The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1899-02-03
|OF THE ARTILLER Y.

|
who put in a fve-year stretch in the ar
tillery branch. 1--WE didn't call him Me
l4ud' because he was in anywise pompous
'N7 stuck up-that sort of thing doesn't go
-mong the enlisted men of the American
army-but because, although genial, anna
BILE, and a corking good fellow, st. Ronald
really had a mighty fine manner about him,
and, when it came to pinch, he didn't
have to take any dust from any of the Off
GERS in courtliness and grace OF personality.
st. Ronald was about q years old
when he first joined the battery, and he
was the very pink and picture of fine,
natural-born soldier. He had been fine
soldier before he ever broke into our outfit.
He had No. discharge, with extremely
complimentary remarks attached thereto,
from the cape mounted police of South
Africa, in which he had served three years
Then he had No. l discharge from the
Canadian mounted police, in which he had
served for two years. So when he drifted
into our heavy artillery outfit he didn't
need to be told the difference between
cartridge belt and fatigue cap File was
such a crackajack from the day that he got
among us that he was rated corporal and
then sergeant within three months, and
we were all glad of it, for he was way
ahead of the buck private class. figured
st. Ronald out from the first as the bad lot
of a good family, which, in fact, he was.
although he rarely spoke about his past
except to two or three of us who were very
chummy with him. He had his ups and
downs in our battery-got busted from ser
geant to buck private, and put in 30-day
trick in the guardhouse for trying to tear
San Francisco loose from it's foundations,
then had to go up to his former noncom-
missioned rank again by slow stages, and in
general had the usual career of an American
soldier who doesn't belong to the goody-
goody platoon. Whatever happened though,
Me Lud' was game for it, and he never
had kick coming, ana several times. when
some fellow in the battery got into gen
eral court-martial scrape, and was dishon-
orably discharged and turned adrift without
cent, with nothing but the uniform to his
back, Me Lud' was the boy to turn in his
whole months pay to help the unfortunate
out, and to get the rest of US to do something
on the same general order.
"At another time when the old post ord
nance sergeant lost his wife and had not the
necessary funds to give the good woman the
burial to which the bereaved husband felt
she was entitled, Me Lud' goes into his
pocket for what was needed, not as loan
but as gift, for the old sergeant was about
at the end OF his days of active service, and
retired pay would never permit him to re-
turn the amount unless at great sacrifice.
To the sergeant he said: Never mind about
giving it back, as l would have to spend it,
and spending it my way would mean being
"busted" by the G. o, again, and would
rather be discharged as sergeant than as q
private
after doing his three years with the
battery, St. Ronald took his discharge and
went over to San Francisco. He didn't tell
any Of us what he was going to do, and he
only had about $25 or $50 when he was
paid off. A week after he left Alcatraz 2
number of us went over to San Francisco
one night on leave. We were walking up
Kearney street, when we pushed into q
crowd surrounding fakir. The fakir was
gotten up in stage ranchero style-velvet
bell-bottom pants, with gold tinsel running
down the sides; velvet jacket, loose, rufled,
spotlessly white shirt, and enormous white
sombrero, with two or three heavy silver
cords running around, it, The fakir was
telling 'em Of some perpetually fragrant
beans that he had discovered on a tour of
South America. The beans were devised
to take the place of sachet powders or Of
liquid extracts, and the perfume-said the
fakir-never left them. He certainly had a
great spiel about those beans, and he sold
'em like hot cakes, at the rate of so cents
for paper bag holding about a pint of
them. Me Lud,' the fakir, winked at us
solemnly when he saw US on the outer cir
Gle of the crowd, and we didn't have a
chance to talk with him for some time after
ward. Then he told US that the beans he
was selling were the ordinary frijoles of
commerce, soaked over night in cheap toilet
water, and that he thought he had pretty
good thing, inasmuch as he was hauling
down profit of about $30a night.
II didn't see any more Of Me Lud' on the
coast after that. came on to Washington
and entered the war department soon
afterward. went out to the opening of the
| worlds fair, and on my third tour around
the buildings met up with Me Lud' He
was the second man in charge Of the exhibit
from Ceylon, and he looked out Of sight in
the makeup of Ceylon tea planter He was
prosperous and thoroughly in the game. He
had quit San Francisco and gone to Ceylon
before the mast latter going broke on
'Frisco's 'Barbary coast soon after left
the coast, and had put in the intervening
years as timekeeper on Cingalese tea
plantation. He was apparently pretty glad
to see me, think; anyhow, know had q
terrible headache when woke up on the
morning after thus strangely running across
I Me Lud' | saw him number Of times
while l was taking in the fair, and when l
left he told me he expected to go back to
Ceylon and finish the game of growing up
with the island.
81 was leaning on the rail out at the Ben
ming race track on Thanksgiving afternoon
watching the horses parade on to the track
for the Washington cup race when heard
voice behind me exclaim, in well-lsnown
accent, j say, there, you soldier ! looked
around, and there was Me Lud' He was
gotten up regardless, as they say, and he
was good deal the SWEETEST looking man
at the track. After he had collected his
winnings on the big race, we got into his
trap and he drove me to hotel that $ not
more than mile from Lafayette square.
There he presented me to his wife, who is
queen. as most New Orleans girls are,
and then he demanded me to accompany
him back to his homein Tegucigalpa, Hon
duras where he's getting rich at god min
4 II 1 IT