Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-05-27
A STARTLING EXPERIENCE

4
IN our command at Fort Apache-this
| was when Pache was perilous post with
the hosties sneaking up to the very doors
| OF the quarters under cover of might've
had soldier who walked in his sleep"
said a former cavalry officer who is now
attached to the staff. He was quiet man
| and a first-rate soldier and he would have
had the stripes and chevrons of a sergeant
very soon after he joined our outfit if he
had not Immediately exhibited his unfor-
tunate somnambuIistic tendency. 1t was
&C nsldered that it wouldn't do to make
sleep-walker a non-commissioned officer
The man felt very bad over his affection
but of course he couldn't help it, Unfail-
ingly, two or three times week he would
rise from his bunk at the graveyard yawn-
ing hour, wrap himself in blanket and
sally out into the night. knowing not
whittier he was bound, and as sound asleep
as his troops over-fed watch dog He
would always be halted and brought to by
one of the sentries. The men on guard
didn't like these experiences. There were
TOO many proving 'Paches within hitting
instance OF the post to make 1t co,nfcrt BILE
for a sentry stationed on a somewhat re-
mote outpost to meet up with a bIanketed
inquire in the dim light of the stars The
men got used to the apparition after a
llme, however and it got to be quite d
common thing for them to snap the sleep
walker awake and to quietly order him
back to his bunk. The man always showed
now cheap he felt when one of the seRtries
would awaken him, and he would glide
back to his bunk without awakening any of
the men in the nearby hunks. You might
ask me why the doors of the quarters
weren't locked, that the somnambulist
couldn't get out, and that would be an easy
one for barrack doors are never locked at
ElSht IN our army: they are accessible to
The officer of the day or the non-commis-
M thla ard hnt,r Of
the night without the use of keys. The
scmnambulsts case became aggravat-
ing, however. when the time came that the
post seemed to be completely surrounded
by the Pache devils, and when we were
preparing to go after. EN- and get them
together IN bunch, the commanding
officer decided to have him mustered out
for physical disability. Correspondence
with the War Department to that end was
IN progress when the thing that | started
to tell about happened.
1t began anC ended with Tim Keatipg'S
getting the corral in the choice of guard
posts. The corral was a ticklish old place
to guard at Pache. 1t was a long distance
from the guardhouse, and the lonesome
ness of it in the middle of the night made
even the old-tiners who bumped their
post there in the middle of the night a
tribe nervous. Heating took the corral
post at O'Clock one clear starry morn
ing He had been a cavalryman for fifteen
years and was crackajack soldier. He
had mad couple of experiences with the
somnambulist on previous guard tours and
SO he was rot surprised alarmed when
ne saw a -blanketed figure slowly APP
preaching him from around the corner of
the stables. Tim gave the figure the COM
mand to halt and the figure disregarded
the command as usual Tim rested his car
bine against the fence, and walked up to
the figure. 1t was the somnambuist Tim
shook the man awake.
1t isn't in every command where you d
have such luck in your sleep-prowling'
h mot IlXr ~.
ed sOmnambulist. You'd get a ball in you
Inc sleep-walker nodded gloomily, and
hustled back to the quarters.
len nights later Tim Heating was on
guard at the corral a the same hour, and
again the banketed figure approached him
from the shadow of the stables. This time
Heating didn't halt the figure but, again
resting his carbne against the fence he
walked up to the gray banketed prowier.
The figure suddenly changed its course as
keaung approached and took up a faster
gait.
Hey. none O. THAR called out the sem
try. It's bad enough to have to wake you
up, without running after you
The figure had meanwhile started at a
swift walk directly for the part of the
fence against which the sentry's gun rest
ed, closely pressed by Heating. When
within ten feet of the fence the banketed
figure made a sudden leap for the carbine,
and in another instant Heating caught on
the shoulder a blow from the stock of it
that was nleant,f for his head It was
tail, iron muscled 'Pache warrior swinging
the carbine. Il
Well. d-n this Sleep walking business
anyhow exclaimed Heating, out of the
depths of his surprise. when he saw the
natural mistake he had made and the
'Pache getting ready to give him another
clout with the butt of the carbine, and
then the soldier closed with the Indian.
1t must have been the hardest bit of work
in keating's career-and he had done hand
to-hand work with the reds often before
for when he brought the 'Pache into the
guard room his uniform was in shreds.
and he was covered with blood. Tim told
mel was officer Of the day-that he had
rolled around with the 'Pache for fully ten
minutes before he got the upper hand, and
then he got his two hands around the In
dams throat The Indian passed it up at
this stage. and Heating led the buck in at
the point of the bayonet, kicking him
every few steps from the rear out of pure
sense of fun and justice.
THAT settled the unfortunate somnambu-
lists army career We had him mustered
out by telegraph in less than twenty four
hours. The thing that happened to keat-
ing got the men going, and the sleep
walker would certainly have been plugged
for an Apache the very next time he left
his bunk in state of trance