The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1901-03-01

THE BLANK FILE.
"Durin' the next hour nothin' seemed
to be stirrin' under the Southern Cross.
The moo sentry either didn't see anything
to challenge, or didn't want to, and some
O the men had even begun to snore. l
was just droppin' off to sleep myself,
when a snorer at the other end o. the
tent suddenly raps out an oath, and his
boot comes whizzin' down the gangway.
1.-The next swab as plays me that
trick he grumbles, will ave to take off
his toonik to me in the mornin'.'
"'What trick, chum?' 1 asks, chuckin'
him back his boot.
"'Puttin' his icy cold foot on my
face he says, indignant.
1T didn't sound nice, someow, and my
'eart commenced to beat a devils tattoo
under the blankets. But nobody said
nothin', and if it 'adn't been for the
thumpin' Of a dozen gallant 'earts be-
sides mine you might ave 'eard a pin
drop.
presently, OWeVer, the drummer, VINO
slep' next to the corpril. calls out some
thin beneath his bedclothes.
What is 'Sticks" a-sayin'?' asks one
O the men anxiously.
Hes only talkin' in his Sleep says
mo, he amt pipes the boy in his
Ugh treble, but somebody's a-walkin' in
his
This statement was received with a
most uncomfortable silence of several
minutes. Then the man next to me be-
gins 'urriedly to scramble into his trou-
sers.
"'The kids quite right he says, and
I know bloomin' we'll who the sleep-walk-
":Who?' inquiries dozen voices at
1.-The Blank File,' says the man, and
what he's a-doin' Of But he amt goin'
to doss next to me- he says, and with
that he bolts out O the tent.
In another minute there was nobody
so far as we knew-left inside it. We
till daylight"
Mr.. Pagett paused to refill his pipe. an
operation he effected with CHARACTERISTIC
observation-disclosures from my pouch.
feigned to be bordering his last words.
Latter such nSht of hofT c%:. b haz
been a welcome relief"
naivete. into his pocket. "You mark time
bit," he said; 81 'aven't finished with
that night of 'orror yet"
murmured an apology:
no." he continued. Before the sun
rose we were destined to ave another
scare, compared with which the others
were child's play. 1t was this way, look.
THE corpril was explainin' to Mr.. j an
naway, who 'ad come out Of his quarters
in his pyjammers. that the men couldn't
sleep in the mimi tent on account of the
heat, and Jannaway was just beginnin'
afraid o the dark K, when the sentry drops
his rifle with clatter that brings all our
gallant hearts into our necks. His teeth
were rattlin' in his 'ead like boxful O
dice, you could ave Jung up your coat
and at on his eyes, and he was pointin'
wind. At first he thought it was an ap-
plepletic fit, but after bit we discov-
cred that he was wishful for us to look
Mt the jackstaff.
1.-THE first glimmer o dawn was whiten-
in the eastern horizon, and there was
just light enough for us to see an ex-
tr'ordin'ry phenomenon that made even
detachment O marines stare. There
wasn't air enough to chill your wetted
finger; it was dead tropical calm; the
great jack and its 'alyards lay alongside
the staff as il they were glued to it. Yet
stirred, and the double lines twanged
against the pole like a plucked arp
Give seconds later the thing 'appened
again, and then continued at perfectly
! regular intervals. Not soul, as far as
we could see, was within ten yards of
that bewitched spar. Yet one thing was
quite plain. Someone was ingerin n the
'allyards before our very eyes,!
presently Jannaway clears his. throat.
Am l goin' stark mad like the rest
O. you: he asks 'uskily, or is there bell
ringin' somewhere
You might ave stabbed the silence
| which followed with a baynit
"'There is a bell, SIR says one O. the
men at length, a big bell a-tolling.
| should judge it to be as far away as Ba-
tavia, or p'rhaps Plymouth he says,
but in either case You may lay to it that
That's enough says Jannaway,
IT. ts9 Sf he says as
as it's daylight fall the men in for bath
in parade. There's nothin' like sea dip
to steady the nerves. And with that he
walks off into the middle O. the island.
THE detachment strolled down to the
waters edge: while l, disbelievin' in
ghosts now that the daylight was COM
in, sat down and Lit my pipe. At first
watched the sunrise, and it seemed to
me that the day was gettin' up with a
most disreputable black eye. Across the
red an green an orange inflammation Of
the dawn was stuck a dark patch that
in the case of.a pore soldier would ave
got him confined to barricks for fort
night. But after bit my ate alton was
attracted to Lootenant Jannaway, who
was perrin under great ledge O. rock
a couple Of 'undred yards away. Pres
emily he stood up, and beckoned to me.
Tell me what you see in there he
says, when I reached him. =.
"sYou ought to know says, moppin'
my face, after I'd looked into the ole:
| you've been starin' at it for the last Eve
minutes Il sa .=.5 zs
But I want to make sure, you In
solent vagabone,' he says. Our nerves