The National tribune., 1900-09-06

texture and inordinately fond of horseplay
They felt bound to make life miserable
for me as a stranger, and for the first
iew weeks they lived up religiOusly to tht
limits of their obligations in that respect
Though | was quite young and had not
been away from home much. had judg
ment enough to see that they were sim
ply testing the mcttle OF their new ac
quaintance, and that if | stood the test
all would be well with me. In a short
time they ceased to annoy NE, and al
though my retiring disposition prevented
their becoming very familiar with me, yet
| felt that they accepted me as one oi
their number. They were at heart kindly
disposed but they regarded any exhibit Oh
If the softer qualities as weak and WON
anish. As a consequence their actions TO.
ward one another, but especially toward
the slOwer-witted of their number, ap-
reared cruel and heartless. There seems
to be something in human nature that
makes young and thoughtless people i'm
pose on those who are their interiors in
mental alertness. Young men who would
scOrn to take advantage of one who is
their physical inferior do not hesitate 10
badger their mental interiors.
Among the members of Co. | was q
young man whose name on the company
records was Peter Haskell, but who was
known to the regiment as Papa He
was a little above medium hight and very
strongly built. He had stoop in his
shoulders and slouch in his walk which
no amount of military drill could correct.
His eyes were weak and watery, his
mouth wide and weak. and his face, of n
rreamy tint, was covered very thinly with
yhitish hairs. His whole appearance be-
tokened mental ineptitude.
This poor fellow was made the butt of
most of the pranks and coarse jokes that
were being played continually about the
amp. He was dull and awkward and
slow to learn at best, but he was not re-
sponsible for all the mistakes he made
in drill. Some practical joker near him,
often with the connivance of some of the
letty officers, it seemed to me, would man
age by a quiet word to set him on the
wrong tack and cause him to blunder.
And such was the slowness of his wit
and the trustfulness of his nature that
he failed to learn anything from expert
ence and fell into the last trap as readily
as into the first. All this treatment drew
from him feeble protests, but engendered
no resentment. His trustfulness and
yearning for sympathy and companion
ship were pathetic, and ought to have
moved his tormenters. On the contrary,
these very qualities were taken advantage
Of by them. Some rOwdy who had be-
traycd him a hundred times before would
easily worm himself into Peters conf
dence and get from him some simple story
of his lovemaking or something of his mar
i'ed iife-for Peter had taken to himself
a wife-or, easiest of all, some story of
the remarkable doings of his baby boy.
Peter. Jr., and would then retell the story
with variations and embellishments for
the delectation of the camp.
The subjects upon which he liked best
to dwell were Mary and the baby. Once
every week he, with his tongue between
his teeth, in the corner of his mouth, Ia
boriously constructed letter. a fearful
thing, of jagged lines and blots, and as
regularly each week he received letter
written in smaller and neater but some
what uncertain hand. Both letters were
the common property of the camp. Mary S
wifely letters were filled very largely with
reports of the condition and the doings
of the baby. and as a consequence the
camp was duly Informed concerning his
'cute" actions and all the aches and pains
incident to babyhood. The fact that he
had two teeth and that there were evil
dences that a third wonld soon he forth
coming was a subject of more interest to
the father than the fact that Mcclellan
had changed his base to the James River
This superlative interest in his offspring
and his disposition to make il the sub
ject of conversation on all occasions was
what secured for Peter the title Papa"
During the long, tiresome weeks of
drill necessary to make disciplined soldiers
of raw recruits. Papa" gradually at
tached himself to me as the only one who
never betrayed his confidence nor brought
him to shame before his fellows. | was
often thoroughly bored by his condolences.
but listened as though interested, and it
was not in my heart TO tease him. l pitied
the poor. simple fellow, and vaguely un-
derstood his craving for sympathy and
fellowship and the necessity that rested
upon him to unbosom himself to someone.
He on his part repaid my good treatment
by the most spaniel-like devotion. He
had n good heart and n disposition to
serve, and he soon make it unnecessary
for me to perform any menial service for
myself He spent all his spare time with
me, drilled beside me. and made me the
confidant of all his simple joys and sor-
rows.
The Summer of 1869 was a stirring and
anxious one for the loyal people of the
United States. During the first week of
our life at Camp Chase Mcclellan had
changed his base to the James River and
had bitterly disappointed the hopes Of