The sun., 1901-08-11

Amusement Inst Amazed the Town.
THAT drunk Of OHara's,' remarked the
on-leave naval officer to the group on the
porch Of Sound clubhouse. was assiredly
the most mighty. massive. mammoth,
mastodonic monoithic--'
i1S 11li u1nG II 1Er6f tu 1Iit hI uiarth h}a6s xa11
quoted the others, cutting In. dust forget
about apt alterations artful aid. OHara,
you say7'
yes, O'Hara,' said the naval officer,
trying to fashion a hgure-of eight knot
out OF one Of tho straws from his julep.
Jim O'Hara, buck marine and mail orderly
on my third ship. O'Iiara frowned upon
the, stun during four and half years Of
service. O'Hara was a Boston harp, just
a little under seven feet high, and when he
had but six months yet to do to complete
his enlistment he was looked upon as tho
bright and shining light Of the ship, fora '
with his pat elk months ahead Of him
and 81 100 OF his savings in the hands Of
the Paymaster. O'Hara went ashore one
February morning, just after we'd dropped
the mudhook in the barbor Of Acapulco.
Mexico. to get the mail. On his way back
TO the launch with his bag stuffed with mail,
O'Hara stopped and asked q hak-breed
woman sitting In front Of 'dobe for .
drink. He meant water. Of course. But
when uniformed gringo ssls for drink
In any Of the Americas tho other side Of
the Rio Grande they don't take 1t that he
means water.
Tho hah-breed woman disappeared
within the 'dobe for Q minute and when
she returned she handed 0'Hara 4 gourd
filed with mescal. Tho Mexican mescal s
brownish looking fluid like muddy water
There Is, however. about twice as much ac-
ton to Il a. there s to rye or Scotch.
In the shade was about 10. O'Hars was
very dry. He tossed Of the gourd Of mescal.
An expression Of great an,azement. they
tell me. crossed his face. He held the
gourd out at arms length and surveyed Il.
Then he asked the woman for another
gourdful, and got It.
From that moment II was about all on
with O'Hara. He mado all haste 10 catch
the launch. There was q glad smile on
his features, as OF one who has discovered
something. when he brought the mail
aboard. He swung his bag from his shoulder
In the skipper's cabin. and then no
went right below to the pay Office and told
the Paymaster that he thought he could
use those Si 400. The Paymaster sized
O'Hara up shrewdly, but O'Hara was all
right except that glad smile; and the money
was O'Hara's on demand He got II In a
canvas sack-all eagles and double eagles
Then he went ashore again with his bag
to get the mail brought down by the Panama
steamer that had just got In.
when he had been gone some three
hours, a greaser brought back the mail,
but there was no sign Of O'Hara. The
master -at-arms was sent ashore to fetch
O'Hara back to the ship dead or alive.
Four hours later the master-at-arms came
gloomily back to the ship. and reported
to the officer Of the deck. your Obliged
servant-that there was neither hide nor
hair Of O'Hara within or without the pre-
cincts Of Acapulco. Nor, raid he, had any
Of the natives, men, women, children or
dogs olapped 10 much a. an eye OH Com
mandant 0jero.
'That's what they say added the Legs,
q doSes 81 sI raced d To % the % ground en and nd oHara II
cap was in the ruins Of one Of EN-. But
they swore that 1t was an earthquake that
levelled the 'dobes.'
Il conveyed the news Of the Legs's fruit
less quest to the commanding officer. He
was Just after eating luncheon, and con-
se9uently In philosophical frame Of mind
Have the sergeant OF marines pick
me out another mail orderly, he said
Perhaps he went on, regarding me with
a slow smile-'perhaps this was coming to
o Hara anyhow. Man with a spotless
record. But the whelp might have asked
for liberty. However. well let him alone.
III have little heart-to heart talk with
him when he comes back
Il saw O'Hara on the following night
! was strolling through the narrow, 'dobe-
lined streets to the east OF the town, when
the sound OF some rather sweet music COM
ing from a palm-grove directly ahead
reached my ear. l walked to the rubble
fence that inclosed the grove and looked
in. There was O'Hara, rolling around in
at either side Of him. Two violinists were
squatted on the ground in front Of him,
saving away plaintively, while a cello
player stood beside them, executing arpeg-
gios with much grace and effect There
were many bottles Of mescal on the stumps |
OF a cluster of felled palms.
when the music ceased. pair Of guitar
players, accompanied by an old man with |
a book In his hand, emerged from the dark |
ness that was visible outside Of the light |
radius Of tho torches. The guitar players |
struck up some moving chords. and the old |
man with the book began 10 recite to O'Hara, |
with many eloquent wavings Of the arms. |
The book he held was volume Of Emilio |
Castelar's verse, and he read from il. |
O'Hara lolled in his grapevine swing |
and listened to the chant and the harmon |
ious monotone Of guitar chords with a |
grin. O'Hara's knowledge Of Spanish |
stopped at mdidnd, and he could ,only |
use that word when fully sober Well, |
here was Cesar In the garden OF Mecenas, |
a Horace drumming the Tyre. 1t was
very affecting, | remained at the fence |
as long az | could without shrieking and |
thus destroying the charm Of the occasion.
and then came away.
-One Of the ensigns ashore the follow
ing morning saw O'Hara. too. O'Hara,
with no coat on, but with serape Of bril-
liant hue thrown over one shoulder, a |
poncho thrown over the other shoulder
and three-dented sombrero trimmed with
silver and with many bells hanging from
the rim of it, was walking by q church, |
when dozen little girls, all in white, and
with wreaths of flowers on their heads,
emerged from the church, conveyed by a
IL. n