The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1899-08-27

Of deep disgrace, and I could not but feel
1t keenly The officers themselves per-
ceived this. and though they attempted
to console me, they recognized that our
relative positions made the situation one
Of great delicacy
The stigma of crime had been placed
upon me, and their silent grief was pitiful
to witness. The speeches of coincidence
gradually died away and we stood there
In the pale moonlight a sad and silent
group. The tension was becoming greater
every moment and something had to be
done to relieve it. Something was done,
and Colonel Duboce. the hero of the Pace
Church incident with that tact and far
sightedness that is characteristic of him,
did it. Gentlemen" he said, there is
just one bottle of whisky on the entire
ship. 1t belongs to me. Let's go and have
& drink" 1t was a most opportune invi-
tation, and the unanimous alacrity with
which it was accepted showed how eager
the assenblage was to seize upon any
excuse which would serve to dispel the
awkwa rdness of the meeting.
As soon as the kindly warmth of the
bottles contents had made itself felt all
hands ripened up a bit, and I began to
get some informa ton concerning my COM
panions in crime, Britt and Honig. HONG
had been seen to steal below, like a dark
ghost of the mist. Billy had not been seen
at all, but one Of the officers said some
thing Of a shooting star | imagined it must
have been Britts parti-colored shirt and
torrtd necktie that flashed III the moon
light as he went flying over the rail.
I determined to find out, and excusing
myself started on hunt through the ship
Down below in the steerage found HONG
hiding under bunk and consoling himself
with a cup of coffee and a sandwich
which kind steward had surreptitiously
smuggled into him.
Honig tremblingly asked me what was
going to be done with him. Upon my an
swering that nothing more serious would
be done than to place him under arrest he
took heart of grace and came forth from
his hiding place. He had seen nothing of
Britt, so I left him, to search for Willie
IN other places.
1 left the aristocratlc precincts Of the
commissioned officers and started forward
among the men. The minute l stepped
into their quarters l experienced a greet
ing that would atone for a far worse mis-
fortune than Imprisonment by the Gus
tom-house authorities. The men, whom
had last seen in Luzon crowded around
me and fairly wrung my hand off with
the vigor OF their salutations. Questions
flew thick and fast, and 1 had as many to
ask as had TO reply to.
Regimental and company matters were
recounted and discussed with an interest
which could not possibly be felt, or even
understood, by one who had not tasted Of
the life himself and there learned to feel,
not for the men, but with them.
1 don't know why it is. possibly because
the only station l ever occupied in Uncle
Sans service was the most humble he has
TO offer, but my affection is all for the
man who packs the gun. The officers
who command them are good men, but
the fellow whose joys and sorrows, pleas
ures and privations, hopes and disappoint .
ments, claim my sympathy, and get it, is
the fellow who In demonstrations, such as
those this past week has seen, shines only
In the aggregate-the fellow who has all
the worst of it at the front and who is
never helped through the hardship that he
must undergo in the field by the prospect
of a well paid political position which will
be his reward when be returns home.