tiny white oity-the
camp of the Sixth and of the immunes.
The noise and activity of the day are sue
ceeded by tho rest which comes with the
starlight. The sentinels pace their silent
beats and think with a thrill of joy that
this is home. The mellow notes of a dis
tant bugle sound through the stiffness of
the night. Taps" is sounded, and all
Is quiet again.
Over and above all the rugged water
tower keeps silent watch-a sentry who
never sleeps, a soldier always on duty.
He hears the whispering elm trees and
knows what they are saying. His heart
is keenly sensitive, he has heard so much
said concerning the subject which is most
closely connected with his dearest hope,
his widest, fondest ambition. People
had not seemed to consider his feelings.
Perhaps they thought he hadn't any, for
they had stood before him and critical.
ly discussed the details Of the project
which meant to him life, or-no, not
death, for he was too strong to debut
mere existence contrasted with a career
crowned with honor and glory. His
strong nature quiyered at the thought that
he must see this opportunity pass him.
tits sad, isn't it?' one of the elm trees
was saying. she wants it so much, and
1t seems as if he ought to have it. How l
hope he will"
Eyes" said the other, 'but they say
that there are SO many details to take into
consideration, and then things of this sort
always move slowly, you know. That
fine old fellow deserves it, and l believe
he will get it yet"
When the water tower heard this, he
couldn't keep still any longer. He felt the
way one does whose heart and soul are
bent toward accomplishing some dearly
priced object and who has fought his way
to it through many difficulties and dis
couragements. To such a a word of
sympathy, an expression Of kindly inter-
est, comes with the penetrating force of
the warm sunshine which thaws the fro
zen mountain sides into countless hun
dreds of trucking little brooks.
HA 1nnkpI nVar at thp aim fraac md GQi1
gently; You will pardon me, l know, but
J. couldn't help overhearing what you were
saying just now, and l want to tell you
just how it all seems to me.
you may think it is presumptuous of
me to wan to wear a memorial of the
Sixth, and maybe it is, but l can't help
it. l do want it, and / want it more than
I've ever wanted anything in my whole
life. What makes me feel blue about it
sometimes isn't so much because I'm
afraid they're not going to let mo wear it,
but because I'm afraid they're not going
to put it any place, and that would be aw-
full, for the Sixth should have a memorial
If ever a regiment-yes, or a hero-had
one. l hear they are having trouble get
ting enough subscriptions for it, and
that's what hurts me. l should think any
one would be glad to give something to
it. They would If they knew all that / do.
"But, them" he continued, "as I said
before, l want to be tho one to wear it.
I've been here SO long, you see, that I feel
as if l belonged to the Sixth as much as
any enlisted man. I've lived here with
them all these years. I've watched them
drill and guard and live the soldier life
they love until l feel as if / was one of
them. I've seen them work and I've seen
them play, and I got SO I loved them all.
| know all the officers too. I've watched
them going and coming all these years,
sometimes happy and sometimes worried,
but always gallant soldiers. I've seen
them get on and off the cars here with
their wives and children and sweethearts'
laughing and talking and having good
times, and I don't think they ever realized
how fond l am of them all and how l no.
tice all the little things they do.
when summers came, the regiment
would march off to encampments, and
after a few months they would come back
healthy and brown and glad to get home
again. Some of them said l was the first
thing about the post that they saw OIL
their way back and that I meant home to
them,
''Then last spring, when the war broke
out, they went again. You remember
that ~day-when they marched out. l
could tell you of things I saw that day
and the days and nights before that-of
'goodbys' that turned out to be real fare
wells, of promises and prayers that were
as sad as they were serious. Their faces
had a different look that day. I relnem-
Der it we'll.
II used to think of them In Florida
and Cuba and wonder what they were do
ing. l used to wonder how they would
act in a real battle-most of the men had
never seen real service-and then when l
heard about the fevers and diseases Of that
country, although 1t wasn't very patriotic,
l suppose, l wanted them back again safe
at the post.
"You know what their record was in
battle and in camp--I was proud, l can
tell you, when I heard it-and you re.
member the night they came back 1 had
not thought 1t would be SO sad--there
were SO fewl And the officers-I had
heard their families talk Of them during
their absence-and, too; l knew they
weren't all coming, but l didn't realize 1t
until I saw the regiment without them!
"Well," he said sadly, ''maybe I'm not
going to be the one to have this honor,
but 1t seems to me if / did-if they would
only get a memorial to the Sixth and let
me wear it couldn't let them know it,
but I'd be the proudest, happiest person
at the post, and / believe the boys who
we're left down there in Cuba would like
1t too"
The elm trees were silent in the sinceri-