The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-01-01

49,
night. Arrived on the upper deck. the
officer did not 60 to the guard house.
but to his own state room. And before
entering IL he made a fatal mistake.
He put Aggie's gun down outside the
door. Two minutes later Aggie was
patrolling h.s post. his gun on shout
der. the picture OF an alert and faithful
sentry. At the same moment the OFF,
Ger of the guard was instructing the
corporal of the guard to arrest him.
Duly arrested. Aggie al escorted to
the state room.
Corporal" said the officer sternly
when Aggie confronted him. put this
man I'm the guardhouse to await trial
for neglect of duty and osing his gun"
But he has his gun" ventured the
corporal.
For a moment the officer looked stag
gered n the ms aid sonJcmptuosly:
1T Is some other mans GIN"
1T Is my own" said Aggie firmly.
do not add lies to your other
crimes" exclaimed the officer sternly.
Corporal. bring the first sergeant II
this mans company and his u rec
ord"
The first sergeant came.
Sergeant" said the officer. what is
the number OF this mans gum"
"'Steen hundred and 'steen. sir"
Corporal. what Is the number of the
gun you ound in this mans possession
when you arrested him?"
steer hundred n 'steen. sir"
The officer gasped. He compared the
numbers himself. Then he glanced out
side the stateroom door. Then he sat
In a chair for awhile and fiddled his I'm
gers. Finally ne said:
My man. you may go back to your
post. But beware. sir. bewarei"
You see" said Aggle. later. 'he
couldn't afford to admit that he had
| haen AZ hiU a ehttnn ahor,t The %,
as i had. Whenever he meets me now
he loohs at me with n red-like and in
quirin' eye"
The only iced water on the vigilancta
was In a tank in the officers cabin.
Strict orders had been issued that no
enlisted men hould drink thereof.
under penalties most severe. The order
was a formal one and had been type
written n pasted up right beside the
tank. Aggie's dry throat sthirsted for
a drink of the forbidden fluid. One
warm day when he thought the coast
clear he lodged into the cabin door.
grabbed the glass and turned the
spigot. Just as the glass was brimful
the ponderous figure Of a certain stan
officer doomed up beside him. Aggie
took I'm the %ituatio In a lash. He
made no move to drink the water. but
reached for the toothbrush in his hat
band.
How dare you drink that water,
sir?" demanded the irate stan officer.
I'm not drinking IL. sir" responded
Aggie, waving the toothbrush I'm sa-
lutte.
You were going to drink II. sir"
Il beg your pardon" responded the
impressive Aggie. politely but firmly.
Il vas not going to drink IT,"
Then, sir, what were you doing with
it?'
II was going" said Aggie. holding
the drinking glass out in one land and
the toothbrush In the other. to brush
my teeth i'm IT,"
Good heavens. sir." gasped the stan
officer. his features a picture Of horror.
that is worse than drinking H."
Il know Il is" said Aggie. but" and
he pointed with his toothbrush to the
typewriter order, lit isn't against or
ders!"
Then he stepped out IN the guard.
and before the stunned stan officer
could recover his wits to protest. had
calmly brushed his teeth. replaced the
glass. and disappeared.
This was by no means Aggie's last
encounter with the same stan officer.
Aggie was a born Spectator. He was
a high-roller and would bet his boots
of his feet on a bobtail flush without
the culver OF an eyelid. The ship was
fourteen days on the trip from Tampa
to Siboney. and during the voyage Az
SIC ptNNtth dflutItt HUI
AFFECT poverty. There were days when
he Possessed practically the entire
available cash assets OF the regiment.
There were other days when he put
up his jackknife as security for n
quarter to get In a game. Now. the
stan officer referred to was a persis-
tent enemy n prosecutor of every
man who aspired to accumulate wealth
through the agency OF card- and dice.
He instituted raid after raid on the
games, and N by n the gamblers
were thrust into the guardhouse. there
tn mediate on their sins. But Aggie
was. as he put IL. ''cagey." and Il was
not until the seventh day out that his
capture and Imprisonment were achiev-
ed. Then the stam officer folded his
hands over his plump corporation.
heaved a sigh OF relief and said:
Now We got him. That ends the
gaming on this boat"
Alas for human hopes. on the follow
ing day he visited the guard house to
see III his victims were properly con-
trite. Sad to relate. the first thing that
greeted the parsons y In the guard
house was a ~iourishing game of stud
poker. with Aggie acting as banker and
dealer. Then he gave IL up.
When the list dashed up San Juan
Hill. raggedly but bravely-a company
here I'M a fragment of a battalion
there-the foremost man in his compa-
ny was Aggie. Up the hill swept his
company. over its crest and $50 yards
down the opposite incline i'm support Of
Grimes battery. Just at a barbed wire
fence. a hundred yards in advance OF
the line where the American intrench-
ments were located hat night. Aggle
got in line with one of the enemy's
Iapid-fire guns. Five minutes later.
limping painfully over the crest of the
hill. the blood streaming from half a
tain.
Hit" asked the captain.
They've ~p-p-peppered me. captain!"
he suffered with his never-failing
smile. into a regular p-p-pepper box"
That evening at the division hospital
they patched Aggie UP the best they
could. rolled him in a n and left
him to lie there and gaze up at the
stars. He had limped and crawled FIVE
miles with the blood streaming from